Chapter 109 Chapter 109 Secret Inspection
Jinnan Road had been under Lin Si's administration for only about half a year, but the lives of the people were already very different.
Yang Yidong did not disappoint Lin Si. She managed Jinnan Road in an orderly manner, and most of the grassroots people were her own people. Those county magistrates and prefects who had passed the training were very obedient.
Wei Peng and Qi Liang are on duty this month for the inspection mission.
The so-called inspection mission is to randomly select a county under the jurisdiction of a county magistrate at dawn and conduct an inspection on the living conditions of the people in the county, the performance of officials, and whether there is any collusion between officials and businessmen in the local area.
Yin'er was brought along as a learning object this time.
Because of her age, Cong Yin'er was directly demoted to the next class. Her former classmates became her seniors, which made her depressed for a long time.
Wei Peng and Qi Liang brought Cong Yin'er with them, falsely claiming they were three siblings, and entered the Ningzhou area of Jinnan Road.
The Ningzhou prefect was taught a lesson by Yang Yidong and had to go to Lingzhou for a meeting almost every two weeks. The elderly Lao Deng trembled in front of Yang Yidong, fearing that his words and actions would be inappropriate.
Wei Peng looked around the streets of Ningzhou and the ground sanitation conditions, and silently gave Cong Yiner a passing grade in terms of the appearance of the state capital.
Ningzhou is not a provincial capital after all, and its development momentum is weaker than that of Sizhou, but the problem of dirty and messy streets should be solved.
A few people walked forward and began to ask the street vendors about their prices.
Vegetable prices are normal, meat prices are slightly higher but within an acceptable range, and salt and sugar prices are normal.
Speaking of salt, the people all showed an expectant look.
"They say Qiancheng County is going to produce refined salt. If the price remains the same, we can all eat refined salt at the price of coarse salt."
"Yes, yes. I have a relative who works in the salt mine. They're paid daily, and they don't take breaks when the weather gets hot. But when they do, they get paid."
"Didn't they say before that the salt in the salt mine is poisonous? Can we eat this refined salt?"
"It's edible. My relatives told me that Qiancheng County has built a salt factory and that they have a way to make the salt edible."
"Salt Factory, won't they be recruiting workers again then? The people in Qiancheng County are so lucky."
Wei Peng and Qi Liang looked at each other.
On the surface, there seems to be no problem, but the inspection cannot just focus on these things, it is too superficial and we need to dig deeper.
It only took the three of them a short while to find the largest Fan Tower in Ningzhou.
Fanlou is different from restaurants.
The restaurants are quite popular and the food and drinks are relatively simple.
Fanlou is a gathering place of entertainment and delicious food.
So this is the gathering place where some wealthy businessmen and officials discuss matters and collude with each other.
If I want to go to Fanlou, this ordinary civilian outfit will definitely not work.
As Wu Gengtian, the skill of changing clothes to play various people is basic. The three of them transformed themselves into rich girls and men in an instant.
Qi Liang walked into the hall of Fanlou in a nonchalant manner, looking like a real dandy.
Wei Peng complained silently, "You really are just like Guo Zi. I can't stand it."
The waiter in the restaurant led the three people into the hall to order food, and then a waiter came to serve the food.
Wei Peng drank his tea and said, "Remember to ask for the receipt when you pay the bill so you can get reimbursed when you get home."
Qi Liang: "I know, I know. Di Yan only recognizes evidence."
Because Lin Si and Liang Nian attached great importance to the issue of official atmosphere, and this wave of students who came to Jinnan Road all had the desire to climb up the social ladder and basically did not participate in drinking and dining parties, Fanlou's business was very bleak for a while.
There were only a few scattered tables in the hall, and at first glance, they were all occupied by playboys.
People at Wugengtian have specially trained their hearing, so they can hear them talking.
"Now that this brothel is closed, there's no place left to have fun."
"Not only the brothel, but even the secret door was shut down."
"My father forced me to go to Xihe Road to study, but I refused to go."
"The Ningzhou magistrate is not seeing anyone now, and my father has been asking for an audience for three months."
"How can life be as happy as before?"
"My father saw that I was unwilling to go and planned to send my sister to Lingzhou."
They are all insignificant words.
But soon Wei Peng and Qi Liang realized that their work had come.
There were people eating in the largest private room in Fanlou, and they had just gone in to change the tea before the dishes were served.
After the three of them paid the bill, Wei Peng said to Cong Yin'er.
"Now it's time to test your Qinggong skills."
Cong Yiner blinked, "I am an outstanding graduate of Teacher Feng."
The three of them jumped up to the roof to eavesdrop, and lifted a tile to look inside.
I saw a few pot-bellied middle-aged men inside toasting each other with cups and glasses.
"The Ningzhou governor refuses to see anyone and refuses to accept gifts. How are we going to survive in Ningzhou?"
