Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 115 Dogs Fighting in the Duke Yansheng's Mansion?

After a burst of laughter, Yang Shaofeng suddenly fell silent and looked at Wang Qiong, asking, "Brother Wang, logically speaking, Kong Xixue and Kong Xida are cousins, and Kong Kejian is Kong Xida's uncle. Why would the three of them disregard kinship?"

Yang Shaofeng hesitated slightly before saying, "Logically speaking, even if there are some minor disagreements, they shouldn't escalate to the point of impeaching each other?"

Wang Qiong chuckled and said, "Brother Yang, you're just being blinded by your own involvement—may I ask you, Brother Yang, who's in charge of Ningyang County?"

Yang Shaofeng glanced at Wang Qiong as if she were an idiot, "As long as it doesn't violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty, Ningyang County is naturally under my jurisdiction as the seventh-rank magistrate..."

Seeing that Yang Shaofeng was not going to continue, Wang Qiong smiled and said, "Ningyang County is ruled by you, Brother Yang, a seventh-rank magistrate, but what about Qufu? And Brother Yang, you are a seventh-rank magistrate, but what about Kong Xida? He is not a seventh-rank magistrate!"

After Wang Qiong said that, Yang Shaofeng immediately realized what was going on.

In fact, during the Hongwu era, not all county magistrates were seventh-rank officials. Their specific rank depended on the county's administrative level.

For example, counties with more than 6,000 households paying grain tax are considered superior counties, and the county magistrate is a sixth-rank official. Counties with between 3,000 and 6,000 households paying grain tax are considered medium-rank counties, and the county magistrate is a seventh-rank official official. Counties with less than 3,000 households paying grain tax are considered inferior counties, and the county magistrate is a seventh-rank official official.

It was not until later that it was standardized and streamlined into the seventh rank.

Aside from the division based on tax grain, only two counties in the Ming Dynasty had somewhat unique situations.

One is Fuliang County, which has held a special position since the Tang Dynasty. The magistrate of Fuliang County is a fifth-rank official. The other is Qufu County, which has an even more special position. The magistrate of Qufu County is a sixth-rank official.

However, although the magistrate of Fuliang County was a fifth-rank official, he only had the rank and benefits of a fifth-rank official, and there was really nothing special about him.

However, the magistrate of Qufu County had a unique feature that no other magistrate had: the position of magistrate of Qufu County was hereditary and could not be replaced!

In other words, Yang Shaofeng became a county magistrate of the seventh rank by sheer luck, while Kong Xida was a county magistrate of the sixth rank, a hereditary position, two ranks higher than Yang Shaofeng.

The problem is that in other places, a county magistrate of the seventh rank can be called a "marquis of a hundred miles" or a "local emperor." There are sayings like "a county magistrate who ruins a family" or "a prefect who wipes out an entire family" that have been passed down since ancient times. But he, the county magistrate of Qufu, who is only a sixth rank, cannot enjoy this kind of pleasure as an official!

The reason why the magistrate of Fuliang County could be listed separately as a fifth-rank official was because Jingdezhen was under the jurisdiction of Fuliang County, while the reason why the magistrate of Qufu County could be listed separately was because Qufu is the hometown of Confucius.

Another layer of meaning to the hometown of Confucius is that the family of the Duke Yansheng also lived in Qufu County.

Therefore, the magistrate of Qufu County did not wield the same power as magistrates in other places. Instead, he was constantly hampered by the Duke of Yansheng's mansion. He was treated like a grandson, if not a grandson.

Normally, he would have just had to put up with the indignation, since Kong Xida was able to become the hereditary county magistrate only because of his status as a descendant of a sage.

But to everyone's surprise, Kong Xixue not only gave Kong Xiqi a hard time, but even turned around and impeached Kong Xida.

How could Kong Xida possibly tolerate this?

That's why the messy affair of father and son, Kong Xida and the soon-to-be Duke Yansheng, Kong Xixue, turning on each other like dogs.

Yang Shaofeng stroked his chin and said thoughtfully, "It seems that Kong Xida is not very happy as the magistrate of Qufu, and Kong Xixue of the Duke of Yansheng's mansion may not really regard Kong Xida as a cousin."

Wang Qiong clicked his tongue and said with a disdainful look, "The Duke Yansheng's family has always been very self-important. It's already quite difficult for Kong Xixue to regard Kong Xida as a human being. People like Brother Yang and this official might not even be considered human beings in Kong Xixue's eyes."

At this point, Wang Qiong suddenly spat and cursed, "And that old bastard Kong Kejian, first he was granted the title of Duke Yansheng by the Tartars, and then when the Heavenly Army launched its northern expedition, he hesitated and wavered. He was afraid of being loyal to the Tartar court for nothing, and he was also afraid that if he surrendered too late, he would be disliked by the Ming Dynasty. Damn it, his family gets all the good things in the world?"

Hearing this, Yang Shaofeng could finally confirm that the scholars during the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty did not have a good opinion of the Duke Yansheng's Mansion or the Northern Branch of the Duke Yansheng's Mansion. They basically regarded the Northern Branch with contempt.

After pondering for a while, Yang Shaofeng smiled and said, "Zhao Liang doesn't care about the lives of the people. Kong Xida is no better than him. It's quite gratifying to see Kong Xida and his son Kong Xixue impeaching each other."

After a slight pause, Yang Shaofeng continued, "On the contrary, that Zhao Liang... it's really hard to say whether he's genuinely repentant or intentionally lying low. In any case, he didn't seem like he knew he was wrong and was repenting when he came today."

Wang Qiong nodded, but said somewhat dismissively, "Who cares? The higher-ups have already demoted him to county magistrate. He's only temporarily serving as the county magistrate of Wenshang because of a lack of manpower. I doubt he'll ever get promoted again."

After telling Yang Shaofeng all this nonsense, Wang Qiong pointed to Daming Lake and laughed, "Unless Magistrate Zhao suddenly has a change of heart and cares about the people like you, Brother Yang, otherwise..."

As the two chatted and laughed, they arrived at the water inlet where the Prince Canal pours water into Daming Lake.

Yang Shaofeng pointed to the Taizi Canal and said, "We rushed through the construction of the canal back then. After the land reclamation is finished, we should renovate the Taizi Canal, at least by repainting it with cement."

After walking along the Prince Canal for a while, looking at the farmland in the distance and the large tracts of wasteland at the end of the farmland, Yang Shaofeng said with a smile, "Brother Wang, guess how much wasteland the people of Ningyang County will be able to reclaim before winter?"

Wang Qiong hummed in agreement, frowned slightly and pondered for a moment, then replied, "In my opinion, at least 30,000 to 50,000 mu of land can be developed."

At this point, Wang Qiong couldn't help but click her tongue twice and praise, "Even if all thirty mu of land is low-grade dry land, the combined harvest is still quite remarkable."

"After next autumn's harvest, I'm afraid the people of Ningyang County will be able to eat white flour buns to their heart's content, until they're stuffed?"

"That's not right either. The wasteland cleared this year can't be planted with wheat directly next year. We have to plant beans for a year first. If we plant all the beans, wouldn't the people of Ningyang County be able to afford oil without any problem?"

"With more beans, we can raise more livestock such as chickens and ducks."

"Tsk tsk, this life is the envy of so many people!"