I

   Chapter 533 530【Major case】

  Zhao Han personally plows and encourages farmers, and simplifies the etiquette, which is a microcosm of the tradition and innovation of the new dynasty.

  It can be summed up in eight words: respect for tradition, be pragmatic and innovative.

  Innovation is always difficult, so difficult that Xiaohong divorced her husband. Both of them are officials, so they get together less and leave more, and finally return to their hometown for the festival, and they are full of gossip.

  Her husband couldn't bear the pressure of public opinion, and offered to divorce, Xiaohong immediately went to the government to complete the formalities.

  Xiaohong knows her husband’s difficulties. Why do he eat soft food? He gets promoted quickly through his wife’s relationship, and his wife cuckolds him in other places. Let alone ancient men, many modern men would be overwhelmed by psychological pressure.

   Sadness is definitely sad. Apart from divorce, the only solution is to resign.

  But Xiaohong doesn't want to resign, because she has a strong sense of professionalism.

  After the Spring Festival, Xiaohong returned to Quzhou Fucheng. She learned from Zhao Han in everything, and set up a mailbox at the gate of the government office, and opened and read the letters regularly every month.

  I opened and read a letter this time, and the content was very simple: the bidding for the construction of the official residence in Quzhou was tricky, the embankment of the Xixi River in Fucheng had cut corners, and the construction party of the two projects was the same business company.

  Anonymous letter, who wrote it.

  Xiaohong immediately called the colleague in charge of related work and asked him to investigate whether the embankment was cutting corners. I got a reply a few days later, and found no cutting corners.

  Xiaohong was still not at ease, and sent her cronies to check the bidding documents for the construction of the official building. It turned out that everything was in line with the normal process.

  So, Xiaohong didn't ask about the matter again, thinking that the content of the report was false.

  Two months later, Xiaohong received a long letter reporting a lot of officials. The whistleblower also said that the clean government and judicial departments in Quzhou Prefecture and Xi'an County have been corrupted by the Zheng family into a sieve.

   There are even more detailed contents, saying that the umbrella of the Zheng family is Zheng Tongfu, the doctor of the Department of Construction and Repair of the Ministry of Industry.

   This is a fat job. Although the official status is not high, he actually handles government projects across the country.

   March 3rd, Shangsi outing.

  Xiaohong disguises herself as a lady, and takes her maid out of town for an outing. Although she was famous, she always wore official uniforms, but suddenly she was dressed as a noble lady, and no one recognized her.

   Came to a river bank outside the city, Xiaohong saw an old flower seller squatting under a willow tree.

As soon as she walked over, the old man stood up quickly, and asked with a smile on his face: "Madam, do you want to buy apricot blossoms? The apricot blossoms are very good, I just picked them this morning, and they can be stored for several days when you take them back. You should go out for a walk." Bring flowers, Madam, look over there, the apricot flowers of the young masters and ladies are all bought from me."

  Xiaohong paid for an apricot flower, and sighed casually: "This embankment is really well built, and the scenery is even more beautiful when you go outing."

   "Hey, it's well done." There seemed to be a sense of irony in the old man's smile.

  Xiaohong asked: "Where is it not repaired well?"

  The old man shook his head again and again: "Good repair."

  Xiaohong didn't ask any more questions, but after returning home, she sent a confidant to inquire.

The young man inquired for a few days, and came back and said, "My lord, the river embankment was really cut corners. Several sections were often washed away by floods. The government's request was to use composite soil as the foundation. When the river embankment was repaired last year, it was built with cement. Watering and then ramming the earth. Also, the business company that built the embankment deducted the wages of the workers, and has not paid them off until now.”

  The quality of the cement at this time is relatively poor due to the problem of furnace temperature, so it cannot be used to build water conservancy.

  As for the composite soil used to build water conservancy, although the raw materials are not expensive, the process is quite complicated, time-consuming, labor-intensive and expensive. It is better to use cement to save trouble.

   "What is the reputation of the Zheng family?" Xiaohong asked again.

   "It's hard to say." The servant replied.

