Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

Historically, Qin Hui simply disliked this man and sent him to be a local official, but Yang Yuan ended up scaring himself to death.

Not only are they incompetent, but they are also cowardly.

Qin Hui put down Zhao Kai's "Crow Painting," sat upright in his chair, and asked, "Speak, what is it now?"

Yang Yuan sighed and said, "I dare not hide it from my master. I returned to the capital after the mourning period ended and reported to the Ministry of Personnel yesterday."

"The Ministry of Personnel said that my past performance was not good and that I should stay in the capital and wait for a vacancy. I wonder if my mentor could give me a chance."

Qin Hui chuckled and said, "I am the Minister of Revenue, how can I interfere in the affairs of the Ministry of Personnel?"

"You are truly useless. You passed the imperial examination of the former Song Dynasty, how come you can't even be a minor official in the prefecture?"

"It's because the subordinates in the government office are disobedient and their connections are so entrenched that they can't be commanded," Yang Yuan complained.

Qin Hui sneered: "To be manipulated by subordinates like this, utterly incompetent!"

Yang Yuan then took out ten Ming Dynasty banknotes: "I have heard that there are many official vacancies in Ningxia and Shaanxi after the destruction of Xia. I hope my esteemed teacher will be lenient."

"This disciple doesn't ask for much; a position as a judge in a remote prefecture is enough. I ask for nothing else but to avoid wasting time waiting in vain."

Qin Hui glanced at the banknotes; they were a full five thousand strings of cash. He thought to himself that the Yang family was indeed wealthy merchants, even giving so much to a magistrate in a remote prefecture.

The Ming Dynasty was not like the former Song Dynasty; it investigated corruption more strictly.

Officials will definitely be corrupt, but they are very discreet about it.

How much profit can a judge in a remote and impoverished region make?

Unless you're extremely greedy, it's hard to break even after serving a full term.

Under normal circumstances, Qin Hui would not have accepted this money.

However, Yang Yuan's situation was rather special. This guy had enough experience to be an official, and he was blocked by the Ministry of Personnel after his mourning period was over.

Even if Qin Hui doesn't intervene, it'll probably take a year or two before the shortage is resolved normally.

It's easy to do favors when it's convenient; the official in charge of personnel will give you face.

What's more, Yang Yuan secretly gave his niece to Qin Hui as a concubine.

Qin Hui put away the banknotes and instructed, "After you take office, be more discreet."

Yang Yuan replied, "This disciple understands."

In terms of corruption, Qin Hui still trusted Yang Yuan quite much.

Chapter 3876 Forcing the People to Rebel

How could a cowardly fellow dare to be so greedy when faced with a court that is cracking down on corruption?

To put it another way, over the past decade, Yang Yuan has given Qin Hui numerous bribes.

They haven't even recouped their investment through embezzlement yet.

He's not short of money at home, yet he's ambitious and eager to climb the social ladder—a total careerist.

Even Yang Yuan was able to enter the Imperial Academy through the self-funded student route.

He then bribed Wang Fu's cronies to pass the Imperial Academy's examination and obtain the title of Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations).

He continued to send money and stayed at the Imperial Academy, where he became a minor official.

He's paved his way with money for almost twenty years, but he still hasn't even become a state judge.

After giving a few more instructions, Qin Hui sent Yang Yuan away.

As Qin Hui rose in rank and gained power, his audacity grew.

He used to keep all the money he had amassed in a small house he had secretly bought, but now he was keeping it directly in the Minister's official residence.

He's still in his hometown of Jiangning, buying land and building a luxury mansion, waiting to go back and live there after retirement.

They then sent people back to their ancestral home to carry out extensive repairs to the ancestral graves and their father's grave, figuring that since the emperor was far away and there was no way anything could go wrong.

After putting away the precious banknotes, Qin Hui admired the "Crow Painting" once more.

He really liked Zhao Kai's paintings; they were strange yet had a touch of the wicked, possessing a rebellious beauty.

