When Yang Feng found Xia Dayan, he was eating in his back hall, and when the maid informed him that Yang Feng had come to the outer hall, he quickly put down the dishes and chopsticks, grabbed the silk scarf handed over by the maid, wiped his mouth indiscriminately, and hurried out.

Soon, Xia Dayan's voice came from outside the door: "Hahaha...... Why does Xia Guan feel that the magpies outside the courtyard are screaming all the time today, and the feeling is that the Hou Ye is coming. ”

Yang Feng, who walked side by side with Xia Dayan, smiled: "Lord Xia has won the award, but it was abrupt, and I hope Lord Xia will not be surprised." ”

While talking, the two of them walked to the backyard to listen, and when they saw the three dishes and one soup on the table that had not been eaten, Yang Feng was slightly stunned, and then nodded and said: "I didn't expect Lord Xia, as the governor of a province, to live so frugally, which can be called thrifty." ”

Xia Dayan waved his hand, "Master Hou has a good reputation, he lives in the world for an autumn, eating and drinking is just a trivial matter, he can fill his stomach, and he doesn't care much about the desire to go down...... Master Hou, please take a seat! ”

"Please!"

After the two sat down, a graceful maid hurriedly served the tea, and then stood behind Xia Dayan, and it could be seen that this was Xia Dayan's personal maid.

Yang Feng glanced at the maid twice when he took the tea, and with the vision that Yang Feng had cultivated in the flowers over the years, he could see at a glance that this maid who was only fifteen or sixteen years old was no longer perfect.

Yang Feng glanced at Xia Dayan with a smile, but he didn't expect Xia Dayan to be fifty or sixty years old, but he was not old-hearted, and he could still put it into action, which was impressive.

Xia Dayan, who was almost an old man, naturally understood the meaning of Yang Feng's gaze, and coughed lightly twice in embarrassment: "Master Hou, I don't know why you came here today?" ”

"There is indeed something I want to discuss with Lord Xia."

Yang Feng retracted his gaze, and his expression became serious: "Lord Xia, you must also know that Ben Hou is going to prepare to lead the Fujian Navy Division to expedition to Nanyang, what Ben Hou is worried about is that there will be changes in Fujian after Ben Hou leaves, and Ben Hou will be far away in Nanyang at that time, so that some unpredictable consequences will occur." ”

Xia Dayan understood as soon as he heard it, and he immediately said: "Master Hou, the officials in other places don't know, but the confidence of the officials of the Fujian local government is still somewhat binding, and Lord Ding and Master Tu are also sensible people, and we have cooperated quite happily over the years, so the officials think that there will be no chaos." ”

Yang Feng shook his head: "Ben Hou naturally trusts a few adults, but there are no absolutes, what Ben Hou is worried about is that after Ben Hou leaves, there will be changes in the imperial court, you must know that in a few months, Jingchake will start." ”

"Hiss......"

When Xia Dayan heard this, his expression was condensed, and then he slapped his thigh, "Why did Xia Guan forget this stubble." ”

The Jingcha mentioned here is a kind of evaluation system for officials in the Ming Dynasty.

Just as modern civil servants often write work reports and year-end summaries, officials in the Ming Dynasty were also under pressure to evaluate KPIs. In order to strengthen the management of officials, the Ming Dynasty stipulated that officials in the north and south of Beijing and various places should be inspected every six years, which was called "Jingcha". During the Beijing inspection, the officials above the fourth rank were personally inspected by the emperor, and the officials below the fourth rank were inspected by the Ministry of Officials and the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

The idea of the system is beautiful, but the implementation is very skinny, especially the inspection of officials above the fourth rank is completely reduced to a formality, because the way of Jingcha is very problematic. Jingcha mainly used the form of the courtiers to write "Zi Chen Shu", and the courtiers themselves reported to the emperor all kinds of shortcomings in the past six years of work, hoping that the emperor could oust him. After reading Zi Chen Shu, the emperor usually encouraged his courtiers and then kept them in office.

In the end, the Jingcha system evolved into a farce that was staged every six years, with the ministers desperately resigning, and the emperor refusing to let him live or die. Under normal circumstances, Kyocha is just a joke.

But there are no absolutes, everything has two sides, and when the above intends to move you, Jingcha becomes a sharp blade, which will kill.

In the past, although Fujian was close to the sea, it was hilly and mountainous, the land was poor and sparsely populated, and the economy was very underdeveloped, so the bigwigs of the imperial court looked down on it. But today's Fujian is different, after Yang Feng's construction in the past two years and the establishment of the customs, now Fujian's coastal cities such as Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Xiamen and other coastal cities have become important ports for merchants such as Daming and Nanyang, Fusang and Obaro.

According to statistics, last year, the Fujian Customs received more than 12 million taels of commercial taxes, and in addition to the 70 percent that was handed over to the imperial court, and the Jiang Ning Army to which Yang Feng belonged and the Fujian Navy Division withheld 20 percent, the remaining 10 percent was the welfare returned to the government in various parts of Fujian.

Don't underestimate this cheng, even if it is one percent, it is one million and two hundred thousand taels of silver. You must know that when Yang Feng first came to this time and space, the annual tax of the Ming Dynasty was more than five million taels of silver.

