I'm really not King Jing of Zhongshan

Chapter 443 Censor Zhongcheng bared his teeth!
Liu Sheng can only say: In such an era—in this era when Han Zuo has been established for less than a hundred years and the quality of officials is still online, there is no simple person who can be an official who can be above the Chang'an court.

Let’s just say that Chen Jian, the censor Zhongcheng, is another talent discovered by Liu Sheng who has been buried by history, or even buried by the times.

Why do you say that?

Regardless of Chen Jian's daily work ability or past work performance, just looking at Chen Jian's speech just now, Liu Sheng dares to conclude: this person, at least in terms of political sense and means, is definitely not a simple person. characters.

Compared with Zhao Yu who objectively described the corruption issue as "such a trend", Chen Jian was extremely keenly aware of Liu Sheng's intention: to start with corruption - taking the examination of most of the scholars in a short period of time as the starting point, to deal with The Yushi doctor's subordinate government underwent a substantial restructuring.

Afterwards, Chen Jian did not hesitate to take the scapegoat of the Han family's "corruption is rampant" on himself, and classified it as "the inaction of the censor's office in the past few years".

And then, Chen Jian said something that was not convenient for Liu Sheng to say in person on behalf of Liu Sheng: from the main frame to the organizational structure, reform the censor's office in an all-round way.

In the end, Chen Jian did not forget to suggest cryptically, "I can make some suggestions from the perspective of professionals, and it all depends on His Majesty's intentions."

Liu Sheng can only say: Wonderful!

If it weren't for the presence of other people, Chen Jian's speech alone would probably have won Liu Sheng's applause.

It's just that there are still people around at this time, especially important ministers like Ting Wei Zhao Yu and Prime Minister Liu She. Even if Liu Sheng appreciates it, he can only warm his face and nod to Chen Jian with a little encouragement, signaling Chen Jian Go on.

"Since your majesty has kindly allowed the minister to feel a little uncomfortable, the minister dares to speak nonsense..."

"—Official corruption and accepting bribes, the main body can be divided into two parts, one is: corruption, the other is: giving and accepting bribes."

"Among them, the former is absolutely not allowed, and it should never be allowed."

"Because of corruption, it means that the funds allocated by the court, that is, the funds allocated by the prime minister's treasury and the Shaofu, are embezzled by local officials in various names into their own pockets, which leads to what the court really wants to do. can not complete."

"It's like a certain county wants to build a canal, and the court allocates millions of dollars, but the county magistrate embezzles 50 yuan. With only 50 yuan left, it is impossible to buy enough tools and materials for canal repair."

"In this way, no matter whether the local officials put aside the construction of the canal, or impose corvée on the people, suppress the prices of tools and materials, or even cut corners, it means that the millions of dollars allocated by the court will go to waste."

"Of course, when officials are greedy for ink, they can not only be greedy for the funds allocated by the Mochaotang, but also for the taxes and taxes intercepted by the localities."

"For example, in a certain year, in the name of building canals, a certain county withheld millions of dollars from the agricultural tax that should have been sent to the government treasury, and then the county magistrate embezzled 50 yuan..."

···
"With regard to corruption, the imperial censor belongs to the government and has never relaxed inspection efforts."

"It's just that the inspection of officials by the censor's office can't be handled directly like Ting Wei, but can only be secretly collected by "collecting wind and censors". The doctor belongs to the yamen to grasp the evidence."

"Without evidence, the censor's subordinates would not dare to hear the wind and play it, and they would not even dare to leak the slightest rumor."

"Because once the news leaks out and a clean and honest official who is not corrupt is found, it is easy for officials to show their ambitions with death and protect their integrity with their lives."

"As long as this situation happens, the doctor Yushi belongs to the government, and he will have no confidence to inspect the officials..."

Hearing Chen Jian's words, Liu Sheng's complexion couldn't help but sink, and he nodded slowly with a serious expression.

The problem mentioned by Chen Jian is not a characteristic of the Han Dynasty today, but a common situation in every regime in China and even human beings.

It is not so sensational to get a special allocation in the name of a certain project, and then use this money to spend a lot of time, resulting in the delay in delivery of the project, and even the delivery of a bean curd project to meet the errands.

And in this era—in this era without the Internet, without efficient communication facilities, and even without a real supervisory agency, similar situations can only be said to be as black as crows.

High officials in the court may not - because people want to cherish feathers;

Neither will the key training targets—because they want a political future.

