novelAbuy Chapter 331 Inspection
Chapter 331 Inspection
Afternoon, the back hall of the Jiangyin Prefectural Government Office.
Korigis placed the teacup on the table and sighed.
The prefect, Zhang Yang, sat opposite him, holding a letter in his hand. He read it twice and then put it down.
Zhu Daocun, the Assistant Magistrate, stood by the window with his back to them, without saying a word.
Judge Ma Yuanchong has not yet arrived; he said he went to arrange defenses.
"Tell me," Korigis began. "The two men from the province have already settled in at the inn. They're scheduled to inspect Jiangyin at the earliest tomorrow. What should we do?"
Zhang Yang pushed the letter in front of Korigis, saying, "This was sent by a friend from Wuxi. He said that Mr. Li and Mr. Zhang spent ten days in Wuxi, with Qian Dayong paying for it and Ni Zan accompanying them. They climbed Huishan Mountain and toured Taihu Lake, having a very lively time. We can do the same; it might be somewhat useful." "Delaying it will only work temporarily," Zhu Daocun turned around, his face bearing an inscrutable expression. "After all, they are here on orders to inspect. Once they arrive, what they see, what they hear, what they report back—can we stop them?"
Koligis didn't respond.
"I do have an idea," Zhang Yang suddenly said.
"explain."
"Let's stall and wait for things to change," Zhang Yang said in a low voice. "Li and Zhang set off at the beginning of this month, and it's been twenty days now. How much longer can they stay? Ten days? Half a month? At most a month, they'll have to return to Hangzhou to report. In the meantime, we'll provide them with good food and drink, take them to see whatever they want, and let them do whatever they want. As for Shao Shuyi's side..."
He paused and glanced at Zhu Daocun.
Zhu Daocun understood his meaning and continued, "Tell Shao Shuyi to pack up all the messy stuff and hide himself away. We'll make a decision after the provincial officials leave."
"Hiding?" Korigis said with a wry smile, "Putting aside what Li Yi and Zhang Duan are doing here, what if they specifically ask to see Shao Shuyi or Cao Luo? I have a bad feeling that they're here for Shao Shuyi. Unfortunately, I've lived in Jiangyin for too long, and many of my old connections in the province are gone. I've written to them, but I haven't received a reply yet."
The room was quiet for a while.
"Then... what do you think we should do, sir?" Zhang Yang thought about it and realized it was indeed possible. Shao Shuyi had been going too far lately, so he asked.
Kolijisi picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "In my opinion, those who should be entertained should be entertained, and those who should be appeased should be appeased. But one thing is certain: we, the family members, must keep our mouths shut. We should not talk about things in the prefectural government if we can avoid it. We should keep the things in Ma Tuosha a secret if we can. If we really can't keep it a secret anymore," he paused, put down his teacup, looked at Zhang Yang and Zhu Daocun, and said, "If we really can't keep it a secret anymore, we should say that we can't handle it. Jiangyin is a barren land with poor people, the patrol office is short of archers, and the seafarers are not all under the jurisdiction of the prefecture. If something happens, the higher-ups can't blame us entirely."
Zhu Daocun opened his mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.
Korigis was telling the truth. That's the reality of the situation in Jiangyin Prefecture; they were willing but powerless to change it.
Now that people from the province have come, once they find out, all they can do is push the responsibility away; they have no other options.
"There's one more thing," Zhang Yang suddenly said. "Should we give Shao Shuyi a heads-up beforehand, so he can be prepared?"
"Send Fan Ting there. Disguise yourself and go there tonight," said Kuolijisi. "Besides, Mr. Gou Nan is from Jiangyin. He has been traveling and serving as an official for many years and will surely want to return to his hometown. For the sake of merit, you should accompany him personally, give him plenty of face, and make him happy. Maybe you can find out something from him." Zhang Yang nodded and said nothing more.
He was the Prefect of Zhili Prefecture, while Zhang Duan was a Judge of a Sanzhou Prefecture; there was a difference in rank. However, he condescended to personally accompany Zhang Duan back to his hometown, and offered the Zhang clan some commendations befitting their local official, saying some flattering words. Zhang Duan would have no choice but to accept this favor, making things easier to discuss. With the plan settled, everyone went their separate ways.
Starting from the 21st, Li Yi and Zhang Duan declined some invitations to meals and made the most of their time to tour all over Jiangyin Prefecture.
They began with the overt inspection work.
On the 21st, I inspected the state government's storeroom.
The warehouse was not small, but it only contained three thousand shi of grain, and even less silk.
Li Yi flipped through the account books, said nothing, closed them, and left.
Zhang Duan was interested in the large vats at the entrance of the warehouse and asked what they were for. The warehouse official said they were for fire prevention. He nodded, bent down and looked at the water in the vats. The water was very clear, obviously just filled. A few copper coins were at the bottom of the vats, reflecting the sunlight.
On the 22nd, I went to the outskirts of the city to visit the Chengjiang Patrol Office.
There were about twenty archers, and the equipment was quite complete, but they were not very orderly when they lined up, and their accuracy was not high when they performed archery demonstrations. It is said that many of them were newcomers and their training was quite insufficient.
