Chapter 44 The sky is 3 feet high

Chapter 44 The sky is 3 feet high

Chapter 44 The sky is three feet high
The Shao family’s small courtyard in Jingjiang was a second-hand house that originally belonged to a scholar.

Scholars pay attention to elegance, and plant light bamboos all over the courtyard.

There is a couplet on both sides of the main hall, "The door faces a thousand bamboos, and the house houses ten thousand books."

An air of elegance blows over you.

When the yard came into the hands of Shao Shucai, the old man was very confused about the previous owner of the yard.

Such a large piece of good land was actually used to grow bamboo, which is neither edible nor drinkable. The old man cut down all the bamboo in the yard and prepared to grow vegetables.

The chopped bamboo is piled up in the yard as it cannot be wasted.

The old man had great skills and was going to split the bamboo strips into strips to make baskets - the bamboo shields used by the Zhongzi Camp when attacking Qiweizi were also made of this stuff.

County Magistrate You calmed himself and walked into the Shao family courtyard in square steps. When he looked up, he saw the piles of bamboo in the yard.

After staring at the thick bamboo pole for a long time, Shao Quanzhong had already come out. Master You sighed, gritted his teeth, and bowed to Shao Quanzhong, "I am honored to see you, Master Shao."

When Shao Shucai and his wife saw the county magistrate entering their courtyard, they were at a loss and their first impulse was to step forward and kowtow.

Suddenly, they saw the county magistrate, who they usually thought was like a god, bowing to his son, and the two old men straightened their backs immediately.

My eldest son is an official now. I am his father. Who should I be afraid of? No, I have to put on airs.

Shao Shucai didn’t know how high of an official position his son held, but Shao Quanzhong himself knew.

He took a few quick steps and helped the county magistrate up, "My lord, I am too humble to be honored. I am just a soldier who has earned a worthless military honor. How dare I accept your courtesy?

The real hero was called out at Donghua Gate. Lord You has studied hard for ten years and his inkstone is worn out. How can a humble man like me with such little military ability compare to him? I should bow and greet Lord You."

He flicked his sleeves left and right, as if he was about to perform a great ceremony.

Lord You hurriedly went to help Shao Quanzhong up again, "No, no, absolutely no. As a seventh-rank official, I must pay my respects to a sixth-rank official."

Shao Shucai and his wife were confused. But when they understood that their son was a sixth-rank official, which meant he was definitely higher than the county magistrate, they straightened their backs even more.

Lord You is just making it up. Military awards for military generals are so common that they can be bought for ten taels of silver in the market. Of course, they are not certain to be true or false, and no one will investigate anyway.

There were many generals with first and second rank military honors who kowtowed to the county magistrate, but Lord You's head was full of the shadow of the bayonet at the gate of the county government office, and he was nervous.

He knew very well how Shao Quanzhong killed Yang Yong in his own territory.

This guy is a smiling tiger. If I believe his lies and accept his gifts, after studying hard for ten years, I will probably spend ten years in prison.

Shao Quanzhong took advantage of the situation and did not actually kneel down. He took the opportunity to grab the hand of County Magistrate You and laughed, "Your Excellency, it is an honor to visit my humble home. Please come in!"

Master You gently pushed away Shao Quanzhong's hand, and bowed to Shao Shucai and his mother, "I greet you, old man."

This was the honor brought by her son's ability. The old lady accepted the gift calmly and felt that she was content in this life.

Shao Shucai was very reserved and rubbed his hands, "Well, Master, please come into the hall for tea."

Shao Quanzhong and County Magistrate You went into the hall hand in hand and sat opposite each other. Now that his son was an official, he would definitely discuss state affairs with the county magistrate, so the old couple did not follow him and went to the bedroom in the backyard.

The newly hired maid served tea and withdrew. Apart from the two Qing officials sitting opposite each other in the main hall, only Zhang Siwen was left standing behind Shao Quanzhong.

Lord You looked up at Zhang Siwen and knew that this big fool was the confidant of Shao Quanzhong and Jiao Bulimeng, so he didn't have to hide anything from him.

He bowed to Shao Quanzhong and said, "First of all, congratulations, Master Shao.

I have just received news that Lord Qiao has donated you the position of 'Zhongshu Ke Zhongshu', and Lord Shao is now also a seventh-rank civil servant.

In the future, we will serve in the same court, so we must take care of each other." Shao Quanzhong was stunned. This court official had much better information than himself. He knew things that he didn't know yet, but he knew them first.

He quickly bowed towards the north and said, "My foster father has been very kind to me. I must not let him down and train the Huai Army well."

