Li Hong has been in contact with famous families all year round, and he boasts that he knows Zheng Ciming very well. He is an elegant scholar who never talks about money and other mundane things. He has a noble character and is unlikely to be greedy for money.

But where he looked, he saw Xue Bai opening the box, taking out a bunch of deeds, and placing them one by one on the table.

"Zheng Ciming is not greedy, but being greedy can cost thousands of hectares." Xue Bai put down one of the pages and said.

This is just one page.

The deeds, gift lists, and account books in this box are evidence that Zheng Ciming occupied acres of land and paid taxes on behalf of his tribe, relatives and friends, involving tens of thousands of hectares of land in three states.

Li Hong looked at it with disbelief in his eyes.

On the contrary, Xue Bai understood Zheng Ciming very well and sighed: "Don't blame him, he must have been coerced by his clan members. This is due to human nature. A big family has this strength. If they can't restrain their desires, they will annex the land, like hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea.

.”

He was not angry. In his opinion, these things happened not because of Zheng Ciming's poor character, but because of the imperfection of the system and even his connivance.

Li Hong finally let out a long sigh, lowered his noble head, and said, "I have committed a heinous crime. Please punish me severely."

"What are you guilty of?"

"I have a personal relationship with Zheng Ciming."

"This is not a crime, and there is no such crime in the Tang Dynasty laws." Xue Bai put his hands on Li Hong's shoulders and said, "Help me eliminate the long-standing evils."

Since the reform, he always felt that there were few supporters and great resistance, so he had to work hard to win every support, so he gave another piece of advice in a rather sincere tone that he thought could impress Li Hong.

"We should give Datang a new look."

Li Hong was touched, nodded, and asked: "How will your Majesty deal with Zheng Ciming?"

Faced with this problem, Xue Bai made a decision after thinking for a while and uttered one word neatly.

"cut!"

He knew very well that for the reform to succeed, there must be bloodshed. If the blood of the opposition was not shed, the blood of his own people would be shed.

Li Hong opened his lips and wanted to persuade him. Seeing how determined he was, he knew that he could not persuade him, so the deep worry was buried in his heart.

~~

The weather suddenly became cold, and a light snow suddenly fell in Jianghuai.

Fortunately, the autumn taxes from various states and counties have been sent to Luoyang, and most of them are slightly 10% more than in previous years.

In the eyes of many local officials, this probably means that the reform has been successful.

Regardless of whether the court agrees with it or not, this is the result. They have been busy this year, and as they enter the off-season, it is time to relax.

However, in the early winter of this year, a piece of news spread, like a sudden thunder, shocking the Jianghuai land.

"The saint personally visited the south and killed Zheng Ciming, the governor of Songzhou!"

"Why?"

When the news reached Suzhou, Nan Jiyun, the governor of Suzhou, was greatly alarmed and asked questions quickly.

A newspaper was handed to him.

Literacy and reading newspapers were no longer a problem for him now. After reading them carefully, they not only announced Zheng Ciming's crimes, but also the emperor's statement when he was beheaded. There were also officials who protected the local gentry from occupying acres of land and hiding the population. They would never tolerate it!

A fierce aura and a feeling of pressure came to my face.

Nan Jiyun immediately grimaced.

He was originally a military commander. During the process of quelling the war, he began to learn some governance methods from Zhang Xun and read and practice calligraphy. He was not very talented, but he excelled at hard work. In short, he passed the civil service examination and was appointed as the governor of one party.

.

After taking charge of the government, he boasted that he had little merit. After the new law was promulgated, he followed it strictly, but it was not smooth. He did not measure the land clearly and did not persuade many farmers to return home.

The envoys sent by the imperial court to encourage farmers shook their heads and sighed every time they saw him.

Compared with Zheng Ciming, the assassination official of Songzhou, who was very impressive, Nan Jiyun felt that he was an inferior official.

Now that such an outstanding Zheng Ciming had been beheaded, he felt that he was going to die too.

Sure enough, when Nan Jiyun went out of the city to greet the emperor's imperial convoy, he was in vain. In fact, when he got the news, the emperor had already paid a private visit incognito and had been wandering around various places in Suzhou for a long time.

"I heard that this is how Zheng Ciming was framed." An official whispered in Nan Jiyun's ear.

"Don't scare me."

When Nan Jiyun was fighting the rebellion, he was not afraid of anything. He cut off a finger of his own without even blinking. But now that he is wearing an official robe, he becomes trembling with fear.

After waiting for two days, he became increasingly guilty and anxious. When he arrived at the state office that day, he saw the guards standing outside the gate in good order.

If he felt something, he quickly walked in and saw Xue Bai sitting behind his desk, holding a copy of "Spring and Autumn" that he usually read in his hand.

"Your Majesty... I pay my respects to Your Majesty."

"I've been apart for three days. I'll look at each other with admiration. Now you can write annotations on the Spring and Autumn Annals." Xue Bai noticed that because Nan Jiyun was missing a few fingers, he usually wrote with his left hand, which was crooked.

He then took out a pen that he usually used and put it on the table and said, "This is for you."

