golden scales

"Is there really no fake?"

Qian Qianyi put down the brush in his hand, and carefully took off the reading glasses on the bridge of his nose.He also had a pair before, which Zhang Pu bought from Taixi people at a high price, but compared with this pair of reading glasses produced in Shandong, the Taixi goods are simply waste products.

"My lord, almost all the interviewers from the newspaper office were sent out to check items one by one, and each of them asked for help. This time, they spent no less than 1000 taels of silver, but the numbers they checked were almost the same. Even if there were discrepancies, there were probably errors." Liu said. If you don't know whether you should be happy or disappointed.

From the point of view of righteousness, Liu Rushi really hopes that Daming can collect more than 5000 million taels of national tax; from the point of view of human feelings, Liu Rushi is also happy to see that this national tax is used to educate children and help the poor.However, the details of Chongzhen's 21-year treasury revenue and expenditure issued by the "Huangming Bulletin" are really incredible.

This is not the doubt of her and Qian Qianyi's family, but also the doubt of many people in Jiangnan Shilin.If Zhu Cihong didn't release the news, they could only guess, but now they can find out and verify it through various channels.Not only Qian Qianyi is doing this kind of thing, other people are also doing this kind of thing.

"The real big difference is mainly the commercial tax of the two provinces, the tobacco tax of Jiangnan and the tea tax of Zhejiang." Liu Rushi said: "According to our investigation and calculation, the figure is far more than 340 million taels."

"Did the Bulletin cover up the report?" Qian Qianyi first speculated about his competitors from the evil side.

Because of the distance, the sales volume of "Emperor Ming Bulletin" in the Jiangnan area is not high.Nobody wants to pay to see something they've probably already read in the local paper.However, the exclusive disclosure of the court's movements is the advantage of "Emperor Ming Bulletin". Anyone who is interested in official career and keen on the country's current affairs must subscribe to this newspaper, which is almost equal to the Dibao.

Liu Rushi said: "The figure we got from our investigation should be around 600 million, and the difference is only 260 million taels. The imperial court even reported the big head, so why hide the 260 million? I'm afraid most of them are tax evasion."

Qian Qianyi said hesitantly: "The inferiority of greed and vulgarity is indispensable in every dynasty. Back then the Taizu strictly banned tea. I killed a son-in-law. I don't know how many will be killed today."

At the beginning of the Kingdom, Ouyang Lun, the son-in-law of Princess Anqing, was accused of smuggling tea and was given death by Zhu Yuanzhang.Princess Anqing is the direct daughter of Empress Ma, and Empress Ma only has two direct daughters, and she is deeply loved.even so.His son-in-law still inevitably died, which shows the strictness of the judiciary in the early days of the country.

"Maybe he is kind today, but the crown prince is not willing to touch the sand in his eyes." Liu Rushi said, "My lord, what should we do about this matter?"

Qian Qianyi leaned on the back of the chair, pillowed his head, and said, "Let it go."

"Let it out?"

"Yes, release the amount we found and see how the imperial court handles it." Qian Qianyi said.

Liu Rushi felt that this kind of thing was almost the same, and more attention should be paid to the problems in the expenditure of the treasury.However, expenditure items are more difficult to check.The military expenditure is definitely not available, and education requires a large number of people to conduct a national investigation, which is beyond the financial resources of the Qian family.

As for the income of officials, it is convenient, because the new law requires officials to declare their property income from the 22nd year of Chongzhen, so the salaries of officials from various places will be able to be checked next year.

On March 22, [-] Chongzhen, "Jiangnan Shilin Daily" published a false report on taxation.This report was immediately sent to Beijing by the Zhejiang side using a pigeon to send a letter.Because the flying pigeon system is not a formal transmission route, no one has put effort into cultivating long-distance flying pigeons.After transferring the report four or five times, it finally arrived at the headquarters of "Emperor Ming Bulletin", which was much faster than traveling by boat.

"Emperor Ming Bulletin" reprinted this report.It can be said that one stone stirs up a thousand waves.Naturally, the Ministry of Households was disgraced, and Wu Tongxiang, commander of the State Administration of Taxation, was called to the office by Yao Tao.Close the door and talk alone for a full hour.No one knew what the two female officers were talking about inside, but Wu Tongxiang's eyes were redder and swollen than peaches when she came out.

Wu Tongxiang went back to the government office, followed the same pattern, and summoned the chief officials of the Qing officials in the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River.

"It's too late to say anything now!" Wu Tongxiang concluded: "You call up your manpower. Leave a few on duty in Beijing, and the rest will follow me to Jiangnan. Our troops are divided into three groups, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang. If there is any problem, we will investigate it. Where. If the local tax administration office is incompetent, it will be dismissed immediately. It will be replaced by a member of the General Administration. This matter must be heard to the sky, and the gang of the Metropolitan Procuratorate will definitely not let such a big case go. An Sheng will spend the rest of his life at home for the elderly. Or go to Liaodong to cook ice and snow, just watch this time!"

Hearing the Metropolitan Procuratorate, everyone was shocked.

Who didn't know that it was a group of mad dogs swarming up smelling the smell?

There is a good person in Beijing who still painted a picture in front of the gate of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. In the painting, an official is sitting alone, but the mending uniform on his chest is a jackal, and next to it are written five bloody characters: Ducha Court dog officer.

