The subsequent inspection became a formal matter. Accompanied by officials at all levels in Shaanxi Province, Su Tiancheng went to Lingbao County and Yanxiang County to inspect, listen to reports, and meet with the magistrates and others. With the understanding of Shanzhou, Su Tiancheng was sure that he could eat and drink, but he would never accept any gifts. No matter whether it was in the form of local specialties or things delivered in the name of hard work, he would not accept them.

In today's current situation, doing this seems to be a bit hypocritical, and it seems to be a distance from officials at all levels, but Su Tiancheng must do this. In an atmosphere where the specific situation of Henan Prefecture is unclear, this is the best way to protect himself.

Although this is the case, Su Tiancheng still mastered some basic situations.

The county is close to the southernmost part of Henan Prefecture, a typical area at the junction of the three provinces, close to Shanxi and Shaanxi. I remember that hundreds of years later, the county was abolished and belonged to Lingbao County. It is not an exaggeration to describe the county as the poor old and young, and the county is a small city. It takes less than a quarter of an hour to walk through the entire county town. The east and west streets are also very small. The registered population of the county is less than 20,000. The biggest feature is probably poverty. Although the county government has made sufficient preparations, the broken city walls and low houses cannot be concealed.

The situation in Lingbao County is slightly better, but the main thing is that the county town is larger.

During the process of reporting the situation, the magistrate did not conceal the harm caused by the bandits. Most of the gentry and wealthy families in the two counties moved away. They went directly to Luoyang or Kaifeng with better conditions, and went to Shanzhou with worse conditions. There were almost nothing left behind. The bandits in Shanxi, Shaanxi and Shanxi, come to Lingbao County and Yanxiang County every year. Even if they did not attack the county town, they also went to villages and towns near the county town, the rich people would definitely not be able to stay there.

The common people in the two counties also left a lot. The reason was the harassment and bewitching of bandits, and many people directly joined the bandits' team.

With such a report of shirking responsibility, Su Tiancheng would not fully believe that the damage caused by bandits may be the actual situation. However, the harm caused by officials directly to the people may be greater than that of bandits.

Although the people in Lingbao and Yanxiang counties are very poor, the officials in the two counties look not much different, at least they are rosy and have good health.

On the 21st day of the first lunar month, Su Tiancheng and his party left Yuxiang County and headed for Lushi County.

Li Zixiong, the governor of Shanzhou, sent Su Tiancheng and his group to the junction of Qixiang County and Lushi County.

Li Zixiong participated in the entire inspection process and followed Su Tiancheng.

Because of Li Zixiong's follower, Su Tiancheng's inspection basically became a form and the model was fixed. The magistrates and county magistrates of Lingbao County and Yanxiang County also followed within their jurisdiction. Given this situation, Su Tiancheng was not even interested in going to the villages and towns to take a look.

Before leaving, Li Zixiong asked whether to ask the soldiers of the Shanzhou Inspection Department to follow Su Tiancheng and his party to go directly to the county town of Lu's county. Su Tiancheng smiled and said that there was no need.

After leaving Yuxiang County, Su Tiancheng and his team rushed to Lushi County.

The road was a bit desolate, even though it was an official road. But there were not many pedestrians, and Su Tiancheng's mood became heavier.

At night, a group of people rested in a small village next to the official road.

At noon on the 22nd day of the first lunar month, Su Tiancheng finally saw the walls of Lu's County.

At the gate of the county town, as usual, there are soldiers from the inspection department, who inspect the road guides for people coming and going, but there is no charge for two cents to enter the city here, but the review is relatively strict.

After entering the county town, Su Tiancheng and his party went directly to the county government office.

After a report and a banquet, Su Tiancheng and his party entered the official post to rest.

Qu Qingze, who had gone out for a while, came back soon. After entering Su Tiancheng's room, he took out a stack of letters.

"Sir, the secret line of information about Henan Prefecture has been reported. Some information has been reported from the secret line of Henan Prefecture Shanzhou and some counties."

Qu Qingze had closed the door and put the letter on the table. He was still a little worried. He walked to the door and listened to the movement and saw if there were other people outside. This was actually a habitual action. You must know that Wang Dazhi was guarding outside, and ordinary people could not get close to him. Besides, this is an official post, and not everyone could come in.

Qu Qingze was mainly worried that the information from the secret line had already violated the rules. If such a thing was known to outsiders, he would definitely have been impeached. He and Su Tiancheng were in trouble.

Su Tiancheng has been waiting for this information. On the 17th day of the first lunar month, the mission was arranged. Today is the 22nd day of the first lunar month. It is said that the information should be here.

Sitting at the table, Su Tiancheng opened the letter and looked carefully.

Time passed slowly, Su Tiancheng had not spoken yet, and Qu Qingze was still standing at the door.

