Mind reading, the emperor saw my fist hard

It was not that Emperor Xuan did not believe what the woman said, but that for more than ten years in a row, Liangzhou had reported to Emperor Xuan that the weather was good, the harvest was good, and there were no natural or man-made disasters.

Many officials were promoted from Liangzhou in the past few decades, but no official has ever said a bad word about Liangzhou.

"His Majesty!"

Liu Yunniang, who was kneeling on the ground, cried out in a voice like blood.

"Of course Liangzhou can report good news every year, because the officials of Liangzhou are well fed and well fed, while the people of Liangzhou are suffering."

"Liangzhou..."

At this moment, the Chrysanthemum Garden was completely silent, and the sound of music also stopped.

At this time, a voice was particularly loud.

[Oh my god! Are there so many types of taxes? ]

[Gray flour tax, winter melon tax, pen tax, ink tax, paper tax, dung tax, dry dung tax, liquid dung tax, urine tax, beard tax, cows have to pay cow tax, dogs have to pay dog ​​tax, pigs have to pay pig dung tax, ducks have to pay duck tax...]

[This is really outrageous, it's outrageous to the extreme. If so many taxes are paid, will the people of Liangzhou still have a chance to survive? ]

【Isn't it said that in ancient times, only land taxes and military service were collected? 】

Behind the crowd, Yang Shengfa, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, felt his legs go weak and he almost fell to the ground.

He was the official who was promoted from Liangzhou and now held the rank of the third rank. Of course, he knew all about the tricks of Liangzhou. He also had a part in the fact that the affairs of Liangzhou could be concealed from Emperor Xuan over the years.

After his legs became weak, the right assistant minister dragged his legs, which were as soft as noodles, and tried to leave the Chrysanthemum Garden to tell people the news.

The next moment, the right assistant minister was held down by his colleagues.

The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, the father of the unlucky man who smashed his uncle's carriage, held Yang Shengfa down with excitement on his face. He wanted to make the contribution that came to his doorstep.

"Sir Yang, I remember you were the governor of Liangzhou!"

After being held down by someone, Yang Shengfa collapsed to the ground, knowing that he could not run away.

I would not miss such a great achievement.

Feces tax, urine tax, what kind of messed up taxes are these? Emperor Xuan couldn't help but turn his gaze to the woman kneeling on the ground.

If Liangzhou really levied so many taxes and fees, the people of Liangzhou would have no way to survive.

It is good luck that there has been no civil unrest in the past ten years or so.

Emperor Xuan sat down on a stone by the roadside with a grim look on his face and nodded to the leader of the imperial guards.

The leader of the Imperial Guard understood Emperor Xuan's intention and ran out without looking back to mobilize the Imperial Guards in the capital. Soon, the sound of neighing horses and orderly footsteps could be heard outside Princess Yun Ran's mansion.

The entire princess's mansion was surrounded by the imperial guards, ensuring that not even a bird could fly out.

There was no sound in the entire Chrysanthemum Garden. The boys and girls who were attending the blind date party were not sent away. They all looked at the changes in the scene with pale faces.

And suddenly they could no longer hear the voice of the Princess of Zhengyang County, and they were even more terrified about what was happening now.

After dealing with these matters, Emperor Xuan once again reached out to the inner guards.

The inner guard knew what His Majesty wanted, but he had no more paper on him.

After thinking about it, he handed the handkerchief in his sleeve to Emperor Xuan.

Emperor Xuan was also confused when he reached out to take the stack of handkerchiefs, but it didn't matter. This was all a way to fool Xu Jinyu. From such a distance, Xu Jinyu couldn't see clearly what he was holding in his hand.

Sure enough, the next moment Xu Jinyu's inner voice came.

[Ah! As expected of the Internal Guards, the person who filed the complaint has just arrived, and the matter of Liangzhou has been investigated. Does the Internal Guards know the details of every person who enters the capital? ]

[Too amazing! So amazing! How did they figure it out? Do they have spies in the market? It could be a vendor selling candied haws, or a prostitute in a brothel, or even more likely, every person who passes by you...]

Listening to Xu Jinyu's various imaginations about the inner guards, Emperor Xuan couldn't help but twitch his lips even though he was furious.

How did Xu Jinyu see that the internal guards are so powerful? They are not gods who can go to heaven and earth and appear and disappear at will.

"Liu Yunniang, right? I already know about Liangzhou's situation. Now tell me what the situation is like in Liangzhou?"

