The First Corrupt Official of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 273 Master Ye suddenly mutated into an unparalleled national warrior, the three major granaries, black and white and impermanent, aiming at Zhu Yuanzhang!

"Look, it's the imperial envoy who is delivering the imperial decree!"

"They must be representing the emperor to commend Mr. Ye for his achievements in defending against enemies and his achievements in the past three years. The emperor is not blind!"

"History has not deceived me. All the founding emperors were wise kings who knew everything. We are born in this era of wise kings and wise ministers, and the future is promising!"

"No, this white-faced imperial envoy holds an imperial edict that represents the grace of a saint, but this black-faced imperial envoy holds a knife that represents the power of life and death. If they are here to commend Lord Ye, why would they bring a knife?"

"It's indeed wrong. If they really commend Mr. Ye, they should go to Yanmen County. What's the point of coming directly to Taiyuan Mansion?"

"It's normal to come to Taiyuan Mansion. Our Lord Liu is the direct superior of Lord Ye, but it is indeed abnormal for this black-faced imperial envoy to hold a knife that represents the power of life and death!"

"This dark-faced imperial envoy with a sword doesn't look very kind!"

"."

On the street in front of the Taiyuan government office,
The people standing on the side made various possible analyzes based on the faces of the imperial envoys and the objects in their hands.

But as Zheng Shiyuan and the others got closer and closer to the gate of the Taiyuan magistrate's office, the people's speculations became closer and closer to the truth.

But they never imagined that the letter in the hands of the white-faced imperial envoy, who they thought was kind-faced, was regarded as an imperial edict for commendation, and its "lethal power" was far more lethal than that in the hands of the black-faced imperial envoy, whom they thought was evil-faced. That knife, which represents the power of life and death, is much more powerful!

Just after Zheng Shiyuan and the others stepped into the palace gate with their heads held high, the faces of the people also became solemn.

At this moment, they decided to put down their work temporarily. If the emperor was not discerning and the imperial envoy was not sensible, they would not let the imperial envoy leave easily.

Just when the people made such a decision, Zheng Shiyuan and Han Yike came to the reception hall of the prefect's Yamen.

Soon, the prefect Liu Wencheng, who was busy in the front office, came here.

"I pay homage to Your Majesty and wish His Majesty the best regards!"

After Liu Wencheng saw the knife in Zheng Shiyuan's hand and the imperial edict in Han Yike's hand, he knelt down and paid homage.

Han Yike raised his head on behalf of the king and said: "I am safe, Liu Aiqing is safe."

Immediately afterwards, Liu Wencheng, the fourth-rank magistrate, saluted Zheng Shiyuan and Han Yike, the seventh-rank imperial envoys: "I pay my respects to the two imperial envoys."

"Master Liu, no courtesy!" Han Yike said with a smile.

Immediately afterwards, Zheng Shiyuan looked serious again, and said in threatening language: "I am here on His Majesty's orders, just to find out the truth. Please tell Mr. Liu everything he knows."

"If there is even half a lie, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zheng Shiyuan held the sword horizontally, facing Liu Wencheng with the blade, and then placed it on the coffee table.

Whether it was his words or the action of releasing the knife, the meaning was very obvious. As long as what Liu Wencheng said was found to be a lie by them, they would kill him mercilessly.

Liu Wencheng just raised his hands in salute and said, "I would like to ask you two gentlemen to ask questions. I will definitely tell you everything I know, and I won't tell you anything false."

But although his hand movements were respectful and his words were polite, there was no sign of fear on his face.

Even in the face of someone like Jiang Wei, who had a certain amount of murderous intent, Liu Wencheng, a true scholar, had no fear at all.

Zheng Shiyuan looked at Liu Wencheng, who showed no guilt, and then recalled the 'war preparation granary' that the veteran took them to see, and he actually already had the answer in his heart.

But Liu Wencheng's attitude was very important. He had to tell the truth to the unsuspecting imperial envoy.

This is a question of the attitude of the ministers towards the monarch, and it is related to whether local officials respect the emperor. This is also the scope of their investigation.

He, Liu Wencheng, is not Ye Qing. He does not have the privilege of flattering the imperial edict. He must not be a criminal who deceives the emperor!

Thinking of this, Zheng Shiyuan asked with burning eyes: "Master Liu, I would like to ask you on behalf of Your Majesty whether Master Ye made a prefectural seal privately to pay taxes this year and stamped the document without your knowledge."

"You can also answer me directly. Did you personally sign and seal the tax documents in Yanmen County? Did the tax auditor of Taiyuan Prefecture do the accounting carefully? Did you, Mr. Liu, ask about this matter?"

As soon as Zheng Shiyuan finished speaking, Han Yike and Jiang Wei focused their attention on Liu Wencheng.