Shao Shucai tried his best, and the only thing he could think of was to donate a student position for his three youngest sons. Look at Mr. Qiao, who donated a seventh-rank official position to his godson.

Of course, since it was donated, Shao Quanzhong could not really go to the cabinet to be a secretary. He was just a so-called "official" in name only.

The Grand Council is the one that has the final say in our Qing Dynasty. Not only is the cabinet in name only, there is no place for a nominal official like Shao Quanzhong to work there.

As a seventh-rank secretary, Shao Quanzhong's position was actually lower than that of a county magistrate. The two of them addressed each other as humble, which was a characteristic of the Qing officialdom.

County Magistrate You leaned forward and lowered his voice, "I heard that Lord Shao led the Loyalty Camp and showed great power to wipe out Liu Erguaizi, who was in collusion with the Guangdong bandit Hou Batian and the rebel Hong Gang? Did you find any evidence?"

Shao Quanzhong had just finished suppressing Qiweizi when he took a boat to Jingjiang, but Lord You got the news right away. How did this news come from? There is a big problem.

Shao Quanzhong smiled and glanced at County Magistrate You with a sharp gaze, "Of course I found it!"

Seeing that County Magistrate You was almost frightened, he sighed, "What a pity, Liu Ni knew that he had committed a grave sin, so he set fire to the village when it was breached.

All of Liu Ni's troops were killed in the fire, and a large amount of evidence was destroyed in the fire. Only the evidence of his connection with Hou Batian and the Hong Gang was salvaged."

Shao Quanzhong waved his hand, and Zhang Siwen took out the two letters that Shao Hengzhong had found and handed them over.

After carefully reading the two pieces of evidence, County Magistrate You heaved a sigh of relief. These two pieces of evidence, which were said to have been rescued from the sea of ​​fire, had no traces of burns at all. It must be God's blessing.

Shao Quanzhong came from a humble background, but unexpectedly he was an expert in officialdom. County Magistrate You was very pleased.

Carefully returning the two letters to Zhang Siwen, "Lord Shao is a genius, both civil and military, and truly a pillar of our Qing Dynasty.

When the Huai Army was first established, they came a long way to protect their hometown and eradicate the rebellion. It was really too hard. As the parent official of Lord Shao's hometown, I must do my best to help.

It's too late today. Tomorrow, I will contact Mr. Zhao in Linxian and Taixing and call on the gentry of the two counties to donate at least 40,000 taels of silver to Mr. Shao.

I will take the lead and set an example by donating 10,000 taels of silver to support you in forming the Huai Army."

Shao Quanzhong nodded in satisfaction. It was very kind of you to be willing to shed so much blood to settle the matter. However, things couldn't be done this way.

Shao Quanzhong patted the armrest of the mahogany chair and said, "I appreciate your kindness. But you are an honest official, how can I bear to let you pay for it?
In addition to the gentry, the middle class like our Shao family should also contribute money to protect our hometown. Wouldn't the total amount of donations be a lot?
Our Shao family will take the lead in donating two thousand taels of silver - by the way, Lord You, you can also donate ten thousand taels of silver.

We have taken the lead. When the donations are in place, we will return your donation and that of Mr. Zhao from Taixing in full. As for the donations from the gentry and the middle class, we will split the money 30% to 70%, 30% for me and 70% for you.

The two gentlemen are honest and incorruptible, so they must have some money in their hands to benefit the people of Jingjiang and Taixing counties, right?"

Lord You is so excited, he is a close friend!
Lord Shao is a natural to be an official. Our Qing Dynasty needs such talents. If he doesn't get promoted, who will?
"Shao, you are considerate of us grassroots officials. It is a blessing for the Qing Dynasty. This matter is settled, but of course it is three for me and seven for you. Shao, please do not refuse."

Zhang Siwen behind Shao Quanzhong still had a silly smile on his face, but his fists were clenched so tightly that he almost made a "click" sound.

Are all the officials of the Qing Dynasty so shameless? When I was a kid, the Zhang family was not like this, or I just didn't have the chance to see the Zhang family engaging in insider trading?

Bandits are like combs, soldiers are like rakes, and officials are like razors.

When it comes to stealing money from the people, there is no easier way than having the local officials sit on the local government’s desk and not leave.

No wonder the second brother insisted on destroying the evidence of Lord You’s collusion with bandits despite the third brother’s reminder.

During Shao Quanzhong's trip to Jingjiang, the counties of Jingjiang and Taixing were on the verge of being plundered again, and the plunder might be much more severe than that of the bully Liu Erguaizi.

On the beam, a two-meter-long snake was coiled tightly. It slowly poked its head out, spitting out a blood-red tongue, and stared at the two corrupt officials below with its eyes shining.

(End of this chapter)