Chapter 235: Mundane Affairs
Chen Jiu actually fought his way from Yanzhou Prefecture to Jinling City in just three days. Jiajing could never have imagined this, and his imperial edict hadn't even arrived yet.
He issued an edict, ordering Han Shiying, the Minister of War of Nando, Zhang Feng, the eunuch who guarded the city, Xu Wenbi, the Duke of Wei, and Ling Yunyi, the Governor of the Grand Canal Transport, to quickly assemble a large army and prepare to strike a head-on blow to the rebels and even counterattack Yanzhou Prefecture.
Unfortunately, his order never reached Nanzhili.
There is no other way. The fastest route from the capital to Nanjing City is to follow the Grand Canal through Dongchang Prefecture and Yanzhou Prefecture.
At this moment, Yanzhou Prefecture was controlled by Chen Jiu, and the Qinglian Sect had set up layers of checkpoints inside and outside Jining City. No matter whether you took the 800-mile express route by land or the Grand Canal by water, you couldn't get in.
If he wanted to have the imperial edict delivered to Nanjing City, he would have to take a long detour and send people through Henan and Huguang.
Jiajing seemed to have not realized the seriousness of the matter. He still thought that Chen Jiu would be like him, practicing in Jiuling Mountain and controlling the overall situation from a distance.
He thought that as long as Chen Jiu didn't go, there wouldn't be any big problems.
After all, Nanzhili also had dukes and nobles, as well as many earthly immortals. He felt that the dukes and nobles of Nanzhili could lead hundreds of thousands of troops to at least fight on equal terms with the rebels under Chen Jiu, and it was even possible for them to counterattack and retake Yanzhou Prefecture.
How could he have imagined that not only did Chen Jiu go there, but he also persuaded the Governor of the Grand Canal Ling Yunyi and most of the princes and nobles in Southern Zhili to surrender, and in a few moves he captured the more than 100,000 troops in Jiangbei and the tens of thousands of troops left behind in Jinling City.
At this time, Chen Jiu really wanted to go back to Jiuling Mountain to practice. The mundane affairs were a bit troublesome, and he really didn't want to care about them.
However, he had to take care of it. If he didn't make the decision, no one else could.
In the mansion of Duke Dingguo, Bai Liang, who rushed over after hearing the news, was a little nervous. He didn't expect that Chen Jiu could take over Jinling so quickly, and he didn't know Chen Jiu very well.
He really had no idea what this future brother-in-law was like. He only knew that the White Fox Clan must assist Chen Jiu with all their strength.
He walked into the study of Duke Dingguo's Mansion with trepidation, and what caught his eyes was an extremely beautiful and gorgeous woman.
Is this, little sister?
He hasn't seen his younger sister Jiaona for more than ten years. Especially after Jiaona had a mark between her eyebrows, her whole temperament changed and he was a little afraid to recognize her.
Jiaona couldn't help but rushed over and choked up, "Second brother, it's been so long, why don't you go see me and the ancestors?"
Bai Liang reached out his hand, hugged his little sister, and said awkwardly: "Well, there are so many messy things in the mortal world, I really can't get away."
Jiaona choked for a while, then let go of her hand and looked at her second brother carefully.
After looking at him for a while, she couldn't help but ask, "Second brother, why do you have such a long beard? I almost didn't recognize you."
Uh, this.
Bai Liang subconsciously touched his beard and said awkwardly: "Everyone will grow old. I am almost fifty years old in my fake identity, so I have to grow a beard."
Okay, can you two brothers and sisters catch up later?
There is another person here.
Chen Jiu couldn't help but cough dryly.
Jiaona quickly moved aside.
Bai Liang then remembered that he was here to see the King of Nine Mountains.
He quickly bowed and said, "Your subordinate Bai Liang, I pay my respects to the prince."
Chen Jiu looked at it carefully and couldn't help but look strange.
Bai Liang is obviously in his twenties or thirties, and is extraordinarily handsome and elegant. He has forced his moustache and beard to show, making them look as if they were pasted on.
However, this beard is indeed grown, not pasted on.
Perhaps, it was the first time he saw it and he wasn't used to it yet.
He smiled and said, "We are all family, no need to be polite, come, sit down, sit down."
After saying that, he stood up and walked to the round table for entertaining guests in the study, and invited the brother and sister to sit down together.
