Chapter 175: Shandong Tax Bank Robbery (I)
The imprisonment of the Eighth Prince Yunsi caused a huge shock in the capital, and officials did not even discuss Huo Chong's affairs in private.
In Shandong, the situation was completely reversed. No one cared about the imprisonment of the Eighth Prince Yunsi. Even in Jinan City, where there were many officials, when people did not talk about Huo Chong, they were talking about the new Shandong Governor Guaerjia Seleng'e and the previous Shandong Governor Chen Shiguan who was dismissed from office and imprisoned and taken to the capital for detention.
As for the fate of the Eighth Prince Yunsi in the capital , it was too far away. Perhaps the only person who really cared about the Eighth Prince Yunsi was the new governor, Guaerjia Seleng'e.
The rich have their own intelligence, and the latest news is not particularly secret. Hongshi, Yongzheng's eldest son, who obviously has the most chance to compete for the new crown prince, was ordered by Yongzheng to be "adopted by Yunsi" on the tenth day of the tenth month.
The letter said that Hongshi was firmly opposed to Yongzheng's cruel actions and desperately pleaded with Yongzheng for his uncles. The result has been seen.
This style is indeed something that only Yongzheng could create. Since Hongshi disobeyed his father Yongzheng for others, let Hongshi be the son of the person he cares about.
Thinking that such a person was his master, and even treated his own son like this, Guaerjia Erlengsai felt a wave of invisible chills. He was facing a vicious traitor like Huo Chong. He was a traitor that even Nian Gengyao praised for his "elegant use of troops and solid combat." Could he withstand it? What would happen if he failed?
In a state of fear, Elengsai ordered officials to report the latest news from Huo Chong. As a Manchu Jinshi in the 48th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, Elengsai was terrified.
After defeating the 20,000 Qing troops outside Jinan, there were no more large-scale government troops east of Jinan. Huo Chong's influence was greatly boosted, and he dispatched troops to surrounding areas with Zichuan and Linzi as the centers.
The magistrates of several counties refused to surrender, either committed suicide before being captured, or were killed by Huo Chong because they refused to surrender. Although the magistrates were so dignified that they refused to desert the battlefield, let alone surrender to the enemy...but Elengsai knew that it was a capital crime for civil officials to escape. With Yongzheng's character, it would be better for the escaped civil officials to fall into the hands of Huo Chong than to Yongzheng, or they would simply commit suicide.
The county magistrate and other officials were only the first to suffer. In the counties that Huo Chong had captured, all the gentry whose family members served as officials in the court were subjected to Huo Chong's "temporary land confiscation". Any gentry who resisted with force were suppressed without mercy.
Erlengsai was horrified as he imagined the sufferings of the gentry. Then he saw that Huo Chong actually allowed the gentry to leave the territory he occupied with their families and go to other places. Many gentry chose to seek refuge in Jinan City.
"Find some gentry who fled to Jinan. I want to question them." Elengsai was very interested in these people.
As soon as they met Elengsai, the relatives of the gentry whose family members were killed in the attack on Huo Chong knelt down and begged Lord Elengsai to make justice for them.
At the end of the meeting, these people knelt down and begged Elengsai to make a decision for them. They asked Elengsai, the representative of the court in Shandong, to send troops to eliminate Huo Chong.
Hearing this, Elengsai frowned and asked, "To suppress the bandits, we need money. Why don't you take out the money first?"
The gentry's families were stunned. They obviously didn't expect the current Shandong governor to make such a request. Just when these gentry's families were puzzled, they heard Lord Elengsai continue to say: "I have allowed you to hide in the city, which is already a favor. Since you are from the bandit area, why the bandit Huo let you leave is still unclear. You should stop making trouble. Do you hear me!"
Not long after, this conversation was told to Feng Yukuan by the runners and clerks in the governor's office. Feng Yukuan laughed and said, "Haha, these people are really pitiful. They didn't know what was good for them in the countryside, and they still don't know what was good for them in the city."
The officer and the clerk took the cigarette handed over by Feng Yukuan, lit it and took a few deep puffs. The officer nodded and replied, "Master Feng, the governor is just new. When the governor works for a few more days, we will slap them in the face in public."
The clerk was not so radical. He replied, "These people are from the gentry family after all, and they haven't said anything about rebellion. We shouldn't fight them. I think the governor got anxious when he heard that he wanted to fight with Mr. Huo."
Feng Yukuan didn't say anything. Many people knew that he was close to Huo Chong, and at first Feng Yukuan was forced to flee Jinan. According to the news, Feng Yukuan's house was almost raided. However, after Huo Chong defeated the government troops, suddenly no one wanted to touch Feng Yukuan's house. After Huo Chong defeated the Qing army outside Jinan, Feng Yukuan even returned to Jinan naturally.
