Liang Luoshan did not wear official robes, but wore an old sheepskin jacket over a cross-neck shirt, and wore a pair of blue-faced cloth shoes on his feet. He is the exact opposite of the "Lord Chongshen" in the market rumors. He has a short beard and a square face. Because he runs around all day, his skin is tanned. The two hands don't seem to be holding a pen, they are more like carrying a hoe. When he stood under the lantern of the post station to greet Kong Qiu and Cen Yu, Cen Yu almost regarded him as a handyman.
"Why does Chongshen look like this?" Cen Yu asked in astonishment.
Liang Luoshan led them upstairs, and when they were seated, he said: "It's a long story, the two adults are willing to come, the lower officials really have no regrets!" He said to Xue Xiuzhuo and bowed his head, "Your Excellency today Save me from the fire and water, this kind of grace, the lower official will never forget!"
Xue Xiuzhuo wiped his hands with the hot handkerchief in the room and sat beside him, saying, "It's urgent, you should talk to the two teachers in detail first."
"What's the matter," Kong Qiu looked at Liang Luoshan, "calculate the time, you should be in the capital the day after tomorrow."
"The back is so tight that I don't dare to delay on the way to the official position. To tell the truth, this dress is also to hide people's eyes and ears." Liang Luoshan took out the ledger from his arms and gently placed it by Cen Yu's hand, "Your Excellency supervises the household department all the year round. Check the account, this kind of account book has been seen before, you can save it."
Cen Yu opened the ledger, looked at it for a while, and hesitated, "Isn't this the ledger that Trent City presented to the Ministry of Accounts at the beginning of the year?"
"That's right, it was the account book of Marquis Helian of Trent. At the beginning of the year, he and the other seven cities were handed over to the Ministry of Households for trial. They were inspected by the Superintendent's Court to clarify their taxes and expenses. There was no problem at that time." When Liang Luoshan said this, he took out another ledger from his arms, "This one was reorganized by Xiaguan in recent days."
Cen Yu looked at the beginning, his expression changed, and he asked Liang Luoshan, "How did you come up with this account?"
Liang Luoshan looked dignified, sorted out his thoughts a little, and said, "A month ago, the empress dowager made an order that Pan Shilang wanted to go down to the Dali Temple to assist in the accounts of Chadan City of Dali Temple, but he was in Juexi at the time, and he was still in the trial with Mr. Jiang on the thirteen cities. The salt tax is in Yongcheng."
Within a few days, Liang Caoshan received a letter of worship from the Juexi Governor's Grain Road in the inn. He did not see him when he was on an errand, but the Director of Grain Road took the opportunity to leave a "little gift" to Liang Caoshan. is gold.
"Juexi is connected to Dicheng and Hezhou by waterway, and the grain road is in charge of grain affairs and water transportation. It is a fat poor man, but because the lower officials are in the chief minister of Juexi and have the chief envoy Jiang Qingshan, they dare not scare the snakes. ."
The position of Governor of Foodstuffs is similar to that of Liang Luoshan, except that he does not have the same powers as he concurrently leads the two places, but he has considerable influence on Juexi. Liang Luoshan didn't dare to frighten the snake because he suspected that this person was instructed by Jiang Qingshan to come to pay bribes.
Liang Luoshan is very cautious, it is not easy for him to survive, so he is very careful when walking in officialdom. He not only wanted to be a capable minister, but also wanted to ensure his life. Juexi was Jiang Qingshan's territory. If he immediately impeached the grain governor, he might be detained even if he could not get out of Juexi. In addition, Jiang Qingshan Xiande opened the warehouse for four years, and the fact that he took the responsibility shocked the government and the public. He was loved in the thirteen cities of Juexi. Based on this alone, Liang Luoshan had no chance of winning against him, not to mention the discerning people. You know, Jiang Qingshan is Xue Xiuzhuo's sword.
"Xiaguan is tossing and turning in the inn, and naturally he can't collect the gold, but he hastily retreated and was worried about burying disaster." Liang Luoshan said here, and glanced at Xue Xiuzhuo, "Besides, Mr. Jiang's name is out, and Xiaguan joins hands with him. He has been on a mission for a long time, and he has some understanding of his character. Therefore, the lower official simply called the governor to him."
This is a dangerous move. Liang Luoshan, who did not dare to move, had to find other traces from this breakthrough. At least he had to figure out whether the person standing behind the grain supervisor was Jiang Qingshan.
"Governing the grain and transporting taxes through the thirteen cities, it's not difficult to get money," Kong Qiu said, "but the censors under the Ducha Yuan are also chasing the accounts. The origin of the ship is clear, how can he hide it from the sky and cross the sea?"
"The place where Xiaguan is puzzled is also here," Liang Luoshan said, "Xiaguan pretended not to dare, and wanted to supervise the grain road to bring the gold back, and he told me that the gold was very clean, and it was not something on Juexi's account. ."
