I am a temporary worker in Jinyiwei, how did I become a powerful official?

Chapter 130 Master Wuzong, hey, you are a real hero! ( words)

Lin Shisan admires people like Shen Lian, but he can't be that person.

If a dynasty wants to be strong and prosperous, it cannot do without people like Shen Lian.

People who have a clear sense of good and evil and have the courage to speak the truth usually cannot accomplish anything.

The world needs such people to remind people from time to time that they should have the most basic conscience and the simplest sense of right and wrong when dealing with people and doing things.

Lin Shisan talked to Shen Lian for a while. Shen Lian was a little impatient when he saw that he could not persuade the emperor's favorite to make a loyal and direct remonstrance to overthrow the pig-like Governor Yang Shun.

Shen Lian stood up and said, "Okay. I'm going to feed the vegetable field with manure. Lin Chuanfeng is very busy, and I, a small commoner, should not interfere with your work."

Lin Shisan asked the last question: "How did you deliver the memorial impeaching Yang Shun to the emperor?"

Shen Lian replied: "I handed the memorial to Eunuch Zhang Yun. Eunuch Zhang then helped me pass it to Eunuch Huang Jin of Yongshou Palace."

Lin Shisan left the vegetable garden and came to the dining room of the Town Supervisor's Mansion.

Zhang Yun had already prepared a banquet to welcome Lin Shisan and his group.

Also attending the banquet were Xu Zhizhou of Bao'an Prefecture and Liang Zhishi of Bao'an Guard.

Xu Zhizhou was an old county magistrate, born as a juren and without any connections. He had been a county magistrate in a border area for a long time and had worked for most of his life before being promoted to prefect. His career was over.

Commander Liang was a veteran of the frontier army, 65 years old, and had fought in the Battle of Yingzhou with Emperor Wuzong forty years ago.

Five years ago, Zhang Yun was the military supervisor in Bao'an Prefecture. He got along very well with these two veterans and they have now become close friends.

Zhang Yun said, "Lin Chuanfeng, our Bao'an Prefecture is a hard and poor place. We don't have any delicacies from land and sea to entertain you."

"The mutton here is very good. Let's have a whole mutton feast today. Don't complain about the bland food and the muddy wine."

Zhang Bo, the drunkard from Yihonglou, looked at the wine bowl and asked, "What is this wine?"

Commander Liang replied: "This is Shaodaozi. It is the best wine in the world. Drinking it will give you courage. You will not be afraid of fighting against thousands of Tatar troops alone."

Zhang Yun raised his wine bowl and said, "Today is a welcoming wine. Lin Chuanfeng is a friend of my master, Eunuch Huang, and the nephew of my second uncle, Eunuch Lu. We are not from the same family, so we should not enter the same door. Let's drink this cup to the full!"

Everyone drank it all in one gulp. The burning taste in the throat made Lin Shisan grit his teeth.

Each person had a small knife in front of him/her. There was no need to set the table. Everyone used the knife to carve the mutton.

Zhang Yun cut off a piece of sheep intestines and put it in Lin Shisan's bowl: "Lin Chuanfeng, this is the most delicious part of the sheep, fat but not greasy. Please try it."

Sun Yue was the reincarnation of a glutton. In just a few words, he had eaten a whole leg of lamb.

Commander Liang laughed heartily: "This fat young man looks like a starving ghost, just like the group of men under my command."

After everyone chatted for a while, Lin Shisan understood why Shen Lian could grow vegetables peacefully in Bao'an Prefecture.

The local officials and the garrison commanders all listen to the town supervisor Zhang Yun. Isn't it easy for them to ensure Shen Lian's safety?

After three rounds of drinks and half of the sheep had been eaten, everyone started talking.

Commander Liang complained, "When I followed Lord Wuzong, I defeated the little Tatar prince in Yingzhou. How happy was that?"

Lin Shisan asked: "Have you ever seen the elegance of Master Wu Zong with your own eyes?"

Commander Liang nodded: "Of course! Master Wuzong, hey, you are a real hero!"

"Since ancient times, the emperors who personally led the expedition against the northern barbarians were always the commanders sitting in the palace. The ones who actually rode on horseback and charged into battle were Emperor Chengzu and Emperor Wuzong."

