Of course the other five counties would respond, but no one came forward to claim responsibility for the assassination. They were imperial officials and not a terrorist organization. No one would take such a shot.
Wuyuan County was the first to respond. Wuyuan County is the largest county in Huizhou Prefecture after She County. It ranks first among the five counties in terms of strength. It is also the hometown of Zhu Xi. The magistrate of Wuyuan County received the document on the fifteenth day of the winter lunar month and sent back the application document on the 22nd. In terms of the average administrative efficiency of the Ming Dynasty, it was extremely fast.
It's a pity that although the speed is fast, the quality is really not good. The argument of this petition is the same as the previous Jixi Yang Jiaoyu, which alleged that She County owed 9,700 shi of summer wheat and was fined to pay 8,780 pieces of raw silk in summer tax, which had been transported over the years and had nothing to do with the other five counties. . As for "people make silk", that is a matter of the Nanjing Transport Depot, and has nothing to do with the place.
This argument is of course very flawed and has nothing new at all. But there was nothing we could do about it. We only had a few days in total. No matter how talented the Wuyuan County Magistrate was, he could not compete with the evidence that Shuai Jiamo had carefully prepared for several years.
However, the county magistrate is not mediocre after all. In his application, he also proposed a plan that would make a huge difference: consult the yellow book.
The so-called Yellow Book is an important tax file for the imperial court. The collection of taxes and services at the top of the mountain must be based on the Yellow Book. It is first-hand information and the most authoritative.
Wuyuan County's logic is: If the records in the "Da Ming Huidian" and the government records are correct, then there must be corresponding records in the original records of the Yellow Book, and the credibility of the latter is higher than the former. Therefore, as long as you check the pornographic files, you will naturally know who is right and who is wrong.
According to regulations, several copies of the Yellow Book will be sent to the county and the prefecture. They will also be copied to the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs for record keeping. You can say that the yellow records kept by the county may be tampered with, but the records kept by the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs cannot be tampered with by officials in your place. They are absolutely accurate and the authenticity can be known after a check.
Wuyuan County’s statement is a unique approach and provides a new way of thinking about resolving disputes.
In addition, he also followed the example of She County and attracted a group of celebrities from the county to cheer. Although the formation is not as prominent as She County, there are still four high-ranking officials who came from Jinshi to join the battle - this is the reason why the competition for Jinshi in Nanbang is fierce. This is just a Huizhou, but it is so awesome. It only has two counties under its jurisdiction. There are so many famous people, and they are all still alive.
Three days later, Jixi County joined the battle group again, also led by the magistrate.
With Wuyuan buying time, Jixi County is more prepared. The county magistrate chose another rebuttal strategy and put the breakthrough point on the "exclusive levy of raw silk".
Shuai Jiamo had a question before, saying that there are six counties in Huizhou, why is raw silk collected in She County alone? This is totally unreasonable, so all six counties must lose. He also cited many examples, such as Changzhou Prefecture's tribute of tea, which was stated in the "Huidian" as "conquered in Yixing County"; Ningguo Prefecture's attack on Papaya, it was also stated that Xuancheng County would be responsible for the defeat. Therefore, if the imperial court collects raw silk in She County alone, it will be clearly stated in the "Huidian".
In response to this question, Jixi listed a large number of counterexamples: Su and Chang alone conquered white rice; Ning and Tai alone conquered horses; Jixi alone conquered imperial wood. These are not specifically written in the "Huidian". Another example is that the mung beans in Songjiang Prefecture are only collected by Huating County, and Shanghai County does not need to take care of them; the medicinal materials in Anfu are only collected by Shanyang County, and Sui and Gan counties do not need to pay them; the hemp fields in Jinhua Prefecture are only collected by martial arts. County, as for silk and yarn, they are collected from Tangxi, and other counties do not need to pay. These separate items are not mentioned in the "Huidian".
After listing this large list, the Jixi County Magistrate said that it was normal for a government to levy only one type of materials for a certain county, and it was impossible for the "Huidian" to cover everything and write in such detail. Therefore, Shuai Jiamo's doubts are purely due to his lack of knowledge and are completely unreasonable.
The truth is clearly explained, but unfortunately Jixi is the smallest of the six counties. After searching around, it was found that there were no living Jinshis in the county, so we had to do the next best thing and ask three people to sign.
Wuyuan and Jixi counties, one large and one small, took the lead. Other comrades-in-arms were not left behind, and a few days later Xiuning and Qimen counties also responded.
