After Zhao Kaihe arrived in Yizhou, he began to gather people to track the whereabouts of the pension and bounty.
After sorting things out, he learned that the money was initially allocated from the army to the local treasury. Based on the list of dead personnel in the army and their place of origin, he calculated how much pensions and bonuses needed to be allocated, and sent it directly to the local treasury. place.
So he went to the money bank to check the entry and exit records, and found the record of the money entering the money bank. It turned out that this number was different from the number calculated by the army, and was nearly 30% less.
Good guy, we haven’t checked whether the local officials have dirty hands. Problems started right from the allocation link. Problems started from the source of the money allocation. Basically, no one wants to pay the money in full.
This made Zhao Kaihe a little depressed.
But he didn't find it strange. Zhao Kaihe thought it was normal for these people to do something with the money.
The so-called geese plucking their feathers refers to this group of people. They are no different from those greedy officials in the Kingdom of Jin.
However, nearly 30% is taken away here, what about the other big parts?
Immediately afterwards, Zhao Kaihe began to review expenditures.
This money is earmarked for special use, and there is no possibility of other expenditures. According to the records in the ledger, every amount of money is clearly recorded and delivered to the public account of Ding Canjun, and the amount is correct.
There seems to be no problem in this regard, but if there is no problem, how can it cause the local people to be unwilling to join the army? Are there any rumors about whether they have received pensions and bounties?
There was something fishy, the money was made into a false account, and what I saw must have been a carefully decorated false account.
Zhao Kaihe was not good at fighting, but his experience in this field and his understanding of bureaucracy were pretty good, and he soon smelled the smell of conspiracy.
So he sent people to secretly visit the families on the list where Ding joined the army. He asked about 70 family members and got different answers.
Some people said they got one-third of the quota mentioned in the announcement, some said they only got half of the quota, and some people said they didn't see any money at all.
Wouldn't it be chilling if one's own son died in battle or the money earned from his sacrifice in battle was lost in such an unclear manner?
Is there anyone else doing things like this?
Zhao Kaihe also agreed with this. Although he did not feel that he and these farmers were the same kind of people, he could understand the various emotions.
The money that my family bought with their lives is just gone. What does this mean?
It seems that the government and local powerful people have joined forces to tamper with the accounts, make false accounts, and seek personal gain from it.
Zhao Kaihe actually knows quite a bit about how such things work.
Because the Zhao family has done this kind of thing before. The Zhao family has also cooperated with the Jin Ting's petty officials to make false accounts to deceive the Shangguan, or simply joined forces with the Shangguan, and the entire government participated together to deal with the money that should have been turned over to the state treasury. Taxes are at their fingertips.
Then the money received was divided into 30 to 70 cents, sometimes 40 to 60 cents. When times were good, there was a glorious history of 50 to 50 cents.
Sometimes the government really relies on these big families to help them settle accounts through their respective business channels, laundering dirty money as cleanly as a white lotus, so that they can take it with peace of mind. Enjoyed it in hand.
If Jin Ting had not replaced a crazy emperor who did crazy things and everywhere, who would be willing to rebel?
Thinking of this, Zhao Kaihe suddenly missed the good times in the past.
But let’s not talk about that right now!
Zhao Kaihe planned to do something around these things, even if it was to deal with errands, he had to do it to gain some impression points in front of Zhao Kaishan so that he could return to the army and take charge of the military.
So he decided to investigate the Li family, Yang family, Du family and other big families in the city who were seriously involved in this matter, kill chickens to scare monkeys, and kill a few people to prove his ability.
But just as he was preparing to take action, Zhao Xiang, who was appointed by Zhao Kaishan to be in charge of armed recruitment, came to his door and met with Zhao Kaihe.
The relationship between the two of them was relatively normal when they were in the family, and they were not close friends. It was not until Zhao Kaishan decided to start a rebellion that the relationship between the two became better.
Especially when it comes to the issue of dealing with Zhao Zuoliang, the two have very close positions and have some things in common, so they have a good relationship.
