White-robed Minister

0020 [Meeting with Yu Jing]

A clerk led them through the door.

Yang Shu had never been to the inner area before, and he looked around curiously along the way.

The buildings ahead are the headquarters of the Guangdong Provincial Military Commission, with the administration hall and the pacification hall surrounding it; it is the core office area of ​​the Guangdong Provincial Military Commission. However, Yu Jing himself does not usually come here.

After going around these buildings, there's another doorway ahead.

The interior is deep and spacious, with pavilions, towers, bridges, and flowing water, resembling a garden.

This place is called West Garden, which was the royal garden of the Southern Han regime and is now an affiliated garden of the Military Commissioner. There is also a similar garden to the east, East Garden.

Outside the garden, there are many buildings.

A middle-aged scholar was already standing there waiting.

This middle-aged scholar was a privately hired advisor of Yu Jing. The clerk immediately bowed upon seeing him: "Mr. Chu, the person has been brought."

"Thank you for your trouble." Mr. Chu smiled and nodded.

The clerk bowed and withdrew.

Mr. Chu then said to Xu Lai and the others, "Please follow me."

He led the group through the tent flap and they soon arrived at a hall.

Xu Lai looked up and saw the words "Jingjian Hall" engraved on the lintel.

An elderly man dressed in a purple robe and wearing a jade belt was sitting behind a desk handling official business.

"This is Master Yu," Mr. Chu introduced, then walked straight to the table next to him, laid out paper, picked up a pen, and prepared to take notes.

Yu Shanyuan stepped forward, bowed, and said, "This junior, Yu Shanyuan, has come on the orders of Magistrate Shen of Qingyuan County to deliver an official letter to the Maritime Trade Office. I also have important matters to report to you, sir!"

Referring to oneself as a junior?

Yu Jing carefully examined Yu Shanyuan, who did seem somewhat familiar, but he couldn't quite place him: "Are you from Shaozhou?"

Yu Shanyuan replied, "When you were in mourning for your father, I had the opportunity to study under you on the Spring Festival. Fortunately, you guided me, and I passed the imperial examinations twice. However, my family is poor, so I had to find a job to make a living."

Yu Jing was in mourning for his father and only spent one Spring Festival at home before being forced to go on a campaign against Nong Zhigao.

That was the only Spring Festival he had spent in his hometown in the last twenty years, so it left a very deep impression on him. At that time, more than a dozen younger people came to him for advice, and perhaps the man in front of him was one of them.

Yu Jing's expression softened, and he nodded, saying, "The quota for Shaozhou is indeed difficult to obtain."

Due to the quota system, there were many people who migrated during the Song Dynasty through the imperial examinations, and Yu Jing himself was one of them.

However, Yu Jing was different from the Su brothers; the former was forced to immigrate, while the latter immigrated voluntarily.

At that time, Yu Jing could not obtain the quota for Shaozhou, and coincidentally, the imperial court opened a special examination.

To participate in the imperial examinations, one needed a recommendation from an official.

Yu Jing heard that the registrar of Qujiang had a quota for recommendations, so he went to pull strings. Unexpectedly, the registrar of Qujiang dared to compete with the prefect of Shaozhou for the quota. The prefect was furious and brought up past grievances, resulting in the registrar of Qujiang being dismissed from his post.

Yu Jing was implicated by the registrar of Qujiang and directly lost his eligibility for the imperial examination.

Forced to change his name, he went to Jiangxi to take the imperial examination, which was more difficult, and surprisingly, he passed all the tests. During the Qingli Reforms, his political enemies brought up this incident and impeached him, and Yu Jing, who had just made a great contribution, was demoted to a sinecure.

Yu Shanyuan said, "Having served as an official for several years, I intend to continue my studies in the imperial examinations."

Yu Jing nodded approvingly: "The imperial examination should be the priority. If you return to Shaozhou, you are welcome to borrow and copy from my family's library. I'll give you a note later."

