I'm in the Red Mansion

Jia Cong saw some clues from these files.

The most obvious clue is that in several files, the property confiscated from the homes of the criminal officials was really too little.

The family with the least amount of money only had a few dozen taels of silver confiscated.

If it is said that these criminal officials are not greedy for money, then what are they trying to achieve by abusing their power for personal gain, bending the law, and committing crimes?

There were also a few details that didn't match up with the other ones, but Jia Cong saw through them all with his sharp eyes.

Next, Jia Cong handed these files over to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who focused on investigating these cases.

This kind of targeted exploration will be much faster.

Within a few days, it was discovered that there was indeed something fishy going on in these cases.

These are all false and wrongful cases fabricated by the Inspection Office.

And those officials who were framed by them all had grudges against them.

Because the Inspection Office is an independent department with extremely high powers, those officials who have been framed have no place to appeal for justice even if they want to.

Seeing this, Jia Cong's heart sank.

Sure enough, losing the power of supervision will inevitably lead to a state of being out of control.

This power must be given a bridle.

Now, we must first let them know how powerful we are.

Therefore, Jia Cong handed all these cases over to the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The Jinyiwei and the Xunchayuan were supposed to supervise and check each other.

As for the Jinyiwei, they had already conducted a thorough investigation.

Once they took action, they naturally produced solid evidence and quickly overturned the cases of those officials who had been framed.

Seven of the officials from the Inspection Office who committed the crime were all beheaded, and their families were exiled to Ningguta.

In addition, Jia Cong also ordered people to pickle their heads with lime and then send them to all branches of the Inspection Office, and eventually to the headquarters.

I hope all officials of the Inspection Office can take this as a warning.

Also let them know that their power is being supervised by someone.

Anyone who dares to abuse power will surely be subject to the most severe sanctions and punishment.

And these heads did indeed have the effect of killing chickens and scaring monkeys.

Wherever he went, the officials of the Inspection Office were all terrified and in awe.

After this incident, officials from the inspection offices across the country immediately became much more restrained in their conduct.

No longer have the arrogance of the past.

Next, Jia Cong formally gave the Inspection Office its first task, which was to inspect the land measurement situation.

The Jinyiwei have discovered that many local officials concealed information when measuring land.

However, Jia Cong did not report the information to the officials of the Inspection Office immediately.

Jia Cong still wants to test their abilities.

If you have outstanding abilities, you can be reused and promoted directly.

As the task was assigned, the inspection office became busy.

This is the first time that the emperor has given them a task. It is also a verification of their abilities, so they have no choice but to take it seriously.

At the same time, this is also an excellent opportunity for the Inspection Office to prove their capabilities.

As long as this matter is done well, you will definitely stand out and be noticed by the emperor, and your future success will be a piece of cake.

Next, the Inspection Office conducted a comprehensive investigation of land measurement across the country.

This time the commotion caused a huge stir, and officials from all over the country were in a state of panic.

However, some things require more than just enthusiasm.

Take the inspection office's mission this time for example, nothing can be accomplished just by having enthusiasm.

Either you need to know how to measure the land, and have enough manpower to start from the overall situation, or from a specific place.

Estimate the approximate number of acres of land and then compare it with the results of the local officials' investigation.

And if you have no idea how to measure land, you will have no way of investigating such things.

Or, if you know how to check people, that's fine too.

As long as we can find out the truth about their secret connection with the noble families and fraud, we can convict them.

If both parties do not have sufficient capabilities, the case cannot be investigated.

Jia Cong did not argue about this, but waited and saw what was happening.

As time went by, the investigation results of the inspection offices in various places were quickly reported.

After reading their investigation results, Jia Cong was greatly disappointed.

Because most of the branches of the Inspection Office were unable to come up with any results.

Their reports showed no fraud or falsehood.

Among these results, there were some that were found by the Embroidered Uniform Guard to have obvious cases of fraud.

Jia Cong did not doubt their loyalty. Of course, there might be people among them who were in cahoots with local officials.

But Jia Cong believed that most officials were just mediocre, not disloyal.

However, what Jia Cong wanted was not mediocre officials.

