The old official immediately looked gloomy, pointed his sword straight at Zhu Xu, and said coldly: "You dare to take us to have fun, you are very brave! Let's go with us, and I will let you know how to go to Ji Nanfu!"

The young man also drew his knife, and the man opposite was obviously looking for trouble!

Cao Bianjiao had already come up, and there were more than a dozen imperial guards behind him.

Zhu Xu raised his hand to stop him, looked at the old man, and said with a smile: "I want to borrow the account books in your hands."

The official's face suddenly changed slightly. He looked at Zhu Xu seriously and said vigilantly: "I don't care who you are. This account book is from Ji Nanfu. No one is allowed to read it casually. If you want it, go to the prefect!"

Zhu Xu narrowed his eyes and said in a bad tone, "You should know that since I spoke, I must see. I guess my identity is unusual, and you dare to disobey?"

Both officers were panicked. The young man opposite was obviously a person who was "secret investigation". The older adults even guessed that the person in front of him was probably from the governor's yamen!

The old man held his face calmly, held the account book tightly, and said in a deep voice: "I don't care who you are, I want to see the account book unless I step over my body!"

Zhu Xu raised his eyebrows and shook his head and said, "Since you can guess my identity is unusual, you should know that, let alone you, even if your prefect's life is not worth a penny in my eyes, are you sure you want to resist stubbornly?"

The guards stepped forward calmly and surrounded the two of them.

The farmers not far away all looked up and looked quietly at the confrontation, all looking curious.

In Ji Nan Prefecture, no one dared to fight against the officials of the court except for bandits.

The older officer hugged the account book tightly, his face changed. If it were a small note, he would swallow it directly, but what should he do if this thick book was asked?

He stared at Zhu Xu and gritted his teeth and said, "You can watch it. Please go to Ji. Nanfu with me. You snatch it from me now. I don't recognize it, and the magistrate will not admit it!"

This is not the first time that Zhu Xu, an old official, has met him. Judging from his words and deeds, I am afraid that he has read a lot of books and may even have fame.

Too lazy to talk nonsense, Zhu Xu waved his hand and said, "Break his legs and take the account book."

"Yes!" Cao Bianjiao took the order and made a gesture to the imperial guards everywhere.

The imperial guards rushed over immediately. They were agile and they were not opponents. In a blink of an eye, they were knocked to the ground and the account books fell into Zhu Xu's hands.

The old man struggled desperately, and shouted, "You made these things forged by you, I won't admit them, nor will the magistrate admit them. Even if you get them to the governor's office, you can't do anything to us!"

"That may not be." Zhu Xu laughed and turned to the carriage.

Click

"ah……"

After Zhu Xu got on the carriage, the officer's screams rang out.

Zhu Xu sat down, flipped up the account book, and said, "Let's go back."

Cao Huachun responded, turned his horse's head and prepared to return to the city.

Zhu Xu opened the first page, which contained four big characters "Tianmuqing Ce" and the second page. The two words "City North" were written on the brow on the right side, and then the names were written on it.

Zhu Xu turned over several pages, but they were still full of names, and no other appeared until the eighth page.

‘Li Shangchang, who owns a thousand two mu of land, divided into thirty-six families, each with less than fifty mu, belongs to civilians…’

‘Zhou Guangyu owns 1,800 mu of land, divided into 42 families, each with less than 50 mu, belonging to civilians, and is exempt from taxes due to serious disasters…’

‘Wang Yongde owns 3,33 lands and 70 households, each with less than 50 acres, belonging to civilians, and is exempt from taxes and relief from the court, and is given priority...’

Zhu Xu slowly flipped through it, and the signatures and seals of each family's heads, confirming that these acres belong to them. On the last page there was a meaningful sentence: "The disaster is like fire and the refugees are like tides. It is a last resort."

"The so-called policy above and countermeasures below..."

Zhu Xu chuckled and closed the account book.

While slapping the account book in his hand, Zhu Xu squinted his eyes and shone with a cold light.

These people ate what is below and looked up. It can be said that the world is suffering, but they are alone and have a lot of heart.

Zhu Xu felt a little anxious, looked up at the front and said, "Cao Huachun, Shandong how much tax was paid last year?"

Cao Huachun recalled a little and said, "It's less than a million stones to go back to the emperor."

