Fortunate Young Gentleman

Chapter 562: Impeachment! Ezhou is really not peaceful these days. Following several high-ranking officials in Ezhou, some wealthy businessmen in Ezhou are also in trouble.

Over the years, they have opened up channels up and down, bribed officials, and recorded only half or less of the total amount of goods placed in the official treasury for tax registration, so that they can pay at least half of the commercial tax.

This time, the high-ranking officials from the capital found out the problem on the spot. After counting the goods in the official warehouse, and comparing them with the cargo manifest, their tricks were revealed.

It doesn't matter if they are found to have evaded taxes. Officials from the capital will not treat them like the governor of Ezhou and Biejia, who will put them in shackles and be put in a prison car and escorted to the capital for questioning.

As long as they pay all the taxes and fines they owe, nothing will happen.

But it is not easy to pay all the money. According to the laws of Chen State, merchants who evade taxes will be fined five times the tax, and the government has set a rule for them to pay the money in full for five years at a time. This is mandatory, even if Businessmen who have colluded with the government for less than five years have to hold their noses and admit it.

The consequence of disobeying the law is to confiscate your home. Yu Governor and others have learned from the past. No one wants to follow their old path.

However, what they didn't understand was that the government only wanted silver, not silver notes. Obviously, silver notes were much easier to carry than silver coins.

The orders from above are non-negotiable. If you want money, they have to give it.

For a time, the merchants involved in the Ezhou incident were going crazy in collecting silver taels from all over the place. Some of them were fined with huge amounts of silver and could not afford that much silver. They were even willing to exchange full-amount silver notes for insufficient silver taels. I would rather suffer some losses and raise the money within three days.

…

Facts have once again proven that force is the easiest way to solve problems.

The governor of Ezhou and others have been put into prison cars and are about to be transported to the capital together with their property and the tax money paid by Ezhou merchants.

They took a long detour from the capital to Ezhou, and it only took more than half a month. It should be faster to go back, and the silver will appear in front of Chen Huang in half a month at the latest.

This time, the property of several officials in Ezhou and the tax money paid by Ezhou businessmen totaled more than 3 million taels.

These more than three million taels are not banknotes, they are all real money. Although the visual impact is a bit greater, with some other things, the total adds up to more than a hundred carriages, making transportation inconvenient. .

Tangning stood on the street, looking at the endless motorcade, and couldn't help but lick her lips.

More than three million taels. He had to take the first prize three times before Tang Yaojing could earn so much.

The total assets of their family now must be more than three million taels, but the cash is far less than that. It was the first time for him to see such a battle. When he took a look at the box full of silver, he felt There will be an irresistible impulse.

Tangning looked away and couldn't bear to look anymore.

Song Qian stood beside him and asked: "Master Tang, I am afraid that there will be chaos in the capital this time. Do you want to write a letter first and send it to the capital immediately so that your majesty can be prepared?"

"No need." Tangning shook her head and said, "I plan to give His Majesty a surprise and let this envelope travel for a few more days..."

The key to surprise is to be unexpected. A surprise that is notified in advance is not a surprise.

Moreover, before these things are transported to the capital, there must be some news that will arrive before them. It is better to let the evil spirits in the court reveal their true colors first, so that when he returns to the capital, he will not have to guess one by one.

The defenders of Ezhou could not leave Ezhou, and the only people escorting the convoy were officials from Ezhou. Tang Ning specially sent ten members of the Blade to follow in case something unexpected happened on the road.

Thinking about it, nothing will happen. After all, this is three million taels, not three hundred thousand taels. If any gang of bandits dares to touch the money, Emperor Chen is afraid that he will send an army to level their mountains. , just like no thief dares to plan for urgent letters from the government, anyone who has the ability to touch the money will not be so brainless.

Tang Ning handed the two letters to the sharp-edged team leader and said, "After returning to the capital, give one of these two letters to Fang Hong, the Minister of Staff, and the other to General Xiao Lang."

