Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 79 Is this little girl so easy to fool? (Seeking monthly votes)

It was already night when Guo Yi returned from Tanzhou.

I was exhausted after that day.

Yawning, he went back to his room. He had just taken off his robe and sat down to take off his boots when his gaze swept across the room. He immediately jumped up as if he had been pricked in the butt with a needle.

"You, you—when did you arrive?"

On the bamboo recliner opposite him, Shen Qingzhou lay half-reclined, quietly watching him.

"Is Zhou Sheng all settled in?" he asked.

Guo Yi's muscles, which had just relaxed, tensed up again. After composing himself, he said, "He's already in prison. I'm worried he might develop power in Tanzhou Prefecture, so I've left people there to guard him day and night. But it would obviously be safer if you added two more sentries!"

Shen Qingzhou lowered his eyelids and gestured to the stool opposite him: "Don't stand, sit down."

Guo Yi also wanted to sit down, but why did he always feel that the man who came today had ill intentions?
He patted his chest and looked over: "How long have you been here?"

"They came after nightfall." Shen Qingzhou sat up straight, frowning as she said, "They've been here until almost midnight."

After saying that, he picked up a small teapot and brewed a cup of tea for each of them.

Seeing that he seemed no different from usual, Guo Yi sat down with relief: "That Zhou fellow deserves to die!"

Shen Qingzhou said, "He can't die."

“I know. He’s just doing what his superiors say. If we just kill him, this trip will have been for nothing.” Guo Yi sneered as he said this, “But this scumbag still wants to control me. He’s threatening me with the future of my Guo family.”

"But he didn't know that there was clear evidence of his crime of flooding fertile fields, and the Yan family would not protect him."

"The person who wants him dead the most is actually his so-called backer."

Shen Qingzhou stood up, slowly walked to the oil lamp, and handed him a cup of tea. The light illuminated his face, making his features even more sharp.

"Before leaving the capital, the Crown Prince gave me a message about the Su and Liu families, which mentioned that Liu Zheng and the Ministry of Revenue had been in very close contact recently."

"Nowadays, the expenses of the Crown Prince's palace are all under the control of the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Revenue openly says that it needs the approval of the Cabinet before it can release money. It is clear that the Ministry of Revenue has long been acting in accordance with the Yan family's wishes."

"Both the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works were closely related to river transport. With so much profit from river transport across the country, whether directly or indirectly, a large portion of it must have ended up in the Yan family's pockets over the years."

“There are countless families like the Su family of Tanzhou, and henchmen like Zhou Sheng who bleed the Yan faction dry, all over the north and south. The Su family and Zhou Sheng are just one in a million.”

"They were merely using the pretext of regulating river transport to send their own group of people to destroy this evidence. It was a move to cut their losses and protect themselves."

Guo Yi suddenly realized: "You mean, Zhou Sheng disregarded the people and flooded fertile fields in order to destroy evidence that Yan's faction was using the Shawan River transport to amass wealth?"

Shen Qingzhou picked up a bundle that was placed beside him: "This was found in the county government office last night."

Guo Yi quickly opened it. Upon looking at it, he couldn't help but freeze in shock: "This is the annual tax revenue of Shawan County. The figures on this ledger are clearly wrong! Shawan is so prosperous; any rice merchant here could be rolling in money. How could it only generate such a small amount of tax revenue?"

"The number we obtained through our private investigations these days is clearly three times that amount!"

"Therefore, merchants and ordinary people paid a lot of taxes, but only a very small portion of it flowed into the national treasury. The majority of it was embezzled by corrupt officials."

Shen Qingzhou took a sip of tea and continued, "And they're not satisfied yet. The Su family, for example, is still using grain merchants to drive up rice prices and making huge profits, making it impossible for ordinary people to afford food!"

Guo Yi gritted his teeth: "Zhou Sheng has suddenly become ruthless and insane. I guess he must have heard something. I suppose you sent someone to keep an eye on him halfway because you thought of this." "The Yan family has many henchmen and is very influential. We must be wary of them."

Guo Yi pursed his lips and remained silent for a moment before saying, "If Shawan County had not taken timely precautions last night, this flood would most likely have submerged it. By taking advantage of the torrential rain, we can not only destroy the county government office, but also use the pretext of a natural disaster to regain control of the rice market that Shawan had worked so hard to recover. This plan is undeniably insidious."

At this point, he suddenly said, "Last night, it was Magistrate Fang Wei who suggested that He Qing guard the county office, and I saw him personally leading the people in fighting the flood all night. This person should not belong to Zhou Sheng's faction."

Shen Qingzhou looked at him for a moment: "But I didn't see He Qing at the yamen last night."

"...Where did he go?"

Shen Qingzhou thought for a moment: "You'd better investigate him. Zhou Sheng committed such a serious crime, which could be an opportunity to clean up the officialdom in Tanzhou. We've talked about this before, but at that time it was optional. Now that things are like this, let's get started."

"Tomorrow, issue a notice ordering a thorough investigation of all officials and subordinates in the prefectural government and all counties. If Fang Wei is innocent, he can be used."

"When you return to the capital, Zhou Sheng, you will be escorted back here. I will send people to accompany you. Furthermore, since his purpose is to destroy evidence, the same will naturally apply to other docks."

"If you follow the clues and investigate further, you're bound to find something."

Guo Yi nodded. "After the matter in Tanzhou is settled, I should also make a trip to Hubei Province, specifically to check the tax records."

After saying that, he added, "I'll have someone make your bed. You haven't been here for a long time, and I was worried people would notice something, so I had someone put the bedding away."

"No need." Shen Qingzhou put down the cup. "You've worked hard too, get some sleep. Otherwise, I won't be staying at the county government office anymore."

"Then where do you live?"

"I have my own way of going." Shen Qingzhou stretched. "If you need to contact me, just follow the old rules."

Seeing that he was about to step over the threshold, Guo Yi hurriedly followed him: "There's something else I wanted to ask. What's going on with He Qu and Tang Yu? Why are they working as bodyguards for a young girl?"

Shen Qingzhou stopped at the threshold: "Didn't she tell you?"

"Her? Which one? I wanted to ask He Qu, but they both disappeared after the court session. Later I went to find that girl, but she was really tight-lipped and didn't reveal a single word, leaving me speechless."

Shen Qingzhou glanced down at him, who still looked both amused and exasperated, lowered her hand from behind the curtain, and walked back: "Little girl? In your eyes, she's just a naive and easily fooled little girl, isn't she?"

“What are you saying!” Guo Yi said. “She’s not very old, but she’s courageous and clever. She’s quite remarkable. How could she be easily fooled?”

Shen Qingzhou looked at him: "Trying to lie?"

Guo Yi clicked his tongue: "I'm just telling the truth!"

What comprehension ability?
Shen Qingzhou propped his fan against the tea table, looked at him for a moment, then picked up the robe he had taken off and threw it back at him: "Wake up. Issue a notice to all the prefectures and counties immediately and get down to business."

"Now?!"

Guo Yi turned her head to look at the dark sky outside, then stared at him in disbelief.

Is he sure?
"There's no time to lose," Shen Qingzhou said. "We must act before the enemy makes a move."

"Therefore, conduct a thorough investigation of all officials in the entire Tanzhou Prefecture within half a month. If there are any objections, ten days would be appropriate."

Guo Yi: !! ...

(End of this chapter)