Qing Yao

Chapter 249 Welcome to the Little Loan Party

Honesty has its advantages, and so does greed.

Honest officials benefit the people, while corrupt officials benefit Zhao An.

Zhao An's plan was to seize the old master's property and change the dynasty, so it seemed that using corrupt officials would be more effective than using honest officials.

Because if one is honest, there is no fault to be found.

Without any evidence, how could one incite this honest official to commit treason?

The saying goes, "If you are upright, you have nothing to fear."

Zhao An, however, chose to take what honest officials considered a crooked path, which created a natural contradiction.

It is extremely difficult to persuade a traditional scholar-official who is honest and dedicated to public service to abandon his ideals of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism and join in the rebellion, after all, the Manchu Qing dynasty had occupied China for more than a hundred years.

More than a century of various forms of indoctrination and brainwashing, including frequent major literary inquisitions, has led 99% of the intellectuals of this era to firmly believe that the auspicious purple aura coming from the east is the political correctness of China.

Opposing the Qing dynasty is the biggest mistake.

To what extent is this "correctness" in some places?

Even Confucius in the academy shaved his head and grew a queue!
People in some remote areas don't even know about the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties; they only know about the Qing dynasty.

In Zhao An's previous life, even though the Qing Dynasty had been gone for over a hundred years, there were still many people who sang praises to this dynasty and vowed to defend this foreign invader regime. Anyone who spoke ill of the Qing Dynasty would be labeled a sabote. Moreover, the present day was a real colonial era for the Qing Dynasty.

The more honest an official is, the more firmly he believes in this principle.

Yu Chenglong, Peng Peng, Zhang Boxing, and Tian Wenjing, the so-called four incorruptible officials in the early Qing Dynasty, were all extremely loyal to the Qing court.

Since ancient times, honest officials have been associated with the title of loyal ministers.

Therefore, hoping that an honest official will rebel is about as good as a sow climbing a tree.

Unless Zhao An starts cultivating and supporting a group of reserve talents who oppose the current political correctness from childhood, it will be difficult for him to use honest officials to undermine the old master's faction.

No matter how much one admires these honest officials, they cannot be employed before the old dynasty is destroyed and the new dynasty is established.

There's no way around it, the two sides are fundamentally opposed!

Corrupt officials are different.

Corrupt officials' morality is naturally flexible, sometimes high and sometimes low, but it is low most of the time.

For corrupt officials, profit comes first, and everything else second.

Although some corrupt officials can be loyal ministers, most corrupt officials are completely devoid of the qualities of a loyal minister; otherwise, a large number of officials would not have surrendered at the end of a dynasty.

Corrupt officials prioritize their own interests over the interests of the nation.

This was the case in the late Ming Dynasty.

Subdue those who are obedient, and subdue those who are wicked.

The most prominent example is the Confucius Family Mansion in Qufu, which is known as the foremost family in China.

Therefore, as long as corrupt officials have something to hide in Zhao An's hands, Zhao An can easily drive them to do things and easily lead these corrupt officials step by step down the "path of no return".

When these corrupt officials realized they had boarded Lord Zhao's anti-Qing bandwagon, they had no choice but to go all the way to the dark end in order to protect themselves.

Because by then it would be too late to expose it.

Rebellion will lead to death, and not rebelling will also lead to death. So why not rebel and give it a try? Maybe Lord Zhao will actually be able to don the imperial robe.

This is the principle that it is better to employ greed than honesty.

Since it was impossible to remove all the officials in the Anhui grain system and replace them with his own people, Zhao An naturally chose to give full play to the initiative of the corrupt officials and pull them onto the boat one by one.

In terms of facts alone, this is a clear compromise.

However, Zhao An's compromise with corrupt officials does not contradict the image of an honest official he has cultivated for himself.

I won't stop you from being greedy, but I, as the Daotai (a high-ranking official), can refrain from being greedy.

Or, to put it another way, Zhao An could transform the so-called corruption into a system that allows you to enjoy legitimate and open benefits.

If you enjoy this treatment, then you have to work for this official.

Once we've thoroughly investigated the value of these corrupt officials, then we can discuss the issue of retirement.

"We must continue to investigate more thoroughly and intensify our efforts!"

Zhao An gave the Qingli Division new instructions: to continue the denunciation campaign within the unit, expanding the scope beyond the provincial grain commissioner's office to all subordinate units and business management entities.

The goal is to review all staff members in the grain system within six months, and if necessary, also review the businessmen who deal with the grain system.

The same confidential approach of conducting separate conversations was adopted.

When it comes to human nature, most people will stubbornly refuse to confess when asked to do so, but if you're asked to confess about a colleague's problem and they keep it a secret for you, very few will actually do it.

Meanwhile, the exposed officials went to the Ministry of Personnel one by one for investigation, confronted with the materials used to expose them, and were required to admit their crimes and write a letter of repentance.

The confession and plea agreement are, frankly speaking, just leverage against these people.

