The prince is more stable

Chapter 374: Human Disasters Are Like Tigers
The complexity of human nature lies in the fact that we can maintain a bottom line of kindness, but cannot refuse dirty money.

No matter how bad a person is, money is innocent.

It would be fine to just kill the bad guys, but should the innocent money be buried with them?

There is no need to do that. Innocent money can only be the spoils of good people. When the bad guys are eliminated by the good guys, the innocent little money will of course belong to the good guys.

This is Zhao Xiaoqian’s simple value.

Sitting alone in the room, facing the mountain of silver, Zhao Xiaoqian's eyes gradually became blurred.

How nice it would be if these small amounts of money could remain with me forever without being spent...

Just as I was immersed in the pleasure of getting rich, there was a soft knock on the door.

Zhao Xiaoqian said without turning his head: "Come in."

The door was opened and Zhao Xin pushed it open as he walked in. The first thing he saw was a room full of silver. Zhao Xin was also stunned. He stared at the pile of silver in a daze and was unable to come back to his senses for a long time.

Zhao Xiaoqian patted his shoulder heavily: "Wake up! This money is not yours!"

Zhao Xin suddenly came to his senses: "Please forgive me, Lord, I have never seen so many, so many..."

Zhao Xiaoqian interjected, "Such bribes, yes, were given by the bigwigs of Zhending Prefecture. You can't compare to me in this respect. I occasionally see this much money in the treasury of my palace. It's a pity that I have such a prodigal father..."

Zhao Xin didn't dare look at the silver mountain again, fearing he would fall into the abyss. He lowered his eyelids and said, "My Lord, we have thoroughly interrogated those strong men yesterday. As you expected, they confessed that they were all working for Liu Qianliang, the judge of Zhending Prefecture, and others."

"Extorting merchants from the city is merely a minor offense. Liu Qianliang and his men's biggest profits stem from privately selling salt and iron to Liao merchants, and lending money to farmers in nine counties in the name of the government. Under the guise of the 'Green Sprouts Law,' they force the people under their jurisdiction to borrow money, grain, and seeds from the government every year..."

"Most farmers couldn't pay back their debts the following year, so the government reclaimed their land and resold it to wealthy landlords, profiting from it. Those who couldn't pay were forced to sign death contracts and sold as slaves to wealthy families. Women were sold into brothels."

"Those farmers and merchants who were dissatisfied and threatened to file a complaint would often mysteriously disappear, never to be heard from again. Besides extorting merchants, those burly men also secretly helped Liu Qianliang and others do these dirty work, racking up dozens of lives, both large and small."

Zhao Xiaoqian closed his eyes and calmed down.

He knew that Liu Qianliang and his group were not good people and had some guesses about what they had done, but when he heard the truth, he still couldn't help but get angry.

Yesterday, Zhao Xiaoqian had a deep conversation with Li Qingchen and kept some data about Zhending Prefecture in mind.

Zhending Prefecture has nine counties under its jurisdiction, with a total of more than 90,000 households and a population of more than 160,000.

This data is really strange. On average, each household does not even have enough for two people.

This shows what?
The environment of this border town is worse than imagined. Both its geographical location on the border and the government's exploitation of the people have reached a very serious level.

Therefore, there are more than 90,000 households in the nine counties under its jurisdiction, but the population is disproportionately only 160,000.

Zhao Xiaoqian was sure that the so-called 90,000 households were not real. In fact, many of them had become empty households with no one registered on the household registration.

Most of these vacant registered populations could not bear the exploitation of the government, or were forced by the government to sell their land, and had to move away with their families, becoming refugees or selling themselves into slavery.

It's cruel, but this is the current situation in Zhending Prefecture.

Data cannot deceive people. The truth of many things can often be inferred from the data.

This is Hebei. Geographically, it has the rich Hebei Plain, which was a place rich in grain in later generations. But why was Hebei in the Song Dynasty so poor? The people lived a life neither human nor ghost, struggling hard on the survival line.

Ultimately, it's all man-made disaster.

Zhao Xiaoqian remained silent, but the murderous intent in his heart grew stronger.

Those who deserve to die must die!
He would accept natural disasters, but he would never allow man-made disasters, at least not in the territory where he was the chief official!
After opening his eyes, Zhao Xiaoqian's tone remained calm: "Zhao Xin..." "Your humble servant is here."

