White-robed Minister

Chapter 155 0153 [Qingtian in the whole government]

Hongqing Palace was the original temple of the Zhao Song imperial family. The Taoist priests there fled en masse out of fear of punishment, which greatly alarmed officials such as Shen Qi and Gong Dingchen.

Even Wang Yirou, upon receiving this news, immediately dispatched people to block key water and land transportation routes.

The Song Dynasty court was tolerant not only of civil officials, but also of Taoist priests who served the ancestral tablets, after all, they had rendered meritorious service.

Even if they hide thousands or tens of thousands of acres of land, they will most likely be spared in the end.

Shen Qi, Wang Yirou, Gong Dingchen, and the others realized that things were not so simple. The number of hidden fields belonging to Hongqing Palace had likely reached a point where leniency was no longer an option!

From officials to ordinary people, everyone knows that Hongqing Palace has a lot of hidden land, but no one has a clear understanding of the exact amount.

Xu Lai was also unaware of the situation. When he first measured the land, he thought it would be at most ten or twenty thousand mu. But the more he measured, the more he saw, and the more shocking the findings became.

Squads of archers and local militia were mobilized, and even the Nanjing Imperial Guards were deployed. This was to hunt down the Taoist priests of the former imperial temple, so the deployment of the Imperial Guards was justified, and the subsequent accountability would not be too severe.

The people of the prefectural city went out early in the morning and saw a large number of officials and soldiers. They all inquired about what major event had occurred.

"Don't touch anything! Take out the store's account books!"

A clerk from the prefectural government, along with clerks from the county government and archers, rushed swiftly into a grain store in the city.

These are shops under the name of Hongqing Palace. They usually pay taxes honestly because the tax exemption is only for farmland.

The shopkeeper and clerks in the grain store weren't Taoist priests from Hongqing Palace, but rather relatives or neighbors of the priests. In any case, you needed connections to get a job there, and even the ordinary clerks were paid extremely high wages.

"Where did this clerk come from?"

The grain shop owner remained completely unfazed, instead displaying extreme arrogance. Pointing at the leading clerk, he said, "Do you know whose shop this is? It's the shop of Hongqing Palace! My brother is the head of the Hongqing Palace's warehouse; even if the prefect himself—"

"Take it down!"

Before the man could finish speaking, the clerk ordered his arrest.

The archers immediately took action, and anyone who dared to resist was beaten with sticks. The grain shop manager was beaten black and blue.

Similar scenes were observed in more than ten shops both inside and outside the city.

The people of the prefectural city and passing merchants finally realized that a major case had occurred at Hongqing Palace.

"Have all the shops at Hongqing Palace been sealed off?"

"More than that! I heard those soldiers were also there to capture Taoist priests."

"Because Xu signed the judgment to investigate the farmland?"

"Definitely, they can probably find 30,000 to 40,000 mu."

"That's too much."

"In my father-in-law's village, there were no first-class households. All the second-class households donated most of their land. After donating their land, the rent they paid to Hongqing Palace was much lighter than the taxes levied by the government. Moreover, they could be demoted and no longer have to perform heavy corvée labor. The third, fourth, and fifth-class households also followed suit and donated. They have been living very comfortably these past few years."

"If they don't pay taxes, aren't we the ones who have to make up the difference? I knew the taxes were getting heavier and heavier!"

"For this kind of thing, we still need Tiger Xu to handle it."

"What Xu Tiger? The big shots in Yucheng County have long called him King Yama."

—"

Xu Lai has been personally clearing the fields during this period and has already figured out the locations of some Taoist priests' homes.

You can always find out the truth by asking around.

What's more, it was the day for paying land rent. Many farmers were taking their dried new wheat to the houses of the Taoist priests nearby, not knowing to avoid the officials clearing the land!

When Xu Lai left the city, he divided his officials into several teams and sent them out to make arrests.

He led a group of men and headed straight for the nearest Taoist priest's house.

They saw the Taoist priest and his brothers, along with their children, numbering about twenty or thirty, hurriedly fleeing with their valuables.

"Take it down!"

Some people were so scared they stood still, while others ran wildly in the opposite direction.

