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Text Chapter 676 Sophistry

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    Hearing Zhenwu's words, Su Zhan felt panicked. Ma Qi, Wang Juan and Zhao Shenqiao would arrive soon?  It seems that Kui Xu guessed well, Zhenwu would not stay in Shanxi for a long time, but he was only half right. He did not guess that Zhenwu would make a big move in Shanxi, and even sent out two ministers of the study and the disgusting ones at the same time.  'Guan Tu' Zhao Shenqiao came to investigate the case.

    What will happen if this case falls into the hands of Zhao Shenqiao?  He was afraid that even Chen Guzi's rotten sesame seeds would be revealed. Thinking of this, his face couldn't help but turn extremely pale. After all, he was also an important member of the province. He immediately calmed down and quickly realized that there was something wrong with Zhenwu's words.

    What does it mean to investigate Shanxi¡¯s deficit?  Did he have no intention of pursuing it?  Or are you trying to protect yourself?  Since he was well prepared, it was impossible for him to pursue the investigation unintentionally, that is, he was deliberately trying to protect him. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Zhenwu had just vigorously promoted the marriage between Manchu and Han to eliminate the conflict between the Manchu and Han. If this was a high-profile pursuit,  Shanxi's deficit will inevitably lead to the dismissal of a large number of Manchu and Mongolian officials. This move will cause panic among the ministers and will once again set off the Manchu-Han conflict.

    Thinking of this, Su Zhan breathed a sigh of relief. Since Zhenwu intended to protect him, the matter had not reached the worst point yet, so he should be let go. If he carried it hard, it would only anger Zhenwu. When the deficit was found out,  There is also a charge of bullying the emperor and neglecting his superiors.

    Seeing Su Zhan lying on the ground, silent for a long time, Zhenwu was not in a hurry. He was a veteran in trying cases and knew that he had to give the other party time to weigh the pros and cons. The reason why he spoke vaguely was to give the other party a glimmer of hope.  It is a principle that teachers must be equal.

    After being silent for a while, Su Zhan kowtowed and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, this slave deserves to die. Shanxi's feudal treasury and the warehouses of various prefectures and counties were actually in deficit to varying degrees before the disaster. The reasons are quite complex and promising.  There are cases where official duties are delayed and things are urgent, there are cases of invasion and robbery under the pretense of public benefit, there are cases where the military is used for public purposes. There are overdrafts where borrowing is necessary as a last resort, there are cases where borrowing money is used to expend money at a risk, and there are all kinds of situations.

    This time, there is abundant money and food for the disaster relief, and officials at all levels rarely make any deductions. The money and food that fall into the hands of the victims is very generous. The slaves are really worried that the victims will die because of the disaster, so they want to use the money and food from the river control project to make up for all the shortfalls. Taiyuan  The city suffered from floods many times.  If it can be completely cured, it will not lose a major event that benefits the country and the people. Therefore, Kuei Xu proposed this plan, and the slaves and others strongly agreed.

    The slaves and others did not embezzle a single bit of this disaster relief. Now the money and grain from the vassal treasury and the warehouses of surrounding prefectures and counties have indeed been used for the river control project. For this purpose, they not only raised donations from local gentry and merchants, but also levied corvee labor and borrowed money.  Got a lot of money.  Nowadays, the money and food in the vassal treasury and the warehouses of surrounding prefectures and counties are all the wages and rations of migrant workers working on river control.  "

    Hearing this, Su Zhan used the bamboo tube to pour beans and all the moves were made, but Zhenwu didn't look relaxed at all on his face.  The deficit in Shanxi is by no means an isolated phenomenon. The prosperous land in the south of the Yangtze River has been in deficit year after year, let alone other provinces?  This shortfall is not only a confused account, but also an old confused account. It will be time-consuming and laborious to pursue it.  It can also easily lead to instability in the DPRK. Ministers of the DPRK and Central Government, who has ever held a local position and not suffered a loss in office?

    But if you don¡¯t pursue it.  The deficit will inevitably get worse and worse, and eventually become a situation that is difficult to recover from. This not only encourages officials to become corrupt and bribery, but also harms the people. In the end, it is the people who pay for the deficit. This is the situation in Shanxi right now. Relief money and food are used to make up for the deficit.

    How should this matter be handled?  Zhenwu was unsure for a while. He had never expected that this matter would arise due to Shanxi's deficit. It was obviously not possible to leave it alone. It would aggravate the deficit in various places, and severe punishment would not work. The reason why Shanxi officials  Taking risks to make up for the shortfall is to worry about the court's investigation.

    Once Shanxi officials are severely punished, officials from all provinces will do their best to make up for the shortfall. It is impossible to expect those dirty officials to pay from their own pockets. They will only do everything possible to squeeze the people. This is not only detrimental to the stability of the government, but also aggravates public dissatisfaction.

    This matter is really confusing!  Zhenwu couldn't help but frowned slightly. The best way was to delay and delay. To clear the shortfall, we must find a safe way. We must not let officials harm the people or disturb the government.

    After thinking for a moment, he glanced at Su Zhan, who was still lying on the ground, and said, "Wait outside the door."

    Su Zhan couldn't help but be surprised when he heard that he was waiting outside the door. Could it be that he just revealed it so lightly?  He glanced at the hat that Kuixu had left on the ground and quickly gave up the chance. He kowtowed and bowed out. He did not dare to stand upright outside the door, but knelt down at the foot of the steps.

    Glancing at the two official hats on the ground, Zhenwu then ordered: "Xuan Sukeji has an audience."

    "The emperor has a decree to summon Su Keji to see him." A third-class guard wearing a yellow mantle hurriedly stepped out of the gate of the Fan family courtyard, glanced at the officials, and then shouted loudly.