"Send a quick message to Wei Jie in Bian Jing, and have him send a group of spies from the Imperial City Division to infiltrate Zhending Prefecture and its nine counties to gather evidence from government offices and the public. This matter is urgent, and we must act immediately!"

Zhao Xin was awed, bowed and clasped his fists in response.

…………

Under the same moonlight, Liu Qianliang, Zhang Lan and others said goodbye and left the backyard of the government office, walking on the streets of Zhending City late at night, feeling very happy and excited.

We have gained a lot tonight, and we have recruited a heavyweight figure to join our group. The deeds of this big man are well-known throughout the Song Dynasty.

Not to mention his achievements, his background and official titles, the emperor's favor and esteem for him alone are enough to make him their new protective umbrella. If there are any mistakes made by his subordinates in the future, as long as Duke Zhao explains and excuses them in front of the emperor, everything will turn out well.

Such a thick thigh must be held tightly and never let go.

A group of people walked on the street. Even though they were facing the howling cold wind, their hearts were warm and they didn't feel cold at all.

After walking for a while, Zhou Yu, the official in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, suddenly frowned and said, "Everyone, what we've done is against the law. Yet, tonight, Duke Zhao accepted the money without hesitation and even promised to share our future happiness. Isn't this... a bit too quick to agree?"

Liu Qianliang chuckled and said, "Zhou Tiju, who has a grudge against money? The whole room is filled with white silver. Anyone would be tempted, right?"

"Although Duke Zhao holds a high position and great power, he used to live in Bianjing, under the watchful eyes of the government. He might have made a little money, but he's probably never seen a lot of money. With so many imperial censors and court officials watching closely, how dare he act lawless?"

"He's just arrived in Zhending Prefecture, and he's already earned two hundred thousand taels of silver. It's truly eye-opening for him. If he doesn't quickly convert such enormous power into cash, wouldn't it be wasted? I think Duke Zhao is a true man. He's just like the rest of us, traveling thousands of miles to become an official just for the money."

When everyone thought about it, it was indeed reasonable.

The main reason is that they put their own thinking into Zhao Xiaoqian.

Anyway, they become officials for money, and all officials in the world do it for money. Zhao Xiaoqian is also an official, so how can he be exempt from this?

Zhang Lan, the commander of the Imperial Guards, smiled and said, "Judge Liu is quite right. Duke Zhao was born in the Chu Palace. I've heard that His Highness the Prince of Chu has been a playboy all his life, particularly fond of money and beauty. If I were like that, how could my son, influenced by that for so many years, be noble?"

After hearing this, everyone became more convinced and started laughing.

Thousands of miles away, Zhao Hao was currently applying all his strength to a certain charming widow. Suddenly, for some reason, he felt a chill on his back, as if he had been stabbed in the back...

Zhao Hao was so frightened that his hair stood on end. He sat up in shock, but found nothing unusual around him. He lay down with a puzzled look on his face. He tried to regain his strength, but he couldn't.

Zhao Hao sighed, looked out the window with a vicissitudes of life, and said quietly, "The noisy wind just now affected my condition... We will fight again next time."

The widow secretly curled her lips, but dared not say anything more, let alone complain. She approached with a charming smile, gently comforting Zhao Hao and helping him curse the noisy wind just now...

On the streets of Zhending Prefecture, the officials were in a determined mood.

Although we cannot fully trust Zhao Xiaoqian yet, at least for now, it is quite smooth to get him to join the group.

As they walked, Liu Qianliang suddenly paused, deep in thought, "General Zhang's words remind me... The King of Chu has only loved money and beauty in his life. I'm afraid the Duke of Zhao is the same. I heard he already has a wife and a concubine, so he's obviously a man of sentimental temperament. We only gave him money, not beauty."

Everyone suddenly realized and agreed with it.

Zhou Chen, the official in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, said in frustration, "No wonder the Duke of Zhao was so indifferent tonight. It turns out we were just being ignorant!"

Zhang Lan also hurriedly said: "Arrange it, arrange it!"

Liu Qianliang smiled confidently: "Leave this matter to me."

(End of this chapter)