Farming and reading family

Everyone was stunned when they heard this, and then they cheered that God had opened his eyes.

"Where are the people?" Cao Geng thought those people were looking for death and actually ran to Baotou Village.

"It's just outside the city." Youwei led the way.

I thought it would be a protracted battle of wits and courage, but in the end it was all nothing in the face of absolute power.

After making sure that all the rebels had been brought to justice, Cao Geng began to write a memorial, requesting tax reduction for all counties.

The county government office was burned down, so Cao Geng had to temporarily stay in Gao E's inn. Fortunately, this inn had a courtyard.

"Sir." Ji Wuyang knocked on the door.

Cao Geng glanced at Ji Wuyang and put down his pen: "Are those traitors ready to be recruited?"

"They confessed a lot. They said they robbed a group of people outside the city of Qinzhou. The group said they were subordinates of Mr. Deng, the prefect of Qinzhou. The total amount of cash, treasures, calligraphy and paintings they transported was more than 100,000 taels." Ji Wuyang said in a low voice.

Cao Geng took a deep breath. How long had Deng Yu been the prefect? ​​He actually had so much silver.

"If you hand these people over to the provincial government, this matter will probably not be concealed," Ji Wuyang reminded.

When Cao Geng heard Ji Wuyang say this, he looked hesitant.

"Since my lord is busy, I will take my leave first." Seeing Cao Geng hesitate, Ji Wuyang took his leave directly.

Cao Geng was indeed hesitant. He planned to hand over these rebels, but he was not sure what would happen to them when they reached Deng Yu.

He kept thinking about what Xu Boyan had said to him, hoping that he could stick to his original intention and serve as an official for a few more years so that the people under his rule could live a better life.

Ji Wuyang left the inn and told You Wei and the others to guard He County. He then mounted his horse and headed straight for Baotou Village.

When the villagers saw that it was Ji Wuyang, they opened the village gate. Ji Wuyang rode his horse directly to the door of Chen's house before dismounting.

"What happened?" Gao E saw Ji Wuyang coming in a hurry.

Ji Wuyang explained the incident of the rebels robbing Deng Yu of his belongings: "Looking at Cao Geng's behavior, I think he wants to hand over all the people and belongings to the provincial government."

"Where are those valuables?" Gao E asked directly.

"The gold, silver, and jewelry were directly divided up, and the antiques and calligraphy and paintings were buried in a cave not far from where they robbed."

Gao E lowered her eyes and thought for a moment: "Where are those people being held?"

"Our people are watching the charity cemetery in He County."

"Tonight, say those people tried to escape and kill them all." Gao E said directly.

Those people may have been oppressed tenants or slaves in the past, but when they extended their hands to the weaker ones, they became complete bad guys.

Ji Wuyang thought the same thing. Only by turning them into numbers on the memorial would things be simpler: "Okay."

Before Cao Geng could decide what to do about this matter, someone came from Yizhuang to report that the rebels who attempted to escape had been killed and their confession files had been burned.

okay.

Don't think about it now.

He burned the memorial he had written and rewrote it, saying that all the rebels and troublemakers in the county had been executed.

Deng Yu has been having a hard time recently. On the one hand, he has to guard against the rebels attacking the city, and on the other hand, he has to raise more money to send back to his clan.

He collected money in the name of resisting rebels, especially from those who came to Tanzhou City for refuge, but the amount collected was too small, and Lord Yan was still keeping an eye on it.

Because there are indeed traitors now.

When he received the document from Cao Geng, he was a little surprised. Those people who robbed his money did not come to him, but instead ran to He County.

Thinking of this, Deng Yu stood up suddenly and said, "Prepare the horses and go to He County."

It's impossible that so much money disappeared in such a short time.

When Deng Yu arrived in He County, Cao Geng was leading people to clean up the government office that had been completely burned down.

"Lord Deng." Cao Geng came over and saluted with a gloomy face. "Lord Deng, you have come at the right time. The Hexian government office was burned down by rebels. The court needs to allocate some money to rebuild it."

Deng Yu came to ask for money, but before he could even open his mouth, he was asked for money: "I will report this matter."

"Then hurry up." Cao Geng worried. "If it's delayed until the end of the year, I won't even have a place to handle government affairs."

Deng Yu looked down on officials like Cao Geng, who came from poor backgrounds. Even after becoming an official, he was still stingy and thrifty: "Building a government office is quite complicated. Your documents say that all the rebels are dead?"

"Yes." Cao Geng nodded.

"Those rebels burned, killed, and looted everywhere and accumulated a lot of silver and money. Why didn't you mention it in your documents?" Deng Yu asked directly.

Cao Geng was stunned for a moment: "I haven't seen any money."

Deng Yu looked at Cao Geng's stunned expression and felt that Cao Geng really didn't know: "How do you manage the people below you?"

"Your Excellency, you may not know that those rebels pretended to be refugees. I originally blocked them outside the city and sealed the gates, but the people in the city were suffering, so they asked for permission to open the gates."

"After that, they were peaceful for a few days, paralyzed us, and suddenly attacked at night, and robbed many wealthy families. It was a mess at the time, and I was really powerless to do anything." Cao Geng said helplessly.

Deng Yu frowned: "With the few yamen runners you have in He County, where can we find the people to quell the rebellion?"

"We are united as one among the officials and people of the county, and we work together. These mere rebels are nothing to worry about." Cao Geng said honestly.

He didn't want to take credit for the achievements of Ji Wuyang and the others, but he didn't want them to be targeted by Deng Yu.

He was sure that the rebels had no intention of escaping, but were killed.

"Not a single one alive?" Deng Yu didn't believe it.

"There were a few who tried to escape and burned down the charity cemetery, burning the injured to death inside. I'll take Lord Deng to see them." Cao Geng said as he was about to leave.

"No need." Deng Yu felt annoyed.

In this case, there is no need to think about those things of his.

"Sir, you'd better go and take a look. It's so terrible." Cao Geng said with emotion.

Deng Yu simply turned sideways and said, "You have been meritorious in suppressing the rebels. I will submit a memorial requesting the reconstruction of the county government office."

"Thank you, sir." Cao Geng saluted.

He thought he was not good at saying these things, but when he really said them, it didn't seem that difficult.

Officials like Deng Yu, who come from aristocratic families, clearly have enough food and clothing, but deep down they still want to exploit the people.

Deng Yu tried again several times, but Cao Geng answered honestly every time.

In short, the person died, the confession was burned, and their entire county was robbed. That's all.

"The honeycomb coal tax I told you about before has been paid by Qinzhou City for two years. Why hasn't your Hexian County collected it yet?" Deng Yu changed the subject.

"Your Excellency hasn't issued any written documents." Cao Geng spread his hands. "Besides, it's Lord Xu's property, so it should be tax-exempt."

Deng Yu choked.

Xu Boyan has been very active in the past two years, but this time he goes to Shuoxi and it is probably dangerous, so he will wait a little longer.

"Okay, okay." Deng Yu smiled.

Deng Yu was in an even worse mood after returning empty-handed after a personal trip to He County.

Cao Geng had nothing else to ask Gao E about. When Deng Yu mentioned this matter, Cao Geng happened to come and tell Gao E about it.

"Those people have a lot of money. Even if Lord Cao is not greedy, he can use it to repair the yamen." Gao E said with a smile.

Anyway, all the stuff on Hua Jianxing's men was searched, and the quantity was not small. Gao E divided it among them according to the number of people from the two villages who participated at that time, and everyone was happy.

"There are regulations from the imperial court regarding the construction of government offices, and they cannot be built privately." Cao Geng said with a serious expression.