After Xue Pan was settled, Chen Zhao returned to the backyard. Xia Ruoqing quickly asked someone to get hot water and helped Chen Zhao take off his coat.

Chen Zhao did not let Xia Ruoqing do anything, but stroked her hand and asked her to sit down, sighing: "You were wronged some time ago."

Xia Ruoqing's face turned slightly red: "I do important things, comfort your heart and care for the people. I will inevitably be attacked by the humble people. I have the trust of my husband, so I will die without regrets, not to mention that it was just a near miss."

That’s all.”

Chen Zhao sighed slightly and said: "I thought it would be appropriate to place you in Yangzhou, but I didn't know that this group of people was too unrestrained. But if you don't worry, I'm not just motivating those people at Xiuye ​​Bridge.

Once they are dealt with, the masterminds behind them will also be captured and killed by me one by one."

"Are you talking about the Jinling Zhen family? I heard that their family was surrounded by officers and soldiers while I was on the boat."

"Hmph! I originally wanted to kill them with a dull knife. Even if my family fortune is not guaranteed, I can still survive at least. Who would have thought that in order not to pay national taxes and owe money, they actually took risks and did what they did because they wanted money.

Don’t take your life.”

"The Zhen family has been rich and powerful for decades, and they are the eyes and ears of the Supreme Emperor, but they are too greedy and too confused."

"Why can the Zhen family borrow money from the Nanzhili vassal treasury and the inner treasury? It was all the grace of the Supreme Emperor back then, and it was also under the banner of increasing the wealth of the Supreme Emperor's inner treasury. Now it owes so much tax to the treasury.

The money belongs to the imperial treasury privately, and even more to the imperial treasury for the public. However, now that the borders of the Great Zhou Dynasty are in crisis and local chaos is happening, it is time to spend money. Salt tax and land tax alone cannot fill the fiscal deficit.

If these honorable nobles refuse to repay the borrowed money, the emperor will naturally find trouble with them, but the Zhen family is confused and not only wants to default on the debt, but also wants to kill me to vent their anger, so it is not up to me."

"I think the Zhen family is not confused, but too shrewd. They only know that the money dazzles, but they don't know that the money will bite the hand."

At this point, Chen Zhao sighed and said: "The emperor wants them to die, the court wants them to die, but they still want me to die, so I have no choice but to let them die."

However, Xia Ruoqing heard some meaning.

"This is a big case in the Zhen family. Did the master decide it a long time ago?"

"It's not that I made a decision. In fact, I just followed the trend. There are too many wealthy families in Jiangnanxi. The battle of Xiuye ​​Bridge cannot be caused by the Zhen family, but they are the instigators! Besides, Your Majesty

In the eyes of several prime ministers, ministers and ministers, the Zhen family is the most suitable. It is not a noble family and will not irritate them anymore. It does not have a deep connection with the military, generals and civil servants, but it is extremely famous in Jinling and Nanzhili.

They are big, and they are a big family in Suzhou, so they are a good material for flag sacrifice. But they also offended me. But yes, the Zhen family is used to running rampant in South Zhili. I don’t know how many unreasonable things they have done in the past few decades.

, when I came to visit them, they still looked down on me under the banner of being a holy lady. If they can’t catch the water bandits this time, there will always be other things to bring up."

"The Supreme Emperor just doesn't care and doesn't ask any questions?"

"The Supreme Emperor and the Zhen family are related to Master Zhen's grandmother. They are separated by two generations. The four generations of the Zhen family have enjoyed forty years of glory and wealth. This special favor is almost done. The Zhen Palace is only related to the Supreme Emperor.

Personal friendship has not done any great service to the imperial court and the country, so they should be satisfied if it can extend their blessings to this day. Now they have ended up like this because they don't know themselves and are not satisfied."

"You obviously have money. If you pay back the debts and taxes, even if it's just a part of it, the Supreme Emperor will be able to send a message to ask for favors. The Holy Emperor will not be embarrassed, so he will naturally let it go. Who knows that the Zhen Mansion is How do you make the Supreme Emperor think of being so arrogant and arrogant? It is true that he is a benevolent king, but true Buddhas also get angry sometimes. The Zhen family is so ignorant of praise, why does the Supreme Emperor care about their life and death?"

"Now the old and new accounts are being settled together, and the Zhen family will have to shed eight layers of skin even if they don't die. Today's emperor misses old friendships and remembers old grudges. Back then, the Zhen family only focused on flattering Prince Yi Zhong Qiansui, but they didn't give anything to Jin Shang who was still in the dormitory. Good look."