  Xiaohong was puzzled: "What do you mean?"

The servant explained in detail: "The Zheng family builds bridges and paves roads in the countryside, especially at the junction of Xi'an (Quzhou Fuzhi) and Longyou. Those villages and towns praise the Zheng family very much. But the people in other places hate the Zheng family deeply. Zheng The family received the goods in the countryside, and the price was very low. The projects contracted by the Zheng family often deducted wages, saying that they would hold it down first and settle it later. The Zheng family also had a side branch, which occupied two vegetable markets in Fucheng. People who sell vegetables must buy from the Zheng family."

  Xiao Hong frowned: "The Xi'an government doesn't care?"

The boy replied: "The Zheng family doesn't come out on their own, but gathers some idlers and beats them if they don't listen to the Zheng family's orders. The government also takes care of it, and punishes them by gathering a crowd to fight, and each beats 50 big boards each time. Xiaomin was beaten. He was beaten up, and he was fined by the government, and he will not report to the government after a long time."

  Xiaohong knew that the Zheng family was a well-known rich family in Quzhou.

   Zheng Tongfu joined Zhao Han very early and participated in the Zhejiang Scholars Uprising. Because of his outstanding ability and outstanding achievements, he was quickly promoted to be a doctor of the Ministry of Industry.

  Even, Zheng Tongfu was commended by the emperor, saying that he can handle ten things by himself.

  Of course, the Zheng family's real fortune is in business.

  Because the Longyou Merchants could not compete with Huizhou, Western, and Jiangxi merchants, they took the route of encircling the cities from the countryside. Moreover, the commercial footprint is as far as the southwest and northwest, and all the money earned is hard work.

  Nowadays, the society is stable and the government is clear, which is very suitable for the development of the Longyou merchant gang, so many Longyou merchants have become rich because of it.

  The Zheng family is one of them. I heard that when the Datong Army conquered Guizhou, they helped purchase and transship grain and made great contributions.

   Such a business family needs to cut wages and occupy the vegetable market?

   But there must be a problem, and the situation of those officials in Quzhou officialdom is very serious!

  Xiaohong sent a letter to Nanjing, and Zhao Han's reply was: Submit it to the Metropolitan Procuratorate for a thorough investigation.

  The Metropolitan Procuratorate is the former Integrity Secretary, the Bai Wuchang in "Black and White Impermanence".

  A total of twelve people came, all dressed in civilian clothes, and quietly visited the folks for more than half a month.

  Finally, they encountered a situation outside the vegetable market.

   "You are not allowed to sell vegetables here!" The two patrolmen were fierce, and they also had urban management duties.

  The old farmer was aggrieved: "Master Jun, if you don't sell it here, where do you ask the little one to sell it?"

  The patrolman said: "There are stalls in the vegetable market."

"The stalls in the vegetable market have to pay taxes. How can the vegetables they grow at home be worth?" If you can enter the city by yourself, just sell a few side dishes, please do me a favor, Lord Jun, and spare me this time."

  The patrolmen started to set up the stall, kicked the old farmer to the ground, and took away a load of vegetables.

  The old farmer wailed loudly, and passers-by on the street pointed and pointed.

   Dai Wenmeng stood by and watched, muttering, "Quzhou is very evil here."

Mei Zhuyou said: "There are problems with law enforcement offices, judicial offices, clean government offices, and industrial and commercial offices. There may also be problems with the peasant associations in villages and towns outside the city. According to Huang Zhifu (Xiaohong), she asked the magistrate to investigate the embankment. , Hedi cut corners but did not report, this fellow must have colluded with the Zheng family."

Dai Wenmeng concluded: "The officialdom in Quzhou Prefecture is rotten! The inspection team of the Metropolitan Procuratorate came here three years ago, and everything was fine at that time. If it wasn't for our inspectors' malfeasance, it would be Quzhou's two In three years, the administration of officials has plummeted!"

  Plum Zhuyou was a little excited: "I'm afraid, we will catch a big fish this time!"

