At all times, the moon and stars are scarce, the cool breeze is blowing, and on the banquet in the backyard hall of the Cangzhou Prefecture Yaya, only Shi Guozhong, Lu Yihao, Liu Ruoshui, Xin Yijin and Ji Yi are left, a total of five officials. When Zhizhou Shi Guozhong led the topic to the number of acres, there was a dead silence in the hall of Nuoda.

I don't know how long it took before I heard Ji Yi, a judicial officer in Cangzhou, sigh and break the silence: "Taishou, do you really want to find out how much land and population there are in the five counties of Cangzhou?" ”

Shi Guozhong just smiled and said nothing.

At present, Cangzhou has a very large territory, starting from the boundary river in the north, reaching the old road of the Yellow River in the south, bordering the boundless Canghai Sea in the east, and flowing the Yellow River in the north in the west. However, there are only five counties on the territory of Nuoda, namely Qingchi, Nanpi, Yanshan, Leling, and Wudi. The reason why Cangzhou has a wide land and few counties is naturally because the number of households and acres of land is too small. Because of the existence of a large number of redundant officials in the Northern Song Dynasty, it was necessary to create enough official positions to resettle, so the standard for setting up prefectures and counties was very low, among which the counties were divided into red, ci, subred, ci, wang, tight, upper, middle, lower, and lower, a total of ten. The number of households in the lowest prefecture is less than 500!

The county standard of such a place and such a vast land in Cangzhou are only five counties, and the number of acres of land in this place is "small", which can be imagined.

But even if the really experienced officials don't go to Cangzhou, they only need to look at the map to know that in the area of cooked land such as Hebei East Road, which has been developed for an unknown number of years, and in the Taiping period, the population and acres of land cannot really be so small. Even if there is a blind toss of Sanyi returning to the river, it is impossible to wash away the good land.

As for the population, it is inevitable that some will drown, but it should still be the vast majority who have run away. Besides, when Sanyi returned to the river, Cangzhou was not affected by the disaster, and there were more places that were not flooded!

Moreover, the Yellow River did not break in Cangzhou, and when the water overflowed, the water had eased down, and the flooding was not very deep, so how could it be possible to drown most of the people?

Even officials who have no political experience, after learning about the situation, will know how big the cat is!

In the past, the successive governors of Cangzhou, the general judges, and the households joined the army, as well as the magistrates and county commanders of the five counties of Cangzhou, and many of them also had the idea of rectifying the localities and checking the number of households per acre.

It's just that this thought was finally shattered in the face of the ruthless reality!

Ji Yi and Sihu joined the army, Xin Yijin, and Liu Ruoshui, the first county, exchanged glances with each other, and then said slowly: "Taishou doesn't know, because Cangzhou is close to the Liao State, it was the place where the soldiers were stationed in the early years of this dynasty, and it was not too far from the Daimyo Mansion and Kaifeng Mansion. Therefore, it has always been the forbidden army, and the nobles of Kaifeng have purchased a large number of fields. The flooding of the Yellow River several times caused a large number of homesteaders to go bankrupt, and a large amount of land was concentrated in the wealthy families. Even the local households in Cangzhou that can also own a large amount of land, most of them are also strong clans who live in villages, which are not only unruly and difficult to govern, but also monopolize the state and county officials...... I'm a foreign official, it's really difficult to show it here in Cangzhou! ”

In fact, it is not surprising that there are big families, strong clans, monopolizing places, and hiding fields and households. It's just that here in Cangzhou, because of the concentration of the forbidden army and the return of Sanyi to the river, the problem is particularly serious.

Ji Yi said heavily, but Shi Guozhong looked smiling, waved his hand and said: "It's okay, it's okay, I'm waiting for the officials, who are ordered by the Son of Heaven, shepherd one side, and clarify the land and household registration is the least." How can you not do anything because there are too many wealthy and powerful families here in Cangzhou? No matter how powerful those wealthy families are, do they dare to openly confront the imperial court? ”

What do you mean? Do you really want to inspect the household? This surname Shi wants to play really? The officials present were stunned for a moment, and then they had the same thought: impossible, absolutely impossible!

This old fox is not the first day of being an official, and his age has already passed, how can he really embarrass a wealthy family?

Therefore, it is fake to check the fields and clear the households, and I am afraid that it is true to ask for money!

Can't you have a name for money? If you don't come to a new official to take office, no one will bird you, where will you take bribes? Therefore, although the magistrates of the Great Song Dynasty can never find out the number of land and population, it is not for nothing that the new officials have made a big deal to check when they take office......

"Yes, yes, I won't dare!" Qingchi County ordered Liu Ruoshui to be the first to agree, "If Taishou wants to investigate, how can he not find out some hidden fields?" In Qingchi County, which is governed by the lower officials, the number of households and acres that have been concealed is probably twice as many as the number in the account books! If you want to investigate, you might as well start with Qingchi County! ”

Qingchi County is the first county in Cangzhou, and it is also a county of Wang, with seven or eight thousand registered households and about 2 million acres of land, which is definitely among the best among all the counties in the Great Song Dynasty.

However, this does not mean that there are fewer hidden fields in Qingchi County than in other places...... In fact, the situation is just the opposite, because Qingchi County is super large, accounting for half of Cangzhou, so the situation of hidden fields is also the most serious among the five counties in Cangzhou.

