Chapter 93: Eating the Rich (Part 7)
Prince Yong thought Huo Chong was a man who could tell the truth and lie at the same time. The magistrates of several counties, including Zibo County, thought Huo Chong was a good and wealthy person who paid taxes on time.
These are all relatively positive comments. Prefect Li Shude thought Huo Chong was a wealthy man who knew how to use small tricks to win people's hearts. According to the statements of many scholars in Mouping County and Yu Xiucai who attacked Huo Chong, Huo Chong took in the relatives of the criminals in the literary inquisition and used "planting blessings" to deceive people . He was a rebel with ulterior motives.
Having worked as an academician for so many years, Mr. Gao has never seen a person with such polarized evaluations. And there is also a thread that can be connected in this matter. As long as the tax silver paid by Huo Chong is taken into consideration, all the problems will have a context.
What confused Gao Xuezheng was Huo Chong himself. This person was too normal, so normal that he could be seen through at a glance.
Logically, there is no need to deal with such a person. But Gao Xuezheng found that he just wanted to deal with Huo Chong. This feeling made Gao Xuezheng feel inexplicable. Huo Chong had never offended him, and he had no special reason to take action against Huo Chong. However, Gao Xuezheng felt that he could not completely accept Huo Chong's carefree attitude.
This feeling of disgust became stronger and stronger. Gao Xuezheng finally gave up thinking about reasons to deal with Huo Chong and began to think about how to give Huo Chong an effective warning.
Governor Li Shude has been busy borrowing money from the treasury for several days. Although he is the governor, he cannot move the treasury as he pleases. There are procedures to get money from the treasury to one's own home. Although the officials in charge of these procedures are the governor's subordinates, they are not his followers or slaves.
While he was racking his brains over these matters, he heard that Gao Xuezheng was coming to visit him. Xuezheng was a very noble official, and he was also an official who could not help Li Xunfu borrow money from the treasury. He must have come here to cause trouble for Li Xunfu. After thinking for a while, Li Xunfu decided to give priority to his own affairs, so he asked his men to ask Gao Xuezheng to come back in a few days.
Gao Xuezheng had already thought of a way to deal with Huo Chong, but was rejected by the governor. He felt uneasy. Gao Xuezheng knew that he was deliberately trying to deal with Huo Chong. He thought that the plan could be implemented through the governor, but he had to cancel it because the governor refused to meet him. Gao Xuezheng unconsciously had a feeling that there was some mysterious force preventing him from doing things because of evil thoughts.
Since he didn't insist, Gao Xuezheng returned to his office. As soon as he entered the room, his subordinates came to report, "Master Xuezheng, I have found out. Yu Xiucai's wife's sister is teaching at Huo Chong's place. Yu Xiucai just saw that Huo Chong hired a prisoner to teach."
When Gao Xuezheng heard this, he couldn't help but feel even more disgusted with the scholar. Even if Huo Chong was not Yu Xiucai's benefactor, he at least helped him. Yu Xiucai accused Huo Chong of treason, and this man's character was too bad.
In this disgust, Gao Xuezheng saw that his subordinates were also full of disdain. It was obvious that his subordinates had a very low opinion of the scholar's character. This made Gao Xuezheng even more unhappy.
Those scholars who had conflicts with Huo Chong were not good people, and Yu Xiucai was even less so. However, these people had not fallen to such a level. The culprit who made them look so abominable was probably Huo Chong. If these people had not met Huo Chong, they would not have become like this.
If these people are guilty, Huo Chong cannot escape blame!