Anyone who disobeys orders will have their case files compiled and transferred to the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office for imprisonment.

Anyone who listens to orders will have their career advancement channels within the grain system unconditionally opened to them, and Zhao An can wholesale out honorary titles such as outstanding employee and outstanding official of the year in unlimited quantities.

Anyway, he has the final say in the food system.

The Bureau of Officials was a newly established agency by Zhao An, and the two people in charge, Han and Xiao, were members of the canal gang he brought from Yangzhou. Naturally, everything revolved around the young master.

Even though the two scholars, Han and Xiao, didn't know why the young lord said it was better to use greed than integrity, they were still very enthusiastic as long as they could help the young lord with his work.

The other two scholars were assigned by Zhao An to two different "departments" within the yamen to familiarize themselves with the situation. The guards brought by Baili Yunlong were also assigned as yamen runners, all enjoying the benefits of being formal employees of the grain transport yamen.

After his father-in-law Ding Tai and the others arrive, Zhao An will set up an office similar to a government office to centralize the power of the grain transport department in one place.

If you want to review the Anhui grain system within six months, Han and Xiao alone are definitely not enough.

Zhao An's method was to select people from among the minor officials who had "passed the test" to fill the Qingli Division, and to clean up from top to bottom, while simultaneously replenishing manpower, so as to ensure that the newly established Qingli Division would become the "imperial sword" of the grain transport system.

Those who fail to pass the test will be transferred to the authorities for legal proceedings; those who should be dismissed will be dismissed, and those who should be sent to prison will be sent to prison.

The first person to come and write a confession was Prefect Zheng Fuyang. When he arrived, his eyes were dark circles like a panda's, and he had grown a lot of stubble, which showed that he must not have slept last night.

Indeed, if the "unit" leader singles you out and makes you explain a problem, and that problem does exist, who could sleep at night?

"Your Excellency, I am lowering my rank."

Having no idea what to say, Judge Zheng entered the office and carefully handed over the "confession" that he had spent the whole night writing.

"This is a private conversation between me and you, so you don't need to worry too much. Rest assured, no one else will know about our conversation. Relax and don't be so nervous, making it seem like I'm targeting you."

Zhao An smiled and gestured for Zheng Fuyang to sit down and talk.

Since it's a conversation, there's a good chance the two sides can ease tensions, so the atmosphere shouldn't be tense, and a smile can ensure a gentle atmosphere.

“How can a lowly official have a seat before Your Excellency?” Judge Zheng’s eyelids twitched, and he dared not sit down. He stared nervously at the confession on the table, wondering if it would gain the approval and “forgiveness” of the young magistrate before him.

"Hey, Lord Zheng's handwriting is quite good."

Zhao An smiled and picked up the confession to read. After a moment, his brows furrowed slightly. In this confession of less than five hundred words, Zheng Tongpan admitted to bearing some responsibility for the theft and sale of stored grain in Jiangning Warehouse, but did not mention any other acts of embezzlement.

They only admit to the problems that have been discovered, and refuse to explain any other issues.

After reading the entire confession, Zhao An remained noncommittal. He casually put down the confession, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and looked at the tense-looking Magistrate Zheng with a smile. He said kindly, "Does Magistrate Zheng have anything else to say to me?"

"Ah? No, no. Apart from the Jiangning Treasury matter, I have absolutely no other problems. Moreover, the Jiangning Treasury matter was entrusted to me by the former Lord Zhang. As his subordinate, I dare not disobey. I hope Your Excellency will understand!"

Judge Zheng shook his head several times, his words filled with grievance, a sense of helplessness as a subordinate being asked by his superior to do something against the rules, yet having no choice but to comply.

"Is it?"

Zhao An's smile remained, but his eyes became much sharper.

"If you do not trust me, sir, you may send someone to investigate me. If I have deceived you, sir, I am willing to accept the punishment!"

Judge Zheng appeared quite excited, his face flushed.

Zhao An nodded, casually took a stack of documents from the drawer and threw them on the table, saying indifferently, "If Lord Zheng has no other questions, then what's the meaning of these?"

"these are?"

Suspicious, Magistrate Zheng picked up a document and found it was a report accusing him of embezzling 1458 taels of silver in internal procurement at the end of last year.

For no apparent reason, my heart skipped a beat. I quickly picked up another copy to read, and my expression changed drastically after reading it.

Someone reported that he colluded with merchants in Jiangning to sell grain at low prices and profit more than 7,000 taels of silver.

Looking at another copy made my heart race even faster.

It turned out that he had ordered people to send several thousand shi of grain directly to his brother-in-law's brewery in the city, and then claimed the loss as a deficit.

Another exposé alleges that this grain commissioner not only owned multiple properties in the city, but also accepted two "skinny horses" (young, thin women) from a certain ambassador. To cover his tracks, he hid these two women in two separate locations, claiming one to be his sister and the other his niece.

