Please call me Your Majesty!

Chapter 28 Justice delayed is never justice
Chu Shizhao actually didn't like the farmer's behavior of bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

But he knew better that in feudal society, such people were what the rulers wanted to see.

Because the farmers cannot swallow their anger, they will really rebel and take up arms to fight you.

People who are willing to risk their lives are the most terrifying.

Compared with these servile farmers, Chu Shizhao hated even more those officials who held power but did nothing or even just sat there doing nothing.

[When the several soldiers who collected grain taxes saw you, they knelt down on the ground without hesitation.]

[In the Zhou Dynasty, anyone who owned a sword must have a prominent position. Ordinary people, even officials, were not allowed to own a sword.]

[“Your humble servant greets you, sir. We are following the order of the county magistrate to collect grain taxes from the people of Weicheng County to make up for the arrears of taxes over the years.”]

[“I don’t know where you come from, and why you want to interfere in the affairs of Weicheng County.”]

In the picture, the leading soldier quickly stood up after kneeling and explained the matter clearly.

Although these people are ferocious to the people, it does not mean that they are really a bunch of idiots.

The first thing he said was to put the blame on the county magistrate of Weicheng County. The second thing he said was to inquire about Chu Shizhao's background. The third thing he said was to define the matter as a public affair of the county and you have no right to interfere.

These three sentences are very nutritious.

Chu Shizhao knew that the administration of the Great Zhou Dynasty was fragmented, almost reaching the situation of the middle and late feudal dynasties. Most of the officials were interdependent, and even protected each other. But who would have thought that even the soldiers collecting taxes at the grassroots level were so smooth in their handling of matters.

But apparently not smart enough.

The last two sentences have a very aggressive and pressure-filled attitude.

[“I am from Sishui County, a descendant of Emperor Gaozu of Zhou. The current emperor is my father. I don’t know if I can interfere in the affairs of Weicheng County with my identity.”]

[You snorted coldly, raised your head and said: "Tax collection is a public matter, but there is no reason for you to collect taxes like this."]

[The soldiers collecting taxes immediately lowered their heads and dared not argue. After all, no one dared to pretend to be a prince, not to mention that Chu Shizhao was holding a sword and had an extraordinary demeanor.]

[“Your Highness, we are also enforcing the law impartially.” The leading soldier thought for a while and said, “Weicheng County suffered a locust plague two years ago. The county magistrate at that time allowed the people to delay paying grain taxes for three years and collect them in a good year. Now that it is a good year, it is natural to make up for the shortfall.”]

[“Your Highness, how can people of this year pay the taxes of previous generations?” the man complained.]

[He sees that you are the one who makes the decisions here, and if the grain tax is waived, his family will have a better life.]

In fact, when Chu Shizhao saw the information in front of him, he immediately realized that this was a bad deal.

It’s just that this year’s county magistrate is an unlucky guy and has to take over the deficit left by the county magistrate of the previous year.

Moreover, under normal circumstances, when people were forced to owe grain taxes during years of famine, the government would assume that the debt was bad and would not forcefully demand it.

This is an unspoken rule.

After all, ancient society focused more on personal relationships.

If the imperial power does not extend below the county level, and the local people unite, you officials will not be able to cope with it.

It is especially important to be clear that if you are unable to collect taxes it is only a minor mistake, but if you force the people to rebel, that is a serious crime.

So in this case, there is only one possibility.

That is, the magistrate of Weicheng County was a scholar who studied hard and only thought about his own career. He was stubborn and believed that the people should pay off the debts owed. Generally, a county magistrate who could make the people pay off their debts would be counted as a political achievement in the Yongjin Dynasty.

To a certain extent, this kind of official is actually more terrifying than those officials who do nothing.

Because he never treated the people as human beings, did not consider the actual situation, and simply treated them as stepping stones for his own career.