Zhao Kaihe had some thoughts about Zhao Xiang's visit, but he didn't intend to speak until Zhao Xiang did.
Until Zhao Xiang expressed his intention.
"Several big families in the city invited me to come and tell you not to delve too deeply into this matter. They will find a way to settle the matter. As long as you keep silent, they will be very grateful. .”
These words confirmed Zhao Kaihe's conjecture.
He was a little unhappy.
"Are you involved in this matter? I don't think you should do such a thing."
"No, I didn't know about it at the beginning. After I came here, I heard someone tell me the inside story, and I have a little understanding of it. Although I know that my brother is very dissatisfied with this matter, at this time, it is better not to make hurtful comparisons. good."
Zhao Xiang looked at Zhao Kaihe with a smile on his face.
Zhao Kaihe became a little interested.
"These people have enriched themselves with pensions and bounties, which has made the people extremely dissatisfied. Everyone is complaining. To complain about your brother is obviously hurtful to people's hearts. Why do you say that?"
Zhao Xiang's expression was very disdainful.
"What kind of people's hearts are ordinary people? They are just following what others say. They are scattered. What the virtuous and prestigious people say, the ordinary people will follow suit. They are illiterate, stupid, and have no opinions of their own.
They are just following the trend and are not worth mentioning at all. However, those powerful and powerful people are different. Thousands of people respond when they raise their arms. They have soldiers, food and money. They are literate and have ideas, and they can put them into practice. Action, that is the real human heart.
Don’t be fooled by other people. What the ordinary people think is not important at all, but the support of powerful people is the most important to us. As for the grievances of the ordinary people, killing one or two small people and giving them a little guidance is enough to calm them down. , there is no need to go to war in such a big way.
If you go to war for the common people and kill members of powerful families, do you really think they will think of you? No, the locals know local affairs best. As long as there is a little guidance from caring people, your end will definitely not be good. "
After Zhao Kaihe heard this, he looked at Zhao Xiang with some surprise.
"Brother always said that you have no ability and only have a little cleverness. I never thought that you could say such a thing."
Zhao Xiang chuckled.
"I really didn't have much ability before, but now I'm rebelling, aren't I? It's a matter of wealth and life. You have to learn something. People will always change."
Zhao Kaihe curled his lips.
"Huh, not necessarily? Honestly, how much did you charge?"
"not much."
Zhao Xiang did not hide anything, and gestured to himself, and then gestured to Zhao Kaihe: "If you are willing to help, you can get this amount of reward."
Zhao Kaihe was silent for a while, with an angry look on his face.
"You want to bribe the inspector with such a small amount of money? I, the inspector of Shandong, was personally appointed by my brother and holds heavy responsibilities. How can I derelict in my duties because of such a dirty thing? I won't accept it!"
Zhao Xiang was not afraid of backlash and made another gesture with a smile.
"Does this amount work?"
"Who do you think I am? Am I this kind of person?"
Zhao Kaihe looked upright.
"Then this amount is finally enough, right?"
Zhao Xiang made another gesture.
This time Zhao Kaihe's expression became much softer, but he still didn't let go.
"That's what I said, but my brother trusted me and asked me to do such a thing, but I can't solve the problem. In the end, my brother holds me responsible, what should I do?"
Zhao Xiang shook his head and finally made a gesture.
"This is the end. There can't be more. If there is more, they might as well deal with it themselves. You should also be careful. Don't be too greedy. If the water keeps flowing, the future will be long!"
In the end, Zhao Kaihe didn't hold back the expression on his face and smiled.
"Actually, I am also dissatisfied with such things. In fact, I am forced to come here to supervise this matter. I don't want to do such boring things. I want to lead troops to fight. It was Zhao Zuoliang who forced me to come here. of."
In his heart, he complained that Zhao Kaihe was greedy and greedy, but when he mentioned Zhao Zuoliang, Zhao Xiang became interested.
