Chapter 65 Search
Zhao Xiao looked between the two men and saw that the older man had a whip mark on his face and blood on his body.
"How did you get the wound?"
Qiao Ling gritted his teeth and said, "My Lord, I was beaten by the bailiffs."
"Why did the bailiff beat you?"
Qiao Ling told the whole story of what had just happened, and the villagers behind him filled in the blanks for him if there were any omissions.
Zhao Xiao listened to the general idea and asked, "What's your name?"
"Commoner Qiao Ling."
"How many hours do you spend repairing the road every day?"
"I haven't calculated it. I get up at 3:15 a.m. and practice until dark, with only half an hour to eat and go to the bathroom."
"Is it like this every day?"
Qiao Ling nodded.
"Does the government provide meals?"
Qiao Shuanzi quickly took out the remaining half bean cake from his pocket and handed it to him: "Give him two bean cakes and a bowl of porridge every day."
Zhao Xiao broke it open with his hands and saw that there were wild vegetables and bean pods mixed in the bean cake. Pigs eat better than this, and he understood a little bit.
"How many of you came together to repair the road? Were there any casualties?"
Seeing that he did not look like someone from the county government, Qiao Ling said, "There are a total of eighty-three men from our village, and the number from other villages is about the same. I don't know about other places, but here only Uncle Qiao Shi and I were injured." Qiao Shi was the old man who had just fallen.
Zhao Xiao nodded and took out a silver ingot from his pocket and handed it to him: "Take it to treat your injuries. There is no need to repair the road for now. Everyone go home."
Everyone was afraid to leave. Deserting from duty was a serious crime punishable by exile. No one knew where this man came from, and he just left when he said he would. What if the government investigated?
Zheng Daan stepped forward and said, "This is our Daqi's general who assists the country. He told you to go back. No one dares to cause trouble to you!"
When the people heard this, they immediately knelt down, kowtowed and shouted, "Thank you, General! Thank you, General!" They picked up their hoes and shovels and ran home without stopping.
Only Qiao Ling still stood there. Qiao Shuanzi pulled his father and said, "Dad, why don't you leave?"
Unexpectedly, Qiao Ling stepped forward to stop Zhao Xiao, knelt down and said, "General, do we not need to repair this road today, or do we not need to repair it in the future?"
He thought it through very carefully. If they continued to build the road in a few days, the yamen runners who had been beaten would definitely continue to cause trouble for them, and who knows how many times they would be beaten.
The people do not fight against the officials. They are just ordinary people and cannot afford to offend the officials.
Zhao Xiao said: "Don't worry, the government officials won't dare to trouble you again, and your repair work won't be in vain."
Qiao Ling finally felt relieved and kowtowed to express his gratitude: "Thank you, General!"
After the father and son left, Zheng Daan couldn't help but say, "This is too heartless. They work from morning till night and don't even give us enough food. It would be strange if the people don't rebel!"
Zhao Xiao jumped on his horse and the fire started to burn. Yuzhu asked the Ministry of Revenue to allocate three million taels of silver to build the road.
Now the people not only cannot get their salaries, they can’t even get enough food to eat. Where did all those corrupt officials spend the money?
"Go to the county government office!" The army rumbled towards the county town, and in less than an hour they arrived at the nearby Pingyao County at full speed.
When the county magistrate heard that troops had arrived in the county, he was so frightened that he ran to the gate of the yamen to wait for them.
He didn't know which official was coming to the county, and he was feeling uneasy, with his hands in his pockets.
Soon Zhao Xiao led his men into the city. As soon as they arrived at the gate of the county government office, the county magistrate hurriedly ran up with a bulging belly.
"I am Gao Hongbao, the magistrate of Pingyao County. I am honored to meet the general."
Although he didn't know Zhao Xiao, judging from the way he was dressed, he must be a general.
Zhao Xiao got off his horse, walked two steps to his side, and kicked the man away without saying a word.
"Ouch!" The county magistrate was kicked so hard that he was stunned. He covered his stomach and forgot to cry out in pain. He quickly stood up and kowtowed.