Now 1.2 million taels of silver are distributed to the government offices in various places, which is enough to make the officials of the local government eat with their mouths full of oil. What's more, this is the legitimate income of the government, which can be spent openly, so the official position in Fujian is now a fat gap that many people yearn for.

But since ancient times, the official position has been a radish and a pit, you occupy a seat, and others will have a less seat. In the past, when Yang Feng was there, he could also use his "murderous name" to suppress those greedy people, but if Yang Feng was not there, it would not be necessarily.

Xia Dayan thought for a while, if he didn't do it as a governor, he would have to be taken down, after all, as the old saying goes, "A good wine and a red face, and wealth is moving." The annual income of millions of taels of silver is enough to make countless people crazy, and they will be red in exchange for themselves.

Thinking of this, Xia Dayan was shocked, the problem now is not only the problem of someone reaching out to the Jiangning Army and the Fujian Navy, one is not good, I am afraid that even his position as governor will not be guaranteed.

He hurriedly arrived: "Master Hou, this matter is very important, we have to invite Master Ding and Master Tu to come over and discuss it together." ”

"That's right!"

Half an hour later, Ding Youwen, the political envoy of Fujian, and Tu Hongliang, the envoy of the inspection department, also rushed here. These two old fritters, who have also worked hard in officialdom for half their lives, are so shrewd, as soon as they heard Xia Dayan say that Jingcha will start in a few months, they immediately understood.

Xia Dayan stroked his beard and said slowly: "The old man is just sixty this year, and he will return to his hometown in five years." Over the years, the old man has been used to staying in Fujian, and he doesn't want to move his nest anymore, I don't know what the two adults think? ”

Ding Youwen also nodded: "It is still more than ten years before the official returns to his hometown, but now Fujian can have such a situation is also the result of the joint efforts of the official and his colleagues. ”

Tu Hongliang followed up and said: "What the two adults said is exactly what the official thinks, anyway, the lower official will not go anywhere, so he will stay in Fujian." ”

Yang Feng glanced at him: "I'm afraid that I won't be able to help you when the time comes, and the imperial court will send down a paper order, is it possible that Lord Tu still wants to resist the decree?" ”

"I ......"

Tu Hongliang was a little speechless for a while, the reason why no one grabbed this position with them in the past was because Fujian was poor, and no one looked down on it, but now it is different, Fujian has become a hen that lays golden eggs, I don't know how many pairs of greedy eyes are staring at this reason, can they really stay here?

But in the end, it's an old fritter, and when he saw Yang Feng sitting leisurely on the side, Tu Hongliang's eyes lit up. They can't bear the pressure from the imperial court, but the person in front of them, with his personal relationship with the emperor, if he is willing to speak for them, presumably no one will be able to shake their position.

What Tu Hongliang could think of, Ding Youwen and Xia Dayan could naturally think of, and soon the three of them glanced at each other, and Xia Dayan coughed lightly and said to Yang Feng.

"Master Hou, presumably you didn't come here today to entertain the three of you, if you have any orders, just give your orders."

Yang Feng smiled slightly, it seems that Lao Xia is an understanding person, he said with a straight face: "Since Lord Xia has said something, then I will say a few words." Now everyone in Fujian also knows that the annual customs tax is not a small amount, and there are many people who are red-eyed.

Ben Hou has heard that a few days ago, someone in the court said that the three adults have come to Fujian for a long time, whether to transfer the three adults to other places to serve, His Majesty has asked Ben Hou about this matter, Ben Hou said that the three adults have been in Fujian for a long time, they know the situation in Fujian very well, and they are also very supportive of Ben Hou's affairs, so His Majesty will leave the excerpt in the middle for the time being.

In this way, I will send a fold to His Majesty tomorrow to intercede for the three adults, but I dare not guarantee whether it will be successful or not. ”

Hearing this, the hearts of the three of them breathed a sigh of relief, as long as Yang Feng was willing to intercede for them, there would be no problem.

"But!"

Immediately afterwards, Yang Feng said again: "I also have something I want to ask a few adults to help." ”

"Master Hou, please speak!"

Xia Dayan also said with a straight face.

Ben Hou will go on an expedition to Nanyang in a few days, and Ben Hou will not be there at that time, and many of the families of Jiang Ningjun and Fujian Navy soldiers are in Fujian, and I hope that the three adults can help take care of it, I don't know if it is possible.

It turned out that this was the case, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief, Tu Hongliang patted his chest and said: "Although Master Hou can rest assured, they are all the families of the Ming soldiers, and the local government has the responsibility to protect their safety, as long as the lower officials are still in Fujian for one day, they will be safer for one day." ”

"One more thing." Yang Feng said solemnly: "It's about the customs, the customs is about whether the Daming treasury is full, I don't know how many pairs of eyes are staring at it, if someone dares to fight its idea, how many adults know what to do?" ”

"Xia Guan understands!" Tu Hongliang's eyes showed a murderous aura, it was about his money bag, so he naturally did not flinch: "Whoever dares to spy on the customs, the officials in Fujian will never give up with him!" ”