Tang Dynasty: The seventh rank of official residence, and you will be given the Ten Thousand People

"I……"

Ma Rulong hesitated and was speechless, with a shocked expression on his face.

He remembered that the man clearly said that the rebels were imprisoned in the Baima Temple dungeon, and no one could know the hiding place except the Great Luo Immortal.

How did Fan Xin know? This is incredible!

In panic, Ma Rulong subconsciously looked at Yuan Shuji in the queue. The latter had a livid face, obviously having the same idea as him.

"Ma Shangshu, I'm asking you something. Why don't you answer it? Didn't you speak justly and righteously?"

At this time Fan Xin's voice came from the front.

Ma Rulong was shocked and said with a smile while holding back his anger.

"Misunderstandings are all misunderstandings. I got excited and said the wrong thing. I hope Duke Yan will forgive me."

"Misunderstand?"

Fan Xin coldly shook his sleeves and cupped his hands at Wu Zetian.

"Your Majesty, I am impeaching the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment. As a high official of the imperial court, he decided the case on his own without sufficient evidence and almost caused a catastrophe. I beg your Majesty to judge!"

As soon as these words came out, all the ministers looked stern, secretly saying that Fan Xin's counterattack was finally coming!

As the instigator of the incident, Ma Rulong knelt on the ground with a bang, a look of defeat on his face.

Fan Xin has power in both the government and the public, and his majesty loves him. If he offends him, his career may be over.

Sure enough, after Wu Zetian heard these words, she immediately glared at him.

"I think you have a reputation for being upright, so I entrust you with such an important case."

"I didn't expect that you would first allow my mother to take bribes, and now you would frame a meritorious official. I am really disappointed."

"Come here, take off Ma Rulong's official title, demote him to a commoner, drive him out of Luoyang and never hire him again!"

"My Lord, thank you for not killing me!" Ma Rulong kowtowed to Wu Zetian with a sad look on his face, and was escorted down by two Yulin guards.

Looking over the ministers, Wu Zetian hesitated and said.

"Although the rebels were re-arrested, the killing of the two Jinwu guards was too egregious, and the murderer behind the scenes must be brought to justice."

"Fan Aiqing, I appoint you as the minister handling the case, with full authority to handle this matter!"

"Sir, obey the order!"

As the prison robbery came to an end, Xu Zheng, the Minister of Household Affairs, walked out of the queue.

"Your Majesty, Grain Rain is coming in a few days. Officials from various places have reported that there is a serious shortage of cattle. If the court just sits back and does nothing, the food supply will be reduced by at least 50%!"

As soon as these words came out, there was a sound of air-conditioning in the hall.

Compared with the Lijingmen massacre, the reduction in grain production is a major issue concerning the country and the country.

In previous years, the output was reduced by 30%, and the court was exhausted to deal with the victims. If the output is reduced by 50% this year, the ground will be starved?

Wu Zetian frowned slightly and said in a deep voice.

"I remember that when you were the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, you said that you would resolve this matter in the shortest possible time. Is this your answer to me?"

Feeling the deep dissatisfaction in the emperor's words, Xu Zheng's expression changed and he hurriedly explained.

"Your Majesty, I have ordered officials from the Ministry of Revenue to purchase a large number of cattle from Mobei, Lingnan, Jingzhou, and Youzhou to relieve local pressure."

"However, other prefectures and counties still lack cattle. I can't do anything about it. Please forgive me!"

After speaking, he hit his head heavily on the ground.

"Humph, you trash, I am the richest person in the world, but I can't even get enough oxen for farming. How did you become the Minister of Household Affairs!"

Wu Zetian took a serious look at the major case and was about to depose Xu Zheng.

The latter hesitated.

"Your Majesty is right. We do have a lot of cattle in Zhou Dynasty, but most of them are in the hands of a few people."

"for example…"

Xu Zheng raised his head and glanced at Fan Xin: "I heard that after the Turks were defeated, Duke Yan sent troops to Mobei to collect a large number of horses, cattle and sheep."

"If these cattle and sheep are sent to various places, it will be enough for the people to tide over the difficulties."

Seeing everyone's eyes looking at him, Fan Xin said calmly.

"Yes, I do have tens of thousands of cattle in my hands, but I earned them through bloody battles. I plan to give them to the families of the fallen soldiers in the future."

"You just want to rob me in the name of the imperial court. How can I let you rob me?"

Princess Taiping had already told Fan Xin about this matter, and she knew without even thinking that it was for her.

"What Duke Yan Guo said is right. The laws of Zhou Dynasty clearly stipulate that private property can be protected. There is no reason for the Ministry of Household Affairs to plunder the cattle farmed by the Prime Minister."