"The rules set by the Anping County Lord are really strange. Not only the prefect, but also those Bai Zhi said that drinking is a bad habit."
"yes,"
"Have you heard that Qiancheng County is going to build a salt factory? They say we can buy refined salt at the price of coarse salt. If that's true, how are we going to survive in the next few days?"
The pot-bellied Lao Deng rolled his eyes. "Then we'll say the salt in Qiancheng County is poisonous. Even if the county lord uses some magic to refine it, it's still inedible."
"That makes sense. Just spread the rumor among the crowd and someone will surely believe it."
“This method is feasible.”
“This method is very wonderful.”
"Even if we investigate like this, we won't be able to find out who did it. It's common knowledge that the salt mines in Qiancheng County are poisonous."
Wei Peng raised an eyebrow. This time, they had indeed discovered some problems.
So the three of them sat obediently at the table and used charcoal pens to write down the clothes and appearances of several people, as well as the content of their conversations. Each of the three people was responsible for recording, and they wrote very quickly.
The inspection work in a state capital or county town usually takes three to five days.
The next day, the three of them went out to the once famous slums.
This is considered a slum area in Ningzhou. It used to be a gathering place for beggars and people who couldn't afford to eat.
When the three of them arrived at this area, they felt that it was very different from the original description.
At least they didn't see anyone making a living by begging. There was plenty of work in Ningzhou nowadays, and people would never starve to death.
And potatoes and sweet potatoes are not expensive.
This was a key area for renovation, and the Baizhi officers assigned to Ningzhou were all very concerned about it. As long as this area was renovated well, it would be a very important achievement and material for future promotions.
Although there were occasional minor problems during the subsequent inspections, no serious violations of rules and regulations were found overall, and the prefect did not find any cases of misconduct or bribery.
The three of them continued on their way to the county town under Ningzhou.
Qiancheng County had a salt well, but it was poisonous, so Jia Wenshi was always looked down upon by other county magistrates.
Said he was unlucky.
Now that the salt factory is under construction, the county government is most busy with recruiting workers.
The salt frying operation process of the salt factory has been taken down, and technical consultants and managers have been sent from above.
Ding Pu had no opinion or say on the recruitment issue. He mainly came to look at the brine drying racks, large pots, stone kangs and other process equipment.
Ever since Zhang Ying's mother learned that the salt factory was recruiting, she couldn't sit still at home.
She wants to earn money to buy cotton cloth.
I also heard that the salt factory will operate in three shifts, with each shift only working four hours.
Zhang Ying's mother was even happier, as this way she would have a lot of personal time. If she worked the night shift, she could go to the fields during the day to turn over the potatoes and sweet potatoes she had planted.
If she works the early shift, then Zhang Ying and Zhang's father can go to the fields when they get off work.
The news of the three-shift system spread like wildfire, and even those who had traveled extensively sighed.
He said he had seen workers in the salt factory, who worked from morning to night without a moment's rest, and one person did the work of three people.
No one is as kind as the Princess Anping, who even offers subsidies for night and afternoon shifts.
When the recruitment notice came out, there were so many people signing up.
If some people had not already worked in the salt mines, they would have wanted to do two jobs at the same time.
Qi Liang and Wei Peng took Cong Yin'er to the street to buy things and chat with people.
"Everyone used to say that Qiancheng County was poor, but now I think it's about to become prosperous."
"That's right, the salt factory is hiring so many people, and we don't even know if we can be selected."
"If I work three shifts, I'll have plenty of free time. I can do other things during the day."
"Didn't the recruitment notice say that there are subsidies for night and afternoon shifts? Three cents for the afternoon shift and six cents for the night shift."
The people all looked prosperous and there were no problems.
The next day they turned their target to the scholars and businessmen.
"This County Magistrate Jia is now in great glory."
"Do you know that Magistrate Jia's three daughters are all going to Xihe Road to study? You don't know how expensive it is to study in Xihe Road nowadays. This time, three of them are going."
"Is this true?"
"How can this be false? They say that even my aunt went with me to take care of him."
"That County Magistrate Jia has such a big belly, it's obvious he hasn't experienced hardship."
"The mountains are high and the county lady is far away, who knows?"
"Then why didn't he accept the gift I gave him?"
"Now that the inspection is strict, who would accept your gift openly?"
Qi Liang and Wei Peng secretly took note that there were indeed some rumors about this County Magistrate Jia, and they had to investigate thoroughly.
The three of them sneaked into the mansion of County Magistrate Jia very smoothly, and what they saw was indeed this scene.
The three of them had not seen such a simple house for a long time.
There are no flowers in the garden in the yard. It is used to grow vegetables.
There is no tea in the reception room, only plain water.
As for the restaurant, County Magistrate Jia and his wife ate boiled vegetables without any meat.
