Chapter 64 Hidden Dragon He stared at the familiar face on the blueprint, a face he hadn't seen in a long time...
Before dawn, officials who had come to court left their rest quarters according to the time and gathered in front of Chang Le Gate to wait.
"Why are you here again?" Meng Yan crossed his arms, leaned against the palace wall, and gestured with his chin towards a certain spot, indicating to Hu Yanhe to look.
In winter, dawn breaks late, and amidst the heavy morning frost, a patch of blue is hidden in the dim light of the day.
Hu Yanhe looked around and saw that the area was full of officials waiting to attend court. Everyone was tidying their clothes and seemed to be paying no attention to him.
"Keep your voice down, don't let anyone hear you," he whispered to Meng Yan.
Meng Yan didn't care about being overheard; with his loud voice, it was difficult for him to speak softly. However, if the person in question did hear him, he would inevitably feel embarrassed, so he could only try to raise his voice and speak in a whisper.
“It’s only been a few days, and there have already been three incidents. The time the Marquis of Yuyang did it the other day, I was so ashamed just looking at it.”
Hu Yanhe sighed. Although the emperor made no statement, the people below were still gossiping. In the past few days, he had heard a lot about Xue Guangting's copying of books. The news had even reached the soldiers in the garrison, and some people were even going to bookstores to search for Xue Guangting's erotic manuscripts.
Yesterday, he caught soldiers gathered together reading pornographic books and gave them a good scolding. The soldier who brought the books confessed that he bought them from a bookstore, claiming they were written by Xue Guangting himself, and that many people were buying them.
When Huyan He attended court, he stood in the middle position. When the Earl of Yuyang held up a book for all the officials to see, he glanced at it twice.
Although his own handwriting wasn't very good, he was quite good at recognizing people and things. The handwriting in those bookstores was nowhere near Xue Guangting's. These merchants really would stop at nothing to make money.
"His family is poor, and there's nothing we can do about it. You and I saw it when we went to provide disaster relief. Those poor families will do anything for a few copper coins and a bite to eat. Who cares about saving face? If you ask me, those who pay for the powerful and wealthy to get their names on the list are not necessarily more respectable than him."
A rough, grinding sound rang out, and Meng Yan and Hu Yanhe fell silent. The Yongle Gate slowly moved, gradually cracking open.
"Let's go." Hu Yanhe patted Meng Yan's arm, and the two followed the crowd into the palace.
"Your subject has a memorial to present."
Zheng Gongchuo heard the familiar voice and words and wondered to himself. "The Earl of Yuyang has already investigated almost everything; what else is there to report?"
"The Wang family of Hedong forcibly seized more than 1.4 million mu of fertile land in Hedong. They also colluded with local officials to shift all the taxes and labor obligations that the Wang family should pay onto the tenant farmers."
Upon hearing this, a low commotion arose in the hall. Meng Yan leaned forward to look at Xue Guangting, but Hu Yanhe elbowed him in the ribs, causing him to straighten up, gasping for breath, and no longer daring to look around.
A few days ago, it was one thing to impeach the Wang family for colluding with the Earl of Yuyang to withhold tribute; once those tributes entered Hedong, the Wang family naturally had ways to prevent them from being found. Xue Guangting's words were unsubstantiated, and this matter was not without recourse, yet today he brought up the Wang family's land annexation and tax evasion in Hedong.
The Wang family had been entrenched in Hedong for centuries, and had long since made Hedong an impenetrable stronghold. Even officials sent down by the imperial court could not expect to live peacefully if they did not abide by the Wang family's rules.
Once an official has served a term, future promotions and transfers will depend on the Wang family's influence in the court. No official is willing to risk their entire career by making enemies of the Wang family.
If there are truly those who don't know what's good for them, so what if they're princes? If they're disobedient, there are ways to deal with them.
“Your Majesty, Scholar Xue’s words are utter nonsense.” Someone stepped forward to refute, “Our Wang family’s family motto is to be honest and upright, and to serve the public. We only wish to live up to the Emperor’s grace and the people’s expectations. How could we do such things as annexing land and colluding with officials? Scholar Xue is still young and has just entered officialdom. I’m afraid he has been deceived and instigated by others to use some unfounded rumors to make a scene in court and gain favor!”