"But as far as I know, a few days ago the Ashina family sent a group of cattle to redeem the Turkic prisoners."

"May I ask Duke Yan, why are these cattle and sheep missing?"

The speaker was Song Jing, a minister who was not very prominent in the court.

His question immediately aroused everyone's surprise.

They didn't expect that the Ashina family would actually return a batch of ransom money.

Especially Xu Zheng, the Minister of Household Affairs, was worried about how to arrange spring plowing and recruit cavalry, so Fan Xin sent him such a big gift.

However, before they could ask, Fan Xin took out a contract from his arms.

"Shilang Song is probably talking about the Ashina family wanting to redeem the captive cattle and sheep."

"I have sent them to my hometown in Youzhou for fattening and breeding. Do you have any objections?"

Song Jing was shocked and pointed at Fan Xin with a shocked expression. .

He had never seen such a shameless person. In order to suppress the Turkic rebellion, the imperial court did not hesitate to dispatch hundreds of thousands of troops.

Not to mention hundreds of thousands of grain and fodder were wasted in vain, and tens of thousands of soldiers were killed.

No wonder I don't like this guy on weekdays. He turns out to be a greedy and traitorous minister.

At this thought, Song Jing could no longer hold back the anger in her heart and shouted loudly.

"You are so good as Fan Xin. The imperial court will not hesitate to waste the country's capital in order to put down the rebellion."

"In the end, the ransom that was finally obtained was taken back to your hometown privately by you."

"I ask you, where is your conscience?"

What kind of person is Fan Xin? He is someone who crawled out from among the dead. .

Naturally, he would not take an old man seriously.

"Didn't Mr. Song see it clearly? This contract says in black and white that the Ashina family requests Manager Fan to please the Khan and let him go home."

"To express my gratitude, I present the cattle and sheep to you..."

I don’t know whether it’s because the Turks are not good at using brushes, or for other reasons, but the words “Report to the Imperial Court” turned into black spots.

From a distance, it looks like it is really a gift to Fan Xin.

After reading this contract, Song Jing almost spit out blood.

It's so shameless, it's so shameless!

The dignified Duke of Yan actually used writing skills to seize the court's harvest.

Are there any such shameless people in the world?

Even Yao Chong, who had been silent all this time, couldn't stand it anymore and said calmly.

"Mr. Yan, it's no secret that you are a person of high status. Do you think the court will believe this little trick?"

"It's clear that the Ashina family asked you to report it to the imperial court, but you took advantage of the loophole and took it for yourself. Isn't that justified?"

Regarding the two people's doubts, Fan Xin smiled calmly.

"A contract is a contract, written in black and white. Why shouldn't I take it back to my hometown?"

"you!"

Yao Chong hesitated and shook his sleeves angrily.

"A child cannot be taught!"

Seeing that the cattle farming matter had been discussed for a long time with no result, Wu Zetian patted the dragon chair impatiently.

"Okay, you can discuss this matter among yourselves and retreat from the court!" "Long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

After the ministers got up from the ground, Song Jing came to Fan Xin and said calmly.

"I heard that Fan Xin was reluctant to eat food for the sake of the common people in the past. Now that your family has tens of thousands of cattle, why not generously help them?"

"What a generous word to help him. With just one word, Shilang Song made me want to give up the cattle I bought with my life. He is worthy of being a prestigious and upright minister."

Fan Xin chuckled lightly and left Shangyang Palace while Song Jing sighed regretfully.

Looking at his back, Yao Chong stepped forward to persuade him.

"Shilang Song, don't worry about this Fan Xin. This guy has lost his original intention to be an official."

"I want him to sacrifice 60,000 cattle unless the sun rises in the west."

"Let's think of another solution."

Song Jing nodded, stroking his beard and sighed.

"Loyalty is like treachery, and treachery is like loyalty. I used to think that Fan Xin, although a bit arrogant and domineering, was at least a good official who made decisions for the people."

"Now it seems that I made a mistake, let's go!"

After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and robe and left the hall.

When he came to the street, Song Jing hesitated for a moment and ordered the proud man to carry him to a nearby village to have a look.

Loud shouts can be heard everywhere along the way.

Out of curiosity, he opened the curtain and looked at the market, and was immediately attracted by the scene in front of him.

I saw rows of shops standing on both sides of the busy street. Judging from the plaques at the door, it was obvious that there were shops from all walks of life.

"Song San, I remember that in the first year of Shenlong, this place was still a deserted old alley. How did it become like this?"

Upon hearing the inquiry, the butler bowed and replied.

"What I don't know is that Qinghuafang has been transformed into a commercial pedestrian street by the government."

