Chapter 602: Don’t Be a Big Official
Zhao Yulin could not help laughing, and said in a nonchalant tone that China is a country of etiquette, and that courtesy and reciprocity have been highly valued throughout history. It is normal for officials to accept gifts and gifts, and he does not think this is a crime.
The old man sighed and said: I’m afraid the amount is huge.
This fair did not think much of the gifts he received at that time, but gifts of one hundred or one thousand yuan accumulated into a small mountain.
Now, King Zhidi has set a rule that the exchange of new and old coins exceeding two thousand strings of cash must be registered with an identity card. No one dares to abuse their power for personal gain.
He estimated that there would definitely be a large number of people who would not dare to exchange coins, causing this wealth to be buried deep underground.
Zhao Yulin thought for a while and said: Charity halls have been set up all over the country from top to bottom, encouraging businessmen and kind-hearted people to donate money to charity halls to relieve the poverty. These people can also donate gifts to charity halls. As long as there is no case, the court will not pursue it. How about it?
Mr. Qiu immediately looked at him with surprise and asked: Are you serious?
Are you really not going to pursue criminal responsibility?
Zhao Yulin nodded and said: No one has committed a crime, so we won’t pursue any responsibility.
The old man's heavy chest soon relaxed.
He hadn't walked far when he said with a heavy heart: The third young master still has to go back to take charge of the situation, otherwise how can we convince Queen Zhidi?
The king vowed to investigate the matter thoroughly and show no leniency.
He smiled and said: This is easy. Just write a letter and have Mr. Qiu take it back.
Mr. Qiu was overjoyed and said, "Brother, you are busy with your work, I will go to watch over the digging of the well." When the two returned to Wang's yard, the old man really didn't even drink a sip of water and went to watch over the construction site at the entrance of the village.
Seeing that Mr. Qiu was personally supervising him, Chen Liu quickly invited him to go under the tree to enjoy the cool air.
The old man looked at Chen Liu kindly with approval and said: Commander Zhao is a role model for us. In the previous dynasty, Master Chen would have been a prince and a crown prince. But now he is here serving the craftsmen to dig wells. This is unprecedented.
Chen Liu immediately became terrified and hurriedly asked Mr. Qiu not to say that. His father had set a rule that no one in our family was allowed to be a high official in the court.
The old man was even more surprised when he heard this. He accepted Zhao Yulin's letter and rushed to Chengdu early the next morning.
Zhao Yulin kept shaking his head as he watched Qiu Gong go away, and smiled as he told Zuo Liangchen to leave someone behind to go back to the county town, so that they wouldn't have to stay here to watch over him. He was also unsure, as he didn't know how long it would take to dig the well, and he couldn't delay Liangchen's work.
Zhao Yulin went to the county town and came back. Chen Liu said that he dug another 5 meters, but still had no energy. The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and the masters were all working with bare upper bodies.
Chen Liu frowned as he watched.
He said: This is the nature of the working people, don't look down on them. Most of the people in the New Song Dynasty live like this.
Let’s talk about this well. Neither my father nor I know how to dig it, so we have to rely on them to dig with hoe and pickaxe before we can see the fire.
Many years later, their deeds will be recorded in history books: One day in 1246, the people of Qiongzhou dug a fire well.
Chen Liu smiled naively, looking at the busy craftsmen at the wellhead with some disbelief.
In the evening, the Fire Phoenix arrived, and a large number of garrison soldiers entered the Wang family yard. The Phoenix told him that many garrison soldiers were stationed in the surrounding villages, and it was Dongmei who asked the National Security Bureau to dispatch troops to serve as guards.
Fenghuang told him that Dongmei also sent several experts to protect her brother.
He asked: Mobilizing such a large army will inevitably make the people nervous. Is it necessary?
Fenghuang said: In the past, many people died in the landlord rebellions in Dayi and Qiongzhou. There is no guarantee that there will be no remnants, so it is better to be cautious.
Excavation continued the next day, but security was stepped up several notches. People from the Chengdu garrison conducted a carpet search of every household within a five-mile radius, and sentries were posted at all intersections.
Zhao Yulin felt that it was too ostentatious, but he was also helpless.
He understood Dongmei's feelings. He couldn't even remember how many assassination attempts he had experienced since he appeared in Yibin. Who would dare to be careless?
He asked Fenghuang: You don't care about anything and just revolve around me. You must feel unhappy.
Fenghuang said with a smile: It's a joy to be with my own man, and there will be something even more enjoyable at night.
Zhao Yulin was drinking tea when he spat out all the tea in his mouth with a "Puff" sound, glaring at Fenghuang angrily. The woman, however, was extremely happy. She pulled a chair over and sat back to back with him, enjoying the rare warm sunshine in early summer.
Another day was over, and they hadn't dug even two feet deep. There were big rocks underneath, which was a waste of time. They dug like this for ten days without finding anything. The depth of the well had reached thirty feet.
The old man of the Wang family prepared a table full of delicious dishes and invited them to drink. He kept nodding his head, praising the fast speed of digging the well. Even though he didn't show any anger, he felt that the New Song Dynasty was different from the previous dynasty.
You know, it took his ancestors half a year or even a year to dig a well, and they had to set up an iron furnace next to it to make iron chisels, hoes, and pickaxes.
Fire Phoenix said proudly: This is Commander Zhao digging a well, it must be different. Chen Liu was willing to pay wages, which was 30% higher than the local salary, and there was meat for every meal, so the master was very motivated. So many craftsmen took turns to dig in the well, which was equivalent to a well-digging machine that never stopped running, so of course it was fast.
