After crossing the river, Liu Chengfeng could no longer hold back and speeded up his trip. In the evening, he had arrived at the Lianzhou Post Station. Liu Chengfeng waited to enter and rested at the post station, and sent a quick horse to inform the local government. After half an hour, the local officials finally arrived. Qi Shuwu had no pop-up windows.
The leader was naturally the prefect of Lianzhou. The prefect of Lianzhou looked tired and dark. If he took off his official uniform, he would look like an old farmer.
The prefect is called Wang Zheng. Although his name is elegant, his luck is not good. He looks poor and bows to Liu Chengfeng bitterly.
Liu Chengfeng's brows frowned again. From the number of incomings the other party welcomed, it can be seen that there were quite a lot of incomings this time, in addition to a dozen civil and military officials, there were hundreds of servants and soldiers.
So many people come in and out of the city to greet each other, which seems very grand, but Liu Chengfeng found something was wrong, because if it was a simple welcome, why do you need to bring weapons to these people? So many people come in, carrying swords and guns, and looking alert. Most of the road from the city to the inn is not peaceful, so even local officials feel that the day is in danger, and they always feel uncomfortable not to bring a few more people.
In addition to this prefect, there were many military officers, including the local Jinyiwei 100 households, the 100 households, the 100 households of military farms, and a guerrilla general who was ordered to guard the place. What surprised Liu Chengfeng a little was that there were several county magistrates who came to compete.
One is the Hefu County Magistrate and the other is the Wenshan County Magistrate.
Logically, there are many mountains here and there are many inconveniences to walk. The county magistrates work in their own yamen. Even if they receive news that Liu Chengfeng has arrived, they will have to walk dozens or even hundreds of miles of mountain passes over, and at least it will take a while. But obviously, the two county magistrates happened to be in the capital city, so they followed them.
It was a bit strange that the county magistrate lived in the capital city. Liu Chengfeng's face looked very bad. He exchanged some casual greetings with these officials and entered the city with them.
The prefect's yamen is very dilapidated and even a little disproportionate. There are even several traces of war disaster in this yamen, and there are burning marks of fire on the front of the door.
After entering the lobby, it was necessary to welcome the people. Liu Chengfeng was patient and ate the wine, and everyone left alone, leaving only the governor of Lianzhou Wang Zheng to accompany him.
Wang Zheng and Lao Huo have the same virtue. Perhaps because he has been tempered in the officialdom for too long, he has long lost his heart. He looks cautious and is owing to Liu Chengfeng to get off his seat to accompany him.
Liu Chengfeng drank a sip of tea and drove away the smell of alcohol, and then slowly said: "How many years have Wang Daru been in Lianzhou?"
Wang Zheng hesitated for a moment and said, "If you come back to the Marquis, you have been in Lianzhou for three years."
Three years are not long or long, and it is not short or short. Wang Zheng is actually very pitiful. He is afraid that it will not be so easy to get ahead in the rest of his life when he gets into a place like Lianzhou where birds do not shit. But then again, Wang Zheng has been here for so long, which is quite beneficial to Liu Chengfeng's understanding of the situation in Lianzhou.
In fact, the prefecture of Lianzhou is almost inferior to that of ordinary county towns. Except that the city wall is a little taller, it is a dilapidated and messy inside. The city wall is said to have been rebuilt two years ago. The reason is very simple. Two years ago, the local barbarians rebelled and the city wall collapsed. When the governor's yamen saw it, he was still a little conscientious and took out some money to let Lianzhou repair the city wall well.
In such a situation, Liu Chengfeng really didn't know whether to cry or laugh, so he said to Wang Zheng: "Since Wang Daru has been here for a long time, I want to ask some things, is Wang Daru willing to answer truthfully?"
Liu Chengfeng is now a marquis of Wanhu, and his fief is in Lianzhou. Although the prefect was appointed by the imperial court, nothing can be avoided by Liu Chengfeng. According to the principle, the prefect heard Liu Chengfeng's words and quickly said politely: "It's okay to ask a big question, but the officials will answer."
Liu Chengfeng nodded and smiled slightly, "It's easy to say, let's do it slowly. The first question is, why did the two county magistrates of Hefu and Wenshan stay in the prefecture city? What? The Lianzhou Prefecture is so idle. Don't the county magistrates need to go to the county seat to work?"
A hint of panic flashed across Wang Zheng's eyes. He was really afraid of anything he was afraid of. It seemed that this Wanhu Hou was not easy to fool. He could see the clue at a glance. He was silent for a moment, and Qiqi Aiai said, "Great, this matter really has nothing to do with our Lianzhou, this... this..."
Liu Chengfeng's face changed. With his experience in the Jinyiwei, how could he not see what the prefect wanted to hide? If he showed a little bit of a negotiation at this time, he would probably be fooled by this old fox. His face changed, and he slapped the table hard, and said furiously: "Wang Zheng, you are so brave. This marquis is the marquis of Wanhu, the imperial court, and Lianzhou is the fief of this marquis. Do you still dare to hide anything from this marquis? Don't think that you are the marquis, and this marquis will not be able to cure you. If you don't be honest, don't blame me for turning against you."
