In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

Considering the consequences of angering Zhao Jun, Zhao Zhen thought again and again and decided not to be stupid and to follow Zhao Jun's opinion.

The result was that the court officially issued an edict on the Huainan disaster relief corruption case. The whole story was published in the official newspaper, and the newspapers in Bianliang also exaggerated it, making those people's hateful deeds public.

For a time, whether in the officialdom or the people of Bianliang, this incident caused an uproar. The whole court was full of discussions and attacked these people's behavior.

In the final analysis, the officialdom of the Song Dynasty was indeed dark. Corruption, oppression of the people, and all kinds of evil were almost the norm. There were only a few officials who were truly honest and just.

However, the central officials of the court actually paid more attention to the reputation of being a clean official. No matter what they were like in private, at least they were law-abiding on the surface and maintained the image of a clean official.

Even a despicable villain like Xia Song only did his own business within the legal scope and never dared to embezzle or accept bribes.

So although Zhao Jun had a bad impression of Xia Song, he really had no handle to deal with him. Unless Zhao Jun directly demoted him for his own selfish desires, there was really no way to deal with Xia Song in the law.

In this case, those officials who claimed to be clean would naturally impeach someone after learning that someone had done such a bad thing, and they would definitely deal with these bad apples to show the justice of the court.

With such a righteousness in hand, the Political System Institute took advantage of the situation and issued a decree to let the heads of various departments detain all the criminals involved in the case and bring them back to Bianliang for trial.

And it was specifically mentioned that this trial would be jointly carried out by the Dali Temple, the Criminal Court and the Censorate, and it must be fair and just.

Upon hearing this news, the three yamen were overjoyed. They were all happy and celebrating.

Win, win.

They finally won.

Zhao Jun was not in Bianliang, and the judicial power of the Song Dynasty finally fell into their hands again, no longer monopolized by the Imperial City Department as before.

So the three judicial offices immediately took action and jointly issued a notice to immediately arrest the officials who violated the law.

But they were still a step slow.

Except for those who were far away on the list, such as those in Hebei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Shanxi and other places, as long as they were in the southeast region, they were basically caught by Zhao Jun.

After all, Zhao Jun took action in June, and the court received the letter, and then announced the crimes of these people, aroused public attention, and made Zhao Jun's actions take the name and justice. It was basically July, and there was a difference of more than a month in between.

This period of time was enough for Zhao Jun to arrest people everywhere.

Moreover, although Yang Chongxun's Chenzhou was just south of Bianliang, it was only a stone's throw away from Bianliang, but it was not far from Huainan.

So almost when the three courts and the law enforcement team went to catch people happily, the local officials of Chenzhou told the other party that Yang Chongxun had been arrested by the army a few days ago, which made people happy for nothing.

Compared with Huang Wei and others, Yang Chongxun was a big fish who had been prime ministers, but unfortunately he did not fall into their hands, which made the people of Dali Temple, Criminal Court and Censorate very regretful.

But it was good to catch Huang Wei, and the trial started immediately.

As for Zhao Jun.

By July, he had already caught all the criminal officials he could catch.

It didn't take much effort to catch Yang Chongxun. He did have a small army, and the assassinations of those county magistrates were his doing, but they still couldn't compete with the regular army.

In the eyes of the people, whether it was Yang Chongxun, Sun Mian, or even the local county magistrates, they were all high-ranking and untouchable big men.

These people could kill them like squeezing an ant.

They gave people endless despair and oppression like a mountain.

But that was in the eyes of the lower-class people.

It would be completely different at another level.

For Zhao Jun, they were just a group of sewer rats that he dealt with by the way on his way to the grassroots during the southern tour, and it didn't take much effort at all.

And they were people that Zhao Jun saw and had to eradicate regardless of morality or conscience.

There was no way.

When Zhao Jun was blind, he boasted to Zhao Zhen and others that if he were in ancient times, he would definitely be able to start a revolution and make the Song Dynasty great again, and become a powerful empire like the Han and Tang Dynasties.

As a result, when his eyes recovered, he was dumbfounded, thinking that he really appeared in ancient times.

Then the boast had been made, and he was persuaded by Yan Shu and others to join the Song Dynasty Group, so he had to force the issue and start to work on reforms.

