Of course, Xu Yan from Yin County is no stranger.
It was here that he won the first place in the provincial examination.
Although the prefect of Ningbo has changed from Ma Shanyuan to Zhao Ruohai, it is actually more beneficial to Xu Yan.
After all, Zhao Ruohai is Xu Yan's teacher, and the relationship between him and Xu Yan is closer than the relationship between Ma Shanyuan and Xu Yan.
However, Xu Yan was not in a relaxed mood. If what Zhao Ruohai said in the letter was true, then there would be big trouble.
No matter from which angle you look at it, Xu Yan doesn't want anything to happen to Zhao Ruohai.
Therefore, as soon as he arrived in the city, he went straight to the Ningbo government office.
Led by the yamen official, Xu Yan entered the yamen smoothly, while Shuangxi waited outside.
Xu Yan followed the yamen runner through the courtyard and came straight to the dividing line between the front hall and the back yard - the hanging flower gate.
Xu Yan thanked the yamen runner and walked in.
The garden is still the same garden, but because of winter, many trees, flowers and plants have withered, making it look a little bleak.
The bailiff had just asked, and Prefect Zhao was in the study at the moment.
So Xu Yan did not hesitate and walked straight towards the study.
The door was ajar. Xu Yan knocked lightly a few times and then pushed it open and entered.
He walked around the screen and into the inner room, only to see Prefect Zhao pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back.
"Student pays homage to the Lord."
Xu Yan bowed fully to Prefect Zhao.
"It's time to come!"
Zhao Ruohai was overjoyed when he heard Xu Yan's voice. He turned around and waved, "Quick, come to my house."
Xu Yan took a few steps closer.
"Master Fu, is everything you wrote in the letter true?"
Zhao Ruohai sighed and said, "How can it be false? This time our government has suffered a great disaster."
Xu Yan comforted him, "Don't panic, Your Excellency. Let's think of a solution first."
Zhao Ruohai shook his head repeatedly: "What else can we do? For now, the only solution is to rely on the Governor to suppress it. This government has asked you to come here in the hope that you can write a letter to the Governor and ask him to help."
Zhao Ruohai had heard firsthand that Xu Yan was Governor Zhu's personal friend, regardless of age difference. Furthermore, Zhao Ruohai had participated in the entire process of presenting the auspicious omens, and knew that Zhu Wan's promotion to Governor was entirely due to Xu Yan's contribution. As long as Xu Yan took action, Zhu Wan had no reason not to help.
Xu Yan pondered for a moment, feeling that asking Zhu Wan to intervene in this matter was a bit hasty, so he suggested, "Your Excellency, why would you please tell me why Censor Han suddenly launched an attack and impeached you?"
Zhao Ruohai is now extremely anxious and feels like he is sitting on pins and needles. If someone else asked him this question, he would definitely get very anxious.
But now he needed Xu Yan's help, so he had to explain patiently.
"This Han Daozhou is from Wu County, Suzhou Prefecture, and is a fellow townsman of mine. Of course, he's quite a bit younger than me... My late wife, Zhao Han, was his second sister, and she tragically passed away three years ago. Since then, I haven't remarried."
Zhao Ruohai swallowed and said, "Han Daozhou's tuition was very expensive before, and it was all paid for by this government. Logically, this government doesn't owe him anything. After his sister passed away, this government stopped supporting him. He must have harbored resentment at that time."
After a brief pause, Zhao Ruohai continued, "Originally, this wouldn't be a big deal. After all, we're officials appointed by the imperial court. How could we be afraid of a mere scholar like him? But I don't know how this guy got so lucky. He passed the imperial examination last year and became a Jinshi this year. After three months of observing government in the capital, his first official position was as the Imperial Censor of Zhejiang..."
After hearing this, Xu Yan understood everything.
This is typical bad luck for Zhao Ruohai.
If Han Daozhou passed the imperial examination, then he would pass the imperial examination. It is highly likely that the two would never meet. This way, they would not interfere with each other and Zhao Ruohai would not be threatened.
However, the Ministry of Personnel granted Han Daozhou the official position of Zhejiang Provincial Censor.
This official position is of the seventh rank, on the same level as a county magistrate, but the power is much greater than that of a county magistrate.
There are many types of censors, some serve in Beijing, and some serve in local areas.
There are generally several types of positions in local government, including Deputy Chief Censor, Assistant Chief Censor, and Circuit Censor.
The first two positions were usually given to governors-general or provincial governors-general after adding titles. Censor was just a title, and the job was essentially the same as that of a governor-general or provincial governor-general.
The inspectors, however, were required to conduct inspections and surveys throughout the country, and their job was highly specialized. In other words, their only job was to find fault.
By accident, Han Daozhou became the Imperial Censor of Zhejiang Province, and Ningbo happened to be within his inspection range.
How could Han Daozhou not take the opportunity to retaliate against Zhao Ruohai now that he has power?
To be honest, Xu Yan felt that there was nothing wrong with what Prefect Zhao did.
Your sister is dead, so there is no reason for Zhao Ruohai to continue funding your studies.
In other words, if Zhao Ruohai invests, it is a favor; if he does not invest, it is his duty.
But Han Daozhou doesn't think so. I'm afraid that in his eyes, Zhao Ruohai is a scumbag.
"So, Censor Han is planning to impeach the Lord?"
"Exactly."
"What's the charge?"
"The county treasury is empty."
Zhao Ruohai said with a bitter face.
"hiss."
Xu Yan couldn't help but gasp when he heard this.
Although Han Daozhou had only been the censor for a few days, the charges he had brought were very cruel.
This is going to kill Zhao Ruohai.
No wonder Zhao Ruohai felt like he was facing a formidable enemy.
"How did the Lord get the news?"
"I have connections in the Hangzhou officialdom. A close friend informed me of this. Han Daozhou is currently fabricating charges against me, and the county treasury deficit is probably just one of them. However, that deficit was left behind by the previous incumbent. I had only been in Dinghai County for six months at the time, so even if I wanted to make trouble, it would have been too late."
Xu Yan nodded.
In fact, a set of unspoken rules has been formed in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, and you have to abide by them as long as you are an official.
In this situation, few officials are clean.
Even if Zhao Ruohai had nothing to do with the deficit in Dinghai County's treasury, Han Daozhou would definitely be able to find new charges against him.
"If I'm not mistaken, this Imperial Censor Han will probably come all the way to Ningbo specifically, right?"
Zhao Ruohai nodded.
"That's what I'm afraid of. As you know, Magistrate Ma is not a frugal person. Just building this garden would cost thousands of taels. If Han Daozhou puts all the blame on me, I'd die unjustly."
Zhao Ruohai's statement certainly has an element of shirking responsibility, but it actually makes sense.
As long as the censor wants to impeach you, he will always find a reason.
After all, the censor can act on hearsay without any evidence.
In other words, even if it is later proved that the impeachment charges against him are false, the censor himself will not bear any responsibility.
In this situation, Han Daozhou would definitely torture Zhao Ruohai to death.
"It's not appropriate to alert the Governor-General about this matter, at least not now. If His Excellency does not mind, I have a plan to help him out."
"Oh? Is there a way now?"
Zhao Ruohai's eyes were shining as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw.
...
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