You don't have the ability to investigate cases and can't find out anything, so what do I need you to do?
Fortunately, there were still a small number of capable officials who found out the evidence of local officials' fraud.

There were some that even the Imperial Guards hadn’t discovered.

Some of these people were calculated.

Some were found out by checking people.

Among them was an official named Song Ci, who attracted the attention of Jia Cong.

Because this official actually approached the issue from two aspects.

Moreover, his thinking was so meticulous and his techniques so sophisticated that even Jia Cong could not help but applaud.

During the Song Dynasty, there was a judicial official named Song Ci, who was an expert at judging cases.

Unexpectedly, there is a person with the same name and surname in China, who is also a good candidate.

Next, Jia Cong promoted Song Ci to the capital without hesitation and appointed him as the Minister of the Inspection Office.

He also ordered him to set up a separate inspection department within the Inspection Court.

The Inspection Department is responsible for inspections across China and for the internal review of officials of the Inspection Institute.

The powers of the Inspection Office were too heavy. Jia Cong was not confident that only the Jinyiwei could supervise it, so he simply set up an internal self-inspection office.

The Inspection Office is also only responsible to the emperor.

Song Ci jumped from a low-level minor official to become the Minister of the Inspection Court, and was in charge of an entire department, reporting directly to the emperor.

This incident also greatly stimulated the officials from top to bottom, big and small, in the Inspection Office.

This is what it means to reach the emperor’s ears and ascend to heaven in one step!

The speed of promotion is simply like soaring into the sky.

This speed of promotion can probably only be seen during the founding period of the People's Republic of China.

Once the dynasty is stabilized, it will not be possible to do it so quickly.

This lucky path to advancement also makes others jealous to the point of going crazy.

They also want to get the emperor's attention and have the honor of being promoted.

Therefore, this has once again stimulated their enthusiasm.

Next, Jia Cong handed over the intelligence obtained by the Jinyiwei to the Inspection Office.

Next, many local officials throughout China were dismissed from office for committing fraud in the process of land measurement.

Those in extremely bad situations were even arrested and imprisoned.

This also made officials in China, especially local officials and the aristocratic families, all nervous. The emperor started a war just for a small land measurement.

When taxes are levied in autumn, who knows what kind of trouble will arise!
This Emperor Zhongyuan was a decisive and ruthless person.

Less than a year after he ascended the throne, he had already killed the eight major salt merchants in Jiangnan and many corrupt officials.

By autumn, I am afraid that there will be more killings and rivers of blood!

Unless, those gentry can pay taxes according to the amount of land they own.

But this possibility is really small.

They are used to not paying taxes, so asking them to pay taxes is like cutting their own flesh. How can they bear to do so?

At least it will take some testing. It is impossible for them to pay taxes obediently from the beginning.

……

One day, Jia Cong found Queen Lin Daiyu and said to her, "Sister Lin, I plan to open up a few acres of land in the imperial garden."

"We grow crops in the fields, as well as fruits, vegetables and other crops..."

Before Jia Cong finished speaking, Lin Daiyu smiled and said, "Great! Although I have never farmed before, I also yearn for this kind of pastoral life."

"This is really interesting. The vegetables that I grow myself are delicious and sweet."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "Sister Lin, I haven't finished yet. This land is not for you to farm."

"Instead, let Ping An and the other little guys do the farming. When the time comes, I will find someone to teach him how to farm."

"Not only farming, but also learning skills like spinning silk and weaving cloth in the future, so that he knows that every thread and every roll is not easy to come by."

"That way, when he ascends the throne in the future, he will be able to experience the suffering of the people and won't say things like why not eat meat porridge."

"Also, I plan to leave a family motto that all future royal family members must learn farming from a young age."

Jia Cong naturally attached great importance to education. He originally wanted to send all the princes to the people so that they could experience the sufferings of the people firsthand.

But I am still young after all, and it is not easy to operate.

Therefore, Jia Cong thought that it would be better to let them learn farming and weaving in the palace first.

After hearing this, Lin Daiyu also praised it highly and agreed happily.

On the second day, Jia Cong ordered people to reclaim two acres of land in the imperial garden.

He also invited experienced farmers to teach Jia Cong how to farm.

Since Jia Cang was still young, he naturally didn't need to dig the ground.

