Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 259 Calculating Wealth and Reporting Wealth
While Zhang Dai was still planning his future in Weizhou, Bianzhou was already bustling with activity.

When Yuan Fu, the governor of Bianzhou, received Yuwen Rong's letter, he was naturally furious.

He was initially pleased that Zhang Dai had left the state early, thinking that the kid was intimidated by his authority and had left in a hurry. But he never expected that the kid would cause such a big problem in such a short time in the state!
If someone else had told him this, Yuan Fu would most likely have scoffed and thought it impossible. But since Yuwen Rong had specifically sent a message to inform him of this matter, he couldn't afford to be negligent and immediately set out to investigate.

Yuanfu did not have a good relationship with the wealthy merchants in the state. He always thought that merchants were cunning and lowly, and difficult to work with. His actions of cracking down on commerce and imposing large taxes on markets in Bianzhou were also based on this perception.

Therefore, he immediately summoned the prefectural official who had been assigned to supervise Zhang Dai when he was in the prefecture, and asked in a deep voice: "When Zhang Dai was in the prefecture, did the powerful families in the prefecture have close relations with him? Do you know what they discussed?"

The official was surprised that more than half a month had passed before the governor inquired about the matter again. After pondering for a while, he hurriedly replied, "Your Excellency, Zhang Dai only stayed in the prefecture for two or three days. On his first night in the prefecture, he stayed at the inn of the merchant Wang Yuanbao and did indeed hold a gathering of wealthy families in the prefecture, but he had no contact with them after that."

Afterwards, he went to the weaving workshop, dismissed all the workers, and then led a fleet of boats and carts out of the territory towards Caozhou. Oh, and one more thing, his student Xu Shen from Kaifeng was once attacked by a group of boatmen, and he once…”

"Don't dwell on these trivial matters. Aside from that night's meeting, has Zhang Dai had any other dealings with wealthy households in the region? Think carefully and don't overlook anything!"

Yuan Fu did not believe that Zhang Dai could reach a cooperation agreement with wealthy people in the country worth hundreds of thousands of strings of cash based on just one day's gathering. Therefore, there must have been other negotiations in secret. The more they concealed it, the more suspicious it became!
After being reprimanded, the clerk could only rack his brains again. He realized that what the magistrate was really concerned about was whether Zhang Dai had any dealings with the wealthy households in the area, so he could only think about all the relevant personnel.

"Zhang Dai has indeed stopped associating with wealthy households, but he has a large following, and it is difficult for us officials to observe them all. Wang Yuanbao, a merchant who is on good terms with him, is still in the territory and has been quite active in recent days, frequently hosting banquets for the wealthy and maintaining close relationships with many wealthy households in the area."

Furthermore, among those he met were newly appointed officials who had passed the imperial examinations in the same year. Some of them did not travel with him and remained in the territory, wandering between villages and towns, their intentions unknown…”

The official recounted all the personnel leads he could think of: "There's also Chen Sishi. Chen Sishi has relatives who run shops and have many dealings with Wang Yuanbao. They might know more details about the matter!"

"Quickly bring Chen Sishi here! Also, send officials to thoroughly investigate Zhang Dai, a fellow Jinshi who is staying in the territory. If he has done anything wrong, arrest him immediately!"

Yuan Fu questioned him for a long time but still couldn't get to the point, so he could only broaden the scope of his questioning. At the same time, he pondered and said, "As for Wang Yuanbao, summon him into the mansion and tell him to cooperate in checking his shop's accounts. Don't let him communicate with Shi Liu anymore."

The clerk immediately accepted the order and withdrew, while Chen, the prefectural clerk, soon entered the hall, bowed, and said, "What does Your Excellency wish to instruct me on?"

"You were recently in charge of communicating with that Yizao Weaving Workshop. Besides the transfer of personnel, were there any other dealings? If so, tell the truth immediately. Anyone who dares to lie will not be let off lightly!"

Yuan Fu looked at this local bully under his command and said in a deep voice.

Upon hearing this, Chen Sishi was naturally filled with doubt and unease. He hurriedly bowed his head and said, "My communication with the weaving workshop is entirely in accordance with the magistrate's orders. I have never acted on my own initiative. Although Judge Xu Shen and I are from the same hometown, we have always been at odds. We dislike each other outside of official business and have no other dealings with each other."

Now that the weaving workshop has been disbanded and all the servants have returned home, what further... what more... may I ask, Your Excellency, what do you mean by this? If... if I knew, I would absolutely not dare to deceive you!

"I've come to ask you a question, why should I be interrogated by you? I'm implying something illegal, so tell me the truth!"

Yuan Fu was parachuted from the central government to Bianzhou to serve as governor. He also had a father who was prime minister in the court. Naturally, he was arrogant and looked down on these local bullies.

Hearing that Chen Sishi was trying to downplay the seriousness of the matter, he became even more furious. He slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "If I didn't know what was going on, why would I be asking you? You were given a position of honor and received a salary, yet you have neglected your household and allowed your clan to become corrupt. Your clansmen are greedy and avaricious, and they dare to break the law. How dare you deceive me now!"

"I am guilty, I know I am guilty... Indeed, some of my relatives, taking advantage of my position in the prefecture, have been secretly crossing borders and smuggling goods. Recently, they even used the pretext of searching for escaped households to privately keep slaves..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Sishi turned pale with fright. In order to clear himself of any wrongdoing, he stopped taking the blame for his clansmen and quickly bowed his head.

