After hearing Zhang Anshi's scolding, the official did not dare to express his anger.
Zhu Di stood aside and said nothing coldly.
At this time, Zhang Anshi said: "When the Taiping Mansion was building the railway, we also had a calculation for the land required. In addition to the roadbed and platform, etc., although there is a lot of demand, the land that can be occupied is only one percent, but it is
Hundreds of thousands of taels of silver have been allocated...so how much land have you purchased?"
"Not much." The civil servant replied: "Only 20% was purchased..."
Two percent...
More than three hundred thousand taels...
This is only 20% used for road construction.
Zhang Anshi was stunned when he heard this, and then asked: "How much does it cost per mu to purchase land?"
"This..." The clerk looked hesitant and glanced at Chen Jinye.
At this time, Chen Jinye mustered up his courage and said: "As few as seven or eight taels, as many as... as many as one thousand taels of silver."
"Hahaha..." Zhu Di laughed angrily for a moment.
He didn't expect that the county would directly carry out a reverse operation.
Over in Taiping Mansion, the land was acquired, a railway was built, and merchants were sold for hundreds of taels of silver per acre.
But here, it took a thousand taels of silver to purchase land and build a railway...
But this is Zhu Di’s money!
Zhu Di was furious and said: "Thousand taels of silver, how much have you embezzled?"
Chen Jinye hurriedly said: "Xiaguan...Xiaguan...I really haven't gained a penny. The railway is a national project. His Majesty personally ordered the construction, and the Minister of Rites personally supervised the construction. The Chief Envoy issued thirty-seven consecutive orders in January."
These official documents are all matters of supervision. Don't say that I am not a corrupt official. Even if you really have this intention, you will never dare to risk the disapproval of the world."
This... makes people have to believe it.
Judging from Chen Jinye's current life, it is indeed quite simple.
The civil servants under Shan Shan's rule actually dared to sacrifice themselves to intercede for him, which shows that this person is quite extraordinary.
Even for this era, people like Chen Jinye are definitely models and role models for officials.
Not to mention, anyone who serves as an official in the imperial court also knows how seriously His Majesty attaches importance to this matter.
Zhu Di is not an ordinary emperor, but a truly ruthless character. With such a person staring at the railway, who dares to take bribes and bend the law?
Is it too long-lived?
I saw Chen Jinye continue to say: "Nanchang received the official document from the Chief Envoy, and Xiaguan immediately prepared the railway construction matters in person. The Jiangxi Railway Department also issued a plan for the railway, and Xiaguan also followed the plan and began to purchase
Land along the railroad.”
Zhu Di was speechless at this time. In fact, he had gradually begun to understand the whole story.
Chen Jinye continued: "Just purchasing land is really cumbersome. In this county alone, more than 200 households are affected by the railway. The subordinates personally summoned them and talked about them with emotion and reason. Occasionally, there were
Some people are willing to sell at a fair price, but...but..."
"So they're asking for a ridiculous price, and you actually accept it?"
Chen Jinye looked at the furious Zhu Di and said, "How can an official take anything by force?"
This sentence almost choked Zhu Di to death.
Zhang Anshi smiled on the sidelines. In fact, he expected that Jiangxi's railways might have problems with technology or corruption among officials.
But what I didn't expect, the only thing I didn't expect was...none of the above was a problem.
Zhang Anshi said casually: "Go and get the account books. Since there is land sales, there must be accounts. Let's take a look at the accounts and you will know."
The clerk did not dare to neglect and hurriedly went to the household to get the book. After a while, the book was placed in front of Zhu Di and Zhang Anshi.
Zhu Di was used to looking at the accounts of Taiping Mansion, but now when he looked at the accounts here, he only felt that they were densely packed, but he couldn't make sense of them.
But Zhu Di still suppressed his anger and looked at it carefully. Finally, he slammed the book to the ground.
Zhang Anshi has been watching from the sidelines, and he probably knows it well.
So he said: "The total land acquired was only more than 700 acres, and it cost more than 300,000 taels of silver. More than 100 households were purchased for only 10 taels and 20 taels of silver. The bulk of them,
It's just on the heads of three or four families. These three or four families alone received more than three hundred thousand taels of silver."
