Chapter 65: The Hidden Disease of Officialdom

First there was the Carriage and Horse Bank, then the Royal Trade House, then the Royal Bank. The branches of the three industry giants in Zhenjiang, Shen Chongming went one by one. The simple thing to do in these places is to check the accounts.

Although it was a rough rummaging, with the ten experienced old bookkeepers temporarily seconded from Ying Tianfu, there was no way to hide Shen Chongming from Shen Chongming if there was any trick in this account.

However, the results of the ten-day audit made Shen Chongming very satisfied, except for the discovery of a few of the principals below, eating, drinking, squandering, and falsely reporting some accounts, no major problems were found. In line with the purpose of preventing micro-means and gradually killing chickens and monkeys, Shen Chong's name was also ruthless, and he directly ordered people to send these bold guys to the yamen, and the crime was to embezzle ink and silver.

The Tongzhi Lord, who temporarily held the power of the prefect, saw that it was a prisoner sent by Lord Shen, the speed of handling the case can be said to be rare for eternity, and the evidence was not needed, and it only took a cup of tea to sentence these people to a punishment of hard labor for three years.

As a result, Shen Chongming was still worried that Lord Tongzhi would use a heavy sentence to send someone to greet him in advance for his own reasons, otherwise these people would at least have to be imprisoned for life.

After finishing this matter, Shen Chongming went to the maritime yamen of Zhenjiang Mansion with great fanfare, and the banner was no longer the commander of the Jinyi Guard, but the top boss, the governor of the maritime yamen.

Yesterday evening, the news that Shen Chongming was going to come to inspect reached the ears of Deng Youcai, the governor of the Maritime Yamen of Zhenjiang Prefecture, and Deng Youcai, who had been worried for nearly ten days, breathed a sigh of relief, and his head fell off a big scar, since he dared to accept bribes, then he had to bear the consequences! And I have already thought of a way to deal with it, and I am eighty percent sure that all the crimes will be cleaned up.

"Deng Youcai, Governor of the Maritime Yamen of Zhenjiang Maritime Affairs of Xiaguan, see Lord Governor." Watching the eight-lift sedan chair with the head step out of the official boots, Deng Youcai knelt on the ground. The old man is tall and high, and his attitude is still humble.

"Hahaha, Lord Deng, you have the wrong God." There was a hearty laugh in front of him, and Deng Youcai looked up and saw that it was a big man with a rough face, not at all the rumored and suave appearance of the governor.

After a little hesitation, Deng Youcai concluded that the person in front of him was Liu Shouyou, a fellow acquaintance of Jinyi Wei who had not appeared for many days, and hurriedly kowtowed: "I've seen Lord Liu." ”

"Hehe, Lord Deng, hurry up, you and I both work for the emperor, but you don't have to be so reasonable." Liu Shouyou was most annoyed by these cumbersome etiquettes, and he directly stretched out his hand to lift up the short Deng Youcai, with an understated expression, as if he was catching a child.

was lifted up, thinking that there were still a group of subordinates behind him who were watching, Deng Youcai couldn't help but look pale. This martial artist is so rude!

"Lord Deng, with such a big formation, why don't you do the yamen errand?" Shen Chongming walked over with a tiger face, although he enjoyed this feeling of admiration from all the people, but for official business, he could only do it!

Deng Youcai looked up, and recognized him at a glance as the rumored God of Wealth Shen Chongming, and once again bent his knees on the ground, and bowed: "Lord Qiqi, all my colleagues heard that the Lord was coming to our company, and they all wanted to see the face of the Lord to show their admiration. This is human nature, and it is really difficult for the lower officials to refuse. ”

The sycophants were very explicit, and even a top sycophant master like Shen Chongming couldn't stand it in his heart, his face was slightly red and he waved his hand and said: "Hurry up and be polite, don't do this in the future, wouldn't it harm the reputation of my maritime yamen if I miss official business." ”

"What the adults teach me is that the lower officials must keep it in mind." Deng Youcai hurriedly nodded yes, but he was a lot relieved in his heart, it seems that this Lord Shen is not a character who can't get into oil and salt, so it's easy to do.