The elderly and women and children were the first to be caught. The children cried loudly in fear, while the women kept begging for mercy.

Xu Lai shouted as he chased after the fugitive, "There's a reward for capturing the fugitive! There's a reward for capturing the fugitive!"

The villagers were probably afraid of the Taoist priest, and no one dared to step forward to help with the arrest. Xu Lai had to call out several times before a boy finally rushed out of his house to chase after the nearest fugitive.

Xu Lai also quickly caught up with one of them.

Although he used to be thin, he had been walking in the mountains for many years and had strength and speed.

My nutrition has improved in recent years, and I've even been clearing fields in the countryside for the past two or three months. I don't need to exercise deliberately at all; I walk 20,000 to 30,000 steps every day.

He has a great physique and amazing leg strength!

Xu Lai caught up with the man, kicked him to the ground, then grabbed his fist and smashed it into his head several times. He then pulled off the man's belt, took off his shoes, and abandoned him, continuing to chase after the others.

Soon, officers caught up and apprehended the barefoot man who was running with his pants up.

The officer reached into the bundle and immediately began cursing, "You scoundrel, don't you find it heavy? How can you run fast carrying silver? What bad luck, it's all big silver ingots, I can't even keep any for myself."

The officer following behind laughed and said, "Tell him to bring gold leaf next time. That stuff is easy to hide; you can roll it up and stuff it through the back door."

"If you laugh again, I'll shove the big silver boat down your back door!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Xu Lai personally caught the two.

The farm boy also caught one of the fugitives and pinned him to the ground. When the officials arrived, the boy boldly asked, "How much reward will I get?"

The official chuckled, "You'll have to ask Judge Xu for that."

"Is five hundred coins enough?" Xu Lai slowly walked back.

The boy was overjoyed: "That's enough, that's enough!"

Not only were checkpoints set up at the major waterways and land routes around the prefectural city, but several other counties also received the news, and the county magistrates immediately ordered the pursuit of the fugitive.

Those Taoist priests who fled with their families were easy to identify: they included men, women, the elderly, and children, and carried no heavy items, only gold, silver, and valuables.

In just a few days, more than 400 people were arrested. The number of Taoist priests was very small, and most of them were their family members. On average, each Taoist priest had more than ten family members.

But many escaped as well.

Some wealthy families in Songcheng County even took the initiative to hand over the fugitives to the government to claim credit. The Taoist priests, unable to escape with their families, actually sought refuge in the homes of wealthy families they knew. Which wealthy family dared to take them in?

The news of the mass escape of the Taoist priests from Hongqing Palace not only shocked the entire Yingtian Prefecture, but also left the court officials in disbelief.

This is the original royal temple! What kind of nonsense is this, with the Taoist priests fleeing in fear of punishment?

Numerous officials submitted memorials requesting severe punishment for the Taoist priests of Hongqing Palace.

Xu Lai seized the opportunity to intensify the land reclamation efforts, once again ordering landlords in each county to re-declare their land holdings. He also dispatched experienced clerks to guide each county in creating a fish-scale land register.

Even in Yucheng County, a fish scale map had to be created.

Xu Lai's daily work consisted of checking those fish-scale registers. Then, following the clues, he would ride his donkey around, conducting spot checks based on the registers.

Anyone who dares to arbitrarily measure and register land will easily be discovered by him. Once is considered negligence and can be forgiven. Twice will result in a warning, with the possibility of redemption through meritorious service. A third offense will result in being thrown directly into jail.

June passed in the blink of an eye, and more and more landlords were re-applying for land ownership.

Especially in the last two or three days of the one-month deadline, landlords of all sizes flocked to the county government to file their reports. Even Hongqing Palace had been investigated; how could they possibly withstand that?

At the same time, Xu Lai sent official documents to all temples and Taoist monasteries in the seven counties. If they didn't voluntarily declare their land holdings within half a month, Xu Laohu would personally lead a team to investigate!

Upon receiving this order, not only did the Ten Directions Forest obediently comply, but even the Descendant Temple was willing to cooperate.

Throughout July, besides preparing for floods and collecting taxes, the main task in Yingtian Prefecture was to survey the fields.

