After more than half a month of trial, Xiang Nan finally concluded the grain supervision case.
He Shen also joined Fu Kang'an in attacking from east to west and wiped out three thousand Maozi soldiers.
Afterwards, the two officially set off and returned to Hangzhou.
"Mr. Ji handled the case really well. From top to bottom, Ganzhou's officialdom was almost wiped out by you. Majesty! Heroism!" He Shen said with a smile.
"You don't have to be so sour when talking to adults." Xiang Nan waved his hands and said, "If you are guilty, you should be punished. I did not teach the officials in Ganzhou to engage in corruption and amass people's wealth. They deserve their punishment now, so how can they blame me? ?”
"Mr. Ji, listen to He Mou's advice. It's better to do less than to do more. Walk more cautiously and don't offend people everywhere." He Shen said earnestly, "Look, because of you, others have lost their jobs and their heads. But you have been promoted. How can I bear to be an official?
Besides, you don’t even think about it, you have offended so many people now. If something happens to you in the future, who will speak for you? Think, think. "
"Thank you, Sir, for your kindness." Xiang Nan cupped his hands and said, "But Sir, you don't understand, Ji Xiaolan is the sword in the emperor's hand.
Doesn’t Your Majesty know that I, Ji Xiaolan, hate evil as much as I hate evil, am selfless, and enforce the law like a mountain? But why did he send me to Ganzhou to investigate the case?
It is because the officialdom in Ganzhou has become so rotten that it is difficult to clean up, so the emperor has no choice but to order me to come and carry out drastic measures to eradicate corruption. So the more corrupt officials I catch, the happier the emperor will be.
Besides, Ji Xiaolan was from a straight background in Kejia. He was a classmate, fellow villager, and of the same year. If he wanted to form a party, it would be extremely easy. The emperor has always been afraid of this.
Aobai, Nalan Mingzhu, Suo'etu, Longkodo, Zhang Tingyu, these important ministers who were favored by the emperor, all had power over the government and the public when they were proud. But just because they formed a clique for personal gain and endangered the imperial power, they were all dealt with in the end.
Therefore, Ji Xiaolan must be a lonely minister. The more people I offend, the safer I feel.
In comparison, making friends with adults, being kind to others, responding to everyone's calls, and forming cliques seem to be very prosperous. But Yin Jian is not far away. Have you ever thought about the future? "
"You..." He Shen was speechless by Xiang Nan's words.
He originally thought that Xiang Nan was a fool with a unclear mind. He was too stupid to be an upright official and not take advantage of him at all.
But now it seems that Xiang Nan obviously thinks more clearly than him. For the emperor, loyalty comes first. The more isolated a minister is, the more he offends others and the less likely he is to plot rebellion, the more the emperor is willing to reuse him.
It's a pity that he has accumulated a lot of trouble now and can't do it even if he wants to be a lonely minister. Just as Xiang Nan said, he is indeed prosperous now, but Yin Jian is not far away.
Nalan Mingzhu, Longkodo, and Zhang Tingyu were all powerful at the beginning, and responded to everyone's call, but their final endings were frightening.
…
Xiang Nan, He Shen, Du Xiaoyue, Su Qinglian and others returned to Hangzhou together.
At this time, He Shen saw Su Qinglian. Seeing her riding in the same car with Xiang Nan and Du Xiaoyue, making out affectionately, I couldn't help but feel extremely jealous.
If we had known earlier, Wang Danwang was so useless that he stayed in Hangzhou to investigate the case. At that time, the Wang family's property and the Wang family's women will all belong to him. How could he go all the way to Ganzhou?
But after he was jealous for a while, he secretly laughed again.
Because he knew in his heart that not only he liked Su Qinglian, a woman with both talent and beauty, but the emperor also liked her.
Xiang Nan got her, which seemed lucky, but was actually unfortunate. This is tantamount to robbing the emperor of women. Will he still have a good son in the future?
