Li Mo left the cabinet in frustration.

He didn’t expect that Yan Song and Xu Jie were so timid and didn’t dare to directly dissuade the emperor.

Of course, he himself didn’t dare.

Therefore, Li Mo’s only hope now is that people like Hai Rui and the prince can become corrupt and degenerate on their own.

Although Zhu Houcong had ordered all places to conduct a population census and provide subsidies and rewards to single-parent families and families with many children, the bureaucrats were indeed lazy in handling government affairs or had little enthusiasm for implementation.

For example, in Chun’an County.

Tian Youlu, the acting county magistrate, simply followed the instructions and had people post such notices on various city gates and Shenming Pavilions. He did not send runners to notify every household or send people to beat gongs in the market to make announcements. He just went home and enjoyed himself.

When the common people who knew about this came to the county government office to inquire about it, some clerks from the Sixth Office and the Chengfa Office who wanted to make money from it came to ask County Magistrate Tian.

County Magistrate Tian chose not to meet him directly.

Like many party officials, he was not very enthusiastic about making money and just wanted to live a leisurely and comfortable life.

It was not until the prefectural government sent a new document saying that the new inspector, Hai Rui, would come to the county to investigate the matter that County Magistrate Tian returned to the county government and called all the county officials to say:

“I originally wanted to wait until the new county magistrate was appointed before doing this lucrative business, but now because the inspector Hai is coming to inspect, we have to do the population census in advance. Now everyone is talking about how many more people should be added, how much money should be asked from the people, and how to divide it among everyone.”

“Replying to the Second Master, I have already inquired. The number of new people in Jiande County next door is 5,600, of which 167 are widows raising children, 306 are widows raising children, and 596 are women who have given birth to more than five children.”

“In my humble opinion, this county should have more than Jiande County, but not too much more.”

At this time, Wei Yong, a clerk from the Household Department, spoke up.

Tian County Magistrate nodded: “Very true.”

Wei Yong continued, “According to the Ministry of Revenue’s decree, the single-parent subsidy and the food allowance for women in families with multiple children are both ten yuan. In my humble opinion, we can charge five yuan for the foot fee.”

“Three yuan!”

“As long as the people in such families are willing to cooperate, we should not oppress them too harshly! We still need a clean government and harmonious people.”

“Then you can say that the county government paid the two yuan for their foot fare.”

County Magistrate Tian made his own decision at this time.

Wei Yong had no choice but to bow and agree.

Soon after, people from the county government went to the countryside and began collecting money from single-parent families and families with many children.

Yongping Town.

Li Yongjing, a minor clerk in the household department, brought a group of people to the widow Min Cheng’s house and explained to her that they would charge her three yuan for her living expenses. Fortunately, the people in the county government took the subsidy given to her family by the court back to the county government and delivered it to her.

When Min Cheng heard that she had to pay three yuan for transportation fees, she felt very overwhelmed.

Because their family, which had always relied on the eldest son to farm and weave cloth to maintain a self-sufficient life, could not come up with more than one yuan in cash.

“Where do we get so much money? All the silver dollars we earned from selling grain have been used to pay taxes.”

Min Cheng, who was kneeling on the ground, said this to Li Yongjing, and then raised her head and asked Li Yongjing: “Master, do you think we don’t want this subsidy?”

“Why, you dare to refuse the emperor’s grace?”

Li Yongjing’s face darkened as he asked about Min Chengshi, and then he said:

“Don’t blame me for not reminding your family. If you dare to disobey the order and show disloyalty, then not only will you be asked to pay three yuan, but your property will be confiscated and your whole family will be sent to prison!”

“what!”

Min Cheng cried out in surprise: “What should I do?”

“Well, even the emperor is so kind that he wants to give extra subsidies to families like yours. How can a fellow countryman like me be so unkind and fail to live up to the emperor’s grace?”

“How about this, you can borrow some money from my third brother. He lends money at interest. It won’t be too late for you to pay it back after the autumn harvest. The subsidy will probably come by then anyway. Even if you use the subsidy to exchange for this money, you can still have some left. Then you can rely on the emperor’s grace to live a better life.”

Li Yongjing pointed at his younger brother Li Yongxian.

Li Yongxian took out a brush, ink, paper and inkstone from his sleeve and looked at Min Chengshi: “Min Chengshi, would you like to borrow it?”

Min Cheng was a little hesitant.

“Why hesitate? The interest rate is not high now. Do you really have to ask the county to issue an order to search your house?”

“Before the emergence of Xingming Bank, the interest rate was basically 90% out and 13% back. How could there be such a low interest rate? You are so old now, you should know how high the interest rate was in the past!”

Seeing this, Li Yongjing impatiently put his hands on his hips and scolded Min Cheng.

Min Chengshi had no choice but to nod: “I’ll borrow it!”

“That’s right. I don’t have much time to waste here with you.”

“You should be grateful.”

