Ying Tianfu Tongzhi Chen Yi looked at the cold faces of Ying Tianfu Governor Qu Shiyun and Ying Tianfu Yin Chengde, and felt slightly bad in his heart, and hurriedly said: "I don't know why the two superiors summoned the lower officials to come?" ”

"Chen Yi, why was the housekeeper in Zhang Shangshu's Mansion suddenly detained by you and then suddenly released, what did you go to the Household Yamen today, why didn't you report anything to this official or Chengfu Yin first, are you the official of his Household Yamen or my official of Yingtianfu!"

As he spoke, Governor Qu Shiyun slammed the table, and with a bang, the teacup smashed directly to the ground, which frightened Chen Yi for a moment.

"Don't be angry, the lower officials found a very important matter, at that time, the lower officials knew that the two officials were patrolling the city, so they thought that it was the best policy to go directly to the household yamen to report, so they did not report to the two officials first, and asked the two officials to forgive."

Ying Tianfu Tongzhi Chen Yi lowered his head after saying in a slurch.

Qu Shiyun listened to Chen Yi's words, but he also felt that it was a reasonable reason, and he did not debunk Ying Tianfu's knowledge that Chen Yi intended to show his face in front of Shoufu, so he continued to ask: "Then in this case, what is the reason for you to go to the household department, you had better explain the matter today, otherwise, if something goes wrong, we will not take care of you, you must know that there are some things that you can't hide if you want to, once your majesty knows, it will be a river of blood!" ”

Ying Tianfu Tongzhi Chen Yi secretly thought to himself in his heart that this Ying Tian Governor and Ying Tian Governor were not involved in this tax stamp cheating case, and he didn't have to deliberately hide it from them, and he was indeed an official of Ying Tianfu, Qu Shiyun had every right to ask himself about his dismissal first, so he replied:

"Returning to Futai and Fu Yin, the lower officials just felt that there was a problem with the tax stamps of Zhang Shangshu's family, Zhang Shangshu's family was a generation of tea merchants, and the tax stamps should be more than 1,000 silver dollars, so he informed the doubts in his heart to the party department of the left servant of the household department, and the party department asked the lower officials not to disclose the matter, so as not to affect the decision-making above, saying that there are many people involved, including the family teacher."

"The left servant of the household department is elegant", Cheng De read a sentence, and then glanced at Chen Yi: "What about the tax stamps of Zhang Shangshu's family." ”

"Give it to the party department, he said that he would hand it over to the first assistant", Ying Tianfu replied to Chen Yi, who was also worried about whether this matter would really affect his mentor Lu Zhenfei.

"Don't worry, although Ling Shi was the governor of Nanzhili when he set the tax stamps, he was only responsible for the transportation and security of money and grain at that time, and the tax administration was the responsibility of the governor of Yingtian, as well as Yingtianfu", Qu Shiyun saw that Chen Yi was worried, so he said a word, and looked at Yin Chengde of Yingtianfu: "Chengfu Yin, you said this, does Shoufu know about this?" ”

"Xia Guan thinks that Shoufu should not know, His Majesty handed over the matter of taxation to him, if this matter goes wrong, he is the first to lose his head, Shou Fu will never dare to be sloppy in this matter, according to Xia Guan, it may be related to the joint manipulation of the people below, no matter what, this matter must be reported to His Majesty immediately, no matter what, these people cannot be allowed to ruin Your Majesty's plan!"

"The first assistant knows whether he knows or not, and I can't be sure, but you and I, as ministers, should let him know that you are a close minister of the Son of Heaven, and you can go directly to the palace to meet him, and you will enter Beijing overnight to report this matter to His Majesty, this official is the governor of Yingtian, and he has the responsibility to take this matter, and this official needs to immediately go to the household yamen to see the first assistant, and report the matter to him, if the first assistant is involved in this matter, it will inevitably win over the official, if he does not participate in this matter, he can also keep the first assistant."

