The prince is more stable

Chapter 390: Submitting a Petition for Tax Exemption
Open your mind and liberate your thoughts.

Chen Shou's words suddenly gave Zhao Xiaoqian inspiration.

If he was short of money, he could generate income. He had more than 200 imperial guards and martial arts masters who protected him closely. These people followed him around all day doing nothing. After all, Zhao Xiaoqian was not that hateful, and there would not be people waiting to assassinate him all the time.

Since you are free, you might as well go out and find a side job.

The government office organized an event and gathered the wives of landlords and powerful people from Zhending City and the nine counties under its jurisdiction. Zhao Xiaoqian appeared with more than ten muscular men including Jia Shi. As soon as they met, they bowed and shouted in a loud voice, "Good evening, boss."

Then Jia Shi and others stood up one by one to introduce themselves, saying, "My name is so-and-so, and I'm from such-and-such place."

If those routines and tricks used in nightclubs in the past were used in this era, wouldn’t they make the landlords and rich ladies so crazy that they couldn’t close their legs?

Well, it's very feasible. The only trouble is to convince Jia Shi and the others to put aside their pride and dignity as much as possible, and practice more Golden Bell Cover. After all, I heard that rich women like to play with steel wool...

If he really did that, relying on the income generated by muscular men like Jia Shi, he could generate at least tens of thousands of taels of income a month.

The more Zhao Xiaoqian thought about it, the more excited he became, and his expression became excited.

Chen Shou saw that the situation was not good. Although he didn't know what the prince was thinking, it was definitely not a good thing. He had to interrupt him and not let him think any further.

"Prince, Prince!... I will go and help you 'rent' a house right now." Chen Shou emphasized the word "rent".

"Go ahead, remember to bargain, but don't bully others," Zhao Xiaoqian reminded.

…………

There are many courtyards next to the government office. After all, it is the central area of ​​Zhending City. Whether for residence or business, it is a golden area that wealthy people flock to.

Chen Shou lived up to expectations and quickly negotiated a small courtyard with two entrances. The owner of the courtyard was originally a businessman who owned several shops in the city and was quite wealthy.

However, the merchants have been suffering from various exploitations and extortions by officials of Zhending Prefecture in recent years, and their lives have been very difficult. They have long been unable to make ends meet. After a big commotion last night, the merchants heard that all the officials of Zhending Prefecture had been arrested and dismissed, and they were overjoyed.

Today, Chen Shou came to rent a house. He heard that it was occupied by the newly arrived Duke Zhao, who was the leader of the action last night. The businessman agreed immediately without saying a word and didn't even ask for rent, just because Duke Zhao helped him vent the anger that had been pent up for many years.

Chen Shou did not dare to take advantage of his power, and after much persuasion he finally paid the rent, a symbolic twenty taels a month. The merchant was so grateful that he moved out with his family that day to make room for Zhao Jungong.

The yard is not big, with only a front yard and a backyard, and the building is quite old, probably a house that is several decades old.

Chen Shou took the imperial guards to pack up the house simply, and Zhao Xiaoqian moved in.

The main reason is the convenient geographical location. The courtyard is only separated from the government office by a wall, right next to the government office. Zhao Xiaoqian can go to work and punch in by just walking a few steps every day, which makes him quite satisfied.

There are three side rooms in the backyard, one of which became Zhao Xiaoqian's study.

In the afternoon, while the Imperial City Division and the Dragon Guard Battalion were still busy capturing the remnants and checking the property of the criminal officials, Zhao Xiaoqian had already finished writing the memorial in his study.

Li Qingchen was sitting next to him, and the memorial was written by Li Qingchen on his behalf.

After all, Zhao Xiaoqian's handwriting is really... hard to describe. If it is sent to Bian Jing and circulated among the emperor and his ministers, it will be a bit embarrassing and I wonder how many people will laugh at him.

After spending an hour and revising and polishing it again and again, Li Qingchen finally finished writing the memorial under the instruction of Zhao Xiaoqian.

The content of the memorial was very explosive. It began with a petition and accusation. Zhao Xiaoqian directly told Zhao Xu that he had mobilized the Dragon Guard Camp to purge the entire Zhending Prefecture officialdom.

Then he presented the facts, showing how many evil things the officials of Zhending Prefecture had done over the years, how they had ruthlessly exploited and oppressed the people under their jurisdiction, and how the people were living in dire straits. He also attached all the hard evidence of illegal activities that the Imperial City Administration had found in recent days.

