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This phenomenon occurs all over the country, but it is really difficult to manage.

If the imperial court had strict control over grain collectors, grassroots work would not be possible.Because there are indeed farmers who are greedy for petty gains. When handing over grain to the government, they deliberately do not dry the water, or deliberately mix broken wheat or even wheat bran.Broken wheat and wheat bran are okay. If there is undried wheat, if it accidentally enters the granary, it will damage the entire granary after it becomes moldy.

Liu Chuanzong said: "Didn't the imperial court order that when farmers pay grain, the bank's money-grain exchange point must open the drying yard to the peasants? The undried grain should be dried in the nearest drying yard, and the grain with wheat bran should also be dried in the drying yard." Yang."

The old farmer was surprised and said, "What's the matter? We don't allow farmers to enter the official drying yard here."

Wei Gan, who was squatting next to him, calmly picked up his pen and wrote down the matter in his small notebook.

Liu Chuanzong asked again: "Is there any rumor about the Changping warehouse in the county?"

The old farmer was mysterious: "In the money and grain station, I heard that there are grain mice, and they steal grain from home every now and then."

Liu Chuanzong was a little disappointed and didn't ask for the information he wanted.

Petty theft is normal for species like grain mice, and it is absolutely impossible to empty out the Changping warehouse, scaring the grain merchants to buy grain at high prices to fill the holes.

into the night.

Luo Fang, who went to the grain station to stay secretly, came back and whispered: "There must be something wrong with the Changping warehouse. In one day, three large truckloads of grain were transported in. It was all private grain merchants who transported the grain in. The hole in the Changping warehouse must be very serious. Big, grain merchants have been busy buying grain at high prices."

Wei Gan smiled: "They are also unlucky. Shanzhou is close to Shanshan. This year, Shaanxi and Henan are in drought together. Although the drought in Shanxi is not serious, the shipping costs are huge. If these grain merchants want to go to other places to buy grain To fill the hole, I have to go to Hubei to buy grain recently. How can there be time? Even if there is time, it will be snapped up by counties and counties in the south of Henan. You can find local farmers to buy.”

Liu Chuanzong analyzed: "This case is obviously not a case of corruption and deficit by officials, but more like a collusion between officials and businessmen, embezzling the food from Changping warehouse. Under normal circumstances, they will slowly make up for it bit by bit in the next few years. Coincidentally, there is a drought this year, so we have to quickly fill this hole."

Luo Fang: "Misappropriating the grain from the Changping warehouse is nothing more than using it for business. Moreover, it must be somewhere. Not only the price of grain is extremely high, but also the demand is still very high. The grain they normally harvest cannot satisfy the appetite of buyers. .”

Wei Gan: "It's definitely not going to be sold to the south. The price of grain in the south is not too high, so there's no need to let them take risks. In the northern provinces, Henan and Shandong were the first to recover, and the people's livelihood was also the earliest to recover. Many of the grain in these two provinces are official grain. It was transported to the north to make military rations for the Datong army stationed in the north. Therefore, the merchants in Henan and Shandong can buy limited grain from the private sector, and the government will not sell a grain of grain to them."

Liu Chuanzong continued: "Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei, and Beiping Prefecture, these four places have not suffered much disaster in recent years, and the population is relatively small, they can be self-sufficient, and they will not buy a large amount of high-priced grain." Zhang Map, "Although Shanzhou is close to Shanxi, it is more convenient to go to Shaanxi, and it is a must pass from Guanzhong to Henan."

Wei Gan nodded and said: "Shaanzhou grain merchants must transport grain to Shaanxi. There is no shortage of so much grain in Shaanxi, and they will continue to export grain. There are no more than three destinations. First, go all the way west and transport it outside Jiayuguan; second , transported to the Xihai (Qinghai) grassland; third, transported north to the Mongolian grassland.”

