The ledger contained a lot of evidence that could support the confession.
Therefore, he really doesn't need himself at all now. As long as his four brothers don't retract their confessions, these account books are still in his hands.
There is indeed only a risk of destruction for himself and his brother.
When he thought of this, Mr. Ke felt a sense of despair.
However, he still gritted his teeth and said, "Do you think your paper supply can be delivered without passing through the state capital? Do you think someone will take care of it if you deliver it?"
Xinguan was at the top and said with certainty of victory, "Don't worry, not only will someone take care of your and your brother's affairs, but someone will also come to take care of you soon. I heard about you two brothers before I came here. Regarding the matter, a few days ago I asked the magistrate to report your crimes directly to the superiors. In a few days, you will know who is in charge of this Anxi. "
After saying this, Xinguan waved his hand, "Someone, take him down."
When the man dragged him down, he asked unwillingly, "Whose family do you belong to?"
Xinguan did not answer him directly, but pointed upward.
The man understood the meaning almost immediately, but he didn't understand why his affairs could alert the higher authorities.
But it was impossible for him to know now.
Going up to the capital, in the Xuanzheng Hall, Emperor Yong claimed that he had been feeling cold and had not come to court for several days since he was appointed crown prince. ..
At the moment, everyone said that Emperor Yong's health had taken a turn for the worse, and most of the people in the court were now in charge of the affairs of state, including the prince Zhao Nianze.
Therefore, some people's minds became active.
But in today's court, after everyone had finished all the memorials, one of them suddenly walked out on his own initiative.
"Your Highness, I have something to say!" The person who spoke was a public speaker.
Zhao Nianze only motioned for the man to come out and speak.
Then the Yanguan held the Wuban board and walked out of the crowd in small steps.
He bowed slightly and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report. This report was submitted by the prefect of Anxi. Now Anxi has experienced cold waves for several consecutive years. The drought has caused grain shortages for several years, but there has been no tax payment." The score has dropped. The people are starving and have no food to eat. They can only sell their children and daughters, but they can't pay the local taxes. Even this year, many local people can't even borrow seeds for spring. Therefore, the prefect of Anxi would like to ask His Majesty to provide relief to Anxi."
Zhao Nianze only nodded slightly when he heard the words, and then he turned to look at the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance.
Unexpectedly, the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance was obviously a bad-tempered man. After hearing this, he directly scolded the official, "What the hell! Anxi is poor every year, asks for relief every year, and does not pay enough taxes every year!" Even if Huaitai Mountain City is flooded every year, the taxes will not be lower than those of Anxi. Your Anxi has a vast territory, many people, and abundant water and soil. Logically speaking, the taxes should be ranked after Minjiang and Huzhou, but as a result, your taxes every year The tax collected is no more than the tax paid by Huaitai Mountain City. It is a land with poor fields and a famous sparsely populated land. But even so, people have paid sufficient taxes. You occupy so much vast land, but you still have it. If you ask for more tax reductions and relief, I think you should stop paying taxes at all. Let the prefect of Anxi become an independent state and make himself king!"
The words of the minister were quite shocking, especially when the official heard the last words of the minister, the man immediately said: "Master Shangshu, you can't make such a joke. We are all working for the sage. The sage often said It is the duty of the imperial court to pity the sufferings of the people and to care about the people of the world. Although Magistrate Ke does not have such a big structure, since he is the magistrate of Anxi, he naturally has to be considerate of the people of Anxi. Besides, Anxi's hardships in recent years, this Everyone has really seen the disasters in the past few years. It is an indisputable fact that there were many people and fields in the past, but in the past few years, the population has dropped sharply due to the disasters. You should also have seen it. How can you believe it, Master Shangshu? Are you planning to rebel by slandering the prefect of Anxi?"
"I slander him! You, Anxi, are the least able to pay taxes every year. When it comes to appropriation, you, Anxi, are the most active! Let me ask you, do you dare to say that the prefect of Anxi is not lining his own pockets?" The minister only pointed at the man's nose and cursed road.
At that moment, the man immediately said, "Your Excellency Shangshu said that the prefect of Anxi has enriched his own pockets, so I dare to ask your Excellency, do you have any evidence?"
Seeing two
The fighting escalated, and people from both sides were brought in. Everyone was chattering, and the order in the entire court was like a vegetable market for a while.
Finally, the eunuch at the top came out to speak, and these people calmed down their anger.
On the other side, when Na Yanguan was criticizing the minister, another young Yanguan suddenly stood up and said, "Have mercy on the suffering of the people? Are you seeking a position in your position? Is this really the case? That's what Mr. Xu said. The righteous words are just because I am from Anxi, right?"
This man was Zhao Yanzhen's advisor. It was taken for granted that his words probably represented the wishes of King Jin.
Therefore, the two parties who were originally arguing unconsciously turned their attention to Jin Wang Zhao Yanzhen, who looked like an outsider.
