Chapter 957 My Chen family is the first of a scholarly family
Seeing Gong Wenbao walking in, Chen Lifu put down the Analects of Confucius in his hand. He did not expect that the third-grade dean of the Chengtian Mansion Inspectorate would personally come to see him, um, maybe to inquire.
Although he has been out inspecting local taxation all year round, his home is in Chengtian Mansion, and he has returned to Jinling City many times between inspections of local taxation. Although he said he has never met this senior official of the Inspectorate, he has heard about it many times.
Is this person coming to see you?
Chen Lifu's mind went through many possibilities, but of course, he still couldn't guess it. Now Gong Wenbao was on fire and wanted to find a breakthrough in him to save himself.
Since Chen Lifu moved into the guest house of the Chengtian Mansion Inspectorate, he has been completely cut off from the outside world and has been under de facto house arrest, so he still doesn't actually know that the outside world is already in turmoil.
What's more, things suddenly changed in the past two days. Before that, Gong Wenbao was still full of confidence and wanted to use Chen Lifu as a stepping stone to his promotion and fortune.
When Gong Wenbao walked in, he didn't have any airs about being a senior official of the third rank. Although he and Chen Lifu had different systems, it would be almost impossible for the two organizations to have any contact if a case hadn't happened. Therefore, this official
To Chen Lifu, the third grade was not much different from the fourth and fifth grades.
But although Chen Lifu didn't care, he still clearly felt from Gong Wenbao's attitude that this man was showing kindness to him and trying to get something from his mouth.
Seeing this scene, although Chen Lifu's expression remained unchanged, he had already guessed that there might have been a change in his case, and it should be a good change.
Otherwise, Gong Wenbao, as the third-grade dean of the Chengtian Mansion Inspectorate, would have no need to show favor to him!
But he didn’t know what specific changes had taken place!
Gong Wenbao tried his best to keep his smile, and then stepped forward and said: "Director Chen, we have limited funds in the guest house, so the conditions are a little rough, which makes you feel wronged!"
Without waiting for Chen Lifu to reply, he continued: "I know that Brother Chen may have some complaints against me, but there is nothing I can do about it. After all, the inspection regulations are there, and if there is a case, we have to investigate it."
, But don’t worry, Brother Chen, these are routine investigations, and they will never embarrass you, Brother Chen!”
After talking on the phone, Chen Lifu frowned inadvertently, and then said: "Master Gong, please sit down. It is our duty as an official to cooperate with the investigation of the Inspectorate. This is nothing, but Chen
I have been staying at your guest house for seven days, but Chen still doesn’t know what he did.”
Chen Lifu's words were not polite words, but he really didn't know what he had committed. What on earth was the Inspectorate investigating? Dereliction of duty? Acceptance of bribes?
Even Chen Lifu himself thought it was nonsense. These people from the Inspectorate were not stupid, so how could they rashly bring him here to 'assist in the investigation' in this name?
Chen Lifu himself is not stupid, he knows his status very well!
Although he is only a fifth-rank Cong, his gold content as a Cong-fifth rank is far greater than that of other Cong-5 ranks. When inspecting local taxation, his power far exceeds that of any official of the same rank, almost overriding him.
above any local officials.
With the rank of fifth grade, he was the deputy director of the Inspection Division when he inspected the taxation of Jiangbei and Wanbei. The two local Taoists would not neglect him, but would become equals!
Why?
Because he has the power to investigate and arrest anyone who evades taxes!
Anyone mentioned here, including Taoists from Jiangbei Province and North Anhui Province, because officials also have to pay taxes, as long as they dare to evade taxes, then Chen Lifu will dare to arrest them!
And there is no need to engage in impeachment and the like like ordinary officials. He may directly investigate, arrest, and transfer to the judiciary, a one-stop service. If the officials are confirmed to have evaded taxes, even the cabinet bosses will not be able to save them!
To a certain extent, the inspectors in the Inspection Office of the Grain Collection Department of the Ministry of Taxation are comparable to imperial envoys in the traditional sense when it comes to tax matters!
However, there were very few imperial envoys in the Tang Dynasty. So far, almost all the imperial envoys that had appeared in the Tang Dynasty were related to military affairs, and the most common ones were those who visited the troops on behalf of the emperor.
In addition, there are a very small number of imperial envoys who handle other matters. They are generally dedicated personnel, and their powers are very clearly restricted. Currently, in addition to the imperial envoys who visit the troops, there are only a dozen or so imperial envoys who hold the title of imperial envoy to handle other matters, and most of them are
It will soon become a permanent position.
One of the more important ones was the Nanyang Commercial Imperial Envoy. This person stayed specifically in Guangzhou and was responsible for negotiating trade with various countries.
However, this imperial envoy has almost become a permanent position since its establishment, and is usually held concurrently by officials from the Ministry of Commerce.
There are also three imperial flood control commissioners, namely the Yellow River Flood Control Imperial Commissioner, the Yangtze River Flood Control Imperial Commissioner, and the Pearl River Flood Control Imperial Commissioner. They each inspect river water conservancy, flood control, and disaster relief matters within their jurisdiction. They are usually held by officials of the Water Conservancy Department of the Ministry of Agriculture on a long-term basis.
