The officials present were all trembling with fear at Li Xiang's action. If it were anyone else, they might even ask, "Aren't you going to Nanzhao to form an alliance? Why are you interfering in the affairs of our local officials?"
But they were facing Li Xiang, and no one dared to say this. If you said this on the spot, it would be like slapping His Highness in the face. Do you want to be like that Lord Wang? Do you want your mother and wife to go to Gaochang to meet his mother and wife?
Xiao Yu moved his lips, but finally shut up. This could be considered as killing someone to establish his authority. Of course, it was also a bargain. Xiao Yu came from the capital, and the local officials would inevitably reject him. Although he had been the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, he had been unemployed at home for many years, and many officials might not respect him. With this head, some things would be easier to talk about.
"Where is the Taxation Department?"
I thought Li Xiang had vented his anger, so we should go into the city now. But Li Xiang asked another question, which meant that the matter was not over yet.
"Your humble servant Chu Suiguang, the tax collector of Jiannan Road..."
When this person came out, Li Xiang clearly observed that many adults inside were uncomfortable. He was just a local official and had little connection with them, but this person was the one collecting taxes locally by the Tang Dynasty. If this person talked nonsense, many people would be implicated.
"I've seen the records from the past few years. For three consecutive years, you've failed to pay taxes on time. You're two months behind schedule, and the amount you paid is less than half, with most of the debt in arrears. Lord Chu, with all his extravagance, must be very wealthy, so why is it that he only owes the court money?"
Li Xiang got off his horse and slowly walked to the side of Lord Chu. When this guy saw Li Xiang's boots, he began to tremble all over. A person's reputation is like a tree's shadow. Although Li Xiang has never disciplined local officials, his reputation on the battlefield is no joke. What's more, these people have not been investigated. As long as you check them a little, you will find that none of them has a clean bottom.
"To reply to Your Highness, the journey here on Jiannan Road is difficult, and the weather is strange and changeable..."
This guy said tremblingly that almost every official could recite this set of rhetoric, and it had basically appeared in their memorials. Li Shimin had wanted to rectify it at that time, but later thought that there was really no profit here. Even if you try your best to rectify it, it will not be of much use in the end, and it may even provoke civil unrest. So he simply let it go. Anyway, the main tax revenue of the court did not come from here, as long as these people saw that the people were fine.
When Li Xiang first learned about the situation here, he thought so too. As long as the common people can have something to eat, it is normal that you cannot pay taxes given the harsh natural environment. However, this is not the case along the way. The common people don’t even have food to eat, but the mansions of these officials are extremely luxurious, even comparable to those of high-ranking officials and wealthy businessmen in Chang'an City.
"Even in good times, there's not enough to eat. If there's a disaster, we still have to petition the Ministry of Revenue for disaster relief. Is that what Lord Chu said next? I don't know if I'm right, but I seem to have seen these words in the memorials of all the lords. Are you all following the same teacher? Are you too lazy to even adapt?"
When Li Xiang recited the second half of the memorial, these people knew even more clearly that Li Xiang was not easy to fool. It turned out that he had already investigated the place thoroughly before coming. You think you can fool him with these nonsense, but you are really wrong.
"Your Highness, please spare my life, Your Highness, please spare my life..."
It was obvious that Lord Chu had no scheming mind. After hearing what Li Xiang said, he simply stopped talking and started begging for mercy. This meant that he admitted some things. Others cursed him as a coward in their hearts, but they also thought about it and put themselves in Lord Chu's position. They probably wouldn't dare to say anything else.
"Your life is indeed insignificant, but I want to know one thing. From what I understand, you own a large house in the two capitals, and you also have several shops for rent. So where did all the money come from? Your ancestors weren't wealthy; they were just small landowners in the mountains. If you relied on your family's wealth, you wouldn't be able to own property in the two capitals in a few years, let alone a hundred years."
Li Xiang's men have a treasure-troveing intelligence system. They have collected the most comprehensive information on business matters, which even the emperor's men in black cannot do. Usually, the emperor doesn't care about this side and is too lazy to care about the news here. As long as there is no trouble, it's fine. Therefore, these people live an extremely comfortable life.
But Li Xiang didn't think so. As he traveled along the way, he saw the hard life of the common people and felt deeply that Chang'an City had done something wrong. If they had been strict with this place earlier, this area would never have fallen to this point.
So, on his way here, Li Xiang had already thoroughly investigated these people. Almost every family had plenty of money, even more than some of the wealthy merchants in Chang'an City. Where did they get their money? Most of it was collected locally. They plundered the poor areas vigorously. You can imagine what happened to the local people. Many villages were completely destitute.
"This humble official deserves death. This humble official deserves death."
This guy didn't even bother to explain, because these things couldn't be explained clearly. Even if all his legitimate income was multiplied a hundred times, he probably wouldn't have as much money as he has now. In addition to some assets in Chang'an and Luoyang, he also had assets in various places in Jiangnan. Li Xiang hasn't found out yet. If he did, he might tear this guy into pieces.
"Your Excellency will soon be the Governor of Yizhou. How should we deal with such a person?"
Just as Li Xiang was about to deal with this guy, he suddenly remembered something else. If he did all the bad things, then Xiao Yu could use this to firmly seize Chengdu. How could that be possible? There are some things we must share. I can't kill people in the front while you reap the benefits in the back. If that happens, our psychology will be unbalanced.
