Yan Du brought a lot of officials this time to drive away the guards on Li Huai's mansion, and his people guarded Wanchunyuan.

Knowing that he had come to investigate Yang He's corruption case in the name of the emperor, Hongxuan gave him a big salute.

"His Royal Highness has not cleared his responsibility, but he can come to investigate this case, which is not suitable for the situation or the law, but the emperor still sent you, it can be seen that His Royal Highness has great ability, and he really admires the poor way."

Yan Du squinted, "You don't kidnap me!" ”

"Your Highness has great wisdom that can stabilize the country!"

"I know how much wisdom I have, and I don't accept praise."

"What is even more commendable is that His Highness can recognize himself, not swell, not complacent."

Yan Du was speechless, this old Taoist priest wanted him to sit on that place, be a wise monarch, settle the world, do his best, give up his ego to become a great cause, just like those saints in the book.

His life's wish is to support such a monarch and be a virtuous minister who can also be famous for eternity.

It's a pity that he doesn't have so much righteousness, and he is not so selfless, even if he becomes a monarch, he will not give up his ego. He just wants to live indulgently, how to be happy.

Seeing that Yan Duan was already a little impatient, Liu Yunxiang hurriedly changed the topic: "Quickly take out the account books that you two stole and see if it's useful." ”

Xue Changfeng slapped his forehead, he was really stubble, so he hurriedly took out the account book from his arms. Feng Zheng also took it out, and the two of them were put together, a total of more than a dozen copies.

Everyone gathered around, and Liu Yunxiang asked everyone to take a copy to see if there was any problem.

She picked up a copy, but saw that Yan Du was still sitting in her place, and when she saw her looking at him, she pulled her to her side and sat down.

"Don't you take a look?" Liu Yunxiang asked.

Yan Du snorted, "I don't want to see Yang He actually pit me for nothing." ”

Liu Yunxiang laughed, "You should know that he was forced to do so." ”

"I know, but I just don't want to help him."

"Only children hold grudges."

"What do you mean?"

Liu Yunxiang leaned into Yan Dui's arms, "Let's watch together." ”

Yan Du hugged Liu Yunxiang and secretly kissed him while others were not paying attention, so that he was not so angry. He hugged Liu Yunxiang and looked through the account books with her.

This is a booklet for paying taxes and grains in various places, and they first saw Qi County, because of the great drought last year, the imperial court exempted them from taxes and grain, so their page is empty. Turning back further, other counties did not pay enough.

"Other counties have also been affected?" Yan Du asked.

Liu Yunxiang nodded, "Daoist Chief, they went to investigate, except for Qi County last year, several surrounding counties were also affected, some light and some heavy, so the taxes and grain paid were insufficient. ”

However, these counties were all made up after the harvest last autumn, so in the end it was a 'ping' word.

Yan Du looked at the word 'ping' and hesitated slightly, "Yanzhou has added a three-percent tax more than other places, and it can be made up that year, unless it is a bumper harvest." ”

At this time, Hongxuan turned his head and said: "I asked the ancient county order, and last year's autumn harvest was also affected, and the grain output was not as good as in previous years. ”

Yan Dui's mind turned around, and he continued to look back, such account books are very detailed and clear, and it can be seen that the people pay taxes and grains, and the merchants pay taxes and silver in full, but the account books he gave to the court are fake, and the one million taels of embezzlement is calculated in this way.

Looking further back, Liu Yunxiang suddenly aimed at one place, and was busy only showing Yan Dui: "This Changhe Village, we have been there, the young and middle-aged people in the village have been arrested to join the army, and they have all died, the young women and children have also left, and only the old people are left in the village." Although there is good land, most of it is barren, and only a few acres of land are planted, barely enough to maintain the food rations of the old people in the village. They don't have extra grain to pay taxes, and they scare them by pretending to be ghosts to avoid the collectors. ”

And under this page, the number of taxes and grains paid by Changhe Village is clearly recorded, or after the levy of 30%, which is obviously wrong.

Liu Yunxiang asked Hongxuan and Xue Changfeng to look at other years, and soon they found all of them, since Yang He took office in the past few years, Changhe Village has no record of arrears of taxes and grain, and they have paid in full every year.

Liu Yunxiang put a few account books together, and the matter became clear at once.

"There has never been a million taels, and it has grown in the books of accounts, and it has disappeared in the books of accounts, and has not entered anyone's pocket."

Hongxuan nodded, "This accumulates over time, the amount is getting bigger and bigger, and it can't be hidden, there must be someone to take the pot, so Yang He stood up." ”

Xue Changfeng scratched the back of his head, and didn't understand for a while, "The imperial court audits the accounts every year, how can it not be found out?" ”

Yan Du pouted, "Because in the past few years that Yang He has been in Yanzhou, natural disasters and man-made disasters have continued, and he has made false accounts every year when he reports to the imperial court. If the court doesn't investigate, it will be a loophole. And the days and months are long, and the bigger the loopholes, it's hard not to be discovered. ”

"In order to prevent the court from holding the people and those businessmen accountable, he took it upon himself, making the court think that he was corrupt." Liu Yunxiang continued to explain.

Xue Changfeng thought for a while before he figured it out, "So the people of Yanzhou say that he is a good person, but a good person is not necessarily a good official." A good official wanted to protect the court and society, but he didn't do it, he only protected the people of Yanzhou. ”

"When the lord first came to Yanzhou to take office, it coincided with a great drought, and the people were hungry, so he asked the court for relief, but the court not only did not give, but also added a thirty percent tax. He watched the people starve to death one by one, and could only scold himself for being incompetent. Later, he went to other states to borrow grain, ate as much as he could, and even knelt down for those people, and finally borrowed grain, and erected a porridge shed in the city. But when he returned home, he found that his wife and daughter were starving to death. Speaking of this, Feng Zheng's eyes reddened, "The tombs in the west courtyard of Futai Mansion belong to the old lady, lady and young lady, and there are a few subordinates. The adults felt that they were deeply ashamed of them, so they buried them in the west courtyard, and went to see them every day. ”

Liu Yunxiang was surprised when he heard this, it turned out that those graves were actually Yang He's relatives.

"In the past, Yanzhou was indeed rich in rain, fertile land, and was the main grain-producing area of Darong, with prosperous economy and trade, and rich people. But in the past ten years, but for some reason, there have been frequent droughts in Yanzhou, and the imperial court is as if it is blind, and it has to add an additional 30% tax. The people complained bitterly, the merchants fled one after another, and Yanzhou became poor all of a sudden. In order to change this situation, the adults began to make false accounts to hide from the court, and in the good years, he reported that there was a disaster, the grain production was reduced, and he could only pay half of the tax. In the drought years, he said that he encountered a great drought and had no harvest, and he had to find the imperial court for relief. The court did not give it, so he asked for the 30% tax of the merchant to be used for disaster relief, so deceived year after year, the people were fed and clothed, the merchant also stayed, and the economy and trade became more and more prosperous. Feng Zheng shrugged his shoulders after speaking, "This is the truth, whether we adults are corrupt or deceive the court, it is always a capital crime." ”

Liu Yunxiang sighed heavily, no wonder Yang He never said the whereabouts of the one million taels, no wonder he didn't think they could save him.

In this way, they really can't save him.