Rongcheng is a medium-sized county. According to the imperial edict of Emperor Hongzhi, sixteen thousand shi of grain should be accumulated.
The account book states that the accumulated grain amount is exactly 16,000 shi.
There are a total of two hundred grain villages in the official warehouse. Each grain hoard contains eighty shi, which is more than 13,000 kilograms of grain.
The size of the sacks used in official warehouses of the Ming Dynasty are all fixed. Each sack can hold one hundred kilograms of wheat.
Each grain farm contains more than 130 sacks.
Chang Feng first walked to a grain farm and poked it with half a piece of bamboo. What came out was the finest new wheat.
Chang Feng asked Huang Zhixian: "Are they all new wheat?"
Huang Zhixian had big beads of sweat on his head, and he hesitated when he spoke: "Ah, all of them!"
Chang Feng gave an order: "Come on, check the grain farms for me one by one!"
Shi Wenyi led a few strong men, carrying a table and several chairs to Chang Feng: "Master Chang, Master Xu, Master Qian, please sit down."
Now Shi Wenyi has been promoted to a hundred households. Among the thousands of households inspected, his status is second only to Chang Feng, Fatty Xu, and Qian Ning.
Chang Feng sat on the chair. Eating pastries that Shi Wenyi found somewhere and drinking tea.
An hour later, almost all the sacks placed outside each grain farm were checked.
Chang Feng ordered Magistrate Huang: "Have all three squads of government officials from your county government come over to remove the sacks outside the grain farm and check what's inside."
This time when he came down to inspect the official warehouse, Chang Feng was very careful. Investigations must be carried out both inside and outside Liangtun. This has been done all the way here.
Huang Zhixian was stunned: "Huh? Do you want to check the inside? There is no need, the inside and outside are full of new wheat."
Chang Feng noticed the deception in Huang Zhixian's eyes!
Chang Feng sneered: "Why, the sacks in the grain farm are not inspected?"
Huang Zhixian said quickly: "Ah, that's not what I mean. I want to say that the superior officers have been checking for more than an hour and are very tired. Why not go to the county government to have a meal first."
Chang Feng glared at Huang Zhixian: "What, you want to stop me with wine, food, women, or even money?"
"Haven't you ever heard of the name of the Butcher Jin Yiweichang? My mouth is not something that a small magistrate can stop if he wants!"
It's the end of March and the weather is already very hot. Huang Zhixian was sweating profusely and his face was red from holding back.
In desperation, the obese Magistrate Huang fainted and fell to the ground like a puddle of mud.
Fatty Xu smiled and said, "He fell down from fear before we even checked! It seems like there is indeed a ghost!"
After saying that, Fatty Xu walked to a grain farm and used the skills of Jin Yiwei's strongest man to move the sacks that had been inspected outside one by one.
Fatty Xu took a half-section of bamboo tube and inserted it into the sack inside.
What flows out is not wheat at all! But sand and gravel!
Fatty Xu came to Chang Feng with a palm of sand and gravel in his hands: "Master Chang, this is what's in the bag inside."
Chang Feng said angrily: "Come on! Pour cold water on this corrupt official to wake him up!"
A strongman carried a basin of cold water and poured it on Huang Zhixian's head.
Huang Zhixian woke up.
Chang Feng pointed to the sand and gravel on the table: "Huang County Magistrate, Huang Shixiong, what is this? Can it be eaten? Can you help the victims in disaster years? Why don't you take a bite and show me?"
Huang Zhixian kowtows like pounding garlic: "The lower officials are guilty, the lower officials are guilty!"
Chang Feng said: "Don't rush to plead guilty. Let me ask you, how much grain is actually stored in your official warehouse?"
Huang Zhixian answered tremblingly: "Three, three thousand stones."
Chang Feng was furious: "The number specified in the imperial edict is sixteen thousand stones. How come you have thirteen thousand stones here that are all sand and gravel?"
Huang Zhixian's fat face turned pale: "Yes."
Chang Feng asked: "Where is the food?"
Huang Zhixian was very timid. When he was frightened by Chang Butcher of Jinyiwei, he had already lost six of his souls.
He began to talk nonsense and nonsense: "Ah, the food was confiscated. Oh no, it was because of corruption by the subordinate officials."
When Chang Feng was interrogating Huang Zhixian, a county clerk secretly left the official warehouse. It seems that he went to report a message to someone.
Chang Feng said angrily: "Did you sell Tanmo's food? Or did it store it somewhere else?"
Huang Zhixian is overweight and in poor health. Under Chang Feng's questioning, he fainted again. This time I couldn't wake up even if I poured cold water on it.
Qian Ning unceremoniously pulled out the embroidered spring knife and stabbed Huang Zhixian's fat ass with the tip of the knife.
