Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 274 Zhu Youjian Knows that Tax Administration is Corrupt
Looking at the stern faces of Yingtian Governor Qu Shixu and Yingtianfu Yin Chengde, the fellow magistrate of Yingtian Mansion, Chen Yu, also felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, and hurriedly bowed: "I don't know why the two superiors called the lower officials to come here?"

"Chen Yu, why was the housekeeper in Zhang Shangshu's mansion suddenly detained by you and then released suddenly? What did you go to the household department office today? Why didn't you report to the official or Cheng Fu Yin first if there was anything wrong? The official of his household department yamen is still the official of my Yingtian Mansion!"

Qu Shixu, governor of Yingtian, slammed on the table as he spoke, and with a bang, the teacup fell to the ground, scaring Chen Yu into a shudder.

"Don't get angry, Xiaguan. Xiaguan discovered an extremely important matter. At that time, in a hurry, Xiaguan knew that the two superior officials were patrolling the city, so he thought it would be the best policy to go directly to the yamen of the household department to report, so he Please forgive me for not reporting to the two superiors first."

The co-prefect of Yingtianfu, Chen Yu, murmured and lowered his head.

After listening to Chen Yu's words, Qu Shiqi felt that it was a plausible reason, and he didn't expose that Chen Yu, the co-prefect of Yingtianfu, intended to show his face in front of the chief assistant, so he continued to ask: "If that's the case, why did you go to see him?" To the Ministry of Household Affairs, you'd better explain the matter clearly today, otherwise, if something goes wrong, we won't take care of it for you. You have to know that there are some things that you can't hide if you want to hide them. Once you let His Majesty I know, that would be a river of blood!"

Chen Yu, the co-prefect of Yingtian Mansion, thought to himself that it seems that the governor of Yingtian and the magistrate of Yingtian were not involved in the case of cheating on tax invoices. He has every right to ask himself to be dismissed first, and then he replied:
"Reporting to Futai and Fu Yin, the lower officials just felt that there was something wrong with Zhang Shangshu's family's tax invoices. Zhang Shangshu's family was a tea merchant for generations, and the tax invoices should be more than one thousand silver dollars, so he told the doubts in his heart to the left of the household department. Minister Dangbutang, the Dangbutang asked the subordinate officials not to disclose this matter, so as not to affect the decision-making of the higher authorities, saying that many people are involved, including the family teacher."

"The Left Servant of the Household Department Dang Chongya", Cheng De read a sentence, then glanced at Chen Yu: "Where is the tax receipt of Zhang Shangshu's family."

"Give it to the Dangbutang, he said that he will hand it over to the chief assistant", Ying Tianfu's co-prefect Chen Yu replied, but he was also worried that this matter would really affect his teacher Lu Zhenfei.

"Don't worry, although Ling Shi was the governor of Nanzhili when the tax invoices were determined, he was only responsible for money and food distribution and security at that time. The tax administration was in charge of the governor of Yingtian, as well as Yingtianfu." Seeing that Chen Yu was worried, Qu Shixu said After saying a word, he looked at Ying Tianfu Yin Chengde: "Chengfu Yin, you said this, did the first assistant know about it?"

"Your Majesty thinks that the first assistant should not know about it, and His Majesty has given him full power over the matter of taxation. If there is any mistake in this matter, he will be the first to lose his head. The first assistant will never dare to have the slightest bit on this matter. Careless, according to your majesty, it may be related to the joint manipulation of the people below, no matter what, this matter must be reported to His Majesty immediately, no matter what, these people must not be allowed to ruin His Majesty's plan!"

"I can't be sure if the chief assistant knows or not, but as a subject, you and I should let him know that you are a close minister of the emperor, and you can go directly to the palace to have an audience, and you will go to Beijing overnight to report this matter to His Majesty. This official should The governor of the sky is responsible for this matter. I need to go to the yamen of the Ministry of Households to meet the chief assistant immediately and report the matter to him. If the chief assistant is involved in this matter, I will definitely win over this official. If he does not participate in this matter, You can also keep the chief assistant."

When Yingtian Governor Qu Shixu said this, Cheng De agreed with him, and hurriedly rode to the Forbidden City.

The governor of Yingtian, Qu Shixu, immediately ordered Huang Jiayi, the censor of patrolling the city, to be detained, and at the same time rushed to the household department in person.

As soon as Qu Shiqi arrived at the household department, he learned that the chief assistant had returned to the mansion, and only Dang Chongya, the left servant of the household department, was sitting in the hall.

"Dangbutang, this is the tax money collected today, but the strange thing is that there is a huge gap between the tax money collected by the eastern and western cities." Before Qu Shixi could finish speaking, Dang Chongya pulled his sleeves and asked in a low voice: "Qu Futai, you and I only need to collect taxes, no matter how much he collects, how have we ever collected all the taxes in the past years, what do you think?"

"Qu Shixu didn't know when he already had an extra bill in his sleeve, but he didn't look at the specific figures, he just felt the cold sweat on his back, and hurriedly replied: "I understand, I will leave. "

"It's good to understand, keep the tax receipt and tax bank, I will check it personally, and hand it over to the old man tomorrow morning," Dang Chongya, the left servant of the household department, ordered.

As soon as he came out, Qu Shixu went back to his mansion directly, and after the fourth watch, he quietly left the mansion and went to the mansion of Chief Assistant Fan Jingwen in disguise.

And Dang Chongya's people also came back at this time: "Master, Qu Futai did not enter the palace, nor did he go to Shoufu's mansion, he went home as soon as he left the household department."

"That's good, I can sit back and relax, and when the news passes, I can get more than 30 silver dollars for nothing, and even if there is a problem at that time, it will be a problem with the person who set the tax invoice, and it has nothing to do with me .”

Dang Chongya, the left servant of the household department, smiled slightly, and said: "Change all the tax receipts that have been collected, increase them three times, and then the old man will bring them into the palace tomorrow to show the emperor."

……

Fan Jingwen yawned and received Governor Yingtian Qu Shixu under the service of two maidservants: "Qi Tian, ​​is there anything you can't talk about tomorrow, you have to knock on the door so late."

"Old Ge, I'm not afraid of offending you. If you are a moment late, you will lose your head." After saying that, Qu Shixu, the governor of Yingtian, reported today's events to Fan Jingwen.

Fan Jingwen, who was still sleepy at first, sat up suddenly and pointed at Yingtian Governor Qu Shixu: "You, what you said is true?"

"I don't dare to lie to you, but the tax invoices have been handed over to the party department hall. Mr. Ge, you have to go to the household department quickly and intercept them, otherwise it will be too late, and I'm afraid it will be too late!" Qu Shixu replied.

Fan Jingwen also knew that this matter had a lot to do with it. If it was just groundless, Qu Shisi would not come to him in the middle of the night, so he immediately ordered loudly: "Change clothes, prepare horses, and go to the household department!"

……

Qianqing Palace.

Ying Tianfu Yin Chengde prostrated himself on the ground, not daring to look at Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian's face as cold as frost.

Zhu Youjian didn't say anything, he didn't know whether what Chengde said was true or not, but at this moment he really began to realize that the officials below could use this to cheat.

Tax invoices are drawn up by people. Once someone really falsifies them, it will be very easy, and the most terrifying thing is that it will cause powerful and wealthy businessmen to pay less or no tax, while small traders will bear huge taxes instead. This will lead to the opposite effect of one's own taxation reform, which will destroy the commodity economy of the entire Ming Dynasty.

"Why didn't I think of this, all reforms are carried out by people, but as long as people have selfishness, it will make the reform sour," Zhu Youjian said to himself.

(End of this chapter)