Wang's cronies didn't pay much attention to Xue Guangting's impeachment. As a newly appointed scholar with no connections, he didn't have the ability to sneak into Hedong without the Wang family's spies' knowledge.
No matter how upright one's character is, or how sincere one's words are, without concrete evidence, he is just spouting nonsense.
"Your Majesty, I am not making baseless accusations." Xue Guangting ignored the commotion in the court and the doubts behind him, looking firmly at the supreme ruler.
“Under the guise of ‘land mortgage,’ the Wang family first lured people to mortgage their land at low prices in exchange for money and grain. Then, they manipulated the mortgage documents to make people unable to repay. Once the land was overdue, they would forcibly seize it.”
"Even worse, taking advantage of the government's land survey, they colluded with Shi Guanyu, the former prefect of Luzhou, to include the people's private land within the Wang family's estate. If the people resisted even slightly, they were punished for 'resisting officials'."
"Now, in just Luzhou, Qinzhou, and Fenzhou, the Wang family owns land and manors that stretch for thousands of miles, yet the taxes they pay are negligible."
"Stop talking nonsense!" Xue Guangting was interrupted before he could finish speaking. Feng Wenlin, the Vice Minister of Works, stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, you are wise. Although the Wang family does own some land and property in the Hedong region, it is by no means as vast as Censor Xue claims. Furthermore, the Wang family's land area and tax payments are all documented and verifiable. There has never been any evidence of them forcibly occupying farmland or evading taxes. Censor Xue is exaggerating and deliberately slandering us; Your Majesty must not believe him."
The emperor raised his eyes indifferently. Feng Wenlin's wife was Wang Bochang's daughter. Although the emperor did not think that Xue Guangting could expose the Wang family's secrets in just two months, he did not trust Wang Bochang's son-in-law even more.
What is the tax situation in Hedong?
Upon hearing the emperor's question, the Minister of Revenue quickly stepped forward and replied, "The taxes in the Hedong region are not significantly different from those of previous years. The output of Hedong was settled during the reign of Emperor Taizu, and taxes have been collected in accordance with the standards at that time."
The Minister of Revenue paused for a moment, but decided to tell the truth: "It is true that the taxes paid have decreased. Since the princess returned to the capital, the tax revenue collected from Hedong has been 10% less than in previous years. It is said that the wealthy areas have been allocated to the princess as her fiefdom, thus reducing the tax revenue."
The emperor remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was filled with sneers.
The Minister of Revenue was also a man of considerable influence, claiming that taxes in Hedong were normal, yet he used the output standards from the time of Emperor Taizu. Let alone the fact that when Emperor Taizu founded the dynasty, various regions had just experienced war, and both resources and population urgently needed recovery. Even if Wang Yifu had been prime minister during Emperor Taizu's reign, wouldn't he have been able to inscribe whatever output figures he wanted for Hedong?
As for Yong'an's fief, it was even more ridiculous. When Yong'an returned to the capital, Emperor Taizu granted him a fief of two thousand households, according to the standards for a prince. Later, he added another three thousand households. Although these five thousand households were supposed to be managed by Yong'an himself, they were merely a portion of the taxes collected by local officials, allocated from Yong'an's fief, which was not deposited into the national treasury but directly sent to Yong'an's private treasury.
He probably knew better than Yong'an how much silver and grain the Hedong region sent to the Princess's residence each year. Hedong claimed that the most prosperous areas were given to Yong'an, resulting in a 10% reduction in taxes. How come Yong'an received less than ten times the silver and grain annually of the Princess of Huainan, who was granted a fief of three hundred households? Could it be that the most fertile land in Hedong only produced half the yield of other places?
The emperor tapped the table and asked, "Minister Xue, do you have anything to say?"
Xue Guangting held a book of records high above his head with both hands: "The evidence of the Wang family's encroachment on land and shifting of taxes is all here. Furthermore, the Yingyuan Garden built by the Wang family in Fenzhou occupies tens of thousands of acres, diverting a tributary of the Fen River into the garden for landscaping, causing the downstream river to dry up and run dry, delaying spring planting every year. Your Majesty, land is the foundation of the people's livelihood. The Wang family's actions are against the will of Heaven and alienate the people, truly shaking the foundation of the country. I beseech Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly and give the people of Hedong justice!"