Liu Yunniang was also confused. She hadn't said a few words yet, so how did His Majesty know about it? If he knew about it, why didn't he care? Aren't the people of Liangzhou the subjects of Daqian?

But Liu Yunniang didn't dare to question the emperor.

He could only lower his head and hold up the scroll that had just fallen out of his clothes: "Your Majesty! The thirty-two counties in Liangzhou are almost in the same situation. Some remote counties have even intensified their taxation. After the autumn harvest every year, the people have less than 100 kilograms of grain left in their hands. The people can only barely survive the winter by relying on wild vegetables in the mountains."

"But we have to rely on wild vegetables and fruits from the mountains to make a living, and we have to pay a mountain field tax."

"There are still troops stationed at the border of Liangzhou. The people cannot flee to other prefectures, and can only endure the hardship in Liangzhou. This year, Liangzhou is suffering from drought and grain production has decreased, but the taxes to be collected are not less at all. After the taxes are collected, the people have almost no food left at home, and they can't survive the winter at all. If this continues, Liangzhou will surely be in turmoil."

"When the imperial court sends troops to suppress the civil unrest, the people of Liangzhou will be the ones to die. I cannot bear to see the people of Liangzhou die again, so I risk my life to file a complaint with the emperor."

"good very good!"

After the civil unrest was suppressed, the officials of Liangzhou colluded with each other. The cause of the civil unrest found by the court's investigation was inevitably that the untouchables were unsatisfied and dissatisfied with the court.

Then move people there from other places and let the officials of Liangzhou continue to cause harm.

Emperor Xuan did not get angry but laughed instead, and directly asked the Minister of Personnel: "Who are the officials who have been promoted from Liangzhou in recent years?"

The Minister of Personnel had more sweat on his forehead than anyone else. The Ministry of Personnel was in charge of the promotion of officials all over the world. He was completely unaware of what happened in Liangzhou.

"His Majesty!······"

"Your Majesty! Yang Shengfa, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, is the official who was promoted in Liangzhou."

Before the Minister of Personnel could finish his words, the Left Vice Minister and the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice dragged Yang Shengfa over and threw him in front of Emperor Xuan.

It wasn't that Yang Shengfa didn't want to come over, but his legs were really weak. As an official, he knew the seriousness of the crime he had committed.

If there were to be a civil unrest in Liangzhou, all the officials related to Liangzhou would inevitably be implicated along with their entire clans.

Besides, with Lord Xu here, no official from Liangzhou can escape.

No! I can't wait to die. My baby has just been born. At least I can't let my entire family be implicated.

Yang Shengfa, who was sitting on the ground, knelt up tremblingly: "Your Majesty! I know I am guilty and I am willing to make amends for my crime."

"Yang Shengfa, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites."

Emperor Xuan naturally knew the visitor, and he had a good impression of this official.

[Yang Shengfa, let me see what he did? ]

Emperor Xuan certainly knew the third-rank official. After hearing Xu Jinyu's thoughts, he sneered and said, "Hurry up and speak. If you don't speak faster, I don't have the patience to listen."

"Yes!"

Yang Shengfa, a promoted official in Liangzhou, paid special attention to it and of course remembered it clearly.

"The Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the Ministry of Personnel's examination of merit and the Ministry of Personnel's clean-up of officials, the Ministry of Personnel's director is in charge of the Ministry of Personnel's rectification of the wind, the Ministry of Revenue's director is in charge of the money, the Ministry of War's Langzhongling..."

Yang Shengfa called out more than a dozen names in one breath, fearing that if he was too slow, Xu Jinyu would say them first.

"That's all I remember. Each of these officials got at least 100,000 taels of silver from Liangzhou, and I also have 200,000 taels of silver in my home."

"And... there is also the retired Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. He was the first person to do this and he also had the most silver, at least one million taels."

"Your Majesty, please spare my life. I know I am guilty. Please do not implicate my family members because I am willing to confess."

After saying this, Yang Shengfa began to kowtow.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

He knocked his head very hard, and soon his forehead was covered in blood. He looked so pitiful.

But Emperor Xuan was not shaken at all. If he was pitiful, then weren’t the people of Liangzhou also pitiful?

What is the difference between his family enjoying the hard-earned money he extorted and eating the flesh and blood of the people of Liangzhou?

[Although Yang Shengfa's family can't be said to have committed all sorts of evil deeds, they are not good people either.]