The prince is more stable

Chapter 393 Windfall from Heaven
Zhao Xiaoqian took up his post in Zhending Prefecture with a huge mission, which was given to him by Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xiaoqian was different from other local officials. He had a backer, and a super backer at that.

This matter in the officialdom of Zhending Prefecture may be shocking, but in Zhao Xu's eyes, it is not as important as recovering the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

So even though such a big thing happened in the officialdom of Zhending Prefecture, Zhao Xu still gave Zhao Xiaoqian the greatest face and full autonomy.

This was one of the requests Zhao Xiaoqian made to Zhao Xu in person before he took office. He wanted power.

Exempting Zhending Prefecture from taxes for three years, it must be said that Zhao Xu was generous. For the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, he really gave it his all and was willing to give anything, even though the hope of recovering the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun now seemed slim.

As for the treatment of Liu Qianliang, Zhang Lan and other criminal officials, Zhao Xu ordered the officials who announced the imperial edict to convey the oral order, and all the criminal officials involved were escorted to Bian Jing and sent to the Dali Temple for questioning.

At the same time, the backers of these criminal officials were also dealt with, but the situation was beyond Zhao Xiaoqian's expectations. Zhao Xu only questioned the landlords and wealthy businessmen in the folk who had colluded with Liu Qianliang and others. Zhao Xu did not make any comments on the two officials involved in the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel in the court.

After listening to the person who announced the decree, Zhao Xiaoqian vaguely understood something.

After all, I am still too conservative.

Zhao Xu's intention was clearly to minimize the impact of the case in the officialdom of Zhending Prefecture. After all, the case was too serious and the entire officialdom was rotten. If it got out, it would be disgraceful to the emperor and the court.

It would be even more shameful if word got out that there were still people among the Bian Jing officials who were protecting them. Zhao Xu wanted to save face and couldn't afford to lose face.

Besides, Zhao Xu's actions were somewhat intended to protect Zhao Xiaoqian. He had caused such a big mess that almost uprooted a tight network of relationships. Zhao Xiaoqian didn't know how many people's cakes he had touched. Now that Zhao Xiaoqian had a mission to fulfill, it was not appropriate for him to make political enemies in the capital.

Although the officials involved in the incident were not punished, Zhao Xiaoqian knew that these court officials involved would probably not be better off. Before long, Zhao Xu would find other reasons to punish them if they should be punished, or demote them if they should be demoted.

The imperial edict had been issued, taxes had been exempted, and the matter that Zhao Xiaoqian was most concerned about had finally come to fruition, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

He was still very grateful to Zhao Xu in his heart. He had a long and arduous journey to take charge of Zhending Prefecture. Without Zhao Xu's trust and help in Bianliang, Zhao Xiaoqian's work would have been many times more difficult than it is now.

The reason why he can now easily resolve the internal affairs of Zhending Prefecture is not because he is very capable, but because he... stepped on Zhao Xu's head?
The backyard of the government office was burned to ashes, so Zhao Xiaoqian had no choice but to entertain the secretary who announced the imperial edict to stay in the post house in Zhending City.

The Secretary of the Central Secretariat who announced the decree was barely an acquaintance. His name was Zhang Shangying. After the Song-Xia negotiations ended, it was he who came to the Song-Xia border town to announce the decree and returned to Bianliang with Zhao Xiaoqian.

It was him who announced the imperial edict again this time. I don't know if the Zhongshu Sheren was specially responsible for the work of traveling abroad, or if Zhao Xu made it too easy for him to do it.

Zhang Shangying was very respectful to Zhao Xiaoqian. Perhaps only people from Bian Jing could deeply understand how important Zhao Xiaoqian was.

Zhao Xiaoqian was also very polite and his smile never stopped. After all, he was an angel, the kind that could fly all over the country, great and kind, so of course we had to be polite to him.

After Zhang Shangying went to the posthouse, Zhao Xiaoqian stretched himself, looked up at the white sun with cold light above his head, and felt more relaxed than ever before.

Li Qingchen came around from the backyard. The angel who had just announced the decree was there, so Li Qingchen didn't dare to eavesdrop. He didn't dare show up until Zhang Shangying left.

"Duke Zhao, what does the emperor say?" Li Qingchen asked cautiously.

