Chapter 276: Passing on the Pressure
It is such a fair and beautiful thing that a county's taxes are used for the county.
But good things are meant to be broken. Their papers were sent to Chen County in a dangling manner. Governor He opened them and scanned them at a glance, and found that they were still complaining. The two counties even handed over the summer tax tasks to them.
Not even a third of it was completed.
He Jishi frowned and asked: "Forget it about Xiping. They just experienced the destruction of the city last year and many people were killed. So it is understandable that the tax revenue cannot be raised in the summer. What happened to Shangcai?"
Immediately, an aide said: "I heard that the magistrate of Shangcai County is mediocre. Last year, Shangcai suffered from a cold disaster. During that time, he sent official letters to request funding at regular intervals. Why not replace such an incompetent person?"
He Jishi frowned and started thinking, but after a long time he still shook his head and said, "It's not right. It's better to be still than to move at this time. If I send an official document to urge them, they must collect enough summer taxes."
The King of Donghai is forcing him to send troops to Gou Xi, and Gou Xi is also forcing him to take sides. Although he has not chosen who to help, he must make preparations in advance to avoid running out of food and supplies.
Governor He was under tremendous pressure and could only spread this pressure to the counties, which in turn shared the pressure with the counties.
Runan County is the most chaotic, because after He was promoted to governor, the governor of Runan County has been vacant, and his deputy has temporarily taken over the post of governor.
There has been chaos in the court, and there have been several rumors about Governor He, but no one has remembered to send a governor to Runan County.
This was one of the reasons why Governor He had always favored Gou Xi and wanted the imperial court to move the capital.
If the capital was placed in Yuzhou, who could ignore his plan so much?
There is no prefect in Runan County, and the governor is currently in charge. Why did the governor take away all the captains of Runan County when he left, and also took away a large amount of money and food, so now Runan County has no soldiers and no food.
It was also because of this that Zhao Hanzhang, who was not very far from Gaoyang, became very popular in Xiping, and even took advantage of the situation to take over Shangcai next door, without the county magistrate saying a word.
As the county magistrate currently in charge of the government affairs of Runan County, does he really know nothing?
It's just pretending to be deaf and dumb.
He knew that even if this matter was reported to the police, with the power of the Zhao family in Yuzhou, the governor would not be able to do anything to them. They would even discuss it in private, and if the two brothers got better, he might be the only one who would be angered in the end.
That's why the county magistrate didn't say anything. The world has become such a mess. Even Wang Yan said that these things in the secular world hinder spiritual practice, so why should he care too much?
Just let nature take its course.
Therefore, after receiving the official documents from Governor He, he went with the flow and had people send them to the counties so that they could find ways to collect enough taxes. Otherwise, not only the governor's office but also the county governor's office would be held accountable.
Zhao Hanzhang, who was not among those who could be ennobled by the imperial court at all, saw it and threw it aside. He continued to train soldiers, study and go to the countryside to encourage farmers and farmers. He didn't take it to heart.
She may not care about the official documents from the county magistrate's office, but she cannot care about other counties. Even Magistrate Chai couldn't help but become anxious.
But with the pressure of Zhao Hanzhang and Ji Yuan, he finally endured the tax increase and misappropriated the money and grain left in the warehouse. He could only hold his head every day and wait for the guillotine of the county governor's office to fall.
Zhao Hanzhang occasionally wandered to Shangcai to inspect the tenants and food towns under his name. Seeing that Magistrate Chai had aged five or six years in just ten days, with wrinkles all over the place and his hair turning gray, he couldn't help but sigh: "Sure enough, the pressure has caused me to suffer."
People are old."
Terrified, Magistrate Chai took out a small mirror from his pocket and looked at his face. Only then did he realize that his eyes were black and his face was haggard. Even applying powder could not hide the haggardness.
Magistrate Chai couldn't help crying, and took Zhao Hanzhang's hand and said: "Hanzhang, why do we have to confront the governor? Your ancestors are prominent, and you have the support of the minister in the court, but I am just a small person."
The county magistrate."
"But I will support you, the county prince. If Hanzhang has it, the county prince will have it."
This did not comfort Magistrate Chai. In his opinion, their alliance was fragile and could be broken at any time, and he was the one who could be abandoned at any time.
He tried to persuade Zhao Hanzhang, "The country is at war, and the hundreds of counties under its rule should be aided. How can we sit back and do nothing and take care of ourselves?"
"How could I not know?" Zhao Hanzhang said: "If it is a just battle against foreign enemies, we will die without regrets, but what is the purpose of today's battle?"
"It's just the selfish desires of two people. Even King Qin, we can't figure out which side to take. You want to help Gou Xi fight against the King of East China Sea, but the emperor is in the hands of the King of East China Sea. The document to attack Gou Xi is still stamped with the name "Emperor"
Where is the seal?" Zhao Hanzhang pursed his lips and said: "You want to help the King of Donghai to attack Gou Xi, but based on what His Majesty said before, he agreed with Gou Xi's strategy of moving the capital. If we take action, wouldn't we be violating the emperor?
What’s in your heart?”
"The left is disobedience, and the right is also disobedience. For people like them, war is just a temporary conflict of temperament. If they have to stop the peace talks, everything will be back to where it started. But for those who participate in the war,
Woolen cloth?"
Zhao Hanzhang said: "Not only the soldiers on the battlefield, but also all the people who were affected. Why do we, the people of Runan County, use the food that the whole family needs to survive as military rations because of the dispute between two people?"
She said solemnly: "I have no control over other places, but in Xiping and Shangcai, I will never allow innocent people to lose their lives."
Magistrate Chai stopped talking. After returning to the county office, he stared at the tax collector who came to urge him to pay for the grain and did not hand over an extra grain of grain.
The tax collector also went to Xiping.
But Zhao Hanzhang was not in Xiping at all. She was inspecting Shangcai. Taking Fu Tinghan with her, they decided to issue a service order after the autumn harvest this year, mainly to connect the waterways of Shangcai and Xiping, so that travel between the two places would be more convenient.
In addition, there is also a road to Xiping that needs to be built. These all need to be designed. They are very busy, okay?
So the tax collector was received by Chang Ning. After Chang Ning could not withstand the pressure, he went to invite Zhao Ming.
Zhao Ming didn't say anything more, he just sat at the table with a sullen face, and the tax collector's voice dropped an octave.
But Zhao Ming did not let him go and said to him: "Please tell the county magistrate that there is no county governor. He is the father-in-law of Runan County. Parents should love their children and ask him to consider the people under his rule."
He added: "Please also tell the governor that although hesitation may be a sign of being a loser, Yuzhou can no longer withstand the war at this time. I also ask him to be silent and not to get involved in the dispute between King Donghai and Dao General Gou."
When the tax collector heard that he called Gou Xi by her first name instead of calling her by her first name like them, he vaguely guessed that he was from Gou Xi's group.
The tax collector didn't say much, and he didn't dare to say much. After waiting for two days, he still didn't see Zhao Hanzhang, who claimed to be the real master of Xiping, so he could only leave in despair.
Chapter completed!