Bai Liang said rather stiffly, "I don't know why the prince summoned me."
You have really learned all the behaviors of mortal scholars. No wonder no one can tell that you are a fox demon.
Chen Jiu smiled slightly and said, "Second brother, I heard that you have been studying for hundreds of years. You should be well-read and talented."
Well, how do I put it?
Bai Liang quickly said modestly: "I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it, I just memorized the Four Books and Five Classics by heart."
Okay, I haven't seen any of these yet.
Chen Jiu thought about it, then said solemnly: "Second brother, what do you think are the priorities in governing the country today?"
Bai Liang thought about it carefully, and then said solemnly: "I think that the first priority of governing the country today is to punish corruption. I have read the history books of all dynasties and come to the conclusion that the rise and fall of each dynasty has a great relationship with corruption.
Every dynasty severely punished corruption at the beginning of its establishment, and most officials were honest and loved the people. The world was bound to experience a rare period of prosperity.
Next, corrupt officials emerged, and under their slander, the emperor also began to indulge in pleasure, and the corrupt officials gradually took control of power.
In the end, the officialdom is basically full of corrupt officials, making people's lives miserable, and honest officials are regarded as outliers.
Every dynasty basically comes to an end at this time.
Therefore, punishing corruption is the top priority. If corrupt officials are allowed to run rampant and make life miserable for the people, then there will be no rule of law.”
Oh, that’s not bad.
Chen Jiu nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, yes, that makes sense. Corrupt officials are actually competing with the people for profits. The more profits they gain, the more difficult it is for the people to survive. These people are digging at the foundation of a dynasty. We must severely punish corrupt officials and kill them if we see one!"
Hearing this, Bai Liang couldn't help but feel relieved and said, "If Your Majesty can think this way, then the world will surely be prosperous."
Chen Jiu smiled slightly and said, "This is not a question of whether I want to do it or not. I don't have time to care about these things. I can only leave it to you to think about. You have served in Nanzhili for many years, and you should be very familiar with the officialdom here. You should be very clear about who can be used and who cannot be used, right?"
Bai Liang sighed slightly after hearing this and said, "I don't know what the current emperor is thinking. Throughout the dynasties, I have never seen an emperor who would blatantly support corrupt officials and cultivate corrupt officials like him.
Now, honest officials have become the exception, corrupt officials have become the mainstream, and it is hard to find truly honest officials in the officialdom, alas. "
Jiajing is mentally ill, there is nothing we can do about it.
Chen Jiu couldn't help but frown when he heard this and said, "Can't all the officials from the six departments of Nandu and the Inspectorate be gathered together?"
Nandu already had six ministries and an inspectorate, and all the government offices were relatively complete. He wanted to use the existing government offices here to set up a temporary court to help him deal with mundane affairs.
Bai Liang shook his head helplessly and said, "How can we gather all of them? I only know one honest official in Nandu."
Chen Jiu was surprised and said, "Just one! Who is it?"
Bai Liang introduced him in detail: "This person is Hai Rui, the Right Minister of the Southern Capital Tongzhengsi. He is too upright and cannot stand corrupt officials. He fights them when he sees them. As a result, he is trampled on by corrupt officials. He is trampled on from the capital to the Southern Capital, and is idle in the Southern Capital Tongzhengsi, the most idle government office."
Is there also a Hai Rui in this world?
Chen Jiu was surprised and asked, "Will Hai Rui be willing to join me?"
Bai Liang said confidently: "He hates corrupt officials and only wants to fight against them. If anyone can give him this opportunity, I think he will be tempted. I am quite familiar with him, so it shouldn't be a big problem to persuade him. It depends on what position to assign to him."
Upon hearing this, Chen Jiu said without hesitation: "Okay, he likes to fight against corrupt officials, right? Just promote him to the position of Left Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate and let him be in charge of the Inspectorate. If there is anything else, you can at least recommend a few more."
Bai Liang shook his head slightly and said, "Your Highness, there really is no more. Those who entered the officialdom, those who were not black originally, have all been tainted with black, unless they promote those young people who have never been in the officialdom, that is, those scholars and students of the Imperial Academy who have been studying hard.
However, most of them are young and hot-tempered, easily offending others, and nine out of ten times they will come to you to give you advice on this and that, making you extremely annoyed. "
Hehe, I’m afraid they can’t bother me. I will withdraw once the temporary court is formed. If they want to bother me, it will be you.