Xin Yijin, who joined the army in Cangzhou, immediately echoed: "Xiaguan has long wanted to check the population of acres in this state!" ”

Shi Guozhong also moved his attention to the general judgment of Lu Yihao, the power of the general judgment in the Song Dynasty was very great, and all the official affairs of the state government, such as soldiers and civilians, money valley, household registration, enslavement, prison lawsuits, etc., all needed to be signed by the general judgment before it could take effect. In addition, the general judgment also has the power of supervising officials, known as "supervising the state". Without Lu Yihao's consent, it would have been impossible for Shi Guozhong to carry out the investigation and clearing of households.

Just now, when Shi Guozhong was talking to Liu Ruoshui and Xin Yijin, Lu Yihao had already exchanged glances with Ji Yi repeatedly - as long as the fields were cleared, the local tyrants who occupied a large amount of land in Cangzhou would be busy concealing the land customers, where would they dare to expose the hidden fields and sell them to Wu Haogu? Isn't this tantamount to "turning yourself in"?

It's just that the two of them are worried about how to cause chaos for Wu Haogu! Shi Dazhizhou sent an opportunity to come over...... Isn't it a bit of a coincidence?

Could this Shi Zhizhou have secretly defected to the New Party?

Lu Yi pondered for a while, and finally resolutely raised his head and said: "Taishou, the lower officials are willing to fight with the wealthy and powerful here in Cangzhou with Taishou!" In any case, it is necessary to find out some land population for the country! ”

Ji Yi also hurriedly echoed, "If someone dares to resist the investigation of the Tian Qinghu, the judicial officer who joined the army must also let him know the strictness of the imperial court!" ”

"Good!" Shi Guozhong stroked his palms and smiled, "Since all the monarchs are the same as this official, then this official will definitely investigate and thoroughly investigate in Cangzhou, and never allow an acre of fertile land to be hidden, nor do you allow a strong man not to be on the household register!" ”

……

"Bachelor, the lower official has personally checked the accounts of the Republic Bank, and there is no major mistake. The total amount of commercial taxes paid by the subordinate banks last year exceeded 75,000, accounting for more than half of all commercial tax revenues in Kaifeng Prefecture......"

Kaifeng Mansion, in the government office of Taifu Temple, Lu Jiawen, the secretary of Taifu Temple with a blue face, was listening to a green-robed petty official report on the results of the city's tax inventory of the accounts of the Republic Bank.

"No big mistakes?" Lu Jiawen frowned and asked, "There are always small mistakes, right?" ”

The Republic Bank paid so many taxes last year, which was indeed a big surprise to Lu Jiawen.

The official said, "Of course there are small mistakes, but they are just ......."

"Say it, say it!" Lu Jia asked, "What is there to be afraid of?" Kaifeng Mansion is Lang Lang Qiankun, Zhao Zhao Sun and Moon, the Holy Monarch is in the Dynasty, who dares not to pay the city tax, the official will immediately move to Kaifeng Mansion to arrest! ”

"But this person Kaifeng Mansion doesn't dare to arrest him!"

Lu Jia asked and snorted: "Kaifeng Mansion doesn't dare to arrest and Yushitai!" is the prime minister of the dynasty, and Yushitai also dares to impeach! ”

The green-robed petty official in the hall took a breath and said, "Everything that Christie's under the Republican Bank sings and sells is subject to living tax, and most of them have also been paid. Only one Kaifeng painter named Zhao Xiaoyi sold the paintings and the calligraphy, paintings, and toys he bought, and none of them paid the residence tax......"

The so-called "residential tax" refers to the tax levied on the sale of goods by merchants in urban markets, which is about 3% of the value of the goods. Of course, most businessmen will try their best to escape the 3%. However, there is no way to evade taxes on the calligraphy, paintings, and cultural toys that have been auctioned by Christie's publicly. The 3% residential tax is directly withheld by the commercial bank. Only the transaction involving "Zhao Xiaoyi" is an exception.

"Who is this Zhao Xiaoyi? Why don't you move the text to Kaifeng Mansion and arrest it? ”

Lu Jiawen has been working as an official in other places for the past few years, and he doesn't know much who Zhao Xiaoyi is.

The green-robed petty official is probably also a bad person, and he doesn't know how to be an official (he is a new science and technology scholar who has been examined)? At the moment, he said seriously: "The lower officials don't know much, but I heard from the officials of the city tax that this Zhao Xiaoyi is likely to be the current saint, so Kaifeng Mansion does not dare to arrest him." ”

Lu Jia was stunned for a moment, "Official? ”

"The lower officials don't know what's going on, why don't you ask the officials when they go to court?"

"Ask ......" Lu Jia asked to be amused by this dumb official, telling this guy to check taxes is to pick thorns, pick bones in eggs, and create problems if there is no problem. It's good for him to investigate seriously, and finally find out that it went to the emperor! I have to ask when I go to court! After asking, do you still have officials to do?

"Father, when the child was taking the exam in Kaifeng Mansion, I heard of Zhao ...... Well, I've heard about the private interview of the official micro-service. ”

Lu Jiawen's youngest son Lu Benzhi is now an official, and he has made up for a Jiupin general, but because he is not 25 years old, he is still guarding the election, so he became his father's staff. He gave the idea of sending the city tax officials to the Republic Bank to check the taxes. Su Dalang, the big shopkeeper who can preside over the daily affairs of the Republican Bank, is not a fuel-efficient lamp, not only does the accounts not leak, but also bribes several major officials in the city taxation, so the officials sent by Lu Jiawen did not find out anything, and in the end they were put on a table and arrested Zhao Ji for tax evasion.