OBS Chapter 369 Who is standing below, and why are they reporting to the authorities!
Chapter 369 Who is standing below, and why are they reporting to the authorities!
As Yang Shaofeng gazed at the Guanquan Gate in Zhaoyuan County from afar, his hatred for Xu Zheng and Qu Mingjie, along with other officials, deepened.
Zhaoyuan County shouldn't be this poor.
Yang Shaofeng originally thought that Zhaoyuan was just a poor and dilapidated small county town. If the gold mine in Zhaoyuan was not exploited, the only option would be to first develop a scaled-down version of the five small industries, and then gradually improve the living standards of the people of Zhaoyuan by developing other industries.
However, after Yang Shaofeng read the county annals of Zhaoyuan County, he discovered that Zhaoyuan had existed since the Tang Dynasty, but it was called Luofeng Town at that time. Its even longer history can be traced back to the time of the old rogue Liu Laosan, when this place was called Qucheng County.
Yang Shaofeng had always thought he could keep the Zhaoyuan gold mine a secret from Zhu Yuanzhang, but it was already famous throughout the Tang Dynasty during the Luofeng Town period. It was said that 90% of the gold used by the Tang court at that time came from Luofeng Town.
During the Great Song Dynasty, the gold mine in Luofeng Town was included in the list of key gold mines under the direct control of the royal family. Zhao Da even sent his important minister Pan Mei to Luofeng to supervise the gold mining. The gold in Luofeng Town was also known as "tribute gold," and its gold production accounted for about 80% of the total gold production of the Great Song Dynasty.
Therefore, the fact that Zhaoyuan County produces gold could not be hidden from Emperor Zhu, nor could it be hidden from him.
The reason why Emperor Zhu did not send people to Zhaoyuan to mine gold on a large scale was not because he did not want to, but because the easy-to-mine mineral veins had already been exhausted during the Song Dynasty, and there was no gold for Emperor Zhu to mine until a new mineral vein was found.
Zhaoyuan County, lacking gold mines to exploit, was destined for decline.
Therefore, when Zhaoyuan County was renamed from Luofeng Town during the Jin Dynasty, it was just a small earthen town with a circumference of less than two li.
Later, when Xu Da launched his northern expedition against the Yuan dynasty, the original earthen city walls of Zhaoyuan County were completely destroyed in the war.
The Guanquan Gate of Zhaoyuan County in the distance is less a city gate and more a huge gap between two mounds of earth.
Even in such a declining, impoverished county, Xu Zheng, that bastard, still relentlessly exploited the people, even taking the plows that Emperor Zhu and the Ming Dynasty had distributed to the people and reselling them.
To put it simply, during the three years that Xu Zheng served as the magistrate of Zhaoyuan County, he spent the first two and a half years basically trying to exploit the people, and in the latter half of the year, in addition to exploiting the people, he also engaged in the business of reselling plowshares.
It was precisely because of Xu Zheng's ruthless exploitation that Zhaoyuan County was delayed for three years in its development.
Otherwise, Zhaoyuan County should have completed large-scale land reclamation within the last six months of the second year of the Hongwu reign.
Furthermore, Emperor Zhu exempted the people of Zhaoyuan County from taxes, corvée labor, and miscellaneous services for three years. Regardless of how much grain the people of Zhaoyuan County could store, they would at least not be as poor as they are now.
Yang Shaofeng grew angrier the more he thought about it, and in his anger, he turned his anger towards Emperor Zhu.
Zhu Chongba, that old tyrant, was also useless; he simply beheaded Xu Zheng and Qu Mingjie, those officials, and that was the end of it.
Why don't you make them into scarecrow figurines?
After spitting angrily, Yang Shaofeng turned to the commander of the Imperial Son-in-Law's personal guards and instructed, "Let the princess rest outside the city for a while. You take a few brothers, change into civilian clothes, and come into the city with me to take a look."
