Mu Lingwei said respectfully: "I also heard that this lord looks down on women, so I wanted to ask the Queen Mother if she can't enter the official office, and if the Queen Mother in the palace goes to court every time, do these officials
They all gossip and insult the current Queen Mother behind her back."
Shangguan Ruizhu's face changed slightly. At this time, she knew that she was being used by Mu Lingwei, but she still wanted to cooperate with her, "Come here, drag this person who dares to despise the Queen Mother out, and punish him with a cane."
The official was so frightened that sweat broke out on his forehead, and he quickly begged for mercy: "I dare not look down on the Queen Mother. I forgive you."
But it was too late, Shangguan Ruizhu was very angry at this time, and she had to fight if she didn't want to.
It wasn't until the officials were slapped that the officials became frightened, and soon the books were brought up.
Mu Lingwei's eyes were cold and she moved very quickly. She quickly read through several thick books before saying: "The entire Linzhou has a population of more than two million, and they only pay a tax of one hundred thousand taels to the court."
Money is calculated as one tael of silver equals one thousand penny. If divided equally per capita, each person does not have much money on his head. Linzhou is close to the imperial city and is relatively wealthy. This account is very reasonable.
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No one could follow Mu Lingwei's thinking. It was very reasonable and meant that there was no problem. It meant that there was no need to check, there was no problem.
Unexpectedly, the next moment, Mu Lingwei asked again: "Master Hong, are all the taxes that Linzhou paid to the court this year registered here?"
How could Hong Dahai let King Anyang grab his pigtails and say: "In addition to cash, there are also grains, cloth, etc., do you want the princess to check the detailed accounts?"
Mu Lingwei was still too young to check his accounts.
So, Hong Dahai said again: "These are all cash, there are others that have not been recorded here."
Hong Dahai just wanted to see other emotions from Mu Lingwei's face. Unexpectedly, she only listened to him without showing any emotion.
As far as she knew, due to different dynasties, the ancient taxes paid were also different. It was impossible to pay all taxes in silver. At least some of them were grain.
Moreover, Linzhou was also Jun Mohan's fiefdom, and not all the taxes collected were handed over to the court. King Anyang was equivalent to a local overlord. If he managed it well, he would also get a commission.
This is the same mechanism as how modern people manage a company. Very few people hold concurrent positions as general manager and CEO.
At this time, Mu Lingwei put down the account book, stood up suddenly, walked towards the child, and asked: "Gouzi, how much tax money did your family pay in total?"
Gouzi was already quite familiar with Mu Lingwei and was not afraid of her. He said boldly: "My family of six has to pay a total of ten taels of silver in taxes, but my family only has three taels of cash in cash. The rest are all
We used grain to pay off the debt. My family paid almost all of the grain for the year and it was still not enough to pay the tax. My father had no choice but to pay off the family's cattle. The cattle are the life of our family. They took the cattle away and our whole family
I couldn't survive, so my father went to borrow money to pay taxes. Unexpectedly, the debts became more and more, and he really couldn't survive, so my father sold me to get money to pay off the debt."
Mu Lingwei felt nervous, a child was not worth a cow.
It is normal for the government to use grain to offset taxes. I am afraid that the government officials who collect taxes also take profits from it and deliberately lower the price of grain, so it is not enough.
After Gouzi finished speaking, other children immediately said, "My family has to pay ten taels of silver."
"My family has eight taels."
Everyone scrambled to speak one after another, and everything was explained in one go.
Mu Lingwei's eyes widened: "There are more than a dozen children in front of me, and there are hundreds of taels of silver paid according to the account. The account still cannot withstand careful inspection. There are always flaws. I did a rough calculation and found that there are at least hundreds of taels of silver."
A loophole worth ten thousand taels of silver."
In the memory of the original owner, she knew that taxes were not actually paid on a per capita basis, but were calculated based on factors such as age and other factors.
She remembered that Zhen'er told her that this country was quite wealthy. Although it was not the strongest, it was on par with other countries and occupied the leading position.
Although she doesn't understand any big principles, the people are prosperous and the country is strong, and the two complement each other.
However, there was no tyranny in the five years since the new emperor ascended the throne. He was regarded as a young man, with the regent in charge and the empress dowager listening behind the curtain. This was very different from Chinese history.
After listening to this, Mu Lingwei took out several thick books and said, "Look here to find out the names of their parents, see how much cash they paid, and then send someone to call their parents and ask them."
Asked how much tax was paid and what taxes were added by the people who collected the tax, it will be clear after a detailed investigation."
She directly ordered: "Guo Yan, send someone to take these account books back to the palace, and then send them back after careful inspection. Is there an accountant in the palace?"
Guo Yan said quickly: "Yes, my subordinates will go and handle it immediately. There is a person who is specifically responsible for the accounts of the palace. I have already notified him to come over. He should be here soon. I will go out to pick him up first."
After Guo Yan finished speaking, he left.
Mu Lingwei was stunned for a moment and thought to herself: "Could it be that Jun Mohan had already prepared and even found the people."
At this time, a young man in his twenties suddenly appeared at the door of the Yamen. He finally squeezed through the crowd and asked, "Why are there so many people? Is anyone giving out money inside? It's so lively."
This person's name is Shang Yang. If Jun Mohan is still in the imperial city, he should be Jun Mohan's deputy general.
When Guo Yan saw him appearing, he quickly came out to greet him and quickly told the whole story.
Shang Yang raised his lips and smiled, and said calmly: "The prince has finally decided to take charge of Linzhou."
Guo Yan was also at a loss for words, and only said: "It all came in by mistake, and it has something to do with the princess."
Shang Yang was stunned for a moment, "The prince's newly married princess is Mu Minghuai's daughter."
Guo Yan nodded again, "You are not in the palace, so you don't know many things. The matter between the princess and the prince is too long..."
Shang Yang was immediately interested because he was the one to check Mu Lingwei's identity, there was nothing special about it.
Entering the lobby, Shang Yang first walked up to Jun Mohan and said, "I'm humble enough to see you, Your Majesty."
Jun Mohan's expression was still calm, and he didn't have too many fluctuations. He pointed to a lot of books on the desk and said directly: "Leave it to you, let me find out, especially how the annual taxes are paid.
, if it is found that someone is bending the law for personal gain, doing evil in the name of my king, reporting it to the court, dismissing him from office or confiscating his family, you should first draw up a list of names as soon as possible. In half a month, I will go to the palace to celebrate the birthday of the Queen Mother, and this will happen to be the time.
Submit the matter."
Shang Yang was also very honest and said respectfully: "My subordinates will investigate and deal with this matter as soon as possible."
Suddenly, everyone in the official office looked at each other in shock. You looked at me and I looked at you. Some people were already sweating on their backs. King Anyang wanted to investigate them and report them to the emperor.
Although Hong Dahai was the highest administrator, Linzhou was a fiefdom of King Anyang. According to convention, King Anyang also had the power to deploy all officials and soldiers in Linzhou.
In other words, this state is under his control. If it is not managed well, it is his responsibility, and if it is managed well, it is his credit.
Therefore, King Anyang had given the order, and Hong Dahai had no choice but to comply. However, it was a hardship for the officials under his command. If we look closely, this account would have to be done again. King Anyang was like catching them off guard.
At this time, the officials had no choice but to go about their business.