"General, please spare my life, General, please spare my life!"
"How did the imperial court stipulate the time for the people to build roads?"
"Repair...repair for five days, and rest for one day."
"Did you give them a break?"
The county magistrate swallowed his saliva and said, "Rest...Rest..."
Zhao Xiao raised his hand and slapped him again, making him see stars.
County Magistrate Gao was so frightened that he fell to the ground. "Please spare my life, sir! I have no other choice. The prefect has issued an order that a hundred miles of land must be repaired before the end of the year. If we don't hurry up, we will never be able to finish it!"
He was just a small official. He couldn't finish repairing the road and couldn't keep his official hat, so he had no choice but to resort to this last resort.
Zhao Xiao grabbed his collar and pulled him up: "Let me ask you again, are there subsidies for civilians to build roads?"
The county magistrate shook his head and said, "No, the state government only allocated 5,000 taels of silver, which is not enough to build roads. Where can I find the money to subsidize the people..."
There are a total of thirty-seven counties in Luzhou, of which only nineteen are connected by official roads. If each county is allocated five thousand taels, the total amount will be only ninety-five thousand taels. Where did the rest of the money go?
Zhao Xiao said: "Please suspend the road construction and let the people go home to collect food. If you dare to let the yamen runners beat the people again, I will chop you to pieces!"
"Yes, yes, yes!" County Magistrate Gao was so frightened that he kept nodding his head like a chick pecking at rice.
Zhao Xiao got on his horse and said, "Keep going, to the Luzhou government office!"
After the large group of people left, Gao Hongbao tremblingly climbed up from the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and screaming in pain.
The yamen runners hurried forward to help him up and asked, "Sir, are we going to repair this road?"
"What the hell, didn't you hear that the master asked the people to go home and collect food? Go and arrange it!"
"yes!"
I didn't check the almanac before going out today. I don't know which god I offended. I feel like crying but have no tears as I touch my swollen face.
*
Zhao Xiao led his troops on a hurried march and arrived at the Luzhou government office two days later.
The prefect of Luzhou was named Duan Kang, an old man in his fifties. He was a little surprised to hear that the General Auxiliary to the State was coming to visit him suddenly, so he immediately changed into his official uniform and went out to greet him.
He had heard of Zhao Xiao's name. He was said to be a ruthless man who killed people without blinking an eye. He led his troops all the way from Xuzhou to Shangjing, and even killed Ye Qing. He didn't dare to offend him. Why did he come to Luzhou without saying a word?
The horse stopped at the gate of the government office, and Magistrate Duan hurried forward and knelt down.
"Your subordinate greets the general."
Zhao Xiao ignored him and walked straight into the government office with the whip in hand.
Duan Kang was confused and stood up tremblingly. Just as the attendant beside him was about to help him up, he was pushed away by the prefect and chased after him in two steps.
"General, you suddenly came to Luzhou. Does the emperor have any instructions?"
Zhao Xiao stopped and pointed at his forehead and said, "If you weren't old, I would have spanked you a long time ago!"
Duan Kang's heart skipped a beat, and he blushed as he asked, "What is this about?"
Zhao Xiao sat at the top and said, "Let me ask you, how much silver did the court allocate to you to arrange the road construction?"
"At the beginning of September, 130,000 taels of silver were delivered, and I have distributed all the money."
Zhao Xiao slammed the table and said, "Bullshit! The emperor asked the Ministry of Revenue to allocate three million taels of silver. For the six states, you should have at least five hundred thousand taels! Where did the rest of the money go?"
Duan Kang knelt down and said, "General! I still have the receipt for the money sent by the Ministry of War! It was written in black and white with my fingerprints. How dare I lie!"
After saying that, he quickly asked his subordinates to get the receipt and handed it to Zhao Xiao for inspection.
After reading the receipt, Zhao Xiao sneered. He didn't expect that the rat would come out of his house. If he hadn't come out to check, the silver would have been swallowed up by the Ministry of War without anyone noticing.
