(Please add it to your favorites, click it, recommend it, and support me from readers.)

Wu Zongrui's first feeling in Anyuan County was disappointment. The county was not big, and there was no traffic at all. The streets were a bit deserted, with not many pedestrians coming and going. Both sides of the street were basically low-rise houses, and there were many houses.

Already looking dilapidated, Dongzhi Street and Nanzhi Street in the county also look ordinary.

Think about it, Anyuan County, which belongs to Ganzhou, is in the south of Jiangxi, close to Guangdong and Guangxi. The Guangdong and Guangxi areas in the Ming Dynasty were by no means a wealthy place. Except for a few prosperous cities such as Guangzhou Prefecture, other places were desolate.

.

Even before crossing over, Jiangxi Province was not a particularly developed region in the country.

After figuring this out, Wu Zongrui felt relieved.

The county government office is located at the middle end of Dongzhi Street and in the middle of the entire county.

There was not much trouble when I received the banknotes. The household clerk responsible for distributing the banknotes looked at Wu Zongrui a few more times with a smile on his face. In fact, he knew Wu Zongrui. When Wu Zongrui took the county examination, he was only eleven years old.

Later, he took the government examination and the hospital examination one after another, and became a clerk at the age of fourteen. Officials in the yamen will naturally remember such a person.

The clerk of the house would never offend Wu Zongrui. Who knows whether he will have a bright future in the future. If he reaches out to take advantage of such a promising scholar, if he becomes prosperous, he will not know how he will die.

The officials have been in the county government for decades and have become very polished. They know who they can't afford to offend.

After walking out of the house, there was a corridor in front of him. At this time, Wu Zongrui should have turned around and headed towards the door on the right, left the county government office, went to the county school to report, and then went home. However, after thinking for a while, he walked to the door on the left

direction, heading straight towards the Yimen.

After passing Yimen, you will find the lobby of the county government.

The ceremonial gate is generally not opened, but the corner doors on the left and right of the ceremonial gate are always open. Unless officials from above go to the county government for inspection, the county government will open the ceremonial gate to greet them. At normal times, the ceremonial gate is always closed.

Wu Zongrui entered easily through the corner door on the left.

A huge Jieshifang appeared in front of us. After bypassing the Jieshifang, we found the county government hall.

"Who dares to break into the county government office without permission?"

Wu Zongrui was wondering why the county government office, which looked extremely strict from the outside, could not see many people walking around inside. It was quite quiet. You must know that before Wu Zongrui entered the gate of the county government office, he accepted many questions from the guard sergeant.

Looking at the imposing middle-aged man wearing a long gown in front of him, Wu Zongrui cupped his fists and spoke.

"Wu Zongrui, a student at Xinlongli Linshan in Xinlong Township, after receiving the Linshan silver, made a special trip to the county government office to pay a visit to his mentor, Mr. Shen."

"Oh, you are a linshan student and you just received linyin."

Probably because Wu Zongrui is too young, the middle-aged people are a little surprised. However, Jiangxi Province has too many outstanding scholars. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Jiangxi has had 38 top candidates in imperial examinations, second only to Nanzhili.

, so at Wu Zongrui's age, it is not too amazing to become a linshan student. After all, the provincial examination, the general examination and the palace examination are the most critical.

"Yes, I just received the silver."

"When you came to see Mr. Shen, did you report to the county government office?"

"I haven't reported it yet, but I got the recommendation from Mr. Zeng, a sociologist, and made a special trip to visit Mr. Shen."

While Wu Zongrui was talking, he took out Mr. Zeng's letter from his arms and handed it to the middle-aged man respectfully.

In fact, when Wu Zongrui came to the county government this time and made a special trip to meet with Anyuan County Magistrate Shen Kefeng, Wu Zongrui had carefully considered it.

If we first go to the county government’s Dianshi Yamen to report and ask to see the county magistrate Shen Kefeng, it is basically impossible to see him, and Mr. Zeng’s letter is unlikely to be delivered to Shen Kefeng. Moreover, in order to do so, Wu Zongrui would need to take it out. A small amount of money must be managed up and down. It is said that the king of hell is easy to meet and the devil is difficult to deal with. Those clever monkey-like officials in the county government must make things difficult in every possible way and use this opportunity to make a small fortune.

The key is that if you give away the money, you may not be able to see the county magistrate.

We can only take advantage of this opportunity to receive Lin Yin, enter the county government office, and try our luck in the government office.

Wu Zongrui had the honor of being a diner. According to the provisions of the Ming Dynasty Law, it was not a crime to come to the county government office to meet the magistrate. At most, the magistrate just refused to meet him.

The middle-aged man looked at Wu Zongrui carefully and accepted the letter with some hesitation.

"You wait here, remember, don't move around, otherwise I will send people to kick you out."

"Thank you so much. I will never move around."

The middle-aged man turned around and headed towards the wing at the rear right of the lobby.

If nothing unexpected happens, the county magistrate Shen Kefeng should rest in the second hall of the county government office, or in the wing in front of the second hall.

The surroundings became quiet again, but Wu Zongrui fell into deep thought.

Shen Kefeng, the magistrate of Anyuan County, was a top three scholar in the palace examination in the 47th year of Wanli, and became the magistrate of Anyuan County in the 3rd year of Tianqi.

