Fengqi crabapple

Chapter 271 Cong Xi investigates corruption
The next day before the emperor went to court, he summoned Hou Zhengxiong. When Hou Zhengxiong heard that he was going to secretly investigate the case for the emperor, a big stone fell in his heart.Their factory guards were supposed to be the emperor's confidants, but they were afraid that the emperor would not use them.The new emperor has not used them, and several people are very upset.

This time, it was the first time the emperor gave them an errand, and he was appointed as the Jin Yiwei. It was obvious that he treated him differently from those in the East and West factories.Hou Zhengxiong happily went to the main hall with Shen Congxi.

The emperor pointed to the pile of reports from the Ministry of Revenue and said: "I now know that it is so difficult to be the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Pei Shangshu has worked really hard. All the expenses of the whole empire are in your hands. I appoint Shen Congxi, a scholar in the cabinet, as the imperial envoy. Minister, go and verify these old accounts. If you can, clear them. If you can’t, then the court has done its best!"

Seeing the emperor's helpless expression, Pei Shiyan and Ye Jiquan smiled at each other tacitly.

Shen Congxi received the official letter from the treasure seal, and Chang Le presented the stack of reports to him.A fourth-grade Shao Zhanshi replaced the cabinet bachelor, but Pei Shiyan did not take him seriously.

Shen Congxi took a deputy and four guards and went to investigate with great fanfare.Secretly, Cen Hai and Fei Yi of Jin Yiwei also set out for Yongqing County at the same time.

Hou Zhengxiong and Sun Yanxi, however, secretly opened up the old account of Kang Wang and Xian Wang selling their official positions in the capital.

The guards Shen Congxi brought were not simple. One of them was An Qing, the imperial sword-bearing guard. An Qing had a dragon-feathered sword with an imperial pattern on his waist, which represented the emperor and had the right to kill first and then report.

When several people arrived in Yongqing County, the county magistrate Liu Baoshan and the county magistrate Tang Ping respectfully greeted the imperial minister at the gate of the county government office.

Liu Baoshan was a little uneasy. He reported to the Ministry of Household Affairs last year and asked for some tax reductions for the county, but there was no news from the Ministry of Household Affairs.It was the end of this year, and an imperial minister came and said that he wanted to investigate the fact that the taxes could not be collected in two years.

Liu Baoshan dared to report last year because he knew what he was doing and was not afraid of him investigating.So the account books that had been carried for two or three years were brought out and piled up in front of Mr. Shen.Unexpectedly, Mr. Shen did not look through these account books, but started a family affair with Liu Zhixian.

"Master Liu, where are you from? How many years have you been at home? How many years have you been working in Yongqing?" Shen Congxi asked casually.

"Xiaguan is from Henan. I have been in Yongqing for five years. Although I am a second-year student, my eldest brother suddenly died of illness last year. My parents are still in my hometown in Henan. Xiaguan dreams of going back." Liu Baoshan shook his head.

"If you have any requests, you can make them. Filial piety comes first, and the emperor will understand your filial piety." Shen Congxi added: "Unfortunately, your political performance in the past two years has been slightly poor. Even if the emperor understands you, I'm afraid you won't be able to pass the official level. ah."

Liu Baoshan knew that Mr. Shen was from the James Mansion and was very close to the new emperor. Hearing Mr. Shen take the initiative to mention the emperor, his heart suddenly became alive. When he heard the word "political achievements", a small fire was just lit in his heart. , and was doused by the cold water again.

He hesitated and said: "Master Shen doesn't know something. I have been an official of Yongqing's parents for five years. The achievements in the first three years are still good. It is only in the past two years that there are some gaps..."

"There is a gap, why don't you want to make up for it?" Shen Congxi looked into Liu Baoshan's eyes and asked, "Is it because the gap is too big and can't be filled up?"

Liu Baoshan's heart skipped a beat. No, it seems that Mr. Shen is not a good person!
Shen Congxi didn't force him. He pointed at the account books with a smile and said, "Just leave these here. Let's go to the county to look around first. If Mr. Liu thinks of anything, you can come to me at any time. I will report it to the officials for you as appropriate." ...complaint.”

