Do You Know?: I, the Little Cabinet Elder, Regent of the World.

Chapter 80: The Letter of Complaint!
At the end of June, the transport company.

In recent days, the Transport Commissioner has issued numerous decrees, ordering prefectures and counties to truthfully and promptly pay their taxes.

The officials of the transport department immediately became busy.

Of course, as officials who had been granted official rank, any official from the Transport Department would have a very prestigious presence when they went out.

Regarding the taxation matter, the Transport Commissioner issued a special decree, instructing the officials of the prefectures and counties to cooperate fully.

Any official from the Transport Commissioner, once they stepped out, represented the Transport Commissioner. Their sole responsibility was to direct the county and prefectural officials to collect taxes and tally the amounts; they did not need to do any of the work themselves.

As dawn broke, Jiang Zhao had already taken office at the yamen.

Beneath several neatly arranged government documents, Jiang Zhao was somewhat surprised to find an unusual letter.

Upon opening it, it turned out to be a letter of complaint.

The letter records Sima Guang's plan to reduce the reputation of his superiors by starting with taxation.

Signed Liu Ping.

I'm filing a complaint under my real name!

Jiang Zhao's spirits lifted.

Originally, recommending Liu Ping was just a side effect; the real intention was to sow discord among Sima Guang's right and left arms and to try to implement a divisive tactic.

Unexpectedly, some things actually came out of the blast.

"Summon Liu Ping here. I have something to ask him," Jiang Zhao called out, and his page Hesheng immediately went to do so.

A short while later, Judge Liu Ping entered.

Perhaps due to lack of sleep, Liu Ping appeared somewhat listless.

Jiang Zhao smiled faintly and waved his hand, saying, "Sit down."

Liu Ping sat down cautiously, looking at Jiang Zhao with hopeful eyes.

Clearly, he wants to defect!

"What is the meaning of this letter?" Jiang Zhao asked.

Liu Ping quickly explained, "Vice Envoy Sima intends to commit a heinous act."

After listening to Liu Ping's explanation, Jiang Zhao looked him over a few times and couldn't help but fall silent.

Are they betting that hard?
"Is there any evidence of a crime?" Jiang Zhao asked again.

"Yes," Liu Ping quickly replied. "To get the clan to resist taxes, we need to exchange quite a few letters. Even Lord Sima wrote a letter specifically to them, promising a lot of benefits."

Currently, some evidence has been brought to the yamen by this humble official, and the letter written by Lord Sima should arrive in a few days.

Jiang Zhao nodded slightly: "I am not one to be indiscriminate in rewarding or punishing. Since Judge Liu still cares about the millions of people in Shaanxi, I will disregard the previous events."

"Your humble servant thanks you, sir." Liu Ping was overjoyed and quickly bowed.

This is the result he wants.

Sima Guang's attempt to resist taxes was too risky, so he dared not follow suit.

Jiang Zhao stepped forward, helped the man up, and said calmly, "In that case, let's wait and see how Vice Envoy Sima resists the tax!"

"Your humble servant will follow your lead without question."

Two weeks have passed, and as expected...

Gwangju's powerful families resist taxes!

A powerful clan in Jizhou resists taxes!
The Chen family of Tongzhou resisted taxes!
However, the Liu family of Yanzhou did not resist the tax.

To be precise, it was submitted neither too early nor too late.

The taxes were paid in mid-July, a few days later than most large families, but much earlier than the three states that resisted the taxes, thus failing to achieve the desired effect of tax resistance.

On that very day, Jiang Zhao summoned more than forty officials from the Transport Department.

"This humble official greets Lord Jiang."

In the Transport Commissioner's Hall, Jiang Zhao sat in the main seat.

More than thirty officials, led by Sima Guang, and thirteen Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) specially summoned from the prefectures and counties, all bowed in salute.

Perhaps because the Liu family of Yanzhou did not resist taxes, Sima Guang's eyes occasionally flashed with some worry.

"Please sit down," Jiang Zhaoping said with a smile, gesturing for them to sit.

As soon as he finished speaking, the pageboy Hesheng stepped forward and announced the results of the tax collection.

"Guangzhou and Jizhou are 60% behind, and Tongzhou is 20% behind."

The implementation of the Two-Tax System has taken root in people's hearts. Officials at all levels know when to pay taxes and will naturally set aside some time in advance to collect taxes.

When officials from the transport bureau went down to collect taxes, it usually only took them one or two days to count the amounts, which didn't take much time at all.

Therefore, when the tax collection results were announced, many people looked to Sima Guang, including the officials under him.

They were unaware of their superior's tax evasion.

This is a grave sin!
Sima Guang remained calm.

No rush, there are still ten days before the deadline.

The one who should be worried about not being able to collect taxes is the official in charge, Jiang Zhao, not him.

however.

Just then, Jiang Zhao suddenly smiled, looked at everyone meaningfully, and asked inexplicably, "How many offices does the Transport Commission have?"

A government office is a building where official business is conducted.

"Thirty-two places combined!" Judge Chen Xin, somewhat puzzled, replied.

The officials in the Transport Office were almost all responsible for a single task.

If he were placed in the Transport Department, he would definitely be a minor official.