When Xia Ruoqing heard this, she couldn't help but pursed her cherry lips and asked in surprise: "Is there still such an old story? Isn't the Holy One such a person?"

"Since you are the emperor, of course you have to follow your heart. How could you not remember the things that happened in the past? Even a generous emperor would get angry sometimes."

Xia Ruoqing couldn't help but cover her mouth and smile, and after a while she said: "Listening to the officials talking about gossip, I feel that it is very different from the gossip in other houses. For example, in Jia's house, the men of the house only talk about having fun and fighting cocks. As for women, all they talk about in their free time are family affairs, burning incense and worshiping Buddha, and whose opera troupe sings well. They are all Wen Tianwu Xi. On the contrary, here, the war and political affairs that others disdain and dislike have become chats after meals and tea. .”

Chen Zhao chuckled: "Being powerful and wealthy is actually like sailing against the current. If you don't advance, you will retreat. Who doesn't want to be romantic? But most of the time, after ten years of hard work, we really can't compete with others who have managed it for generations."

…

Half a month later, the imperial edict arrived at Jinling.

"The Emperor is entrusted with the destiny of heaven, and the edict says, I have heard that the foundation of the country's government is based on benevolence and love, and the foundation of education is loyalty and filial piety... The Zhen family of Jinling is burdened with great favors, does not think about repaying, takes bribes and perverts the law..., there is a more hidden fact, owed The tax arrears... were too tiring to bear. Some officials confiscated their property and transferred it to the national treasury without leaving anything behind... Zhen Yingjia and other principal offenders were removed from their posts and exiled to Guangnan to serve as a warning. The rest of the men and women were demoted to common people and left to settle down in their homes. Three thousand taels of silver as a token of kindness."

After reading the edict, Sheren said to the governors of Liangjiang, General Jinling, and the prefect of Jinling, as well as Yifu Yamen Xingcao, Hucao, and several officials from the Supervision Office: "My lords, I am done with the matter. The remaining It’s just an errand for a few adults.”

The governor of Liangjiang nodded and said: "Let Master Jia take charge of this matter. The criminal cao will collect the prisoners, the household cao will register the family property, and the supervisory office will supervise."

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Master Jia is naturally the prefect of Jinling, Jia Yucun. He hurriedly led his subordinate officials to respond with their hands raised: "Follow your orders."

After discussing with his colleagues for a while, Jia Yucun walked up to the ashen-faced Zhen Yingjia and said with some regret: "Brother Zhennian, thunder, rain, and dew are all God's grace. Several generations of your family have been showered with the emperor's grace, but it was only for a moment." I am in despair, Brother Nian, please take care of yourself and look forward to everything."

Zhen Yingjia forced out a smile, cupped her hands and said, "Thank you, Mr. Jia, for reminding me."

"Brother Nian, please ask the female family members to stay in the same courtyard temporarily. The people below have to take care of things." Jia Yucun said politely.

As they were talking here, the person in charge rushed out in a hurry, knelt down on the ground, and shouted bitterly: "Master, old lady, Madam Bongsheng..."

"What's wrong, old lady?" Zhen Yingjia asked quickly.

Mrs. Fengsheng is the nanny of the Supreme Emperor and the Dinghai Shenzhen of the Zhen Mansion.

With this old lady here, the family will still have some dignity in the imperial palace in the capital.

It was not easy for Emperor Xiaode to kill them all.

Therefore, Chen Zhao could only avenge half of his revenge.

But if something happens to this old man, the Zhen family will really be in doom.

"When Mrs. Feng Sheng heard the order to confiscate the house, she lost her temper for a moment and couldn't save her. She went to heaven." The steward sighed.

Zhen Yingjia's vision went dark. The old lady was not in good health these days. She was well for two days and sick for three days.

The family and the family had planned to get married to Zhen Baoyu, the old lady's favorite. But Zhen Baoyu, who had been so popular before, unexpectedly had no one to kiss her. Those who originally wanted to marry their daughter to her on the same day

Some families would say that they were not worthy, or that their daughter was already married, and they would reject her one by one. Of course, there were some families who were willing to marry their daughters to Zhen Baoyu, but the Zhen family looked down upon them.

I've been delayed until now, but I didn't want to end up in this situation.

"Old lady!" Zhen Yingjia and her sons cried and fell to the ground, in agony. The others also cried and howled, and they didn't know who they were crying for.

Among them, Zhen Baoyu, who was ninety-nine similar to Jia Baoyu, was even more confused and crying. He had no idea what he should do next.