Feng Yukuan was not very clear about what other people thought, but for the people in the governor's office, Huo Chong was fully capable of entering Jinan. The reason why they did not enter was just as Huo Chong said in the notice, "Order is better than no order. If Huo Chong captured Jinan, but was forced to give up because he could not defend it, it would be tantamount to condoning Jinan to be looted twice. There is no reason to do such a thing that harms others and does not benefit oneself. When Huo Chong has the strength to occupy Jinan, he will definitely take Jinan. Please rest assured, people of Jinan. Huo Chong's army may be late, but it will never be absent..."
Since the police and clerks all knew that they had to protect themselves, Feng Yukuan immediately felt very safe. After hearing some recent news, Feng Yukuan looked at him nonchalantly and asked, "I heard that all the government offices are recruiting people recently?"
The officers and clerks showed a bit of embarrassment. Huo Chong killed the officials and rebelled. After he captured the county, he would carry out a big purge to completely eliminate the power of the government. The officials died because they had to die since they were officials.
The status of the runners was low, and they were among those who were not allowed to take the imperial examination in the Qing Dynasty. The descendants of the runners in the government office, that is, the descendants of the runners, constables, and coroners who worked in the government office but had no official title, did not have the right to take the imperial examination. Therefore, the profession of being a runner was even considered to be the lowest class.
Even so, there are still many people who want to eat this bowl of rice. This time many people dare not do it again, and the reason for the large number of vacancies is that Huo Chong now shows great power. And Huo Chong is ruthless when killing officials.
Since the city of Jinan would be conquered by Huo Chong sooner or later, some timid officials simply chose to save their own lives.
However, the two in front of them had a deeper view. They sighed and said, "Master Feng, we were timid. We didn't join the garrison at that time. Those who left made a lot of money. I heard that each of them made a few hundred taels. If they don't leave, haha, we'll just have to wait and see."
Feng Yukuan smiled slightly. The Qing court's punitive army suffered a tragic defeat, but it did not mean that all the Qing people suffered a great loss. For example, the Jinan defenders generally made a fortune.
Since tobacco was introduced to China, smoking has become more and more popular. In this era, every family offers cigarettes to guests. The cigarette between your fingers is not a cheap product because it is made of paper.
However, recently the defenders in Jinan have become big customers of cigarettes, and everyone can take out a cigarette to smoke on a daily basis. By the way, the cigarette boxes made of bamboo, wood, copper, and copper with gold and silver plating produced by Huo Chong are all selling well.
After they talked for a while, Feng Yukuan asked what kind of recommendation was needed to recommend someone to enter the governor's office and other government agencies. The officer and the clerk exchanged glances, as if they didn't think much about it, and told Feng Yukuan the inside story.
After listening to them, Feng Yukuan gave them two boxes of cigarettes and a bag of copper coins, and promised that if the task was completed, there would be a thank-you gift.
After sending these people away, Feng Yukuan felt that it was quite meaningful. Huo Chong didn't look vicious, but he was really ruthless when doing things. Was the purpose of doing this to make it easier to occupy Jinan City?
Obviously, the things that the various government offices in Jinan had to do were greatly reduced. Therefore, the demand for the work of yamen runners and clerks was greatly reduced, which meant that many runners and clerks were reduced, but it did not have any impact on the existence of the various government offices in Jinan.
Not long after, Feng Yukuan received the news that the previous plan to place someone in the position was no longer feasible.
As winter approached, Shandong Governor Erlengsai was finally driven crazy by Shandong's rapidly deteriorating financial situation. The territory occupied by Huo Chong was like a long knife, dividing Shandong into two parts, north and south. Although the northern part had Jinan Prefecture, its area was not large.
Officials who used to be supported by the whole of Shandong were now supported by money and grain from such a small area. Although the south did not fall into the hands of Huo Chong, it refused to pay taxes for various reasons. As a result, Jinan could not pay money.
There was no other way, so Elengsai immediately submitted a memorial to Emperor Yongzheng, requesting him to take some tough measures.
After reading the memorial, Yongzheng immediately commented: "There are still many soldiers in Jinan City. What's the point of keeping them? Shouldn't you send them to let those officials know that you are the governor of Shandong?"
When Erlengsai saw the red seal, he was completely stunned. If there were no soldiers left in Jinan City, what would happen if Huo Chong broke in?
However, if the situation continued like this, with empty warehouses in Jinan City, and Jinan City already in arrears of wages, there would probably be no officials, clerks, or soldiers left before Huo Chong entered. At that time, a governor like Erlengsai who was left alone would either be captured and beheaded by Huo Chong or beheaded by Yongzheng.
Even though he knew that he had to rely on the army to send the tax silver back to various prefectures, Elengsai was still worried that he had misunderstood Yongzheng's intentions, so he convened a meeting and asked all the officials who had a say to express their opinions. Even though Elengsai would still have to take the blame in the end, no, it was precisely because Elengsai would always have to take the blame in the end that Elengsai wanted to involve as many people as possible.
It was already the beginning of the eleventh lunar month, and the officials had not received their salaries for a month. Moreover, the officials all understood that under the current situation, they could not expect to receive salaries. So when Elengsai mentioned sending troops to collect taxes, no one objected.
The biggest objection is just “how can we avoid any trouble?”
