The diners were horrified, their chopsticks dropped, and no one dared to move. The shopkeeper hurriedly stepped out from behind the counter, clasping his hands together and bowing his head, smiling: "Sir, perhaps you have misunderstood. We are all law-abiding businessmen."
The officer looked him up and down and asked, "Are you the shopkeeper here?"
The shopkeeper stepped forward and said, "I am Zhu Zhiwen, the owner of this restaurant. Is there some misunderstanding here? May I ask who you are, sir?"
The officer holding the token sneered, "Misunderstanding? Your Fan Lou has been operating for decades, yet the Kaifeng prefectural records show that the tax revenue is less than seventy taels per year. For such a large restaurant, this is the only amount of money it takes in per year? As for who I am, that's none of your business!"
Shopkeeper Zhu smiled and came over to pull the official over: "Sir, may I have a word with you for a moment?"
A cold light flashed, and the officer held a knife to his neck.
Zhu Zhiwen's face changed drastically. He couldn't pretend to be calm, nor did he want to. So he trembled and said, "Sir, why are you doing this? Let's talk it over nicely."
A room on the second floor creaked open, and a fifty-year-old man walked out. The old man had an extraordinary demeanor, a dignified presence without even getting angry. He said in an arrogant voice, "Who are you? How dare you act so wildly here? Do you even know where this place is?"
The officer put away his brow-tipped knife and pointed at the old man upstairs: "Who are you?"
The old man was not afraid of the confrontation, but met the official's gaze and said, "Are you from the Tiger Court? What's your name?"
The officer saw that this man had an extraordinary demeanor, so he clasped his fists and said, "My name is Chen Haoran. May I ask who you are?"
The old man looked up at the sky and said, "I am Liu Dapeng."
The plainclothes officer who had just given the waiter the money walked up to Chen Haoran and whispered, "Sir, this man is also the owner of Fanlou."
Chen Haoran nodded slightly: "Liu Dapeng, if I'm not mistaken, you were once the housekeeper of Mr. Zhang Bangchang's mansion."
Liu Dapeng sneered: "Since you know this, you still dare to come to Fanlou and act wildly. The current Prime Minister Zhang Bangchang is the owner of Fanlou."
Chen Haoran also smiled, then his expression changed. He waved his hand and said, "I see they've all been taken down!"
Liu Dapeng was shocked and shouted, "What do you want to do? I'm telling you, even the retired emperor of Fanlou once dined here. If you confiscate Fanlou, Lord Zhang will not let you go!"
Chen Haoran said angrily, "You still dare to be stubborn when the time comes. Not to mention Zhang Bangchang, even if the emperor is here, it won't work. The Tiger Court handles cases without the approval of any other department, and it's a special permission from the emperor! No matter if you are a royal relative or a senior official in the court, you will be strictly investigated! It's okay if Zhang Bangchang is not here, but if he is here again, he will be arrested as well!"
Everyone knew that the emperor had been placed under house arrest, so Liu Dapeng brought up Zhao Ji in a desperate situation, which only caused him to be ridiculed.
A group of officers rushed over and threw Zhu Zhiwen to the ground. Then several officers rushed to the second floor. At this time, Liu Dapeng no longer dared to pretend to be extraordinary. He pointed at the officers who rushed up and said, "You, what do you want to do!"
The officer swung the iron chain around Liu Dapeng's neck and said, "Get out of here."
The accountant, handyman, waiter, cook and waiter in the restaurant were all arrested by the Tiger Yamen officers.
Chen Haoran waved his hand: "Search for me, take all these accountants away!"
The remaining officials entered the accounting office and took out the piles of account books from Fanlou one after another.
"Take all of them back to the Hu Yasi!" Chen Haoran pointed at the diners and said, "You have nothing to do with this matter. Leave this place immediately. If you dare to delay the Hu Yasi's investigation, you will be arrested without mercy!"
The diners immediately scattered, leaving their tables and heading for the door. Some were delighted, as at least they didn't have to pay for their meals.
Outside Fanlou, seven or eight officials from the Tiger Yamen were already waiting at the gate, their horses in hand, with two standard-bearers following behind. They held the Tiger Yamen flagpole, a white flag with black characters depicting a ferocious tiger head, a truly majestic sight.
A group of Tiger Yasi officials escorted everyone out of the door. Chen Haoran went out, took the reins from the attendant, and jumped on his horse: "Seal off this Fanlou, and take these people to the Tiger Yasi for trial!"
Two officers took the seal, applied glue on it and closed the door of Fanlou, and then led everyone to the Zuo Chengtian Gate.
Chengtian Gate was originally the headquarters of the Imperial City Division of the Song Dynasty, a unit similar to the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty. However, the Imperial City Division declined and failed to fulfill its primary mission of surveillance and investigation. Zhao Huan subsequently abolished the Imperial City Division and re-established the Tiger Yasi.
Another pair of Hu Yasi personnel went to the eastern suburbs. The eastern suburbs of Bianjing were thousands of acres of fertile farmland, and many people were farming on the fields.
Fan Guangtu, deputy director of the Tiger Court, pointed at the map and asked, "Which official owns these lands? Point them out to me one by one!"
A nearby man, tortured beyond recognition, said feebly, "The two thousand acres on the west side, near the water source, belong to Zuo Heng, the Minister of Rites. The fifteen hundred acres in the middle belong to Lu Pingzhi, the Privy Councilor. The seven hundred and thirty-six acres on the north side belong to Zhao Ye, the Northern Circuit Governor. The remaining four thousand two hundred and thirteen acres belong to officials from various departments."
The man was wearing a white prisoner's uniform, stained with blood. There were holes on his chest from branding, revealing the charred flesh beneath. This must have been the result of all sorts of torture.
Fan Guangtu put the map away with satisfaction. "Zhao Xian, you are the tax officer for the grain tax of Kaifeng Prefecture. You collected less than one-third of the grain tax from these tens of thousands of acres of fertile land. What crime should you be punished for?"
It turned out that this guy was the Yiliang Envoy who was in charge of grain taxes, and his name was Zhao Xian.
Zhao Xian said with a hint of tears in his voice, "Sir, I am helpless. These lands are owned by ministers in the court. They rely on their positions in the court. Every time I go to collect taxes, I am either scolded or beaten. They compete with each other. One says that since Lord Lu didn't pay taxes, why should I pay? The other says that since they don't pay, why should I take the money?"
Fan Guangtu sneered, "Nonsense! I ask you, if you already knew, why didn't you report it? I've already investigated thoroughly. You accepted bribes from officials from various departments. You privately improved the amount of farmland and concealed it. You still dare to quibble when death is imminent. I don't think you've suffered enough. Come! Take you back to the Imperial Prison for further trial!"
Zhao Xian's legs were shaking. "Master, I know I'm wrong. I know I'm wrong, Master. I confess, I confess everything. Please don't torture me anymore, I really can't bear it anymore..."
As Zhao Xian spoke, tears streamed down his face, and he cried like a three-year-old child.
"Enough!" Fan Guangtu shouted angrily, "I want to ask you, these ten thousand acres of fertile land originally belonged to the people of Bianjing. How did it end up in the hands of you, these corrupt officials?"
How could Zhao Xian dare to hide anything anymore? He would rather confess and die quickly than endure that inhuman torture.
"These lands originally belonged to the common people, but these officials later bought them out with money. When the common people refused to sell, they found ways to force them to sell their good land, or to trade their poor land for the common people's fertile land."
Fan Guangtu angrily said, "Tell me clearly, what methods did this official use to force the people to sell this fertile land?"
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