Chapter 291 - 285 Judgment
Of course not, County Magistrate Sun’s confidentiality measures were quite good. The granary storing this batch of grain is rarely used, very few people know it’s a granary, so the grain inside is still there, except...
Zhao Hanzhang lowered her head and grabbed a handful of wheat mixed with sand and stone, saying meaningfully, "The chaos in Yu Yang County is really not unjustified."
The County Magistrate and Chief Clerk beside her blushed, not knowing if it was out of shame or fear.
Zhao Hanzhang didn’t look at them, and after dropping the wheat in her hand, she said, "Go invite the wealthy households and gentry in the city to come over, let’s all take a look and do a count of the grain in the granary."
She said, "Most of them are literate, and now that Yu Yang County is in trouble, it’s precisely when we need them."
The wealthy households, who were frightened all night and some even had their homes plundered, were brought to the granary by soldiers to watch the county government’s people count the grain.
They were both angry and shocked, not yet recovered from last night’s chaos, and as soon as they arrived, they directly stared at the county town and General Ding, asking, "Where is County Magistrate Sun?"
Zhao Hanzhang replied gloomily, "County Magistrate Sun has gone to Chen County, now Yu Yang is under my charge."
Only then did everyone notice Zhao Hanzhang.
Many people recognized her, as they had attended the Zhao Family’s Winter Solstice banquet last year and met her then.
Those who didn’t recognize her, after hearing the shouting all night last night and seeing her surrounded by people, guessed her identity.
Their expressions slightly improved, and they, still maintaining decorum, raised their hands to salute Zhao Hanzhang, sincerely thanking her, "Thank you, Lady Zhao, for rescuing us."
Zhao Hanzhang slightly nodded, her expression also slightly improved, and she asked gently, "Are your families all safe?"
Some sighed, some looked sad, while others replied, "Thanks to the timely arrival of reinforcements last night, although we lost some property, everyone is safe."
Zhao Hanzhang then breathed a sigh of relief, nodding, "As long as everyone is safe."
She turned back to the granary and said, "Only this time, the chaos resulted in many people being hurt, and the root cause stems from the grain."
Everyone looked in the same direction as her, and upon seeing the open sacks of grain mixed with so much sand and stone, they were shocked, "What’s going on here?"
Yes, what’s going on here?
With County Magistrate Sun not around, Zhao Hanzhang could only question the County Magistrate and Chief Clerk.
The two of them did not expect Zhao Hanzhang to take action so decisively, and they couldn’t help but shout, "This has nothing to do with us, we know nothing about it."
"As County Magistrate and Chief Clerk, especially as a Chief Clerk, not knowing such an important matter as grain collection, leading to such chaos, isn’t this serious negligence?" Zhao Hanzhang asked, her gaze cold and piercing, "How can you have the face to say ’I don’t know’?"
The Chief Clerk, on the verge of tears, said, "But I really didn’t know. Small matters like grain collection are handled by subordinate clerks. We only need to verify that the accounts are correct. How could we know that the clerks below us were so bold as to steal grain taxes and mix in sand and stone?"
Hearing his defense, Zhao Hanzhang, was furious and whipped him to the ground, saying, "Clerks? Aren’t you, a mere Chief Clerk, also a clerk yourself? Your official rank is not high, yet you maintain such a large front. As Chief Clerk, you can’t even verify or audit. Occupying your position without doing your duty is even more despicable than a parasite!"
Zhao Hanzhang had originally intended to interrogate him, but now she couldn’t even be bothered to do so. She directly ordered, "Drag him down and behead him!"
The Chief Clerk’s eyes widened, and as soldiers came to drag him away, he shouted, "You, you can’t kill me, you can’t kill me, I am the Chief Clerk of Yu Yang County, not Xiping County. I have County Magistrate Sun to pass judgment on me..."
Zhao Hanzhang waved a hand, and the soldiers stuffed a cloth into his mouth, directly dragging him outside.
The granary fell silent at once, everyone looked at Zhao Hanzhang with uncertain and cautious eyes, while the County Magistrate was the most scared. He stood trembling at the side, feeling his legs go a bit soft.
Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze was as cold as ice as it fell on the County Magistrate.
The County Magistrate gulped, and as her gaze lingered on him, he collapsed to his knees and pointed to one of the wealthy men, saying, "It was the Guan Family who conspired with County Magistrate Sun and the Chief Clerk to replace the grain. I, I did not participate."
The wealthy households and gentry all turned their heads to look at Guan Yi.
Guan Yi’s face turned slightly pale, but he remained relatively calm, smiling faintly, "You are falsely accusing us. Our Guan Family does not lack this little grain, why would we replace grain taxes?"
He paused and continued, "Besides, this chaos was not caused by replacing grain taxes, but because the grain taxes imposed by Yu State were too high, causing the people to rebel due to unbearable burdens."
Zhao Hanzhang said quietly, "Mr. Guan, you seem well informed."
Guan Yi became even calmer, smiling wryly, "It’s been said, nearly half of this should be summer taxes from Shangcai and Xiping, but because Lady Zhao refused to pay the full taxes, Yu State placed these taxes on our Yu Yang."
"The people under my governance are impoverished. If I were to truly pay the taxes Yu State demanded, my people would starve to death. So for their sake, I am willing to argue against it," Zhao Hanzhang replied. "County Magistrate Sun could learn from me!"
She continued, "As the parental official of a county, one’s foremost duty should be to protect the people of the county. I do not regret what I have done. But Mr. Guan, how do you know that the taxes imposed on the people of Yu Yang have nothing to do with the replaced grain taxes?"
"If one can replace grain with sand and stones, how can we be sure they wouldn’t raise taxes for grain just to embezzle more?"
Exactly!
Everyone stared intently at Guan Yi.
Guan Yi’s heart pounded violently.
Zhao Hanzhang waved a hand, ordering that Guan Yi be taken into custody as well. Seeing him struggle unwillingly, she said, "Rest assured, Mr. Guan, you are different from the Chief Clerk."
She continued, "The Chief Clerk is an official of the court, receiving a salary from the monarch yet failing to perform loyal duties, occupying an official position without fulfilling responsibilities, so I have every right to kill him."
"But as for Mr. Guan, you are a civilian, and I am an official. If you have committed any offense, I will conduct a thorough investigation and judge according to the law," Zhao Hanzhang said, slightly tilting her head to look at the County Magistrate, a cold smile on her lips, "For now, this matter shall be your responsibility."
The County Magistrate’s knees grew even weaker. He kowtowed and stammered in response, "Yes."
Only then did Zhao Hanzhang smile at the remaining wealthy households and gentry, saying, "I invited everyone here to help. Since everyone is here, let’s start counting the grain in the granary."
The wealthy households said, "... How about we call in our family accountants to help?"
After all, they couldn’t be better at such tasks than their family accountants, right?
But was Zhao Hanzhang merely here to count?
She wanted them to see why the people of Yu Yang County had rebelled this time.
Zhao Hanzhang pretended not to hear their differing opinions and had people bring over the tax records for the year from the county government.
Oh, the Chief Clerk had been beheaded, and Zhao Hanzhang’s soldiers were too lazy to walk far, so they beheaded him right outside, not far from the granary.
The head and body were separated, lying on the ground. So even though they had never done such a thing before and even considered themselves proud at heart, they couldn’t help but obediently follow Zhao Hanzhang’s orders.