Huang Zhixian didn't react at all.
Qian Ning said: "Master Chang, this guy is not pretending to be faint."
Chang Feng walked over and checked Huang Zhixian's breathing: "He's dying. Go, find a gentleman and give him a good look. You have to find a way to rescue him."
Fatty Xu said: "What's Fei doing? Just execute him on the spot, and then confiscate the family property, won't it be done together?"
Chang Feng shook his head slightly: "No. We can't execute him on the spot. We have to bring him back to Beijing and execute him in public!"
"I will ask for the order again and let the officials watch the execution. Let the civil and military officials of the whole dynasty see what the consequences will be if they follow the emperor's imperial edict and violate it!"
Sometimes the dead are more useful than the living. Chang Feng wanted to use Huang Zhixian's head to establish his authority for Emperor Hongzhi.
Emperor Hongzhi was good at everything, but he was too kind. For a boss, being too kind will not deter the employees below.
Several strong men carried Huang Zhixian away.
Chang Feng ordered a group of warriors to continue the investigation. If it is true as Magistrate Huang said, out of the 16,000 dan in stockpiles of grain, only 3,000 dan are genuine wheat. The rest is all sand and gravel.
Chang Feng asked Qian Ning: "Who is checking Rongcheng County?"
Qian Ning took out a list of names and flipped through it: "It's Wang Defa, the bannerman of our Northern Division. He should be in Tang County now."
Chang Feng said: "Send a few people and ride fast horses to call him to Rongcheng County."
"Either this guy used Huang Boren's money to protect him. Or he was careless and only checked the outside of Liangtun, not the inside."
Qian Ning nodded: "Okay, I'll send someone right away."
At night, the county government office is behind the government office.
Huang Zhixian lay unconscious on the couch. Chang Feng stood in front of the couch and asked the doctor: "How is this guy doing?"
The doctor replied: "He has a weak base; lack of healthy qi; deficiency of qi, blood, and body fluids. Qi stagnation and blood congestion block the veins. It seems to be old chest paralysis."
"The little one can only prescribe melon and honeysuckle soup to widen his chest and dissipate knots. Whether his life can be saved depends on good fortune."
The chest disease that the doctor mentioned was coronary heart disease in the terminology of later generations of Western medicine.
Huang Zhixian was fat and suffered from chest paralysis for many years. Today, he was frightened by Chang Feng and immediately fell ill. His life and death were uncertain.
Chang Feng said to Fatty Xu: "Okay, let's rest. If he dies, we will ransack his house."
Fatty Xu smiled slightly: "Hey, I'm not resting in the back office. I have to go out to check the customs! Otherwise, will I cross the Treasure Mountain and return empty-handed?"
Chang Feng waved his hand: "Get out of here! Take your time and be careful."
Fatty Xu ran away in a flash. Chang Feng returned to the bedroom.
A total of five counties were inspected, and one county was found to have problems with grain storage. Finally, my trip to Beijing was not in vain.
After a tiring day, he lay down and fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, the county government suddenly heard the sound of "dong, dong, dong" drums!
The drum beat was so loud that it woke up Chang Feng.
Chang Feng shouted outside the bedroom: "Come here, come and see what's going on!"
A strongman took the order and left. After drinking some tea, he returned: "Master Chang, thousands of people have gathered outside the county government office. They say they want to redress injustice!"
Chang Feng walked out of the room and said to himself: "I don't know how many injustices that bastard named Huang has made the people of Rongcheng County swallow!"
Chang Feng came to the yamen gate.
Thousands of people outside the yamen knelt down in large numbers, like pushing a mountain of gold over a jade pillar.
"Unjustly accused!" they shouted in unison.
Chang Feng pressed his hands to signal them to be silent. Then Chang Feng said: "Fellow fellow villagers, I am Chang Feng from Jinyiwei Qianhu. I am here to redress your grievances on this inspection of Rongcheng County!"
"The corrupt official Huang Boren has been put under my custody! You can voice your grievances if you have any! I have taken note of each and every one of them to verify and severely punish Huang Boren for taking out your anger!"
Hearing this, all the people burst into tears one after another. The cries of thousands of people were shocking.
An old man in his seventies stood up and opened a Wanmin umbrella with a few young men.
Chang Feng was a little surprised: I haven't redressed their grievances yet, so I gave them the Wanmin Umbrella so soon?
The old man yelled at the top of his lungs: "Imperial envoy, please don't accuse good people! We are not here to avenge ourselves, we are here to avenge Huang Zhixian!"
"Magistrate Huang is a good official who is hard to find with a lantern! We made this Ten Thousand People Umbrella as a gift to him this winter. He was so open-minded that he didn't accept it!"