Luo Fang excitedly said: "No matter which one of these three directions is, they are violating the imperial court's ban and selling grain abroad without permission. Moreover, they not only buy private grain and transport it abroad, but also dare to embezzle the grain in the Changping warehouse! The Datong Bank in Shanzhou has Corrupt officials have colluded with grain merchants inside and outside, this is for sure. As for the county government of Shanzhou, how many officials have colluded with the same level below Zhizhi county, this has to be investigated slowly. If the time for embezzling Changping warehouse is short, the government will not It is possible. If the Changping warehouse is misappropriated for several years, even if the magistrate does not know about it, it is a serious dereliction of duty, and he has the responsibility to check the Changping warehouse regularly!"

Wei Qiandao: "Most of the grain merchants in Shanzhou will not directly transport the grain overseas. Instead, they will be transported to Shaanxi first, and then the merchants in Shaanxi will buy it and then transfer it out. The smuggling of bulk goods across the border can still continue Concealing the news, the inspection department on the Shaanxi border is probably a piece of shit!"

Well, not only Shaanxi businessmen are involved, but also the border armed police in Shaanxi.

Liu Chuanzong said: "Shaanzhou counties are so rampant, what will happen to Lingbao County and Yanxiang County, which are closer to Shaanxi? The distance to transport grain from Lingbao and Yanxiang to Shaanxi is shorter."

Luo Fang said: "One person is in charge of each of the three counties. We alone will definitely not be able to find out. After collecting the basic information, we will go to Kaifeng to ask for more staff."

Liu Chuanzong said: "Okay, Lao Luo stays in Shanzhou, Lao Wei, you go to Lingbao, and I go to the farthest township. Again, don't be reckless when you encounter problems, and run away immediately if you are in danger!"

After the division of labor between the three of them was completed, they began to work the next day.

Liu Chuanzong, the little patrolman at the beginning, finally regained the feeling of being on the battlefield since he was specially recruited into the Metropolitan Procuratorate.When he was the busiest, he inspected places for ten months a year, and he couldn't even take care of his wife and children at home, but he felt that life was exciting and fulfilling.

Due to repeated corruption cases, Liu Chuanzong is now a Cong Qipin.

As soon as he entered the border of Yan Township, Liu Chuanzong knew he had come to the right place. There were also people here who collected grain in the countryside at a high price.After half a month of inquiring in Yan Township, he simply left Tongguan in the west, crossed the border and ran to Shaanxi, and found that there were merchants from Henan who also crossed the border to Shaanxi to collect grain.

Shaanxi has been ravaged by bandits for more than ten years, accompanied by more than ten years of severe drought, the population is sparse, and a large amount of land has been abandoned.

It has not been a few years since the imperial court recovered here, and the people's livelihood and economy are recovering.However, the imperial court directly halved the land tax for the entire province of Shaanxi, and even exempted all land taxes for some counties.Therefore, as long as the farmers here are willing to work hard on the land, they can actually sell more grain, because they hand over less public grain to the government—especially in the fertile Guanzhong area.

"My fellow, have there been many businessmen who have gone to the countryside to collect grain in the past two years?" Liu Chuanzong asked an honest farmer.

The farmer "sees through" him at a glance, grinned and said, "You are from the south to collect grain? You can't get it. There is a drought this year, and few families are willing to sell grain."

Liu Chuanzong asked again: "What about last year? Did you sell the grain to the grain station of Datong Bank, or to local businessmen?"

The farmer said: "It must be sold to merchants. Those who do business will charge higher prices when harvesting grain."

Good guy, Shaanxi grain merchants are very powerful, relying on price means to snatch business from Datong Bank.The official grain price is neither high nor low, and has always been in a moderate state. Merchants collect grain at a high price, and it must be to obtain greater profits.

Liu Chuanzong asked again: "This Shaanxi businessman, where does he buy so much grain and sell it?"

The farmer said: "It sounds like it's going to Shanxi."

Liu Chuanzong said with a smile: "Don't coax me, my fellow. Where is the food shortage in Shanxi?" Then, he stuffed a few copper coins into the hands of the peasants, "Hey, I was sent by the boss to find the way, so I can go back if I give it a way of making money. Take the reward."

The farmer said in a low voice, "There are ways of making money going north (Mongolia) and west (Qinghai). The car was overturned, and all the wheat was spilled out. It sounds like it was transported to the West Sea. There are often merchants who buy cattle, sheep, mules and horses from the West Sea. Very, very strong, and I don't know if he is good at farming."

