nashuaworldcup Chapter 601 The Poorest Prefect
Chapter 601 The Poorest Prefect
Xie Shang helped Jiang Fenghua get off the carriage. She took his arm and spoke in a dialect that only southerners could understand, "My husband wants to do good deeds to accumulate blessings for our mother. I also want to accumulate blessings."
Xie Shang didn't understand either. "I know you have a kind heart. We will definitely donate more this time. The Bodhisattva will surely see our sincerity and bless us to get pregnant soon and have many children and grandchildren."
Jiang Fenghua was stunned, a smile appeared on the corner of his lips, and he said in the language of the Great Zhou Kingdom, "After donating food and silver, I will go to the temple to make a golden statue for the Bodhisattva. I heard that the Bodhisattva of the Great Zhou Kingdom is the most effective. May my mother-in-law recover soon."
She deliberately said that someone in her family was sick, just to test whether the yamen runners knew that the prefect Miaoyin, who claimed to be the disciple of Guanyin Bodhisattva, had come to Wangyue Tower.
The bailiff did not respond. Perhaps he did not know, and he did not know whether Magistrate Fan knew.
After entering the yamen, I saw a plaque with the words "Integrity and Honesty" in front of me. The plaque was a bit old, but the handwriting on it was vigorous and powerful.
When I met Magistrate Fan, he was already waiting in the main hall. He was wearing an official uniform that had been washed so much that it looked bleached. He had a thin face and looked very simple from head to toe. He really looked like an honest official.
The bailiff said, "Sir, the person has been brought here."
Fan De said, "I heard from the yamen runners that you two are jade merchants from the Southern Kingdom. I heard that you want to donate grain to Qingzhou. On behalf of the people of Qingzhou, I would like to thank you for your kindness. The people of Qingzhou are suffering so much."
Xie Shang said, "We also saw the locust plague when we passed by Qingzhou. My wife is kind-hearted and wants to do good wherever she goes. She wants to do her part. Your Excellency needs food or silver. I will have someone prepare it as soon as possible and it will be delivered to Qingzhou in five days for distribution to the people."
"Food would be better, but silver is also fine. I wonder how much you want to donate." Prefect Fan added, "You two have done good deeds. We will erect a monument to honor you. The people of Qingzhou will never forget you."
Jiang Fenghua was also looking at Fan De, and said, "Just donate the grain. We just happened to have a batch of grain purchased from Jiangnan to be shipped to the South Country. There are 50,000 kilograms. Donate it to the people of Qingzhou first. If it's not enough, we will find a way to transport it. We have seen many poor people who can't even afford to eat along the way. The people are so pitiful. Doesn't the emperor of your Great Zhou Kingdom care about the lives of the people?"
Fan De said, "The court did allocate silver, but how could that little silver be enough to support the people of the whole state? It was used up long ago. We have nine counties with more than a hundred towns and villages, large and small. Countless people have been affected by the disaster. The crops in the fields have been destroyed, and there have been several batches of locusts. How could that little silver be enough? As the governor of a state, I can't help the victims. I have no choice!"
As he spoke, his eyes turned red and he acted like he was about to cry with emotion.
Xie Shang said, "Qingzhou didn't suffer from disasters last year, so the remaining grain should be able to hold out for a while. How come it suddenly became so serious?"
"Qingzhou is not rich to begin with, and there is not much surplus grain left from last year, and there are still so many soldiers who need to feed..." He also talked about the difficulties of the government. In a nutshell, when you look at the detailed accounts, money is needed everywhere, and the money has been used up.
They knew how much grain five hundred thousand taels of silver could buy, so that all the people in Qingzhou could eat rice. However, according to their investigation, the people clearly did not get even a tael of silver, not a single grain of rice, and not even porridge to drink.
However, Prefect Fan was crying poor, and his government office was in a dilapidated state. Every year, the imperial court sent funds to various states to repair government offices and other infrastructure, so why was Qingzhou so shabby?
Anger flashed in his eyes. There must be some hidden secret in how the money was spent. He could find out by checking the account book, but his current identity could not be exposed.
If they were really merchants from the South, they would be so amused if they knew that the government offices of the Great Zhou were so dilapidated.
He asked again: "Your Qingzhou City was not affected by the disaster, and everyone has wine and meat to eat!"
"People in the city are definitely richer than those in rural towns. Every family has surplus food and money, so it's normal for them to have no worries about food and drink. But no one does good deeds like you two do." Fan De's words were flawless.
Xie Shang nodded, and he handed Lin Feng another box of silver. "Donate this silver to you first. You can buy some grain from the local grain merchants and make porridge to distribute to the people outside the city. When we came in, we saw many disaster victims crowding outside the city. Come in."
Fan De's eyes lit up when he saw the silver, and he quickly explained, "There is really no other way. The disaster victims have no food to eat when they enter the city, so they will rob shops. I have no other choice. If I let them in, they will commit crimes and the government will have to arrest them. I don't have extra food to feed them if they are arrested. So I simply let all the disaster victims not enter the city."
Jiang Fenghua and Xie Shang exchanged glances. It seemed that the Qingzhou prefect had been well prepared and was not afraid of the higher-ups coming to check the accounts.
If so much money was handed over to him, it had to have a destination. This money was approved by him personally and allocated directly from the national treasury.
Jiang Fenghua said, "We need to find a warehouse to store our grain when it arrives. I will personally distribute the grain to the people when the time comes. They are so pitiful. Can you arrange a safe granary? I am afraid that something might go wrong with so much grain."
Fan De's eyes rolled wildly, "Of course there is a granary. We have one in our government office. Madam, don't worry. The food you donated will be distributed to the victims."
"Then we feel relieved." Jiang Fenghua smiled.
Vander asked them where they lived and even offered to treat them to some simple meals, but they declined.
Xie Shang and Jiang Fenghua came out of the yamen and got on the carriage directly.
"Where did all this silver go? We need to find this missing disaster relief silver as soon as possible."
"Your Highness, do you think he embezzled 500,000 taels of silver? On the surface, he is an honest official, dressed simply, and his office is poor." Jiang Fenghua smiled slightly, "Are all your court officials so poor?"
"The court doesn't charge him for official uniforms, and they are distributed every year. He obviously dresses like this on purpose." Xie Shang thought that such an official was not frugal, but a disgrace to the Great Zhou Kingdom. He wondered how Jiang Jinyan distributed the silver to the Qingzhou prefect at that time.
Since Xie Shang came to power, he has investigated many corrupt officials, but he has never investigated a corrupt official like Fan De who looked like an honest official.
They also personally went to the towns and villages to investigate the actual situation in Qingzhou, otherwise they would have been deceived by the illusion of Qingzhou City.
Just at this moment, a carriage with frightened horses suddenly drove in front of their carriage.
The carriage on the other side was moving too fast, and the driver was panicking, shouting, "Get out of the way! The horse is frightened."
Seeing this, Lin Feng hurriedly said, "Master, sit tight."
He pulled the reins tight enough to almost rub the other horse's head, causing the bodies of the cars to collide violently.