    Hearing this voice, the restless Su Keji hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down and said: "I obey the order." He got up and saidHe quickly followed the guard into the gate.

    A group of officials, big and small, were all staring at the door of the Fan family in fear. One after another, the officials went in and then disappeared. This situation was very bad. Looking at Zhenwu's appearance when he entered the city today, I am afraid there will be something wrong.  They couldn't help but worry because of the thunderous anger, and they used the river control project to make up for the shortfall. They all had a share, and they didn't know how Zhenwu would punish him?

    As soon as he entered the courtyard where Zhenwu lived, Su Keji saw Su Zhan kneeling naked in front of the steps. His heart sank. Could it be that Su Zhan had been dismissed?  But why didn't I see Kuei Xu?  Are you still in the room?  He entered the room nervously. Although he lowered his head, he still caught sight of the two official hats on the ground. His heart suddenly became cold. Kuixu and Su Zhan had already told the whole story. He kowtowed hurriedly and said  : "Slave Su Keji respectfully wishes His Majesty's blessing."

    Before he could get up, Zhenwu said directly: "You are an honest leader among the officials, and you treat the people well. Su Keji, do you deserve the praise of the Supreme Emperor?"

    This is the plaque given to Su Keji by Kangxi when he visited Taiyuan. After hearing this, Su Keji hurriedly took off his hat and kowtowed repeatedly: "I owe you the divine grace. I am ashamed of the Supreme Emperor. I am ashamed of myself."  To the emperor, I sincerely request him to be severely punished in order to maintain the discipline of the court."

    Zhenwu asked coldly: "How much money did you lose during your tenure?"

    Hearing this, Su Keji was shocked. He had lost a lot in his hands. If he had to tell the truth, it would definitely not end well. He suddenly thought that he had borrowed so much money, and immediately replied confidently: ""  Back to the emperor, the servant has been in office for four years, and he only collects the money he deserves. He does not dare to embezzle any public funds. Due to urgent official duties or military secondments, not even a cent of the money goes into the servant's private pocket.  "

    Hearing what he said so calmly, Zhenwu couldn't help but nodded slightly and said: "Call Su Zhan to come in."

    When Su Zhan came in and knelt down, Zhenwu said: "The previous governor of Shanxi, Garli, was a model governor who cleared up the deficit. When he was transferred to the governor of Liangjiang, he reported that Shanxi had no deficit. How come it has only been six years?  Do all counties have deficits to varying degrees?"

    Hearing this, Ersu was stunned. Both of them said they were not corrupt. How can this account be settled?  Damn Garli, Su Keji couldn't help but feel a heartache. What he just said was righteous and awe-inspiring. Now it's better. The hundreds of thousands of taels of silver that were embezzled with great difficulty have to be returned to the feudal treasury intact.

    After pondering for a moment, Su Zhan bowed and said: "Back to the emperor, the vassal treasury and local warehouses are running short of money and food. In fact, it happens every year and is unavoidable. I have been here in Shanxi for five years and I secretly thought that there would be no shortage of money in Shanxi."  , If you want to keep Shanxi from losing money, you have to break the bones and suck out the marrow and squeeze the people."

    Zhenwu couldn't help but be stunned when he heard that there was such a statement. He stared at the two of them for a moment before he said slowly: "Without courtesy, get up and reply."

    The two of them were overjoyed when they heard this, and quickly thanked each other and got up. Su Zhan had been kneeling for a long time, and his legs and feet were already numb. He did not dare to move because he was worried that he would lose his dignity before the emperor. After a slight hesitation, he continued: "Your Majesty,  The shortage of money and food is actually caused by three situations: official invasion, official corruption, and people's debt.

    Shanxi is no better than other provinces. After the former model governor Garli wiped out all the deficits, few officials in the province dared to engage in wanton corruption. Shanxi's deficits mainly came from people's debts.

    The grain stored in local warehouses at all levels is not only used to prepare for shortages. All warehouses and grains are sold at the beginning of spring and summer and returned in autumn and winter.  There are three types of rice dumplings: those who make rice dumplings after a bad harvest to provide food for the people, those who do not keep up with the harvest and reduce rice dumplings to level the market price, and those who cannot store grain for a long time to make rice dumplings easy to make new ones.

    Shanxi's land is narrow and densely populated, and spring droughts occur frequently. Lending grain to the people and poor harvests to help the people are the main reasons for the loss of barns. It is also very difficult to replace the old with the new. When there is no harvest, the barns will be scattered.  Go, if the autumn harvest fails, you can't return the warehouse.  If this happens again for another year, the warehouses and grains will be in short supply.

    Of course, official invasion and corruption are also inevitable. Due to the poor supervision of local warehouses, the grain stored in the warehouses is always in a constant cycle of selling out food and buying it, and bringing out the old and replacing the new.  Official corruption is possible.

    Droughts and floods occur frequently in Shanxi, and it is rare to have a good year. It is a delusion to try to eliminate deficits. Since Emperor Shizu Zhang, there has been no deficit in Shanxi. The only example is the appointment of Ga Li, the model governor who cleared up the deficit.  "

    This is indeed true. Storage deficits are inevitable. It is easy to say that the land of plenty in the south of the Yangtze River is easy to say, but in the northern provinces, there are droughts nine out of ten years. How can we not lose money?  Zhenwu's expression softened slightly. It seemed that the deficit was not entirely due to official corruption. The deficit must be handled with extreme caution.

    This deficit is really an extremely difficult matter. Not only is it difficult to clean up the deficit, but how to put an end to it is also a long-standing problem. This is not just a problem of the regulatory system. In addition to the function of warehousing grain to prepare for war and shortages, it also has the function of stabilizing  The combined effects of food prices, relief, and borrowing make management more difficult than usual.??

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