Then there must be a direction for reform.

Put aside the improvement of productivity that cannot be achieved in a short period of time, and find ways to alleviate the increasingly acute land annexation and let the people of the Song Dynasty have a way to live.

So with the boast, Zhao Jun embarked on a road to survive for the people of the Song Dynasty.

Go out and take a look.

Wow, corrupt officials are everywhere, harming the people and making life miserable.

If Zhao Jun doesn't do anything, wouldn't that be a slap in his face?

I said I was good at chess, and you said you were Liu Qi.

Are you here to argue?

So in summary.

It's not that Zhao Jun really likes to kill people, but he has reasons to do so.

The ambition he had said was to reform the Song Dynasty comprehensively, so that it would be full of vitality from top to bottom.

Since he had made such a great wish, he had to do something. And these people he met on the road were obstacles to his path, according to the immortal cultivation novels Zhao Jun had read before.

If these people didn't die, who would die?

By August, Zhao Jun had traveled all over Huainan West Road and Huainan East Road, more than 20 states, and hundreds of counties.

At the same time, the joint investigation department composed of Li Jianzhi, Jiang Tang, Yang Gao and others had already retrieved all the evidence of those people's crimes. Their homes had been searched, and they had been arrested. The evidence was sufficient.

Zhao Jun cut the Gordian knot and signed his decree to the court. The leaders were all sentenced to death. The rest of the execution personnel, such as county clerks, state government servants, assistant officials, clerks, clerks, and other hundreds of thousands of people, were sentenced to death for serious crimes and exiled for lighter crimes.

And their crimes were also announced to the whole Huainan, and notices were posted in all states, counties, and even villages and towns. Their crimes, execution time, and the court's attitude towards corrupt officials, and Zhao Jun's determination to eradicate these official cancers were displayed one by one.

For a time, the people of Huainan were all excited. Zhao Jun's reputation almost spread throughout the south at this time, and his momentum reached its peak. If he raised his arm and called for an uprising at this time, many people would probably follow him.

But this was far from enough.

On August 10, Zhao Jun set out in February and stayed in Yingtian Prefecture for a while. At the end of February, he entered Huainan West Road. Except for the two months in Hangzhou, most of his time was in Huainan.

He visited the countryside and investigated the people's sentiments. In addition to dealing with those senior officials, he listened to the public opinion and judged the right and wrong.

When he was in Yingtian Prefecture, because he did not reveal his identity, the local people did not dare to tell him the truth, so Zhao Jun could only wander around the countryside. Unless he met the kind of victim who was willing to open up, he would not gain much.

But now that his identity has been revealed, wherever he goes, there are countless local people who come to complain about their grievances.

The complaints are varied and there are all kinds of things. Some are oppressed by clerks, some are internal conflicts within the clan, and some are just a mess.

For example, when villages fight for water sources, and villages on both sides fight, the officials in the yamen can only come to mediate.

Both sides felt that the people in the government office were playing both sides and favoring the other side. Zhao Jun happened to pass by and went to the countryside for research. They all came to complain to the government office, which scared the local magistrate half to death.

Later, after Zhao Jun understood and investigated the situation on the spot, he gave a solution.

He asked the two villages to dig a new canal together and distribute it according to water demand and the number of people in the village. The government supervised and strictly controlled it, and no more fighting was allowed.

At the same time, Zhao Jun also severely criticized the practices of the two villages, telling them that everyone was a neighbor. If you robbed water, others would have no water to irrigate the fields. The fields could not produce food, and the neighboring villages would starve to death.

Neighbors should help each other instead of fighting.

Is it necessary to cause a loss of life when the water source is still sufficient and can barely supply the two villages?

He persuaded them with emotion and reason. Regardless of whether they listened or not, they shook hands and made peace under the witness of Zhao Jun, saying that they would not have conflicts in the future.

In fact, the conflict between the two villages was not deep. Although the local officials tried to smooth things over, they would come to stop the fight as soon as possible every time the two sides fought. No one was killed, otherwise it would not be so easy to solve.

And Zhao Jun encountered many such incidents every day. As the head of the Political System Institute, he was comparable to the prime minister of a country, but he had to deal with these trivial matters, which was really a headache.