After a pause, Zhang Anshi looked at Chen Jinye coldly and said, "As a county magistrate, you don't know what's going on here?"
Chen Jinye's face was livid, and he said with confidence, "These three or four households are the largest households in this county."
Zhang Anshi said coldly: "Since you know they are big households, why did you buy their land at such a high price?"
Chen Jinye said: "The route of the railway track passes through their land. They have so much land that there is no way to go around it. The officials also repeatedly invited them to come to the county for consultations, but they were unmoved and opened the road."
The price... is extremely high, but the Railway Department is urging us to purchase the land quickly..."
Zhang Anshi said sternly: "Don't forget, you are the county magistrate."
"A lower official is not a county magistrate who destroys families and destroys his family!" Chen Jinye replied with confidence.
This... said it with a sense of moral superiority.
Zhang Anshi was stunned again.
On the other hand, the civil servants on the side saw that their county magistrate seemed to have offended the Shangguan, and immediately said: "Please Shangguan, please be clear, even if my county magistrate really wants to buy it by force, he can't do it. These three or four families are all big families in the county.
, not to mention other things, just talk about the Wang family in this county, his family has
There have been two Jinshi and three Juren. Among them, there are those who have entered the imperial court and worshiped as Shaoqing. There are also many who serve as prefects, county magistrates and other positions elsewhere. Their in-laws are also all over the local area. Even if they want to buy them by force, I am afraid that the county master has just bought them.
Determined, there are people on the other side who want to teach the county magistrate to dismiss from office."
He paused. This official was obviously much more mellow than Chen Jinye, and continued: "Even without these, these are local big families. Once trouble breaks out, they have many people and have been operating in the local area for hundreds of years. My county magistrate
I came here from out of town to serve as an official for only two years. Even if I fan the flames, I will cause trouble in the county. Once trouble occurs, the first person the court will question is County Magistrate Chen."
"Furthermore, these lands are originally owned by them. Even if they ask for a price, it is their business to ask for a price. How can they buy the land at a fair price?
What’s the point of shouting about beating and killing? The county magistrate has already
I have been thinking hard and sleeping poorly every day. Seventy-eight percent of the land required for railway construction has not yet been purchased. At this price, I am afraid that even if I have a million taels of silver, I may not be able to purchase it all. In order to build this railway, Chen
The county magistrate has been unable to eat or sleep for many days."
He said it sincerely.
Zhu Di only thought it was extremely ridiculous.
And Zhang Anshi only had one big word in his heart: "Faith".
Everyone said that I, Zhang Anshi, can make money, but now I know that when it comes to making money, these local snakes are more powerful.
Chen Jinye gritted his teeth at this time and said: "The lower official knows that he is not in a good position to do things, but since the superior is here today, the lower official has something to say, and he has to say that the imperial court's construction of this railway is really harming the country and the people. It is originally for peace.
Nothing happens, but once the railway is repaired, it will not only affect this county, but also Nanchang, Jiangxi and Jiujiang.
The government, as well as the six counties that the railway passes through, which one is not causing trouble and complaints from the people? The two governments have issued public bonds of more than three million taels of silver. These debts... all need to be repaid with interest. It is not known how many years it will take to pay off
, even a hundred years will not be enough to repay the government's taxes."
"Not to mention, in order to build this railway, a large number of corvees were requisitioned. The people were already working hard in farming, but now they had to be forced to do so. People's energy was consumed and countless money and food were wasted. What is the result?"
Zhang Anshi sneered and said: "But why did Taiping Prefecture build a railway, but all industries prospered, and the soldiers and civilians lived and worked in peace and contentment?"
"Xiaoguan doesn't know what happened in Taiping Mansion. He only knows that the railway won't work here."
Zhang Anshi said: "Didn't you think that this is because of your incompetence?"
Chen Jinye's face suddenly turned pale, and he was speechless for a moment. He finally shook his head and lowered his head.
At this time, Zhu Di said coldly: "Check, check thoroughly what these two people said to see if there is any solid evidence."
He didn't say anything more, but just sat down.
Zhu Di just sat silently in the hall, completely uninterested in paying attention to Chen Jinye.
To some extent, he had a bad feeling in his heart.