As soon as Shen Congxi and the others left, the county magistrate Tang Ping said angrily: "Master Liu, we have been tricked by Li Gang! It was he who asked us to apply for a tax reduction from the Ministry of Household Affairs, saying that he was a member of King Kang, Pei from the Ministry of Household Affairs Shangshu is the father-in-law of King Kang. We just need to report it and get it approved. Now, not only will it not be approved, but it will also be reported to the emperor and wait for the emperor to blame him."

"He usually eats meat, and we just drink soup," Liu Baoshan said angrily, "Now it's bothering me to apply for transfer back to Henan. My parents, who are over 70 years old, are still looking forward to my return every day!" "But! We can't be enemies with King Kang and Pei Shangshu, right?" Tang Ping thought about it and said, "Why don't we wait and see what Master Shen can find out?"

Master Shen's investigation method is very strange.He visited farmers, merchants and wealthy households in the county every day, and quickly came up with some calculation data, which was indeed very different from the data provided by the county government.

At the same time, Cen Hai and Fei Yi also found data on Li Gang's interception of taxes and public grain, but there was still a lack of evidence.Shen Congzhao took a look and found that Liu Baoshan received less than one-tenth of the benefits, mainly because Li Gang took it for himself, and also sent filial piety to Prince Kang's mansion during the holidays.

What Li Gang took away was the real gap in the county's tax revenue.This is the reason why the imperial court still cannot receive taxes even though the taxes paid by the people are far heavier than what the imperial court requires.

"Jinyiwei never needs evidence when handling cases. Now the emperor has given us a difficult problem." Cen Hai said with a smile.

"People always change! Look, you Jinyiwei have become able to laugh now." Shen Congxi joked, shaking the list in his hand and said: "It seems that Liu still needs to be pried open." Baoshan’s mouth!”

Liu Baoshan's mouth was much easier to pry than he thought. As soon as he heard Shen Congluo reported the data checked by the Jinyi Guards, he knelt down and kowtowed.Master An's Royal-gifted Yanling Sword is not a vegetarian. At worst, he will not be an official and go home to support his parents until they die. He cannot afford to lose his life for Li Gang.

So, Liu Baoshan gave a comprehensive account of everything Li Gang had done, and Tang Ping brought in another set of account books, which recorded the irrefutable evidence that Li Gang had overpaid and cut off taxes and public grain.

"Qingping County is also under the emperor's nose. Li Gang dared to act so boldly. He can't run away. Mr. Liu, I hope that you will make meritorious service this time, and I will apply for atonement for you." Shen Congxi said with a smile: "I hope you can reunite with your family soon."

When Shen Congxi and his party returned to Beijing, they couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat when they saw the list of officials found by Hou Zhengxiong and Sun Yanxi: Little Li Gang didn't matter, he was just a microcosm of them.

The next thing will be much easier to handle.According to the list, Jin Yiwei has never been so proud of arresting people.The emperor justifiably cut the knife sent by Pei Shangshu towards them one by one.

King Kang, who was still in the capital, was so angry that he cursed his old father-in-law: Are you stupid?You're all right, why are you messing with the emperor?
The emperor didn't want to do anything to his fifth brother. In his previous life, his fifth brother also didn't die a good death. In this life, they were far from threatening each other with death.

But Pei Shiyan couldn't let it go.Hou Zhengxiong was good at this, so Pei Shiyan blocked the knife for King Kang.King Kang knew this very well and did not even bother to see his father-in-law in the prison. He returned to the fiefdom dejectedly with Pei Zhiheng, who knew nothing about it.

All officials involved in the official purchase case will be dismissed from their posts and will never be hired.

Yu Minglang's nine-sect admiral was knocked back to his original form as soon as he was addicted to drugs. Even his father, who didn't report the knowledge, was demoted by him and could only keep an official status.

The emperor took advantage of this opportunity to promote a group of ministers who dared to think and act, and also included several ministers with good reputations into the cabinet. The environment in the previous dynasty began to gradually become clearer.

(End of this chapter)