Even so, Zhao Yulin was still not satisfied. In later times, one only needed to set up a kowtow machine and the problem would be solved in minutes.
He asked Chen Liu to arrange for the workers on the well to sort the excavated stones by size and stack them up for use.
Chen Liu went without hesitation.
The young man has a strong execution ability. He does what he is told and he is very satisfied.
Zhao Yulin judged: This well is located in the center of other abandoned fire wells, and it was a shallow well when it was abandoned, which means that only shallow natural gas was used up at the beginning. Perhaps there will be some gains if we dig deeper, so we need to use large stones to fill the well for ventilation.
At night, Phoenix let out a long sigh after using all her strength on him, then lazily snuggled into his arms and talked.
Fenghuang told him: The officials in Jinguan City, Chengdu, were in a panic over the exchange of new currency. Many officials had a large amount of unexplained income, and when it came time to exchange it, they found that it had become a hot potato.
Fortunately, Mr. Qiu brought back his letter. Shunzhidi convened the officials of the Central Government for discussion and issued a notice in Jinguan City, asking all officials to deposit the huge amount of gifts into the special account of the charity hall. Those who voluntarily handed them over would not be held accountable, but those who concealed the gift would be punished more severely.
The charity hall soon accumulated a huge amount of silver.
Zhao Yulin smiled faintly and said: If these people don't pay, we may not be able to find out. If they pay, the money can be used to help the poor, build schools, and let them put down their burdens and work with peace of mind.
Fenghuang told him: After handing over the gift money, Mr. Qiu went to find Zhidi to ask for his resignation. Firstly, he was approaching the age of resignation, and secondly, the gift money he received was huge, so he felt guilty and was embarrassed to do his job.
Zhao Yulin knew that extravagance was a common practice in previous dynasties. Ministers would always visit each other to give gifts whenever they had something to do. The gifts that an official like the Shangshu would receive in a year were not a small number. The emperor would raid the home of anyone he disliked, and he would always reap a lot.
But that was the emperor's family empire.
The New Song Dynasty is a country ruled by law and will not do that. As long as officials do not engage in corruption and bribery, ordinary courtesy exchanges are allowed.
He asked Fenghuang to write a letter to Zhidi, advising her not to be too entangled, to act , and to give the ministers a chance to correct their mistakes.
Fenghuang responded by sticking her butt up at him and told him that some corrupt officials, after seeing the new currency exchange rules, instructed their servants and relatives to break up the whole into small amounts and make exchanges. They were immediately pissed when they were caught by the Shunfeng Division and the Xuncha Division based on the bank records. More than twenty corrupt officials were caught in Jinguan City in just three days.
The Ministry of Transport is in charge of the country's income and expenditure of silver and money, the Ministry of Works is in charge of the country's construction affairs, and the Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the promotion of officials. The most officials have fallen, and it is really hard to guard against. No wonder Sister Ma Ling wants to resign. It makes her sad to see them.
Zhao Yulin said: "As the saying goes, the devil is one foot high, the way is ten feet higher. No matter how difficult it is, we still have to persevere." He asked Cao Ying how he was doing as the Minister of Transportation.
Fenghuang told him: Cao Ying brought in Shunfengsi's runners and transfer officials to supervise the case. This was a great idea. Those with guilty consciences hadn't even had their accounts checked yet, but several corrupt officials could be identified just by looking at their faces.
Zhao Yulin was silent.
Seeing that he remained silent, Fenghuang told him not to worry, as they were all discussing how to restrict the power of officials and restrain the hands of these thieves.
Zhao Yulin pinched her nose and told her to go to sleep because there would be a lot of things to do tomorrow.
After three days, the fire in the well was still not burning. Chen Liu was a little discouraged and said to them listlessly: The masters are all talking about it, and I am afraid that all my work will be in vain.
Fenghuang encouraged him with a smile, telling him not to think too much, to organize the craftsmen and continue working, and to believe that his father was right.
Eight days passed like this, and there was still no air coming out of the well.
The old man of the Wang family thought that the well was probably useless and it would be useless to dig any further.
Zhao Yulin saw everyone's disappointed eyes and knew that everyone was backing out and people's morale was about to fall .
Chen Liu said that they had reached a depth of fifty feet, but there was still no movement.
He said: Fifty feet, which is slightly deeper than the fire well dug here in the past. This well has been used for many years, and the shallow gas must have been gone. This is normal.
Since this fire well is dry, there is no need to worry about it being flooded. Why don’t we dig it? Let’s keep digging.
He asked the deacons and masters from the Ministry of Works to stay and discuss what to do.
Not long after, Chen Liu came back and told him: The masters from the Ministry of Works suggested continuing to dig another ten feet to see how it goes.
Zhao Yulin said: "Then we should continue digging. We must ensure safety and use the new blower made by the Ministry of Industry." In fact, this new blower was just designed by Zhao Yulin in Cuiping Mountain and made by the master of Guigu. It has not been put into practice yet.
This blower uses the cloth cover used to make hot air balloons to make a three-inch diameter ventilation pipe that extends all the way to the bottom of the well. Air is blown down from the top of the well and can be operated by one person.
Chen Liu told him that the workers couldn't stand the heat and had already used it. With fresh air entering the bottom of the well, the craftsmen were happy and became more motivated.
Seeing Fenghuang counting on her fingers out of boredom, he knew that this place was too boring and the woman was tired of playing around, so he used the excuse that the new currency was being issued at a critical juncture and asked her to go back to help the village to support Zhidi.