[“Take me to see the magistrate of your Weicheng County.” You snorted coldly. No matter how much you thought about it, it would be better to meet the magistrate of Weicheng County in person. You want to see what kind of people are in charge of this place. ] [Led by these soldiers, you came to the government office of Weicheng County. ]

[As soon as you enter the government office, you will order these soldiers to take out all the cases in Weicheng County and the "political achievements" of the Weicheng County Magistrate.]

[And soon, a county magistrate who looked like a scholar knelt on the ground in fear and trepidation to meet you.]

[You look at the contents of the copy, your face becomes increasingly gloomy.]

[In the cases in Weicheng County, there were many disputes between local people and the powerful and wealthy, and the final judgments were almost all in favor of the powerful and wealthy.]

[If it was just an isolated case, you could accept it in your heart, but these cases are almost all for ordinary people to be sentenced, how can you not be angry? ]

[You have already thought the situation in Weicheng County is very bad, but the current situation is far beyond your imagination. ]

[You realize that the county magistrate is actually colluding with local wealthy families and constantly buying land from local people at low prices.]

[On the one hand, he used the "owed grain tax" as an excuse to pressure some people to pay grain, constantly "urging" and "pressuring" them.]

[This happened several times, and when the people were afraid of not being able to pay their grain, some wealthy families would offer so-called "high prices" to buy the land. When the people believed it, they would sell their land to the wealthy families, but in the end, they would only get a small amount of grain and then sell the land deeds.]

[When the common people were indignant and sued the powerful, the county magistrate of Weicheng County used various methods to protect the powerful. In this way, he could obtain grain from the powerful and hand it over to the court as a political achievement.]

[The reason why it has not been discovered until now is that most of the people selected by the county magistrate do not have a strong background in the local area. He only targets one or two households every month, but when accumulated, it is an extremely shocking number.]

[“Come here, capture this thief for me.” You said angrily. ]

[“Your Highness, I am an official of the Great Zhou, and a descendant of the Jingzhao Wei family. You cannot treat me like this—” The county magistrate was a little flustered, but he still pretended to be calm. ]

[You stand up and walk to him, kick him to the ground, and take off the official robe from his head yourself.]

[“Take off his official robes for me and bring him to the downtown area of ​​Weicheng County. Open your eyes wide and take a good look at what these four words written on the yamen mean.”]

On the screen, you grabbed the other person's head and looked at the four righteous words - [above and beyond].

[Immediately, you tied the county magistrate named Wei Cheng to a willow tree in the downtown area of ​​Weicheng County.]

[Immediately, all the cases that had been accumulated in Weicheng County were brought out.]

[You called out the names of several so-called "criminals" in succession, but found that some of them had already been punished, and some had already left their homes. ]

[You sighed, released the 'innocent' people who were still in prison, and then began to try the cases left in Weicheng County one by one.]

[Every time there was an unjust, false or wrongful conviction, you would pick up the whip from Weicheng County and severely whip Wei Cheng.]

[You worked day and night to get to the bottom of the case in Weicheng County and force those wealthy families who had occupied the people's land to hand over their ill-gotten gains.]

[Originally, these powerful families were unwilling to compromise and even wanted to openly confront each other, but under the indignation of the people in Weicheng County, they dared not speak out and had to hand over the land. ]

[You have gained the support of the people of Weicheng County. When you were solving a case, some people stayed by your side to prevent you from being attacked by criminals.]

【After you stripped Wei Cheng, the county magistrate of Weicheng County, of his official robe, you took control of the power of the entire Weicheng County. Some of the soldiers were born as commoners, but they were forced to disobey orders because of their power. Now that you have come out to declare justice, they immediately formed a strict formation to protect you, which made the powerful people even more afraid to resist.】

[You judged a hundred cases in one day, and your behavior of whipping the county magistrate was recorded in the Book of Zhou, hence the name.]

However, at this moment, Chu Shizhao's anger was not vented at all because of the whipping of the county magistrate.

Justice delayed is never justice denied.

The administration of our Great Zhou is so corrupt, how can we talk about revival?
Now Chu Shizhao only wants to kill, kill, kill!!!

(End of this chapter)