He even vaguely hoped that it was Chen Jinye's incompetence or his corruption and perversion of the law that led to today's results.
If it is just incompetence, corruption and perversion of the law, then the problem can be easily solved. If the railway cannot be built, the responsibility is that he, the emperor, did not choose capable officials. At worst, he can choose more capable officials and the problem can be solved.
What Zhu Di is afraid of is that Chen Jinye is really a man of integrity. At least... he is definitely not the kind of person who is corrupt and perverts the law, because if he does, then... maybe all his money... will really be thrown into the water.
Not even a little splash of water came out.
Even an honest and upright local official could handle things to this extent.
So, Zhu Di's lost 2.5 million taels of silver, and the 3 million taels of public bonds issued, aren't they...all gone?
Zhu Di took a deep breath and closed his eyes tiredly.
Chen Daowen, who followed, immediately dispersed with the captains.
In just over an hour.
Chen Daowen returned to Zhu Di fearfully.
At this time, Zhu Di still had his eyes closed, and Chen Daowen saluted.
Zhu Di suddenly opened his eyes as if he was aware of it, but he said directly: "How do you say it?"
"Report to Your Majesty..."
When Chen Daowen said these four words.
Chen Jinye, who had been kneeling aside without saying a word, suddenly shuddered. He suddenly raised his head and looked at Zhu Di in disbelief, and then... his body softened.
He originally thought that Zhu Di was Zhu Neng, the Duke of Chengguo, but now...he just felt cold all over his body. Why did your Majesty...appear here?
Chen Jinye was completely depressed. He wanted to open his mouth to say something, but he couldn't say a word.
Chen Daowen lowered his voice and continued: "Most of what the criminal officer Chen Jinye said... is true. I have been asking around in the county, and I have indeed never heard of his bad deeds. Last year, there was a flood in Jiujiang Prefecture, and he led his people to personally guard the river embankment.
Among the counties in Jiujiang, because of this, only this county suffered the least damage. In addition..."
His voice became lower and lower.
Zhu Di's face became increasingly sad as he listened.
Zhu Di actually shivered violently.
Then he closed his eyes again, as if he still felt that what was happening now was difficult for him to accept.
Zhu Di suddenly shouted: "Chen Jinye!"
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..." Chen Jinye prostrated on the ground and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, I am here."
Zhu Di asked: "Are the railways in other counties also built in this way?"
Under this angry gaze, Chen Jinye tried his best to keep his tone steady and said: "Absolutely... that's probably the case."
"What do you mean it's probably like this?" Zhu Di said viciously.
Chen Jinye said: "There is almost no railway construction in each county. A station has been built in Xiaguan. In other counties, there may not even be a station."
Zhu Di stared at him and said: "These three or four families, since you know that they want to lose a lot of money and food, why don't you report them?"
"Played... played."
Zhu Di said: "Who did you play it for?"
"Chief Envoy..."
"How did he respond?"
"The Chief Envoy's response was that the railway is His Majesty's personal decree and it is of great importance, so we must do our best to complete it."
Zhu Di sneered, and then said: "So, in Nanchang Prefecture and Jiujiang Prefecture, more than 5 million taels of railway money have actually fallen into the hands of the gentry in these two places?"
"This..." Chen Jinye wanted to say something, but found that he seemed to have nothing to say, so he kowtowed again: "Yes."
Zhu Di took a deep breath, as if this was the only way to prevent him from feeling too uncomfortable, and then continued to ask Chen Jinye: "If the court allocates money and food again, will you still buy land?"
Chen Jinye said with a livid face: "Yes!"
After a pause, he continued: "If we don't purchase it, there will be no way to repair this railway."
Zhu Di curled his lips and sneered, saying with a bit of ridicule: "Then how many more taels do you think are needed? Is it enough to give you another one million taels?"
As if Chen Jinye couldn't hear the ridicule in these words, he said obediently: "That should be enough."
"Not enough!" Zhang Anshi could no longer bear it and said coldly.
Chen Jinye didn't dare to talk back.
