In the shooting range outside Jinan Prefecture, Li Zhi loaded his rifle with ammunition in one go, closed the rifle's scythe, and aimed the rifle at a target 200 meters away. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 He carefully aimed at the center of the target and slammed the trigger.

With a bang, the bullet hit the plank in the distance, shattering it and sending sawdust flying.

Zhong Feng arched his hand and said, "The division commander is good at marksmanship. There are many mountains and forests in Tai'an Prefecture, Jinan Prefecture, when is the division commander free, let's go to hunt some game to open meat? ”

Li Zhi smiled and said, "I've been very busy lately, I'm going back to Tianjin after Shandong's affairs are done, so let's go back next year." ”

Zhong Feng arched his hand and said no more.

After firing a few shots, Li Zhi stopped shooting and rode to the "Jinguo Mansion" in Jinan City.

After beheading Wang Yongji, Li Zhi's power in Shandong reached its peak. Whether it is Shandong's military, justice or public opinion, it is controlled by Li Zhi, and Li Zhi becomes the uncrowned king of Shandong, of course, he needs a yamen to manage it. Therefore, Li Zhi bought a magnificent Wujin courtyard in the city and renovated it, and built the "Jinguo Mansion" to manage various affairs in Shandong.

Li Zhi's honor guard drove to the south gate of Jinan City, and the soldiers on the city gate stood straight one by one with their heads held high. Now that Li Zhi is in power in Shandong, the local soldiers defending the city not only dare not resist Li Zhi anymore, but also regard Li Zhi as a superior.

The three guards rode in from the front, walked up to Li Zhi and said, "Grandpa Guo, the six prefects and more than a hundred prefects and counties have been waiting in the lobby of the mansion, and they have been waiting for an hour. ”

Li Zhi nodded and said, "Okay, let's go meet these civil officials." ”

Li Zhi didn't change his clothes, and walked into the lobby of the Jinguo Mansion with Zhong Feng. More than 100 magistrates saw Li Zhi's guard of honor and knew that this was the main master, and Hulala knelt on the ground. Li Zhi flicked his cloak, walked from the prostrate magistrate to the main seat, turned around and sat down.

Seeing Li Zhi sit down, Zhong Feng shouted, "Get up!" Get up! ”

Only then did the officials dare to get up and secretly look at Li Zhi with their eyes.

There are limited chairs in the main hall, and there are still places for the six prefects to sit, and more than 100 prefects and counties can only stand. In front of Li Zhi's dukedom, these governors and counties are also sesame officials, and they don't dare to complain if they don't have a place to sit.

Li Zhi glanced at the civil officials in the hall and said lightly: "I summoned you to Jinan today to discuss how to let the yamen in various places save money and support the court. ”

Hearing Li Zhi's words, the magistrates glanced at each other and knew that there was nothing good going on today. Li Zhi, the uncrowned king of Shandong, began to ask the magistrate for money.

After Li Zhi defeated Wang Yongji, the Son of Heaven withdrew his troops from Xianghe and then gave Li Zhi a holy decree. The decree did not mention the matter of the court, but strictly forbade Li Zhi to open a business tax and land tax in Shandong. Obviously, the Son of Heaven drew a red line for Li Zhi: Li Zhi can control Shandong's judiciary, but he can't further control Shandong's taxes.

Li Zhi knew that this red line he could not cross for the time being. The Son of Heaven has reached the point where he has garrisoned the Xianghe, and if he further collects taxes, I am afraid that the Son of Heaven will really send troops to attack.

But there are policies and countermeasures, and after Li Zhi beheaded the two governors, he shocked Shandong, so he naturally wanted to use this power to make some money. Since the Son of Heaven acquiesced in the existence of the court, Li Zhi was not ready to support the court out of his own pocket. The court is a public utility in Shandong, which benefits the entire society in Shandong, and of course should be supported by local finance.

There are nearly 10,000 people in the court system in Shandong, and 400,000 or 500,000 taels of silver are consumed a year, and Li Zhi is ready to apportionment this fee to the yamen in various places.

The prefect of Jinan Prefecture stood up with his hands and said slowly: "Jinguo Gongmingjian, now that the year is not good, disasters and famines are everywhere, and the finances of various places are very tight. Not only do they have to transfer and support the battalions and guards, but they also have to hand them over to the state, and they also have to pay the monthly salaries of the officials, so there is really no money to supply the Jinguo Public Court! ”

When the civil servants below heard this, they chimed in, saying:

"yes, I really don't have the money to wait."

"Poor, really poor!"

"Jinguo Gong Mingjian, we scrape the ground, and we can't get any silver."

Seeing the civil officials talking noisily, Zhong Feng, who was sitting next to Li Zhi, slapped the table and said loudly, "Did you let you speak?" ”

The civil officials had all heard of Zhong Feng's reputation as a murderer, and guessed that this general was probably Zhong Feng. They were so frightened by Zhong Feng's question that their heads shrank and they were silent one by one.

Li Zhi said with a smile: "I also know that all yamen are short of money, you don't need to worry, I have already thought of a way to save money for you!" ”

Li Zhi nodded and said: "Now that the court has been opened, the personnel of the torture wards of the various yamen are useless, and they will all be abolished." The money saved can be used to support the court. ”

In the Ming Dynasty, the local officials' yamen generally had six rooms, corresponding to the six departments of the imperial court, which were officials, households, rites, soldiers, criminals, and workers. Among them, the personnel of the criminal ward are in charge of civil and criminal cases, which coincides with the court function of Li Zhi.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the local yamen were inefficient, the personnel in the yamen were bloated, and there were often several hundred prison personnel in a county, and the team was very large. If all these people were to be dismissed, the silver saved would be enough to support Li Zhi's court.

When everyone heard Li Zhi's naked remarks about robbing money, they all frowned, but they didn't dare to object.

The governor of Linqing Prefecture was relatively bold, and he bowed his hand to the ranks, and said slowly: "Jinguo Gong Mingjian, the officials in the yamen are all old officials for decades, and they have nothing to do. If they are all dismissed at once, I am afraid that these people will lose their lives..."

Li Zhi nodded and said, "That's not bad, I suggest that you give each person ten taels of silver when you dismiss the officials." These people can learn some skills with the silver, whether they change their careers to become bookkeepers or do other things to make a living, ten taels of silver to support five or six months, and they can also find a way to live. ”

The governor of Linqing Prefecture hesitated for a while and said: "Although what the Duke of Jin Guo said is benevolent and righteous, this is another sum of silver, how can the yamen get it?" ”

When Li Zhi heard this, his face sank.

Zhong Feng saw Li Zhi's face, slapped the table angrily, and shouted: "Linqing Zhizhou, don't pretend to be poor in front of this official, you have a few thousand taels of silver a year to pass the lawsuit in the torture room." If it weren't for the fact that Jin Guogong didn't want to kill, he would have beheaded you with a knife. If you pretend to be poor again, you don't need it! ”

Hearing Zhong Feng's angry shout of killing gods, Lin Qing Zhizhou was so frightened that his legs trembled, and he knelt on the ground with a pop. He prostrate on the ground and said: "Don't worry, even if you don't eat or drink, I will save the silver and support the court career of Jin Guogong." ”

Li Zhi nodded and said, "Linqing Zhizhou is a good point. Who else has an opinion? ”

The magistrates looked at Li Zhi and then at Zhong Feng, and none of them dared to stand up against it.

Zhong Feng shouted: "Then let's say it, the yamen of each prefecture and county pay the court's expenses once a month. If you don't pay when due, don't blame the Tiger Master for demolishing your yamen. ”