“It is because of the benevolence of the current emperor that he allowed many nobles to lend money from the imperial treasury to the people at low interest rates, so that you can borrow money at such a low interest rate. Even if the interest rate has increased a bit now, it is not as high as before. More importantly, it is indeed a good thing for you.”

Li Yongjing left Min Cheng’s house after Min Cheng put her handprint on it.

But then Min Cheng came up to ask Li Yongjing: “Excuse me, sir, when will the subsidy from the emperor be paid to my family?”

“Wait for the notification.”

Li Yongjing said this and left.

But who would have thought that after the autumn harvest, when the county government officials went to the countryside to collect the autumn crops, Min Cheng asked about the subsidy again. The people from the county government said they didn’t know and asked Min Cheng to continue waiting.

Min Cheng probably guessed that she had borrowed the money for nothing, so she grumbled, “Why is the emperor so generous? Not only did he not subsidize families like us, but he also made us owe a loan! We will have to starve this year and save the autumn harvest to repay the loan!”

Min Chengshi’s case is certainly not the only one.

Because the bureaucracy itself does not produce any value, nor is it keen on providing any service value; it is only keen on demanding value.

Therefore, as long as Zhu Houcong still needed bureaucrats to implement his policies, such drawbacks could not be avoided.

Good governance will then become a pretext for further extortion of the people.

Especially in this era when information flow is underdeveloped and people’s wisdom is not yet fully developed.

At present, Zhu Houcong can only rely on the personal conscience and awareness of the bureaucrats, as well as the mutual supervision among bureaucrats to prevent this malpractice from occurring.

Fortunately, although Zhu Houcong could not guarantee that all of his officials were honest and loved the people, he could still ensure that these people at the provincial and municipal levels would not be too bad.

The new inspector Hai Rui came to Chun’an after the autumn harvest and had already visited Chun’an in disguise.

Afterwards, Hai Rui officially came to Chun’an County Government, set up an inspection office, and met with County Magistrate Tian and other county officials.

“Mr. Tian, ​​have you completed the population census? Have the subsidies and food been distributed?”

After arriving at Chun’an County Government Office, Hai Rui asked about County Magistrate Tian in a deep voice.

When County Magistrate Tian saw Hai Rui’s unfriendly expression, he turned pale and replied cautiously, “Your Excellency, the census has been completed, and the subsidies and food allowances have been distributed.”

“is it?”

Hai Rui asked in a cold voice.

Tian County Magistrate hurriedly said: “I dare not hide it from you, Your Majesty!”

“Bring me the Yellow Book.”

“Yes!”

After a while, Hai Rui found several Lijia he had been to and looked at them carefully for a while. Then, Hai Rui threw the yellow book on the ground and asked Tian County Magistrate: “What kind of census is this?!”

County Magistrate Tian Youlu and other county officials were so frightened that they knelt down.

“I’ve been to Shuimoli and Zhulin before, and there should only be two or three hundred people there. How come you’ve registered five or six hundred people here?”

After asking this, Hai Rui looked at Tian Youlu with eyes as cold as a knife.

Tian Youlu kowtowed with sweat on his forehead and said, “Your Excellency, I did ask someone to conduct a census, and there is a signed document kept by the Chengfa Office as proof. These extra people may have been added arbitrarily by the people sent out!”

“You just let them add as they please?”

Hai Rui asked about Tian Youlu.

Tian Youlu hurriedly said, “I was going to review it, but since you are here, I have to greet you first.”

“I will not ask about this matter for now. I will ask you another question. You said that you had distributed the subsidies and food, but why did I find that none of them had been distributed after I sent someone to inquire?”

“Where did you send all the money?”

Hai Rui asked about Tian Youlu in a cold voice.

Tian Youlu kowtowed and said, “Your Excellency, I did ask the Household Affairs Office to distribute the subsidies and food stipends. I did not dare to withhold public funds. I only collected three yuan from each household. The county government’s income is really limited. In addition, when I went to the higher authorities to collect the money, I also had to pay for accommodation while waiting for the silver dollars to be allocated from above, as well as for the expenses of taking a boat and hiring escorts to return to the county after receiving the money. Therefore, I withheld three yuan. I have the issuance document from the Receiving and Distributing Office as proof!”

“The annual subsidy of 10 yuan per household and the food allowance have not yet arrived, and you are already collecting 3 yuan for your own use. That’s really good!”

Hai Rui sneered.

Tian Youlu replied: “Your Excellency, there is nothing we can do about it. Even if I want the county to cover the expenses, I can’t do it!”

“Okay, I will believe you for now. I also believe that you have distributed it, but why didn’t the people receive it?”

Hai Rui continued to ask about Tian Youlu.

Tian Youlu looked at Wei Yong in the household department and said, “What the hell is going on? Why don’t you explain it to Xianzun?”

Wei Yong was shaking like a sieve at this time: “I don’t know, but I did distribute all these silver dollars.”

“If you don’t know, then you should be punished with 100 strokes of the cane for dereliction of duty, causing a large amount of public funds allocated by the court to be lost, betraying the emperor’s grace and being disloyal!”

Hai Rui said in a deep voice.

