Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

Although countless corrupt officials still escape justice, the corrupt atmosphere since the Five Dynasties and Northern Song Dynasty has improved.

Even their mindset has been reversed. They used to be greedy and unscrupulous, believing that officials should just reach out and take money.

Now everyone knows that you shouldn't be greedy, that you can't be greedy, that it's a crime and will be severely punished.

Chapter 3891 Unable to resist embezzlement

Even if they couldn't resist the urge to embezzle, they only dared to do it on a small scale or secretly.

No one dares to act so blatantly anymore!

This is the most important thing: corruption has changed from something that should be done to something that shouldn't be done, creating a new consensus in officialdom.

If mindsets don't change, what's the point of punishing so many corrupt officials?

They came one after another, killing them without end.

Reorganizing the military is more difficult than reforming the bureaucracy.

If the civil officials are killed too ruthlessly, they can at most just give up and do nothing.

If a military general kills too ruthlessly, it could cause a major upheaval!

Now that the Military Supervisory Commission has been established for the first time, it has directly learned from the lessons of rectifying the officialdom and has drawn a timeline right from the start.

Fu Yuanheng glanced at the generals, and the officers immediately lowered their heads.

Seeing that these guys were still hesitating, Fu Yuanheng sneered: "Yao Pingzhong has to hand over all his property in Linzhou. Do you think you can still hide it?"

“You have handed over the money and grain you embezzled after the destruction of Xia. Every single penny has been recorded in the Military Supervisor’s Office. His Majesty has vouched for you and will not punish you for this.”

"Of course, anyone who dares to commit another offense in the future will have all their past crimes investigated and punished!"

Those two sentences moved all the generals.

One sentence reads, "Yao Pingzhong handed over the property of Linzhou," and the other reads, "His Majesty acted as guarantor."

The former constitutes a threat, meaning that the military supervisor could investigate further down the line from Yao Pingzhong.

The latter is a promise, and the emperor's guarantee is not something that can be made casually.

At least since Zhao Yuan raised his army, he has not broken any promises.

With a combination of intimidation and appeasement, the officers knew how to choose.

The next day, Yao Pingzhong's officers voluntarily went to the temporary military supervisor's office to hand over the money and grain they had embezzled after the destruction of Xia and made a record of it.

Fu Yuanheng did not punish them as expected.

However, not punishing is more effective than directly punishing.

This means that all the military officers in Linzhou have something on their hands that the military supervisor has.

If you ever think about embezzling or breaking the law again, you'd better think twice, otherwise the military supervisor will bring up old grievances.

The most frustrating thing is when one boot clatters to the ground, and the other is placed down sometime later.

Fu Yuanheng soon left Linzhou, leaving the specific affairs to the Linzhou Military Supervisor.

Then he went straight to Xuanzhou, where the main task assigned by the emperor was located.

To rectify the bureaucracy and the military, policies should be changed based on the final results.

But punishing Qin Hui was purely out of Zhao Yuan's impulse; he wouldn't be satisfied until he killed the man!

Yang Yuan had been targeted long ago. Whenever he went to the capital, he would claim to be Qin Hui's student, as if he was afraid others wouldn't know how he got promoted.

The Western Xia's Yinzhou, Hongzhou, and Longzhou, which are the strategically important Hengshan region, have all been separated and assigned to Shaanxi.

Fu Yuanheng inspected the area from there and left the military supervisors he brought with him in the area.

Further west is Yanzhou (Dingbian).

The mountainous areas in the south of Yanzhou were also assigned to Shaanxi Province, with one important dividing point being Tuotuokou.

Tuotuokou, also known as Luotuokou or Tuotuohui.

If the bluish-white salt produced in Yanzhou of the Western Xia Dynasty were smuggled to the Northern Song or Ming Dynasty,

At least 70% of them were transported through Tuotuo Pass, taking mountain roads to enter Xiama Village.

Currently, Tuotuokou belongs to Ningxia, while Xiamazhai belongs to Shaanxi, each controlling the transportation routes of Qingbai salt.

It makes tax collection easier and also makes it easier to combat smuggling!

There was no major trouble in Yanzhou this time. The area is extremely barren and doesn't rely on agriculture and animal husbandry for a living.

Chapter 3892 Yanzhou

Moreover, in order to stabilize the salt industry, the imperial court would not allow any unrest here.

After the fall of Western Xia, they simply eliminated the powerful and influential people in Yanzhou without even bothering to find a basic excuse, let alone trying to lure them out to rebel.

The main salt lakes were all confiscated and converted into government-run facilities.

The remaining scattered small salt ponds were auctioned off to Shaanxi merchants who came after hearing about them.

Each salt pond operating license has an expiration date, and priority will be given to renewing it when the time is up.

Merchants, along with their employees and families, quickly moved here to settle down.

As for the remnants of the Western Xia in Yanzhou, those who knew how to make salt all remained.

Those who did not know how to make salt were relocated to other places to make room for the Han Chinese soldiers and civilians.

The imperial court has issued a strict order: the proportion of Han Chinese in Yanzhou must reach 70%!

"Greetings, Grand Commandant!"

Officials went out of the city to welcome Fu Yuanheng.

Zou Qing, the Imperial Inspector of Ningxia, was also in this area. He believed that with Zhao Ding in charge of Yinchuan Prefecture,

I don't need to focus my investigation there, and I'm too lazy to get into conflicts with the civil and military officials there.

Since Yanzhou was of paramount importance, Zou Qing simply moved there to be stationed permanently, focusing on supervising the civil and military officials there.

After exchanging pleasantries with local officials, Fu Yuanheng followed the group into the city.

