Chapter 109 Demotion

Liu Changzhou blushed and asked, "You, what rights do you have to arrest me? Did I say that wrong?"

"It is not your place as a mere scholar to question the tax collection of this county magistrate."

"Neighboring counties have not collected the tax this year, why is our county the only one collecting it?"

Fu Bin sneered, "Neighboring counties are neighboring counties. I, the Changji County official, have the final say. Take him away immediately!" This kind of person will be obedient if he is beaten up!

“Let me go…let me go!”

The onlookers watched helplessly as Liu Changzhou was dragged away by the bailiffs, and no one dared to step forward to plead for him.

The master pulled his neck and said, "What are you looking at? If you don't accept it, you will be put in jail for a few days."

The people were so frightened that they scattered like quails and left the gate of the county government without saying a word.

Just pay the tax, since we have paid it every year in the past, so it doesn't matter this year. Thousands of years of oppression have made the people accustomed to not fighting against the officials, as long as they don't starve to death, that's enough.

It’s a pity for Mr. Liu, who originally wanted to help the people, but unexpectedly he was thrown into jail.

The county magistrate was afraid that he would go out and talk too much, so he ordered the bailiffs to beat him with fifty sticks. How could the weak scholar endure such a severe punishment, and he was beaten unconscious.

Fu Bin was so bold because he felt that the emperor was far away and no one would pursue him even if he collected the tax. In addition, his brother-in-law was a fifth-rank minister in Shangjing, so he dared to beat Liu Xiucai so unscrupulously.

As the sky gradually darkened, Liu Xiucai still hadn't returned home. His parents became worried and asked their neighbors to go out and help look for him.

After searching for a while, I finally found out that my son had gone to the county government during the day to help the common people with their lawsuits, and now he has been locked up in jail by the county magistrate!

When Liu's parents heard this, they were so frightened that they almost fainted. What kind of place is that prison? If you go there, you will never get out without getting skinned alive! They hurried to the county government office to plead for mercy, hoping that the county magistrate would let their son go.

The county government office had already closed at this hour. Liu Xiucai's parents waited all night, and the next morning their son was dragged out by two yamen runners.

Seeing her son covered in blood and unconscious, Liu's mother fainted immediately. Liu's father managed to hold on and, with all his might, he carried his son to a nearby clinic, but no one dared to treat him.

The county magistrate ordered Liu Xiucai to be beaten. If the doctors saved him, they would be in trouble with the county magistrate, so they closed the door and refused to let them in.

Father Liu's head was bruised and no clinic was open. In the end, he had no choice but to carry his son home and ask a nearby barefoot doctor to prescribe two doses of medicine. At least his life was saved.

Unfortunately, the caning injured his lumbar spine and both legs were paralyzed, so he can no longer walk.

Most ordinary people who suffered such hardships would be devastated and die from depression. But Liu Changzhou was not a person who would give up. Instead of despairing, he became more determined in his belief.

He wrote hundreds of letters and secretly asked passing merchants to deliver them to the government office and the capital. However, most of the merchants did not want to cause trouble, so they either refused or simply threw the letters away.

Unexpectedly, there is always a way out. Once when he was delivering a letter, he met the Shunfeng Escort Agency. Miss Sun heard about his deeds and admired him very much. She took the initiative to help deliver the letter to Shangjing, and finally delivered it to Song Yuzhu through the relationship of Xuanyi Tower.

*

"Asshole! You're so bold!" After reading the letter, Song Yuzhu grabbed the cup and smashed it against the wall.

Li Dehai was so frightened that his heart was trembling. It was the first time he saw the emperor so angry. He was afraid that someone was going to be in big trouble.

Just now, Xuanyi Tower sent people into the palace to deliver several letters. In addition to the letter from Liu Changzhou in Changji County, there were six letters from different places. The contents of the letters were all about taxation in various places.