As for the case of Hongqing Palace, Shen Qi and Wang Yirou were responsible for the initial trial, and they were waiting for the court to send a special task force to review it.

By early August, the clearing of fields in various counties was basically completed, and the summer tax was also settled ahead of schedule.

Gong Dingchen and Zhuang Gongyue were speechless with astonishment when they saw the land registers compiled from various counties. The total amount of land in the entire prefecture actually exceeded that during the peak of Emperor Zhenzong's reign.

Last year, the registered farmland in the seven counties of Yingtian Prefecture totaled more than 368 million mu.

After the comprehensive clearing of farmland this year, the figure has increased to over 775 million mu.

More than doubled!

Zhuang Gongyue thought to himself: The top scholar is really resourceful; he didn't even spare the fields of temples and monasteries, big and small.

Zhuang Gongyue had long been convinced of Xu Lai's abilities, and had even taken the initiative to study the fish scale diagrams recently. He found it very useful and planned to try it out in other places in the future.

Although the imperial court did not agree to implement the fish-scale register nationwide, it allowed Yingtian Prefecture to do so. Moreover, it sent official documents to officials in various regions, detailing the production method of the fish-scale register.

In other words, the imperial court did not require the whole country to do this, but local officials who considered themselves capable could follow suit.

"With so many hidden fields uncovered, I think the exorbitant taxes and levies should be revised," Xu Lai suggested. "Those farmers who didn't conceal their land and contributed it have been severely disadvantaged; they paid significantly more in summer taxes and miscellaneous taxes this year. The autumn tax must be reduced accordingly!"

Gong Dingchen nodded and said, "Okay. The tax collection books for the autumn tax should be finalized as soon as possible, as some of us may be transferred ahead of schedule."

""

Historically, Shen Qi was transferred in September, and his new position was judge of Kaifeng Prefecture (ordinary judge).

The promotion from Provincial Judicial Commissioner to Prefectural Judge may seem like a demotion, but it was actually a very rare and significant advancement. This meant that Shen Qi had entered the inner circle.

As for Gong Dingchen, he was transferred in November to serve as the prefect of Jiangning—this was a demotion, but not a severe one.

Now that Xu Lai has caused a lot of trouble, adding countless political achievements to their record, it will definitely become completely different from the original history.

The person who will replace Shen Qi has arrived.

This man, named Gong Shen, also served as the leader of the special investigation team. He was to first reinvestigate the Hongqing Palace case, report it to the imperial court, and then take over the position on the spot.

Gong Shen was described by his contemporaries as having mediocre talent and knowledge, a suspicious nature, and being appointed to various supervisory positions indiscriminately.

In the scholar's notes, there is a joke about him, whether true or not is unknown—

Gong Shen wanted to curry favor with Wang Anshi, but lacked the power to implement reforms. So, on Wang Anshi's birthday, he filled a large cage with birds, went to Wang Anshi's house to release them as a prayer for good fortune, and shouted, "May Your Excellency live to be one hundred and twenty years old!"

This time, he came to replace Shen Qi as the Chief Censor and was also in charge of investigating the Hongqing Palace case. Who knows who Gong Shen got his connections with?

"How many hidden fields did Hongqing Palace uncover?" Gong Shen asked.

Shen Qi replied, "More than 120,000 mu."

"How much?" Gong Shen was shocked.

Shen Qi said, "More than 124,000 mu, exceeding one-tenth of the farmland in Songcheng County!"

Gong Shen gasped.

Shen Qi was actually quite unhappy. The Hongqing Palace case wasn't even finished, and the court was already transferring him away. Although this transfer was a promotion, Shen Qi felt that he shouldn't give up halfway.

In fact, he made a fortune this time.

Shen Qi, who should have been transferred to a regular judge position in Kaifeng Prefecture, was instead transferred directly to Kaifeng Prefecture as a sub-judge. Xu Lai's achievements allowed him to save himself several years of hard work.

While assisting Gong Shen in the trial, Shen Qi, who was about to be transferred, took the time to write a memorial recommending Xu Lai.

For both public and private reasons, he had to recommend Xu Lai.