Jia Wenshi has lost a lot of weight this month, and the middle-aged belly that was originally showing signs of weight gain is almost gone.
When doing business in the county government office, those Bai Zhi and yamen runners were curious.
"Why has Magistrate Jia become so thin recently?"
Jia Wenshi laughed and said, "I read the health-preserving articles in the Li County Monthly Report two months ago. They said that being too fat can cause various physical illnesses. I'm not thinking about losing weight."
Ding Shui nodded. "That's true. Being fat is bad for your health. But I think you're about right. Being too thin isn't good either."
Jia Wenshi had a lot of pain in his heart but couldn't express it.
Ever since his three daughters went to Lingzhou, his wife, for some unknown reason, wanted to leave all the money to her three daughters.
Therefore, all the food, clothing and other daily necessities in the family are kept to the simplest standards.
There were originally few servants at home, and he took several of them to Lingzhou.
Then, he and his wife started eating the same food as the servants.
At most, the dish is fried with lard, giving it a bit of a meaty flavor.
Jia Wenshi felt bitter, thinking that he could save some money, but there was no need to be so frugal.
Sun Yuhua's face turned stern.
"I've told you that no matter how poor you are, you can't neglect education, and no matter how hard it is, you can't make your children suffer. As a father, how could you not do that?"
Jia Wenshi touched his face. "My colleagues have been saying I've lost weight these past few days... well, yeah! They said I've lost so much weight that my jawline is almost showing!"
Sun Yuhua was puzzled: "What is a jawline?"
Jia Wenshi shook his sleeves. "That's what those young people said. They were talking about the line from my chin to my neck. They said my chin and neck used to be all fat, but now they have a clearer outline."
Only then did Sun Yuhua realize that her husband had lost so much weight. He looked less greasy and more refreshed.
In fact, Jia Wenshi was quite handsome when he was young, but he became an official and got older.
But as he grew older and gained weight, Sun Yuhua began to feel annoyed just looking at him.
Now, when I look at him suddenly, he actually looks a bit like when he was young.
So Sun Yuhua secretly made up her mind that she would have to eat the boiled vegetables, at least until next month.
Sun Yuhua said, "So what if I lose weight and show my jawline? We still have to save money. Everything is for the children."
Seeing that Jia Wenshi was still reluctant, Sun Yuhua directly took out her trump card.
"Do you want your children to be successful and give a slap in the face to those who say we have no sons?"
Jia Wenshi was silent.
After a while, he gritted his teeth and said, "Eat, eat, eat, I'll eat, okay!"
The three people who witnessed the whole process on the roof: ...
The three of them then searched Jia Wenshi's mansion again and indeed found nothing suspicious.
The report was then handed over to Yang Yidong.
As a former colleague, Yang Yidong very politely issued reimbursement certificates to the three people to prove that there was no false reporting of expenses.
Wei Peng looked at Yang Yidong with concern and said, "Yidong, you've lost weight. Look at how thin your face has become."
Yang Yidong has indeed been under a lot of pressure these days, and there is no one around him to talk to.
It was rare to meet someone she grew up with who cared about her, so she couldn't help but feel warm in her heart and was about to respond.
Wei Peng asked again, "Where is the kitchen in your room? I'll go make you something to eat."
Yang Yidong:......That’s not necessary.
She hurriedly stopped him: "You have been busy investigating for so many days, take a rest quickly, we will go out and have something to eat later."
Qi Liang and Cong Yin'er nodded hurriedly. "Yes, yes, it's too troublesome to cook for ourselves. Let's go out to eat."
"Sister Wei Peng, you've been so tired these days, let's take a good rest."
Wei Peng: "Okay then."
On the second day, Yang Yidong issued a red-headed document to the Ningzhou magistrate and Jia Wenshi regarding Wugengtian's secret inspection of Ningzhou and Qiancheng County and the rectification issues.
The Ningzhou governor was so angry that he dared not see anyone or pick any fruit, for fear that they would be found out at five o'clock in the morning.
I didn't expect that these businessmen were actually planning such a bad thing in private.
He immediately brought these people to the provincial government office, and humbly wrote a letter to Yang Yidong, asking how to deal with them.
As for Jia Wenshi, he was both scared and relieved.
After all, a greeting letter from Yang Yidong was attached to the rectification document.
It means that he should not over-diet and should eat more protein-rich foods in addition to boiled vegetables.
Jia Wenshi was scared to death. He immediately realized that Wu Gengtian must have come to his house, otherwise how would Zhizhou Yang know.
Moreover, this letter seemed to be a greeting, but in fact it was a warning, telling him that Wugengtian was the county lord's eyes, and he should not try to hide anything.
Fortunately, fortunately, he did not commit any crime, he was just eating boiled vegetables at home!
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