Thousands of people shouted: "Magistrate Huang is wronged!"
"Huang Qingtian is a first-rate good official!"
"If something goes wrong in Huangzhi County, what will we, the people of Rongcheng, do?"
Chang Feng frowned.
Chang Feng's first reaction was: These people should be Xu Zao hired by Huang Boren's men.
The so-called virtual stove is a shill in the parlance of later generations.
Regardless of ancient or modern times, there are always some officials who, in order to put money on their faces, hire a bunch of caretakers to kowtow, cry, and persuade them to stay when they leave office.
Sometimes, there is no need to spend money to hire them. Instead, the petty officials in the yamen can directly find their relatives and friends to act out the drama of the people struggling to stay in the sky.
The seventy-year-old man has experienced the world for a long time and seems to have seen through Chang Feng's thoughts.
The old man said loudly: "Tonight, those who come to redress Huangzhi County's grievances are only the people in the county and six townships on the outskirts of the county."
"Tens of thousands of people from the remaining 21 townships in this county will arrive one after another tomorrow!"
"If you insist on going your own way and wrongfully accuse us Huang Qingtian, the people of the entire Rongcheng County will kneel down before the mayor!"
After Chang Feng heard this, he thought in his heart: Have I really wronged Huang Boren? Even if his men look for Xu Zao, they can't find people in the whole county to show off.
But the food stockpile was obviously short of thirteen thousand dan. He himself admitted that he was corrupted by him.
Chang Feng raised his hands towards the old man and said, "Old man, how about we talk to the office?"
The old man followed Chang Feng into the county government office.
Chang Feng asked someone to serve tea to the old man, and then asked: "Does the old man have a proper surname?"
The old man replied: "The student Huang Weigong is from Zhuqiao Township in this county."
Chang Feng asked: "The old man calls himself a 'student', does he have a reputation?"
The old man replied: "The student is a scholar who took the Baoding Academy Examination in the eighth year of Xuande's reign."
Chang Feng said: "Since you are a scholar in the academy, you should read poetry and books. Why should the old man protect a corrupt official?"
The old man's face changed: "Corrupt official? Who is a corrupt official? You mean Huang Qingtian? If he is a corrupt official, I'm afraid there will be no honest officials in the world!"
Chang Feng smiled bitterly: "I have never seen an upright official wearing five rings on ten fingers."
The old man suddenly realized: "You are talking about those five rings! Our Huang Qingtian family is very well off, and we have thousands of acres of fertile land passed down from our ancestors on the outskirts of Beijing."
"Those five rings are also passed down from ancestors. The three gold rings have the words 'Lian', 'Qing' and 'Ming' engraved on the inside."
"The two jade rings are engraved with the words 'loyalty' and 'filial piety' respectively."
"Zhixian Huang wears these five rings every day to remind himself of the ancestral motto of 'Integrity, Qing, Ming, Loyalty, and Filial Piety'."
Chang Feng was surprised: "Is this happening? Didn't the old man lie to me?"
The old man said: "All the people in Rongcheng County know this. If you don't believe me, just ask some people."
"We Huang Qingtian served as magistrate of Rongcheng County for two terms. No one in the county mentions him without raising his thumb."
"He does not commit corruption and does not take bribes. He loves the people like a son and solves cases like a god. It is simply the reincarnation of Bao Qingtian!"
Chang Feng said: "But the emperor issued an order to all the states and counties to stockpile grain. Your county should stockpile 16,000 shi of grain. He only stocked 3,000 shi. The rest was filled with stones and sand!"
The old man made a surprising statement: "Students dare to say something disrespectful. The emperor's original intention of this edict may be good. But when it comes to the local level, the edict becomes a knife that cuts out the flesh of the people!"
Chang Feng asked: "How do you say this?"
The old man talked eloquently and told Chang Feng a secret that everyone knew but kept silent.
The imperial court relied on the grain chiefs and servants under each county government to collect land taxes.
The grain chiefs and officers would use the methods of "reducing the number of officials and kicking the branches" to squeeze the people.
The so-called reduction of official dendrobium is to manipulate the measurement and measurement of official dendrobium for collecting land tax.
One stone dendrobium should be loaded with 166 jins, but some can only hold 150 jins. In more sinister places, one stone of dendrobium can actually only hold 120 kilograms.
If the official dendrobium is small, the people will naturally pay more grain. The extra portion was divided up layer by layer by the grain chief, the sergeant, and even the county magistrate and county magistrate.
As the name suggests, when the Dendrobium is full, the grain manager will kick it hard. The spilled food became "loss". Losses will naturally be divided up.
Ma Ang, the Minister of Household Affairs in the Chenghua Dynasty, once said that for every tens of millions of stones collected by the imperial court, the people actually paid at least fifteen million stones.