That evening, he summoned Zou Qing and asked, "Are there thorough inspections being conducted throughout Ningxia?"

Zou Qing replied, "This year, the focus of our inspection will be on Yanzhou and the surrounding counties, while next year the focus will be on the Hexi Corridor."

"Have you inspected Xuanzhou yet?" Fu Yuanheng asked.

Zou Qing forced a smile and replied, "The number of imperial censors inspecting Ningxia is limited, and it is difficult to cover everything at once."

"The investigation in Xuanzhou was only conducted after the rebellion was quelled."

Fu Yuanheng asked, "What were the results of the inspection?"

Zou Qing said, "Only the fertile land on both sides of the Yellow River has been properly dredged for irrigation."

"The tribe that rebelled this time had not repaired its irrigation system at all."

"Officials from Xuanzhou and Mingsha County both said that there was a shortage of manpower and time, and they had not yet had time to repair the irrigation canals there."

"What do you think?" Fu Yuanheng questioned.

Zou Qing said, "It seems like an excuse, but it's a reasonable pretext, and the censor can't punish me for it. However..."

Fu Yuanheng asked, "But what?"

Zou Qing whispered:

“Some remnants of the rebels fled to Ling County (Lingzhou), where they were captured and taken to the Governor’s Office for trial and sentencing.”

"Those rebels all claimed that they were forced into rebellion."

“They said they did not receive enough disaster relief food, and that the clansmen did not receive enough food rations when they were building water conservancy projects on both sides of the Yellow River.”

"Furthermore, some of the livestock seized in Lingzhou last year should be returned to the various tribes for their livelihood."

"Less than half of the livestock that should have been returned to them were actually given to them; the rest were intercepted by the civil and military officials of Xuanzhou."

"And seeds and farming tools, it seems they weren't given those either."

Fu Yuanheng muttered, "If this is true, those tribes really were forced into rebellion."

The Western Xia armies adopted a scorched-earth policy, and livestock and grain were naturally taken along with them. Most of these supplies were captured by the Ming army.

Some of it must be returned to the people, otherwise it's forcing them to their deaths!

However, the officials of Xuanzhou deliberately acted recklessly, while the wealthy regions on both sides of the Yellow River honestly followed the policies of the imperial court.

In the remaining remote areas, only half of the funds were distributed, with no regard for the lives of farmers and herders.

Fu Yuanheng then asked, "With such a major incident, why are you still staying in Yanzhou?"

Chapter 3893 The Inspectorate

Zou Qing said, "Governor Zhao (Zhao Ding) is very powerful, and the Ningxia Provincial Surveillance Commission is also vying for power with the Censor."

"They took the case on their own and investigated it, which is in accordance with the rules of the imperial court."

“I went to Yinchuan Prefecture last month, and after I had enough of the trouble, I came to Yanzhou. I left two censors to accompany me in the trial.”

"I can check the case files after they've finished their review."

Fu Yuanheng scolded, "Foolish! If you don't fight now, when will you?"

The power of the Censorate was growing, and the censors were very unpopular.

Especially in local areas, if it is possible to prevent censors from interfering, then censors should be resolutely excluded!

Moreover, local officials also have a territorial mentality: This is my territory, what are you, an imperial censor, babbling about?

The number of censors was limited, and it was impossible for them to personally investigate cases all over the country.

Therefore, the main bodies responsible for handling cases at the local level are still the judicial officers at the prefectural level and the provincial-level judicial commissioners.

Censors can only request supervision during the handling of cases or raise questions after the cases have been handled.

Forcing a joint investigation is possible, but it will inevitably lead to unpleasantness with local officials.

Zou Qing sighed and said, "Zhao Ding is the governor appointed by His Majesty, and his power is much greater than that of an ordinary provincial governor."

"He insisted on taking the case, so it wasn't really appropriate for us to argue with him."

"Anyway, the case is there. If he dares to show favoritism, he'll be asking for trouble."

Fu Yuanheng pursed his lips and said nothing more.

Although all the censors in the Censorate were ranked, they were not subordinate to each other.

Even the head of the Censorate, the Left Censor-in-Chief, had the same powers and responsibilities as ordinary censors in principle.

Although Fu Yuanheng is senior and of high rank, Zou Qing can ignore what he says if he's willing to go all out.

Only when handling a specific case is an investigation team temporarily formed, and there is a strict division of duties among the team members.

Subordinates must obediently follow the instructions given by their superiors.

Moreover, Fu Yuanheng is now the head of the Military Supervisory Commission of the Inspectorate, and he is no longer in the same sub-system as Zou Qing.

The next day, Fu Yuanheng changed his itinerary and headed straight for Yinchuan Prefecture.

Several miles from Yanzhou City, Zou Qing rode up and said, "Fu Junzheng, I've decided to go and take a look."

……

Yinchuan Prefecture, Ningxia Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office.

Yang Yuan, the prefect of Xuanzhou, was terrified, but he still refused to admit it: "Those are all rebels, they're just making baseless accusations."

"Does the Provincial Surveillance Commission not trust court officials, but believe the false accusations of rebels?"

"Livestock, grain, seeds, and farm tools have all been distributed in full according to the official documents. The officials of Xuanzhou have been incredibly benevolent."

"But what about these rebels? Instead of appreciating the Emperor's boundless grace, they plotted to rebel and restore the Xia dynasty. Upon receiving the news, we immediately dispatched troops to suppress them."

"The rebels, having their plot thwarted, naturally harbor resentment, which is why they falsely accused the civil and military officials of Xuanzhou. We implore the Provincial Inspector to investigate thoroughly!"