Chapter 294 - 288 Locking Yourself Up
Zhao Hanzhang returned to the county government, unable to sleep, and simply went to the main hall to handle affairs.
Zhao Erlang followed closely behind her, his face full of anxiety, and asked, "Sister, did I cause you any trouble?"
"No," Zhao Hanzhang reached out to pat his head and praised him, "You did very well. Fortunately, you captured Sun Taihe; otherwise, we would have been in trouble."
Although not very serious, there would still have been some.
If he made it safely to Chen County, that would be fine; but if something happened on the way, she would have no way to explain to County Magistrate Sun.
Upon hearing the praise, Zhao Erlang immediately brightened up, "I was very impressive today, capturing many who secretly stole and fought."
Zhao Hanzhang praised, "Well done!"
Zhao Erlang not only wanted Zhao Hanzhang to praise him but also wanted Fu Tinghan’s praise, so he looked around and asked, "Where is brother-in-law?"
"He’s resting after a long night’s work," Zhao Hanzhang carefully sized up Zhao Erlang and said, "You were busy all night too, go eat something and take a nap."
Zhao Erlang felt quite energetic at the moment and didn’t want to sleep, so he shook his head.
Zhao Hanzhang didn’t try to persuade him, instructed Ting He to prepare something to eat in the kitchen, and took Zhao Erlang to eat.
Since it wasn’t a meal time, the kitchen had to prepare food quickly, so the offerings were simple: some baked pancakes and stewed dishes.
Zhao Hanzhang, being quite hungry, ate with Zhao Erlang, and the siblings finished a large plate of pancakes.
Seeing him eating contentedly, Zhao Hanzhang smiled slightly and led him to a small room, "Lie down and take a nap."
The moment Zhao Erlang, who had been claiming he wasn’t tired, sat on the wooden couch, his eyes drooped involuntarily. After yawning twice, he tilted his head and fell into a deep sleep.
Zhao Hanzhang stepped forward to take off his shoes and laid him flat on the wooden couch. Seeing him sleeping soundly, she quietly left.
Zhao Hanzhang was strong-willed and had a large force under her command. The only person who could attempt to confront her was General Ding, who hesitated at her orders. By the time someone realized and wanted to squeeze out her influence in Yu Yang County, she had already taken control of the entire county government.
From the County Magistrate to the errand runners and gatekeepers, they all subconsciously followed Zhao Hanzhang’s orders. As a result, the entire Yu Yang County was under her control.
Meanwhile, Fu Tinghan also reorganized the Household Department, not only uncovering a significant amount of taxes unjustly added to ordinary citizens but also revealing a large number of hidden households.
Hidden households are present in every county, and Xiping County is no exception, with the Zhao Family being prominent among them.
However, Zhao Hanzhang did not seek to settle scores with the Zhao Family over this issue, and the people under her jurisdiction had no complaints because these hidden households hadn’t infringed upon their interests yet.
The previous County Magistrate Fan of Xiping County didn’t inflate the population numbers in his reports, so the tax quotas issued were unrelated to these hidden households, meaning the taxes the people of Xiping County had to bear were what they should expect.
But Yu Yang County was different.
County Magistrate Sun hadn’t reported any population growth in the past two years, but similarly, he hadn’t reported any population decrease either.
In the past two years, due to various issues, especially last year’s siege by the Xiongnu, many people left their homes or went into hiding.
Since he didn’t report this, the annual tax amount required remained the same.
But two years ago, Yu Yang County might have had ten people. Now, three have fled, three have gone into hiding, leaving only four to bear the taxes meant for ten.
Additionally, with Inspector He raising taxes this year, and Shangcai County and Xiping County failing to deliver the full amount, their burden increased even more.
On average, one person had to bear two and a half people’s worth of taxes, and such a tax burden could crush someone.
Fu Tinghan wrote down the organized data, his heart sinking continuously, and when he handed the summarized data to Zhao Hanzhang, he said, "In years of favorable weather, when one works hard all year only to find they must sell their wife and children to pay full taxes, rebellion is inevitable."
Zhao Hanzhang looked through the data, her expression turning dark.
This is a man-made disaster!
Zhao Hanzhang closed the report and tossed it to Zhao Hui standing aside, "Copy some of the data and send it to the granary."
Zhao Hui’s eyes widened, involuntarily turning to Fu Tinghan in hopes that he would persuade her. Doing this could very likely break ties with the wealthy clans of Yu Yang County.
Fu Tinghan stood tall and upright, not advising against it, but instead looked approving.
Zhao Hanzhang gave Zhao Hui a cool look, "What, Brother Hui, can’t you do it?"
"Alright," Zhao Hui thought to himself, since he wouldn’t be managing Yu Yang County in the future anyway, if she wanted to make enemies, so be it, "I’ll go right now."
Zhao Hanzhang summoned Ji Yuan along with the County Magistrate and other officials, "The people need reassurance. The Household Department has already counted the grains collected from each village. Considering the difficult lives of the people, the county government will open the granary to distribute relief. Notify each village to come and collect relief grain in order."
To prevent further chaos, Zhao Hanzhang decided to stagger the times each village’s people entered the city. Given the chaotic and dark data, Zhao Hanzhang wasn’t very trusting of the village chiefs, and she urgently needed trustworthy people to supervise.
A thought crossed her mind, and she asked, "Where are Chen Wan and Xiang Yu?"
Ji Yuan replied, "In prison."
Zhao Hanzhang widened her eyes, "Who arrested them?"
Ji Yuan smiled, "They tied themselves up."
After seeing Zhao Hanzhang slay the Chief Clerk and lock the wealthy of Yu Yang County in the granary to count the grain mixed with sand and stones, Chen Wan and Xiang Yu tied themselves up and walked into the prison on their own, asking the prison guard to open a cell, and they went in on their own.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Hanzhang was speechless for a while.
She scratched her head, feeling she needed to display more humility and respect, and it certainly wasn’t because she wanted to see the spectacle of them locking themselves up.
With great interest, she said, "Let’s go invite these two righteous individuals."
On the way, Zhao Hanzhang quietly told Fu Tinghan, "If someone writes this down, it will be considered a fantastic story a hundred years later. I’ll be a character in the history books."
Fu Tinghan: "...Since you led troops into Xiping, haven’t you already been a character in the history books?"
"Ah, you don’t understand. Such things can easily disappear from history books, but interesting anecdotes like this are more likely to be passed down. They won’t be recorded in official history, but are more likely to be spread and preserved."
Seeing her so enthusiastic, Fu Tinghan decided he would help document her deeds. If she liked leaving her mark in history, he would assist her.
As long as there’s enough written, something will eventually be passed down.
The dungeon of Yu Yang County was somewhat quiet. Previously, it was filled with many people, mostly citizens unable to pay taxes, but Zhao Hanzhang had released them, leaving many cells empty.
Zhao Hanzhang led her group deeper inside and barely encountered anyone.
The prison guard, hearing the commotion, came quickly. He didn’t know Zhao Hanzhang but recognized the County Magistrate. Seeing the one surrounded in the middle, he immediately knew who she was and kneeled, "Greetings, Lady Zhao."
Zhao Hanzhang nodded and asked, "Where are Chen Wan and Xiang Yu, the ones who locked themselves up?"