"On the second day of the Yingzhou battle, a thick fog rose. Emperor Wuzong wore a golden helmet and golden armor, rode a white horse, and held a saber in his hand. He swept through the battlefields to boost the morale of his comrades."

"When Master Wuzong rode past me on his horse, he smiled at me!"

"My comrades and I thought that the emperor would go to the rear after raiding the battlefield and boosting morale."

"Who would have thought that Emperor Wuzong didn't! He raised his saber high and shouted, 'We will not stop fighting until the barbarians are annihilated!' After shouting this, he led the 128 riders of the Leopard House into the fog!"

Sun Yue interrupted: "Emperor Wuzong is wearing a golden helmet and golden armor, and riding a white horse. Doesn't that make him a sitting duck for the Tatars?"

Commander Liang slapped the wine table and said, "You, fat young man, hit the nail on the head! The color of Emperor Wuzong's armor will indeed make him a living target for the Tatars."

"But our fellow Ming soldiers also know that the emperor is fighting alongside them!"

"Emperor Wuzong is risking his life to boost the morale of our Ming army! The emperor is leading the charge, how can his comrades not charge forward at the risk of their lives?"

"That battle was truly one of 'the upper and lower classes were of one mind, and the ruler and his subjects shed blood together'."

"An old comrade of mine told me that he saw Emperor Wuzong chop off the heads of two Tatar cavalrymen with his own eyes!"

"We, the soldiers of the border army, hope that Lord Wuzong can live a hundred years! But he..."

Commander Liang became more and more emotional as he spoke, and tears even welled up in his old eyes.

Zhang Yun said: "Everyone, raise your glasses. Let's drink this glass of wine to toast the wise and mighty Lord Wuzong!"

Everyone drank it all.

Commander Liang changed the subject and said, "Emperor Wuzong defeated the Tatars in one battle and they dared not come south for ten years. Now if Emperor Wuzong knew that the nine borders of the Ming Dynasty were so weak, he would not be able to hold his coffin down!"

Lin Shisan asked calmly, "Why do you say that?"

Commander Liang said angrily, "That bastard Yang Shun. As for embezzling military funds and imposing corvée labor on the people at the border to enrich himself, hey, he's an expert at it!"

"When it comes to fighting, this bastard is as timid as a rabbit!"

"This summer, the Tatars invaded Yingzhou. That's where Emperor Wuzong fought bloody battles. We should dispatch troops from all over the border to fight them!"

"But he refused to allow reinforcements. He also said something about using stillness to control movement. What a stinking Boyi!"

"The Tatars broke into 40 forts and looted a large amount of food and supplies. They even dismantled the cannons installed on the forts and took them away! Yang Shun actually watched them swaggeringly withdraw from Yingzhou!"

"With a governor like this, sooner or later the family fortune left by Emperor Guangwu will be ruined!"

Zhang Yun interrupted, "Lin Chuanfeng. Shen Lian submitted a memorial to criticize Yang Shun. I know some people in the court said he was trying to stop a chariot with a mantis arm."

"In fact, Mr. Shen said what the border soldiers wanted to say but dared not to say!"

Commander Liang said: "Many of our comrades in the border army heard that Mr. Shen wanted to report Yang Shun, and they all expressed their willingness to sign a joint letter."

"But Mr. Shen said that if the border troops and the demoted criminals jointly submitted an impeachment memorial, they would be accused of plotting against the government. So they gave up."

"Damn it. Yang Shun is a nepotist. As soon as he took office, all the generals, commanders, lieutenants, and lieutenant generals in Datong, Xuanfu, and Shanxi were replaced by people who licked his ass."

"Those are just sycophants who have never fought a hard battle."

Zhang Yun angrily said, "That's right! The current general of Xuanfu, Zhou Shijie, was just an unknown deputy commander before. He offered his concubine to Yang Shunnuan's bed. In four years, he was promoted to the commander of the town!"

"Other generals get promoted by winning battles and accumulating military merit. But General Zhou gets promoted by riding on the governor's couch with his concubine!"