Of course, this good-natured person is no longer in Beijing.He was taken away by the police while drinking tea in a teahouse, and then nothing happened.

The Metropolitan Procuratorate is actually not as omnipotent as they imagined.Moreover, although this case has a great impact, in the final analysis, it is a problem of the tax collectors below. If they investigate rashly, it will consume a lot of manpower and material resources, and it may be empty to fetch water from the bamboo basket.The most appropriate way is actually to let the State Administration of Taxation conduct a self-examination. It is better to start after you have a goal.

In the 22-year work plan of the Chongzhen Metropolitan Procuratorate, the focus is still on the frontline of the judiciary, launching investigations on judges.Now that criminal cases in various places are prosecuted by the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the censors have the most intuitive feeling whether judges use people's money to eliminate disasters.

Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang are all areas controlled by Jiangnan Shilin, especially in Anhui and Jiangsu, where Nanjing officials basically hold local positions.They knew that they were children raised by their stepmothers, that their grandma didn't love their uncles, and that there was a big tax problem this time. They were afraid of giving the crown prince an excuse to clean up, so they sent the police, the inspection department and the censor to supervise the whole process of the National Taxation Administration. investigation team.

This time they really didn't have time to take the filial piety, if they were implicated, they would be more wronged than Dou E!

Zhu Cihong remained silent on this issue from beginning to end.The more silent he is, the more frightened the people below will be.Wu Tongxiang was based in Jiangning Mansion, and whenever she found something, she would publish it in the local newspaper, hoping to upload it to the heavens.But the crown prince still didn't say a word, letting the officials handle it by themselves.

Others thought it was an imperial trick, but for Zhu Cihong, it was an opportunity to test whether the administrative and judicial systems could function on their own.Even for a workaholic like him, facing such a huge empire, it is impossible for him to have the time and energy to personally handle every specific matter.

Especially as the eldest son Zhu Hegui grew up, and it was time to babble, Zhu Cihong's energy was given to him a lot. In many informal ceremonial activities, Zhu Cihong staggered with this step, gnawing at it from time to time. Thumb's son was in attendance.

In April of the 22nd year of Chongzhen, Song Hongye completed the handover of the Liaodong intelligence system, completely ended his undercover career, and returned to the capital.He hadn't shaved his head for several months, and a layer of three-inch short hair had grown on his head, and his sideburns were no longer bald green skin, and he was not known to anyone after wearing an official hat.

Zhu Cihong held Zhu Hegui and met Song Hongye in the side hall of Wenhua Palace.

"Zhenhua, I heard that you retreated completely, and I finally let go of the stone in my heart." Zhu Cihong smiled and called Song Hongye: "Our army was able to allocate troops reasonably and attack the Eastern captives at the right time. You have contributed a lot. Without you , I’m afraid it will take another three to five years to recover God’s capital.”

"Thank you, Your Highness." Song Hongye said with a bow.

"We're all back, so we don't need to use those false tricks." Zhu Cihong said with a smile: "I haven't forgotten that you were allowed to be the commander of Jinyiwei at the beginning, but now Xu Dun seems to be doing well. And you also know that the Mongolian side All the wiring is in his hands, it would be inappropriate to change people hastily."

"Your Highness, I don't dare to be greedy for merit in a humble position, but I have been restless all these years, and I really survived it by biting the bullet." Song Hongye sincerely lost interest in the secret war.If he is really allowed to change his appearance easily and enter and leave the enemy's territory, he might as well stay in the capital and become a small policeman.

"The humble official only wishes to return to serve in the Army and Horse Division of Wucheng. The official family has been here for generations, and they know a little about this way." Song Hongye said.

"Now there are no soldiers and horses in the five cities." Zhu Ci said with a smile: "From the capital to the prefectures and counties, the police system has been changed to maintain daily law and order, and it belongs to the Ministry of Criminal Affairs. If you want to do practical work, you can go to the Shuntian Prefecture Police Station. If so If you want to sit in court, you can go to the Ministry of Punishments to be a servant."

"Thank you, Your Highness, I invite the Ministry of Punishment." Song Hongye was not really willing to dedicate his life to Daming's security work. Obviously, the title of minister of the Ministry of Punishment is even more impressive!

"There is one more thing you can do now." Zhu Cihong said: "Write down your undercover story. After the Donglu is completely wiped out and the information ban is lifted, your story can be published. Maybe it will be a big hit."

"Yes, Your Highness." Song Hongye replied.

"At that time, sign your name and give me a set." Zhu Cihong pressed his son's round head, pushed his spitting fat face away, and asked, "Have you married a wife and concubine in recent years?"

Song Hongye said: "I was widowed in the early years of my humble job, and I haven't continued my marriage so far." Before meeting the crown prince, it was not suitable to marry, and after meeting the crown prince, it was not suitable to marry a wife and take concubines.Now having no heirs has become Song Hongye's top priority, and he happened to be looking for one in Beijing.

"In this way, we can wait for the Jinyiwei to discuss the matter of rewards, don't worry about it." Zhu Cihong said: "I will personally send you a concubine, so that you can take care of me, and I will take them with you when you leave the palace."

Song Hongye couldn't help laughing: "Thank you, Lord...Your Highness!" (To be continued...)

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