…
After a long journey back to Hangzhou, Xiang Nan and He Shen arrived together to report to the emperor on matters such as food supervision and bandit suppression.
"Your Majesty, Ganzhou officials have never collected a single tael of grain since the beginning of the grain supervision, and all of it was converted into silver taels. They also charged an additional four taels of public funds and one tael of miscellaneous expenses, that is, each supervisor paid fifty-five taels of silver. And Wang Tingzan took over as Bu After becoming the chief envoy, an additional one tael will be charged for miscellaneous fees, rising to fifty-six taels." Xiang Nanhui reported, "After Wang Tingzan took over as chief envoy, he would add another one tael for miscellaneous fees, rising to fifty-six taels." "
"Huh!" Qianlong was furious when he heard this.
"The disasters reported in Gansu over the years were all fabrications. At that time, the chief officials of various provinces, prefectures, and counties gathered in the Chief Envoy Si Yamen, and Wang Dan hoped to distribute the severity of the disasters in various places. It was really deceiving the emperor.
In addition, 26 prefectures and counties applied for building warehouses, storage and transportation, and the state treasury allocated a total of 200,000 taels, but they were all swallowed up without a brick or a tile. He also never used the money from food supervision to buy food for relief.
All the silver earned from supervising the food supply was divided up by them. Your Majesty, your agent Xiaolan conducted a detailed investigation and found that there were five officials in Ganzhou who had embezzled more than 100,000 taels; there were a total of 22 officials who had embezzled more than 20,000 taels and less than 20,000 taels but had embezzled warehouse-building silver;
Thirty-seven people have embezzled more than 10,000 taels; 82 people have embezzled more than 5,000 taels; 247 people have embezzled more than 1,000 taels..." Xiang Nan continued to report.
"It's so bold and unheard of!" Qianlong was furious when he heard this.
He really didn't expect that there were so many corrupt officials in Ganzhou. It was rotten from top to bottom. He was greatly disappointed and dissatisfied.
…
Seeing Qianlong being so angry, He Shen secretly laughed in his heart.
Xiang Nan only focused on catching corrupt officials and turned Ganzhou officialdom into chaos. It seems that he has performed his duties faithfully and made great achievements. But he didn't want to think about it. With so many officials arrested, where would the court's face be? Let the emperor deal with it again.
You know, Qianlong and Yongzheng had different personalities.
Yongzheng was mean and ungrateful, and hated corrupt officials extremely. Qianlong, on the other hand, was magnanimous and treated his courtiers much better.
Xiang Nan has discovered so many corrupt officials. It's not right for the emperor to be lenient, but it's not right to punish them severely. How can the emperor have no objection to him? !
…
"Heshen, how do you think we should be sentenced?" Qianlong asked angrily.
"Your Majesty, Ganzhou officials are under the control of Wang Danwang. They look up to others and dare not disobey, and then share the benefits. The law is unforgivable, but the circumstances are excusable." He Shen quickly advised.
"Ji Aiqing, how do you think we should be sentenced?" Qianlong asked Xiang Nandao again.
"Your Majesty, if you follow your wishes, of course you will kill them all. But in this way, Ganzhou's officialdom will be wiped out, which is not conducive to the rule of the imperial court.
Moreover, I also know that some of these officials are not bad in nature, but they are officials under the rule of Wang Danwang and Wang Tingzan and have to be coerced by them. So I intend to indulge them.
But grace comes from above, and I dare not overstep. It is better for the emperor to make the final decision. Xiang Nan bowed.
He Shen couldn't help but be stunned when he heard what he said.
He also thought that Xiang Nan would violate his words and insist on beheading all these officials. This would pose a big problem for the emperor.
But I didn't expect that Xiang Nan was so smart that he let the emperor decide by himself.
In this way, he had done something that offended others, and all the favors had been given to the emperor.
How could the emperor not love such a minister?
