I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 338 Yuan Shu is actually serious

It turned out that before Zhang Chuan took office, the local powerful clans in Daling County had joined forces with the previous county magistrates and, taking advantage of the chaos in the central government of the Han Empire and the untimely implementation of the land survey policy, launched a major attack on Daling County.

They "worked together" to continuously annex land, drive out and recruit farmers to become tenants, and cooperated with each other to do so, acting in concert.

The county magistrate was responsible for secretly raising tax rates and instructing his subordinate tax collectors to repeatedly collect taxes, forcing farmers to go bankrupt and sell their land to powerful families. They themselves also sold themselves into the homes of these powerful families, thus becoming their private property.

The peasants, powerless and with nowhere to reason, could only bow their heads and accept their fate, while the powerful lords feasted on their riches, their every fart greasy.

The previous county magistrates relied on such practices to continuously take kickbacks and accept gifts from powerful families, making a fortune each. They then used the embezzled money to lobby higher-ups, cultivate connections, and thus smoothly get promoted.

Then it was finally Zhang Chuan's turn. After taking office, he originally wanted to continue the same operation, but when he looked at the county's account books, his heart sank. He thought to himself that he had come to the wrong place.

The previous magistrates had almost ruined the land and population of Daling County. After collecting taxes for sixteen years, the people in the county were all poor and there was no more profit to be made from them.

At that time, the most fertile land in the entire Daling County had fallen into the control of the powerful and wealthy. They were not interested in the remaining inferior land, and the people were dirt poor, with the county government's revenue declining year by year.

Zhang Chuan never dreamed that his exes would be so unethical, engaging in such destructive practices that he ended up with nothing.

But what's done is done, and he could only swallow his anger. However, he felt a tightness in his chest. Fortunately, the powerful families were understanding and often sent him gifts, which prevented Zhang Chuan from making a scene.

But this isn't a good solution. The accounts need to be sorted out. We can't let the mess left by the previous administration ruin us, can we?

Coincidentally, in the second year of Jianning, Taiyuan Prefecture was in turmoil, suffering from both drought and banditry. Zhang Chuan then used his best skills to transfer the problems that occurred in other places to his own side and began to settle accounts.

Zhang Chuan was a seasoned accountant; after settling the accounts, he thought he could finally live a good life and let his guard down.

At first, life was indeed good, but who would have thought that Yuan Shu, the governor of Bingzhou, would arrive in the later part of his term? Even more unexpectedly, Yuan Shu actually started to audit the accounts as soon as he took office.

Zhang Chuan still harbored a sliver of hope, thinking that Yuan Shu's actions were all bark and no bite, a show of force followed by a gentle fall, primarily aimed at deterrence with punishment as a secondary measure.

After all, a new broom sweeps clean!
But who knew that Yuan Shu would actually do it for real!
By comparing data from multiple sources and conducting various investigations, the problems with Zhang Chuan's falsified accounts were exposed, and they were all brought in together, with knives held to their throats.

Who can withstand this?

I don't know if others can withstand it, but Zhang Chuan definitely can't.

Yuan Shu is currently the second-largest de facto ruler of the Great Han Empire. He is a local tyrant in Bingzhou, and no one above him can control him except his father, Yuan Feng. If he is killed, he will really be killed, and no one will investigate the matter.

Who would risk going against a big shot like Yuan Shu for the sake of a mere county magistrate?

With this thought in mind, Zhang Chuan decisively dropped the matter and said everything that should and shouldn't have been said.

Yuan Shu continued to press, forcing Zhang Chuan to list the local powerful figures he knew who had conspired with previous county magistrates, preparing to take action against them.

In addition, Yuan Shu, the previous four magistrates of Daling County, did not intend to let them go. He made a note of them and planned to cause trouble for them if they were still alive when he returned to Luoyang, and to seek revenge on their families and clans if they were no longer alive.

As for Zhang Chuan and others, because they falsified accounts and deceived the imperial court, their crimes were unforgivable and they should all be executed. However, considering their merit in confessing their crimes, they were not executed but were dismissed from their posts.

Yuan Shu immediately selected a suitable candidate from his own team to replace Zhang Chuan as the county magistrate. Then, the county assistant and county commandant were all dismissed, and other personnel from his own side were replaced.

As for those minor officials in the county, they will all be dismissed first, investigated one by one, those with problems will be held accountable, and those without problems will be allowed to remain in their posts or be promoted as appropriate. In short, he will not let anyone in Daling County go.

As for the local tyrants and powerful figures, they were even less of a threat.

Not to mention the local tyrants in a mere county who occupy tens of thousands of acres of land, one or two of them also hide thousands of people, hoard all kinds of grain, and some even have their own guards and privately possess weapons.

This is practically handing over a doorstep for Yuan Shu to accumulate political achievements.

Yuan Shu himself was a well-known powerful figure in the land, and he knew all about the clandestine methods of powerful families. Even if these powerful families didn't do anything illegal on the land, it was absolutely impossible for them not to have armed forces.

