Author: Use your soul to aim

An official document came from Yan'an Prefecture, which required Zhang Zongxian to pay off the grain arrears accumulated by Jiazhou over the years before the summer tax.

Why was there a debt again? Zhang Zongxian quickly called the judge and asked him how much food Xiazhou owed.

The judge hesitated for a long time and said an astronomical figure of one hundred thousand shi.

"One hundred thousand stones, how come there are so many?"

This number immediately made Zhang Zongxian break his defense:

The judge looked around and hesitated but said nothing.

Angry, Zhang Zongxian picked up the tea bowl and smashed it.

"Tell me why there are so many arrears? If you don't say anything, I will be rude."

The judge immediately knelt down and said with a mournful face:

"Master Zhizhou didn't originally have so much. For some reason last year, Yan'an Prefecture suddenly placed all the 30,000 shi owed by other places on Jiazhou. How could we dare to disobey the order of the prefect? ​​We can only admit it all.

Come down.

Just after the New Year this year, an accumulated debt of 50,000 shi was transferred. Adding to the original 20,000 shi, there was an accumulated debt of 100,000 shi.

Originally, there was no Zhizhou in Jiazhou, so there was nothing wrong with it. Who would have thought that Master Zhizhou would suddenly take office!"

Last year, Yan'an Prefecture suddenly came over. Zhang Zongxian understood. He was shooting himself in the foot!

The debt he spent to cancel last year is now back on him.

No, what happened to the 50,000 shi transferred this year?

Zhang Zongxian called Qian Tongzhi again and asked him to analyze it.

In fact, Qian Tongzhi already knew about this matter, but he just didn't dare to say it. When Zhang Zongxian asked about it, he expressed his thoughts.

"The 30,000 shi that Mr. Zhizhou received last year must be the original debt from Qingjian County. The 50,000 shi that were transferred this year must be due to some villain who made slanderous remarks to Mr. Zhizhou and wanted to stumbling upon Mr. Zhizhou."

When Qian Tongzhi said this, Zhang Zongxian understood. The prefect must have known that Yansui Town had paid him 100,000 shi of grain and wanted to benefit from it.

You, the prefect, are really ignorant. You only know how to make money.

These grains are for disaster relief, so they must not be handed over. If they are handed over, they will only fall into the hands of these corrupt officials. If there is a real disaster, the government will definitely not be able to provide the grains.

Last time, in order to settle the accumulated debt of 30,000 dan, I gave away 5,000 taels. This time, I cannot give 50,000 taels to the accumulated debt of 100,000 shi.

For a time, Zhang Zongxian had the urge to rebel.

Suppressing the anger in his heart, Zhang Zongxian first asked Qian Tongzhi.

"Did someone deliver a message to you?"

Qian Tongzhi did not dare to hesitate and answered quickly;

"Mr. Zhizhou, please rest assured that the official will definitely be of the same mind as Mr. Zhizhou. It is because I heard some news that the prefect was quite dissatisfied with Mr. Zhizhou, thinking that Mr. Zhizhou does not understand the rules."

"Humph, you don't understand the rules? Is he interested in my business?"

"Master Zhizhou is better off spending money to eliminate disasters. After all, he is a superior official."

"What will happen if I don't pay this debt?"

"Although the magistrate is a Shangguan, the person who can deal with the magistrate must be the governor or the governor."

"Then I won't offend him. If there are any similar official documents in the future, it will be up to you to negotiate."

Although the prefect had no choice but to collect taxes, one of his responsibilities was to pay off the outstanding debts.

Then Zhang Zongxian found Master Ma again.

After explaining the matter to Master Ma, Zhang Zongxian asked Master Ma what he could do to deal with the matter.

Lord, don't pay too much attention to this accumulated debt. Even if you file a lawsuit with your superior, it will just be a back-and-forth debate.

"I feel that if I endure it this time, the prefect will definitely have some tricks up his sleeve. I have to let the prefect know what is going on."

"My lord, in the Ming Dynasty, we practice the practice of sitting together at the top and bottom. Official matters are not your business alone, and the prefect cannot escape his involvement. Therefore, if something goes wrong, the top and bottom must cover it up.

Although the prefect is currently making things difficult for his lord, he probably does not know what is happening in the capital and the relationship between his lord and the palace.

Any other officials would definitely be manipulated by this prefect. After all, the evaluation of Shangguan is very important for officials who are dedicated to making progress.

The lord can directly write to the prefect, claiming that the predecessor's treasury is in short supply, and requesting the imperial court to send a patrol to inspect the deficit. Those who are short-sighted must be ordered to make up for it. The lord is newly appointed, and there is no predecessor, so it will all belong to the prefect.

The matter has nothing to do with the Lord.

Moreover, if the lord reveals it on his own initiative, he will be exempted from guilt. Presumably, the prefect will be able to persuade the lord nicely and he will not dare to make things difficult for the lord again.

If the prefect is still ungrateful, then he can ask the father-in-law in the palace to come over. The treasury in that place can withstand inspections these days! Even if the prefect can deal with it, he will still have to peel off his skin.

I guess I won’t dare to provoke my lord again by then.”

"Okay, just follow what Master Ma said, and Master Ma will be my ghostwriter."

At this time, Zhang Zongxian remembered again that the steward of the Prince of Qin's Mansion had been harassing him some time ago. He probably also took a fancy to his property. He then asked Master Ma how to resolve the matter.

"After my lord's arrest, these feudal dynasty courts have been treated like pigs. But after all, they are relatives of the emperor. My lord can ask Eunuch Li, the wine supervisor, to come forward! He is the emperor's domestic slave, so it is still useful to deal with these relatives of the emperor."

.”

It happened that Zhang Zongxian wanted to discuss with him about the mining tax. Zhang Zongxian planned to contract the mining tax and hand over 10,000 taels of internal funds to the emperor every year. The excess collected would be used as a fund for infrastructure construction.

Immediately, he told Master Ma his idea and asked Master Ma to go find Eunuch Li. If the inner court asked him to be responsible for the mining tax, he would be given a benefit of two thousand taels a year.

If someone else takes the responsibility, let him persuade him. Anyway, whether the two thousand taels should be divided between two people or he should take it alone, he must have his own sense of discretion and he will definitely win the tax supervisor's job.

As for them going to collect taxes from the mines themselves, after all, the imperial court had a precedent of being beaten to death when going to the mines to collect taxes. They didn't want to take risks. They didn't have to take risks by contracting to Zhang Zongxian and could get the money safely. They must be willing to do so.

Although there is no longer any need to accumulate debts, the problem of food still exists. Now people from nearby counties and counties who cannot survive come to beg for food.

If it doesn't rain this year, there will be more than just a few refugees.

Even with 120,000 shi of grain per person and one pound of grain per day, it is only enough to feed 300,000 people for a month and a half.

If a famine really breaks out, there will be more than 300,000 people living in the two provinces of Shaanxi and Shanxi.

Nowadays, there is no news about high-yield and drought-resistant crops. Zhang Zongxian has already offered two rewards. If it is not possible, he can only send people to the south to search.

But once it is recovered, time must be set aside for breeding before it can be promoted on a large scale. But it seems that this year is another drought year.

Newcomers, please give me a monthly ticket! Please recommend me! Please add it to your collection! Every recommendation is an affirmation for me! Every collection is an encouragement to me! Thank you all for your support in advance! I wish you all the best, wealth and freedom!
Chapter completed!