Is it just borrowing books?

of course not!

Once the news spreads that Yu Shanyuan can freely borrow books from the library in Yu Jing's hometown, he will surely be granted a special quota when he passes the imperial examination.

Unless he happens to be a political enemy, the prefect of Shaozhou would have to give Yu Jing face.

Yu Shanyuan quickly expressed his gratitude for the "kindness of lending the book," as he had already achieved his primary goal for the trip.

Yu Jing looked at the rest of the group: "And who are you all?"

Yang Shu stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Student Yang Shu greets Master Yu!"

Well, the one who called himself a junior just now, and now this one is calling himself a student.

Yu Jing asked, "Are you a student from the state?"

Yang Shu replied, "I entered the prefectural school three years ago and passed the provincial examination this year, but I did not pass the preliminary examination. Because my classmate repeatedly boasted about his passing score and publicly ridiculed my failure to pass, I beat him up."

"Oh, it was you." Yu Jing also remembered it.

During the Jiayou era, there were no full-time educational officials, and professors at the prefectural schools were not considered officials; they were usually appointed by the prefect. As long as one had the prefect's approval, anyone could become the principal of the prefectural school.

Some state schools did not even have a professor (principal) position. Instead, the prefectural governor served as the principal, and the students managed the school themselves—such as the Hangzhou state school at that time.

The principal of the Guangzhou Prefectural School had previously been an official in mourning.

After the mourning period ended, the principal resigned and ran away, and a suitable new principal has not been found to date.

Therefore, the order to expel student Yang Shu was personally signed and confirmed by Yu Jing. How could he not remember it?

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Yang Shu subtly complained: "My classmate was spouting nonsense, claiming that his quota was given by the prefectural magistrate, leading people to mistakenly believe that the magistrate accepted a bribe. Magistrate Zhao is honest and selfless; how could he possibly accept a bribe? To protect Magistrate Zhao's reputation, I beat him up in public."

Yu Jing frowned slightly, already understanding what was going on.

The quota for pardons was mainly controlled by the prefect, but it was customary to distribute some to other officials as well. It was common for prefectural judges to use these quotas for bribery.

"Since there's a reason for this, then you should go back to the state school to study." Yu Jing immediately rescinded the expulsion punishment against Yang Shu.

This is the benefit of meeting Yu Jing.

Yu Shanyuan received the exemption quota in advance, and Yang Shu was no longer expelled from the state school.

Yang Shu continued, "For some reason, after beating up my classmate, my family's servant was reassigned to escorting the maritime trade vessels. When the ships reached Yinsha Wharf in Qingyuan, they were attacked by salt bandits at night, and one of the vessels was robbed of a large amount of treasure."

Yu Jing had heard the news of the robbery of the Maritime Trade Route yesterday; it was brought by a merchant ship heading south, and the news had already spread throughout Guangzhou.

Yu Jing then asked Xu Lai, "And who are you?"

Xu Lai forcefully elevated his own status: "I, Xu Lai, served in place of my father and brothers, and was temporarily assigned to the Qingyuan County Patrol Inspectorate. From the temporary establishment of the patrol post to the salt bandits' night raids on the transport ships, I personally experienced it all..."

Xu Lai recounted in detail what he had seen and heard, and the process of capturing and killing the salt bandits and recovering the treasure was described by him in an extremely dangerous manner.

However, Yu Jing only offered a few words of praise and did not give any special reward.

Xu Lai was quite disappointed.

After all, he was neither a member of Yu Jing's clan nor his student; he was merely a village boy. Magistrate Shen had already rewarded him, and Yu Jing would not reward him again.

Yu Jing then questioned the military officer escorting the goods and learned that they were being transported as "local specialties" from Qingyuan County. He then said, "Go and hand over the goods first."

"Yes!" The military officer bowed and withdrew.

