Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 300 Yang the Madman, let's wait and see!

Just as Lan Yu was leading more than 5,000 elite Leopard Guards to Dengzhou Prefecture, the 400 personal guards of the Imperial Son-in-Law's Mansion had already arrived in Zhaoyuan with 26 students from Ningyang County School. Limpy Wu, who had gone to various garrisons to mobilize troops and blockade government offices with the Crown Prince's Tiger Tally, also returned.

"You will form your own groups and carefully check all the files and accounts in Zhaoyuan County, and take stock of the supplies in the Zhaoyuan County warehouse."

Yang Shaofeng directly instructed the twenty-six students: "If you feel anything is amiss, you can request to go to the villages and communities to verify. When you go, go in pairs, accompanied and protected by my personal guards."

"No eating outside food, no drinking outside water, and absolutely no staying out overnight. Safety is the top priority."

"Did you all understand?"

The twenty-six students immediately bowed to Yang Shaofeng and said, "Don't worry, Your Excellency, we understand."

Then, Yang Shaofeng witnessed what a ruthless person was.

That's really ruthless, so ruthless that they don't care about the lives of their entire extended family at all.

In the first year of the Hongwu reign, Emperor Zhu and the Ming court allocated a batch of relief grain to Zhaoyuan, because Zhaoyuan had also suffered from a locust plague.

However, Xu Zheng, the magistrate of Zhaoyuan County, pulled off a brilliant move by exchanging grain for bran. He directly swallowed 20,000 shi of grain allocated by Emperor Zhu and the Ming Dynasty court, and made up the shortfall with bran.

In the first year of the Hongwu reign, Emperor Zhu issued an edict to exempt all taxes and grain from Shandong Province. However, Xu Zheng, the magistrate of Zhaoyuan County, invents a whole host of pretexts to collect a large amount of miscellaneous taxes.

In the second year of the Hongwu reign, Emperor Zhu issued an edict requiring all counties in the country to inspect and repair Confucian temples in preparation for the future establishment of county schools. Xu Zheng directly dispatched a large number of yamen runners, demanding that children in ordinary families attend school. Those who did not want their children to attend school had to obediently pay money to avoid disaster.

As for other messy things like arranging for relatives and friends to work as clerks or runners, occasionally stealing supplies from the warehouse, and bullying men and women in Zhaoyuan County, there are countless examples of such shady dealings.

This time, there's really no way to save them.

Yang Shaofeng had originally thought about whether to rescue the relatives of these officials, since Dengzhou Prefecture also needed to carry out development and construction, and the places that needed workers would be even more numerous than Ningyang County, and the shortage would be many times greater than that of Ningyang County.

But given the current situation, let alone the fact that Yang Shaofeng is only Emperor Zhu's son-in-law, even if Zhu Biao came, it would be difficult.

No, it seems Zhu Biao won't save them either; instead, he'll simply choose to exterminate their entire clan.

Yang Shaofeng sighed helplessly and instructed the lame man and the guards commander of the Prince Consort's residence: "Take a hundred brothers and come with me to Huang County."

The situation in Huangxian is similar to that in Zhaoyuan, and it could even be said to be worse.

After all, Xu Zheng only lost 20,000 shi of grain, while Qu Minzhong, the magistrate of Huang County, lost 40,000 shi directly, and both of them patched up the hole with bran.

If this is a truly impressive feat, even Heshen might have to kneel down and become his disciple.

Yang Shaofeng looked Qu Minzhong up and down carefully and asked, "I'm very curious about something—can't you come up with a more clever way to make money?"

"Or rather, the people under your rule are so poor they're emaciated and look like they're starving. Can't you let them get a little richer first before you start making money off them?"

Qu Minzhong, however, scoffed and said, "Yang the Madman, do you think all nine counties and one sub-prefecture of Dengzhou Prefecture are like your Ningyang County?"

"Yes, your Ningyang County is wealthy, but don't you know how your Ningyang County became wealthy?"

"If it weren't for the cattle and horses bestowed by His Majesty, could your Ningyang County have become so wealthy?"

"Besides, how much grain and money did His Majesty reward you, Yang Dianfeng? What about us?"

"You, Yang the Madman, live near the sea? Have you ever seen Japanese pirates?"

"If I don't take money, how will I support so many yamen runners and clerks in the county government?"

"If I don't make money, how will I support the people who were plundered by the Japanese pirates?"

"You, Yang the Madman, can go to Huang County and ask around. Is there a single Huang County resident who says that I, Qu Minzhong, am corrupt and cruel?"

A barrage of questions immediately left Yang Shaofeng speechless.

No, it was Qu Minzhong who was reselling grain and plows, so why does he sound so aggrieved?

No, that's not right either. What the hell are you, daring to call Yang the Madman right in front of me!

Yang Shaofeng walked directly in front of Qu Minzhong, kicked him to the ground, and cursed, "Am I giving you too much face?"

Qu Minzhong gave a defiant shout, his eyes fixed on Yang Shaofeng, and said angrily, "You, surnamed Yang, I know you are enjoying the Emperor's favor, and I also know your reputation!"

"But don't forget, you are the son-in-law of the emperor and the prefect. You have arbitrarily mobilized troops to besiege the government office and ordered the arrest of officials appointed by the imperial court. This is treason!"

"I'd like to see if this incident will be enough to take your life, Yang the Madman, once you're no longer favored by the Emperor!"

Qu Minzhong's words became increasingly outrageous. Before Yang Shaofeng could even get angry, Limpy Wu chuckled coldly and lashed out at Qu Minzhong with his riding whip like a gust of wind.

The limping man stopped when Qu Minzhong's official robes were torn to shreds and his body was covered in blood. He spat and said, "Who do you think you are, daring to speak to the Prince Consort like that?"

Looking at Qu Minzhong, who was screaming in agony, Yang Shaofeng sighed and said, "Xu Zheng thinks I'm a fool, and you seem to think I'm a fool too. Are you the only smart people in this world?"

Shaking his head slightly, Yang Shaofeng continued, "Qu Minzhong, I once gave Xu Zheng a chance, and Xu Zheng seized it. Now I'm giving you one last chance. If you can seize it, you will die, but your entire family will live. If you can't seize it, you and your entire family can reunite on the road to the underworld."

Dian Minzhong's pupils contracted slightly, and he looked at Yang Shaofeng with a cold smile, saying, "Do you think I would believe you?"

Before Yang Shaofeng could answer, Qu Minzhong laughed twice more and said, "Yang the Madman, let's wait and see! I want to see how long you can be so smug!"

As Qu Minzhong finished speaking, a strange sense of vigilance rose in Yang Shaofeng's heart.

Why is Qu Minzhong so certain that I am going to be in trouble?

Who's behind this guy?

And he just kept talking about Japanese pirates, could there be some connection between them and this?

Yang Shaofeng pondered for a long time but couldn't figure it out, so he simply ordered the guard commander: "Have someone send him back to his cell, just like Xu Zheng's, and have our men keep a close watch on him."

The guard captain nodded and replied, "Don't worry, Your Highness."