Nan Jiyun was stunned for a moment before he realized. He originally thought he was going to be severely punished, but now he was greatly surprised and said hurriedly: "Thank you for the reward, Your Majesty!"

Xue Bai asked: "Will the new law be implemented smoothly?"

"I am ashamed," Nan Jiyun said, "I have betrayed His Majesty's trust."

"Well, I've been visiting Suzhou in the past few days. Although you didn't do a good job, you still tried your best."

Nan Jiyun said: "I am incompetent. Those big business owners who own a large amount of land are using endless methods. I am always led by the nose and fail to clear the land on time. The requirements of the inspection are never fulfilled."

He spoke dejectedly for a while, thinking that now in front of the emperor, he finally showed off his fighting spirit, so he increased his voice.

"But if Your Majesty can give me another chance, I will definitely do a good job!"

Xue Bai did not expect a warrior to learn superb political skills in a short period of time. As long as he had a fearless attitude and ensured that Suzhou's general direction would not be led astray, there would always be no shortage of smart people to do things.

"Well, I will arrange some people to help you. In a few days, Liu Yan, the camp envoy of the Jianghuai and Henan Provinces, Hebei Province, will come from Songzhou to help you sort out these things."

"Very good!"

Nan Jiyun did not reject jealousy.

He is a very self-aware person. He knows that his strengths are not in these. He is not worried about insignificant problems such as Liu Yan stealing his limelight. He feels happy because this matter can be solved.

Xue Bai was originally worried that Nan Jiyun had changed in the past few years, but he was quite relieved to see that he was still so sincere. Then, he explained another major matter to him.

"How many troops are there in Suzhou? I'm talking about real elite soldiers."

"Your Majesty, I have soldiers and horses guarding the city and canal. They are quite sophisticated, and there are more than 500 of them."

Xue Bai nodded and said: "I heard someone reported that Liu Zhan, the Jiangdong pacifier, had rebellious intentions. He had already arrived in Sizhou to meet him. For fear of disturbing the grass and alarming the snake, I did not bring people here with a big fanfare. If something happens, you will be the one to take the lead.

Five hundred men captured Liu Zhan."

This time he really learned Liu Bang's "Fake Traveling in the Clouds" strategy to defeat Han Xin.

To put it simply, before Liu Zhan was ready to rebel, he patrolled the south lightly, showing that he was not aware of Liu Zhan's intentions, and then suddenly summoned Liu Zhan from Suzhou.

Of course there are risks. Liu Bang succeeded in pretending to travel to Yunmeng because Han Xin did not raise troops to assassinate him. Liu Zhan might make a completely different choice from Han Xin.

If Xue Bairuo told other officials about this matter, they would inevitably receive a lot of long-winded dissuasion.

Nan Jiyun, however, was born in Caofu and did not have so many etiquette and rules. He responded simply: "Here! Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will definitely handle it!"

He has no confidence in governing the place, but he is very excited about fighting and catching thieves.

"It's just Liu Zhan. Even if I don't bring any soldiers, I can take him down alone!"

~~

After making arrangements in Suzhou, Xue Bai quickly went south and went straight to Sizhou.

For the time being, he did not conduct private visits incognito to investigate the implementation of the new law by officials in various places, because the deterrent effect of killing Zheng Ciming was at its strongest, and the more important issue at the moment was to resolve Liu Zhan's possible rebellion.

When we rushed to Sizhou, before Liu Zhan arrived, another official involved in the matter had already come to see him after a long journey.

"Li Zangyong, the transshipment envoy to the south of the Yangtze River, is here to pay homage to the saint." Li Zangyong said impatiently, "I would like to retreat to the left and right sides. I have one hundred thousand urgent matters to report."

"You go down first."

Li Zangyong waited for the others to retreat and immediately said: "Your Majesty has not received the secret message from the ministers. Liu Zhan is plotting rebellion. How can your Majesty still go south?"

"I've seen it all."

"Then your majesty doesn't believe what I said?" Li Zangyong said: "I guarantee it with my head. Liu Zhan is the adopted son of Liu Puhui, the traitor in the Eastern Capital. He has raised a group of dead soldiers under his command, and he still believes in the 'Mao Jin'

Cultivate virtue and become the emperor's golden sword's prophecy."

Xue Bai didn't take this matter seriously and said, "It is for this reason that I summoned Liu Zhan to come to Sizhou to see me."

"Why don't your Majesty send people to Suzhou to kill this monster to avoid future troubles?" Li Zang said in a sonorous tone.

"Is there any reason to punish someone without asking?" Xue Bai said, "A while ago, I just listened to the advice of an important minister, saying that the most important thing in governing a country is to have rules."

Li Zangyong was very worried about this and believed that the emperor's move was a foolish move and might directly force Liu Zhan to rebel.

He speculated that there are only two possibilities. One is that Liu Zhan will not move in Suzhou and seize the time to continue recruiting troops and prepare for rebellion; the other is that Liu Zhan will simply be cruel and lead his followers to Sizhou to get rid of this excessive man.

The adventurous emperor.
To be continued...