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Chapter 118 Jiangnan Tax Credits! Chen Yu Repays His Kindness!

Chapter 119 Jiangnan Tax Credits! Chen Yu Repays His Kindness!

The fact that Jia Ting was released so easily naturally reached the ears of the officials in Prison A.

Secrets are hard to keep hidden in the Heavenly Prison.

As a result, more and more prisoners sought out Shen Yan.

This surprised him somewhat.

"This prisoner is not short of money, he just lacks connections."

Shen Yan never expected that he would become the mysterious force from his past life that could get people out of prison.

Of course, he didn't accept commissions from just anyone; Shen Yan only accepted commissions from those who had committed minor offenses.

If it involves too much, he will refuse outright.

This actually deepened the prisoners' trust.

Shen Yan arrived at the Ministry of Justice, found Ye Zhou, and was holding several criminal files in his hand.

Yang Wanli had informed Ye Zhou beforehand, so he was not surprised by Shen Yan's arrival.

He began to look through the files; these prisoners had been in the dungeon for many years.

The matter was originally a trivial matter, and the reason it has been delayed until now is simply because no one has remembered it.

However, when Ye Zhou flipped to the last person, he frowned.

"Return Shen Yan to his family!"

Shen Yan took the case file. This person was an official from Zhejiang who had been convicted of helping to cover up the collapse of the river embankment a few years ago and had been escorted to the capital.

He has been detained until now.

Ye Zhou singled this person out, proving that there was more to this than meets the eye.

Shen Yan didn't ask any further questions; he didn't want to do anything more about it.

However, cultivation had been too expensive during this period, and he had used up all his savings. Even if these convicts sent him money, Shen Yan might not accept it.

"In my past life, I relied on mysterious forces to pass inspections at construction sites; in this life, I've become the mysterious force that others talk about."

Shen Yan couldn't help but shake his head and laugh at himself.

The Imperial City, the Western Garden.

Although the Wanshou Palace has been completed, Emperor Xuanwu has not yet officially moved there.

After the Imperial Astronomical Bureau calculates an auspicious date, the officials will submit a memorial to congratulate him on his move.

Only then can this matter be considered complete.

Emperor Xuanwu, his face ashen, slammed the memorial to the ground.

Wang Xi stood to the side with his head down, not daring to speak.

Emperor Xuanwu gritted his teeth and said, "Wang Guan has truly done a good job! He collected one million taels of silver in taxes from the vast Jiangnan region. How much did Wang Xi collect in taxes from the Jiangnan region last autumn?"

"Your Majesty, last year the autumn tax revenue from the Jiangnan region was eight million taels."

Emperor Xuanwu was furious. He paced back and forth in the palace, repeatedly cursing, "Eight hundred last year, only one hundred this year! Where did all this money go?!"

Wang Xi dared not respond.

The Zhou dynasty collects taxes twice a year, once in the summer and once in the autumn.

Summer taxes were collected starting in June and were generally collected from all regions by November, then sent to Bianjing (Kaifeng) and deposited into the national treasury.

Summer taxes were mainly in the form of wheat, primarily sourced from the north.

The autumn tax was collected starting in November and would be completed by February of the following year, then sent to Bianjing.

The autumn tax mainly consists of rice, primarily from the south.

Emperor Xuanwu's anger stemmed from the issue of autumn tax collection.

Yan Fan had already reported the autumn tax matter at the end of last year, and there were no abnormalities at that time.

But after the New Year, such a big thing happened.

Jiangnan has been a prosperous region since ancient times and has always been a major source of tax revenue for the Zhou Dynasty.

This time, Wang Guan, who was in charge of tax collection, only collected one million taels of silver, less than 20% of what he had collected before.

How could Emperor Xuanwu not be angry?

It's obvious that something happened in Jiangnan, and with tax revenue not coming in, many expenses will have to be cut.

With income not covering expenses and the deficit too large, the Great Zhou Dynasty is about to face disaster.

How could Emperor Xuanwu not be angry and anxious?

for a long time.

Emperor Xuanwu calmed down and regained his composure.

He then said to Wang Xi, "Go and fetch Zheng Jun for me!"

Before long, Zheng Jun rushed to the palace.

The Embroidered Uniform Guards naturally already knew some information about the events in Jiangnan.

After all, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had agents all over the world and was the strongest intelligence agency in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

It is indeed difficult to conceal the affairs of the world from the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

When Emperor Xuanwu saw Zheng Jun arrive, he said harshly, "You should know why I summoned you here, right? Send someone to Jiangnan, and I want to see who is so bold as to touch my money."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Emperor Xuanwu sneered, "No matter how much this matter involves, you must investigate it thoroughly for me. I'm not dead yet! The Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs will also send people to go there. Arrest those who should be arrested, and kill those who should be killed."

After receiving the order, Zheng Jun left the hall to make arrangements.

Heaven Prison.

Shen Yan said to Qi Xuan with great impatience:

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"Tell those people to get lost. All sorts of people are showing up here. I'm not doing this again, so don't come looking for me."

After he got several more people out of prison, his reputation quickly spread.

Secretly, everyone praised him for his extraordinary abilities and his trustworthiness.

If you accept the task, you will surely succeed.

This is something that would tempt those who have money but no connections.

However, after making a fortune, Shen Yan was no longer short of money.

He didn't want to do it anymore, and since Ye Zhou had taken over, he no longer needed to concern himself with many things.

People from the Ministry of Justice had already begun to act as matchmakers.

In this Great Zhou Dynasty, every official is corrupt.

Anyone who takes money and does good work can be considered a good official; Shen Yan, a truly incorruptible official, has yet to be seen.

Perhaps it was because he was imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison, where he witnessed the dark side of human nature.

Just then, Chen Xiaoshuan ran in.

"Sir, someone is looking for you outside."

"Didn't you say you weren't going to do it? Tell him to get lost!"

"This man is different. I recognize him. He is Chen Yu, the eunuch who was imprisoned in the imperial prison last time."

Shen Yan was somewhat surprised to hear this; he hadn't expected Chen Yu to be looking for him.

He thought to himself, "Could it be that they've really come to repay a debt of gratitude?!"

They arrived outside the prison.

Upon seeing Chen Yu in his close-fitting attire, followed by a large contingent of Imperial Guards, Shen Yan couldn't help but tease him, "Lord Chen, what brings you here?! You're not here to arrest me with so many Imperial Guards, are you?"

Upon hearing his words, Chen Yu smiled and replied, "Lord Shen is too kind. I was just going out on business and came to fulfill my promise before leaving."

After saying that, he took out several silver notes from his pocket.

"I heard that Lord Shen is short of money recently, so I specially sent some to you to repay your kindness. These are just some mundane things, so please don't refuse them."

""

Shen Yan glanced at it and realized that what Chen Yu called "a little bit of vulgarity" was no small matter at all.

He roughly estimated in his mind that it was at least three thousand taels.

This was no small sum; he knew eunuchs were wealthy.

But I never expected that Chen Yu would be so rich.

"Lord Chen, you are too kind. It was just a few casual words. I don't deserve such a grand gesture."

Chen Yu said solemnly, "What was just a few words of casual conversation to you, sir, was like heavenly music to me at the time. Please don't refuse, sir."

Since things had been said to this extent, Shen Yan no longer refused.

As he had said, Chen Yu had come to see him one last time before leaving.

Watching them leave, Shen Yan thought to himself, "I wonder who's going to be unlucky this time?"

When eunuchs and imperial guards go out together, they're definitely carrying out a major operation involving confiscation of property and extermination of entire families.

These are all people close to the emperor, representing Emperor Xuanwu.