Wang Wei was the Prime Minister of Shuihan County eight years ago. His term was six years. He retired due to old age. Now he is idle at home to take care of his old age. The county magistrate is the assistant envoy of the county governor. He is responsible for assisting the county governor in managing administrative and prison affairs. He corresponds to the county lieutenant who is responsible for military security, and his power can be said to be the second person in a county.
It is such a character who was selected by He Nan as a typical example. In other words, he is the "chicken" in killing chickens to scare monkeys.
Why use him as an example? This was also carefully selected by He Nan. In the process of looking through this person's resume, He Nan found that the lazy and lax style of Shuihan County officials all started from him. Although there were officials before him who also scrawled their blame, but that After all, they were only a minority, but after him, the entire Shuihan County changed its mood.
In the past, Wang Wei had no choice but to go to Shuihan County to serve as the county magistrate. He was walking on thin ice with fear - Emperor Qi Changgeng had just issued an edict to execute a group of officials, and God knows if he would kill another group. With this kind of mood, Wang Wei deceived his subordinates in Shuihan County and kept the corpse in plain sight. He resolutely refused to do anything he could not do, and resolutely shied away from the responsibilities he could, just so that one day something would really happen and he would not be blamed. on his own head. Under his influence, Shuihan County was gradually corroded by this phenomenon - the affairs of the people were kicked around by these officials like a ball, and in the end they had to be trivialized.
Although Wang Wei did not violate the law, grab power and accept bribes, the harm caused by his lazy government is by no means less than the harm of corruption.
Firstly, his official position is high enough, and secondly, his influence is deep enough - these two points alone are the reasons for He Nan to target him, not to mention that Wang Wei is now in Yiman County, which is two counties away from Shuihan County - -Searching him even though he is thousands of miles apart shows He Nan's determination to clear away the bad atmosphere in Shuihan County.
Of course, in addition to the lazy donkey far away, there is also the huge greed right in front of us - another typical figure, Hou Ruming, is currently dominating a county under Shuihan County - although it is only a small one. He is a county clerk, but the money he has amassed in his five years as an official is more than 30,000 taels of silver. You must know that last year, Shengguo's annual fiscal revenue was 50 million taels, which averaged to more than 1,500 counties. In other words, each county has an income of about 30,000 taels. However, the income of border areas like Shuihan County is not as rich as that of the Central Plains, and is only about 20,000 taels. In five years, the official has collected nearly a quarter of the county's income. Even calling Hou Ruming "hugely corrupt" is not qualified.
Could it be that no one discovered Hou Ruming acting like this in the past five years? He Nan wouldn't believe it, not even any ordinary person who didn't understand finance would believe it - it's just that no one dared to say it, or that no one was willing to say it.
If Hou Ruming can embezzle such a huge amount of money, the losses for the people will inevitably be much greater.
Although Hou Ruming's surname is Hou, he has no chance to be one of those scared monkeys - there is only one path in front of him.
"Hou Ruming, Hou Ruming... you are so bold. Do you know that many of the third and fourth grade officials in the capital are not as wealthy as you?" He Nan looked at Hou Ruming sitting inside the prison and mocked, and he led people to copy it. When Hou Ruming visited his mansion, he was secretly shocked by the things in his mansion. In addition to his real gold and silver, some other jewelry collections were even more valuable. A set of jewelry worn by his wife cost fifty Two silver coins or so.
Although He Nan did not come from a poor background, he had indeed never lived a few days of prosperity. Naturally, he had no good feelings towards such bullies in the village where common people roamed the streets - even Li Zhanchun, who was always kind-hearted and famous for his kindness, treated corrupt officials. Their attitude was to punish severely, let alone the judge He Nan.
"Haha...you, the boy who used chicken feathers as an arrow, can you reach your prime today? Instead, you have educated me?" I have to say that this greedy man dares to amass wealth in such a big way, how serious is it? He was extremely courageous and brave enough to challenge He Nan's method of "boiling the eagle" for three full days. "Ever since I collected my first stolen money, I thought that one day this would happen sooner or later - but I really didn't expect that I would fall into the hands of a young kid like you."
"Can I understand that these are your last words?" Although he was asking a question, He Nan's tone was obviously full of threats.