Most of the hour passed, and Su Tiancheng finally finished reading it. In fact, it doesn’t take so much time to read these letters. Sometimes, Su Tiancheng was thinking, probably thinking about something, which shows that the information sent by the hidden line is indeed valuable.

After putting away all the letters, Su Tiancheng stood up.

"Lao Qu, accompany me outside and find a quieter place."

The backyard of Guanyi is relatively quiet, and there will be no disturbances from outsiders. The weather is cold, and most people are unwilling to come here.

Su Tiancheng walked very slowly, and every step he took seemed to express his determination.

A quarter of an hour later, Su Tiancheng finally spoke.

"Laoqu, the information provided by the hidden line is very important. I can tell you with certainty that Jiangning Camp is in a bad situation, and our situation is also bad. The information sent by the hidden line this time not only involves the prefectures and counties under the jurisdiction of Henan Prefecture, but also the situation of bandits, and Lord Hong is in Shaanxi."

Qu Qingze didn't speak, he still had such patience.

"Mr. Hong has submitted a memorial to the court, suggesting that Jiangning Camp enter Shanxi to eliminate the bandits, saying that this is the best opportunity. According to my estimate, the court will definitely approve it, but I have no confidence in the fight against the bandits."

"Why do you say that, sir?"

"Laoqu, you and I have been working together for a long time. You are clear about my principles of doing things. I have always believed that simply destroying bandits cannot fundamentally solve the problem. If the farmers have no food to eat and are forced to go to the fore, they still have to rebel. Can you kill all bandits? Can you kill all the people? These days, the problems I have worried about have been clearly revealed. If this problem cannot be solved first and eliminated bandits, it is impossible to achieve a decisive victory."

"Are you talking about the problem of Henan Prefecture officials?"

"It is not only the officials of Henan Prefecture, including Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and even Shandong and Huguang. It is probably all of them have some problems. The situation in Shaanxi is by no means an individual phenomenon. You know that the imperial army has killed good deeds and made great contributions. In addition to the harassment of bandits, officials not only cannot treat the people well, but also add fuel to the fire. In this case, will the people still have a way out?"

"In the past, we were in Jiangning County, where the conditions were good, and the people were basically able to have enough food. We did not experience such troubles. I have always been a little surprised. In the Battle of Zhongdu, the elite troops led by Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and Li Zicheng were wiped out by the Jiangning Camp. When they left Zhongdu, there were at most more than 10,000 mobs left, but for a few years, they had more than 50,000 people. Even if the court recruited soldiers, they could not reach this speed."

"I can be sure that if the bandits had no way out in Nanzhili, it would be difficult to recruit soldiers. Why could they grow rapidly after they arrived in Shanxi, Shaanxi, and what problems existed?"

"The situation of the hidden thread sending it confirms my judgment, and the officials force the people to rebel."

"Just talking about the situation in Henan Prefecture, the wheat noodles here are basically eight cents of silver per stone, and rice is even more than one tael of silver, and two taels of salt per tael of silver. Such a price, let alone poor people, even officials who receive the salary of the court are unbearable. Food is the most important thing for the people, and eating cannot be guaranteed. What kind of way out is the common people."

"I originally thought that the merchants here were all unscrupulous and earned too much money, but unfortunately this was not the case at all. After reading the information sent by the secret line, I finally knew why the vassal kings and officials were so rich."

"The officials of Henan Prefecture are actually merchants, the most unscrupulous merchants. They buy food at the lowest price every year. When they are not accepted, they sell them at a high price. The merchants just help them come forward and get some leftovers."

"The people dare not store grain at all, otherwise they will be regarded as private bandits, but the gentry and wealthy families are different. They store grain openly and wait for the price to rise, thereby exploiting ordinary people."

"The spread of this situation has become a vicious cycle. The people have basically no way to survive, and they can't eat enough to make cattle and horses. Although the salaries of officials are very low, they colluded with the rich gentry and merchants and got a lot of money and food and clothing."

"This situation is too terrible. You're so kind of saying that Jiangning Camp will wipe out the bandits in front, and the people in the rear may join the bandits at any time and fight against Jiangning Camp."

"If this is true, what's the point of Jiangning Camp destroying bandits?"

"Old Qu, I'm going to tell you that there are also vassal kings who sent secret lines. Among them, King Fu has a lot of information. King Fu is a rich man in Henan Prefecture. No, it should be the richest people in Henan, Shaanxi and Shanxi, and they have gathered a lot of money. Why King Fu is so rich, I don't need to explain this."

"After understanding these situations, I finally understood why some people plotted against me and Jiangning Camp. If I brought the policies I implemented in Jiangning County, I am afraid that many people would suffer a loss."
Chapter completed!