The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

The two exchanged what they had found, and it was almost dawn.

Xue Shao didn't feel sleepy, but his eyes were a little red. He said, "The day after tomorrow is the day of the Feng family's martial arts contest to find a husband. I have to go there at 9 am. Do you want to come?"

Pan Yun nodded: "Let's go see what's going on. Do you want to go on stage?"

Xue Shao shook his head: "Before the martial arts contest to choose a husband, we need to gather all the evidence."

Pan Yun: "That means there's only one day left."

Xue Shao: "There's still one more night."

Yes, you can do things at night too.

For Pan Yun now, not sleeping for two or three days is not a big problem, but Xue Shao needs to take a nap.

So as soon as Pan Yun left, he lay down on the bed. Xi Jin woke up groggily, turned his head to look at the young master who was sleeping soundly, and muttered, "The young master is also staying in bed."

Pan Yun went back to her room to regulate her breathing, and after cultivating for two cycles, she went out.

She felt there were still many things to explore about Feng Hongde's estate and granary.

With such a large amount of farmland, government land, and private land being seized, someone must have been involved in the transaction and helped cover it up.

What did those people want, and what did they get?
And who handled the grain from the three granaries, and where was it transported to?

Is it to exchange money directly in the market, or is there another place to go?
If we could follow this trail and find out who was Feng Hongde's backer, that would be great.

If the Guangdong Regional Military Commission had no idea about the situation of the Chaozhou commander, then who was covering for him and managing to keep it a secret from the Regional Military Commission?

If the Guangdong Military Commandery knew, why did they turn a blind eye? Whose connections did Feng Hongde follow?

Did the Five Military Commissions know about these circumstances?
Now that she'd caught the tail, she might as well follow the trail and see how long the vine was and how developed its root system was.

Even if she doesn't pull it out, she still needs to figure it out.

Xue Shao, having passed the imperial examination, quickly became a guest of honor of Feng Hongde and became the son-in-law he most desired. Feng Hongde not only showed him around his mansion but also introduced him to a group of officials, including Prefect Lin of Chaozhou Prefecture.

Within a day, not only the other candidates for son-in-law in the villa, but also the restaurants and teahouses in the city knew that Commander Feng had found a satisfactory son-in-law, Xue Wen, the scholar who won first place in the poetry competition at Piaoxiang Tower the day before yesterday.

"Is this supposed to be a martial arts contest to choose a husband? That Xue scholar looks like a weak and frail scholar. If he goes on stage, won't Yuanzhi beat him to death?"

Yuanzhi was another popular candidate for a live-in son-in-law. Before Xue Shao appeared, he was the most likely to win the beauty's heart. It is said that Miss Feng had even secretly peeked at him.

There are rumors in the Feng family that Miss Feng is very satisfied with Yuanzhi.

The gambling den had previously set the odds for Yuanzhi to the lowest possible level, but as soon as Xue Shao appeared, Yuanzhi's odds skyrocketed. This made those who had bet on him to win feel uneasy, and they didn't even have time to get a refund. They could only hesitate about whether to pool their money and bet on Xue Shao again.

"We can't win in a fight, but it's not certain whether Yuanzhi can even take the position. If Commander Feng has his eye on Scholar Xue, he'll find a way to make him win." "Isn't he just a scholar? I think Yuanzhi is better. Commander Feng is a military officer, so he should choose someone with high martial arts skills so that his son can inherit the position in the future, right?"

"Isn't that short-sighted? Even if it's hereditary, that grandson will at most be a commander of a thousand. To advance further, he'll have to fight on the battlefield and earn merits. But on the battlefield, you have to prove your true abilities, or you won't even know how you died. On the contrary, if he marries Xue, a scholar, and has a few intelligent sons who take the imperial examinations, he might be able to bring the entire Feng family out of the military and onto a smooth path. Isn't that better than risking your life?"

While everyone was discussing the matter, Xue Shao and Prefect Lin met alone.

Prefect Lin stood before Xue Shao, drenched in cold sweat.

Xue Shao flipped through the accounts on the table and looked at the Imperial Guards waiting to the side: "Is this what you found out?"

The Imperial Guard glanced at Prefect Lin and said, "Prefect Lin knows your plans, sir. To prevent him from ruining your plans, we have no choice but to act ahead of time."

Prefect Lin immediately said, "Lord Xue, I did not inform Commander Feng. As you just saw, he recommended you to me and did not know your true identity."

He was drenched in cold sweat and stammered as he explained, "These things were truly a last resort. If I hadn't accepted them, I wouldn't have been able to continue as the prefect of Chaozhou, let alone resign alive."

Xue Shao closed the booklet, not pursuing the matter of holding Prefect Lin accountable, but instead asked, "How can a mere commander of a thousand households wield such great power and responsibility?"

Prefect Lin hurriedly complained: "Prefects like me are all officials stationed outside the prefecture, while Feng Hongde is registered in the military here. After inheriting his military post, he also stayed here. Although he went to other places to take up his post, he was always in Guangdong and Fujian. I don't know why he was transferred back to Chaozhou Prefecture after going around in circles."

Prefect Lin sighed and said, “When I took office, he was already Feng Bancheng. He was the commander of a thousand households, and was supposed to only be in charge of military affairs. But the gentry and big merchants in the city all obeyed his orders. With just one word from him, my prefectural government could not even collect 30% of the taxes. Let alone hand them over to the national treasury, we could not even support our own government.”

"Without a salary, who among the prefects will do their job? Your Excellency is wise. Even if I were the most capable, what could I do without rice and money?" Prefect Lin wiped the sweat from his brow and hurriedly went to the bookshelf to find a copy of the Analects of Confucius.

He peeled off the book cover in front of Xue Shao and the Imperial Guards, only to find that it was not the Analects, but an account book.

Prefect Lin presented the items with both hands, saying, "Your Excellency, please take a look. These are my records from many years ago. I dared not keep a single penny of the things sent by Feng Hongde; they were all used for the benefit of the people."

Xue Shao opened it.

Prefect Lin cautiously glanced at Xue Shao's expression and quickly said, "I know that military and political affairs are separated, and that censors rarely and rarely inspect military affairs. However, I have been anonymously reporting to the Censorate for the past three years that the garrisons in several prefectures under the Guangdong Provincial Military Commission have been receiving salaries without working and encroaching on farmland. Chaozhou Prefecture was listed as the first among them."

Xue Shao: "Anonymous?"

Prefect Lin said with a bitter face, "If I don't remain anonymous, I'm afraid I won't be able to see you alive, sir."

Xue Shao closed the account book in his hand and asked, "Has any censor come to investigate?"

"Yes, three censors have come in the past three years, and you are the fourth, but..."

Xue Shao asked directly, "What were their results? Did they find anything?"

Prefect Lin lowered his eyes and said, “The first Imperial Censor, Deng, came and said there was nothing wrong in Chaozhou Prefecture. Since it was an anonymous report, it was clear that the person was hiding something and was probably making a false accusation for personal gain, so it was dropped. But not long after, another Imperial Censor, Huang, came. He was only here for half a month when he was killed by bandits while investigating a case outside the city. Commander Feng then led troops to wipe out the bandits. At the beginning of last year, another Imperial Censor, Zheng, came, investigated for two months, and then left. We haven’t heard from him since.” (End of Chapter)