Chapter 452: Toll Collection
The dwarf tiger said disapprovingly that Lord Meng still owed him a leg. The general was the deputy director of the Central Council of the New Song Dynasty and the most important minister after the king.
What’s the big deal if we pluck two hairs from a fat pig passing by?
He just didn't believe that Meng Gong would not protect him.
The prefect told him that the Shunfeng Office in Ezhou had long been reporting the forced buying and selling on the Han River, as well as the collection of tolls and boat parking fees. It was he who was suppressing it, so he thought it was time for him to restrain himself and stop everything in moderation.
Short-legged Tiger had just been bullied by the Shunfeng Division, and when he heard his brother the prefect say that the Ezhou Shunfeng Division had been eyeing him for a long time, he immediately became furious. He slammed the coffee table and said that the Shunfeng Division was shit. If he hadn't been educated enough, he could have saved Meng Gong and taken over the Huangcheng Division. Now he should be the chief of the Shunfeng Division.
The prefect immediately raised his index finger to his mouth and warned him not to talk nonsense, as Shunfengchu in Ezhou was no longer the Imperial City Division of the past, or he would be in trouble if the news spread to Chengdu and his official hat would be thrown off.
It was the downwind place again, and the short-legged tiger was annoyed. They always say that everything goes smoothly, but why did everything go wrong for him? He was furious and wanted to find Ezhou's downwind place to make trouble.
The prefect brother immediately tried to dissuade them, saying that if they really did so, wouldn’t that be an act of infighting in Ezhou?
The prefect warned him not to touch a hair of Shunfengchu. Although there were only a few people in Shunfengchu of Ezhou, after being incorporated into the New Song Dynasty, it was a small node in a big network. If the Shunfengsi of Chengdu was involved, it would be a disaster.
In the Ezhou government office, the prefect was still trying to persuade the dwarf tiger, but the Chengdu Central Court had already received the express delivery sent by Zhao Yulin.
Zhao Feiyan was still feeling depressed over the stench after the Mongolian delegation came to Chengdu and stirred up the toilet. When she saw that he was going to transfer Geng Feihu from Liangshan Prefecture to Ezhou to take charge, she knew that the problem in Ezhou was serious, and she immediately invited Yangjin to the study to discuss the matter.
Yangjin said that Shunfeng Division received three confidential documents at once, two of which were with me, and one went directly to Meng Gong. It can be seen that the matter in Ezhou is definitely related to Meng Gong. Brother Yulin wants to transfer Feihu to Ezhou to solve the problem there. I might as well invite Fan Gong and Meng Gong to discuss and decide.
The next day, Zhao Feiyan invited Fan Zhong and Meng Gong to discuss personnel matters in Ezhou.
Meng Gong agreed immediately. He said that it was true that Dwarf Tiger was his guard, but there was no place outside the law in the New Song Dynasty, and there was no one outside the law. He had already asked the Ministry of Justice to secretly investigate the matter.
Fan Zhong admired Meng Gong's attitude and told him that the Ministry of Personnel had received many reports impeaching the prefect of Ezhou. He proposed to transfer the prefect of Ezhou to Jingzhou first and let Geng Feihu, the governor of Liangshan Prefecture, be transferred to the governor of Ezhou. In this way, the prefect of Jingzhou would have a capable assistant after arriving in Ezhou, which would be beneficial to the case handling in Ezhou.
Meng Gong agreed to everything, but his face looked very tired.
Zhao Feiyan asked him with concern whether he was in good health and whether he needed a doctor to check his pulse.
How could she know that Meng Gong had not slept the whole night before, and had been hiding in the study drinking tea and reading books all night long.
It was his young wife Ah Qian who persuaded Meng Gong.
Ah Qian told him: Everyone is equal in the New Song Dynasty, how wonderful it is to see the common people living a carefree life. Isn't that what the general fought for?
Why could he be condoned and allowed to harm the people just because Shorty was his bodyguard and had saved him?