Entering the yamen, looking at the courtyard with an elegant layout full of Jiangnan atmosphere, the corners of Shen Chongming's mouth couldn't help but pick, this Deng Youcai is really talented, the yamen is about to be built by him City Garden, at this level, I am afraid it will cost a lot of silver taels.

"My lord, the back garden of my Zhenjiang Maritime Yamen is very Jiangnan characteristics, and it is really a good place for self-cultivation. Especially waiting for the late autumn, the garden scenery is even more beautiful, if you have leisure, you can bring your wife and son to enjoy it, and then please give me the ink treasure, so that my colleagues in Zhenjiang can open their eyes. Deng Youcai said with a smile.

This scholar has a good view, especially Shen Chongming, who was born in Jiangnan, must be good too. Knowing that he has a lot of money, he doesn't need to bribe him with real money and white bank, he just wants to get along every day to show filial piety, which the court officials can't say anything.

Shen Chongming smiled and didn't speak, but he was already a little angry in his heart, this Deng Youcai is so bold, could it be that the silver of the maritime yamen was used to build a garden to curry favor with Shangguan?

Entering the back hall, Shen Chongming said as soon as he sat down: "Lord Deng, I heard that you have a good relationship with Gou Daquan?" ”

The words that came out of the cold immediately shocked Deng Youcai, who was still fluttering just now, into a cold sweat, and hurriedly defended: "My lord, Xia Guan and Master Gou are just colleagues, and there is no friendship in private. This time, he was punished by the law, and the shock to the lower officials was not small, and he will definitely be more conscientious in the future to work on behalf of the court and serve the emperor. ”

"Hehe, if you really think like that, it would be great. But I heard that in the past two years, you have made a lot of efforts to the prosperity of Zhenjiang Warehouse. Shen Chongming pressed forward step by step, but he didn't give Deng Youcai the slightest chance to breathe.

Although he has not appeared here in the past few days, as the governor of the maritime yamen, how could Shen Chongming ignore it, especially this kind of government yamen where one person asserts that there is no one to check and balance, it is definitely easier to breed corruption than the three major banks. So in the past ten days, there has been a team of Jinyi captains secretly learning about the affairs of the Zhenjiang Maritime Yamen.

I don't know if I don't check, but a check scares Shen Chongming a lot. In just one year, Deng Youcai, who went from a six-grade official in Yingtianfu to serve in the Zhenjiang Maritime Yamen, actually had two mansions in Zhenjiang Mansion, and his uncle opened a weaving workshop and two pawnshops in Zhenjiang! It is estimated that these three shops are worth more than 200,000 taels of silver.

Although it can be said that Deng Youcai will take care of his uncle in the face of his relatives, such a big deal is not something that his pungent uncle who wandered the streets all day long when he was in Ying Tianfu can hold it up within a year, and without a large amount of investment, he doesn't dare to say that he can do it. So where the money came from is a big problem.

Thinking about it, the biggest possibility is that Deng Youcai is the owner behind these three shops, and his silver must have been obtained by accepting bribes.

Sending someone to check along this line, everything immediately became clear, this Deng Youcai dared to blatantly ask for bribes, and the reason why the Zhenjiang Warehouse is becoming more and more prosperous is that he has made great contributions, and the merchants who come and go are all for his face to spend a high price to store the goods in the Zhenjiang Warehouse. Based on this, it can be concluded that Deng Youcai received the benefits of Zhenjiang Warehouse!

In addition to being angry, Shen Chongming wanted to meet this bold guy for a while, the laws of the imperial court hung high above his head, and he dared to turn a deaf ear to his repeated orders, and if he didn't punish him well, the maritime yamen in various places had to follow suit?