"He is in charge of water transportation, since it's not something on Juexi's account," Cen Hei added to the account book, "that's..."
Dicheng or something from Hezhou.
"Yan Heru from Hezhou is a sleazy profiteer. Last year, he was sent to inspect Hezhou Caoyun. He paid bribes, but this person has a lot of money, so he doesn't have to take the risk to transfer money from the internal ledger of the imperial court." Liang Caoshan When it comes to Dicheng, I am even more careful, "The current state capital of Dicheng is Fei's side house, which is in the family of Zaohua, and it is very attractive to the queen mother. In the past few years, the government's performance has been excellent. If you bite others, you can only deal with the food governor, hoping to get more details."
Bribery is to do things, especially sitting in the position of Liangluoshan. He originally thought that Duliangdao was from Jiang Qingshan, and the reason for the bribe was the Juexi salt tax they were inspecting at that time, but he soon realized that it was not the case. Since the gold was not on the account of Juexi, it showed There is another person behind Duli Dao, this person can only be a member of the family close to Dicheng.
Liang Luoshan decided not to talk about the Hua Family in Dicheng, because it was the family of the Empress Dowager. When Hua Siqian fell, the Hua Mansion copied by the court was only Hua Siqian's mansion. The Empress Dowager made a comeback within a year, and now she is in charge of government affairs. Even though Liang Luoshan was full of courage, he did not dare to bite the queen mother.
But Liang Luoshan could understand what the gold was for as long as he thought about it all. At that time, the Empress Dowager planned to ask Liang Luoshan to follow the Dali Temple to check the fields of Dancheng. Who was the most flustered about this? Dancheng Pan was the most flustered.
Cen Yu already understood when he got here. After going around in such a big circle, it was actually Hou Helian who bribed Liang Luoshan with the hand of the supervisor Liang Dao in order to protect the Pan family. Helianhou's daughter Zhaoyue County Master married Pan's son, and his concubine pointed to the Hua family daughter, only he was the most suitable, but this move was really not clever.
Pan Lin had the grace to promote Liang Luoshan. This kindness was originally inspired by Xiao Chiye, but it was really because Liang Luoshan had the ability, and Pan Lin was willing to let him come forward. Liang Luoshan, who is a little selfish, has to think twice about Dancheng for the sake of this kindness. This is something he can't refuse. But now it's alright. Helianhou sent someone to pay bribes. As long as Liang Luoshan didn't report the matter, even if he repaid Pan Lin's kindness to him, he would have no burden to check the accounts in Dancheng.
Not only that, Liang Luoshan also followed the bribery, secretly re-examined the Bacheng account books, and repeatedly checked the account books of Helian Hou Trent City Fei. The so-called money that cannot be found on the book is actually that when the ship or the caravan passes through the domestic checkpoint, the family will set up another layer of invisible checkpoints in its own city. In order to cross the border, merchants can only submit private taxes to the family at double the price. Later, people like Yan Heru appeared, wanting to get the money back, so he took over the position of the Xi family and began to resell copper and iron salt in the territory for the family and these local officials, bypassing tariffs, Dunzhou's A small market was thus established.
Cen Yu reopened the ledger that Liang Luoshan had sorted out, and was dazed when he saw the amount of money. They have been entangled with the aristocratic family all these years. In order to check the accounts, they have lost how many capable officials and officers. The two accounts of Hua Siqian and Pan Rugui recovered by Hai Liangyi during the Xiande years are just the tip of the iceberg!
Although Yongyi ZTE is very short-lived, it is the largest part of the national treasury that is left to local taxation systems. Da Zhouneng has quickly declined in just over a dozen years. It is all about bad debts, and the interior has been emptied. All the money has flowed into the pockets of the noble family.
Cen Yu couldn't sit still, and his hand holding the ledger was shaking.
In addition to the tax and silver, there are also fields. Cen Yu didn't even have to do the calculations, and he could already imagine how much money it would be out.
"In the year of Xiande, he used troops from the north, and there was no military pay. Xiao Jiming could only rely on the grain from the north army camp to go south to fight the Biansha cavalry." Cen Yu was short of breath and turned the page with shaking hands, "At that time, Qidong There was no military pay, so Lu Guangbai took Qi Zhuyin's dowry and went north to rescue. In these years, Qi Shiyu paid all the property to the garrison. In the first year of Tianchen, the Qingshu team hit the gate of Bianjun, and Lu Guangbai's soldiers were starving at the gate. Yellow sand!"
Every time, every time.
The generals from the north and the south entered the capital just to ask for money, and Qi Zhuyin was forced to hang out with the hooligans who put tiger-skin money in the city. Lu Guangbai couldn't even see Emperor Xiande in the year of Xiande. How many people died during the drought in Juexi? Jiang Qingshan gritted his teeth and opened the warehouse to put food. His eighty-year-old mother had to weave cloth to pay off the debt. The six states of Zhongbo were helpless and empty, and Zhou Gui, Luo Mu, Huo Qing and others were forced to lie down and become small in front of the bandits.
