When Su He heard the whistle, he stood up and said: "The train has arrived at Tianjin Station, we should get off too."
Su He looked at the bustling Tianjin Station, hoping to find more hidden dangers here in Tianjin.
When he was in the capital, he often went out of the Forbidden City to visit privately incognito.
But the capital is, after all, at the feet of the emperor. The Xuanwu Guards and the Metropolitan Procuratorate are extremely powerful and can effectively supervise the officialdom.
With the emperor Su He on top, the channels for people to complain to officials were smooth, and officials were much more restrained in their work.
More importantly, Beijing officials all have bright futures.
For the sake of their own future, these officials will restrain themselves a lot.
Su He looked at the information reported by Li Yuanzheng and found that the more officials there were who had no hope of promotion, the more unscrupulous they behaved.
The group of them waited until the train stopped and then got off the train.
Su He saw Hebei Governor Yang Zhengfeng and many officials from the Hebei Governor's Yamen coming to the train platform to pick him up.
Yang Zhengfeng, governor of Hebei Province, saw Su He.
Emperor Su He was not wearing a dragon robe, but rather simple clothes.
He was one of the first batch of literati to seek refuge in Su He. He saw Su He's face many times and immediately identified him as Su He.
None of the other officials recognized who among the crowd was the emperor.
Yang Zhengfeng led the officials to bow collectively.
"My minister Yang Zhengfeng led many officials from the Hebei Governor's Yamen to pay homage to Your Majesty."
Su He said with a smile: "Everyone loves me."
After Yang Zhengfeng saluted, he stood up straight and suggested with concern: "Your Majesty, after a long journey, does he need to rest in the palace for a while?"
Su He waved his hand and said: "There is no need. The distance between Beijing and Tianjin is so far, and the journey is not tiring at all."
After Su He finished speaking, he glanced around the train station.
The area around the platform has been put under martial law by soldiers from the Qilin Guards.
Outside the train station square, there are many tourists wandering around.
He saw a row of porters wearing shabby cotton coats squatting in the corner of the train station square.
He told Qin Shanshui, the commander of the Qilin Guards: "Go and call some porters over there. I have questions to ask them."
Su He pointed directly at the group of porters squatting in the corner.
He wanted to understand the living conditions of the people at the bottom of the Great China Dynasty.
These workers who move goods are at the bottom of the city.
Their living conditions can indirectly reflect the situation of the people at the bottom of the imperial court.
Su He can also judge the government's governance of Tianjin from their experiences.
The porters squatting in the corner had shabby clothes, chapped skin, and dirty hair.
They are real lower-class people, not actors hired by the Tianjin government.
Around the train station, there were several people dressed as farmers and workers.
They were wearing brand new linen clothes, their bodies were spotless, their hands were a little dirty, but their hair was clean.
This kind of person looks like an actor who has prepared in advance. He has memorized various answers and is ready to respond to Su He's inquiries.
In order to maintain a certain sense of reality, these officials in Tianjin did not choose to clear the train station.
Through a simple comparison, Su He could tell which one was a real common person.
It is impossible for the lower class people to wash their hair every three to five days in the middle of winter. They do not have the conditions, let alone the awareness.
Officials in the former Ming Dynasty didn't like to take baths either, and they were very dirty.
What is good at the top will be bad at the bottom.
Since Suhe opened his government and established a government office, he has been promoting hygiene education and likes neatly dressed people.
Especially when meeting officials who are smelly and dirty, they show disgust and remind them to take a shower and change clothes.
Only then did the atmosphere in the entire officialdom change, and officials began to love hygiene.
When Yang Zhengfeng, the governor of Hebei Province, saw Emperor Su He, he directly called the porter outside the train station.
Didn't ask anyone who was nearby, they arranged it in advance.
Yang Zhengfeng was a little worried and hoped that nothing unexpected would happen this time.
Since he took office as the governor of Hebei, he has not made any serious mistakes, but the emperor came aggressively this time and was afraid of finding fault with the eggs.
Qin Shanshui quickly brought two porters, one looked to be in his forties or fifties, and the other was a young man in his twenties.
Zhang Shitou took his nephew Wang Xiaoshu and followed a man who looked like a general to a group of senior officials.
He saw many people wearing official uniforms surrounding a man wearing silk.
This person was not wearing official uniform, but the officials around him were very afraid of them.
Su He was wearing ordinary clothes, not a dragon robe.
The dragon robe is a formal dress. It is inconvenient to wear it outside and it is too eye-catching.
He looked at the two porters Qin Shanshui brought over.
They looked very reserved. Seeing so many officials around them, their legs became weak and they knelt on the ground.