  Twelve "White Impermanence", investigate in groups of two and two, and come to the inn every three days to exchange information.

  Dai Wenmeng and Mei Zhuyou followed the weeping old farmer all the way out of the city. They didn't dare to act rashly, fearing to scare the snake, they didn't knock on the old farmer's door until midnight.

   "Boom boom boom!"

  Knocked for a long time, but no one opened the door, and there were crying and howling in the room.

  The old farmer's family thought it was the Zheng family who sent someone to retaliate against them for going to the city to sell vegetables without permission.

Probably because he felt that he couldn't escape, the door finally opened, and the old farmer knelt down with his whole family: "Mr. Zheng, please forgive me. Mr. Zheng, please forgive me. The little lard is fooled. I shouldn't be selling vegetables. From now on, I will sell all the vegetables at home." To the Zheng family..."

   "Go in and talk." Devon Meng said.

  The whole family was terrified and weeping, trembling and invited them into the house.

Seeing that the old farmer was about to kneel again, Dai Wenmeng took out the badge of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and revealed his identity, saying: "Old man, we are not thieves of the Zheng family, we are honest officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. The emperor knew that the Zheng family did evil, so he specially sent us Let's check..."

   "The emperor also knows?"

  Before he finished speaking, the old farmer dragged the whole family to bow down: "The emperor is a good emperor, but all officials are bad. I beg you two officials, let the grassroots decide!"

   "Silence!"

  Plum Zhuyou threatened: "Don't shout any more, and don't go out and say, we are spies. Before arresting Zheng's family, if we leak the news, you will all lose your head!"

  The whole family was trembling with fright, and said again and again: "Don't talk nonsense, I won't go out and talk nonsense."

  Plum Zhuyou took out a pen and paper to record, and Dai Wenmeng began to ask questions.

  Dai Wenmeng asked: "Must all the vegetables in the village be sold to the Zheng family?"

"It's not just the whole village," the old farmer said, "All the vegetables in the town have to be sold to the Zheng family. If it weren't for the Datong Bank to collect grain, I am afraid that the grain can only be sold to the Zheng family. In the villages and towns around Quzhou City, the Zheng family even The magistrate is not afraid, only the officials of Datong Bank."

  Dai Wenmeng asked: "There is no peasant association in your village? Doesn't the peasant association help farmers?"

The old farmer said: "There is a farmers' association, the president's surname is Zheng, and the village head's surname is also Zheng. The mayor of the town is a foreigner, but his surname is not Zheng, but he has worshiped the one with the surname Zheng. The mayor is also greedy, and he took over with the Zheng family. A barren mountain, burn lime, burn cement and sell money. The young and strong in the town, only the peasants and soldiers, they dare not mess with. Except for the peasants and soldiers, anyone who disobeys will be beaten."

   "How many towns are like this?" Dai Wenmeng asked.

  The old farmer replied: "The grass people know that there are three towns."

  Ask some more questions and ask the old farmer to mark with his fingerprints.

   On the second day, Dai Wenmeng and Mei Zhuyou returned to the inn in the city to exchange investigation information with other clean government officials.

An anti-government official named Cao Benshu said: "Lao Liang and I got an inaccurate news. The younger brother of Zheng Tongfu, a doctor in the Ministry of Industry, married the daughter of Li Ge's nephew. If the news is true, the officialdom in Quzhou is very bad. So fast, it is probably related to Mr. Li Ge. Mr. Li may not know about it, but the Zheng family will inevitably use his name to do evil."

   Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, and this case actually involved Li Banghua.

   "Why don't you present the case to His Majesty first, and see what His Majesty plans to do?" said an honest and honest official.

Mei Zhuyou sternly said: "Your Majesty is troubled by everything, what do you want us officials to do? Brother Cao and Brother Liang, go and verify the news to see if it is related to Mr. Li Ge. Others, stay in Quzhou and continue to investigate the case. Even if Involved with Mr. Li Ge, this case can't be fooled, from the government office to the county office to the village, there may be hundreds of officials involved!"

  (end of this chapter)