Unexpectedly, this Deng Youcai is not a vegetarian, since the accident in the Zhenjiang warehouse, he realized that the fire would burn to himself sooner or later, and he thought of a way to get out early in the morning.

"My lord, for the Zhenjiang warehouse, Xiaguan did contribute a lot, but during this period, Xiaguan didn't ask for a penny of silver. As for the fact that they are against the party, then the lower officials don't know about it. ”

"I didn't take a penny, so why would you help them for no reason?" Shen Chongming looked incredulous, and this birdman was not afraid to flash his tongue.

"Lord Qiqi, you have always said that our maritime yamen should provide convenience for merchants in various places to promote the development of commerce and trade, and the lower officials have done this in accordance with your meaning." Deng Youcai's eyes crossed a trace of pride, you Shen Chongming is a cocoon and self-restraint.

Shen Chongming was immediately stunned, but he didn't expect this guy to prevaricate himself with his own words. Surprise is surprise, but the anger in his heart is even greater, but he is a cunning fellow.

"Hehe, the official said that it would provide convenience for merchants, but he didn't say that you would be allowed to solicit business for others. It is because of your evil deeds that the Zhenjiang Warehouse is dominant, and they arbitrarily raise the price of the stored goods, which seriously damages the interests of the past merchants. But with you helping Zhenjiang Warehouse, the merchants dared to be angry and didn't dare to speak, so they could only swallow their anger. Such an abuse of the power granted by the imperial court, could it be that this official taught you nothing?! Shen Chong's reputation was so strong that his fingers almost hit Deng Youcai's head.

Unexpectedly, Shen Chongming dismissed all his excuses without thinking about it, and Deng Youcai, who had always been confident, inevitably panicked, took a step back and knelt on the ground, "My lord, the lower officials are kind." As for what Zhenjiang Warehouse did, the lower officials didn't understand it at all, otherwise they would have been courtiers a long time ago. ”

"Hmph, are you kind enough to say it yourself, and it doesn't count if the official says it." Shen Chongming flicked his sleeves and said, "Tomorrow, the Japanese officials will summon the merchants who have been stationed in Zhenjiang City in the past few days, and they will have a judgment on your actions." ”

"My lord......" Deng Youcai looked panicked, and was about to quibble again, but was interrupted by Shen Chongming stretching out his hand.

"Needless to say, tomorrow you will go to the prefect's yamen by yourself." Putting down these words, Shen Chongming turned his head and ordered: "Seal the official documents of the yamen's account books and bring them all back to this official." ”

After saying this, Shen Chongming didn't look at Deng Youcai, who was drenched in cold sweat, and turned around and walked out.

"Brother, aren't you idle, you knew this, just ordered someone to bring Deng Youcai to the mansion." Out of the maritime yamen, Liu Shouyou turned around and said to Shen Chongming.

"Alas, I didn't expect that my maritime yamen has only been established for more than a year, and it has given birth to corrupt officials, what should I do if I continue like this?" Shen Chongming frowned, it was not a big deal to catch Deng Youcai, the last thing he wanted to see was that a new yamen was contaminated with the bad habits of officialdom, if it was really unofficial and not greedy, no matter how good the scriptures were, they would have to read them crookedly.

Liu Shouyou also understands that he didn't directly arrest Deng Youcai this time, he must have fantasized about him. It's just a pity that this Deng Youcai's flamboyant tongue made Shen Chongming anxious under all kinds of quibbles.

"Okay, after all, it's just Deng Youcai, and there are few ink-greedy people in that yamen." Liu Shouyou explained.

Shen Chongming shook his head and said worriedly: "The power of the maritime yamen is too great, I'm afraid that others will be like Deng Youcai." ”

"Hehe, I'm afraid it's not the solution to the problem, brother, I believe that brother, you have your own way to solve this matter." Liu Shouyou patted Shen Chongming's shoulder and said, I look like I'm optimistic about you.

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