Zhang Anshi said: "Even if they spend a million taels of silver to purchase 80% to 90% of the land, they will only raise the price for the last 20% of the land. Since they know that this last bit of land is related to the number of
Whether the railway worth tens of millions of taels can be built, then even if the price is raised to 10,000 taels per acre, or even 100,000 taels per acre, it will still be a disaster. You dare not do anything to them, so... no matter how much you allocate,
The amount of money is too much to satisfy my desires."
Chen Jinye glanced at Zhang Anshi with a strange look at this time.
However... he seemed to have no reason to refute this.
Zhu Di couldn't help laughing: "Haha, it's interesting... It's really interesting... In this way, before the railway is repaired, you have to issue millions of taels of public bonds first, and then you have to draw from my inner
How much money will be taken out of the money? Ten million taels, twenty million taels?"
He asked back, but Chen Jinye didn't know how to answer.
Zhu Di suddenly took action.
Zhu Di had an angry look on his face, his eyes were red, and there was a lot of murderous intent in his eyes.
Then, Zhu Di's hoarse voice was heard roaring: "This is robbery, they are robbing me!"
Chen Jinye was so frightened that he kowtowed as if pounding garlic.
Zhu Di took another deep breath, then looked at Zhang Anshi: "Speak."
Zhang Anshi was also startled and said: "Your Majesty, I don't know... what to say... what to say..."
Zhu Di glared at him and said angrily: "Someone is robbing me, you don't know what to say?"
Zhang Anshi then stammered: "Chen... Chen... seems to know."
Zhu Di said angrily: "Whoever took my money, my money passed whose hands, all the people involved, each and every one of them, no one can be let go!"
Having said this, he seemed to have thought of something, and then said: "Qiu Song...where is Qiu Song? This guy Qiu Song...isn't he a bad guy? I want to use him now."
Zhang Anshi was stunned for a moment and then said: "I understand."
Zhu Di said with a sullen face: "What do you understand?"
"We must catch them all in one fell swoop." Under Zhu Di's angry eyes, Zhang Anshi straightened his posture and said seriously: "No one will be spared whoever is involved in this matter."
Only then did Zhu Di put away some of his anger and said, "Just understand."
Zhang Anshi said nothing more and was about to go out to explain.
Zhu Di suddenly said: "Come back."
Zhang Anshi stopped hurriedly and looked back at Zhu Di.
But he saw Zhu Di holding his hands behind his back and closing his eyes. He let out a long breath and seemed to be desperately suppressing his anger: "No, why... When the railway was built, everyone in the court agreed, and no one agreed.
objection?"
He paused and then asked: "Why is the Jiangxi Railway progressing so smoothly?"
"And why...after the construction of the railway started, Jiangxi's chief envoy repeatedly reported that the railway was progressing at a rapid pace, and no one in the ministries or departments had any objections?"
He asked questions one after another.
Zhang Anshi thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty means... from the beginning, many people saw the benefits?"
Zhu Di said: "Not only did they see the benefits, they were determined to take this opportunity from the beginning and were ready to make a fortune!"
Zhang Anshi frowned: "But... I dare to ask... them... aren't they afraid..."
"What are you afraid of?" Zhu Di said coldly: "Not to mention other things, in this county alone, have you found any place where you can accuse me?"
Zhang Anshi's expression suddenly changed.
Yes, it can be said that the whole thing is extremely funny, and after the funny thing is over, it will inevitably make people angry.
But if you think about it carefully, it seems that... everything is reasonable and reasonable. The official is a good official. Even in the process of purchasing land, the price is sky-high. But if one wants to buy and the other wants to sell, it is asking for a sky-high price. Once you get the money, you have to pay it back.
There is nothing wrong with that.
If we really want to judge guilt, then who is guilty?
Of course... there is one person...
Zhang Anshi just thought of this person.
Zhu Di said slowly and calmly: "To be honest, if we say he is guilty, then only Liu Guan, the Minister of Rites, is responsible. This person is not able to escape the blame for his failure in doing things."
Zhang Anshi said: "That's what your Majesty said."
Zhu Di actually became calm and relaxed at this time, and even his voice became calmer: "It seems that it is useless to kill a few people. I have lost so much money, and what is the use of only killing a few heads?"
The calmness of these words made Zhang Anshi feel the bloodshed.
…………
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