After all, Zhao Yanzhen has kept a very low profile since he returned to the court. He rarely got involved in disputes regarding matters in the capital. It was even rumored that he wanted to compete with the prince for the throne, and some old aristocratic families wanted to continue to stand behind him. But after seeing how he didn't care about worldly affairs and only cared about Princess Jin's life, many people had no choice but to give up on him.
Therefore, although he holds a high position and attends court all year round, he has always been an invisible person, and everyone has almost forgotten his existence.
But now this invisible man actually takes action.
For a moment, no one could see clearly what the other party was doing.
Until Zhao Nianze spoke up and broke the calm, he said to the young official, "From what you say, you seem to have something else to express your opinion on?"
The young speaker only said, "I do have something to report. This memorial is a letter from a magistrate under the rule of Anxi. He reported that the magistrate of Anxi had enriched his own pockets. Starting from three years ago, Anxi's relief food supply has been reduced." Before it was distributed to the lower levels, it was a rescue. In order not to arouse public resentment, the officials below had no choice but to scrape together the relief grains, and most of the relief grains were included in the pockets of the prefects. In addition, every year they If there are tax exemptions and exemptions from the top, and sufficient taxes are collected from the bottom, the people of Anxi will already be in dire straits."
“In order to survive, those with land can only sell their fields and land, and then become tenants. Those without land can only sell their sons and daughters, and become homeless laborers in the homes of wealthy families. In this way, there will be fewer people, and naturally there will be less taxes. However, they turned a blind eye to the big landowners below who were engaged in mergers and acquisitions, and even worked for women in embarrassment, turning a blind eye to the suffering below."
"How can we say that someone who deceives his superiors and conceals his subordinates like this is a person who pities the sufferings of the people?"
"This must be a slander!" The official who was originally petitioning for tax exemption immediately said.
After hearing what the other party said, the speaker was not overbearing. He just said, "Whether it is a slander or not, we only need to send someone to investigate. I beg your majesty to send someone to Anxi to visit."
"If what he said is true, I have misunderstood the prefect of Anxi, I am willing to take off my official hat! I wonder if Sir Xu would dare?" The official continued to ask.
Listening to his words, although it is not aggressive, it still has the meaning of pulling a thousand pounds.
The man immediately lost his ability to speak. Although the minister did not know where Zhao Yanzhen came from.
But at this time, how could he let go of this opportunity to add insult to injury? "How dare he do it? After all, Anxi's problem is so big, can he afford it? I just said that taxes are reduced every year and disaster relief is provided every year, why is it just here in Anxi?" The population is still declining so drastically. It turns out that Anxi is infested with rats! I beg your Majesty to take this matter into account!"
Naturally, there are many people under the minister. After hearing what the minister said, other stakeholders only said in unison, "Please, your majesty, investigate this matter clearly and give justice to the people of Anxi!"
Zhao Nianze didn't have any mood swings when he heard this. He glanced at Zhao Yanzhen and nodded towards Zhao Yanzhen.
No one knew that he and Zhao Yanzhen were behind today's strict investigation of An Xi.
Zhao Nianze just nodded to the people below, and then continued, "If Anxi's matter is true, it will naturally not be tolerated. If it is false! It cannot be allowed! This matter is settled. I just know that everyone loves me. Sir, do you have someone to recommend for imperial envoy?"
"We think the King of Jin is the best choice! His Highness the King of Jin is highly respected, has thunderous skills, and acts fairly. He is indeed the best choice for this imperial envoy."
"Wei Chen thinks so too."
These stations are now
The people who came out were naturally still Zhao Yanzhen's people, but what was rare was that no one from the Gao Cheng faction stood up to oppose Zhao Yanzhen this time.
The only person who objected was the official named Xu, but their voice was not loud, so the candidate was quickly decided.
Zhao Nianze only said, "Since everyone thinks that Prince Jin is suitable, then the task of visiting Anxi will be handed over to Prince Jin."
After saying this, Zhao Nianze only looked in the direction of Zhao Yanzhen again. Zhao Yanzhen was appointed, and he just walked out and said, "I will live up to His Highness's trust and will get to the bottom of the matter."
After the matter was dealt with, the eunuch beside Zhao Nianze just said, "If there is something to do, I will start, if there is nothing to do, I will leave."
After hearing what the other party said, no one stood up. After a while, the eunuch waved his whisk and said, "Back off."
Then the courtiers filed out like a school of fish at low tide.
However, among these people, Zhao Yanzhen, who had just been temporarily appointed as the imperial envoy to Anxi, was summoned by a minor chamberlain just before he stepped out of the main entrance of the hall.
"Sir, our master would like to invite you to come over and have a talk." After hearing this, Zhao Yanzhen only glanced at the throne above, which was already empty.
He looked at the position and then nodded silently.
The chamberlain then led him to the palace.