"Oh, the emperor feels that I'm too hard-working in Zhending Prefecture and can't take care of myself, so he decided to send me ten peerless beauties to take care of my daily life, including but not limited to dressing and washing, entering and leaving the palace, and even coming of age, getting married, and having children..."

Li Qingchen widened his eyes and took a breath.

This...isn't the government's focus wrong?
Are you only concerned about the private life of Duke Zhao and don't mention any serious matters?

After all, Li Qingchen had known Zhao Xiaoqian for too short a time and had no idea of ​​his character.

Looking at him in disbelief, Li Qingchen stammered a few times and cautiously asked, "My Lord...are you joking?" Zhao Xiaoqian laughed. It seemed that there was more fun when people didn't understand each other. If he were in Bian Jing, others would recognize his nonsense at a glance, but would be severely rebuked. He would have no market customers even if he wanted to be mean.

"The emperor also mentioned something... He granted my request and exempted the nine counties under Zhending Prefecture from taxes for three years. While this might not be as dramatic as giving me ten peerless beauties, it should be good news for the people."

Li Qingchen's breathing suddenly became rapid, and his face quickly flushed with excitement: "This, this, this...are you serious?"

Zhao Xiaoqian blinked and said, "How about I give you ten days off and ask in person at Yanfu Palace in Bianjing?"

Li Qingchen hurriedly shook his head: "That's not necessary!"

Li Qingchen then rubbed his hands together excitedly, paced back and forth, and muttered, "Three years of tax exemption! Three years of tax exemption! The people of Zhending Prefecture finally have a chance to breathe."

Looking at the excited Li Qingchen, Zhao Xiaoqian said with a smile: "The imperial edict has been issued. Quickly arrange for people to promulgate it so that all the officials and people in Zhending Prefecture will know about it."

"Also, tell all the restaurants, taverns, and canteens in the city that it's the order of the Zhending prefect that no samples are allowed tonight. Let the people celebrate all night long."

Li Qingchen agreed and turned away happily.

After taking two steps, he suddenly turned around, straightened his clothes with a serious expression, and bowed formally to Zhao Xiaoqian.

"Duke Zhao has saved countless lives and performed immeasurable merits. You are a living Bodhisattva. On behalf of the 160,000 people under your jurisdiction, I would like to express my gratitude."

Zhao Xiaoqian giggled and made a heart shape with his index finger and thumb, Yeah!
"Help me return this sincere heart to the people and love them!"

…………

Liu Qianliang and others are still imprisoned in the Zhending Prefecture prison. They will be escorted to Beijing by Zhang Shangying tomorrow, and their lives are counting down.

Good news came one after another. After several days of verification, the Imperial City Administration finally found out the land and stolen silver under the names of Liu Qianliang and other criminal officials. There were eight criminal officials, and the total land under their names was 30,000 hectares. As for the stolen silver, the amount was so large that even the knowledgeable Zhao Xiaoqian gasped.

The total value of gold, pearls, jade, silver, copper coins and all valuable items was eight million taels.

What the hell...

The Prince of Chu’s Palace has never been so rich.

Zhao Xiaoqian, the prince of Chu, had never seen so much money since he was a child. It turned out that the prince was not as rich as a few local officials.

Looking at the bigger picture, after Xining, the entire Song Dynasty had only 90 to 100 million taels of national treasury revenue per year. Over the years, these criminal officials in Zhending Prefecture took away nearly one-tenth of the national treasury revenue.

This group of people are so talented! Zhao Xiaoqian almost couldn't bear to kill them. He even thought of having them run a CEO training class for him in prison, teaching them how to make money, so that they could make a final contribution to him before they died...

Then Zhao Xiaoqian felt ecstatic.

Eight million taels and thirty thousand hectares of land could do so much. If used for the military and civilians, to use the official language in history books, it could "greatly ease the increasingly sharp class contradictions and temporarily prolong the life of the feudal dynasty"...

"All the land and stolen silver must be sealed up. Anyone who touches them will have their hands chopped off!...Except me." Zhao Xiaoqian stared at Zhao Xin with a ferocious look.

Zhao Xin was frightened by his expression and hurriedly agreed, saying that the Imperial City Administration would guard the place day and night and would never let anyone approach the government warehouse. Of course, if Zhao Xiaoqian entered privately, everyone in the Imperial City Administration would be blinded and unable to see anything.

(End of this chapter)