"Liang Shangshu, Hu Shangshu, you two are here!"
"If you two don't come, Suzhou City will really be in complete chaos!"
Looking at Liang Yu, the Minister of the Ministry of War, and Hu Yingtai, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Sun Youzhi, the governor of Yingtian at the intersection of Daoqian Street, immediately greeted them and told them in a low voice what Zhou Tingru had done that morning.
The two of them were silent when they listened to Zhou Tingru's instructions, which were approved by the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Cabinet.
Having been in the officialdom for many years, they were sensitive to the unusual atmosphere and the court's intention to rectify Jiangnan.
Without waiting for the two to think carefully, an accompanying sergeant quickly came to the two of them and handed over a small bamboo tube.
"It's over!"
"I'm late!"
After looking at the information in the bamboo tube, Liang Yu and Hu Yingtai said something at the same time, their faces turned pale, and their foreheads were instantly covered with dense beads of sweat.
"Two adults, what's wrong?"
"I just received news that the yellow ship has passed Qufu, and some of the Tengxiang left guards accompanying it have begun a rapid march!"
"What?"
Sun Youzhi exclaimed, the yellow boat was the emperor's boat. After passing Qufu, didn't it mean that the emperor was coming to Suzhou?
The emperor came to Suzhou and brought with him the most powerful Warrior Battalion, Tengxiang Left Guard, and Yanshan Guard, a total of nearly 40,000 elites. Even the forty-nine guard posts in South Zhili were gathered together, and there was a possibility of victory. Not big.
No matter how big the conspiracy is in Jiangnan, as long as the emperor is willing, this power can completely tear them apart!
If killing one doesn't work, then kill two, ten, or a hundred until you are scared.
After a while, Sun Youzhi regained his consciousness and whispered: "Then, then, what should we do now?"
"Any effort is useless. Your Majesty is determined to rectify Jiangnan. He will not give up until he achieves his goal. Anyone who dares to stand in the way will be killed. Just resign yourself to fate!"
"Let's go to the governor's office and wait for His Majesty's arrival!"
The three of them got into the carriage and headed towards the governor's Yamen with pale faces.
Early the next morning, just as the three of them were having breakfast, a servant rushed into the lobby: "Sir, there is a situation. The wealthy businessmen of Suzhou City are pulling carriages towards the prefect's Yamen!"
"What's this fuss about?"
"Giving in? Back taxes?"
"Stop guessing, just go and take a look and you'll find out!"
The three of them grabbed two steamed buns each and walked out of the house. When they arrived, dozens of carriages lined up in a row, and there were carriages coming one after another from further away.
After waiting for about another two-quarters of an hour, no more carriages finally came. At the signal of someone, the boxes were opened one by one, reflecting dazzling light under the sunlight.
After everyone saw it clearly, they all exclaimed.
The boxes were full of silver, and a rough estimate was that it amounted to at least one million taels.
“Oh my god, that’s a lot of money, it’s really back taxes!”
"Aren't we usually pretty tough, but you gave in so quickly this time?"
"One is a rod with a hundred punishments and a certain death situation, and the other is silver. Which one do you think is more important?"
"That's right, you have nothing to spend after you die, and you don't want to die with your eyes in peace. As long as you live, everything is possible!"
"This time it will hurt them for a while!"
"It's a pity. We have to wait for them to carry it for a few days so that the prefect can kill them. We also subscribe to a store!"
…
Listening to the discussions of the common people, the wealthy businessmen sneered in their hearts: I will make you happy for a few days, but I will make you cry for a few days.
But with a smile on his face, he cupped his fists towards Zhou Tingru who was slowly approaching and said, "Master Magistrate, this is the back tax paid by each of our families, 50% of which is paid in grain, and 50% in cash.
Grain can be sent to the Suzhou official warehouse at any time, please count it! "
"I will give you one more chance to make up for your mistakes. Once I start counting, it will be too late to regret it. The consequences will be serious!"
"You are joking, sir. We will not joke with our lives!"
"Hopefully!"
Zhou Tingru waved his hand, and the accountants from yesterday quickly counted the money.
The counting of more than two hundred accounting clerks was relatively fast. In less than one stick of incense, all the counting was completed, and it matched the account book details found yesterday.
After casually flipping through the account book, Zhou Tingru said calmly: "Yesterday, I told you that I would give you time to think about it. Just now, I have given you another opportunity to check carefully.
As a result, you turned a deaf ear to what I said. Do you really think that I can’t find out? "
"Lu Shangzhi of the Lu family, and Lin Zhentang of the Lin family, you are in the bookshop business in Suzhou. Do you think there is nothing wrong with your accounts, just because you really can't find out?
But did you ever think that printers kept records? Will the publisher keep records? Are there no records of book paper, tissue paper, etc. imported from various counties in Quzhou?
Since the seventh year of the Apocalypse, you have sold a million copies of various books and earned 310,000 taels of silver. The commercial tax is 1/30, totaling 13,000 taels.
You only have more than 8,000 taels, which is a difference of more than 2,000 taels. Where is the difference? "
"Lu Family, Lu Wenlin, you are in the tea business. Do you really think there is no record of how much tea the imperial court gives you each year and how much tea you purchase? Where did the difference of thirteen thousand taels go?"
"Meng Qinglin of the Meng family, you are in the rice mill business. How many fields do you have, how much is the yield per mu, and which companies do you cooperate with? Is it difficult to estimate this? Do you think we are all fools?"
…
Zhou Tingru named seven or eight companies in a row, and each one directly told the difference, and even explained how to find out.
Everyone who was touched was trembling with fear.
"Master Prefect, please give us another chance and we will make up for it immediately!"
"Yes, yes, we are willing to make up the difference ten times. Please give us another chance, Lord Prefect!"
…
"If I keep giving you the chance again and again and don't cherish it, just to take a chance, and play tricks on me, then I will let you know my methods!"
Zhou Tingru snorted coldly, and then shouted sharply: "Come here, drag out all the heads of households and accountants mentioned in this house, and give them a hundred punishments!"
"Tongzhi Jiang, could you please arrange a few teams to ransack the homes of these families!"
The sergeants of the Yanshan Guard rushed into the crowd like wolves and tigers, dragged out the few families they named, pressed them on the benches on the high platform, and smashed them down with the water and fire sticks.
The sound of water and fire sticks coming into contact with skin and flesh, and the screams echoed in Daoqian Street.
Zhou Tingru looked at the crowd and sneered in his heart. Since it was about establishing prestige, how could a few people establish prestige if they didn't die, and how could they feel fear if a few people didn't die?
Not to mention that there were really problems with these people's accounts. Even if there were no problems, he would have to make up a few of them and kill them. Now it saves him a lot of tricks.
With a hundred military sticks, even the elite in the army can be beaten to death, let alone them.
Seeing the ferocious-looking former friends behind them, the faces of the wealthy merchants and gentry in Suzhou City turned completely gloomy.
They thought they had surrendered and given a step, and Zhou Tingru would follow the trend, but what they got in return was no mercy, and he was beaten to death just shy of a thousand liang.
At the same time, he also angrily scolded these idiots for having already fucking discussed it and still playing such a clever trick. This time, they died and their house was ransacked.
Ye Longxi, Ge Shun and others looked at Zhou Tingru and said coldly: "Prefect Zhou, we have also paid back the tax evasion, and you have also dealt with the things that need to be dealt with. If nothing goes wrong, we will leave first!"
"Come on, come on, don't rush to leave now, I still have something to say!"
Zhou Tingru looked at everyone and said calmly: "I heard that you established a certain chamber of commerce yesterday. Is it true?"
