The prince is more stable

Chapter 392: All Your Requests Granted

The list is troublesome and hot.

Zhao Xiaoqian chose to take it seriously and let it go lightly. This was an adult's compromise with reality, and he had no other choice.

Being in a high position and having great power does not necessarily mean that one can do whatever he wants. Even Zhao Xu and Zhang Dun did not dare to say these four words.

If Zhending Prefecture wants to develop in a low-key manner in the future and if the people want to live in peace, it is best not to let the court pay too much attention to it. Sometimes, if too many people pay attention to it and too many interests are involved, then bad things will definitely happen.

Zhao Xiaoqian had learned a profound lesson about this in his previous life.

In the previous life, there was a project in the company. The profit of the project was not too much. No one from the general manager to the middle-level leaders paid much attention to it and just threw it to the team where Zhao Xiaoqian was.

Later, the project's client changed, and this client was very generous, so the profits suddenly increased a lot.

The project suddenly became popular, attracting competition from various factions in the company. The unknown team Zhao Xiaoqian was in was immediately reduced to ashes, and the project was completely taken over by someone else.

Later, this project unknowingly became a tool for internal factional struggles, which led to a very exciting fight. In order to balance the internal factions, the boss had to be fair and put people from various factions into the temporary team.

It's easy to imagine what a group of mortal enemies put together like this will end up producing.

Sure enough, the project turned out to be a hodgepodge of a hodgepodge. Even the people in the company were embarrassed to look at it, let alone the client.

The father stormed out in anger, completely severing his paternal relationship with Party B's son and never recognizing him again. As for the company's profits, they were also lost.

The current situation in Zhending Prefecture is the same. What Zhao Xiaoqian fears most now is excessive attention from the court.

Once attention is paid, it is bound to lead to conflicts of interest and struggles. The court sends a prosecutor today and a supervisor tomorrow. The new and old parties perfectly replicate the new and old struggles in the court of Bianliang in this border town. How can Zhao Xiaoqian survive?
Therefore, for the future development of Zhending Prefecture, even the biggest cases must be suppressed, and efforts must be made to minimize the impact, so that they can develop in a low-key manner and make money quietly.

It only took one night to clean up the Zhending Prefecture bureaucracy, but the cleanup work took more than ten days.

During the past ten days, Zhao Xiaoqian, assisted by Li Qingchen, was busy dealing with various tedious matters in Zhending Prefecture, including investigating the property of convicted officials, investigating the officials and landlords in the nine counties under the jurisdiction of the Imperial City Division, issuing notices to reassure the people, re-recruiting government officials, and so on.

On the tenth day, a horseman came hurriedly from the direction of Bian Jing.

The reply from Zhao Xu and the court came.

The memorial was submitted to Bian Jing, shocking the court and Zhao Xu was furious. The memorial was accompanied by various hard evidence of Liu Qianliang and others' illegal activities and confessions signed by their own hands. The case had been confirmed and there was no possibility of overturning it.

Zhao Xu was furious. He didn't expect such an important border town to be so degraded.

Zhending Prefecture shouldered the important mission of fighting against the Liao Army. If the Liao Army attacked the Song Dynasty, Zhending Prefecture would often be their first choice, because it was located in the Hebei Plain, a flat geographical environment where the Liao Army's cavalry could better play their advantages.

Zhao Xu hoped more than anyone else that Zhending Prefecture could strengthen its city defenses and strengthen its military. If the Liao army invaded, it would be best if the first line of defense of the Song Dynasty could keep the Liao army out of the border.

The memorial submitted by Zhao Xiaoqian almost drove Zhao Xu crazy. The officialdom in Zhending Prefecture was so rotten that not only did the common people suffer, but more importantly, how could they keep the enemy out in such a mess?
The hard evidence and facts were all there, and Liu Qianliang and others were also captured by the Imperial City Administration. Zhao Xu immediately summoned several prime ministers from the Council of State and the Privy Council to discuss the matter. In front of everyone, Zhao Xu took out Zhao Xiaoqian's memorial and asked everyone to circulate it.

After reading the memorial, all the ministers remained silent and their expressions changed several times.

The phenomenon of corruption in the Song Dynasty court and local bureaucracy has actually become an unspoken rule.

