Chapter 199
199 The truth behind it
“Mommy, Yingluo.”
“Shi TOU, Shi TOU, come here and let mommy see you. Let mommy see Yingluo.”
The woman who blocked the road and complained held her child tightly and cried. She kowtowed to Xia Pingan as she held her child. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir.
The crowd and common people outside the villa were already in an uproar.
When the citizens of Daozhou city heard the news, they immediately rushed to the Changyun villa. The scene of the children who had been kidnapped meeting their relatives was a mixture of joy and sorrow.
Also, it had been too long since the relatives had arrived, and they couldn’t even recognize their own children. This was because those children had been ravaged into dwarves after not seeing them for many years. Their physiques and appearances had changed greatly, and they could only slowly recognize each other.
Xia ping ‘an asked Zheng to drive the carriage to send the child and the woman home, leaving the matters in the villa to his subordinates.
Today, as soon as he arrived in Daozhou city, he had already dealt with the Changyun villa. It could be considered a victory. However, Xia Pingan knew that this was only the beginning. Whether he could successfully stop paying Tributes in Daozhou city would depend on the subsequent game with the Imperial court and the officialdom. Once the game failed, the Imperial court and the people above could change the provincial governor at any time, and Daozhou city would once again pay tributes with the dwarf figurine.
So, this matter was not over yet.
As Xia ping ‘an recalled the various records and deeds that had happened since yang city arrived in Dao province, he returned to the provincial governor’s office with the officials.
When they returned to the provincial governor’s office, the entire Daozhou city was in an uproar. Along the way, the people lined the streets to welcome them and praised them for their good fortune. The situation was completely different from when Xia Pingan had first arrived.
The provincial governor’s mansion of Daozhou city was not large. It was just an office with several courtyards, which was divided into a front hall and a back hall. The front hall was the office of the provincial governor’s office while the back hall was the official residence of the provincial governor.
After going in and out of the city for half a day, it was already evening when they returned to the provincial governor’s manor.
The officials of the provincial governor’s manor had already prepared a welcome banquet. After hastily finishing the banquet, Xia ping ‘an returned to the back hall and went to the study to start writing a Memorial to the Emperor.
The current Emperor of Chang ‘an was Tang Dezong, Li Shi. To be honest, Li Shi was ambitious and always wanted to make some achievements. He wanted to make great efforts to rule the country and create a situation like the Kaiyuan Era for the Tang Empire again. It would be an injustice to say that he was an incompetent Emperor. However, Li Shi was born at the wrong time. There were military vassals fighting outside, but he did not know how to use people inside. He did not have a good judgment of people. On one hand, he wanted to be a wise Emperor and restore the Tang Empire’s glory, but on the other hand, he was making trouble for some unnecessary things. Many loyal ministers were driven out of Chang ‘an by him, and in the end, some even began to rely on eunuchs to rule, which was really amazing.
Xia ping ‘an knew that in history, yang city had written a Memorial to Li Shi because of the tribute strike. However, he had never seen how the memorial was written and did not know either. At this time, Xia ping’ an could only rely on himself to write it.
Xia ping ‘an thought for a long time in the study room. In the end, he decided to start with emotion and then reason with Li Shi to persuade him to give up the dwarf Tributes from the state of Dao.
As she thought of this, Xia Pingan picked up a pen and started to write.
when I first arrived in the city, a woman knelt down and cried for injustice. She said that her child was taken away and that the mother and son were separated by life and death. It was a tragedy on earth. The woman cried and fought for the ground. Her voice was like crying blood. She was in a very miserable state. As Mengzi said, the heart of tears is the end of benevolence. Everyone has it, and I can’t bear to hear it.
From the civilian woman’s accusation, I recall what happened in the second year of Qianyuan. The rebel, Shi Siming, led the Army to attack Luoyang. His Majesty’s mother was born, and the Empress Dowager of the Tang Empire, Rui Zhen, disappeared in the chaos. His Majesty lost his mother before he was young. It was a tragedy for the world to separate from his mother. The country was unfortunate. The descendants of the Emperor ascended the throne and searched for Emperor Rui and Empress Dowager for more than ten years but failed. His Majesty was extremely filial. Everyone knew that he missed his mother. This son’s love was as good as a ruler’s.