Commander Liang said: "These people who have risen in Xuanda in recent years are either licking Yang Shun's ass or licking the ass of the Yan family behind Yang Shun!" "There is a captain in Yanghewei who somehow got married to a concubine of the young cabinet minister. He took the captain's annual military pay to give gifts to the concubine."

"Guess what? He was promoted to Commander of Yanghewei after the incident!"

"Can a general who rose to power by licking his superiors' asses and using their connections fight in a war? If there is a border conflict, won't he be in the same boat with Governor Yang and act like a coward?"

"Although they both have the surname Yang, when another Governor General Yang ruled Xuanda, it was a completely different scene! At that time, our border troops had strict military discipline, and everyone was ruthless and reckless!"

The "other Governor Yang" mentioned by Commander Liang was obviously referring to Yang Bo.

Commander Liang's words went further and further out of the circle. After scolding Yang Shun, he scolded the father and son of the Yan family. After scolding the father and son of the Yan family, he was afraid that he would scold the emperor.

Lin Shisan quickly changed the subject. He asked Xu Zhizhou: "Brother Xu, do you know about the Yin Yang Sect? I heard that the Yin Yang Sect has 100,000 followers in Xuanfu and Datong."

"Don't you, the local officials of Xuanda, care about this fake Taoist who pretends to be a god and cheats people out of money?"

Xu Zhizhou sighed: "I want to manage it. But I can't."

Xu Zhizhou took a sip of wine and explained the reason why he "could not control" the situation: "The land at the border is poor and the yield is low. In the past, the court allocated food to the army to store grain for war preparation."

"In the past decade or so, the military grain allocated by the imperial court to the border troops has been insufficient year after year. Sometimes only 20% or 30% of it is allocated."

"The army is running low on food. What to do when a war breaks out? The imperial court has issued an order to 'collect food locally.' To put it bluntly, it means forcibly collecting food from the people at the border."

"The people at the border are suffering terribly. The imperial court has also issued a clear order that people at the border who flee will be treated as refugees and severely punished."

"Since ancient times, 'when the people suffer, evil spirits emerge'. The Yin Yang Sect took the opportunity to win over the poor people at the border."

"The poor people have no way to survive. Their only hope is for the Three Pure Ones to come down to earth to save them from suffering."

"If we, the local officials, strictly investigate the Yin Yang Sect and make every effort to eradicate it, wouldn't that cut off the people's hope? There might be a civil uprising!"

"The foreign enemy is strong. If there is another civil uprising, it will lead to a second Gengxu Rebellion!"

"There is no other way. We can only turn a blind eye and allow the Yin Yang Sect to grow stronger. As long as they don't openly incite the people to rebel, we won't care."

Lin Shisan said, "I see. I heard that the fake leader of the Yin Yang Sect, Yan Hao, can fly into the sky and hide underground, coming and going without a trace?"

Xu Zhizhou replied: "Where in the world is there a person who can fly? He just moves in secret and there are 100,000 superstitious followers who believe in him. Wherever he goes, the people help him cover his tracks."

Zhang Yun figured it out and said, "Inspector Lu Kai accused Shen Lian of colluding with Yan Hao to sell out the country. Are you trying to arrest Yan Hao to clear Shen Lian of the false accusation?"

Lin Shisan smiled slyly, "You are wrong, Eunuch Zhang. I am here to catch the best short-winged stove crickets. I am not here to clear anyone of any false accusations."

Zhang Yun understood immediately: "Ah, yes, yes. You are here to catch bugs."

Lin Shisan smiled and said, "The best short-winged stove crickets are produced outside Xuanfu City. So I will set off for Xuanfu tomorrow."

Zhang Yun said, "If you are in such a hurry, why don't you stay for two more days?"

Lin Shisan put down the lamb rib in his hand and said, "I'll stay at your yamen tonight. We'll set off at dawn tomorrow."

Zhang Yun reminded Lin Shisan: "Xuanfu, from local officials to border army commanders, is full of Yang Shun's men. You must build a good relationship with him when you go there to do your job."

"No. In a dangerous place like the border, it is common for imperial envoys to encounter bandits or foreign invaders and be killed."

