The first poisonous scholar in Daxia, starting from the abdication of the prime minister

Chapter 328 The Empty Seal Case Begins!

"Your Majesty, I have an important matter to submit. This matter concerns the fate of our Great Xia nation. I dare not delay!"

What?

Is this related to the fate of the Great Xia nation? Are you here to stir up trouble?

The ministers' mouths twitched. Whenever Gu Jingzhi made things sound serious, it was bound to be bad news. But they didn't know who would be unlucky.

Everyone subconsciously looked at Song Pu, and Song Pu's face suddenly turned sour!

However, Emperor Xia and the Crown Prince were both shocked!

I'm coming!

Is that thing coming?

The third prince, on the other hand, seemed to have been mentally prepared and looked extremely calm!

As an accomplice in this matter, Wei Zhen had long known that Gu Jingzhi would cause trouble today, so he was ready to sit back and watch the show.

Although Wei Zhen was also implicated in this matter, there was nothing that could be done about it. After all, it was not that easy to plot against Gu Jingzhi!

Emperor Xia suppressed his excitement and said calmly, "Then tell me what this is all about. It concerns the fate of our Great Xia nation."

"His Majesty……"

Gu Jingzhi bowed and said, "It has been two months since I took up my post at the Ministry of Revenue. My main area of responsibility is taxation. A month ago, when I was checking the tax accounts of various places, I discovered a very interesting phenomenon..."

"..."

Xia Di's mouth twitched, and he said unhappily, "Get to the point!"

"Your Majesty, this is the point!"

Gu Jingzhi said with an innocent look, "I checked the account books and found that the taxes collected by Daxia this year were all recorded according to the minimum amount stipulated by the court!"

"Our Great Xia's land tax is one in thirty, which is the lowest rate throughout history. Your Majesty is magnanimous and considers the various situations that may exist in the local area. Therefore, he has set a minimum amount based on local conditions! If a local disaster is reported, the amount can be reduced as appropriate!"

"But I'm curious. Although Great Xia hasn't had good weather this year, there haven't been any large-scale disasters. Even if there were local disasters reported to the court, they were all in counties with special geographical locations!"

Gu Jingzhi laid the groundwork according to the language he had organized long ago!

The prince cooperated and asked, "Marquis Xiling, the court is here to discuss state affairs. You said a lot, but I didn't quite understand!"

"Your Majesty, Your Highness..."

Gu Jingzhi saluted and said, "I'm curious. Even if we follow the 30% tax rate, the tax revenue here shouldn't just be above the minimum, right?"

He pulled out an account book and held it in both hands. "But the tax amounts recorded in the Ministry of Revenue's account books were all around the minimum amount stipulated by the court. I found this strange, so I went to the Ministry of Revenue official who was responsible for recording and supervising the grain tax collection. The result was... the national treasury received this amount of money and grain!"

"Ah!"

As soon as Gu Jingzhi finished speaking, someone sneered, "So, the Ministry of Revenue and local tax collection are correct. Isn't this a good thing? How can it affect the fate of our Great Xia?"

"Marquis Xiling, are you trying to make fun of His Majesty and the officials in the court?"

As soon as he said this, some officials laughed at him, but most of the officials' faces changed drastically!

Almost all of these people were from farming families, or were officials who had served in local positions. When they heard this, they immediately discovered the trick!

Gu Jingzhi glanced at the official and said coldly, "The fact that this gentleman can say such things is enough to prove that you have never served in a local government. People like you who are lazy and ignorant are not worthy of speaking to this marquis!"

"Marquis Xiling, you..."

"Shut up!"

Gu Jingzhi scolded, then turned to look at Emperor Xia: "Your Majesty, I feel strange, so I looked through the account books of previous years. Strangely enough, although there are similar situations in the account books of previous years, the further I look, the more frightened I become!"

"Aside from the fact that local tax revenue has greatly increased in recent years due to the New Deal, the growth of the imperial court's revenue was particularly slow before the New Deal!"

"Your Majesty, has Daxia never reclaimed any new land in the past twenty years?"

Now everyone understood!

Emperor Xia said in a deep voice, "Gu Qing, are you trying to tell me that someone is embezzling the court's tax revenue?"

"That's right, Your Majesty!"

Gu Jingzhi said, "I've compared the account books from previous years and have some doubts in my mind, but I don't know where the problem lies! After all, I've been farming in Ningzhou for two years, so I'm not completely ignorant of farming!"

"Local people cultivate their land for a year, and if the harvest is normal, the tax rate is 1 in 30, which is completely higher than the minimum rate stipulated by the court. Even if there is some loss during transportation, it is still not so low as to be around the minimum line!"

Emperor Xia narrowed his eyes.

When Gu Jingzhi reported the possible drawbacks of the empty seal, he thought that someone might be involved in corruption. However, he did not expect that similar situations would occur in so many places across the country.

It seems that this corruption... is not light!

"Marquis Xiling, what you said is indeed horrifying, but it's not like that everywhere, is it?"

“It’s true that not all situations are like this!”

Gu Jingzhi smiled!

Hearing this, some officials felt relieved. However, Gu Jingzhi sneered, "I have compared the abnormal account books of previous years and sorted out those with relatively good tax records!"

"I discovered that those people...all got promoted within a year or two!"

What the hell!

When some people heard this, they were shocked. They understood the meaning of Gu Jingzhi's words.

Some officials belatedly responded, "What's the problem with that? Taxation is a component of evaluating the performance of local officials. Regions that pay high taxes should be treated with caution. This is in line with the court's system for selecting and promoting officials!"

"hehe!"

Gu Jingzhi sneered, "This lord has forgotten what I just said. I have been farming in Ningzhou for two years. If the newly reclaimed land in Ningzhou is taxed at a rate of 1 in 30, the grain produced in a year is still higher than the amount recorded by the Ministry of Revenue!"

"Why is it that land that has been cultivated for years or even decades is not as good as newly reclaimed land?"

"His Majesty!"

**, an agricultural expert who had a good relationship with Gu Jingzhi, stood up and said, "It usually takes about three years for land to become fertile. In other words, under normal circumstances, the grain output of land that has been cultivated for more than three years will generally be 3% to 4% higher than that of new land, or even %!"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Xia's expression immediately turned icy. He looked at Gu Jingzhi and asked, "Gu Qing, then tell me, what exactly is the problem?"

"His Majesty!"

Gu Jingzhi took out a memorial and said, "When I left Ningzhou, the new prefect asked me to take the Ningzhou tax certificate to the Ministry of Revenue for recording. I looked at it at the time, and apart from the Ningzhou prefect's seal, there was nothing else on it!"

"I was confused at the time, but the new Ningzhou prefect told me that this was a measure proposed to facilitate the local area!"

"When transporting money and grain from local governments to the provincial government or other places, a lot of money is wasted on the journey. After the grain is delivered to the destination, many places find that due to intentional losses, the actual money and grain collected do not match the account books!"

"That's why we changed the document to a blank seal. We stamp it first and then fill in the actual amount based on the money and grain received!"

"Furthermore, the imperial court has not explicitly issued any directives to the local authorities regarding this move..."

"Gah..."

The court became particularly quiet at this moment!