But there was nothing he could do. Grassroots governance was originally facing people's livelihood. If he went to the grassroots to conduct research, he had to face these problems, and naturally he could only solve these problems.

That is, he himself came from the future, was born in the countryside, and had rich grassroots experience. In addition, people of different status said the same thing, and the effect was different.

If the local clerks persuaded them, the local people might not listen, but if Zhao Jun criticized and educated them, they would naturally be much more obedient.

Even if some people were unruly, at least they would not dare to disobey in front of Zhao Jun.

On the tenth day, Zhao Jun had just returned from Taizhou and went to Hailing County under Zhao Yan's jurisdiction. When he arrived at the place, he saw that the governance was peaceful and harmonious. The people could not be said to have no worries about food and clothing, but they were much better than other prefectures and counties. This shows that Zhao Yan's governance ability is indeed excellent.

And it is said that Zhao Yan is also good at dealing with the powerful landlords in the county. He forced them to hire people to farm at high prices, and severely cracked down on slavery, forcing those powerful landlords to sign equal contracts with the hired people, greatly reducing exploitation and oppression.

This made Zhao Jun still have a good impression of Zhao Yan. Like Yang Gao, Wang Su, Yang Cha and others, he was recorded in the small notebook for talent selection. In this way, together with Bao Zheng, he has at least five great talents in the future.

Back in Zhenzhou, Zhao Jun is currently stationed in the Huainan East Road Transport Envoy Yamen and borrowed Jiang Tang's yamen to work. Now that the whole Huainan has been passed, it is time to go south to Zhejiang, Fujian and other places.

But in the afternoon, Jiang Tang and Yang Gao came over and reported to Zhao Jun on official business.

In the office of the transport commissioner, Zhao Jun sat in the main seat. After Jiang Tang and Yang Gao came over, Zhao Jun asked them to sit down, and asked someone to make tea before starting to talk about business.

"Minister, this is the result of the handling of the case in various places. Many local clerks were involved, and the current county magistrate accepted bribes, so the current chief clerk and county lieutenant will judge. Those with high guilt will be sent to Xiacai, and those with exile will be exiled, and those with death penalty will be sentenced to death. All will be executed at the end of this month."

Yang Gao told Zhao Jun about the situation.

Zhao Jun nodded and said: "Well, you guys have done a good job. The main purpose of this trip to this court is to understand the public sentiment, and handle this major corruption case smoothly. But for a long time, I still travel to many places, and these things are all It’s up to you to do it, thank you for your hard work.”

"Anywhere, it's my job as a subordinate."

Yang Gao and Jiang Tang quickly handed over their hands.

Then Jiang Tang added: "In addition to these dirty officials, the merchants and landlords involved in the case have also been arrested. This is the list."

As he spoke, he handed over the official document in his hand.

Zhao Jun took it and glanced at it. In the Huainan corruption case, officials were responsible for embezzling the grain, and businessmen were responsible for driving up the price. They sold the grain at a high price, and the money they got was divided into 30% and 70%.

70% belongs to the officials, and the 30% that the merchants can get depends on the faces of Yang Chongxun, Huang Wei, Sun Miao and others.

certainly.

Even so, these guys are not good birds.

Because strictly speaking, if businessmen want to make money, they must have their profits.

For example, officials were greedy for food. However, due to the disaster, the price of rice, which originally cost two hundred coins and one stone, increased five times to one thousand coins and one stone.

Then the officials will definitely give certain discounts to the merchants who collect the grain. For example, the market price is one thousand yuan and one stone, and the merchants will be given seven to eight hundred yuan.

However, the businessman was naturally not satisfied with this small profit, so he continued to drive up prices, raising the original market price of one thousand coins and one stone to a whopping two thousand coins and one stone, making a huge profit from it.

This is why it is often recorded in historical materials that once a famine occurs, the price of food in the disaster area will often skyrocket several times or even dozens of times.

In addition to the fluctuations in the market itself, these merchants who hoard goods and raise prices are also the main culprits.

Since Zhao Jun has been involved in this case, he naturally does more than just crack down on corrupt officials.

These landowners and businessmen must not be let go.

Therefore, before arresting the officials, Yang Gao and the others were asked to continue following the clues and catch all these landowners and profiteers.

