I

   Chapter 677 674 [The case of losing the head]

  After the streamlining and rectification of the banking system, there is one deposit and withdrawal outlet in the city and two deposit and withdrawal outlets in the countryside throughout Shanzhou County. These three offices can only deposit and withdraw money, and cannot exchange money and food.

  As for the exchange points for money and food, a market town has been set up in the east and west of the county seat.

  When ordinary people pay public grain, they can convert it into silver money to pay, or they can directly hand over the grain. The north has not yet reformed yet, and some provinces in the south can only pay in silver, and the common people have to exchange it once.

  This kind of reform seems to be taking off your pants and farting, and leaving a loophole for the grassroots to exploit the people.

  But it is necessary because the administrative cost is too high. The tax system and the banking system are two separate government offices. If grain is used to pay agricultural taxes, the tax department has to send a special person to the bank's money and grain exchange point. Although the two systems can cooperate and seem to be very simple, in fact, various contradictions and disputes often arise.

   Let’s talk about the two money and grain exchange points in Shanzhou. The grain received every year will be deposited in a specific granary with a fixed amount. This granary is the Changping warehouse.

  The grain in the Changping warehouse theoretically belongs to the county-level government, but Datong Bank stores it on its behalf. The loss and consumption of storage is directly deducted when depositing, which is equivalent to the government paying the bank storage fee. Next, no matter whether the food is eaten by insects or burned, the government will not lose, and all losses must be made up by the bank.

   "The bank's food collectors are getting worse and worse!"

A farmer complained to Liu Chuanzong: "In the past, when we paid grain, we went to the exchange point in Chenjiazhuang. When we picked the wheat, the bank clerk came over, put his hand in and stirred it, and insisted that your wheat was not dried, so that you Pick it up and let it dry before returning. Sometimes it is said that the wheat bran inside has not been cleaned up, and the grain must be delivered after it has been cleaned up. What is the idea of ​​that? Isn’t it just to deduct the fire consumption? Come again. Farmers who are far away have to work back and forth several times, which is time-consuming and laborious, so it is better to confiscate a catty or two of grain."

  This phenomenon occurs all over the country, but it is really difficult to manage.

  If the imperial court had strict control over the grain collection officials, grassroots work would be impossible. Because there are indeed farmers who are greedy for petty gains. When handing over grain to the government, they deliberately do not dry it out, or deliberately mix it with broken wheat or even wheat bran. Broken wheat and wheat bran are good. If there is undried wheat, if it accidentally enters the granary, it will damage the entire granary after it becomes moldy.

Liu Chuanzong said: "Didn't the imperial court order that when farmers pay grain, the bank's money-grain exchange point must open the drying yard to farmers? The undried grain should be dried in the nearest drying yard, and the wheat bran should also be dried in the drying yard." .”

  The old farmer was surprised: "There is such a thing? We don't allow farmers to enter the official drying yard here."

   Wei Gan, who was squatting next to him, picked up his pen calmly and wrote down the matter in his small notebook.

  Liu Chuanzong asked again: "Is there any rumor about Changping warehouse in the county?"

  The old farmer said mysteriously: "In the money and grain station, I heard that there are grain mice, and they steal grain from home every now and then."

  Liu Chuanzong was a little disappointed and didn't ask for the information he wanted.

   For species such as grain mice, petty theft is normal. It is absolutely impossible to empty out the Changping warehouse, scaring the grain merchants to buy grain at high prices to fill the holes.

   Into the night.

Luo Fang, who went to the grain station to stay secretly, came back and said in a low voice: "There must be something wrong with the Changping warehouse. In one day, three large truckloads of grain were transported in. It was the private grain merchants who transported the grain in. The hole in the Changping warehouse must be It’s huge, and grain merchants have been busy buying grain at high prices.”

Wei Qian said with a smile: "They are also unlucky. Shanzhou is close to Shanshan. This year, Shaanxi and Henan are in drought together. Although the drought in Shanxi is not serious, it costs a lot of money to transport them from the mountains. If these grain merchants want to go to other places to buy To fill the holes, I have to go to Hubei to buy grain recently. How can there be enough time? Even if there is time, it will be snapped up by counties and counties in the south of Henan. It is impossible for businessmen in Shanzhou. They are already in a hurry to go to the doctor. You can only buy from local farmers."

Liu Chuanzong analyzed: "This case is obviously not a case of corruption and deficit by officials, but more like a collusion between officials and businessmen, embezzling the food from Changping warehouse. Under normal circumstances, they will slowly make up for it bit by bit in the next few years. Coincidentally, there is a drought this year, so we have to quickly fill this hole."

Luo Fang said: "The embezzlement of the grain in the Changping warehouse is nothing more than doing business. Moreover, there must be a place where not only the price of grain is extremely high, but also the demand is still high. The grain they normally harvest cannot meet the needs of buyers." appetite."

Wei Qian said: "It's definitely not going to be sold to the south. The price of grain in the south is not too high, so there's no need to let them take risks. In the northern provinces, Henan and Shandong were the first to recover, and the people's livelihood was also the earliest to recover. There are a lot of official grain in these two provinces. They were all transported to the north to make military rations for the Datong army stationed in the north. Therefore, merchants in Henan and Shandong can buy limited grain from the private sector, and the government will not sell a grain of grain to them.”

Liu Chuanzong continued: "Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei, and Beiping Prefecture, these four places have not suffered much disaster in recent years, and the population is relatively small, they can be self-sufficient, and they will not buy a large amount of high-priced food." Produced a map, "Although Shanzhou is close to Shanxi, it is more convenient to go to Shaanxi, and it is a must pass from Guanzhong to Henan."

