Tongzhou Governor Wang Aoyong finally lost face.

The corners of his mouth twitched, his beard trembled, his face was blue and red, and he looked very embarrassed.

Cheng Wendong confronted him in front of so many people, making him lose face.

"Alright!" Wang Zhixin said impatiently, "We are here to provide disaster relief! Let's put other things aside for now."

"If it really doesn't work, then everyone should do their own job. It is Cheng Yushi's job to report people to the emperor, and we have nothing to say."

"As for Governor Wang, he was only fined a little salary and asked to study more."

"That's it!"

At the end of his words, Wang Zhixin added: "How?"

Wang Zhixin did not sincerely resolve the conflict between the two, but wanted to get to the point as soon as possible so as to take the opportunity to make money.

Zhang Chenji continued to smooth things over: "That's great! I'd like to trouble Governor Wang to lead the way. We are exhausted from the journey and need to rest urgently."

Wang Aoyong rolled his eyes at Cheng Wendong, turned around and led the way with a smile.

On the way to Tongzhou Post Station, Zhang Chenji began to wonder why Cheng Wendong wanted to cause trouble for Wang Aoyong.

A personal vendetta?

No! The two of them had not had much interaction before, so there was no personal grudge.

What could be the reason?

etc...

A light bulb went off in Zhang Chenji’s mind.

Party strife!

Apart from this reason, there is no other suitable reason.

Wang Aoyong is from the Qi Party, and Cheng Wendong is from the Chu Party.

The Qi and Chu parties have always been at odds.

While they were vying for fame and fortune in the court, the merchants of Qi and Chu, who were hiding under their wings, were also fighting each other fiercely in private.

The main business of Qi merchants and Chu merchants was grain trading.

The imperial court has limited grain needs in the nine border areas. If merchants from Qi transport too much grain, the interests of merchants from Chu will be harmed.

vice versa.

"Hehe!" After thinking through these principles, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Zhang Chenji laughed wildly in his heart.

It’s just right, dogs bite each other and both have mouths full of fur!

The imperial court was in chaos because of these factions.

The bigger the conflict between them, the better. Only in this way can Your Majesty reorganize the court and eliminate the factions.

After having a simple meal at the post station, the group went to the Tongzhou government office.

The first thing I did after arriving at the Tongzhou government office was to check the Yellow Book and the Fish Scale Book!

Zhang Chenji asked someone to check while asking, "Governor Wang, has there been any disaster in Tongzhou recently?"

Wang Aoyong shook his head: "No, Tongzhou guards the canal and is a place where several waterways meet, so there is no drought."

“How was tax collection last year?”

"All the money has been collected in full and handed over to Shuntian Prefecture."

"No way?" Zhang Chenji looked doubtful. "Although the totals match, there are definitely over-collections, under-collections, and even no collection."

Wang Aoyong shook his head vigorously: "Impossible, absolutely impossible! I treat everyone equally, this cannot happen."

While the two of them were talking, a messenger stood up and walked in front of Zhang Chenji, placing two fish scale books on the table at the same time: "Your Excellency, the fish scale books of the Ministry of Revenue and Shuntian are the same, but the content of the fish scale book of Tongzhou Prefecture is different from the one kept by the Ministry of Revenue."

"Right here."

Zhang Chenji looked at it intently.

The area of the field pointed out by the policeman was about 200 acres.

The fish scale books preserved by the Ministry of Households show that this place was once a fertile farm, but later became a wasteland due to the change of river course.

Although the same content was written on the fish scale book of Tongzhou Prefecture, the blank spaces were smeared with ink.

"What's going on?" Zhang Chenji asked.

Although Wang Aoyong was the governor of Tongzhou, he seldom had direct contact with this kind of business, so when he was asked, he had no impression at all.

"Someone come and see what's going on here!" Wang Aoyong waved his hand and called in the chief clerk in charge of record-keeping outside the door.

The chief clerk glanced at it and bowed, saying, "My Lords, my hand was shaking, so I dropped the ink here."

"Why not take it apart and redraw it?" Zhang Chenji asked back.

The fish scale book is made up of sheets of paper bound together. If the paper in the middle is damaged, just tear it apart and replace the paper.

"To answer your words, Tongzhou Prefecture is a key meeting point for land and water transportation, and the throat of the capital. Previously, I was busy transporting grain to Xuanfu Town and the capital, and I didn't have time to make changes."

"What nonsense!" Zhang Chenji suddenly raised his voice and shouted.

The sudden change surprised everyone, especially Wang Aoyong himself: "What's wrong, Master Zhang?"

Zhang Chenji didn't say anything. He reached out and took out a booklet from his arms and placed it on the table with great respect.

The cover of the booklet is not ordinary yellow, but golden yellow.

"Golden Book?" Wang Aoyong was a little speechless.

"Yes, the Golden Book!" Zhang Chenji pointed at the Golden Book and continued, "It records the estates that the princes and nobles begged from Your Majesty, as well as the estates that Your Majesty granted to them."

"The two hundred acres of land just now was clearly asked for by Yangwu Marquis Xue Lian from Your Majesty. Why did you write it as wasteland in the Fish Scale Book?"

Wang Aoyong answered confidently: "It is precisely because this is a wasteland that Yang Wuhou begged for a gift from Your Majesty. Otherwise, Your Majesty would not have granted the land."

(The Ming Dynasty encouraged land reclamation, and in many places, land reclaimed from wasteland was exempted from taxes for three years.)

"I'll give you another chance!" Zhang Chenji threatened.

"This is the fact. If you don't believe it, please check it out for yourself!" Wang Aoyong was still so unscrupulous.

"Okay, let's investigate! Admiral Wang, please go and investigate this matter thoroughly."

Wang Zhixin responded and led his men out.

Looking at the direction where Wang Zhixin left, Wang Aoyong felt somewhat relieved.

Is there something wrong with that piece of land?

Of course!

In order to seize the people's fertile land, Xue Lian, Marquis of Yangwu, first asked Wang Aoyong to change the land into wasteland according to the Fish Scale Book, and then begged the emperor to make it his own land.

At first he didn't want to go along with the crowd, but Yang Wu Hou gave too much!

If someone else was responsible for the verification, Wang Aoyong would be worried that the matter would be exposed. After all, not everyone can be bought with money.

Wang Zhixin is different, he only cares about money!

As long as he is given enough, Wang Zhixin will be able to confuse right and wrong like him!

Wang Zhixin couldn't wait any longer. He jumped on his horse and rushed out of the city with a dozen Dongchang men.

The land was not far from Tongzhou City, and they arrived at the designated location after a short ride on horseback.

After comparing the fish scale book and confirming that it was correct, Wang Zhixin, who was wearing casual clothes, got off the horse.

It was midsummer.

People are planting soybeans after harvesting summer crops.

The fields are full of busy figures.

"What the hell are you doing?" Wang Zhixin had just got off the horse when he heard a curse from behind.

The king's heart turned back.

It was discovered that the person who was speaking was a young man in his twenties. He was wearing a brocade robe, riding on a tall horse, holding a whip in his hand, and followed by twenty or thirty thugs.

"Who are you?" Wang Zhixin asked back.

"You don't even know me! Today I'll let you know me!" The young man pulled the reins of the horse suddenly, and the horse raised its front legs high and slammed into Wang Zhixin's body hard.