This is the poverty of the household crying.
Cen Yu held a grudge in his teeth, threw the ledger on the table, and said, "The private land embezzled by the Eight Cities has not been counted, this is all blood and money..." He said this, choked up in a hoarse voice, "Ge I've been chasing it to that point... Xian De's country is going to be destroyed... Can this be saved? It can't be saved!"
The room fell silent, Liang Luoshan bowed his head and said nothing. He is a duckweed with no roots and bottomless. If he wants to go deeper, he must have a big tree as his support. He first communicated with Jiang Qingshan, and through this, he was received by Xue Xiuzhuo, and then he met Kong Qiu and Cen Yu. He didn't accept Helianhou's gold, but it was useless to just keep the seal in his hands. Someone had to guarantee him, otherwise he would die if he didn't make false accounts according to Helianhou's wishes when he went to Dan City. Can't save him.
Xue Xiuzhuo's handkerchief on the side was cold. He said, "I should have avoided suspicion of this matter, but it is about the safety of the Chongshen and Dancheng Tiancha, so I can only discuss with the two teachers here." Cen Yu and Kong Qiu each poured a cup of tea, "I heard the news of Qidong's use of troops today, and the Ministry of Household must have to shirk it again. Bad debts from various places are mixed together, I'm afraid it will delay the spring ploughing and Qidong's military rations."
Kong Qiu was quite afraid of Xue Xiuzhuo. Xue Xiuzhuo played too thrilling in the matter of the prince, and relied on the turmoil of Taixue to squeeze the poor officials. Now that the hard-working group is in full swing, Kong Qiu is not happy. He relied on the intuition that he had served in the Criminal Department for many years and determined that Xue Xiuzhuo would never be overwhelmed, so he said, "You must have called me here not just to read the ledger."
"One thing is discussed, one thing is over." Xue Xiuzhuo changed his name to Kong Qiu, "Yuanfu did not question the use of the army by the commander in the Mingli Hall. I think I agree, but due to the emptiness of the treasury, the Ministry of Households did It is difficult to bear the expenses of military salaries, so there is no detailed discussion with the Queen Mother."
"That's right," Kong Qiu was more calm than Hai Liangyi when he was there, "the commander is using the army of blue mice at this moment, it seems to be to relieve the foreign invasion in the north, but in fact it is to clear the foreign invasion in the big Zhou. After the egg is over, helping Li Bei now is helping Da Zhou."
Xue Xiuzhuo took out a note from his sleeve, pushed it to Kong Qiu's hand, and said, "This is my rough estimate of the Qidong army's salary. Long-distance troops are not as cheap as in previous years to be stationed in Bianjun, and the consumption of food trucks can eat up last year's white horses. Statewide tax silver."
Kong Qiu looked at the book and said, "A part of the money was spent on disaster relief last year. Now that the spring is approaching, whether the spring ploughing in the eight cities can be successfully implemented is also a big problem. If the family refuses to return the land and pay the land tax, the cabinet has no choice. Approving the commander's request to send troops is useless even if you calculate it clearly."
"I have a solution," Xue Xiuzhuo looked at Kong Qiu, "This time the Qidong army can be paid by the Xue family."
As soon as these words came out, not only Kong Qiu and Cen Yu, but even Liang Maoshan was stunned.
As we all know, the Xue family in Quancheng was weak as early as the previous generation. The first son Xue Xiuyi was a fake and arrogant. He was coaxed by a group of swindlers to owe money everywhere. So far, there is only one Xue Xiuzhuo in their family who can still stand in the court. Where's the money
A flash of light suddenly flashed in Liang Luoshan's mind, thinking of Shen Zechuan, and then of Xi Hongxuan.
Kong Qiu looked at Xue Xiuzhuo in shock, and said, "For such a large amount, even if I make an IOU for you as the chief assistant of the cabinet, I may not be able to pay it back."
"Yuanfu doesn't need to pay me an IOU for this amount of silver," Xue Xiuzhuo poured a cup of tea for Kong Qiu and said sternly, "I just ask Yuanfu to work with me to inspect the land tax in Bacheng."
The lanterns outside the inn swayed, and the wind blew the broken notices on the aisle. The sound of sheng music on Donglong Street in Qidu was faint, passing through the long road of the post station, blocked by the palace wall, and disappeared between the eaves. Li Jianting in the palace wall was sitting on the edge of the couch, and in the sound of the iron horse "dang bang", he remembered the past.
Feng Quan was putting down the curtain for Li Jianting when suddenly he heard the prince ask, "Are you wearing earrings?"
Li Jianting's shoulders and arms were soaked in black hair, and she looked at the deep bedroom, as if answering for Fengquan, but also for herself.
"I hate earrings," she turned to Fengquan with eyes like Emperor Guangcheng, and smiled slowly in the dimness, "I wear those that look like domestic animals that are slaughtered by humans."