Jia Cong planned to set aside one and a half acres of land in the imperial garden to plant sweet potatoes, corn, peanuts and potatoes.

The remaining half acre of land is used to grow fruits and vegetables.

At first, he planted peanuts. He just had to throw two peanuts into the dug hole.

At first the little guy found it novel and was very excited and had a lot of fun.

But soon, the weather became hot.

But the little guy soon got tired, so he stopped, sat down on the ground, and didn't want to move.

Jia Cong then frowned and ordered him to continue working, and he was not allowed to rest until he had finished planting the peanuts on the three acres of land.

Jia Cang couldn't help but burst into tears, but Jia Cong remained unmoved.

Jia Cang looked at Lin Daiyu with tears in his eyes again, and Lin Daiyu turned away.

Helpless, the little guy had to continue working while wiping his tears.

After planting three acres of peanuts, the little guy collapsed to the ground due to exhaustion.

Lin Daiyu was so distressed that tears streamed down her face.

And in the following days, Jia Cong asked Jia Cang to come and farm every day.

Every day, the little guy is very tired.

In the meantime, the little guy secretly ran to complain to the Queen Mother.

As expected, the Queen Mother called Jia Cong over and gave him a severe scolding.

Even when you were a child, Your Majesty, you never did such work. How old is the prince now? Why should he do these things?
Jia Cong patiently persuaded the empress dowager, and even Lin Daiyu helped to persuade her.

The Queen Mother didn't know how to be unreasonable, so she had no choice but to let Jia Cong go.

That day, after planting three acres of corn, Ping An felt hot and tired, and couldn't help wiping away tears of grievance.

Jia Cong called Jia Cang and several other little ones together.

Jia Cong asked, "Ping An, do you feel tired and miserable working on the farm these days?"

Jia Cang said quickly: "Father, it's tiring and hard, can you please stop letting me farm in the future?"

Jia Cong said seriously: "Ping An, and the rest of you, listen carefully."

"Do you know that the food you eat is grown by the people in the fields?"

"You are only planting this little bit of land, and you are complaining about the hardship and fatigue. But don't you know that ordinary people have to plant more than ten acres or even dozens of acres of land. Don't they also suffer and work hard?"

"And they have to pay agricultural taxes on part of the food they grow."

“And all the food you eat is grown by the people.”

"Why did the emperor let the prince farm? And not just the prince, when you grow up, each of you will have to farm the land yourself."

"Father just wants you to know that every grain of rice on the plate is the product of hard work."

"I will let you understand the suffering of the people, and then later..."

Jia Cong patiently taught the little ones.

The little guys seemed to understand but not quite.

However, vaguely, a seed was planted in their hearts.

Half a month later, the two acres of land were planted with crops, fruits and vegetables.

But farming is not just about planting seeds and then calling it a day.

After the seeds germinate, you still have to go to the field to check on the seedlings.

If there are bad seeds that have not sprouted, they should be replanted in time.

After germination, you have to weed the fields every few days.

If the ground is dry, you need to draw water for watering.

In short, Prince Jia Cang would go to the fields to work for half a day almost every day.

The other little ones also followed the prince and helped him with his work.

Farming is extremely hard work.

After farming, the prince studied much harder during the half-day study than before.

After all, only after experiencing the hard work of farming will you understand.

Reading is actually much easier than farming, so when reading, it feels like taking a rest.

As the days passed, the crops in the fields gradually grew taller.

Jia Cong ordered people to keep an eye on this place to prevent the prince from being lazy.

He himself didn't have the time to keep an eye on this place all the time.

On this day, Jia Cong was reviewing memorials in the imperial study.

But then he heard Jia Cang walking in quietly.

Jia Cong doted on his children very much, and he did not need to inform the little ones when they came to the imperial study.

Jia Cong has profound internal strength, and no matter how careful the little guy is, he cannot hide it.

Jia Cong was curious as to why the little fellow came at this time.

He couldn't help but look back and found that the little guy was holding a small basket in his hand.

Seeing Jia Cong turned around and looked at him, the little guy hurriedly said: "Father, this is the cucumber that I planted myself. I picked it specially to honor you." (End of this chapter)