Yu Shanyuan continued, "Sir, three days ago, I was still a junior officer in the Qingyuan County Patrol Office. The Qingyuan Patrol Office set up a temporary camp in a strategic location and assigned a junior officer like me to be in charge. None of the other officials showed up. It wasn't until Commander Ma inspected the area that those officials hurriedly appeared."

Yu Jing couldn't help but glance at the three of them.

One of them was a younger member of his clan who had passed the imperial examination and served as a clerk in the Qingyuan Patrol Office. He was even assigned to oversee a temporary military camp.

One of them was his student at the state school, who had also passed the imperial examination and was an escort for the maritime trade.

One was a student who had received an education, yet he served in the military in place of his father and brother, demonstrating filial piety, and he personally experienced the entire incident.

The one who just went out was another military officer. He provided much-needed assistance by sending silver and copper coins when Guangzhou's finances were at their lowest point.

The civil officials in Qingyuan County are really good at getting things done!

Yu Jing pointed at Yu Shanyuan: "You speak first. Only tell what you have personally witnessed, and don't exaggerate like this young man."

Am I exaggerating?

Xu Lai lowered his head and remained silent, thinking about how to leave a better impression on Yu Jing.

Yu Shanyuan then detailed how the officials of the patrol office were corrupt, even daring to embezzle the special funds allocated for the bandit suppression in Guangzhou. He also mentioned that the deputy patrol inspector, Huang Bao, stayed in a brothel on the night of the incident and did not personally lead the troops.

Yu Jing's face grew darker and darker as he listened.

Yu Shanyuan continued, "The next day, Deputy Inspector Huang Bao led his men to search for salt bandits and treasures. His patrolmen took the opportunity to harass the villages, robbing the people of their property and even nearly inciting a peasant uprising by raping women."

"They also set up roadblocks in waterways, bridges, and ferry crossings to intercept the local militia and archers sent by the county government. One group of archers was seriously injured when they retrieved a packet of spices, and the spices were also stolen by the patrol soldiers."

"Furthermore, most of the salt bandits hide in the northern mountains. The patrol soldiers only search the foothills and dare not venture into the mountains to suppress them. Instead, they forcibly conscript the Tanka people, forcing them to jump into the icy river to retrieve treasures, without paying them any money or food..."

"I heard last year that the Qingyuan Patrol Office was colluding with salt bandits... but it was just hearsay, I don't know if it's true..."

"...The salt bandits set fire to the county town as a diversionary tactic, and Deputy Inspector Huang Bao, terrified, fled the brothel in disheveled clothes. He then returned to the brothel to find drums and bugles to rally his troops. This man actually brought the army's drums and bugles and placed them in the brothel..."

"Bang!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Jing flew into a rage and slammed his hand on the table.

He was the Guangdong Circuit Commissioner and Military Commander, wielding both military and political power.

This time, ordered by the emperor to suppress bandits, he allocated special funds to train local soldiers. It was one thing for the local military officers to be lazy, but to dare to cause so much trouble was simply a slap in the face to him.

Yu Jing pointed at Yang Shu: "You speak."

Yang Shu recounted in detail how he protected the escort ship, and also spoke well of Chen Xiuqi, the military officer escorting the other ship, and the Luo family, a father and son from Yamen.

According to Yang Shu's account, the Luo family, father and sons, fought to the death to protect the imperial empire. Military officer Chen Xiuqi, despite being severely wounded, fought to the very end, finally holding out until reinforcements arrived.

He also recounted the numerous misdeeds of the Qingyuan County Patrol Office, such as forbidding the people from selling grain and water to the transport boats and forcing the military officers escorting the boats to collude with them to fabricate false records and gain merit.

The middle-aged scholar, Mr. Chu, had been writing with his brush and had now finished recording the text. He then compiled the text into three petitions.

Yu Jing said, "After you sign, please go to the guesthouse and wait."

Xu Lai, Yang Shu, and Yu Shanyuan signed the petition one after another. Yu Shanyuan took the opportunity to hand over the official letter that Magistrate Shen had sent to the Maritime Trade Office.