Probably because the girl at home is not with him, he is confused again.

But the officials don't care whether he is confused or not, and they don't care whether the holy lady ascends to heaven or not.

Although the inspection was carried out by the Jinling Prefecture's customs defense, household registration, and supervision by the Supervision Department, all three parties worked together to strictly guard against careful inspection, and there seemed to be no chance to make a move.

But there are no absolutes in everything. As long as you pay careful attention, you can always get something out of the gold and silver in the Zhen family. Just a little is enough for a small official to eat and drink.

This is the meaning of the saying "When the Zhen family falls, the officials will be fed".

At this moment, even if your whole family hangs themselves, the door is still open for everyone to ransack your home and make some money.

I could hear the whole house crying, screaming, and panicking. The soldiers and government officials were like wolves and tigers, running around in all directions. The whole Zhen Mansion was in a state of panic.

The negative-pressure gentlemen just asked people to keep an eye on them and not to despise their women, not to hide money secretly, not to damage utensils, and the rest was beyond their control.

I saw the golden horses in the jade hall in the past, and the embroidered households of the wealthy families in front and behind the Zhen Mansion, with wolves running around and swarming in a mess. Surrounded by green beads, men, women and children eating bells, drums and food, their hair was disheveled and rustling under the scolding of the soldiers.

Trembling like a crowd of people inserting marks.

The Zhen Yingjia brothers, father and son, and other men were in tears. The prison officer next to him couldn't control you like this, so he put them in chains and detained them first. Even the internal and external stewards, the shopkeepers and accountants of the shops under the name of Zhen Mansion, and other related people,

They will all be locked up and sent to the prison of Jinling Mansion first, and then tortured, the money of Zhen Mansion will be traced, and the crimes will be punished.

All irrelevant maids and servants will be sent away. Those who have relatives and family members in the local area can come and claim them. If their relatives and friends are far away, the government will write a letter to inform them. Those who do not want to go to relatives and can support themselves can write a letter of recognizance and then they can claim their own rights.

Find a way to make a living.

The female family members of the whole family were temporarily living in a courtyard. These people had always been pampered and kept their fingers off the spring water. Suddenly, they were in chaos. They suddenly lost their ideas. There was no man in the family to support them, and they didn't even have anyone to make up their minds.

There, I cried bitterly and panicked.

Two days later, another Jinling government official came to the door and took away the second wife of the Zhen family, the eldest daughter-in-law and the second daughter-in-law, as well as Zhen Yingjia's second and third aunts.

It turned out that the first three people were in cahoots with each other, specializing in borrowing money, and even costing several lives. The two concubines behind were in cahoots with their parents' families, specializing in smuggling under the banner of the Zhen Mansion, and even sold to thieves in western Zhejiang.

The food, cloth and soldiers' armor were all seized and brought to trial.

…

But not long after, a bigger news came, and what happened to the Zhen family was nothing more than a big one.

It turns out that the remnants of the Taihu water bandits, under the command of the Eagle-eyed Lao Qi of Twelve Links Dock and the leader of the Yangtze River Water Gang, broke into the Li family's mansion in Changzhou in one fell swoop, killing everyone in the Li family and collecting gold, silver and jewelry.

It was even more looted and cleaned.

Not only did they do this, they also left a note arrogantly.

The general idea was that the Li family had seduced them into causing trouble and becoming criminals in the government, so they would retaliate directly and take revenge!

It is said that after Shui Fei Fei and Eagle Eye Lao Qi finished their vote, they immediately broke into pieces and disappeared into the vast sea of ​​people.

…

After the news spread throughout Jiangnan, the whole Jiangnan was completely in a state of uproar.

Overnight, the wealthy families in Jiangnan immediately turned into good, law-abiding families, scrambling to hand over the money and tax arrears owed to the national treasury.

So when spring came in the fifth year of Xiaode, wealthy families from all over the Yangtze River turned in treasury arrears worth thirteen million taels of silver, and Emperor Xiaode's prestige suddenly rose extremely high.

Emperor Xiaode had no reason to be unhappy.

These more than 10 million taels of silver, plus the normal treasury income, are enough for him, the emperor, to live a prosperous year.

This money allows him to win over people's hearts, reward important ministers, and ensure the smooth advancement of battlefields in Liaodong, Tianshan, southern Xinjiang, and southern Fujian.

Therefore, when Longyan was overjoyed, Emperor Xiaode asked the ministers and ministers in the cabinet to give Chen Zhao the best reward.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! This move made the three elders want to curse.
To be continued...