After reading several documents, Judge Zheng dared not look any further; his heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of his throat.

I'm really panicking.

Because these things are all true, no one outside the government knew about them except for a few trusted confidants within the government office.

What does it mean that it is placed so openly on the Daotai's desk?
This means that his close associates betrayed him!
"What's going on here, Lord Zheng? Could you tell me?"

Zhao An, who had been observing Zheng Fuyang's expression, looked at him with a playful expression. Judging from these exposé materials, the grain supervisor of the sixth rank probably had no less than 100,000 taels of silver in savings.

No wonder the Salt Administration, Grain Transport Commissioner, and River Works were said to be the three most lucrative government offices.

Old Ding's Ganquan County is the richest county north of the Yangtze River. He can make tens of thousands of taels of silver a year, but after deducting expenses, gifts, and other expenses, he only actually pockets about ten thousand taels.

Zheng Fuyang, as a sub-prefect, was not a local official, so his expenses and tributes were much less. In addition, much of his income came from falsifying accounts and embezzling, so his annual income was much better than that of Lao Ding, the official magistrate.

"This, this is all nonsense! This is all a fabricated charge! This is all slander and defamation against me by a petty person! My lord, you must not believe it!"

Despite the undeniable facts, Zheng Fuyang still stubbornly refused to admit it.

A common problem among corrupt officials.

The excited look on his face actually made him look completely innocent.

"Prefect Zheng!"

Zhao An could no longer tolerate this. He slammed his fist on the table, his face darkening. "Zheng Fuyang, are you resisting the investigation? Are you determined to resist my investigation of you? Do you really want me to confront you on every single matter? If you insist on this, then today is not a private conversation between me and you, but a formal inquiry on behalf of the court! You don't need to say anything more to me. Go to Anqing and talk to the people at the Provincial Judicial Commissioner's Office!"

After drinking, he shouted, "Someone come here!"

Several guards dressed in yamen runners rushed in.

"You are an official appointed by the imperial court, with the blue sky above your head and the yellow earth beneath your feet, yet you dare to commit such petty theft! This is intolerable!"

Zhao An angrily flung his sleeves and said, "I will first strip you of your official hat and send a formal document to the Provincial Judicial Commissioner's Office and the Provincial Governor's Office. Let's see who can protect you!"

Before he could finish speaking, Zheng Fuyang was so frightened that he knelt down and kowtowed several times, saying, "My lord, please calm down! Please calm down! I know I'm guilty, I know I'm guilty, please forgive me this time!"

"I really can't cry until I see the coffin!"

Zhao An was still furious, but he waved for the guards to leave.

Seeing this, Zheng Fuyang crawled two steps on his knees and said, "If you, my lord, can forgive me this time, I am willing to offer half of my family fortune!"

"Who do you take me for! I have never taken a single penny from anyone since I became an official, so why would I take your filthy money!"

Zhao An snorted slightly, still angry, but his attitude had clearly softened considerably.

"I was blinded by greed and made a mistake before. Please forgive me, sir."

Zheng Fuyang kowtowed repeatedly, knowing that if he did not correct his attitude, a terrible disaster would befall him.

"Well, no one is perfect, who can be without fault?"

Zhao An sighed softly, stepped forward, bent down and helped Zheng Fuyang up. "Since ancient times, it has been difficult to be an official. You and I are both graduates of the third-class imperial examination. I cannot bear to see you suffer imprisonment after years of hard study. I will give you another chance to confess. If you can truly confess, I will give you a chance to atone for your sins, just as I did for Cheng Dade. I hope you will cherish this opportunity."

Zheng Tongpan truly cherished it, and his confession, which he submitted again, was over two thousand words long, listing as many as ten illegal and disorderly acts he had committed during his four years as the Grain Supervisor.

"I will keep this confession for now and hope you will behave yourself."

Zhao An nodded in satisfaction and, in front of Judge Zheng, put his confession along with more than a dozen other reports into his briefcase.

“Your Excellency is like my second parents. I could never repay you even if I gave my life. From now on, please give me any orders.”

Judge Zheng's attitude this time was noticeably more upright than before.

"We are colleagues and will be working together for a long time, so there's no need for this."

Zhao An stepped forward and patted Magistrate Zheng on the shoulder affectionately, "How much of the half of your family fortune did you mention earlier?"

"what?"

After his cheek twitched violently, Judge Zheng gritted his teeth and said he was willing to offer the Circuit Intendant 20,000 taels of silver.

This means that after several years as a sub-prefect, he only amassed 40,000 taels of silver.

This number is clearly dishonest.

Zhao An waved his hand dismissively and laughed, "I don't want your money."

"What does Your Excellency mean?"

Judge Zheng looked puzzled.

"Take out ten thousand taels and partner with me to do some business."

Zhao An said earnestly, "I have some business dealings with the Eight Banners. If Lord Zheng is willing, this ten thousand taels will be considered your 20% share. How about it?"

(End of this chapter)