Wei Gan nodded and said: "Shaanzhou grain merchants must transport grain to Shaanxi. There is no shortage of so much grain in Shaanxi, and they will continue to export grain. There are no more than three destinations. First, go all the way west and transport it outside Jiayuguan; second , transported to the Xihai (Qinghai) grassland; third, transported north to the Mongolian grassland.”

Luo Fang excitedly said: "No matter which one of these three directions is, they are violating the imperial court's prohibition and selling grain abroad without permission. Moreover, they not only buy private grain and transport it abroad, but also dare to embezzle the grain in the Changping warehouse! The Datong Bank in Shanzhou has Corrupt officials have colluded with grain merchants inside and outside, this is for sure. As for the county government of Shanzhou, how many officials are colluding with the same level below the Zhizhi County, this has to be investigated slowly. It is possible. If the Changping warehouse is misappropriated for several years, even if the magistrate does not know about it, it is a serious dereliction of duty, and he has the responsibility to check the Changping warehouse regularly!"

Wei Gan said: "Most of the grain merchants in Shanzhou will not directly transport the grain overseas. Instead, they will be transported to Shaanxi first, and then the merchants in Shaanxi will buy it and then transfer it out. Smuggling bulk goods across the border can also Keeping the information secret, the inspection department on the Shaanxi border is probably a piece of shit!"

   Well, not only Shaanxi businessmen are involved, but also the border armed police in Shaanxi.

  Liu Chuanzong said: "Shaanzhou counties are so rampant, what will happen to Lingbao County and Yanxiang County, which are closer to Shaanxi? The distance to transport grain from Lingbao and Yanxiang to Shaanxi is shorter."

  Luo Fang said: "One person is in charge of each of the three counties. If we rely on us alone, we will definitely not be able to find out. After collecting the basic information, we will go to Kaifeng to ask for more manpower."

  Liu Chuanzong said: "Okay, Lao Luo stays in Shanzhou, Lao Wei, you go to Lingbao, and I will go to the farthest township. One more thing, don't be reckless in any situation, and run away immediately if you are in danger!"

  After the division of labor between the three of them was completed, they began to work on the next day.

  Liu Chuanzong, the little patrolman at the beginning, has finally regained the feeling of being on the battlefield since he was specially recruited into the Metropolitan Procuratorate. When he was the busiest, he inspected places for ten months a year, and he couldn't even take care of his wife and children at home, but he felt that life was exciting and fulfilling.

  Due to repeatedly cracking corruption cases, Liu Chuanzong is now a Cong Qipin.

  As soon as he entered the boundary of Yan Township, Liu Chuanzong knew he had come to the right place. There were also people here who collected grain in the countryside at a high price. After half a month of inquiring in Yan Township, he simply left Tongguan in the west, crossed the border and ran to Shaanxi, and found that there were merchants from Henan who also crossed the border to Shaanxi to collect grain.

  Shaanxi has been plagued by bandits for more than ten years, and it has also been accompanied by more than ten years of severe drought. Not to mention the sparse population, a large amount of land has been abandoned.

   It has only been a few years since the imperial court took over here, and the people's livelihood and economy are recovering. However, the imperial court directly halved the land tax for the entire province of Shaanxi, and even exempted all land taxes for some counties. Therefore, as long as the farmers here are willing to work **** the land, they can actually sell more grain, because they hand over less public grain to the government—especially in the rich Guanzhong area.

   "My fellow, have there been many businessmen who have gone to the countryside to collect grain in the past two years?" Liu Chuanzong asked an honest farmer.

  The farmer "sees through" him at a glance, and grinned: "You are from the south to collect grain? You can't get it. There is a drought this year, and few families are willing to sell grain."

  Liu Chuanzong asked again: "What about last year? Did you sell the grain to the grain station of Datong Bank, or to local businessmen?"

  The farmer said: "It must be sold to merchants. Those who do business will charge higher prices when harvesting grain."

  Good guy, Shaanxi grain merchants are very powerful, relying on price means to **** business from Datong Bank. The official grain price is neither high nor low, and has always been in a moderate state. Merchants collect grain at a high price, and it must be to obtain greater profits.

  Liu Chuanzong asked again: "This Shaanxi businessman, where does he buy so much grain and sell it?"

  The farmer said: "I heard it was shipped to Shanxi."

Liu Chuanzong smiled and said, "Don't coax me, my fellow. Where is the food shortage in Shanxi?" He then stuffed a few copper coins into the hands of the peasants, "Tell me, I was sent by my boss to explore the way and give me a way to make money." It’s better to go back and receive the reward.”

The farmer said in a low voice: "There are ways of making money in the north (Mongolia) and west (Qinghai). I also heard people say that the snowstorm in the grassland has killed many livestock in the past few years. They are short of food. Last year, a car overturned, and the spilled was full of wheat. It is said that it was transported to the West Sea. There are often merchants who buy cattle, sheep, mules and horses from the West Sea. , the hair is very long and strong, and I don't know if it is good at plowing the field."

  The smile on Liu Chuanzong's face disappeared, thinking that the inspection department in Shaanxi is rotten, at least those armed police on the border must be turning a blind eye to reap benefits.

  Whether it is the Qinghai grassland or the Mongolian grassland, the government allows horses, tea, and salt to be exported.

  However, the export of ironware is restricted, and only daily necessities such as iron pots can be sold. The smuggling of swords and iron armor is to beheaded if caught. The other is food, which is also prohibited from exporting. Even if food is to be exported, it is the imperial court using food to control a certain tribe.

  The two provinces of Henan and Shaanxi actually smuggled a large amount of grain out of the country, and I don’t know how many people lost their heads because of it.

  (end of this chapter)