Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 450
After inspecting the wheat fields, Fan Ning, accompanied by the county magistrate Xie Wensheng, went to the county seat. About ten miles away from the county seat, Fan Ning saw a castle-like manor from a distance. This manor covers an area of ​​thousands of hectares. The core castle was Surrounded by high walls.

Fan Ning stared at the manor for a long time without saying a word. At this time, Xie Wensheng said in a low voice: "That is the ancestral property left by Zhao Yanhui, the founding hero."

"Isn't Zhao Yanhui from Dingzhou, Hebei? How could the ancestral property be here?"

"Your Majesty did not know that there were frequent wars between the Song and Liao Dynasties in Dingzhou. After Zhao Yanhui died of illness, he was buried in Yingtian Mansion. His three sons moved the family temple to Yingtian Mansion, and then separated. The third family, Zhao Wuliang, moved to Gu In Shu County, the flowers bloom and the leaves are scattered, and Gushu County is divided into seven branches, occupying tens of thousands of hectares of fertile land, but never paying a penny of tax."

Fan Ning knew that Zhao Yanhui's evaluation in history was "not caring about civil affairs, accumulating professional affairs, and hiding tens of thousands of private funds." '

It's just that Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin did not pursue his property because of his meritorious service in founding the country. After his death, his descendants lived a very luxurious life.

Fan Ning snorted coldly, "Is the home of Zhao Qian, the pacifier of Jingdong Road, here?"

"Exactly!"

Xie Wensheng shook his head and said, "To tell you the truth, I have been the county magistrate in Gushu County for three years, and I have never been to the Zhao family's manor."

"why?"

"The Zhao family has thousands of Zhuang Ding. They are trained in the way of the army. I heard that they are well-equipped. They form their own territory in their territory. Officials are not allowed to enter their territory."

Fan Ning frowned and asked, "What if the thieves commit a crime and escape into their territory?"

"This kind of thing has happened many times. The Zhao family has a large grain store in the county. We have to contact the stewards of the grain store first, and then they will report to the Zhao family, but the result is often nothing. people, and then let it go, which has been the case for decades."

Fan Ning snorted and said, "It's like a country within a country, without the laws of the Song Dynasty. Let's go, let's take a look!"

Fan Ning urged his horse to run towards the castle in the distance. The castle is actually far away from the official road, but because of the grand scale of the building, it can be clearly seen even if it is nearly twenty miles away.

Three miles away from the castle, they were about to pass through a forest. Suddenly dozens of Zhuang Ding rushed out of the woods, with long knives on their waists and white wax spears in their hands, blocking their way. The leader of Zhuang Ding shouted: "This is a private Territory, outsiders are not allowed to enter?"

Xie Wensheng obviously had experience, he urged him to come forward and shouted loudly: "Don't be rude, this is the prefect of Yingtian Fan, come to visit the owner of your house!"

The road blocker Ding looked at each other. After all, Yingtian Zhifu and Gushu County Magistrate are not officials at the same level. He hesitated for a while and said: "Then please wait a moment, we will inform the master!"

Just as Xie Wensheng was about to speak, Fan Ning stopped him, "Don't say too much, let's see what they do?"

The leader, Zhuang Ding, gave instructions to his subordinates, and he turned around and ran towards the castle three miles away. Fan Ning waited patiently. He wanted to see how the Zhao family threw stones at his feet?

He looked at the castle three miles away, calculated for a moment, and asked Xie Wensheng, "The castle is higher than the city wall!"

"Not only is it taller than the city wall, I heard that the Zhao family's ancestral hall in the castle has eight pillars, which are seven feet high. They were picked from the deep mountains in the south. With the buildings on top, the castle should be more than ten feet high."

Fan Ning snorted, "Isn't that even higher than Guide Hall!"

Yingtian Mansion is also called Nanjing. The ancestral hall of the Song Dynasty royal family is located here, and Hongqing Palace was built. The main hall of Hongqing Palace is called Guide Hall. It is the tallest building in Songcheng County. The regulations of the capital are also implemented here. , the main body of any building in Yingtianfu cannot exceed Guide Hall.

In fact, this is the rule all over the world, but in many places, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, so the management is not strict, but Kaifeng Mansion and Yingtian Mansion are the places with the strictest management. In Songcheng County, no building is taller than Guide Hall , including the main tower of the monastery is not exceeded.

Of course, there are several hills in the city, and pavilions and pavilions are built on the top of the hills. That doesn't count, mainly referring to the main body of the building.

The highest point of Guide Hall is only eight feet, but the main hall of Zhao's castle is obviously more than eight feet.

Although this is not Songcheng County, this is Yingtian Mansion, and the Zhao family is already suspected of trespassing.

"Has the Zhao Family Ancestral Hall been approved by the court?"

Xie Wensheng shook his head, "Not even temples are approved, let alone ancestral halls."

