The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

It can be seen that they worked very hard, and the account book was completed in no more than two days.

Yu Qian glanced over the account book, closed it and asked, "Didn't they say that the treasury was robbed? Where did all this grain come from?"

Cai Sheng's body froze, and he realized that Yu Qian's gaze on him was like a knife. He quickly said, "It was donated by the gentry, wealthy merchants, and Taoist temples in the county."

Yu Qian: "It's rare that you can get Taoist temples and monasteries to donate money and grain."

Because whenever there was a famine, Taoist temples would raise funds and then distribute relief food. The fact that they were able to get money and food from Taoist temples shows the image of their Magistrate Cai.

Cai Sheng bowed his head and said, "It is because the Taoist temples trust the county government and me that they are willing to..."

Yu Qian dropped the account book with a thud and said, "Let's talk about these things later. Let's talk about the increased labor service and the additional tax of two taels in Yushan County this year..."

Cai Sheng's knees went weak and he fell to the ground.

Yu Qian is not willing to give him three days?
Yu Qian gave three days. He did not arrest Cai Sheng, but he was still investigating what needed to be investigated.

For example, the missing account books were gradually recovered.

Yushan County is very interesting. The county government said it was burned down, but when they looked for it, they found account books one after another.

What’s even more interesting is that most of the account books from three years ago could not be found, but the account books from the past three years were basically intact, especially the account books since Cai Sheng took office, including the things handed over to him by Mingren when he left office, not a single one was lost.

In addition, the household registration and land deeds of Yushan County are basically intact, which is the most important thing.

The Jinyiwei brought several large boxes in and placed them in the lobby. They reported to Yu Qian in a low voice, "All of these were found in the home of the chief clerk. He said that the night the rebels entered the city, the county lieutenant ordered someone to take them to his home. Because the boxes were sealed, he didn't know what was inside."

Yu Qian: "What a strange thing."

Jinyiwei glanced at Cai Sheng who was standing not far away and said, "After Cai Sheng led his troops to recapture the city, he did not have time to count and directly set fire to the house. Later, to be on the safe side, he went to the county lieutenant's house several times under the pretext of visiting him, but found nothing unusual. He did not know that the county lieutenant hid the account books in the chief clerk's house."

Yu Qian picked up an account book and flipped through it. Seeing the records full of loopholes, Yu Qian laughed out loud.

He threw the account book in front of Cai Sheng with a loud bang and said, "Cai Sheng, you are really deserted by everyone as a county magistrate."

Cai Sheng fell to his knees, his forehead touching the ground, and cried out, "Sir, I am guilty, please forgive me—"

Yu Qian asked solemnly, "I will ask you again, how is the negotiation on recruiting people going?"

Cai Sheng's mouth trembled and he was unable to speak.

Yu Qian leaned closer to him and said, "Cai Sheng, if the amnesty is successful, you may just lose your official hat, but if not, your life..."

The emperor would not show mercy when it came to killing corrupt officials, especially officials like Cai Sheng who had some connections, but not deep ones.

He didn't even blink an eye.

Cai Sheng shuddered and immediately said, "It's done, it's done, it's almost done, please give me a few more days, sir."

Yu Qian said with a sullen face, "There is still one day left before the three days you mentioned, but I see you have been very relaxed these past two days, Cai Sheng, I don't have that much time to waste with you. If you can't resolve it within the five days you originally agreed on..."

Cai Sheng kowtowed repeatedly: "I can definitely do it. I will go and meet Song Dalin right away."

After Cai Sheng and Master Wu left, Lu Yuan was puzzled: "Sir, you can clearly accomplish this feat yourself, why do you let him do it?" With Pan Yun as the middleman, there is a high probability that the deal can be concluded.

Yu Qian said: "We are officials from the capital, and we will leave after a while. Local governance still depends on local officials.

I can take the credit today, but what about after I leave? If the next county magistrate is the same as Cai Sheng, the people of Yushan County will just jump from one pit to another."

Lu Yuan: "Can we avoid this trap by giving the credit to Cai Sheng?"

"Not necessarily, but the chances are higher," Yu Qian said, "I am an imperial envoy. Whether it is to exempt the two-cent tax or reduce labor service, I can report directly to the court and ask Your Majesty to issue an order. However, when the order reaches the local level, how to implement it and to what extent it is implemented is up to the local officials.

If we obey the imperial decree today and exempt taxes and labor service, tomorrow they will be able to collect money under other names, not to mention that labor service has always been assigned by local government offices. Unless Your Majesty issues an order to force a certain place to cancel some labor service, this matter will never be resolved."

But it is unrealistic to ask the emperor to issue an edict.

It’s not that the emperor was unwilling, but that local labor involved a wide range of people. Even in times of disaster or famine, the emperor would usually exempt local taxes and not interfere with labor.

As for labor, we can only hope for the moral character of local officials.

For example, Akihito.

When he was in power, the labor service was hard, but the amount of labor service paid each year was very little. Short-term labor was levied on one in ten households, and long-term labor was levied on one in thirty households. The elderly and widowed were not included.

Unlike Cai Sheng, every household had to send someone to serve in the short-term service, and those who were assigned to the long-term service were not exempted from the short-term service. As a result, one household had to send two male adults to serve in the long-term service and the short-term service respectively.

Wang Xiaojing's family went from being rich peasants to being poor, and finally had no choice but to rebel. It was because of this that the family had to perform both short-term and long-term labor service at the same time, with almost no chance to breathe.

When Yu Qian thought of this, a cold light flashed in his eyes. It would be a disaster for the local people if someone as merciless as Cai Sheng served as an official!
Cai Sheng hurried into the charity courtyard, pushed aside the villagers who were queuing, and asked irritably, "Why are there still so many people?"

The villagers turned to look at him with cold and indifferent eyes.

Master Wu wiped the sweat from his forehead and whispered, "It was the Imperial Envoy who ordered the city gates to be opened and the people to enter the city for free medical treatment..."

Cai Sheng felt uncomfortable with their gazes, so he pushed them away and quickly went to find Pan Yun.

Pan Yun was still half-dead while prescribing medicine for people.

Cai Sheng pulled her aside and asked in a low voice: "Have you made an appointment with Song Dalin? When will he be willing to see me?"

Pan Yun said slowly, "Why are you in such a hurry? The message has already been delivered. They haven't replied yet. Has Magistrate Cai already determined the conditions for the amnesty?"

Where is he going for sure?
After Cai Sheng returned, he discussed with Master Wu for a long time and found that he only had the right to agree to one thing, that is, to reduce labor.

Everything else must be reported to Guangxin Prefecture and asked the prefect to make a decision.

Cai Sheng was a little afraid to go see the prefect, so he didn't move.

Pan Yun looked at him and shook his head: "Master Cai, you can't do this. You are not sincere and you can't offer anything. Song Dalin won't meet you. If you meet him and he finds out that you can't offer anything, what if he gets angry and kills you?"

"He dares!" Cai Sheng said, "I have a request. Only he and Wang Xiaojing are allowed to come to the negotiation. No one else is allowed to come."

Pan Jun shook his head and sighed, "Master Cai, although Song Dalin has never been to school, he must have heard stories told by old people, right? Is the story of the Hongmen Banquet unpopular?
Besides, Wang Xiaojing is an educated person. If Song Dalin doesn’t understand, how could he not understand?” (End of this chapter)