"Get up."
Duan Kang got up from the ground and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Fortunately, he had evidence to prove this matter, otherwise he would not be able to explain it clearly.
"Although you didn't embezzle the money, the counties under your rule are burdened with heavy labor, and the people don't even have time to harvest the autumn harvest. If this continues, the people will surely feel resentful, which will be detrimental to the country."
"What the general said is correct. I will strictly enforce it and order the counties not to force the people to build roads by force. Instead, I will reduce the time and give them appropriate subsidies."
Zhao Xiao's expression finally softened. "I will report this matter to His Majesty. The people's will is more important than anything else. We must repair the road and not mistreat the people. Do you hear me?"
"I've made note of that."
That night, Zhao Xiao and his party stayed in Luzhou to rest for the night. He wrote a letter and ordered his subordinates to send it back to Shangjing as soon as possible. Next, he would visit other prefectures to check.
If my guess is correct, the Ministry of War didn't even take out half of the three million taels of silver.
*
After arriving in Beijing, Song Yuzhu soon received the letter sent back by Zhao Xiao. He was so angry that he laughed when he saw that it said Luzhou only received 130,000 taels of money for road construction.
It seems that there are really some people who are brave enough not to fear death. It has only been a short time since he ascended the throne, but they have already forgotten what he said.
Maybe they are not brave, but they just don't take themselves seriously at all.
"Someone, go summon Commander Liu to the palace!"
The direction of the investigation is very simple, there is a Ministry of Revenue and a Ministry of War. The money was taken out of the Ministry of Revenue, but where did it go?
He personally promoted the Minister of Revenue, and he didn't believe that Liu Lin would dare to betray his own people. As for the Minister of War, Huang Shan, he had a clean official style in the past, otherwise Song Yuzhu would not have kept him in this position.
Soon Liu Yanzi entered the palace, and Song Yuzhu assigned the task to her subordinates, who must find out where the money went.
The Minister of War Huang Shan had no idea that he was about to face a disaster.
At this moment, he was discussing with Lin Guangyuan in Xiangyun Tower how to send the two million taels of silver to Shuzhou.
"Brother Lin, this time it's all thanks to you. If it weren't for you negotiating with the Ministry of Revenue, we might not have been able to get so much silver! What's the use of Liu Lin being favored by the emperor? You still have the final say in the Ministry of Revenue."
Lin Guangyuan waved his hand, but there was not much smile on his face: "Master Huang, what are you going to do with this money? If we are implicated, neither you nor I will be able to escape!"
"Don't worry, I have already made all the arrangements. Unless the emperor goes to various places to check in person, no one will dare to report it."
Lin Guangyuan was still a little uneasy: "We took too much. If we only take half, we will have to deduct two million taels of silver..."
"This kind of thing is hard to come by, what if there is no chance next time?"
Lin Guangyuan nodded, that was true.
"How do you plan to transport the silver?" Two million taels is not a small amount, and it would take hundreds of boxes to pack it into.
Huang Shan said, "I plan to hire an escort agency to disguise the silver as goods and send it to the capital in a few days."
“Is it reliable?”
"Of course, no problem."
"That's good. Send the money out as soon as possible to avoid any more trouble."
The two chatted until the evening, and only went home when it was almost dark.
Huang Shan returned to the mansion in a sedan chair, and the servant helped him to the backyard.
"Master, which room are you sleeping in today?"
Huang Shan casually pointed to the courtyard of the new concubine and said, "Go to Jiao Feng's room."
People feel refreshed when good things happen to them. Huangshan felt relieved after finishing this matter and planned to enjoy it.
There was no light in the concubine's room, and it was so dark that I couldn't see the road clearly.
Huang Shan muttered as he walked towards the bed: "My little beauty, are you sleeping so early?"
As a result, before he reached the bed, he stumbled and fell over something. Just as Huang Shan was about to call for help, he was knocked unconscious by someone's knife.
(End of this chapter)
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