The magistrate of Yuping County colluded with local wealthy gentry to distribute the land tax equally to the tenants. When the tenants could not pay, the magistrate sent people to search their homes. When the tenants had no money, the magistrate forced them to sell their children. It was simply insane!

Liqiao County secretly increased the land tax three times. Originally, the tax was 30 wen per mu of land, but the county magistrate collected 120 wen, forcing many people to sell their land to pay the tax.

After reading the letter, Song Yuzhu was so angry that his liver hurt. This was just the tip of the iceberg. He randomly sent people to check several prefectures and cities and found corruption and law-breaking. There were still many places that he had not checked, and he didn't know whether the new tax law had been implemented.

But one thing is certain: the level of corruption among grassroots officials far exceeded his imagination!

*

The next morning, after the various ministries had finished their meetings, Song Yuzhu suddenly asked, "Are you all done?"

The ministers didn't know what the emperor meant.

"That's all. Let me say a few words. I received a few letters yesterday. I couldn't sleep at night after reading them. You can take a look at them too." After saying that, he threw the letters down.

The hall was silent. All the civil and military officials were silent, not knowing what the emperor was doing.

Xu Bing walked up and picked up the letter. He glanced at it briefly, couldn't help shaking his head and sighing, and read out the contents of the letter in a low voice.

"I have repeatedly stressed that we must do a good job of collecting taxes this time. What are you doing?"

"I am guilty!" All the officials of the Ministry of Revenue knelt on the ground like dumplings.

Liu Lin said: "I have failed to supervise properly, please punish me, Your Majesty!" Although this matter was the responsibility of the Ministry of Revenue, there were hundreds of counties across the country, and how could the Ministry of Revenue alone supervise them? In the end, it was the Ministry of Personnel's fault for improper supervision.

Song Yuzhu waved her hand and said, "I'll fine you half a year's salary from the Ministry of Revenue. Go back and reflect on your mistakes."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Liu Lin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Half a year's salary was the lightest punishment. It seemed that the emperor did not vent his anger on them.

Song Yuzhu arrived and asked, "Where is Cao Qingshan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel?"

"I, your humble servant is here." This person was Qiu Bin's brother-in-law. His face changed as soon as he heard the letter, and his legs became weak and he could not stand.

Song Yuzhu said: "Your wife has a good brother."

Cao Qingshan fell to the ground and said in a trembling voice: "I am not aware of this matter..."

"Heh." Song Yuzhu chuckled and walked down from the dragon throne.

"A seventh-rank county magistrate has an annual salary of 180 taels and a food allowance of 15 shi. Don't you know where the thousands of taels of silver he gives you come from every year?"

Cao Qingshan looked ashen, and kept kowtowing to admit his mistakes: "I know I was wrong. I was confused for a moment..."

Cao Qingshan almost hated his brother-in-law to death. They were classmates and took the imperial examination together. He was lucky enough to pass the exam and became a Jinshi while he only became a Juren.

Later, Cao Qingshan married Qiu Bin's sister and used his position to help him get a seventh-rank county magistrate, but he didn't expect it to bring him trouble.

Unfortunately, it is too late to regret now. I can only beg the emperor to be lenient with me.

Song Yuzhu pointed at him and angrily shouted: "Because of your momentary confusion, a scholar's future has been ruined! Tens of thousands of local people have to pay money they shouldn't have to pay!"

"I know I was wrong..."

"Come here, dismiss Cao Qingshan from his post, take off his crown, demote him to a commoner and never employ him again, confiscate Cao's family property, and forbid his three generations from taking the imperial examinations."

Two guards stepped forward and took off the jade crown on his head, which symbolized his status.

Cao Qingshan sat on the ground with disheveled hair. It was over, everything was over… He had studied hard for more than ten years and finally climbed to the position of the Minister of Personnel. He saw a bright future in front of him, but now it was all gone.

His colleagues next to him looked at him with sympathy and sighs in their eyes. An hour ago, everyone was gathered together to discuss state affairs, but in a moment, they had changed into two different people.