However, His Majesty was the ruler of the world. How could he see the mother of the world lose her son, and the Son lose his mother? For the beasts in the mountains, separating mother and son was also against ethics and the Holy path, let alone humans. I’m an official of His Majesty, how could I turn a blind eye to such a tragedy happening in Daozhou? I asked and found out that the woman’s son had been captured by ruthless officials and evil gentries. He was to be placed in a jar and raised for more than ten years to become a dwarf as a tribute to His Majesty, Xuanji.
In the past, there was a traitor, Shi Siming, who separated His Majesty from his mother in Luoyang. Now, there is a ruthless official from Daozhou who separated countless people in Daozhou city from their mother in the name of His Majesty. Compared to Shi Siming, he is even more of a disaster. This ruthless official bullies the people and the Emperor. He is against ethics and the Holy path. If Empress Dowager Rui Zhen was in Daozhou, she would not be able to bear to see Lao Ai.”
……
Xia ping ‘an was halfway through writing his Memorial when Xue Yue knocked on the door, saying that an official from the manor wanted to see him.
Xia ping ‘an put down the memorial and asked Xue Yue to call someone in. A moment later, he saw si Cang of the provincial governor’s manor walk in with his head lowered and a few account books in his hands.
Si Cang of the provincial governor’s mansion was a 50-odd years old civil official. Being tall and thin, he looked meticulous.
I am guilty. Please punish si Cang. si Cang knelt down as soon as he saw Xia ping ‘an. He touched his forehead to the ground and did not dare to raise his head.
“What crime are you guilty of? stand up and speak!” Xia Pingan said calmly.
“Yes!” Si Cang stood up carefully, but his head was still lowered and his back was bent. He handed the account books in his hand to Xia ping ‘an and said, ” my crimes are all in these account books. I dare not hide anything from you. Please take a look, Your Excellency!
Xia ping ‘an took the account book, opened it, and flipped through a few pages. As soon as he saw it, Xia ping’ an frowned and almost couldn’t help but curse again.
Putting down the account book, Xia Pingan’s face was as dark as water.
“How long has this situation been going on for?”
Your Excellency, this humble official has been in charge of the office of provincial governor of Daozhou province in this way. This humble official once asked my subordinate about the rules of the office of provincial governor of Daozhou province; the subordinate also replied that the office of provincial governor of Daozhou province had always been in this way. Although this humble official felt it was improper, I couldn’t change it. I could only follow the rules of the office of provincial governor of Daozhou province. the official replied meticulously.
Damn it. Xia ping ‘an had been wondering why the officials of Daozhou city did not give the people any compensation after abducting their children. They had already embezzled the compensation. It was not that they did not know the amount of local tribute stipulated by the laws of the great Tang, but they did not let the people of Daozhou city know.
For every child that was robbed, those people would report to the Treasury to collect 50 pieces of fabric as compensation. The more children were robbed, the more fabric they would be able to collect from the Treasury. In the Treasury’s accounts, these pieces of fabric were distributed to families without children, but in fact, there was none.
Each year, those people would get thousands of silk from the treasurers, which was not a small amount. In this era, a horse only had 40 silk. The money was shared by the officials in the provincial governor’s office, which was called “tribute” by them.
And because they could falsely claim the ” compensation ” for the local tribute, the officials of Daozhou city were particularly enthusiastic about the matter of offering Tributes to the dwarves. They only caught too few children, not too many.
“What else do you know? tell me everything!”
The Treasurer gritted his teeth and said, ” Your Excellency, the court only needs one dwarf every year. There are so many dwarf figurines in the Changyun villa, and most of them are captured from the homes of the common people in the name of offering tribute. After being trained into dwarf figurines, they are sold to Chang ‘an and other wealthy families. Many of them are even sold to the Western regions. Every year, foreign merchants come to the Dao state to buy dwarf figurines!
Xia ping ‘an took a deep breath. how much money do they earn from selling a dwarf figurine? ”
“The least is a thousand taels of silver, and the most can reach thousands of silver taels.”
“Does everyone in the provincial governor’s office know about this?”
“I basically know everything!”
“Is no one going to care about Zhuang Chao?”
indeed, no one dares to interfere. This matter is related to the tribute. If there are no Tributes, the provincial governor will have to be involved. Therefore, he can only turn a blind eye to it. Those in the provincial governor’s mansion who have received their Tributes will not say much. In addition, Zhuang Chao often says that he knows the noble relatives in Chang ‘an city, who often come to buy and sell the dwarf figurines for him. No one knows how deep his background is. None of the officials in Daozhou city dare to offend him. When Zhuang Chao said that he was short of people, There will be people here to help him go to the poor people’s homes to catch people to let them go.”