But those officials who have no hope of promotion, who are unlikely to be demoted, and who are basically sure to die in their posts, don't have so much to worry about.

Just find a reason to apply for the payment, or even cut it first and then play it, withhold a part of the food tax after the fall, and then submit the application report again, and the payment will be considered to be in hand.

- It's not very difficult.

Because even if there is no similar project, the local administrative operating costs of the Han family have always been withheld proportionally from the tax, and most of the time, [-]% is withheld.

It only takes a little thought to increase this ratio to [-]%, which is a fortune.

As for engineering?

Zheng Guoqu is a canal, Zhengjiaqu is also a canal, and Zhengjiagou can also be counted as a canal;
The one that is ten feet wide is the canal, and the one that is two feet wide is the canal. If it is shameless, a small brook with its knees can also become the "so-and-so canal" in the report!
As long as the court doesn't send anyone down to look at it, and then report what they see to the Chang'an court, there will be no problems at all.

After all, the common people don't know how much money the court paid for the ditch in front of them, but it's better than nothing at all.

As for the officials, even the censors who are known for their "unselfishness" are nothing more than a few quick sentences, such as "Our place is poor, and officials can't get full salary" and so on, plus a meal of wine and meat That's it.

Now, this question was brought up by Chen Jian face to face—in front of Tian Zisheng, Prime Minister Liu She, and Ting Wei Zhao Yu.

Next, it's time to come up with a solution.

——Obviously, it is impossible for an old official like Chen Jian not to understand the principle of 'don't just ask the leader a question, but give a solution at the same time'.

Judging from Chen Jian's resolute expression of seeing death as home, regarding this issue, this conscientious censor Zhongcheng has already had a draft to report...

"The root of corruption lies in public funds."

"Whether it is the appropriation from the Prime Minister's Treasury, the internal funds of the Shaofu, or the funds withheld by the local government, it was not too difficult to obtain in the past."

"Unless the times are not good, or there are internal and external wars, all applications submitted by local governments for the construction of water conservancy, granaries, and road maintenance will be approved by the prime minister's government."

"Although the Xiangfu seldom allocates special funds, the Xiangfu often turns a blind eye to the local government's increase in the proportion of food tax interception by [-]% to [-]%..."

Having said that, Chen Jian did not forget to look at Prime Minister Liu She apologetically, but the determination in his eyes remained the same.

And when Liu Sheng's eyes drifted towards the Prime Minister Liu Sheng from time to time, Liu She was originally indifferent, as if he was just here to observe the meeting, but his calm face was instantly blacked out a lot.

——No wonder Your Majesty insists on me coming!
—So they were waiting for me here? !
At this moment, Liu She was full of these words.

But in front of Liu Sheng, Liu Shezi didn't dare to go to Yushi Zhongcheng and shake his prestige as the head of all officials;
He only pretended to ponder for a moment, and then bowed his hands to Liu Shengchen with a serious expression.

"What Yushi Zhongcheng said is basically true."

"In the past few years—to be precise, since the fifth year of Emperor Taizu Gao, all local counties, especially Guanzhong counties, have applied for agricultural tax withholding. embarrassment' principle."

"It's just that among them, there are some reasons why it's not convenient to keep them on the bamboo slips..."

Hearing Xuanyin's elegant meaning, Liu Sheng turned sideways and coughed lightly in the direction of the screen behind him;

Only a moment later, I saw a scribe with a Diaoguan standing from behind the screen, bowing to Liu Sheng.

"Irregular meals, gastrointestinal discomfort, disrespect before the king, please make amends, Your Majesty..."

The historian knew the rules so well, of course Liu Sheng would not make a joke, just nodded with a warm smile, and waved to Xia Que beside him.

"Lead Sima Gong the way."

Following the footsteps of the eunuch Ling Xiaque, the historian of the Sima family went to a remote corner of Weiyang Palace to go to the toilet, Liu She's sobbing voice sounded again in the Xuanshi Hall.

"During the time of Emperor Taizu Gao, Xiao Xiangguo was in charge of Guanzhong, and was responsible for delivering food, grass and soldiers to Emperor Taizu Gao's army;"

"After a long time, Emperor Taizu Gao lived in Kanto for a long time, and Xiao Xiangguo was in charge of all affairs in Guanzhong. Even if Emperor Gaozu was not suspicious, there were some rumors that shouldn't be there."