Next, there is the Huguang Immigration Imperial Envoy. This person specializes in handling immigration and reclamation affairs in Huguang, including Hunan and Hubei. It is usually an official from the Immigration Department of the Ministry of Agriculture.
In addition, there are several imperial envoys, and most of them are in the same situation. They can basically be regarded as permanent positions. They have the title of imperial envoy, but they do the work of ordinary officials, and at most they have greater powers.
However, in the true sense, there is actually no imperial envoy with great power in the local area, and the closest thing is the inspection official!
Mainly tax inspections by the Department of Taxation, inspections by the Patrol Department, and inspections by the Inspectorate!
However, the powers of the patrol officers of the Patrol Department and the Inspectorate are very limited. They usually go there to investigate a certain case. They focus on one thing and have no power over other matters. Moreover, the case ends immediately.
Cancel.
However, the tax inspection does not target a certain case, but a place. On the surface, its powers are only aimed at taxation, but the scope of the word taxation can be expanded to a large extent!
You know it from the fact that Chen Lifu can directly mobilize the local tax inspection team to suppress armed tax resistance!
To a certain extent, tax inspections have military powers!
In fact, even within the current Ministry of Taxation, many officials believe that the power of tax inspections is too great, and they must impose certain restrictions on their powers, otherwise they are likely to create big troubles. The biggest restriction among them is that
It is to limit their power to mobilize local tax inspection teams.
With the tax inspection team in hand, the tax inspectors have great confidence in the local area. To put it bluntly, they can basically lead the tax inspection team to kill anyone they don't like, raid their homes and exterminate their clans.
Arrest those who deserve to be arrested, and kill those who deserve to be killed. After arresting and killing, they pat their butts and go to another place to continue patrolling!
The complaints of the local gentry are none of their business!
Don't you see, all the four Zhili gentry shouted out Chen Rentu's words, but did it affect Chen Lifu's status in the tax department? No, on the contrary, it made the superiors appreciate Chen Lifu even more.
Therefore, many people in the tax department have begun to want to limit the power of tax inspections.
As an official within the tax department and deputy director of the Inspection Division, Chen Lifu knew very well what his political status was, so he was even more confused about why the Chengtian Prefecture Inspectorate wanted to investigate him.
Without enough reasons, even if Gong Wenbao is a third-grade dean of the Chengtian Prefecture Inspectorate, he will not touch him easily, let alone him, even if it is a higher-level Censor of Qiandu in the Central Inspectorate.
, the vice-capital envoys have to think carefully if they want to move themselves.
Even if they really know that they have been embezzled and bribed, they probably won't do it easily without enough evidence and certainty.
However, it is obviously impossible for Gong Wenbao to directly tell him that someone has reported that you withheld taxes and accepted bribes. We already have a lot of evidence in our hands that can prove that you withheld taxes and accepted bribes, and there is also the key to Chen's housekeeper.
Witnesses commit suicide under mysterious circumstances!
This is against the rules!
What Gong Wenbao wanted to do was not to answer Chen Lifu's questions, but to ask him about some things that made him feel strange but could not find the answer.
In order to find out clearly, he personally acted as the censor and drove away most of the others who came with him, leaving only a few core confidants.
"Director Chen, according to our investigation, we found a large amount of gold and silver in the cellar of your mansion, with a total value of 310,000 taels. What explanation do you have for this?" Gong Wenbao naturally asked after he started asking.
Changed the name of Chen Lifu.
In the past, the title was just to show goodwill and neutrality, but now, he has consciously changed his identity. In this meeting, he is the censor who interrogates Chen Lifu. Everything must be business-like, even in terms of title.
Because the entire conversation between them will be recorded in writing and signed by both of them.
And if you want to use it as evidence, you have to admit it. If a public prosecution is filed and Chen Lifu does not admit this evidence in court, then the confession will be invalid without any reason.
The law of the Tang Dynasty clearly stipulates that if the signed statement of a suspect, witness, etc. conflicts with the oral statement in court, the oral statement in court shall prevail.
In other words, if you force a confession and sign it, it will be overturned immediately in court!
After hearing Gong Wenbao's words, Chen Lifu said: "It seems that you have searched Chen's house, so you should also find that my Chen family has many properties. Compared with these properties, these three hundred thousand taels of cash are nothing."
What!"
As he spoke, he suddenly looked directly at Gong Wenbao: "My Chen family comes from a scholarly family. Since the Song Dynasty, some of our ancestors have been officials. Since the Jingtai period of the Ming Dynasty, there have been officials from generation to generation. The children of my Chen family are also diligent and thrifty.
Isn’t it strange that all this wealth has been accumulated over hundreds of years?”
"If my Chen family hadn't invested in a flour mill last year, I'm afraid the silver deposit you saw in the cellar of my Chen family would not have been 310,000 taels, but 460,000 taels. When Chen was young, my father
When I was still alive, my family’s silver savings once exceeded one million taels!”
After saying that, Chen Lifu suddenly leaned forward: "Master Gong, have you ever seen a scene where more than one million taels of silver were piled up, even the wooden boxes containing the silver were rotten, and countless silver pieces were scattered on the ground?