Countless eyes were fixed on the case file in Xue Guangting's hand until Xu Asheng presented the somewhat messy stack of papers to the emperor's desk, at which point these curious, inquisitive, and resentful gazes subsided.
Qiao Xiang frowned slightly. Regardless of what was written in the case file, Xue Guangting had no way of obtaining the evidence from the Hedong region on his own. Where did this document come from? Was it the will of the sage, or the will of someone else?
Flipping through the messy stack of papers, the emperor was also filled with curiosity. He had originally intended to use Xue Guangting to give the Wang family a little warning and make them behave, but he never expected that Xue Guangting would almost turn the Wang family upside down.
Who is so hateful that they are determined to kill the Wang family and leave them no way out?
The first few pages were newly copied, containing land survey maps and maps of several large estates. The maps were meticulously annotated, indicating that it must have taken several years to complete. If these survey maps were genuine, the Wang family's encroachment on the land would indeed be confirmed.
He flipped through the pages, and behind the survey map were comparisons of the actual output and taxes of several fields. Although the tax ledger was flawless, it differed greatly from the actual output.
Over the years, the Wang family must have accumulated enough wealth to be considered "rich enough to rival a nation."
The emperor's fingers, gripping the pages so tightly they turned white, crumpled the paper. He suppressed his anger and continued reading.
The paper on the back was of a very different color from the paper on the front; it was yellowish, had creases that couldn't be smoothed out, and the edges were already damaged.
The ink on the paper remained a deep, rich black, indicating the use of high-quality ink sticks to prevent it from fading over time. The paper contained a wealth of information, including survey maps and annotations, with the blank spaces filled with insights and details.
The location and area of the occupied land, the construction process of the manor, the intricate nepotism among officials in the Hedong region, and detailed hydrological maps of the Fen River tributaries.
Compared to the previous few brand-new land survey maps, they seem more like a remeasurement of the land recorded on this old map.
The emperor gazed at the familiar handwriting on the drawing, which he hadn't seen in a long time. He carefully smoothed the curled edges of the paper, revealing a small ginkgo seal that was the last mark on the paper.
"Is there any progress in the case of the Marquis of Yuyang?"
The emperor looked at it for a long time, and everyone was secretly wondering what Xue Guangting had presented that could make the emperor take it so seriously.
Wang and his cronies were also uneasy. Xue Guangting was so confident—could he have actually obtained some crucial evidence? It was a pity they were too far away to see the Emperor's desk; what should they do if the Emperor asked?
No one expected that the emperor would not ask about Hedong, but would first ask about the Earl of Yuyang. The Minister of Justice was not quick to react, and after a moment of stunned silence, he hurriedly replied, "The evidence is unclear, so it is still under investigation."
"What day is it today?" the emperor asked the Ministry of Rites seemingly casually.
Even if he knew the sage was asking a question he already knew the answer to, the Minister of Rites dared not refuse to answer: "The thirteenth day of the eleventh month."
"Hmph, you've been investigating for over twenty days, and still no clue?" The emperor's expression changed instantly, and he coldly questioned.
Before the Minister of Justice could answer, he looked at the Minister of Personnel and asked, "Where is Minister Wang now?"
"In Luoyang." Zheng Gongchuo was a shrewd man. There were many officials with the surname Wang in the court, but he only answered Wang Bochang.
"Call him back." The emperor carefully arranged the scattered papers on the table one by one and put them back into the mismatched cover.
"Your Majesty, there are many affairs in Luoyang, and Prime Minister Wang is likely unable to leave. Your Majesty must not listen to the instigation of petty men, Wang..."
"What, I can't even persuade him?" The emperor interrupted the member of the Wang clan in a stern voice.
"Since there are many matters in Luoyang, then arrange for someone to temporarily replace him." The Emperor lowered his eyes and gazed at Xue Guangting kneeling in the hall. "We'll discuss the Wang family matter when he returns to the capital."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