Lin Shisan said, "Don't worry. I'm going to catch bugs, not to cause trouble for him. Governor Yang won't treat me as an enemy."

After the banquet, Lin Shisan returned to his bedroom and discussed with Zhang Bo and Sun Yue how to capture the evil Taoist Yan Hao.

Lin Shisan said, "According to what Xu Zhizhou said, it's not easy to catch Yan Hao. It's hard to find someone in such a vast border area. And it involves the common people. If we catch him, it might lead to a civil uprising."

Zhang Bo said, "There's no point worrying now. The Southern Pacification Office is in charge of border military affairs, and there is a secret 100-household unit lurking in Xuanfu. When we get to Xuanfu, we'll first contact the Southern Pacification Office comrades in the city."

Lin Shisan nodded: "Young Manager has given me the way to contact my comrades in the Southern Division of Xuanfu."

Sun Yue interrupted: "Master, are we really going to catch that fighting bug?"

Lin Shisan replied: "That is our official job, so of course we have to catch him. At least we have to put on a show for Governor Yang."

Zhang Bo stroked his white beard and said, "Hey, you are now a guest of honor in the Yan family, and you are also married. Yang Shunding treats you as his own. This is your advantage, you should make good use of it."

After the discussion, Lin Shisan, a Beijinger, was not used to the whole lamb feast at the border, so he had food stagnation. He went to the back hall to take a walk to digest the food.

By chance he saw Shen Lian sitting under a poplar tree, with three children standing in front of him.

The three children were nodding their heads and reciting Wen Tianxiang's Song of Righteousness: "Heaven and earth have righteousness, which is mixed and flowing. Above it is the rivers and mountains, below it is the sun and stars."

Lin Shisan walked over and said, "Mr. Shen, these three are your sons, right?"

Shen Lian nodded: "This is the eldest, Shen Xiang; this is the second, Shen Gun; this is the third, Shen Bao. You three, why don't you pay your respects to Lin Chuanfeng who came from the capital?"

The three children all bowed and said, "Greetings, Lin Chuanfeng."

Lin Shisan asked, "Did they just recite Wen Tianxiang's Song of Righteousness?"

Shen Lian explained: "This is an old rule in our Shen family. We must recite the Righteousness Song before going to bed."

Lin Shisan said: "So it's a family tradition."

Shen Lian asked: "When will you go to Xuanfu to catch insects?"

Lin Shisan replied, "We will set out early tomorrow morning. Mr. Shen, I advise you to stay well in the town supervisor's mansion with the three young masters for the next few days."

Shen Lian smiled and said, "Are you afraid that I'll be killed by someone out there?"

Lin Shisan said sternly, "Shen Jingli must not take it lightly. Those people are as ruthless as our Jinyiwei."

Shen Lian seemed dissatisfied: "The Yan family is the Yan family. As for 'those people', you are quite good at avoiding taboos."

Lin Shisan sighed: "Now the emperor still wants to use the Yan family. The Yan family is well-established in the court, so we have to avoid them."

Shen Lian said: "Don't worry. I, Shen Lian, am a cat, and I have nine lives. It is wishful thinking for them to secretly harm me. Only the emperor's decree can kill me!"

In fact, Shen Lian had been prepared to be beheaded by the Emperor Jiajing since he submitted the memorial. He wanted his death to be more valuable, not as light as a feather.

Those who devote themselves to the cause and face death with dignity are patriots.

It was late at night, Lin Shisan returned to his bedroom, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

The border is a dangerous place, and the soldiers on the border are ruthless and cruel, like wolves and tigers.

To clear Shen Lian's name would offend the Yan family. If the name is not cleared, the Jiajing Emperor and Lu Bing would not be able to report to him.

There is also the matter of catching Yan Hao, which is difficult in itself. If it is done too radically, it may lead to a civil uprising.

It’s difficult, difficult, really difficult!
Lin Shisan thought again: Since ancient times, wealth and honor have been sought through risk.

If I can catch Yan Hao, I can get rid of the Yin Yang Sect without causing a civil uprising, clear Shen Lian's name, and fool the Yan family.
This achievement is no less than finding the white deer!

(End of this chapter)