Including Li Qingchen's inaction during his two years as prefect, and the blocked passage to Bianjing, etc., all kinds of good and bad situations were clearly written in the memorial. Of course, in the end, Zhao Xiaoqian still pleaded for Li Qingchen, asking the emperor to consider that Li Qingchen was able to keep himself clean and not get involved in corruption when he was unable to do anything alone, which was also considered to be keeping the duty of a minister.

Zhao Xiaoqian suggested that Li Qingchen be demoted one level and remain as the judge of Zhending Prefecture to assist Zhao Xiaoqian in governing the local area, so that Zhao Xiaoqian could free up his hands to reorganize the military to resist the Liao army.

After finishing the memorial, Li Qingchen carefully dried the ink and closed it. He said worriedly, "Although the Duke's actions last night were swift and decisive, if word gets out in Bianjing, I'm afraid the officials will still be furious."

"The entire Zhending Prefecture officialdom has been purged. This is unprecedented since the founding of the Song Dynasty and will inevitably cause an uproar and shock in the court. If the backers behind Liu Qianliang and others continue to add fuel to the fire, Duke Zhao will likely be in trouble."

"Lord, could the wording of this memorial be a little more tactful? Or, could we report the main culprits, and as for the judges, prosecutors, and officials below the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Public Security, they wouldn't need to sign the memorial? Otherwise, the matter would be too serious."

Zhao Xiaoqian would certainly listen carefully to such well-intentioned advice.

You can listen, but you don’t necessarily have to adopt it.

"Old Li, some things can't be covered up. Zhending Prefecture is already in ruins. We should use strong medicine to save lives first, then consider the sequelae, and finally slowly warm up the body."

Zhao Xiaoqian sighed, "What happened last night must be reported truthfully. No one and nothing can be concealed from the emperor. This is a life-saving remedy."

"If I am vague in my memorial, the emperor may think that the current situation in Zhending Prefecture is not that serious. If the emperor does not take it seriously, it will be very disadvantageous for my future governance of Zhending Prefecture."

"You should be well aware that the government didn't send me to Zhending Prefecture to govern the area. My focus is on strengthening the military and resisting the Liao army."

"Simply put, I don't have that much time and energy to spend on managing the mess in Zhending Prefecture, so I must make my position clear to the government and the court."

"Anyway, that's the thing. If you think my methods are too extreme and the purge is too thorough, then I'm quitting and want someone more capable to be the prefect..."

"If you agree with my approach, then make it an ironclad case for what these people have done. Clean up my backyard as I think it should be, and don't let my front and back be on fire."

Zhao Xiaoqian said with a smile, "This is the attitude I expressed to the court. Do you still think there is a problem with it?"

Li Qingchen was stunned. This was the first time he heard that local officials had such an overbearing and domineering attitude towards the imperial court.

This is fucking...it's because you are favored by the government, otherwise, not to mention the government, even the big guys in the government office can tear you apart.

"It's the Duke of the County. If it were someone else..." Li Qingchen said with a wry smile, "Only the Duke of the County could handle this properly. If it were someone else, it would be a heinous crime."

The entire government office was wiped out. What a serious matter. Officialdom is about balancing interests, and this kind of indiscriminate approach is the most taboo.

Even if the irrefutable evidence of Liu Qianliang and Zhang Lan's illegal activities was brought to the court, others might not necessarily think it was just, because Zhao Xiaoqian had destroyed the balance in the officialdom. When one reaches beyond the rules, no matter whether one is just or evil, one must pay a heavy price.

The person who did this happened to be Zhao Xiaoqian, a legendary figure who was highly regarded by the government and deeply feared by several bigwigs in the Council of State. So it was hard to say how this matter would be characterized when it reached the court in Bianliang.

If what happened last night was ordered by Li Qingchen, then within ten days, the court's order would come down, and Li Qingchen would definitely be dismissed from his official position and escorted to Beijing for questioning.

And since Zhao Xiaoqian did this big thing last night, there is a high probability that nothing will happen.

We all serve as prefects, but the gap between people is so huge that we have no choice but to accept our fate.

Seeing Li Qingchen's bitter face, Zhao Xiaoqian patted him on the shoulder and said, "From now on, the government affairs of Zhending Prefecture will be handed over to you. The first thing to do is to let the people under your jurisdiction recuperate and recover their vitality as soon as possible..."

Li Qingchen couldn't help but say, "My Lord, I'm afraid this matter is..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Xiaoqian waved his hand and said, "I know what you're going to say. Now, please write me another memorial titled 'Requesting the Exemption of the Three-Year Tax on Agriculture and Commerce in the Nine Counties under the Jurisdiction of Zhending Prefecture.' Write it quickly and send it to Bianjing together with the previous memorial."

(End of this chapter)