At the beginning, I became a county magistrate with greed of 500 million. The empress asked me to be

The next morning, the prefectural government office reopened.

Under Xia Yun's arrangement, Xu Wan'er had already prepared for disaster relief.

Early in the morning, the team responsible for disaster relief rushed towards the four gates of Jiangning City.

At the same time, notices were posted along the way, asking all displaced refugees in and outside Jiangning City to go to the porridge shed for meals every morning, noon and evening.

"Sir, according to official practice, when a new prefect takes office, he must personally visit the local governor's office and the governor's office."

In the lobby of the government office, Xia Yun was checking the accounts when Xu Wan'er suddenly reminded him.

Hearing this, Xia Yun paused for a moment.

"I have just arrived at the prefecture and have been traveling a long way, so I will not visit them."

Xia Yun was too lazy to pay attention.

When he arrived in Jiangning yesterday, the Governor-General and the Governor-General had not even sent a single official letter, which was enough to explain their mentality.

"These messed up accounts of Jiang Ning are totally wrong. Send someone to investigate immediately. No matter what means are used, find out what has been going on in Jiang Ning over the years!"

In less than a quarter of an hour, Xia Yun's brows slightly frowned.

"Yes, my lord."

Xu Wan'er nodded silently.

"Issue a notice immediately. From today onwards, all commercial business rights in Jiangning City will be taken over by the prefectural government."

Since the account books could not be checked clearly, Xia Yun simply didn't bother to pay attention to it for the time being.

Or he should follow the method he used in Dai County and first take back the operating rights of all commercial projects to the government.

Then let a group of wealthy businessmen participate in the bidding.

The advantage of doing this is that a large amount of funds can be obtained in a short period of time.

After all, with the prosperity of Jiangning City, there are so many commercial projects of all kinds.

With the addition of a large number of wealthy businessmen, there is no need to worry about no one participating in the bidding.

Of course, the disadvantages of doing so are also extremely obvious.

Giving the government the operating rights of all commercial projects would inevitably lead to resistance from local nobles.

Especially those current officials who are in collusion with local gentry will definitely stand up to stop it.

This kind of thing had happened in Dai County before.

At that time, Xia Yun's approach was also very simple, only one word.

kill!

No matter how many people stand up to oppose, kill them all!

This is the ruthless side of Xia Yun.

"Are you sure you want to take all of them over to the government?"

Xu Wan'er was still a little worried about Xia Yun's decision.

Jiangning is not as good as Daixian.

For example, the well-known Jiangning salt merchants have been operating in Jiangnan for many years and have deep-rooted and complex networks.

Many of these families have been officials for generations, and some have even held positions in the imperial court.

It is not an easy task to take back the management rights from those people.

"Take it all back."

"Also, you should write a memorial to the court immediately and present this matter to His Majesty. I believe His Majesty will definitely support us."

Xia Yun's mouth curled up slightly.

By now, he had guessed the Empress's intention in sending him to Jiangning.

They just want him to stir up the muddy water in the officialdom of Jianghuai Province!

That being the case, as long as he doesn't do anything too outrageous in Jianghuai Province, the empress will undoubtedly support him.

"Yes, sir, I'll do it right away."

Feeling Xia Yun's firm will, Xu Wan'er no longer hesitated and turned around to handle what Xia Yun had asked her to do.

Time passed slowly, and in the blink of an eye it was already noon.

Xia Yun sat in the lobby of the prefectural government office, his mind full of thoughts on how to take advantage of all the wealthy and powerful merchants in Jiangning.

But I never thought.

A burst of rapid drum beating interrupted Xia Yun's thoughts.

"Whoever beats the drum, bring him to the government office!"

Xia Yun immediately gave the order.

After a while, the bailiffs brought in a ragged and dirty middle-aged man from outside the prefectural gate.

"Who is this person in the hall, and why do you want to beat the drum to complain?"

Xia Yun took a look at the man's attire and appearance, and found that there was something obviously inconsistent.

"Your Excellency the Prefect, I am Zhang Yuandao, the magistrate of Huaian County, which is under Jiangning. There is a great injustice in Xiaguan, and I hope the Prefect will investigate it!"

The man burst into tears as he spoke, and then he fell to his knees with a thud.

Hearing this, Xia Yun first raised his eyebrows.

Magistrate of Huaian County?

Logically speaking, being an official in the Daliang Dynasty would not have fallen into such poverty.

What happened to Zhang Yuandao?

"What grievance do you have? Tell me the truth as soon as possible."

After thinking for a moment, Xia Yun's expression remained unchanged.

"Your Excellency, five days ago, I was distributing grain to relieve the disaster in Huai'an County. Unexpectedly, a group of thieves broke into the county government office late at night and killed 23 people in my Huai'an County government office. They also stole all the grain for disaster relief in Huai'an County."

"Then the Jianghuai Provincial Governor's Office sent people to arrest you. Without further ado, they charged you with colluding with Japanese pirates, slaughtering government officials, and smuggling disaster relief grain!"

"I have a great injustice, please, sir, please look into it and save me!"

As Zhang Yuandao spoke, he couldn't control his tears anymore.

At this moment, Zhang Yuandao looked weathered, as if he had really suffered a great injustice.

Tongwa?

After listening to Zhang Yuandao's story, Xia Yun directly grasped the key point of the matter.

As far as he knew, there were indeed many Japanese pirates in the coastal areas of Jianghuai Province and Fujian Province.

In the Daliang Dynasty, collusion with the Japanese was a serious crime punishable by the execution of nine generations of the clan.

Once you are charged with this crime, it is no joke.

"Where are you from?"

Suddenly, Xia Yun realized a serious problem.

Since Zhang Yuandao has been convicted of collaborating with the Japanese invaders by the governor's office, he should now be imprisoned in the dungeon of the governor's office.

Why did he suddenly come to his prefectural government?

"Reporting to the Lord, I was convicted on the spot by the people sent by the governor's office in Huai'an County. I was escorted to Jiangning last night. On the way, I encountered a group of thieves and robbed them. I took advantage of the chaos to escape."

"On the way, I learned from the refugees outside the city that the new prefect of Jiangning has arrived, so I risked my life to come here. I hope you can investigate the unjust case of this humble official!"

Zhang Yuandao responded.

Hearing this, Xia Yun fell into deep thought again.

He had already realized the unusualness of this case.

Judging from Zhang Yuandao's description, this case is indeed full of doubts.

As a county magistrate in the Jianghuai province, even if Zhang Yuandao really had collusion with the Japanese pirates, he should have been strictly investigated by government offices at all levels in the Jianghuai province before being convicted.

How could the governor's office just send people to Huai'an County and directly sentence someone to death?

This is too much of a joke.

Moreover, how could they be robbed during the escort process and let a serious criminal like Zhang Yuandao, who colluded with the Japanese, escape?

The other party even came to the prefectural yamen for unknown reasons!

Xia Yun, who has always had a strong sense of crisis, smelled a scent of danger from these events.

"Order to immediately detain Zhang Yuandao. No one is allowed to meet with Zhang Yuandao in private without the consent of this prefect!"

After thinking for a while, Xia Yun gave the order in a deep voice.

Now that the matter had fallen to the prefectural government, he had no way out.

If he ignored this matter, and if Zhang Yuandao really had collusion with the Japanese, he would release Zhang Yuandao.

Who knows, someone in the officialdom of Jianghuai Province might accuse him of releasing a criminal who colluded with the Japanese!

By then, even if he was sent by the empress herself, the other party would most likely push him out as a scapegoat.