However, Liu Wencheng did not think at all, and directly said seriously and responsibly: "The subordinates not only intervened in the tax collection in Yanmen County, but were also aware of the entire process. It can even be said that they were involved in the entire process."

Zheng Shiyuan said in surprise: "Then you mean that you not only knew about Yanmen County Magistrate Ye Qing's evasion of agricultural taxes, but also participated in it?"

As soon as Zheng Shiyuan finished speaking, his hand was placed on the handle of the sword given by Zhu Yuanzhang himself!
Han Yike and Jiang Wei watched this scene. Although they knew that this was just a way for Zheng Shiyuan to ask about things, they couldn't help but get goosebumps.

The nickname Hei Wuchang is not given casually!

Anyone who has a guilty conscience will show signs of a guilty conscience to a greater or lesser extent no matter how good their psychological quality is as long as they are frightened by him.

But the Master Liu in front of him not only admitted that he was an accomplice, but also showed no signs of guilt or fear.

The reason why he behaved like this only proves that in his opinion, he helped Ye Qing evade agricultural taxes. Not only was he not guilty, but he was actually meritorious!
And this is the purpose of their trip, to find out why they think that evading agricultural taxes is not only innocent, but also meritorious!
Just as Jiang Wei, who was standing by the side, looked at Liu Wencheng with a hint of expectation in his sharp eyes, Liu Wencheng spoke again.

"Master Zheng is absolutely right, because the official believes that Master Ye's move is not only innocent, but also meritorious."

"In my opinion, this thing that the court considers to be a heinous crime is actually a good thing that benefits the country and the people, but is not beneficial to myself."

Zheng Shiyuan and the other three looked at each other, nodded in agreement, and then motioned Liu Wencheng to sit down and speak slowly.

Finally, as Liu Wencheng took his seat, the atmosphere at the scene relaxed slightly.

Liu Wencheng said: "Two imperial envoys, Ye Qing, the magistrate of Yanmen County, is truly a genius that has never been surpassed. He actually developed a new rice seed with a yield of six to seven hundred kilograms per mu, and began to gather all the people last year." Plant with the power of the county!”

"In fact, not only Yanmen County, but also the counties under the jurisdiction that are suitable for rice cultivation are planted with the new rice seeds developed by Master Ye."

When Zheng Shiyuan and the other three heard this, their eyes immediately lit up.

Undoubtedly, this was news that the imperial court was completely unaware of, and it was also news that Zhu Yuanzhang, who had served Yanmen County incognito twice, did not know.

Han Yike was relatively polite, but also asked rigorously: "What do you mean, Lord Yiliu, that all the state and county officials in Taiyuan Prefecture, including yourself, are evading agricultural taxes?"

Liu Wencheng just smiled indifferently and said: "If you two adults know the reason why we do this and think we are evading agricultural taxes, then let it be!" Zheng Shiyuan frowned and said: "If it is, it is, if it is not, it is not, how can it be true? Is this a statement?"

"Master Liu, please explain the reason directly. Your Majesty will make your own judgment on right and wrong!"

After Liu Wencheng nodded, he stopped being pretentious and continued: "Actually, since the lower officials knew that Mr. Ye's way of governing the world was miraculous, he asked me, the chief officials of various states and counties in Taiyuan Prefecture, to learn from it. However, the officials vary in quality and talent. It’s not the same, although it’s improved compared to before, it’s still far behind Yanmen County.”

"For this reason, other prefectures and counties simply cannot plant [-] acres like Yanmen County at one time. But even so, the yield is not comparable to previous yields."

“If the northern climate hadn’t forced us to grow only a single crop of rice, the total annual output could have doubled!”

"But even with these many shortcomings, the total grain output of our Taiyuan Prefecture is still a quite scary figure!"

"After deducting the agricultural tax paid to the court, the needs of the market in Taiyuan Prefecture, and the farmers' necessary retention, the remaining grain, which the court considers to be the 'leakage of agricultural tax', is enough to fill twelve large granaries!"

When Zheng Shiyuan and the three of them heard this, they also looked horrified at the same time!

The words "full of twelve large granaries" really make the numbers come alive.

Not only the Ming Dynasty, but also all dynasties in the past dynasties have required specification data for various types of government warehouse buildings in order to facilitate calculation and statistics.

The capacities of large, medium and small granaries, weapons depots, gunpowder warehouses, etc. are all dead data!
Although the three of them were not professional officials in the Ministry of Revenue and did not know the specific data, they also knew that it must be a number beyond their imagination.

Thinking of this, the expressions of the three people also became serious at the same time.

Because they knew that if Liu Wencheng said what he said next and could not successfully get rid of the crime of evading agricultural taxes, the officials of Taiyuan Prefecture would definitely be purged!

Just when Zheng Shiyuan and the others realized the seriousness of the matter, Liu Wencheng spoke again!