As soon as Qu Shiyun, the governor of the Heavenly Patrol, said this, Chengde also agreed with his opinion, and hurriedly rode his horse to the Forbidden City.

And Qu Shiyun, the governor of Yingtian, immediately ordered the detention of Huang Jiayun, the imperial historian of the city patrol, and at the same time rushed to the household department in person.

As soon as Qu Shiyun arrived at the household department, he learned that the first assistant had returned home, and only the left attendant of the household department Dang Chongya sat in the hall, and Qu Shiyun had to come to report today's events to the left attendant of the household department.

"Party Department, this is the tax silver collected today, but the strange thing is that there is a big gap between the taxes and silver collected in the East and West Cities", Qu Shiyun was pulled by Dang Chongya before he finished speaking, and asked in a low voice: "Qu Futai, you and I just need to collect taxes, regardless of how much he collects, how can he collect all taxes over the years, what do you say?" ”

Qu Shiyun didn't know when he had an extra bill in his sleeve, but he didn't look at the specific numbers, he only felt a cold sweat on his back, and hurriedly replied: "Xia Guan understands, Xia Guan retires." ”

"It's good to understand, the tax stamps and tax money are left, and the official will personally check them and hand them over to the elder tomorrow morning," Dang Chongya, the left attendant of the household department, ordered.

As soon as he came out, Qu Shiyun went back to his mansion directly, and waited until after the fourth watch, and then quietly left the mansion and went to the mansion of Shoufu Fan Jingwen in disguise.

And Dang Chongya's person also walked back at this time: "Master, Qu Futai didn't enter the palace, nor did he go to Shoufu's mansion, and he went home as soon as he left the household." ”

"That's good, the official can sit back and relax, and when the rumor passes, he can get more than 300,000 silver dollars for nothing, and even if the problem is found out at that time, it is also a problem with the person who sets the tax ticket, and it has little to do with the official."

Dang Chongya, the left attendant of the household department, smiled slightly, and said: "Change all the tax stamps collected, increase them by three times, and then bring them into the palace by the elder tomorrow to show the emperor." ”

……

Fan Jingwen yawned and met with Qu Shiyun, the governor of Yingtian, under the service of the two little maids: "Qitian, is there anything you can't say tomorrow, you have to knock on the door so late." ”

"Ge Lao, if you say something that is not afraid of offending you, if the lower official is a moment late, your head will be gone", as he spoke, Ying Tianxun Governor Qu Shiyun told Fan Jingwen about today's events.

Fan Jingwen, who was still sleepy and unenergetic at first, sat up directly and pointed at Ying Tian Inspector Qu Shiyun: "You, what you said is true?" ”

"The lower officials don't dare to lie to you, it's just that the tax stamps have been handed over to the party department, you have to go to the household department quickly and intercept it, otherwise it's too late, I'm afraid it's too late!" Qu Shiyun replied.

Fan Jingwen also knew that this matter was very important, if it was just groundless, Qu Shiyun would not come to him in the middle of the night, so he immediately ordered loudly: "Change clothes, prepare horses, and go to the household department!" ”

……

Qianqing Palace.

Ying Tianfu Yin Chengde prostrate on the ground, not daring to look at the cold face of Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youzhen.

Zhu Youzhen didn't speak, he didn't know if what Cheng De said was true or false, but at this time he did begin to realize that the officials under him could completely deceive him.

Tax stamps are drawn up by people, once someone really cheats, it is very easy, and the most terrible thing is that it will lead to the powerful rich businessmen to pay less or no taxes, and the small traders to bear huge taxes, so that their own tax reform is counterproductive, will destroy the entire commodity economy of the Ming Dynasty.

"Why didn't I think of this, all reforms are implemented by people, but as long as people have selfish intentions, it will make the reform tasteless", Zhu Youzhen secretly thought to himself.

(End of chapter)