But if this were outside, even a low-ranking official like the ninth-grade Transport Commissioner would have county magistrates begging to "call him brother." After all, it was an office responsible for the administration of a certain route, so there would certainly be no shortage of government offices; it was practically one office per person.

If we're talking about differences, there's no way to distinguish between large and small.

The transfer hall of the transfer judge is twice the size of a regular government office.

The Transport Commissioner's Office was much larger than the Judge's Office.

The Transport Commissioner's Office could easily accommodate a hundred or so people without any problem, and it was almost three or four times the size of a regular government office.

Thirty-two locations!

Jiang Zhao stood up, paced back and forth, weighed his thoughts, and nodded.

"The Transport Commissioner has always had the duty of supervising local officials," Jiang Zhao said slowly, glancing at the crowd. "But who will supervise the Transport Commissioner?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the dozens of officials exchanged glances and all lowered their heads in silence.

The world is bustling with activity, all for profit. The Transport Commissioner's Office is no clean government office. Which official hasn't taken care of some people?
"In order to rectify official corruption and clean up the yamen, former transport officials were each given a private office, and they were to write a secret letter with their own pen and ink. This could be either a mutual denunciation or a self-reproach."

"The thirteen newly arrived officials of the Transport Office set up tables and chairs and wrote secret letters in a gap in the government office wall."

As he spoke, Jiang Zhao glanced intently at Sima Guang, then looked at the thirty-odd officials who had previously worked at the Transport Department: "I have given you all the opportunities. If you still can't seize them, don't blame me for being ruthless if you suffer repercussions in the future."

After saying that, Jiang Zhao walked back to the main seat and waved his hand: "Start writing letters of denunciation now, everyone go ahead."

This self-criticism was launched with a very loud tone, in order to rectify official corruption.

However, anyone with a discerning eye could see what Jiang Zhao meant.

Sima Guang!
The thirty-odd officials on Sima Guang's side looked at each other in bewilderment.

Lord Sima, it seems you intend to resist taxes!

What a terrible crime that must be!

Having served as an official in one region for a full eight years, it's impossible to say that Sima Guang had no problems.

Everyone has moments when they act out of self-interest.

As Sima Guang's men, they must have known some inside information about Sima Guang's favoritism.

But, do I really have to write it?

If I remember correctly, Judge Liu has been recommended by Lord Jiang and Lord Sima and is about to be promoted.

How could Lord Liu have been recommended by Lord Jiang?

Has he already disclosed some issues?
Sima Guang noticed the changes in the expressions of the people below.

Sima Guang's face turned pale, and his demeanor became quite unsettled.

More than thirty people wrote their own reports separately; the chain of suspicion is truly terrifying.

In theory, if even one person finds evidence against him, he will be severely damaged.

When he suffers a major setback, his subordinates suffer, either being demoted or dismissed from their posts.

The only way to escape punishment was to write a letter of denunciation to prove innocence and curry favor with Jiang Zichuan.

No one can guarantee whether Sima Guang will fall from power or not.

If he falls from power and fails to write a letter of denunciation to curry favor with Jiang Yunshi, wouldn't he be doomed?

This chain of suspicion, which concerns human nature, is simply unstoppable.

Sima Guang was well aware that this was a chain reaction brought about by Liu Ping's recommendation.

Once Liu Ping left, Jiang Zhao's side was no longer at a disadvantage.

A combination of a transport commissioner and a judge would definitely be able to defeat a combination of a deputy transport commissioner and a judge.

Furthermore, there were thirteen officials who came specifically to "assist in government affairs." Even if the more than thirty Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) under his command were of one mind with him, they would probably only be evenly matched.

He and Jiang Zhao, one served as deputy envoy for eight years, while the other had only been in office for less than a month.

On the surface, they seem to be indistinguishable in terms of superiority and inferiority, but in reality, they have already been

His promotion speed is too slow, and the people below him are losing their morale!
The crucial point is that he still couldn't stop the whistleblowing.

First, the tone of this whistleblower letter was very loud.

Secondly, a whistleblower letter is something that can be written anywhere.

Once subordinates have such thoughts, they'll write even if they don't write at the yamen, they'll write at home, and there's no way to stop them.

Instead of trying to stop it, we should think about a way out.

The thirteen successful candidates in the imperial examinations, who had been coordinated by the prefecture and county, looked relaxed and occasionally scrutinized the remaining thirty-odd officials.

Lord Jiang said: He wrote the secret letter in a secluded spot in the government office.

The vacant lot in the courtyard of the transport office.

These open spaces happened to face various government offices.

By deliberately placing them in an open space facing the government offices, the purpose was undoubtedly to monitor them and prevent the officials from greeting each other.

When you're alone, a chain of suspicion forms, and you're not afraid to say anything.

More than forty officials subsequently withdrew.

Jiang Zhao held a cup of honey water and glanced out a few times.

It's about time this farce ended!
More than forty officials spent an afternoon nervously writing their whistleblower letters.

No one knows what anyone actually wrote.

After He Sheng received the letter of complaint, the forty-odd officials finally dispersed.

When they parted, they would exchange a glance, both seemingly wary of each other.

Trust is gone!
(End of this chapter)