Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 273 The Official of Yingtian Mansion Who Discovered the Clue

In the imperial garden, there are gazebos, curved pools, and green bamboos all around.

Zhu Youjian sat on the gazebo, watching his white stones being eaten one by one by Shi Kefa, he couldn't help but shook his head: "You won't let me!"

"Your Majesty, you can't let what you said yourself. The humble minister is just following the order." Shi Kefa said with a smile, while Zhu Youjian stood up bored: "Shi Kefa, do you think I can successfully collect taxes this time?" ?”

"Your Majesty, you now have the Guards, Dongchang, and the entire south of the Yangtze River under your control. How could it not be successful?" Shi Kefa smiled.

"You used to be a civil servant in the foreign dynasty, or you were an official to the Ministry of War in Nanjing. You should be more aware of the Ming Dynasty's officials and the nature of these officials and gentry than I am. Although I have a good hand, who can be sure whether I will be defeated by them Take advantage of the loophole."

Zhu Youjian then asked Shi Kefa again: "Shi Aiqing, do you hate me for making you a servant? Answer truthfully, and I forgive you for your innocence!"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the king wanted the minister to die, and the minister had to die. At the beginning, I really hated your majesty, thinking that your majesty is so tyrannical, and sooner or later I will ruin half of Jiangnan. However, I gradually realized that your majesty is actually I wanted to kill my minister, but I was reluctant to kill him, so I had no choice but to do this. In the past, Tai Shigong was willing to suffer the imperial punishment for "Historical Records". Use this remnant body for His Majesty's command, and do my best for the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty. Fortunately, I have already lost my thoughts about men and women, and my wife died early. I have never taken concubines, and I have children. regret."

Shi Kefa replied truthfully.

"You dare to tell the truth, and you still dare not let me down, but it is precisely because of this that you have ended up in this ending. When I first came to Jiangnan, I was thinking of finding someone to stand up to, but you, the Nanjing Military Department Shang Shu has bumped into him, if it were someone else, I would even delay him!"

After Zhu Youjian finished speaking, he grinned. He didn't know why, but he was more ruthless than before.

……

The first day of tax collection is over.

It seems that the whole city of Nanjing is still very peaceful, there is no great beauty caused by taxation, and Zhu Youjian didn't wait for the news of Fan Jingwen's entry into the palace, so he had to sleep with the beauty early.

And Fan Jingwen seemed to be still very calm, drinking tea and chatting with the people below in the household department office.

"Hongwu Gate is about to close, and today's tax collection work is about to end. Mr. Ge, you are getting old, so you should go back to the mansion and rest earlier, as long as there are officials guarding here," the left servant party of the household department Chongya laughed.

"It's fine. Fortunately, today's affairs are going well. There is no trouble. You should stay here and wait until tomorrow to report the results of today's tax collection to the official, so that I can present it to His Majesty." Fan Jingwen said badly. Dang Chongya helped him out of the household department.

As soon as Dang Chongya sent Fan Jingwen away, he couldn't help cursing: "Old stuff!"

Then, Dang Chongya took the seat where Fan Jingwen was sitting just now: "Remember, when Governor Yingtian comes to pay the tax money later, let him come to see the official directly, understand?"

"understand!"

The two people below replied.

……

Here, the governor of Yingtian, Qu Shixu, has left for the Yamen of Yingtian Mansion, and Yin Chengde of Yingtian Mansion found Chen Yu, the co-prefect of Yingtian Mansion: "There are many merchants who come to the mansion to pay taxes today. Are there any mistakes or troubles?"

"No, there is no mistake," Ying Tianfu co-prefect Chen Yu stammered back.

"What's the matter with you?" Ying Tianfu Yin Chengde asked when he saw that Chen Yu was sweating on his forehead.

"It's nothing, it's hot." Chen Yu didn't dare to tell Cheng De what he knew. After all, Cheng De was His Majesty's confidant, and he was an official who could directly communicate with His Majesty. He was afraid that if he told Cheng De, he would mess up the plan of the higher authorities. , because he didn't know how many officials were involved in this matter.