The extra land tax was naturally divided up by layers of officials.
But there is always a balance in everything.
These two tricks have been played for more than 120 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. A delicate balance is achieved.
The government can continue to exploit the benefits of the people. The common people can barely accept the exploitation by the government and have become accustomed to it.
But last year, Emperor Hongzhi issued an imperial edict that broke this balance.
The grain storage required by Emperor Hongzhi was not included in the land tax.
His original intention was to let local officials use official silver to purchase the people's grain. Stock up together to prevent disaster years.
However, this decree reached the local level. The local officials all felt as if they had found a treasure, their eyes were red, as if they had been injected with chicken blood.
It’s considered a copycat! In addition to the land tax, there is another huge and lucrative income!
The "grain hoarding" in Emperor Hongzhi's decree was not a land tax, but similar to official grain procurement.
The power of pricing lies with the government.
In addition to the two methods of "reducing the number of officials" and "kicking the branches", they can also exploit the people through pricing.
For example, an old farmer followed the government notice and sent a stone of high-quality rice. Originally, the government had to pay eight coins for the purchase.
The official looked at the rice and said in shock that it was inferior rice and he could only pay five silver coins.
You said you won’t sell it? you dare! The government purchases your grain and stores it in the official warehouse. That is the emperor's order! Do you dare to resist the order?
People in all prefectures and counties across the country were exploited twice by the government last year. The first exploitation was to pay land taxes, and the second exploitation was to hoard grain.
Let’s talk about Emperor Hongzhi’s original intention: to stockpile food to prepare for shortages.
Only when food is in the hands of the people can we truly prepare for shortages.
After the grain is received by the government, in a disaster year, there is no telling who will eat it.
Just like Rongcheng County. According to the imperial edict, there should be 16,000 dan of food stockpiled.
Today's county magistrate is Huang Boren, a good official. If there is a famine, he will definitely stock up on food to help the people.
However, Huang Boren has been in Rongcheng for six full years. This year I will definitely be promoted or transferred elsewhere.
What if the successor is a corrupt official? In times of calamity, they would put the food stockpiled for relief into their pockets and feed the common people gruel mixed with sand.
Although Huang Boren is timid and suffers from chest pain, he is not stupid! Can see through this layer of pros and cons.
He simply accepted three thousand shi of grain to show off, and then fooled the imperial envoy who came down to inspect the food.
The old man finished telling everything. Chang Feng was dumbfounded.
It is obviously an imperial edict that benefits the country and the people, but when it is conveyed to the lowest level, it actually harms the country and the people.
What's even more annoying is that none of the civil servants who knew the truth warned Emperor Hongzhi!
Even Wang Shu and Ma Wensheng did not express their opinions to Emperor Hongzhi.
After all, are you afraid of offending local officials all over the world?
Could it be said that there is no truly loyal minister in the entire Ming Dynasty?
Chang Feng said: "Old man, it's been a month since I left Beijing. No one has told me these things."
The old man said: "I dare to ask my superiors. After you leave the capital, will you pay a private visit incognito and have in-depth talks with the poor people everywhere?"
Changfeng was speechless.
He only focused on the prosecutor's office. Go straight to the official warehouse wherever you go. Where have I heard the voices of poor people?
The old man said: "I have already explained the matter clearly. Please look carefully and don't wrongly accuse us, Huang Qingtian."
Chang Feng asked: "Why does Huang Zhixian admit that he embezzled 13,000 shi of grain?"
The old man said: "Confiscating all the food is equivalent to resisting the decree. Perhaps Huang Qingtian was afraid that the people of Rongcheng County would be charged with resisting the decree. That's why he lied and claimed that he was corrupt. He is taking the blame for the people of the county!"
At this moment, a strongman walked in: "Master Chang, the man named Huang is awake."
Chang Feng quickly corrected him: "What's that guy named Huang? He's called the magistrate of Huang County!"
Then Chang Feng said to the old man: "I am ashamed, I almost wronged a good official."
The two came to Huang Zhixian's bed.
Huang Zhixian said with a weak breath: "Go up, go up."
Chang Feng said: "You don't need to say anything. I know the whole story. You are a good official, and I wrongly blamed you."
Chang Feng felt a little funny: I had only heard of bold and honest officials before. This is the first time I see an upright official who is as timid as a mouse.
Huang Zhixian looked at the old man standing next to Chang Feng and knew that the old man had explained everything to Chang Feng.
He said: "Sir. Although I am not greedy for ink, I am also suspected of resisting the order."
Chang Feng comforted him: "You can rest assured and recuperate. We will discuss it in detail when the condition improves."
(End of chapter)