"Emperor Taizu Gao didn't care too much about those rebellious remarks;"

"However, Xiao Xiangguo turned pale with fright, and finally listened to someone's suggestion, and decided to use self-defilement to preserve the relationship between himself and Emperor Gao..."

Needless to say too much.

As long as Xiao Liu She raised his mouth in such a tentative manner, Liu Sheng understood what was going on.

——At the beginning of the founding of the country, and even for a long time after the founding of the country, Liu Bang, the founding king of Liu Han Sheji, was actually rarely in Chang'an.

Not only is it not in Chang'an, it is not even in Guanzhong!

He travels around the Kanto all the year round to quell the rebellion of the princes with different surnames, leaving Prime Minister Xiao He alone to govern the Guanzhong, even "a place unique to Qin". After a long time, Liu Bang can't help but mutter in his heart.

Will Xiao He rebel?

This is not a question that a qualified emperor, especially a qualified Liu Han emperor, should consider.

As one of the most outstanding emperors of the Han family, Liu Bang would never think about "whether Xiao He will rebel", but only wondered: Is Xiao He capable of rebelling?

If Xiao He turned against him, what kind of situation would I face?
After a brief consideration, Liu Bang suppressed the matter;
After just a few days, rumors began to spread in Guanzhong, saying that Xiao He intended to "establish himself as the king of Guanzhong".

Regarding Liu Bang's obvious temptation, Xiao He certainly proved his innocence immediately.

It's just that the way to prove your innocence is to deliberately embezzle, accept bribes, and buy property wantonly, and even misjudged cases and wrongly approved memorandums...

"In this way, the problem that local counties can easily withhold more agricultural taxes is a problem left over from the time of Xiao Xiangguo?"

Liu Sheng asked in a deep voice, which only caused Liu She to nod his head hastily.

"Xiao Xiangguo is a role model for every generation of prime ministers in my Han family."

"Especially after Cao Xiangguo's 'Xiao Gui Cao Sui', all the rules set by Xiao Xiangguo have completely become the golden rules that Han Xiangguo must abide by."

"Among them, most of the rules are in line with Cao Xiangguo's words: Since Xiao Xiangguo is not wise, why not copy Xiao Xiangguo's actions?"

"But by coincidence, the evil policy of deliberately conniving at the local counties to withhold more agricultural taxes, and euphemistically calling it 'giving the counties and counties some leeway for maneuver', has been in use since then..."

Liu Sheyin fell, Liu Sheng raised one hand, put his index finger between his mouth and nose, and frowned and thought.

After only three or five breaths, he turned his gaze to Chen Jian again.

"My minister believes that if we want to put an end to official corruption, we must start from three aspects: the treasury of the prime minister's government, the internal funds of the minor government, and the withholding of local agricultural taxes."

"One: All agricultural taxes collected by local governments must follow the rules set by Emperor Taizu Gao, that is, 'pay according to your income'."

"Except for the daily operation of the county government, other expenses such as water canals and roads are no longer allowed to be intercepted by local governments."

"After all the agricultural taxes have been paid to the national treasury, local counties and counties can then apply for funds from the Xiangfu treasury."

···
"Second: All the funds allocated by the prime minister's treasury at the request of local counties and counties must be reviewed by the censor's office, and the censor will be sent to monitor."

"If you are not in a hurry, you should first send Caifeng Yushi to verify it, and then allocate the payment, and then Caifeng Yushi will secretly monitor the progress;"

"If it's an urgent matter, you should also send out a surveyor to check after the event to ensure that the funds allocated by the treasury are actually used."

···
"Third: All the money allocated by the court, whether it is transferred from the treasury of the Xiangfu or the internal funds of the Shaofu, should be posted in the local counties and counties to clearly inform the people."

"—For the funds applied by the county government, the dew cloth shall be posted at the seat of the county government; for the funds distributed to the county government, the dew cloth shall be posted by the county seat."

"Lubu should not only announce the amount of money, but also announce the details and whereabouts of the money after the event, and make it available to Caifeng Yushi for verification at any time."

"For Caifeng Yushi's request to cooperate with the investigation, the local counties should fully cooperate and should not obstruct it."

···
"Fourth: Where the imperial censor is sent by the yamen to gather wind and censors, when two people die in the same county at the same time during a single outing to collect wind, the Tingwei should send officials to conduct a thorough investigation, and let them go as soon as possible. The sheriff here has resigned and is pending investigation."

"After the situation is clarified, the next step will be taken according to the situation..."

(End of this chapter)