Seeing this, Cheng De didn't want to say anything else, he just waited for Wu Jiayin, a member of the household department, and Huang Jiayi, the censor of Xuncheng, to hand over to him the tax money and tax stamps collected today.

The first person to come was Huang Jiazhen, the censor of Xuncheng. Huang Jiazhen handed over the tax bank and tax receipts to Cheng De first: "Cheng Fu Yin, these are the taxes collected by the lower officials today. Please look over them. If the tax receipts are the same as There is no problem with the tax money, so the next official will go back and report to Futai."

Cheng De inspected it, and quickly asked, "We only have [-] silver dollars in Xicheng today?"

"Whether this one hundred thousand silver dollars is too much or not, the lower officials don't know. At the beginning, the tax invoices were set by the governor and Futai, and the lower officials were from the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Today, it is only the government of the capital procuratorate and the cabinet. It’s just an order.”

When Huang Jiazheng said this, Yin Chengde of Ying Tianfu couldn't say anything, and he really couldn't question Yushi, so he nodded.

Huang Jiazhen knew that Cheng De was an official appointed by His Majesty the Emperor, and he was an absolute confidant of His Majesty, and he could not reveal anything to him, and the matter of tax invoices was indeed not related to him, so naturally the higher authorities couldn't find out if they falsified.

Wu Jiayin, a member of the household department, also came to Yingtian Mansion half an hour after Huang Jiayi returned his life: "A total of 50 two hundred silver dollars, Mr. Ge, check it out. Today, less than half of the East City was collected. There should be more taxes later. silver."

Yin Tianfu Yin took a look at Wu Jiayin and saw that there were purple marks on his eyes, so he asked, "Who beat this?"

"Liu Shaozong, Marquis of Anyuan", Wu Jiayin replied with a smile, but Chengde only patted him on the shoulder, and let him back down, and then glanced at Yingtianfu Tong Zhi Chen Yan.

Coincidentally, at this time, Qu Shixu, the governor of Yingtian, walked in: "Master Cheng, how is the tax collection today, and how much tax is collected?"

"Qu Futai, please take a step to speak," Chengde said, then led Qu Shisi into an inner hall, and retreated left and right: "Qu Futai, I know that you have just been appointed as the governor of Yingtian for less than three months. You should not be blamed for the matter, but today, the patrolling censor who collects taxes belongs to you. The tax money in Xicheng District is only 50 silver dollars, while the tax money in Dongcheng District is [-] silver dollars. The one responsible for the tax invoices is the Xicheng District, according to my budget, the West City should be higher than the Dongcheng District, and there are places like the Qinhuai River in the West City, so how could they only collect [-] silver dollars!"

Qu Shixu was a little confused, he took the tax invoice from Chengde, and he finally understood after a while, and angrily slapped the table: "Huang Jiazhen is so courageous!"

"Now is not the time to blame him. You must let His Majesty know about this right now, and you must inform His Majesty before the Dongchang people tell His Majesty, otherwise you and I will die," Cheng De said.

"No, the Huang family alone wouldn't have the courage to do so. How much tax money did Ying Tianfu voluntarily pay today?" Qu Shixu asked.

"This is the responsibility of Chen Yu, the Tongzhi of Yingtianfu, but the officials have already seen it. There is a total of 35 silver dollars, of which the Yang family alone occupies 20 silver dollars," Cheng De replied.

"I don't see any clues, Cheng Fu Yin, if Huang Yushi is the only one who is greedy for money and conceals tax money, there is no need to rush to report this matter, but since this happened today, I am afraid that the official is thinking about it. It's not just that simple."

Just as Qu Shixu was talking, Cheng De's confidant officials came to the door, and Cheng De waved to him: "Come in."

"My lord, I have something to tell you. I went to the yamen of the Ministry of Households today, and took away the butler from the mansion of Zhang Zuochen, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites in Nanjing, and finally let him go." Before Bian could react, Qu Shixu immediately yelled: "Call the Tongzhi of Yingtian Mansion, Chen Yu, to me!"

(End of this chapter)