Song Yuzhu returned to the throne and continued, "Qiu Bin is guilty of a heinous crime and is sentenced to be beheaded in public."

He also punished the magistrates of seven counties, beheaded five, exiled two, demoted three prefects, and dismissed the prefect of Zhengzhou. All officials implicated in the court were suspended and handed over to the Ministry of Justice for investigation. Anyone found to have embezzled or accepted bribes was dismissed and investigated!

"Your Majesty is wise—" The ministers knew that the emperor was really angry this time.

*

After the court session, officials hurried back home, many of them writing letters to their families and friends. Many officials in the court had relatives working in various places, and no matter if they were away on weekdays, they would have to give them some advice at this time.

Don't get involved in the taxation issue. If you have already gotten involved, quickly return the over-collected taxes and appease the people. You must not make a big deal out of this and let it reach the ears of the emperor, implicating yourself!

After everyone in the hall had left, Cao Qingshan came out in a daze. His attendants hurried forward and saw that his hair was disheveled and his face was livid. They asked in panic, "Master, what happened to you?"

Cao Qingshan stopped and said with a vicissitudes of life on his face: "It's okay, let's go home."

The servant didn't dare ask any more questions and drove the carriage back to the mansion.

After entering the gate, Cao Qingshan stumbled when getting off the carriage and fell off.

"Master, please slow down." The servant helped him up and saw that he had a big bump on his forehead. Blood was flowing down his forehead, mixed with the tear marks on his face. He was crying and laughing at the same time.

Cao Qingshan's son happened to come back from outside. He was shocked to see his father like this and ran over to ask, "Dad, what's wrong with you?"

Cao Qingshan looked at his son's high-spirited face. He was only sixteen years old and had just passed the imperial examination last year.

Thinking that he would never be able to take part in the imperial examination because of his involvement, Cao Qingshan beat his chest and cried breathlessly. How could this happen... How could this happen!

*

In Xiangyun Tower, Xue Peng, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Liu Jingshan, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, and the Chief Academic Officer of the Imperial College and others sat together to eat and chat. Today's events had deeply touched them.

Especially Xue Peng. He and Cao Qingshan were the left and right assistant ministers of the Ministry of Personnel. They had been competing with each other in recent years. Although they did not get along well with each other on weekdays, seeing Xue Peng being demoted to the bottom, he could not help feeling a little sad.

"Old Cao was usually a cautious person and worked seriously, but he was implicated by his wife's brother and his career was cut short. The saddest thing is that he cannot take the imperial examination for three generations, and his son only passed the examination last year."

Liu Jingshan: "It can't be said that he was implicated for no reason. After all, he took money from his brother-in-law."

The chief priest smiled bitterly and said, "As an official in the court, who wouldn't take some money from his family?"

Prices in the capital are high, it is not easy to live there, and officials have to exchange gifts with each other.

It would be better if the official position was slightly higher or lower. For officials like them who are of the fourth or fifth rank, although their annual salary is not low, they still have to spend money on social interactions.

They had to give gifts to their superiors during every New Year, and they often had a miserable New Year. In addition, the emperor changed the poll tax to a land tax, so even after paying the tax on some fields, there was not much money left.

Every family has its own problems. Who can you talk to about things like this?

Right Counselor Feng Shuo suddenly said: "I found that your majesty's ears and eyes seem to be very sharp. Many things happening in remote areas can be reported to him..." You should know that Zhengzhou is thousands of miles away from Shangjing, and Changji County is a small place that no one has ever heard of. Yet the emperor knew that such a thing had happened.

Several people couldn't help but shudder. Liu Jingshan quickly stood up and said, "Ah, I forgot that the Ministry of Industry seems to have some things to do. I'll leave first."

The chief priest also stood up quickly and said: "I also remembered that the kettle at home is still boiling. Let's get together again another day." After saying this, he ran away in a hurry.

Xue Peng and Feng Shuo were left looking at each other in bewilderment, and they quickly paid the bill and hurried home.

(End of this chapter)