"How could this happen? How dare this scoundrel!" Yuan Fu was taken aback by the questions he had asked. He paused for a moment, then pointed at Chen Sishi and angrily shouted, "We will investigate these matters thoroughly later! I ask you now, what are your clansmen plotting in their secret dealings with Wang Yuanbao? Who else in the prefecture is involved in this scheme?"

"No, it's not about these things?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Sishi was dumbfounded. He was filled with remorse for his foolish act of self-exposure, but seeing Yuan Fu's wide-eyed, ferocious expression as if he were about to devour someone, he quickly said, "Yes, that is true. My brother Chen Jiu and Wang Yuanbao were involved in the 'flying money' business... Does Your Excellency know about flying money? No, I dare not speak nonsense. It was Wang Yuanbao who used flying money to lure people into conspiring with various families in the prefecture to discuss this matter, and my brother was also involved. Is there something hidden about this? Is there something illegal about this?"

"Since we are involved in this matter, how much has your family contributed? How much have the other families in the prefecture each contributed?"

Upon hearing that Chen Sishi had finally gotten to the point, Yuanfu immediately questioned again: "At present, all industries in the prefecture are in decline and the people are suffering. Do you not see this at all? You generously use money and silk to benefit outsiders, but you are unwilling to help your own people. You are truly greedy, despicable, heartless and ungrateful!"

At this moment, Chen Sishi was so confused by the interrogation that he could only shake his head subconsciously and say, "My family did not contribute any funds. We only returned a few slaves that we had found during the search... I don't know how much other families contributed. I only heard that there was an exchange of 10,000 strings of cash, but that's all!"

"You scoundrel, you still dare to deceive me!"

Upon hearing this, Yuanfu became even more furious. He had already labeled Chen Sishi as cunning and greedy in his mind, and now that he heard the amount of money involved had shrunk by dozens of times in this guy's mouth, he naturally refused to believe it.

The governor was the ruler of a prefecture, also known as the regional governor. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, he held the power of life and death. Although his authority has been reduced, he still has extremely high authority.

Seeing that Chen Sishi was still not honest, Yuanfu immediately shouted angrily, "Put this scoundrel in shackles outside the yamen. He shall not be removed from the shackles until he has fully confessed his crimes! Also, arrest his brother Chen Jiu and the rest of his clansmen and bring them into the yamen for interrogation one by one!"

He had hoped to find a breakthrough by speaking to the officials under the prefecture and learn the whole story, but he did not expect that this Chen Sishi was so stubborn and inflexible. He even confessed to his family’s crime of smuggling and keeping slaves, but still refused to disclose the matter.

This made him feel that there might be more than just a few hundred thousand strings of cash involved in the business; there might be even more significant secrets hidden within. So, while ordering a thorough investigation of the Chen family, he also tried to find a breakthrough from other angles.

Although Chen Sishi refused to reveal the truth, he did provide a list of people in the prefecture who had close ties with Wang Yuanbao. Arresting and questioning them one by one would be the most direct method, but this would be too brutal and could cause great unrest in the prefecture.

Moreover, Yuwen Rong's letter not only instructed him to understand the matter, but also to find a way to acquire more money and supplies, which must also be taken into account.

Yuan Fu was aware that the wealthy families of Bianzhou were rich, but he didn't know the exact amount they possessed. He saw Zhang Dai's effortless raising of hundreds of thousands of strings of cash within the prefecture, regardless of the method used, as somewhat provocative.

This also revealed that his control over the state was even worse than Zhang Dai's, and he had not achieved such amazing revenue generation in all the time he had been in the state!

So now, in addition to figuring out how these people colluded with Zhang Dai and transferred huge sums of money, we also need to figure out their individual financial situations and where they hid their money!

Yuwen Rong's letter described Zhang Dai's idea of ​​planning the flying money, which greatly inspired him. Since the imperial court needed to verify the capital of these flying money, the prefectures could certainly do the same.

Although the state government did not engage in businesses like "flying money" (a form of illegal lending), it did engage in lending. It lent money to wealthy households using boat and cart parts as capital and charged interest. This was a traditional revenue-generating project in Bianzhou and a project that Yuan Fu had strongly promoted since taking office.

Most wealthy households in the region have borrowed money from the government. They may not necessarily need the loans, but the state government needs the interest! The principal of the flying money can be verified, so borrowing is even more so!
Therefore, Yuanfu immediately decided to appoint state officials to inspect all wealthy households in the state who had borrowed money from the government, and to make them provide proof of their assets to demonstrate their ability to repay the loans, as well as explain the purpose of the borrowed money.

Such a census can both prevent the wealth of the people of the state from being transferred out in large quantities, thus thwarting Zhang Dai's wishful thinking, and at the same time, it can also strengthen the accumulation of wealth with the information it has gathered, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

Of course, while conducting this series of investigations, Yuan Fu did not relax his control over Zhang Dai's henchmen and spies left in the state, and thus discovered that Zhang Dai was secretly instructing his subordinates to carve a merit stele for Consort Wu Hui!

However, this discovery did not make Yuan Fu happy. He was even a little distressed, especially after receiving a letter from Zhang Dai accusing him. This made him even more terrified: Consort Hui was compassionate. Since the Yellow River breached its banks, she did not dress up or wear makeup. She saved money and silk to help the people. She built a weaving workshop to save more than 10,000 lives. The people of the prefecture were grateful and built a stele to commemorate her virtue. Why did Yuan Fu use this as a crime and arrest people to destroy the stele?
(End of this chapter)