When Commander Zhao's brother committed a crime, he was severely investigated and punished, and he was exiled to the barren land in the south. The general also killed many cowards who disobeyed military discipline on the battlefield. Short-legged tiger, who violated the law of the country, should also be punished. Who cares how great his merits are or whether he is a confidant?
At dawn, Meng Gong sent a message to the Ministry of Justice: Immediately form a secret inspection team to rush to Ezhou to investigate the case. No matter how serious the case is or who the criminal is, we must investigate it to the end and give justice to the people.
Meng Gong smiled at Zhao Feiyan and said no need. He knew something about the situation in Ezhou. The prefect Huang Laiyun had been in charge of Ezhou for many years and it was time for him to move to another place. It was he who failed to discipline his subordinates and brought discredit to the court. He had arranged for the Ministry of Justice to thoroughly investigate the case and would not let a single bad guy go.
Zhao Feiyan nodded immediately, smiling and saying that it was not Meng Gong's fault. Jinghu had been fighting against the Mongolian army for years, and the general had been worried about military affairs. It was inevitable that some problems would occur in the prefectures and counties below. She proposed to restore the establishment of Jinghu North Road and let the prefect of Jingzhou serve as the pacification envoy.
Fan Zhong agreed, and Meng Gong had no objection.
Yuan Haowen, the prefect of Jingzhou, had previously served in Luzhou. He was transferred there after Zhao Yulin conquered Xiangyang and entered Jingzhou. At that time, Meng Gong was still stationed in Ezhou, so they were old acquaintances.
Meng Gong believed that it was entirely justified. The areas surrounding Jinghu North Road had already returned to the embrace of the New Song Dynasty and their safety was guaranteed. Martial control could be lifted and government orders could be uniformly exercised by road-level officials.
After convincing General Meng, things became much easier afterwards.
The Central Council held a meeting to adjust the personnel of Jinghu North Road, and all the officials agreed. Hua Yue, who could not tolerate any sand in his eyes, even listed the three crimes of the Ezhou prefect at the meeting. It was only because the Censorate had not verified the facts that no one was held accountable. However, as the local chief had been impeached by the people , it was hard to say that there was no problem.
Zhao Feiyan told everyone: The purpose of the court's investigation is to clarify the facts and cure diseases and save lives. Let's promote Prefect Huang to Jingzhou for the time being, and then make a conclusion after Ezhou has verified the problem.
This will be beneficial to the stability and case handling of Ezhou. What do you think?
Everyone agreed only after they understood Zhao Feiyan's intention.
Next, she left the officials of the Central Council to report military intelligence: After analyzing the war situation in Jiankang Prefecture, the Ministry of War decided to launch the Lingzhou Campaign, in order to take back the Lingzhou area while the throne of the grassland empire was changing and the royal court was unstable.
Meng Gong immediately perked up. Only then did he understand why Zhao Yulin suddenly came to Ezhou in disguise. It turned out that he was going to secretly go to the northwest to command the war, not to patrol him in disguise.
Meng Gong believed that the Ministry of War had indeed seized the opportunity and could fight, but Mengge would definitely not give up since he had obtained the Central Plains as his fiefdom, and the Shenwei Army would inevitably be caught in fighting on both the east and west fronts.
Zhao Feiyan said that was exactly the case. Lord Cao and Commander Zhao wrote to the emperor: Please support this rare opportunity. The Shenwei Army has trained new infantry in the northwest. How will it be tested in this battle? Hanzhong and Guanzhong have been preparing for the battle of Lingzhou for three years, and it is time to go out.
Fan Zhong and Du Fan were both excited and believed that the Shenwei Army could win the battle.
Hua Yue suggested that in order to stabilize the various routes, the Central Council should leave the king to guard Chengdu, and all the officials should go down to supervise and inspect, stabilize the local areas, and support the New Song army in the expedition.
Meng Gong immediately agreed and volunteered to go to Jinghu North Road.
Zhao Feiyan disagreed. She said that General Meng had just arrived in Chengdu and was in poor health, so he should not travel by boat or carriage. He should stay in Chengdu because Chengdu also needed an experienced general to guard it.