Fan Ning sneered in his heart, Song Ling was indeed right, the Zhao family had a lot of tricks, and if he caught one, it seemed that his trip was worthwhile.

About a quarter of an hour later, the leader, Zhuang Ding, came running out of breath, bowed and said, "My master is here to invite you!"

Fan Ning said coldly: "Your master is so arrogant, why don't you come to the gate to greet him?"

"My master is indeed waiting at the gate of the mansion!"

Fan Ning's expression changed, he turned his horse's head and said, "Let's go!"

He turned around and left with his subordinates, Zhuang Ding were all dumbfounded, wondering what happened?

Xie Wensheng was also puzzled, Fan Ning said lightly: "I really dare not enter the building that is presumptuous. Since his master refuses to come three miles away to greet him, it's worth not going for this visit!"

Xie Wensheng was a little worried, "Your Majesty, if the responsibility for overreaching is pursued, will I, the county magistrate, also be held responsible for negligence?"

"It is indeed possible. I suggest that you better write a detailed report. When the court envoy arrives, I can speak for you."

…………

There are three branches of the Zhao family in Yingtianfu, which evolved from the three sons of Zhao Yanhui. They are distributed in Songcheng County, Gushu County and Ningling County. built here.

At present, the head of the Zhao family in Gushu County is called Zhao Jian. He is the elder brother of Zhao Qian, the pacifier of Jingdong Road. Hearing that the magistrate Fan Ning is coming, Zhao Jian reluctantly brought a few people from his clan to the gate to greet him. This is also to save face for his brother. He didn't want his elder brother to become enemies in the officialdom, otherwise Zhao Jian would never pay attention to the magistrates.

But Zhao Jian waited for Fan Ning not to come, and waited for the magistrate not to come, he began to feel a little impatient, and the clansmen behind him became even more impatient, shouting that they should not pay attention to the government.

At this moment, Zhuang Ding, the leader, rushed over, bowed to Zhao Jian and said, "Report to the patriarch, Prefect Fan has gone back."

Zhao Jian was taken aback and asked, "Why didn't you come?"

Of course the leader, Zhuang Ding, did not dare to tell the truth, but just shook his head, "I told him that the Patriarch greeted him at the gate, but he turned his horse's head and left without saying a word."

"what!"

Zhao Jian was extremely dissatisfied immediately, what is this, is he here to entertain me?Going out to meet him in person has already given him face, what else is he going to do?

Although he was dissatisfied in his heart, he didn't say it out, and his face became very ugly.

A few clansmen beside him said in a hurry: "Brother shouldn't give him any face. Our Zhao family has made great achievements for generations. Even if the prime minister comes, we have to be courteous. What is he a magistrate? It is shameless to give him face!"

Zhao Jian's face became more and more ugly, he snorted heavily, turned and went back.

The local rich and powerful families are used to it, and their political sensitivity has also declined. They have not realized the real reason why the prefect refuses to come to the door. Once the prefect is offended, serious consequences will soon follow.

Fan Ning entered Gushu County and came directly to the county government. First, he asked Xie Wensheng to show the tax payment records over the years. On the tax payment list, there was Zhao Jian’s name, and there were also thousands of hectares of land records under his name, but in the tax payment records However, it has been blank for many years in a row.

"Have they given any reason for not paying taxes?" Fanning asked coldly.

"They said that the land was given by the emperor. The Taizu promised to be tax-free for generations, but we have evidence that their land was not given by the emperor, but acquired through mergers and acquisitions. The former county magistrate fought hard with them, and finally they I found a relationship in the capital and was demoted and transferred away."

Fan Ning walked a few steps, and immediately said to Xie Wensheng: "You should write a complaint immediately. There are three aspects. The ancestral hall far surpasses the Hall of Guide, blatantly overstepping, and the third is to complain that the Zhao family relied on Zhao Qian's power to form a private army, openly confronting the local government, and having an attempt to plot wrongdoing."

Xie Wensheng knew that Fan Ning was going to attack the Zhao family. If he didn't get rid of it in time, he would not be able to escape the responsibility of negligence in the end.

He nodded, "I'll write it right away!"

Xie Wensheng immediately wrote a complaint with thousands of words, and Fan Ning read it. The complaint listed a large number of facts, well-founded, and very detailed.

Fan Ning beckoned Zhu Hu, handed him the complaint, and said, "Go back to the capital quickly, and hand this complaint over to Wang Weizhen, the Zuo Jianyi doctor, and ask him to file the case and send an admonishment envoy to Gushu County to carry out a secret investigation. investigation."

Zhu Hu bowed and saluted, "The humble job will definitely do it!"

He put away the letter and urged his horse to gallop towards the capital.

Fan Ning did not expect that Zhao Qian's handle was caught so quickly. This matter is relatively serious. At the right time, he will have to go to the capital himself.

(End of this chapter)