Zhang Shitou said fearfully: "Little man Zhang Shitou, this is my nephew Wang Xiaoshu, I have met you all.
The villain is a kind person..."
Su He saw that he was stuttering so much that he said this intermittently.
He smiled and said: "Zhang Shitou, there is no need to kneel down, you have not committed a crime.
I asked you to call you here just to understand your current living conditions."
Zhang Shitou felt relieved when he heard the big man in front of him speak.
He thought before that he was involved in a big eucalyptus.
He heard that the treacherous ministers could not decipher the words of the scholar, and it was difficult to explain them to the superiors.
They would just grab a civilian at random and make him take the blame.
This was what Zhang Shitou was thinking about before he was brought here.
The official wanted him to take the blame, but he had no chance to refuse.
Zhang Shitou was still kneeling on the ground, not daring to stand up.
He heard the urging from the officials around him again, and then he stood up tremblingly.
When nephew Wang Xiaoshu saw his uncle standing up, he stood up immediately and hid behind his uncle.
Zhang Shitou looked at the situation around him, and he always felt that this scene was somewhat familiar.
This scene is very similar to the one described by the storyteller in the tavern, where an imperial envoy came to investigate the place.
Zhang Shitou hunched over his body and replied cautiously: "Excuse me, sir. I will definitely tell you everything I know."
Su He asked in a soft tone: "Zhang Shitou, you work as a porter at the train station, how much do you earn?
Whether you are an independent person or a gang, do you need to pay taxes on the wages you earn?"
When Su He asked this question, an official wanted to speak.
He glared at the nearby officials and signaled them to stop talking.
The questions he asked contained hidden mysteries.
Seeing the porter's hesitation, Su He added: "Tell the truth, I guarantee you'll be fine.
There is no way we can hide this matter, and if we don’t tell it, we will be severely punished.”
When Zhang Shitou heard this, his calves trembled with fright.
He did not dare to look up at the officials around him, so he lowered his head and said: "This gentleman, this little man was originally a tracker by the canal.
After water transportation was changed to sea transportation, the villain lost his livelihood. Fortunately, the court allocated fields and he was able to survive by farming.
But after one or two years of farming, Tianjin Port became prosperous.
The villain first worked as a porter at the port, and then moved to the train station where the salary was higher.
The villain can earn two and a half silver coins every month, which is much more than what he earned from farming before.
The villain belongs to the Big Sword Gang and relies on the gang to get jobs nearby.
The Dadao Gang treated us very well, much better than the previous Cao Gang.
Now that I have this job, my family can afford white flour.
The villain pays taxes on time every month, and there will definitely be no shortage of various taxes from the court."
After listening to the porter's words, Su He already knew what he was saying and asked the young porter again.
“How much money do you have left after you give money and taxes to gang members every month?
Will the tax bureau collect the money when paying taxes?”
When Wang Xiaoshu saw the official's question, he replied nervously: "I can still have one or two silver coins left every month, and I can earn more than ten taels of silver coins a year. Everyone in the village is envious of this job.
I don’t know anyone from the tax bureau. The people who come to collect taxes are all county officials.
We all give the money to the Dadao Gang, and the Dadao Gang pays our taxes."
Su He got the answer he wanted and asked some questions about their living conditions and the situation in the village.
After he finished asking the questions, he asked the two porters to leave.
After Yang Zhengfeng saw the two porters leaving, he immediately knelt down to apologize.
"Your Majesty, a humble minister deserves death for failing to manage Tianjin well."
Su He ignored Yang Zhengfeng and asked him to kneel aside and reflect. He said angrily: "Who is the governor of Tianjin? Stand up for me.
I have repeatedly ordered you to solve gang problems in various places.
There are so many officials in local government offices, and they must manage various affairs.
What are gangs? They use violence to erode the power of the government.
When a gang becomes big in a place, the local government must have neglected its duties or even colluded with the gang.
People are disappointed with the local government, so they choose to succumb to gangs.
Coolies like porters don't earn much money, so the tax bureau doesn't collect taxes from them.
The local government actually teamed up with gangs to exploit them with all kinds of exorbitant taxes."
Su He was extremely angry. The local government was corrupt and he joined gangs to exploit the people.
The people were exploited by them and had to hand over half of their monthly wages.
If this trend is not stopped, the officialdom will decay at a rate beyond imagination.
When Zhao Zhengli, the prefect of Tianjin, heard Su He's reprimand, he immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed.
"I am guilty, I am guilty."
Su He looked at the Tianjin magistrate who was kneeling on the ground and begging for mercy.
He had already anticipated this before he went on tour.
But he didn't expect that as soon as he got off the train, these people gave him a big surprise.
In Tianjin, which is so close to the capital, the officialdom is corrupting so quickly.