Faced with He Nan's condescension, Hou Ruming's aura was not inferior to others at all. Instead, he stared at He Nan and said with a evil smile: "It doesn't matter, you can interpret it however you want. Anyway, I have spent enough money in my life. What little stuff is left - I can’t take it to the underworld.”
From the time someone knocked on the door of his house, Hou Ruming never thought about paying for his life - he was a sober person and knew that if the other party wanted money, they would have come to him privately, and he couldn't afford to bring so many people through the door. ——The scale of dozens of government soldiers clearly means they want to uproot themselves.
Some people may ask - since Hou Ruming is so sober and tough, why didn't you resist the money offensive in the first place?
The answer is actually very simple - the first word is "poor" and the second word is "greed".
Once upon a time, was this Hou Ruming not an honest official? Although he was not a man of righteousness, he was still able to have a breeze on his sleeves. Although he had a good reputation, he did not have much money. After he succeeded to the throne, Qi Changgeng, the Sheng Emperor, wanted to silence the public and express his gratitude to the plutocrats who had supported him to the throne. The tax rate was suddenly relaxed from 15 to 30 taxes, which made the merchants happy and the officials miserable. It is true that there are unspoken rules brought by the unique kick of "Linjian Kicking", but with the reduction of taxes After that, the salaries of officials also shrank significantly, and the little money wasted was just a drop in the bucket. Although Emperor Sheng later adjusted the tax rate many times, and even once reached the level of one tax per ten, this was all due to the intense border wars. The money flowed to various battle fronts and became bright armor and weapons, which were closely related to the civil servants of the Central Plains. They basically can't get close to each other.
Even if this gold and silver was put into the pockets of merchants, the most incredible thing is that even prostitutes are richer than officials - the salary of a fourth-rank official in the imperial court is about 400 taels per year, and in previous years The legacy of a late and well-respected official was actually less than two hundred taels and two hectares of land, which together amounted to less than a thousand taels. According to rumors, the leading figure in a brothel in the south of the Yangtze River had to have more than two thousand taels of private money with him when he eloped with someone. This case deeply touched Hou Ruming. Comparing the two situations, he actually felt extremely sad.
This is true for fourth-rank officials, let alone seventh- and eighth-rank officials or even low-ranking minor characters?
In this world, people laugh at poverty but not at prostitution. After serving as an official for more than ten years, Hou Ruming finally understood this truth - those prostitutes who sell jokes in brothels and red squares can wear gold, silver, beads and jade, but as an honest official, he can't even wear anything other than official robes. There are no clothes left, and look at Jing Chai’s wife in a cloth skirt with a bare face...
Hou Ruming finally took that step. When he accepted the bribe for the first time, he felt shameless and guilty, and vowed that he would only take the stolen money this time.
It's a pity that human desires are endless. After one indulgence, there will naturally be a second one. After swearing "this is the last time" countless times, money that once felt hot has finally become a common occurrence, and the wild goose is too far away. Mao has also become an unspoken rule - in the end it has even evolved into a habit - Hou Ru is not short of money to spend tomorrow morning, and any collection in his house is valuable. Now his wife and two This daughter is also radiant and charming...
The desire is hard to satisfy, and he no longer knows what else to do with the money. He only knows that there is no way back for him.
"Huh... You're quite calm." Since He Nan couldn't use him as a specimen, he naturally conducted an extremely detailed investigation on him. He felt a little regretful in his heart - this man had also been strong-willed once upon a time.
To be honest, he really didn't want to see the iron bones of the world being used in this situation.
"The house has been ransacked and the money has been taken away. You can kill or cut into pieces as you wish." Hou Ruming's hands and feet were shackled, and he could only sit up against the wall: "I feel that I am worthy of the country and worthy of my honor in this life." Jun, I just feel ashamed of my wife and two daughters for not reaching out earlier to let them live a better life for a few more days."
"You are indeed ashamed of them... because their upcoming hard days are also caused by you." He Nan said lightly, without even looking at the prisoner.
"What do you mean?" Hou Ruming asked in surprise, he had an ominous premonition.