Li Yi and Zhang Duan didn't express any opinions, but the accompanying judge Ma Yuanchong was very nervous. This was already the most powerful patrol unit in Jiangyin.
On the 23rd, Li and Zhang suddenly said they wanted to go to Huangtian Port. The prefect had no choice but to send Ge Daji, the clerk in charge of prosecution, to accompany them.
The dock was bustling with activity, with ships coming and going and cargo being loaded and unloaded non-stop.
Standing on the pier, Li Yi looked at the boats and suddenly asked, "How many of these boats belong to Shao Shuyi?"
Ge Daji was taken aback, then laughed and said, "Shao She's ships do come here often, but he's just a merchant, and he does legitimate business."
"Legitimate business?" Li Yi repeated, then asked, "So, how much cargo comes in and out of this dock every day? What percentage is salt? What percentage is cloth? What percentage is grain?"
Ge Daji couldn't answer, nor did he dare to. He could only smile awkwardly and say, "If Inspector Li wants to check the commercial taxes, the state has records. You can take your time to look at them." Li Yi didn't ask any further questions and just nodded.
Ge Daji felt slightly uneasy, but he was too deeply involved with Shao Shuyi and had something on him, so he had no choice but to help cover it up.
On the 24th, the group went to Ganming Guangfu Zen Temple.
The main hall was resplendent in gold and jade, and incense was burning brightly. The abbot personally came out to greet them and led Li and Zhang on a tour of the Sutra Repository.
After looking around upstairs and downstairs, Li Yi suddenly asked, "I just heard the abbot say that this Sutra Repository has been recently renovated? Did Shao Shuyi pay for it?" Ge Daji was inwardly worried, but smiled and said, "Shao is very charitable and has contributed a lot to the temple's renovations."
Li Yi then looked at the abbot and asked, "I heard that Shao Shuyi is very interested in this temple?"
The abbot put his hands together in prayer, chanted the Buddha's name, and said, "As monks, we only ask about merit, not anything else."
"What a fine way to ask only for merit." Li Yi smiled and said nothing more.
After leaving the temple, Li Yi stood on the steps, gazing at the distant river.
The river is dotted with sails, and as the sun sets, it turns the water a golden hue.
He suddenly asked Ge Daji, "Which direction is Ma Tuo Sha in?"
Ge Daji's heart tightened. He pointed to the northwest and said, "It's over there, a bit far from the south bank, but closer to the north bank of the river."
"Let's go take a look tomorrow," Li Yi said.
Ge Daji immediately said, "The Darughachi and the Prefect have already booked a banquet at the Dayan Tower and will be inviting you both to the banquet tomorrow."
Li Yi raised his hand to stop him from saying anything more, saying, "Let's finish the important business first."
Li and Zhang had to report their whereabouts every day, of course.
Late that night, in the back hall of the prefectural government office, Ge Daji recounted the events of the day. After listening, the expressions on the faces of Kuolijisi, Zhang Yang, and Zhu Daocun immediately turned rather unpleasant.
"Should we make an excuse that there are bandits on Ma Tuo Sha and it's not advisable to go now?" Ge Daji suggested softly.
Zhang Yang rubbed his temples but didn't say anything.
Koligis sighed and said, "Let them go. They'll see what they need to see sooner or later. But we should give Shao Shuyi a heads-up beforehand and tell him to hide what needs to be hidden."
"I've already sent a message," Ge Daji said. "It's better to be safe than sorry..."
The room fell silent for a moment.
"There's one more thing," Ge Daji said, glancing furtively at the expressions of the two superiors. "One of Li Yi's attendants asked me a question during dinner today: 'In your Jiangyin Prefecture, who is in charge?' I don't know if he asked the question himself or if Li Yi, not wanting to ask, instructed his subordinates to probe. I only replied, 'Under the clear sky, the imperial court is naturally in charge.'"
Silence remained inside.
A wooden clapper sounded outside the window; it was the second watch of the night. In the distance, a dog barked faintly twice, then fell silent again.
Korigis stood up, walked to the window, and opened it. A cool night breeze blew in, making the lamplight on the table flicker. "Tomorrow, I will personally accompany them to Matuosa," he said. "You all stay in the state. Do your work, and don't let anyone notice anything. Also, keep a close watch on the inn and don't let any unrelated people approach them."
"But what if..." Zhu Daocun hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
"What if something goes wrong..." Korigis turned around, looked at him, and said, "Acknowledge what you should admit, and deny what you should deny. We don't have any troops, that's a fact. If the higher-ups want to investigate, at worst we'll be fined or demoted, they can't kill me, can they?"
He said this in a calm voice and with a nonchalant attitude, clearly indicating that he had already thought it through.
Now that things have come to this, what can he do? If the prefectural government could have stopped Shao, protected the lives of his family, and preserved the wealth he had accumulated over three generations, he would have cooperated with the province to arrest Shao long ago, instead of being caught in the middle like this.
On the morning of the 25th, Li Yi, Zhang Duan, and others, accompanied by Kuolijisi, boarded a boat bound for Matuosa.