The smile on Liu Chuanzong's face disappeared, thinking that the inspection department in Shaanxi is rotten, at least those armed police on the border must be turning a blind eye to reap benefits.

Regardless of whether it is the Qinghai grassland or the Mongolian grassland, the government allows the export of horses, tea, and salt.

However, the export of ironware is restricted, and only daily necessities such as iron pots can be sold. The smuggling of swords and armor is to beheaded if caught.The other is food, which is also prohibited from exporting. Even if food is to be exported, it is the imperial court using food to control a certain tribe.

In the two provinces of Henan and Shaanxi, a large amount of grain was smuggled out of the country, and it is unknown how many people lost their heads because of it.

Chapter 675 [Fire Dragon Burning Cang? 】

Neither Xiaohong nor Zhan Wenfeng came over, the two female officials were too conspicuous.

The person in charge of leading the team to investigate the case was a fifth-rank inspector named Wu Wendu.

"Where's Xiao Liu?" Wu Wendu asked.

Wei Gan: "Haven't come back yet. He sent a letter through the post office, and he went to Shaanxi, and it has been confirmed that there are grain merchants in Shaanxi who are prohibited from selling grain...Lintao, Taozhou, Ningxia, Yulin, these four places are inspected The inspection department must carry out investigations. Strictly speaking, the armed police of the inspection department belong to the army, and we, the procuratorate, cannot intervene.

This matter must be reported to the Ministry of War and the Governor's Mansion. "

When Wu Wendu got involved with the military, his head suddenly became dizzy, and he said depressedly: "I'll write a letter, don't be afraid. Report to Huang Xiantai (Xiaohong) first, and Huang Xiantai will contact Nanjing."

These people are stepping up their investigation in Shanzhou, but Li Dayong, the magistrate of Lingbao County next door, is getting angry at the chief of the business department:

"How many times have I tried to stabilize grain prices and stabilize grain prices. The county made a private visit yesterday, and asked in the grain store. His mother's wheat is 25 yuan a catty. Although this year's disaster, the grain price increase is understandable, but he Damn, it’s just autumn now! At this time, Mai’s family has 25 Wen, and when it’s too late next year, how much will it cost to join his mother?”

Wang Ze, head of the business department, said with a bitter face: "The official price has been set, and the maximum price for a catty of wheat is 15 yuan. But this official price can only be guided, not forced."

The official guide price is really only a guide.

Directly using administrative power to interfere with the market, if you don't pay attention to it, you will mess it up. In the lightest case, it will cause grain merchants to hoard grain and not sell it.When Zhao Han rebelled back then, of course he could copy the houses of grain merchants. Now that the new dynasty is established, it is impossible to give local officials the power to search homes at will.

At the very least, the county magistrate is not allowed to ransack the house at will, otherwise the government will be easily corrupted, and many innocent people will suffer.

The price of grain sold by merchants was too high, and the county government imposed administrative fines at most, or simply revoked their grain store licenses.

Li Dayong said: "Contact Datong Bank to transfer a batch of wheat from the Changping warehouse, first to suppress the grain price in the county."

Wang Ze hesitated to speak, but finally couldn't hold back.He looked around the house, blinked at Li Dayong, and signaled the magistrate to back away first.

But Li Dayong is a rough guy, born as a domestic slave in Anhui.Although he could read some words, his brain was really bad. He was promoted to magistrate purely by his qualifications and hard work. He didn't know what kind of trouble Wang Ze had. He even asked, "Is there something wrong with your eyes?"

Wang Ze almost fell down, so he changed to Nuzui.

Li Dayong reacted for a long time, but at last he was not stupid enough, and said: "I'll go to the latrine, you wait."

Wang Ze hurriedly said, "The lower officials are also in a hurry."

The two came to the toilet of the county government office and checked carefully to see that there was no one there, so Li Dayong asked, "What are you thinking?"

Wang Ze said in a low voice: "Master Xian, I'm afraid there is not much food left in the Changping warehouse."

"Why is there no food in Changping's warehouse?" Li Dayong asked strangely.