Wang Zheng was already timid, but when he saw Liu Chengfeng getting angry, he was shocked and said quickly: "Honor Marquis calmed down, this... this matter has to start from the Zhengtong period. At that time... At that time, the capital was surrounded by the Tartars. Annan Kingdom took the opportunity to send troops to occupy it..."
The cause and effect of the matter was under Wang Zheng's vivid statement. Liu Chengfeng finally understood that after the Tumu Fort Incident, the capital was shocked, and the entire Ming Dynasty was a mess. Annan Kingdom had long been ambitious, so he took the opportunity to send troops to occupy Hefu, Wenshan and Zhending counties of Lianzhou Prefecture. When the Ming Dynasty recovered, he instead questioned Annan Kingdom. Annan Kingdom was timid and said that he was willing to hand over the land he occupied privately, but in fact he only handed over Zhending County. As for Wenshan and Hefu, they were always in their hands. The Guangxi Governor was furious and immediately wrote a letter to ask the court to come forward. However, the court was in trouble again. The orthodox emperor, who had finally regained the throne, not only did not care about this bullshit matter, but instead issued an order to scold the Guangxi Governor.
Since the emperor had spoken, of course the governor of Guangxi at that time did not dare to say anything, but according to the rules, the Ming Dynasty did not cut off these two counties, so the court has always admitted that these two counties belonged to Lianzhou. As for Annan Kingdom, seeing that the Ming Dynasty had no action, they naturally appointed officials and sent troops to continue occupying the property. The court appointed county magistrates every year. When the county magistrates took office, they were stunned when they saw this. But this matter was already like this. You must disclose this matter vaguely. Therefore, although the emperor changed one after another, everyone gradually did not take it as one thing. Anyway, it was a convention, and there was no need to get into this bad situation.
The matter was put on hold. When the county magistrates arrived in Lianzhou, they simply settled in Lianzhou and stayed there for a few years. At worst, they could just be transferred to another place.
In fact, not only the local governor, but the prefect's office has already agreed to this matter. In fact, in the government halls of the capital, everyone still chose to remain silent. However, Liu Daxia, the Minister of War, wanted to take charge, but after being handed over to the cabinet for discussion, the final result was that if there were a huge strife in the southern border, the court would probably not go to Liaodong. Of course, it would be better to avoid the important things. In addition, these two counties have been managed by Annan Kingdom for so many years, and even if they wanted to come back, it would not be easy.
The final result is still nothing.
Liu Chengfeng narrowed his eyes and listened to Wang Zheng's explanation, but he was angry. Although he could not see anything on his face, his fief was cut off for no reason. No one would be happy.
However, this matter cannot be rushed. How to ask Annan for a long time? He still has to think of a complete plan. He was silent for a moment and decided to put the matter aside. Then he asked Wang Zheng again: "Except these two counties, the entire Lianzhou, how many acres of land is there in total, and how much land tax is there every year?"
This is the most important thing. Without ground, I can’t even block it. When Liu Chengfeng comes here, he feels like a commander-in-law.
Wang Zheng is familiar with this. It seems that he has been in Lianzhou for so many years and is not all a bastard. He hurriedly said: "There are a total of 410,000 mu of land, but... but aside from the military land, there are some that cannot be taxed. I am afraid... I am afraid that it is only 60,000 mu at most."
With 60,000 acres, Liu Chengfeng's eyes were wide open. The fields in Lianzhou Prefecture were pitiful, but Liu Chengfeng could not have imagined that the real fields were only so small. He showed anger on his face and said, "You go and get the sect scrolls, I will take a look in person."
Wang Zheng also knew that the Wanhu Hou would be anxious after hearing the news, so he hurriedly went to get some information and sent it to Liu Chengfeng.
After Liu Chengfeng took it, he looked at it carefully, and couldn't help but sneer. Lianzhou Bijing is a mansion, and there are quite a lot of land, but the real ones can be used are pitiful. There are many interest relationships intertwined here, such as military camps, which occupy 50,000 mu, which is still a small one. What is even more excessive is that there are many scholars, and there are also a lot of land under their name. According to the rules, there are no taxes for scholars. Most of the land under the name of these scholars are only not included in his name. What is even more excessive is that there are 170,000 mu of land in the Jingjiang Palace. Half of the land in the entire Lianzhou Prefecture is in his name. According to the rules, the land of the nobles cannot be levied. This means that although Liu Chengfeng's fiefdom is not small, it is only 60,000 mu that are used to support the Liu family. If all kinds of expenses are left, I know how much will be left.
Liu Chengfeng put down the sect scroll, his face became dull, and he said lightly: "Have there always been so much land in the Jingjiang Palace? How much land was under the name of the palace last year?"
(To be continued)
Chapter completed!