Lin Zhu has been working very hard during this period. After being scolded by Zhao Jun, he went to various counties in person without stopping and reported the problems in Anfeng as soon as possible.
There are two main problems in Anfeng: one is corruption, and the other is that the disaster is not as serious as reported.
At that time, there was a lake called Shaobi in Anfeng County. During the Mingdao period of the Song Dynasty, that is, five years ago, Zhang Zhi, the magistrate of Anfeng, carried out a large-scale repair of Shaobi, making the water conservancy facilities here quite complete.
If the drought in Huoqiu caused a reduction in yield or even total loss of yield on 70% to 80% of the county's fertile farmland, then the impact on Shaobi, due to its well-developed water conservancy facilities, was only 20% to 30% at most, not as serious as reported.
However, local officials lied to the court about the disaster, causing the court to allocate about 90,000 hu of grain and fodder. Based on the market price at that time, this batch of grain and fodder could be sold for more than 400,000 guan.
Most of it was embezzled and resold by local officials, and only a small portion was used for disaster relief.
But precisely because Anfeng suffered less damage, this small portion was just barely enough, which led to Yang Gao not noticing it at first.
Or was it Lin Zhu who discovered that the accounts and visits were inconsistent? How could one visit the people and find that there were not so many disaster-stricken people, but so many disaster supplies?
After careful investigation, the truth was discovered.
Therefore, Lin Zhu could be considered to have made meritorious service while serving his sentence, and his official position as the governor of Shouzhou was temporarily retained.
However, if Zhao Jun wants to reduce his negative attitude towards him, this alone is naturally not enough. He also needs to show more abilities. Therefore, before leaving, he has to be given a task.
Soon Lin Zhu ran quickly from the provincial government office to the transport commissioner's office. Fortunately, the Huainan West Road Transport Commissioner's Office and the Shouzhou Prefecture Office were both in Xiacai, Shouzhou. Otherwise, if Lin Zhu wanted to get here, he would have run his legs off by now.
At this moment, he was panting, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and bowed to Zhao Jun, saying, "Your humble servant pays homage to the prefect."
"Mr. Lin has worked hard."
Seeing his appearance, he probably knew that the other party would run towards him almost immediately.
Although he didn't know if he was just putting on a show or was genuinely anxious, there was no need to push him. Zhao Jun said, "Sit down first and we'll talk."
"Thank you, Master."
Lin Zhu was overjoyed. Some time ago, he didn't even have the qualifications to sit down, but now he can finally sit down.
But Zhao Jun did not serve him tea.
Just now, when Yang Gao came to report on official business, he had tea to drink.
When Lin Zhu came, she didn't even offer him tea. This is the difference in treatment between an official who is capable and has no major stains and an official who has dereliction of duty problems.
And Zhao Jun did it on purpose.
Now that you are allowed to sit down, it is a signal from Zhao Jun to tell you that because of your performance during this period, you can barely pass the test and the charge of dereliction of duty can be circumvented.
But if you want me to take notice of you, this performance is not enough, you must work twice as hard.
It was also one of the few things Zhao Jun learned about how to rise to the top in officialdom from Lu Yijian, Wang Zeng, Wang Sui and others in the Constitutional Court.
Lin Zhu naturally understood this, and tremblingly sat aside, only daring to sit halfway, and then asked: "I wonder what the magistrate wants me to do? I will definitely go through fire and water without hesitation."
He didn't even know what was going on, but he promised to go through fire and water for the job, which was obviously a way of showing his sincerity.
Zhao Jun smiled and said, "You don't have to go through fire and water. I hope you can put Shouzhou's affairs aside and let the Tongpan handle them. Go to Bozhou immediately and find Bozhou Tongpan Shao Jingxian. The court doesn't know whether the newly appointed Bozhou prefect has arrived yet. If he has, take my warrant and investigate if there's any problems in Mengcheng."
"yes."
Lin Zhu quickly stood up and bowed, saying, "I will leave today."
"No need to rush."
Zhao Jun then added, "I will send someone to inform the Huainan East Road Transport Commissioner and have him conduct an inspection of the entire Huainan East Road and cooperate with your actions."
He was not worried about the involvement of the Huainan East Road Transport Commissioner because his name was Jiang Tang.
Two years ago, there was a drought in Huainan. He was the transport commissioner of Jiangnan East Road at that time. It had nothing to do with him. However, he was moved by compassion because of the river between them, so he opened the Jiangnan East Road Changping Warehouse to provide relief to the victims in Huainan.
Later, Jiang Tang was transferred to be the transport commissioner of Huainan East Road, and was also in charge of shipping affairs between Jiang and Huai Rivers.
In addition, Jiang Tang's son-in-law and student is called Shao Bi. He passed the imperial examination in February of this year, the same year that Zhao Jun passed the imperial examination. He is now the magistrate of Gaoyou County. At the same time, he studied at the Imperial College in his early years.
It just so happened that Wang Zeng had offended Empress Dowager Liu some time ago and was demoted to be a direct scholar in the Imperial College, so Shao Bi was also Wang Zeng's disciple.
Before leaving, Wang Zeng gave Zhao Jun a letter, which mentioned this person.
Zhao Jun had been in Huainan West Road for more than a month, and he had already sent someone to deliver a letter to Shao Bi, asking him to report on the situation in Huainan East Road and ask him how Jiang Tang was doing.
Shao Bi had also replied, informing Zhao Jun that his father-in-law was a man of integrity and had a good reputation. No matter where he was appointed, he was praised by the locals. He was also very keen on promoting education, never gave up in the face of difficulties, was studious and good at writing, and praised the younger generation until he was old.
It is unclear whether this comment is a son-in-law praising his father-in-law or is true.
But no matter what, Zhao Jun also investigated the Jiang family and found no evidence of corruption. He also believed that Wang Zeng would not be wrong about Shao. If he said Shao was fine, then he must be fine.
So I asked Jiang Tang to help investigate.
Even if it is found that there is something wrong with Jiang Tang and Shao Bi, it doesn’t matter. We can just go back and cause trouble for Wang Zeng then.
Lin Zhu was overjoyed to receive Zhao Jun's promise. He bowed and said, "Thank you, Magistrate. I will definitely live up to your trust."
"Go ahead."
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