Who in the court is not greedy? Apart from Zhao Xu himself, even Zhang Dun, who boasts of his integrity and uprightness, is not so clean.

Greed is greed, but it must be done in moderation and with a sense of propriety. This is also an unspoken rule. The actions of the Zhending Prefecture officials are indeed excessive. They don't plunder the people in this way. This is clearly forcing people into a desperate situation.

In front of all the ministers, Zhao Xu was furious. Although he was usually mild-tempered, this time he said the word "kill" several times.

Liu Qianliang believed that Zhang Lan and his group must be killed according to the law. There was no need to wait until the autumn to execute them. They could be killed immediately.

Anyone who dares to plead for mercy is their accomplice and must be tracked down.

As soon as these words were spoken, those in the Council of State and the Privy Council who were involved with Liu Qianliang immediately stopped daring to say a word.

I'd rather die than let my friend die. There's no reason to put the blame on yourself. Next, I'll figure out how to get out of this situation. I won't beg for mercy.

Zhao Xu was really angry, of course, and also wanted to shut up the ministers and prevent the case from developing in a more complicated direction. It was too complicated and had to be cut quickly.

As I said, adults only look at the pros and cons, and good and evil are not that important. Zhao Xu's current focus is to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. He cannot disrupt the court and implicate too many people for a case.

The emperor's morale was high, and the ministers' morale was invisibly suppressed. Even Zhang Dun, who had always been quite strong, chose to remain silent.

This was a rare opportunity, so Zhao Xu immediately took out Zhao Xiaoqian's second memorial, requesting the exemption of agricultural and commercial taxes for three years in the nine counties under the jurisdiction of Zhending Prefecture.

After the document was circulated among the ministers, Zhang Dun was the first to frown.

He was the prime minister and was under heavy work pressure. If he reduced or exempted taxes in a prefecture, the court's annual income would be affected, and the performance report for the next year would not be so good. The prime minister's authority would be questioned, and Zhang Dun would definitely not be happy about it.

It’s okay to reduce it slightly, but to completely exempt it for three years, this... Damn it!
Zhang Dun was the first to speak: "Your Majesty, this matter..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Xu looked at him with a scrutinizing gaze. "The people of Zhending Prefecture have been oppressed by corrupt officials for years, and their livelihood is destitute. The people under my rule urgently need to recover their vitality. Taxation should not be levied any further, otherwise it may cause civil unrest, spread to the border, or be used by the Liao Kingdom to invade."

"The people are suffering terribly, unable to make ends meet. The population of one prefecture is now only around 160,000. This shows how miserable the people are. They are all suffering so much. Does Mr. Zihou have any other insights?"

Zhang Dun was stunned. He opened his mouth and found that he seemed unable to refute.

This value... happened so quickly that if Zhang Dun continued to oppose the tax exemption, he would be labeled "unkind and unjust" and his reputation would be ruined. How many years could a prime minister with a ruined reputation stay in office?
Zhang Dun had to weigh the pros and cons. Compared to a three-year tax exemption, his reputation seemed more important. So what if it was exempted? It wasn't coming out of his own pocket, so he might as well exempt it.

Zhang Dun could only sigh bitterly and said, "I have no objection. The Duke of Anle's proposal is very sound. Serving the people is the duty of our officials. I gladly agree to it."

Zhao Xu's angry expression finally softened a bit. He nodded and said slowly, "The Duke of Anle cares deeply about the people and lives up to the country. He is a role model for our officials."

"Since everyone agrees, the Duke of Anle's request to exempt Zhending Prefecture from agricultural and commercial taxes for three years is approved. The Council of State should issue the official document."

All the ministers received the order.

As for how to deal with the criminal officials and their patrons in Zhending Prefecture, Zhao Xu did not say.

This is not something that can be announced openly, so we'll just have to wait and see the results.

At the end of the second year of Shaosheng in the Song Dynasty, on the day when the old year was about to end and the new year was about to begin, Zhao Xiaoqian received a reply from Zhao Xu and the court.

The nine counties under the jurisdiction of Yunzhending Prefecture will be exempted from agricultural and commercial taxes for three years. As for the labor service, population, land and other labor laws under its jurisdiction, the Zhending prefect will decide on them at his discretion and then report to the court.

(End of this chapter)