If it hadn't been for the peasant uprising in Ganzhou and the capture of Anyuan County, this Shen Kefeng might have been like the other top-notch Jinshi who were not taken seriously and had few connections, slowly struggling to become an official. If he was lucky, he would become a Beijing official and become an official. .

Unfortunately, farmers in Ganzhou rioted and captured Anyuan County. The county magistrate, Shen Kefeng, failed to defend the city and escaped. After the court put down the rebellion, Shen Kefeng was relieved of his official position as Anyuan County Magistrate. After that, Shen Kefeng disappeared. , there is no record in the history books.

According to records in Ming history, the Ganzhou peasant uprising broke out in early April of the first year of Chongzhen. On April 11, the rioting peasants captured Anyuan County. In other words, in more than two months, Anyuan County would suffer heavy losses.

Wu Zongrui, who knew this period of history, had mixed feelings. There were many theories about Shen Kefeng, the magistrate of Anyuan County. The one considered the most authoritative was that Shen Kefeng provoked the mob to revolt because of excessive taxation.

However, after careful consideration, this statement is not valid. The most important point is that the riots did not start in Anyuan County. The leader of the rebel army, Duotianwang, was not from Anyuan County, but from Xinfeng County under the jurisdiction of Ganzhou. Moreover, the riots started first Originated from Xinfeng County.

In early April, the government began to collect land taxes, and the desperate farmers were angry and revolted. This is understandable, but it is too far-fetched to say that Anyuan County Magistrate Shen Kefeng collected land taxes violently. After all, governments at all levels in Ganzhou collected land taxes in accordance with the requirements of the court.

Moreover, after the incident, when Jiangxi Governor Hong Zhanzu reported the entire incident to the court, he did not mention Shen Kefeng's violent expropriation.

Hong Zhanzu was not trying to protect Shen Kefeng. He wished he could pass all the responsibilities onto Shen Kefeng so that he could be more clean.

As for why the mob attacked Anyuan County, there is no record in the history books.

The sound of slight footsteps sounded. Wu Zongrui looked up and saw the middle-aged man walking towards him in a hurry.

"You come with me, Mr. Shen is in the second hall."

Wu Zongrui nodded slightly, followed the middle-aged man, bypassed the lobby, and came to the front of a row of wing rooms.

"Wait here."

Behind the wing is the second hall of the county government office, where the magistrate conducts official business on weekdays.

The middle-aged man looked at Wu Zongrui, turned around and walked into the side room.

The surroundings were still very quiet, which almost made Wu Zongrui hallucinate. Could it be that there was no one in the county government office.

After waiting for about half an hour, footsteps finally sounded again.

It was still the middle-aged man who walked out of the side room.

"Master Shen is attending to official duties. I would like to take some time to see you. If you have anything to say, please tell me directly. Don't waste Master Shen's time."

"I understand, thank you sir for your advice..."

"I'm not an adult. I'm Master Shen's assistant. It's your luck that you met me, otherwise you wouldn't even think about meeting Master Shen."

Wu Zongrui nodded repeatedly, casually took out a cloth bag from his arms, and naturally stuffed it into Master Zhezhuo.

"I got to see Mr. Shen today. Thank you Master for taking care of me."

Master Zhe did not refuse. He gently weighed the bag with his right hand and then put it into his arms.

"Mr. Shen is very busy. The county government is about to start collecting land taxes. There are many things that need to be dealt with. Mr. Shen will not meet guests easily. You are lucky. What do you have? To make a long story short, Mr. Shen has no requirements for me and others.

It's very strict. You can see that the entire county government is a little quiet. We have to do our best every day to handle official duties..."

Wu Zongrui listened carefully and nodded slightly.

Seeing is believing. Judging from the situation in the county government, Wu Zongrui is even more suspicious of the speculation in the history books. Of course, judging from this that Shen Kefeng is pragmatic and honest is a bit hasty and impossible, but at least he can feel it.

, Shen Kefeng, the magistrate of Anyuan County, is by no means a showy person.

It is impossible for officials in the late Ming Dynasty to be very honest. From top to bottom, the habit of corruption has affected too many people. Being an official for thousands of miles is just for money. If you study hard for ten years in Hanchuang, you will still live a good life after being named on the gold list.

Living a miserable life and not even being able to support his family, no one would be willing to serve as such an official.

There was only one official like Hai Rui in the Ming Dynasty that lasted for hundreds of years.

Historical descriptions must not be disbelieved, nor must they be fully believed, especially many records of Ming history, because they were written by the Qing court after the fall of the Ming Dynasty. For their own benefit, the Qing court would tamper with many of the contents.

Later research also showed that many records of Ming history were indeed deliberately tampered with by the Qing court.

After bypassing the wing, passing through the door, we finally arrived in front of the second hall.

Compared with the larger hall, the second hall is smaller in size.

The lobby is where cases are heard and notices are issued, and public government affairs are handled here. The second hall is where the magistrate arranges work tasks and handles official duties. As for the third hall, it is relatively secretive, and you can enter the third hall to discuss matters.

It shows that you are the most trusted and closest person to the county magistrate.

Master Zhezhi calmed down the expression on his face and made a quiet gesture towards Wu Zongrui.
Chapter completed!