The squad leader bowed and said, "Yes."

Tangning waved her hand and said, "Let's go."

The squad leader turned around and shouted: "Let's go!"

…

The distance from Ezhou to the capital is neither close nor far.

For ordinary people, it would take less than half a month to travel at a normal speed, but if you hurry up, you can get there in three days.

At this time, several days had passed since the Ezhou Rebellion.

From the capital, a fast horse galloped from the official road in the distance, raising smoke and dust all the way, and stopped in a hurry when it reached the city gate.

After he entered the city, he went straight to a high gate somewhere.

A moment later, in a deep courtyard, a middle-aged man slammed the table and said angrily: "What are you talking about? The Ezhou governor, Sima, the governor, have all been captured?"

The man nodded and said: "When the villain set out from Ezhou, I heard that the man was going to take them to the capital for questioning. I am afraid they will arrive in the capital within ten days."

The middle-aged man became gloomy, strode out of the house, and said, "Prepare the sedan and go to the Tang family."

In the Tang Mansion, Tang Huai and Tang Qi returned home from the Yamen after receiving the news. The latter frowned and said, "He captured all the high-ranking officials in Ezhou, including the censor Zhongcheng?"

The middle-aged man said, "I just got the news. Officials from the Ministry of Personnel have never done this before when they went to Jiangnan. Could this be instructed by your majesty?"

"Impossible." Tang Qi shook his head and said, "I heard that there were several rebels in Jiangnan. Your majesty sent him this time, probably for this matter. If your majesty really wanted to move Jiangnan, he would have done it long ago."

The middle-aged man said, "So, he made his own decision in this matter?"

He smiled and said, "If so, isn't this our chance?"

"What's the hurry?" Tang Huai glanced at him and said, "Just spread the news. You don't have to do anything else. Someone will do what you want to do."

The middle-aged man was stunned, and his face showed a look of sudden realization. There are many officials from Jiangnan in the court, and there are even more officials who are closely connected with Jiangnan. They may not have the same political views, but sometimes they will unite and work together.

Tang Ning's move this time affected the interests of all of them, and it will definitely cause fierce criticism from officials in Jiangnan.

Among the many parties in the court, the Jiangnan faction has the largest number of people and the greatest power. In many cases, even His Majesty has to compromise. Can Tang Ning defeat the Jiangnan party alone?

Can he be the enemy of one person, but not the enemy of ten thousand people?

The middle-aged man looked at Tang Huai and smiled, "I understand."

...

The officials of the Chen Kingdom have to attend the morning court almost every day, because His Majesty is diligent in government affairs and rarely slackens off.

However, the time of the morning court varies, from several hours to less than a quarter. Most of the time, several major events are discussed in the court, and it will not take long to leave.

In the past half month, there are two major events discussed in the morning court.

One is the grassland. The Wanyan tribe has become more and more powerful in the past year. The Jiagu and Shuhu tribes secretly supported by Chen Chu can no longer stop their expansion. Once the Wanyan tribe annexed these two tribes, they will be invincible on the grassland. The next target is Chen Chu.

Second, the Western Regions. The speed of Xiaowan's rise in the Western Regions is faster than that of the Wanyan tribe. In half a year, two more Western Regions powers have been annexed by them. If this continues, the west of Chen will face great pressure. If Xiaowan develops a rebellious heart, it will become a great enemy of Chen.

The court officials discussed these two matters for half a month, but they could not come to a conclusion. Emperor Chen looked at the noisy court, rubbed his eyebrows, waved his hand, and said, "This matter will be discussed tomorrow. If there is something, please report it. If there is nothing, please leave the court..."

As soon as he finished speaking, an official walked out of the crowd, holding a tablet, and said in a deep voice: "I impeach Tang Ning, the left Xiaowei Zhonglangjiang and the deputy minister of the Ministry of Personnel, for taking advantage of the inspection and assessment to act arbitrarily, exceed his authority, and cause chaos in the local area..."