Once they entered Zhaoyuan County, Yang Shaofeng, along with the lame Wu and the guards from the Imperial Son-in-Law's residence, headed straight for the Zhaoyuan County Government Office.
It's all about "four no two straight".
Yang Shaofeng never expected that when he finished strolling around the city and arrived at the Zhaoyuan County government office with Lame Wu and the guards from the Imperial Son-in-Law's residence, he would find several yamen runners huddled together in the sun.
Upon seeing Yang Shaofeng leading his men into the county government office, a yamen runner leaning against a stone lion shouted, "Hey, what are you guys doing here?"
Yang Shaofeng smiled nonchalantly, stopped the lame Wu who was about to lash out, walked up to the yamen runner leaning against the stone lion, and said, "I am a student traveling for study. I lost my money bag in the county, so I have come to the county yamen to file a complaint."
The constable leaning against the stone lion sized Yang Shaofeng up and down, then suddenly spat and said, "Lost your purse? Going to court? Have you gone mad from reading too much? Take my advice, if you lost your purse, just accept your bad luck and don't go hanging around the yamen."
Curious, Yang Shaofeng cupped his hands in greeting to the yamen runner and said, "Today is November 19th, not the day to settle a dispute, but rather the day to issue a petition. Why can't I come to file a petition with the yamen runner?"
The constable leaning against the stone lion suddenly chuckled, stood up, circled around Yang Shaofeng, clicked his tongue twice, and said, "He does know how to settle disputes and release the accused."
At this point, the yamen runner's expression suddenly changed, and he glared fiercely at Yang Shaofeng, saying, "Since you know about settling disputes and releasing accusations, do you know the principle of pacifying the people and settling disputes?"
“If you come to the yamen to file a complaint, the county magistrate will hold court to hear the case, and my brothers and I will have to run around until our legs are worn out and our shoes are worn out.”
"And whether or not the thieves are caught, the reputation of Zhaoyuan County will be ruined in your hands, and the county magistrate's future will also be ruined in your hands. Tell me why you can't come and file a complaint with the authorities!"
Seeing the bailiff's arrogant demeanor, Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but chuckle. He suddenly punched the bailiff to the ground and then kicked him hard in the knee, cursing, "Me? You dog, you think you can be my father? Broken leg? Your leg is definitely broken today!"
Yang Shaofeng suddenly started hitting people. The yamen runners who had been huddled together for warmth immediately struggled to get up, while Limpy Wu and the guards from the Prince Consort's mansion rushed over and knocked the yamen runners to the ground.
The constable who had been knocked down by Yang Shaofeng regained his senses and, while clutching his broken leg and rolling around, shouted, "Rebellion! Rebellion! Someone has rebelled!"
Yang Shaofeng sneered, but ignored the yamen runner. Instead, he walked straight to the grievance drum outside the county government office, picked up the drumstick, and started banging on it. After he finished, he ordered the lame man and the guards from the prince consort's mansion to escort the yamen runner to the main hall of the county government office.
There is indeed a saying in officialdom that "when a new official takes office, his first priority is to pacify the people, and the way to pacify the people is to stop litigation." However, this means that the most important thing for an official after taking office is to stabilize the people's livelihood and reduce the occurrence of lawsuits under his jurisdiction, rather than closing the yamen and refusing to investigate cases.
If the officials don't investigate cases, then what the hell are they for?
They want officials to be greedy and corrupt, to oppress the people, and then for the officials to get promoted and make money.
Bullshit!
Yang Shaofeng entered the county government office with a dark face and stood in the main hall waiting for Fang Kejian, the new magistrate of Zhaoyuan County who had succeeded Xu Zheng, to come and preside over the case.
To Yang Shaofeng's surprise, Master Fang Kejian appeared drunk from the back of the hall, sat down behind the table, and slammed the gavel, shouting at Yang Shaofeng, "Who are you here? Why are you reporting to the authorities!"
Damn it!
Where did this deity come from?