“Guests can come here and buy everything they want to buy.”

"I heard that the Luozhou government collects several hundred guan every day just for shop rent."

Song Jing was startled and suddenly became interested.

"This is happening, please tell me whose idea it was?"

"Master Qi, it was Duke Yan's idea. Under his transformation, the people in Qinghuafang no longer even farmed the land, and they all became small and profitable businessmen."

When talking about this, the butler seemed to be very envious.

When Song Jing heard the words "Yan Guogong", his face darkened, he closed the curtain again, and was no longer in the mood to watch the market.

He said with a sullen face.

"Huh, it's just a little side trail. Scholars, farmers, industry and merchants. Everyone is going to be a businessman. Who will cultivate the crops in the fields?"

"This Fan Xin, I thought before that he just loves money a little bit, but in his heart he still cares about the world."

"I didn't expect to do such a thing that harms the country and the people."

"Let's go to Zhuangzi in front, that's where I should go!"

Along the way, the sedan moved very steadily without any violent shaking.

This made Song Jing a little curious.

Signaling the bearer to stop, he opened the curtain and walked out.

When he saw the scene in front of him clearly, his whole body froze on the spot.

His eyes were filled with disbelief.

"This is?"

"how is this possible?"

In front of you is a flat bluestone road, with an endless stream of farmers driving oxcarts on the road.

There were bags of sacks stacked on top of the bullock cart, and it looked like the farmers were going to plant the seeds into the ground.

On both sides of the road, endless cultivated fields are neatly arranged, and hundreds of farmers are bending over to work in the fields.

Song Jing has been an official for many years and has inspected how much farmland he has visited.

But he has never seen such flat and fertile land!

After a long time, Song Jing let out a breath.

"Song San, let's go up and ask these farmers."

"Yes, sir."

The two rolled up their trouser legs, tiptoed to the ditch, and found an old farmer with a dark complexion.

"Brother, may I ask what the name of this place is and why is there such fertile land?"

No wonder Song Jing was curious. The capital of God is located in Henan Province. Under the erosion of the Yellow River all year round, most of the soil has turned into sand, which is far from comparable to the land outside the pass north of Youzhou.

Now seeing the black soil here is more exciting than seeing gold.

The old farmer straightened up and took a look at him. Seeing that he was a distinguished man in extraordinary clothes, he immediately answered with a smile.

"Sir, you are here from Tianjie, right? You don't know that the soil here was brought back by Duke Yan from the north to help improve the soil for seeds."

"Not to mention that this black soil is indeed stronger than sandy soil, which can increase autumn grain production by several thousand kilograms."

The corners of Song Jing's mouth twitched, as if she had a toothache.

"Are you saying that Fan Xin did all the farming here for you?"

"Of course!" The old farmer raised his face proudly.

"All our farmers in Luoyang can borrow Xiangguofu's cattle for free every year, and they can also transport some goods after completing the farm work."

Speaking of which, the old farmer said with regret.

"However, it won't work this year. I heard that there is a cattle shortage in various places. The Duke of Guo did not want to see the suffering of the people and borrowed all the cattle to farther places."

Speaking of the respected Lord Yan, the old farmer has endless things to say.

But what he didn't notice was that Song Jing's expression had already turned into one of shock.

He never dreamed that Fan Xin, who looked greedy for money in court, would have such a kind side in private.

In order to help the people survive the cattle shortage, the cattle bought at a huge cost were lent to the people free of charge.

After looking through history books for more than two hundred years, he had never seen anything like this.

What is this for?

"Huh, what's the big deal? I just want to win over people's hearts."

The butler curled his lips and said disdainfully.

Unexpectedly, his words angered the farmers, who pointed at the smooth bluestone road and said.

"Sir, please leave here immediately. You are not welcome here."

"The Duke of Yan is responsible for the country, the country, and the people of the world. How can he let you slander him?"

After finishing his words, he blew a whistle, and hundreds of farmers holding farm tools came over.

I heard that the two people in front of me were rude to Fan Xin, and the farmers' eyes were red.

If Song Jing hadn't run so fast, everyone would have beaten them to death.

Running back to the sedan, the housekeeper breathed a long sigh of relief and gritted his teeth.

"Don't worry, sir. I'll go call the police from Luozhou immediately and arrest these daring and unruly people!"

"Damn it, you dare to attack a high official in the imperial court."

Song Jing waved her hand to signal the housekeeper to calm down, looked at the fields in the distance and sighed with a complicated expression.

"Fan Xin, I am increasingly confused about what kind of person you are."

"A treacherous minister with evil intentions? Or... a good official who cares about the world's common people?

(End of this chapter)