amaotonovel Chapter 298 Is Yang the Madman a jinx?
Chapter 298 Is Yang the Madman a jinx?
After carefully checking the county archives of Zhaoyuan County once again, Yang Shaofeng stared coldly at Xu Zheng, the magistrate of Zhaoyuan County, and said in a deep voice: "You, Xu Zheng, should know in your heart what more than three thousand catties of refined iron means."
If used to forge swords, and assuming each sword requires three jin of iron, three thousand jin of refined iron can forge one thousand swords.
If used to forge gray armor, and assuming each suit of armor requires twenty pounds of iron, it would be enough to forge one hundred and fifty suits of armor.
Seeing that Xu Zheng still didn't intend to speak, Yang Shaofeng simply waved the county archives file in his hand: "Before things get out of hand, if you confess honestly, you might be the only one who dies, and your whole family will most likely be spared."
“If you insist on sticking to your guns, I will directly petition His Majesty and the court to send an inspector and a censor to Zhaoyuan. At that time, it may not just be you who dies, but the lives of your entire family may also be in danger.”
"You should think carefully about which is more important."
Yang Shaofeng's mouth opened and closed, and the words he spoke seemed to genuinely be making plans for Xu Zheng.
Xu Zheng's forehead was covered in cold sweat, which soon turned into streams.
After a long silence, Xu Zhengcai tentatively asked, "If the guilty official confesses honestly, can Your Highness protect the lives of my entire family?"
Yang Shaofeng nodded slightly and looked at Xu Zheng, saying, "Your whole family will most likely be implicated and exiled, and your entire clan for three generations will likely be unable to study or take the imperial examinations because of you. However, you should be able to keep your life."
"Moreover, I can tell you right now that if your family members are exiled to Ningyang County, I will arrange for someone to take care of them and ensure they don't suffer too much."
“Especially those over seventy and under seven, I will find ways to exempt them from hard labor.”
As the saying goes, a man's reputation is like the shadow of a tree.
After receiving Yang Shaofeng's assurance, Xu Zheng finally confessed out of fear for the lives of his entire family.
“The plows allocated by the imperial court and the provincial government were sold by corrupt officials and others. It wasn’t just the nine counties and one prefecture of Dengzhou involved; most of the officials in the nearby Laizhou were also involved.”
"The man who bought the plowshares was a southerner. He offered a very fair price: five pounds of plowshares could be exchanged for one tael of silver."
"As for where he sold the plowshares after buying them, the official had no idea."
"However, the official vaguely remembered that someone said that the southern barbarian's ship was heading south, so it shouldn't have been sold to Hu Yuan."
Yang Shaofeng nodded and pressed further, "How many plowshares did you resell in total?"
Xu Zheng shook his head slightly and said honestly, "Even I don't know. Anyway, I sold more than eighty plows in Zhaoyuan County, and the remaining twenty or so were distributed to various villages and communities as a show. I suppose it's similar in other counties and Ninghai Prefecture."
Yang Shaofeng hummed in agreement and then asked, "Who started reselling plowshares first? Was there an agreement on when the next transaction would take place?"
Xu Zheng mustered his courage and replied, "Your Highness, it started in Jimo County. Every time the imperial court allocated plowshares, merchants from the southern barbarians would come to collect them."
Not long after each allocation of plowshares?
As Xu Zheng confessed everything, Yang Shaofeng was completely stunned.
This time, things are truly hopeless—officials from nine counties and one prefecture are involved, as are officials from other nearby prefectures, and even officials from the provincial level may be involved.
In particular, Xu Zheng also mentioned that "shortly after each disbursement, merchants from the southern barbarians would come to Dengzhou to collect plowshares." Behind the term "southern barbarians," which carries obvious regional discrimination, lies more than just a few merchants.
If such a remarkable case were to reach the ears of Emperor Zhu…
Yang Shaofeng chuckled and instructed the commander of the guards of the Imperial Son-in-Law's Mansion beside him: "Lock him in jail. You personally arrange for people to guard him. His food and drink should be handled by the brothers of the Imperial Son-in-Law's Mansion. No one is allowed to visit him, and you must also prevent him from committing suicide."
"Also, immediately send someone to the people's homes to buy a pig, chickens, ducks, or dogs if possible. All of our meals, including mine, must be prepared by the people of the Prince Consort's residence. After they are prepared, feed the pigs, dogs, chickens, and ducks first, and we will eat after an hour."
"Tell the brothers to stay alert, take turns resting, do not remove their armor at night, keep their weapons with them, and feed their warhorses in shifts."
"If any unexpected situation arises, we must immediately retreat to Ningyang County. Apart from our brothers in the Imperial Son-in-Law's Mansion, we cannot easily trust anyone at this time."
After all, Yang Shaofeng had not given any prior notice before coming to Zhaoyuan County, and the guards accompanying him were all cavalry. After only visiting a few villages, he went straight to the Zhaoyuan County government office, catching the Zhaoyuan County Magistrate Xu Zheng off guard.
However, the news of the blockade of the Zhaoyuan County government office could not be kept secret. If someone in Zhaoyuan County was involved in the plow case, who could guarantee that these people would not take risks?
After a moment's thought, Yang Shaofeng had someone fetch brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and began writing fluently right there in the main hall.
"Have someone deliver this letter to the provincial government office by express courier, and make sure to hand it to Councilor Wang personally."
"Have someone send this memorial to the capital by express courier, and make sure to hand it to His Highness the Crown Prince personally. It must not go through the Office of Transmission."
This case involves a massive amount of 30,000 jin of refined iron. It's not something that a mere prefect of Dengzhou Prefecture like myself can handle. Even Wang Guangyang, the vice-prefect of Shandong Province, isn't qualified to get involved.
……
Wang Guangyang wanted to die; he didn't even have the mood to curse.
Is Yang the Madman a jinx?
He's only been in Dengzhou Prefecture for a few days, and he's already caused such a big case!
That's a whopping 30,000 jin of refined iron!
A full 30,000 catties of refined iron disappeared without a trace under his jurisdiction!
If you know something about it, it's called knowing but not reporting, and you're guilty of the same crime as those bastards.
If one is unaware of the situation, it is called incompetence in governing, and the crime is less serious than those bastards, but the final outcome is not necessarily any better.
At the very least, he would definitely face the punishment of losing his official position; the best outcome would be demotion.
What made Wang Guangyang even more desperate was that even if he wanted to make amends, he didn't know where to start!
Yang the Madman could have the Imperial Son-in-Law's personal guards blockade the Zhaoyuan County government office, and he could use the military tally given by His Highness the Crown Prince to mobilize the troops of the four thousand-household garrisons of Weihaiwei, Chengshanwei, Jinghaiwei, and Dasongwei to blockade the government offices of the nine counties and one sub-prefecture of Dengzhou Prefecture. But could I, as the Vice Minister of State Affairs, do the same?
Don't be silly. Yang Dianfeng did this because he has the military tally given by the Crown Prince. If I dare to do this, it would be unauthorized troop deployment. The garrisons stationed in various parts of Shandong might not even give a damn about me, the Vice Minister of State Affairs.
Without the participation of the garrisons, how could a single provincial government office possibly control the officials of the various prefectures, states, and counties under its jurisdiction, and force them to stay obediently in their offices and wait to die?