Wei Yong raised his head suddenly, looked at Hai Rui with a look of astonishment, and then kowtowed and begged for mercy: “Please spare my life, Your Excellency! I am willing to use all my family savings to make up for it!”

“Even if you don’t tell me, we will raid your house to make up the public funds.”

Hai Rui said this, then waved his hand and had Wei Yong dragged away and beaten with a stick.

And after a hundred blows, Wei Yong naturally lost his life.

The county officials were even more frightened by this.

“There was a man named Li Yongxian who went to the countryside to collect loans and beat up the people. He was caught red-handed by this judge.”

“After interrogating him, I found out that he had taken out a loan by taking advantage of the money you collected from him.”

“And because your county government has not distributed the money to the people it should have been distributed to, he has no choice but to collect interest from them.”

Hai Rui started talking again at this time.

Li Yongjing, the clerk kneeling below, was trembling with fear.

“Tian County Magistrate, who told your county government to allow profiteers to force the people to borrow money to pay for the leg-breaking fees?

Hai Rui then asked about Tian Youlu again.

Tian Youlu, with a flushed face, kowtowed again and said, “Your Excellency, I did not ask them to bring profiteers to force the people to borrow money to pay the fees. I only asked them to collect the fees, and after receiving the subsidies and stipends, I promptly sent them to the household office to distribute them.”

“It seems that some officials in your county government are taking advantage of the opportunity to make a profit.”

Snapped!
As Hai Rui spoke, he slammed the gavel and shouted, “Catch the clerk Li Yongjing from the yamen and execute him and his brother Li Yongxian in the market! Including his entire family! Without the official document from the county magistrate, how dare you issue an order on your own? Where do you put the imperial constitution? You should be charged with deceiving the emperor and treason!”

Li Yongjing then took the initiative to crawl to the front and said, “Your Excellency, I asked my younger brother to lend money when I went to the countryside to collect money. This has been a common practice over the years, and I am not the only one who did this. I cannot bear the crime of deceiving the emperor and treason!”

“Don’t tell Benxian these things!”

Hai Rui pointed at Li Yongjing angrily and scolded him.

then.

Hai Rui continued, “Since I have discovered that your family has illegally borrowed the emperor’s order to lend money at high interest, without asking for permission or reporting it, and even arbitrarily punished the people, I can only conclude that your family is deceiving the emperor and plotting treason! There are witnesses and evidence, and you cannot deny it just because you want to.”

“As the saying goes, it is easy to abuse the people, but hard to deceive God!”

“Since you dare to do this, you should know that sooner or later you will be held accountable in this way.”

Li Yongjing looked at Tian Youlu anxiously, “Second Master, please help me say something. I really have no intention of rebelling. You should know that I am wronged!”

Tian Youlu also scolded Li Yongjing at this time: “Shut up! What do you mean I know you are wronged? How can I know! How could the Xianzun wrongly accuse you, a minor official? It is obvious that you disregarded the king’s order and dared to lend money without authorization while collecting the foot fee. Did the county allow you to do this?! As the Xianzun said, if the people cannot pay the foot fee, you can ask for instructions first. After all, such people are poor and cannot afford it. If they want to borrow money, the county government should lend it by itself. Who asked you to lend money by yourself!”

“Second Master! How could you do this!”

“You will also take a cut of the money we put in! You have even taken 200 yuan from us first. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have the chance to go to the countryside to collect the money!”

Li Yongjing told the truth in a hurry.

“Do you have evidence?”

“Just talking nonsense here!”

In a hurry.

Tian Youlu loudly questioned Li Yongjing for a few sentences, and then kowtowed to Hai Rui: “Your Majesty, he is slandering me! He is defaming me!”

“I have always upheld the teachings of the saints that scholars should love the people, so how could I take this opportunity to extort money from these poor people?”

“Please let your majesty have a clear understanding!”

Hai Rui just looked at Li Yongjing coldly: “Can you produce evidence?”

Li Yongjing was speechless for a moment.

“You have to understand that framing an official of the imperial court is a serious crime! After all, County Magistrate Tian is still an official of the imperial court.”

“no!”

Li Yongjing gritted his teeth, tears rolling down his frustrated face.

“Come here, take all the members of the Li family to prison.”

After Hai Rui finished speaking, he looked at Tian Youlu and said, “County Magistrate Tian, ​​although I cannot get any evidence that you took advantage of the situation to extort the people, I can still report you for your mediocrity and incompetence, your careless behavior, and your misconduct, which has caused the great government to go astray and the common people to suffer as a result!”

“I am truly incompetent, but I have been deceived by a petty official and I dare not disobey!”

……

……

Not long after, Zhu Houcong received a memorial from Hai Rui impeaching Tian Xiancheng and other local bureaucrats under him for carrying out imperial orders incorrectly or being lazy.

“All the impeached officials will be beheaded!”

Zhu Houcong gave direct instructions to Yan Song and Xu Jie about this.

But Yan Song then clasped his hands and said, “Your Majesty, no!” (End of this chapter)