Qin Hui spread out paper, ground ink, and began to imitate the painting techniques.

But something just doesn't feel right; I can never capture the essence of Zhao Kai's style.

"It's a pity this person is a member of the former Song imperial family, otherwise I would definitely invite him to learn from him." Qin Hui said with great regret.

The next day, Qin Hui summoned a trusted confidant and ordered him to handle the matter.

It's a trivial matter; Qin Hui doesn't need to get involved, and he doesn't even need to pay anything.

Send a trusted confidant to treat the Director of the Personnel Selection Department of the Ministry of Personnel to a meal, and while you're at it, listen to some music.

Given Yang Yuan's own official qualifications, he was already qualified to take up the post of prefectural judge. He simply hoped that the Ministry of Personnel would stop deliberately blocking him.

This is not against the rules!

Of course, this is on the premise that the imperial court does not investigate strictly; once it does, the matter can be escalated to a major level.

……

Yang Yuan stayed in the capital and waited anxiously, but no news came.

Although the official in charge of personnel selection at the Ministry of Personnel readily agreed to help, there was indeed no actual vacancy available at the moment.

Until early winter, the prefect of Xuanzhou suffered from acclimatization problems.

Yang Yuan fell seriously ill and requested leave to recuperate, but was surprisingly appointed as the prefect of Xuanzhou.

Although he didn't know where Xuanzhou was, Yang Yuan was still extremely excited.

He only wanted to be a prefectural judge, but he was appointed as a prefectural governor!

This guy excitedly went to the Ministry of Personnel to complete the formalities and check the information about Xuanzhou, and then he was dumbfounded.

Xuanzhou is Zhongwei City. Zhu Ming changed the name because it originated from Xuanjuan County in the Han Dynasty.

This prefecture has only two counties: Yingli County, which is attached to the prefectural city, and Mingsha County, which is south of Qingtongxia.

Both counties are only relatively "prosperous" along the Yellow River; the rest are mountainous areas, deserts, and grasslands without any county status.

No wonder he was appointed as the prefect; this place is too small, too poor, and too remote.

Although he was called a prefect, his rank was actually similar to that of a normal prefectural judge.

Yang Yuan feigned illness and refused to leave Luoyang, but Qin Hui sent someone to reprimand him, so he had no choice but to set off before the snow fell.

He was blocked by heavy snow before he even reached Lanzhou, and it wasn't until the snow melted in the spring that he was able to continue his journey to his new post.

Outside Xuanzhou City.

Li Xian, the former prefect who had fallen ill and requested leave, waited until the snow melted before leaving by boat, turning back to look at the prefecture city with a cold smile.

Chapter 3877 Colluding with each other

Something bad was bound to happen here sooner or later; the prefect and the commander were far too greedy!

Li Xian was delayed by some travel matters and took office a month late last year.

After serving as an official in Xuanzhou for only a few days, he sensed something was wrong; the accounts for money and grain did not match at all.

The prefectural judge and the commander invited him for drinks. Li Xian asked very cryptic questions, but they directly got to the point.

Commander Pu Quan, without any hesitation, said with a smile, "I joined the army in Bazhou and served under Li Shumi (Li Bao).

“Before the Emperor Emeritus even became Emperor, I was already Li Shumi’s personal guard, and I knew several princes and dukes.”

"Who are these people? They're all remnants of the Western Xia. It would be better if more of them starved to death!"

"Especially those herding tribes, even if they all rebel, my five hundred soldiers can wipe them out, and I can even earn merit then."

Li Xian was dumbfounded. He deliberately withheld disaster relief grain and the food of the laborers, so as to force the farmers and herdsmen of Western Xia to rebel and then quell the rebellion to gain merit!

This is a really risky move; one wrong move and it could have been a disaster.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Li Xian quietly approached the prefectural magistrate, Yan Shunqing: "Magistrate Yan, aren't you afraid of losing your head for doing something like this?"