In particular, the response from the magistrate of Xiuning posed the greatest threat to Shuai Jiamo. The man had been preparing for nearly a month, and he made an extraordinary move. He put aside all the twists and turns and pointed directly at the core of She County - numbers.
The core doubt of Shexian or Shuaijiamo is that the figures for the two taxes do not match.
She County's "summer tax on raw silk" requires 9,700 shi to replenish wheat and only more than 4,000 pieces of broken silk. However, every year, She County has to pay 8,780 pieces of "human ding silk". The extra four thousand horses must have been borne by the other five counties.
Regarding this question, Xiuning County Magistrate gave his own investigation results:
He found that during the Yisi Geng System, Xingzhongshu Province, in addition to finding that She County owed Xia Mai 9,700 shi, also re-examined some abandoned mulberry trees in Dengying and Mingde townships under its jurisdiction. They also confiscated the fields of two big landowners, Cheng Huixiang and Ye Zhong. These lands were re-measured and recorded, and then taxes were re-calculated.
Owing summer wheat, abandoning mulberry fields, and confiscating fields, these three items added together, the new tax revenue in She County totaled 10,974 kilograms and three taels of raw silk. For every twenty-four taels of raw silk, one piece of silk is folded, so the total number is exactly 8,779 pieces, which is consistent with the number of "Ren Ding Silk", so this is the tax of She County.
In the tenth year, the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu, the tenth year of Yongle, and the eighteenth year of Chenghua, the amount of this tax was adjusted. In the 14th year of Hongzhi, the imperial court adjusted the ratio of raw silk to silk from 24 taels to 20 taels, but the quota of 8,779 pieces remained unchanged.
This was only the first move of the Xiuning County Magistrate. His second move was directed at property.
Because Shuai Jiamo had previously pointed out that She County clearly does not produce silk, so why should raw silk be used as a tax reward?
The magistrate of Xiuning County conducted an investigation and found that Dengying, Mingde, Renli, Yongfeng, Xiaoti, Gunxiu, and Xiaxiang townships under the jurisdiction of She County originally had mulberry gardens, but the other five counties had never had them. . Obviously, although She County does not produce silk now, it does not mean that it did not produce silk in the past - raw silk was once a special product of She County.
In other words, this is a problem left over from history caused by changes in property, but it is still your own problem in She County and cannot be passed on to others.
As for why the "Fu Zhi" didn't mention the fact that there were originally mulberry trees in She County? The magistrate of Xiuning County thought it was very simple, because She County was originally the seat of Huizhou Prefecture, and the "Huizhou Prefecture Chronicle" was compiled by officials from She County. Of course they had to mix it with private goods!
Xiuning County's third move was aimed at the "Da Ming Huidian" that Shuai Jiamo clung to.
Why does the record in the "Da Ming Huidian" only say that "Ren Ding Silk" was conquered in Huizhou Prefecture, but not in She County? Xiuning County's explanation is very simple, just three words - it's not necessary.
Huidian is recorded from the level of the chief envoy, and there is no need to record it in such detail as the county. What's more, every government has its own situation. It is ridiculous to use the examples of other governments to question our own government.
Xiuning County's answer can be said to be the sharpest counterattack among the five counties so far. After these three moves, the punches are to the flesh and the blows are bloody. Even if Shuai Jiamo has arrived at the case, it will probably be very difficult to argue with him face to face.
In contrast, in Qimen County, where the homework was handed in on the same day, the application was meaningless, nothing more than clichés and crying about poverty. However, there was nothing we could do about it, because there was a vacancy for the Qimen magistrate, and the application was answered by the county magistrate. The county magistrate was an old juren, and indeed he was still not as good as the Jinshi master.
With the pearls and jade in front, the magistrate of Yi County seemed much more relaxed. In the application, he absent-mindedly repeated the opinions of previous county magistrates, and then made a slightly sarcastic remark: "She County is so big, even if the silk tax is reduced, it is just a boat removed from the river. ; We in Yi County are so poor now that we have to pawn our pants, and if we add even a little tax, it will be like a chronically ill person eating aconite, and he will die on the spot!"
When Gao Pragmatic told Shuai Jiamo these situations, Shuai Jiamo became anxious.
He first expressed his gratitude to Gao Pangshi for his care along the way, and then asked to go back south to Huizhou in advance to have a good debate with the five counties.