The grain in the Changping warehouse is the land tax handed in by the farmers, and a batch is stored for emergency every year.If the farmers all pay money, the government will give money to the bank and ask the bank to transfer a batch of grain into the warehouse.

After the warehouse is full, the old grain will be regularly cleaned up and sold to private grain merchants at a fair price, so as to prevent the grain from being stored for too long and becoming moldy and rotten.

Li Dayong remembers that when he first took office three years ago, the Changping warehouse in Lingbao County was full.

This is the country under Zhao Han's rule. The court complained every year that there was no food, but in fact it had been slowed down a long time ago, and the grain reserves in some counties were full.It's just that these grain reserves do not belong to the central government, but are preserved by the local government itself.

Compared with Daming, when Xinzhi County took office, the county government treasury was so poor that mice would starve to death.Even if there is a financial balance, when the previous magistrate leaves, he will try his best to evacuate it.The treasury is the county magistrate's private treasury, which can easily fill his private pockets.

Now, all the money and food of the local finance are kept by Datong Bank, and it is easy to be discovered if the county magistrate wants to embezzle it privately.

In the same way, if Datong Bank was swallowed up privately, the county magistrate would be so eager to kill with a knife.

At this very moment, Li Dayong wanted to kill someone.

Wang Zedao: "Three years ago, not long after the county official took office, businessmen from Shaanxi came to buy grain. The price was higher than the market price, and they didn't have to transport it themselves. The appetite of the merchants, they put their ideas on the Changping warehouse. Anyway, it is only embezzled, and it will be replenished in the next year. But for three years in a row, Shaanxi businessmen came to Lingbao to collect grain at a high price, and the grain in the Changping warehouse has always been Not made up."

Li Dayong said doubtfully: "Last year, the county inspected the granary in person, and found nothing wrong."

Wang Ze said: "The granaries outside are full, and the granaries inside are all emptied. There is only a layer of wheat on the surface. The county lord just came to the scene in person, and did not personally inspect..."

Li Dayong's blood pressure rose in an instant: "You are, this county has been fooled? Why the hell are you not early?"

Wang Zedao: "There have always been rumors about this matter, but no one can confirm it, and ordinary people have no right to inspect the Changping warehouse. The officials also recently found out that something was wrong, so they were sure that they had emptied the Changping warehouse."

"Why not?" Li Dayong asked.

Wang Zedao: "Several grain merchants in the county not only went to the countryside to collect grain at a high price during the disaster year, but also sent people to Hubei to buy grain. They are in such a hurry, isn't it just to fill a hole?"

"Into his mother!

Li Dayong was furious: "This is a matter of losing his head. I don't want to die. Quickly call Dian Shi to handle the matter, and call more police officers to follow!"

When Dian Shi came with the police, Li Dayong also took out a knife.

The county magistrate is a rough embryo. When Fei Ruhe led troops to attack Tongling, he followed his young master to seize the city with a sword. He killed the county magistrate and dedicated Tongling to the Datong army.

Li Dayong didn't go anywhere, he just ordered Dianshi: "Take people to follow!"

A group of people rushed to the grain station outside the city, and the treasurer of the grain station hurriedly stopped him: "Xianzun, you check the Changping warehouse,

At least say hello first. "

"call!"

Li Dayong roared: "Okay, I've greeted you, let me get out of the way quickly. I can't manage other warehouses, they are from your bank's grain station. But the grain in the Changping warehouse is from the county government. Whoever dares to make fun of my head, I will cut off his head first!"

What else was the treasurer thinking? Li Dayong had ordered the police to forcibly detain the staff of the grain station.

This guy went straight to Changping warehouse with a knife, and ordered: "Open the warehouse to inspect the grain!"

Dian Shi led the police to do it, and was very rude. He opened the gate and released all the grain. He piled up the first granary on the ground, and there was grain.

Second, there is food.

The third one is food.

Up to the fifth one, wheat was released at the beginning, and sand began to be produced after standing.The next granary is filled with sand!