"These twelve large granaries have been built, and all the grain has been stored in the warehouses. The warehouses are named 'War Ready Granaries'."

"The corresponding twelve 'disaster preparedness granaries' and twelve 'liquidation granaries' have also been selected and construction has begun."

"Master Ye's meaning is very simple. The imperial court can't even hand over such a huge amount of food to the imperial court. It must be used on the cutting edge."

"If it is used as military rations, the quartermaster will have to take a bite. This is something he will never allow!"

"When it is used as disaster relief food, the officials responsible for disaster relief also have to take a big bite. There are even cases where the officials are fattened and the victims starve to death."

"Instead of doing this, it is better to build separate warehouses and save them."

"There are many Great Wall military towns in Taiyuan Prefecture, so granaries are built near the military towns. Once there is turmoil in the court situation, there is no time to take care of the border towns. The war-prepared granaries can keep the border troops from chaos and the national border without worries."

"This is just one of the functions of the war preparation granary. Another function is to save manpower for expeditions!"

"Take this Northern Expedition as an example. Of the 20 troops in the Northern Expedition, 60 people were working on the logistics and food roads to ensure logistics. The frontline soldiers did not suffer many battle losses, but there were more civilians who died of cold and exhaustion than the frontline soldiers."

"But with the war preparation granary in Yanbian, the expeditionary army can get food nearby, saving more than half the manpower than transporting it from the south."

"As the saying goes, the three armies should go ahead without using the food and grass. Only if the food and grass can keep up, and the logistics and supplies can keep up, is the key to the army's victory!"

The three of them nodded thoughtfully after hearing the wonderful use of this 'war preparation granary'.

I have to say that Ye Qing’s idea is indeed a national policy that benefits the country and the people!

Immediately afterwards, Liu Wencheng continued: "The role of the disaster preparedness granary is very simple. If the court fails to provide disaster relief in time, the local government can provide disaster relief on its own to prevent chaos in the disaster area!"

"It's even easier to liquidate the granary. It literally means selling it and realizing the money!"

Immediately afterwards, Liu Wencheng began to talk about the circulation relationship between the three types of granaries.

The new grain harvested just now is put into the war preparation granary, just to ensure that the soldiers who defend the territory and open up the frontiers can eat the best new grain of the first year.

After the second year's harvest, the old grain in the war preparation granary was transferred to the disaster preparedness granary. The disaster victims could eat two years old grain, which was already very good.

After the harvest in the third year, the old grain in the disaster preparedness granary was transferred to the liquidation granary!

After the harvest in the fourth year, the old grain in the granary can be sold for cash, whether it is sold to a small foreign country or for whatever purpose.

When Zheng Shiyuan and the other three heard this, they didn't just nod thoughtfully.

It can be said that they have deeply recognized that Ye Qing's move has merit and fault, and everyone in Taiyuan Mansion has merit and fault.

This warehousing plan not only saves a lot of manpower, but also ensures that the soldiers will always have one year's new food and the disaster victims will have two years' old food.

This is simply an unparalleled national policy that makes soldiers and victims feel grateful to the imperial court!
You must know that mutinies and civil commotions are important factors in the collapse of dynasties, and the important factor in causing mutinies and civil commotions is lack of food!

Not only that, the 'monetary granary' that sounds fresh is also very wonderful, and it has a bit of waste recycling meaning!
Finally, Zheng Shiyuan, known as the "Hei Wuchang", also showed a smile full of respect.

In Liu Wencheng's eyes,

Zheng Shiyuan and Han Yike stood up together, bowed to Liu Wencheng, and said one after another:
"The right and wrong of this matter can still only be judged by His Majesty. But no matter what the judgment is, both of us feel that it is meritorious!"

"Master Liu and Master Ye are truly national scholars!"

Liu Wencheng said with a smile: "You two adults are so complimentary, this official is just a conscientious local official!"

As he spoke, Liu Wencheng looked in the direction of Yanmen County, his eyes full of praise: "The real unparalleled national scholar is Lord Ye Qingye, the magistrate of Yanmen County!"

After hearing this, Zheng Shiyuan and Han Yike nodded in agreement.

At this moment, Jiang Wei understood why his mentor Mao Xiang was willing to 'loyalty' to this seventh-grade county magistrate.

After a while, Zheng Shiyuan asked Liu Wencheng to take him to see all the war preparation granaries, as well as the disaster preparedness granaries and liquidation granaries that had been selected and built.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang can only decide the merits and demerits of right and wrong, they have to see tangible evidence!

As long as there is evidence, even if they risk their lives, they will do their best to speak kindly to Ye Qing, the 'unparalleled national warrior' in their hearts! .
　Please follow up with the support of the officials, and please support the recommendation ticket and monthly ticket, thank you!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)