Chen Jiu said decisively: "Okay, you can temporarily serve as the Minister of Personnel, and promote those you think are capable. If they are corrupt, the Inspectorate will naturally investigate and punish them. Don't show any mercy, just let them die."
Well, now he becomes the Minister of Personnel.
Bai Liang quickly bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
This is just the beginning. If you do a good job, I will make you the prime minister.
Chen Jiu thought about it again, and then introduced in detail: "Since you can't find the heads of the six ministries who have experienced officialdom, I will give you a few first. Let Penglai Hou Qi Jingtong take on the role of Minister of War. You don't have to worry about the war, he will be fully responsible.
The Minister of Rites asked Duke of Wei Xu Wenbi to come, the Minister of Punishments asked Duke of Ding Xu Pengju to come, the Minister of Revenue asked former Governor-General of the Grand Canal Transport Ling Yunyi to come, and the Minister of Works asked Zhang Tianxing of the Qingyang Zhang family to come.
That's it for now. You can select the officials below. Try them out first. If they don't work, we can replace them."
This, okay.
Chen Jiu really didn't want to care about these mundane matters. Who would have thought that just as he signed the official document for the appointment of officials, the new Minister of War Qi Jingtong came to him and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, there are still Anqing Prefecture, Chizhou Prefecture, Taiping Prefecture, Ningguo Prefecture, Huizhou Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture, Changzhou Prefecture, Songjiang Prefecture, Zhenjiang Prefecture, Guangde Prefecture and other places in Nanzhili that have not been taken. Should we send the original garrison elite or send the new army to recruit surrenders?"
Are there still so many places that have not been conquered?
Chen Jiu frowned and pondered for a while, then said decisively: "Well, you and Duke Wei jointly sign an official document, ordering all prefectures to surrender, and then send the dukes and nobles of Nanzhili to lead the reorganized new army to take over, and anyone who resists will be killed without mercy.
The purpose of letting them lead the army this time is to force them to have no way back. They want to be fence-sitters, but that is impossible. If we kill the officials of the imperial court, I don’t think they will be able to turn back. "
Qi Jingtong immediately understood and said, "I understand."
Actually, there was nothing to happen next. Most of the troops in Southern Zhili were concentrated in Jiangbei and Nanjing, and the rest of the places were basically garrisons. Naturally, they could not resist the reorganized army of more than 200,000.
In addition, although there are many prefectures in Jiangnan, their areas are actually not large, so it is actually quite easy to take them down. More than ten groups of troops were sent out together, and they were all taken down in just a few days.
This time, Chen Jiu couldn't sit still anymore.
The mundane affairs have really taken up too much of his time, and he really wants to go back.
He summoned the six ministers and the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Supervisory Office to the palace in Jinling City and gave them detailed instructions: "From now on, the affairs of Nanzhili will be handed over to you. I have to return to Jiuling Mountain to practice.
Shixian is fully responsible for all military affairs. Shixian, I will give you another year to expand my army to 500,000.
Yunyi is fully responsible for all money and grain. Yunyi, don't restrict the development of merchants. Let them focus on production. Anyway, the demand in Yingzhou is very huge.
Tianxing, you will be responsible for the business in Nanzhili and Yingzhou. You will organize the merchants to do what is needed there and do your best.
Second brother, the selection and appointment of officials is now up to you. Don't worry about their qualifications or achievements. If you think they are capable, let them take over and have a try. If they are not capable, Lord Hai will remove them and replace them.
As for other matters, Duke Wei and Duke Ding, you can handle them as you wish. Don't send bat soldiers to ask me about trivial matters."
Are you just going to quit and leave?
Everyone was stunned when they heard this.
Chen Jiu waved his hand without hesitation and said, "Okay, Nanzhili is handed over to you. Go and do your own things. Work hard. I will come to see how you are doing in a year."
That's it!
Everyone walked away in amazement.
Chen Jiu suddenly slapped his forehead and said, "Oh, Shixian, wait a minute. I'll leave these 3,000 monster king-level bean soldiers to you. You, Jiguang, and Jimei can cultivate their monster power in the monster power space. If they are in danger, release them to save their lives. If they are injured, find a noble who practices wood-based skills to replenish their wood spirit energy."
He really just threw away all worldly affairs and went straight back to Jiuling Mountain to practice!