Please ask Mr. You to inspect Jinghu North Road and preside over the adjustment of the road-level administrative divisions. How about that?
No one objected to this proposal because You Shi was originally the Minister of Justice and was in a good position to supervise the investigation.
The Central Institute quickly dispatched personnel to carry out inspections at various locations.
Zhao Feiyan felt very tired after finishing her government affairs. She got on the carriage and asked the guards to go to Danfeng Garden so that she could see her child.
As soon as the little girl entered Danfeng Garden, she fell into her mother Kuang Sisi's arms and asked for a hug.
Kuang Sisi lovingly held the good girl in her arms, and said with a smile on her face that our king had adjourned the court and was tired. While nagging, she ordered the maid to make a portion of bird's nest to comfort her good girl.
After the maid left, Feiyan actually leaned on her mother's chest and sobbed, telling her mother that being a queen was too tiring, and she had not had the joy of being with Brother Yulin, so she didn't want to do it anymore.
Kuang Sisi gently stroked Feiyan's back and said: Silly girl, you don't want to be the ruler of the country after only being the ruler for a few days . But other people dream of being the empress who rules the world, but they just don't have the chance. Since our Yanzi has become the empress, she must keep doing it.
My immortal, Kuang Sisi hopes that Zhao Feiyan will be the emperor forever.
After all, Kuang Sisi was from Lin'an and was the woman of the old official, which was equivalent to half a queen. She had a deep-rooted consciousness of being the supreme ruler. Seeing that her daughter had obtained the throne, how could she give it up easily?
Zhao Feiyan told her that she was worried to death. She had to hold meetings all day long and spend money like water. Each memorial cost hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. There was no money left.
Her mother said with a smile that there was a Ma Ling'er in Xin Song who was a genius at finding money. It was said that the tax collection this year was over 300 million yuan, and they were still short of money?
It's simply a lie.
Yulin fought corruption in Jiankang and confiscated a huge amount of gold and silver. This was all recorded in the Chengdu Xunbao. Are you bullying me because I can't read? Eunuch Li read every newspaper to me.
Oh, this woman is very concerned about political affairs.
Zhao Feiyan didn't expect her mother to be so concerned about state affairs. She told her: "The past events of the previous dynasty are what are burning my heart. Those northern barbarians are really abominable. They always bring trouble to our father and ask for money and land. It's so annoying." There are also ministers in the court who wrote to complain for my father and asked the Central Council to agree to the northern barbarians' request to cede land and welcome my father back.
Kuang Sisi immediately stopped them and said very seriously that this was absolutely impossible. Yan Zi, do you know why the ancestor tried every means to kill Yue Wumu and even sentenced him to death on the charge of "false accusation"?
Zhao Feiyan shook her head blankly and said that it was just the rumor that the late emperor was afraid that he would lose the throne after welcoming back the second emperor.
Kuang Sisi told her solemnly: That's the reason. Why did Yulin want a republic and not become an emperor? It's because he was worried that the old official would come back to seize power.
Why didn't our New Song Dynasty, with its powerful army and might, send troops to the desert to rescue the emperor? It is also because we are afraid of welcoming back an emperor who lives a hundred years and wants to return power to the court.
Kuang Sisi was immediately stunned.
Then, she shook her head and said that Yulin Ge'er didn't care about the throne. He wanted to recover China's territory and restore the prosperity of the Han and Tang dynasties.
Kuang Sisi said she was stupid. Yulin was leading the troops outside, and his wife was the head of the family in Chengdu. She kept her heart at ease wherever she went.
If your father came back to power, would he be always thinking about the stability of the throne and want to kill meritorious officials and corrupt officials? Would you feel at ease with him outside?
After Kuang Sisi's analysis, Zhao Feiyan seemed to understand. Thinking of the Mongolian envoys going to Sichuan, the old people in Chengdu were very conflicted about their willingness and writing letters, and their faces were full of worries.