However, not just anyone can have an armed retinue. You need the court's permission to recruit and organize it privately. If no one cares, then it's fine. But if someone does care, they'll just slap a big accusation of rebellion on you, and your entire family will be wiped out!
Yuan Shu was determined to seize control of the land annexation and the concealed population in Daling County. Having finished investigating the issues of one county, Yuan Shu felt the process was still too slow; dealing with them one by one would take forever.
Therefore, Yuan Shu formally established three interrogation and investigation teams, and arranged for his three chief advisors, Xun You, Zhang Hong and Zhong Yao, to lead them and go to various places to carry out investigations.

Each of the three interrogation and investigation teams had dedicated personnel, with skilled members of the Yixin Society participating throughout the process, and were also supported by two Qu Tianxiong Army units for protection and assistance.

If the person under investigation cooperates honestly, then they should be investigated and dealt with through proper channels. No additional action is needed.

If the other party knows their crime but refuses to repent, resists investigation, or tries to escape, then we will directly deploy the Tianxiong Army to deal with them forcefully and send them all to heaven one by one!
Are you trying to play the game of land annexation and population concealment in front of me?
You guys are still too green!

With the momentum of annihilating nine thousand Xianbei invaders, Yuan Shu's iron fist crashed down onto the land of Bingzhou, causing a shock that made the entire Bingzhou officialdom and upper class uneasy and very worried.

But it must be said that this method is really effective.

After Zhong Yao led the interrogation team to Daling County, they first took over the county government and maintained its normal operation. Then they investigated the county officials to see if they had accepted bribes. If so, they were dismissed immediately; if not, they were allowed to remain in their posts.

The local powerful clans were not spared either. Zhong Yao personally arranged for officers of the Tianxiong Army to lead soldiers to demand that the tribal chiefs come forward for interrogation and to give answers.

Those with a good attitude can be dealt with without resorting to force, as long as they hand over the land annexed after the first year of Jianning and the people they have hidden. Once they have passed this test, Yuan Shu will not pursue anything further before that.

This can be seen as giving them a buffer zone to compromise.

But if one doesn't even accept this buffer zone, then one is simply being shameless, ignoring Yuan Shu's power and status, and disregarding the authority of the imperial court.

Then we should directly mobilize the Tianxiong Army to deal with the situation forcefully, arrest all the clansmen and bring them to justice, conduct an investigation with the same level of confiscation as raiding their homes, and seize all their property and land.

For example, the Qiang family in Daling County is the kind of family that doesn't appreciate kindness. When Zhong Yao sent them a leaflet with questions, they refused to accept it, and the whole family shut themselves in, adopting a non-violent and non-cooperative attitude, which angered Zhong Yao.

Zhong Yao appears to be an honest and unassuming person, always amiable and seemingly only interested in joking and studying. However, his temper is not outwardly displayed but rather deeply hidden within.

Even if you anger him, he won't show his anger openly. Instead, he'll take action directly without arguing with you. He's the kind of person who's ruthless and doesn't talk much.

Zhong Yao directly ordered the two hundred Heavenly Warriors to launch an attack on the Qiang clan's territory. They used crossbows and bows to fire, smashed open the clan's gates, and went on a killing spree. Anyone with a weapon was killed, and in no time, the powerful local clan was completely wiped out and the entire clan was captured.

Because they were armed for self-defense, and some ring-pommel swords and bows and arrows were found in their clan's territory, Zhong Yao directly determined that the family's behavior was rebellion. Since it was rebellion, they were traitors, and since they were traitors, their clan should be exterminated.

An hour later, the entire Qiang clan was reduced to wandering ghosts, and all their property, land, and people were confiscated, leaving nothing behind.

According to later statistics, the Qiang family owned more than 59,000 mu of land, hid 3,679 unregistered people, hundreds of taels of gold and silver, hundreds of millions of coins, and three large warehouses filled with grain, as well as a large number of oxen, horses, donkeys and farm tools.

Zhong Yao's decision to directly mobilize his army and wipe out the entire Qiang family terrified all the other families in Daling County. Three days after the Qiang family's massacre, all the prominent families in Daling County came to Zhong Yao's side to report.

One by one, they handed over all the account books, reporting and confiscating all the land they had annexed and the people they had hidden since the first year of Jianning. Some were even worried that the number was not enough, so they paid some extra out of their own pockets to make up for it, fearing that Zhong Yao would not be satisfied and would also annihilate them as rebels.

In the end, it's just shamelessness. They won't shed tears until they see the coffin. If they had done this earlier, would they have needed to kill someone?

As for those people in the county government, needless to say, more than 80% of them are corrupt; it's just that some have minor offenses while others have big appetites.

Those with big appetites were beheaded by Zhong Yao, while those with minor offenses were either dismissed or demoted, and the main power was controlled by Yuan Shu's own people.

The people at Yixin Hui and Zhixing Academy are eagerly awaiting opportunities to gain experience.

Zhong Yao's official business trip to Daling County left a deep impression on him.

Similarly, Xun You in Pingtao County and Zhang Hong in Qi County encountered similar situations and gained profound insights.

Zhang Hong's insights were the most profound.

Qixian County was the stronghold of the Wang family of Taiyuan.

(End of this chapter)