Yan Shunqing said, "When I took office, the accounts were already out of balance."

"That man surnamed Pu has five hundred soldiers stationed here, and he was originally Li Shumi's personal guard. Can I really report him to the court?"

“Commander Pu is right. They are all remnants of the Western Xia. It’s good to force them to rebel and then slaughter them.”

"At that time, we civil officials will also be able to help quell the rebellion and make contributions."

Li Xian fell seriously ill that very night and remained ill for two whole months. He was unable to handle any government affairs and had to delegate all his responsibilities to the state judge.

Feeling that he would not recover from his illness in a short time, he wrote to the Governor-General's Office of Ningxia, claiming that he was suffering from acclimatization problems and requesting to return to his hometown to recuperate.

He was only granted permission by the imperial court after it snowed, and could only continue to recuperate and wait for the snow to melt.

Li Bao's personal guards were not to be trifled with, and he didn't want to clash with the army, so he simply stayed far away from them.

The former prefect, Li Xian, has left, and the new prefect, Yang Yuan, has arrived.

Upon arriving at the banks of the Yellow River, Yang Yuan was pleasantly surprised to find that the place was not as poor as he had imagined.

Yang Yuan had a long and arduous journey and needed to rest for a full two weeks before he could handle official business.

It wasn't until his second month in office that Yang Yuan finally discovered the discrepancies in the accounts.

Yes, the accounts are actually correct, but the amount of money and grain in the warehouse is incorrect!

Yang Yuan quickly found the prefectural judge Yan Shunqing, who then brought over the commander Pu Quan.

The two of them repeated the same explanation.

Yang Yuan asked, "If the imperial court investigates, how will you settle the accounts?"

"You not only embezzled disaster relief grain, but also pocketed most of the other funds!"

Pu Quan laughed and said, "If those tribes rebel, we can just lead troops to suppress them and settle the score. We can just blame everything on the rebels."

"This...this is too audacious!" Yang Yuan was incredibly timid.

Pu Quan said, "When we were stationed in Shaanxi before, we would never have dared to do this."

"But this is the former territory of Western Xia, and the outside is full of Western Xia remnants, not our Han Chinese. What are we afraid of, a bunch of Tangut barbarians?"

Yang Yuan asked, "Xuanzhou only has five hundred garrison troops. What if those Dangxiang tribes attack?"

Pu Quan said, "The soldiers of our Great Ming are all capable of fighting a hundred men each, and five hundred garrison troops are more than enough to quell the rebellion."

"Really?" Yang Yuan was somewhat skeptical.

Chapter 3878 An Earthquake Is Coming

Pu Quan laughed and said, "What do you know about military affairs with that big turban?"

Yang Yuan thought about the Ming army's past victories and subconsciously nodded in belief.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Yan Shunqing said, "The prefect is the chief official here, why don't we do this business together?"

"Not only can you make money, but you can also share in the credit for suppressing the rebellion."

Yang Yuan's family is very wealthy from their business dealings, so he doesn't really care how much he can embezzle.

But the phrase "to share in the credit for suppressing the rebellion" made Yang Yuan's eyes light up.

He has been an official for nearly twenty years, but what he lacks is political achievements and merits. He must seize this opportunity as soon as possible.

A group of remnants of the Western Xia, a group of Tangut barbarians, killing them is no big deal, can the imperial court blame them?

Yang Yuan downed a glass of baijiu to bolster his courage, slammed his fist on the table, and said, "I'll work with you guys!"

……

March, Yinchuan Prefecture.

Governor Zhao Ding personally inspected the spring plowing, accompanied not only by some officials but also by hundreds of cavalrymen.

Last year's war delayed the farming season, and the replanting of grain was met with drought, resulting in a severe crop failure in Ningxia.

Many grasslands have turned yellow and withered. Herdsmen receive livestock but have no fodder, so the livestock cannot produce milk or gain weight and can only be eaten one by one.