"Yeah, well done."

Zhao Jun glanced at the list. The crimes in it, including how to buy food from officials and how to drive up prices, were written clearly. He nodded with satisfaction and said: "We must give an explanation to the people about this matter."

"yes."

The two men responded.

Zhao Jun added: "Local landlords, serious offenders will be beheaded, and those involved will have their homes confiscated and exiled. You can decide the specific penalty standards yourself, but I hope they will receive the punishment they deserve. In addition, the names in their names will be The land shall be returned to the local government.”

"Take it back to the government?"

Yang Gao was a little surprised. He thought Zhao Jun would distribute it to the people, but he didn't expect it to be confiscated directly. He asked curiously: "Does the magistrates all belong to the local county government?"

"um, yes."

Zhao Jun nodded and said: "This will become a regular practice in the future. All landowners who violate the law will have their fields confiscated and returned to the local county government. Supervision will be made by the superior state government and road administration departments."

Jiang Tang wondered: "What should we do with the recovered land?"

"It's very simple. If you lease it to the people for farming, the local land rent is usually between 50% and 70%. Even if you only pay 50% of the land rent, you are considered a good landlord. It's really ironic. But when the people rent land from the government, after the deduction is normal, After taxes, you only need to pay about 20%.”

Zhao Jun said: "This is, firstly, to slow down land annexation. Secondly, it is to put pressure on local landlords. As long as the government and self-cultivated people own enough land, even if it only occupies 20 to 30% of a county, Most people are more willing to rent from the government than from landlords, so the landlords are forced to lower land rents to benefit the people. "

"Wonderful."

Yang Gao flattered him and said, "If this happens, won't the government's taxes be even higher?"

"Um."

Zhao Jun said: "The 20% tax in this place can actually be kept in the local area to serve as the salary of subordinate officials, and it can also reduce the situation of subordinate officials asking for bribes everywhere in order to make a living."

"Zhiyuan is truly a man of God."

Yang Gao gave a thumbs up and said: "This method is really good. It not only solves the people's difficulties, but also benefits the local subordinates. It is really a good medicine."

Although he knew that Yang Gao liked to curry favor with powerful people and flatter his superiors, for some reason, Zhao Jun didn't feel disgusted. Instead, he felt quite comfortable in the face of Yang Gao's flattery.

Perhaps this is why in "Detective Di Renjie", the licking spirit Zeng Tai was able to rise from a small county magistrate to become rich and quickly became a deposed envoy.

"The absurdity of the Tao cannot be said to be a good remedy, it can only be said to be a helpless move."

Zhao Jun listened to Yang Gao's praise, smiled and waved his hands and said: "And there are some disadvantages in it, which is also a troublesome thing."

"Cons?"

Yang Gao wondered: "Such a wonderful strategy, does it have any drawbacks?"

"Of course, rules are set by people, and they can naturally be broken by people. Sometimes the decrees from above are well-intentioned, but when they are implemented at the bottom, they are distorted by the local government and turned into bad policies that harm the people."

Zhao Jun thought of Wang Anshi's reform and said: "For example, the land owned by the county government can easily be rented by the relatives and friends of the subordinate officials. There may even be cases where the landlord uses various means to rent out the land and then sublease it at 50% of the land rent. Give it to the people and earn a profit of 30% of the price difference.”

"this"

Yang Gao was dumbfounded and glanced at Jiang Tang, who was also very surprised.

They really didn't think that much.

Like Wang Anshi, the idea is good, but unfortunately the executors are the clerks.

These people cannot help but think about their own interests.

It is reasonable to give priority to relatives and friends when distributing the land owned by the government.

"So this requires the state government and the four government offices to play a supervisory role."

Zhao Jun finally concluded: "The local county government belongs to the land, and the local county magistrate must distribute it personally and give it to the people in need, not the relatives and friends of the clerks and local landlords. This can be used as a political achievement and added to the assessment. With the supervision of the state government and the four government offices, the effect may be much better."

"Yes, I understand."

The two people immediately understood and bowed.

Zhao Jun nodded.

The Huainan corruption case has basically been dealt with, and the aftermath can be left to them. He should continue his southern tour and go to other places.