"According to the laws of the country, the houses of corrupt officials, evil officials, criminals, and prisoners will be confiscated according to the law. The principal offender will be exiled in the lightest way, or imprisoned and executed in the most serious case. The male members of his family will be slaves and the female members will be prostitutes. You are not of a high level. , my wife and daughter are not even qualified to be official prostitutes in the Jiaofang Division. Most of them are assigned to the army as camp prostitutes. When they die, they are sold into a brothel, and they rely on selling themselves for the rest of their lives." He Nan's expression was calm, but the meaning of his words But it was horrifying: "I see that you are from a accounting official who is responsible for calculating financial income and expenditure, so you must be good at calculations, right? Why don't you calculate how much you have embezzled and spent over the years, and then calculate your When will your wife and daughter be able to make up for this financial shortfall for you? Even if they all enter a brothel - your wife is old and beautiful, and she must not be worth a high price. Don't forget that the brothel also takes a commission from it. , can you get a hundred cents from your daily escort? Although your eldest daughter is married, she is fair-skinned and beautiful and is not over thirty-eight years old. She should be able to sell it for a good price, but it is only five cents a day. Two should be the limit. After all, your little daughter should be the best one to pay off your father's debts. She has not left the court yet. If she meets a rich villain, he might be able to pay a big price to redeem her. If not, how about calculating it as ten taels? If your wife and daughter make a total of sixteen taels in one day, and then take out 70 to 80%, you will get between 3 taels and 4 to 4 taels..."
"Calculate that you owe ten thousand taels. In fact, the number should be much more. But even if it is a deficit of ten thousand taels, based on the daily income of 4 taels and 8, it will take more than 2,000 days, which is nearly six years." He Nan knew that the other party was definitely not slower than him in calculating, but did he really dare to calculate in his mind the value of his wife and daughter becoming prostitutes? "This is all based on maximizing your interests. If they become camp prostitutes, that's what they will do for the rest of their lives, right?"
He Nan's words were heartbreaking, and every word seemed to be pierced into Hou Ruming's bones. He didn't really want to beat Hou Ruming's wife and daughter into prostitutes, but he must use Hou Ruming's biggest weakness to break through his defenses.
"You threaten me!" Hou Ruming roared loudly like a lion's roar. He hit the iron railing and met He Nan's eyes. His eyes were split and his pupils were filled with blood.
"Threat...hahahahaha...threat, threat!" He Nan laughed ferociously, grabbing the iron railing with both hands and tapping his forehead on the railing. Not long after, he raised his head and shouted sternly: "Hou Ruming, you are greedy for a huge amount of money, which promotes unhealthy trends and preys on the common people. You have committed such a heinous crime. How dare you speak nonsense here?"
"Hou Ruming! Why didn't you shout out 'You threaten me' like this when you were accepting bribes?" He Nan looked violent and his eyes were bright, as if there was a fire igniting in them: "Yes, you should have been there before others." I refused righteously when I bribed you, but you chose to go along with it. So, whether today or in the future, all the suffering and torture your wife and children have suffered are because of what you have brought to them, and what you have oppressed and abused. What the people have suffered is exactly the same! It is the way of heaven and the law of the country that seek justice from you on behalf of the people!"
The fierce fire spread from He Nan's eyes to Hou Ruming's heart. His body instantly collapsed to the ground, and his original calm expression disappeared in an instant, as if he had aged twenty years at that moment: "How can I let go?" They? They are innocent. I am the sinner. No matter the heaven or the people, all revenge will be on me..."
He Nan threw the paper and pen in his hand into the cell along the gap: "Now write down in detail all the bribes you have received since you became an official in Shuihan County, including who bribed you, who you bribed, and every bribe. The amount of each sum must be clearly stated. If your charges satisfy me, I will let your wife and daughter go and let them find a place to live anonymously."
"Otherwise, just wait and pray for them day and night under the Nine Springs to accompany a few more guests."
"Thank you, thank you..." Hou Ruming knelt down and picked up the pen and paper with trembling hands. Tears fell like rain and he kowtowed.
He Nan walked out of the prison without looking back. He didn't even have time to look at Hou Ruming. He still had more things to do.
Even though he left Shanhe Mansion, Madman He was still Madman He. He himself did not realize that he was about to become a wind that would slowly turn the windmill of history. Hou Ruming, who has surrendered to the law, and Wang Kai, who has not yet met, are the epitome of this distorted world. He Nan wants to use them as a guide to clean up this dirty and dirty era, and Shuihan County is just a start.
The wind is blowing and the water is cold, and the strong man will not return.