Zhu Xu supported his head with his index finger, tilted his body, and said to himself: "Last year, the national tax was 17 million. The situation in Shandong should be ranked upstream, less than one million, so they swallowed a lot..."

Cao Huachun could hear Zhu Xu talking to himself, and after a moment of silence, he turned around and said, "Emperor, in a few days it will be the birthday of the mother of the magistrate of Ji. The officials in Shandong should all go back to celebrate their birthdays."

“Um…”

Zhu Xu raised his head, blinked, and then started to laugh.

When it comes to this Yang Fengzhong, Zhu Xu still remembers it fresh.

He was a Jinshi who had been in the 36th year of Wanli. He was also a powerful drummer in the "country between the foundation of the country". When he was a minister in charge of the official department, he wrote more than 100 memorials within one day, declaring the righteousness, saying that he was powerful, and "advice" Emperor Shenzong. At that time, Li Banghua and others were inferior to him.

This also angered Wanli. He was demoted together with his mentor, the prime minister at that time, and three officials, which caused great trouble at that time. Wanli completely angered the foreign court. Whether it was a party struggle or a mortal enemy, the civil servant group joined forces to fight against Wanli for fear of life, forcing Wanli to change three prime ministers within a year and kill four officials!

The result was that civil officials gathered together and resisted Wanli from all aspects, forcing Wanli to make concessions. King Fu left the capital and became a vassal, thus ending the "national foundation dispute" that had been confronted by the monarch and his ministers for more than ten years.

Although there were many "heroic" things happening here, Yang Fengzhong couldn't get around it. At that time, the entire world's scholars were shocked and "cheered and inspired" him.

However, he was not the Donglin Party, he was the Chu Party. Zhao Nanxing treated Yang Fengzhong with the pretext of "subjecting neither evil nor righteousness" and refused to enter the capital and sent him to Shanxi.

This person is quite strong, both Donglin and the eunuch party, and they all fight desperately. Recently, he has written a lot of letters, and the impeachment of Bi Ziyan, saying that he is "no meritorious and unjust, but is a talent."

Bi Ziyan once took this memorial to Zhu Xu and said with a smile, "This Lord Yang is soft and has a hidden cleverness. He seems to be very wise and brave, but in fact he is petty and can't see the distant mountains."

"Okay, let's go to attend the birthday of Lord Yang's mother, back up the gifts and send them in advance." Zhu Xu said aloud.

"Abide by the order." Cao Huachun said, sighing in his heart, hoping that Lord Yang would be a clean official.

Zhu Xu looked down at the memorial, and calculated silently in his mind.

If the tax on Shandong and the East last year was less than one million stones, it would cost at least three dou of them acres, plus the loss and deductions, it might actually be more.

‘The taxes reduced by the court eventually fell into other people’s pockets…’

Zhu Xu's eyes were covered with cold light. Perhaps the mountain and the east cannot be tossed like the northern Zhili for the time being, but the administration must be rectified in advance.

The people may know that there are corrupt officials who interfere, but in the final analysis, they still believe that the court's taxes are too heavy and the harsh government is more powerful than the tiger!

"Whoever comes to earth and leads his children to heaven and enters heaven, without hunger or cold, without worry or sorrow..."

Suddenly, a loud shout broke Zhu Xu's thoughts and the carriage stopped slowly.

Cao Bianjiao turned around and said, "Your Majesty, it's the White Lotus Sect."

Zhu Xu lifted the curtains and looked up.

I saw a group of men and women, divided into two teams, holding white sails, with big "Wusheng" and "Old Mother", and slowly crossing the road not far from Zhu Xu's carriage with a gong.

"The old mother without birth, the world is covered with the curtain..."

"Take your children and go to the Pure Land..."

Behind them, there were a group of people following them, all of whom were muttering their words and decently.

"Is this White Lotus Sect very powerful in Shandong? " Zhu Xu said.

Cao Bianjiao got off the carriage and called people to guard against him. He stood by Zhu Xu's window and whispered: "Your Majesty, the White Lotus Sect was indeed very powerful before. There were several rebellions, and they were suppressed by Lu Xiangsheng, the general of the Shandong and the then Shandong. It then spread to the south and the mountains and the west. They were all eliminated and wiped out. According to the investigation of the Jinyiwei, these are different from before. They have repeatedly donated money and grain to the court to help appease the local area, so the local area did not do anything more."
Chapter completed!