Li Dayong yelled angrily: "Arrest people, arrest people, everyone at the grain station has been arrested!" He pointed to Dian Shi again, "Immediately send someone to notify the county's clean government office, and ask them to report the matter to the government, the province, etc. in. I fucked the fuck up,

Fortunately, I came to investigate today, and if I drag it on, I won't be able to keep my head! "

After finishing the grain station here, Li Dayong took people to another place.

The news that the Changping warehouse in Lingbao County was embezzled spread throughout the county that day.The common people were already dissatisfied with the sharp rise in grain prices, and after hearing this, they were filled with righteous indignation and rushed to the grain stores in the county one after another, forcing grain retailers to sell grain at a lower price.

Anyone who dared to close the door or continue to sell at high prices was immediately beaten by the angry crowd, and then sent to the government to report that the family had stolen food.

Three days later, before the magistrate of Yan Township next door could react, the Changping warehouse in Yan Township County suddenly caught fire.

The magistrate of Yan Township is called Sheng Huairu, and this old man is very young.He is the first graduate of Jinling University. Although he is a self-funded student, he did get a diploma.

When he was first released, he could only be a ninth-rank miscellaneous official, but after a few years, he became a seventh-rank county magistrate.

"The fire dragon burns the warehouse, I actually met him," Sheng Huairu sighed, and then couldn't laugh or cry, "I just took office at the beginning of this year, and my buttocks haven't warmed up yet."

The county magistrate, Han Mingchen, cried and said, "Master, I came to Yan Township two months later than you. What should I do for such a big event?

Sheng Huairu said: "What are you afraid of? Although the Changping warehouse is owned by the county government, it has been stored in the grain station for a long time, and it has also been charged for storage loss. Even if it burns out, it is still a problem with the bank. We have to make up for the amount of grain. return."

Suddenly, Sheng Huairu sighed, "It's a pity that there is a lot of food. Let's say it heartlessly. It would be better to burn it. The responsibility lies with the bank. If it is not burned, it will be found that the normal warehouse is short-lived, and we will be supervised." Lax relationship."

"Yes!" Han Mingchen finally came to his senses.

Sheng Huairu: "Report it, such a big case is not something you and I can handle. It would be better if all these rats lose their heads."

Being able to go to Jinling University at his own expense, Ming Sheng Huai Confucian family is rich.

For the sake of his life and future, he dare not be greedy for big things.I have been used to rich clothes and fine food since I was a child, and I don't bother to be greedy for petty things.After the two phases, you will become an upright official, and you will be proud of your innocence, and you really hate this kind of corruption.

The fire dragon burning the warehouse is of a bad nature, and the crime even surpasses the misappropriation of the normal warehouse.

Wu Wendu originally wanted to investigate secretly for a while, but who knows that such a big commotion has occurred, so he can only investigate it in the open.

He summoned the county magistrates and Dianshi of the three counties, mobilized the police force, detained grain merchants and bank officials and interrogated them severely.

Half a month later, the first batch of confessions was placed in front of Xiaohong.

Wu Wenduhui reported: "Most of the main officials of the Datong Bank in the three counties were involved. But it is hard to be sure, because they did not embezzle grain, but embezzled grain and mortgaged it to grain merchants. The bank. The two parties have agreed that after the next year’s harvest, the grain merchants will collect grain from the private sector to make up for it, and the bank will return the mortgaged money. Is this embezzlement of public grain? Is it favoritism? Or is it corruption?”

Xiaohong sneered: "The grain in the Changping warehouse can only be kept by the bank's grain station. It needs the official document stamped by the county magistrate to have the right to retrieve it. Even if it is dealing with the old grain in the Changping warehouse, it is also known that the county seals it. Who cares?" Charged with moving the Changping warehouse, none of the principal culprits can keep their heads!"

Wu Wendu added: "Even those grain merchants are not sure where the grain is finally sold. They all agree that merchants came from Huayin County, Shaanxi, and bought the grain at a high price. The rest are all guesswork, some grain has been sold. In Xihai (Qinghai), some grain was sold to Hetao, and some grain was sold to Hami."

Xiaohong said: "No matter where it is sold, let's go to Huayin County first, and arrest the grain merchants there for trial!