Zhao Zhengli was born as an official in the new system, but his performance was similar to that of the old bureaucrats. The official system of the Dahua Dynasty still had too many loopholes.
Gangs wreaked havoc and oppressed the people, and officials exploited the people with exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes.
The Great China Dynasty has only been established for a few years, and these bureaucrats have already returned to their old ways.
Su He looked at Zhang Shengbei, the censor of the Imperial Procuratorate and the capital, who was standing behind him.
"Zhang Shengbei."
Zhang Shengbei immediately stood up and said respectfully: "I am here."
Su He ordered: "Immediately capture Zhao Zhengli, the prefect of Tianjin, and investigate the relevant matters.
The matter is related to him and he will be punished according to the criminal law.
The matter had nothing to do with him, but he neglected his duties and allowed his subordinates to exploit the people. He personally recorded a major demerit and was demoted to a remote area."
Su He directly spoke about Zhao Zhengli's punishment in order to alert other officials.
Zhao Zhengli is the chicken who kills chickens and scares monkeys.
When Su He visited places, he saw corrupt and mediocre officials.
They must be dealt with seriously in order to effectively maintain the atmosphere of the officialdom.
He looked at Hebei Governor Yang Zhengfeng and said calmly: "Governor Yang, please get up. I hope this matter has nothing to do with you."
Yang Zhengfeng's face was a little pale, and he stood up slowly. This matter really had nothing to do with him.
A high-ranking official like him would not participate in such low-level methods as corruption, bribery, and exploiting the people.
However, he was not strict with his subordinates, and this situation occurred under his rule, leaving a bad impression on Emperor Su He.
His road to promotion is many times more difficult than others.
Zhang Shengbei, the censor of Qiandu, took away the Tianjin magistrate Zhao Zhengli and other relevant officials for investigation.
Su He and his party continued to follow the established procedures and traveled to various places in Tianjin.
They took a horse-drawn carriage to Tianjin's industrial zone next to the dock to inspect Tianjin's light industry center.
Yang Wencai, president of the China Federation of Industry and Commerce, looked nervous as he boarded the carriage where Emperor Su He was.
The people accompanying this broad carriage were all high-ranking officials in the officialdom, and he was the only one who was not an official.
Su He looked at Yang Wencai. He was a man who knew how to run a business and was also a very capable businessman.
He looked at Yang Wencai and asked, "President Yang, officials can exploit the people.
They will not let go of factories with more abundant oil and water!
As the president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, President Yang must be aware of the relevant situation."
When Yang Wencai heard Emperor Su He's question, big beads of sweat immediately fell down from his cheeks.
Telling the truth about this question will offend the officialdom, and the Yang family will find it difficult to move forward in many places.
If you hide something, you may not be able to hide it.
He didn't think Emperor Su He had noticed this matter and could still hide it.
When the incident happened, he would be guilty of deceiving the emperor. Even if the emperor showed his favor, it would be a crime of confiscating his family and being exiled.
Yang Wencai changed his mind and thought that he would die as a Taoist friend but not as a poor Taoist.
With the current strength of the Yang family, they are not afraid of some small local officials.
He took two deep breaths and said: "Under His Majesty's grace, we merchants can feel proud and proud.
In the past, among scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, merchants had the lowest status.
Nowadays, merchants are no longer discriminated against and their status is not as good as that of scholars, but they still live a good life.
We merchants can become nobles and even serve as officials in the court.
A big businessman like me has nothing to fear from local officials.
We all have noble status and can talk to major local officials.
The most critical point is that we can protect our own interests through various channels.
Those low-level officials don't dare to exploit our factories.
But for small-scale factories owned by disadvantaged merchants, these people have a very difficult time.
Their network of connections is not strong, and they are severely restricted by local officials.
Local officials generally do not ask for bribes normally, but instead exploit factories by assigning various fees and fines.
I heard that a paper mill in Guangxi only needs to pay a tax of 3,000 taels per month, but the fine it received was as high as 8,000 taels."
Su He frowned and asked, "Is this kind of thing common?"
Yang Wencai saw that the eyes of the officials next to Su He seemed to reveal murderous intent.
As if he was unaware, he continued to answer: "Your Majesty, this situation is very common. The poorer the place, the more common it is."
Su He said with a hint of sarcasm: "The ways officials use to make money are advancing with the times!"
Wei Shiming and others became nervous when they heard Su He speaking in this tone.
Su He cursed angrily, which meant that he was angry, but it was only directed at a certain person.
Once Su He uses an ironic tone, it means that he is very dissatisfied with a certain phenomenon, and the officialdom will undergo a major overhaul. This chapter has been completed!