Chapter 988: The Tyrant's Revival

  Until the last official finished speaking with a lingering tone, Liu Zhang nodded and said: "If it weren't for all of you loyal ministers speaking out, I wouldn't have known that Jiangzhou had so many hardships. This is my fault as the governor of this state. Don't worry, I've taken note of all your requests. When I return to Chengdu, I'll issue orders to the relevant authorities. Ah yes."

  Liu Zhang knocked his head and said: "Lord Han, the prefectural treasury officer, Lord Yuan, the Jin dynasty historian, can you show me the account book of Jiangzhou's expenses? I also need a reference for the allocation."

  The prefectural treasurer and the Jin Cao historian exchanged a glance, some officials whispered to each other, all somewhat embarrassed. After a while, the Hu Cao historian shouted loudly at the county officials outside the door: "The master wants to check the account books, you go and bring them in for me."

  "Yes." The county official outside the door responded with a single word and left, and the surrounding officials all looked at the Household History. Zhang He spoke in a light and contemptuous tone to several officials: "Don't worry, Liu Zhang won't find out anything, I'll have an excuse later."

  The other officials took a look at Liu Zhang, and saw that he was drinking tea with a very comfortable expression, and didn't notice anything, and couldn't help but nod in agreement.

  Before long, six county officials carried in three bamboo baskets containing bamboo slips recording accounts. The officials made way for them, but due to the narrow space, many officials were pressed against the wall. The civil and military officials beside Liu Zhang frowned at the sight of the three baskets, especially Yang Huai and other young generals, who looked angry - wasn't this openly mocking their lord?

  Leng Piao took a step forward, the iron plates on his body clanking loudly. Liu Zhang held a teacup in one hand and with the other hand quietly pressed down on Leng Piao, saying to the Minister of the Treasury: "Minister Han? Why are the account books like this? How can I make sense of them?"

  The storehouse official took a look at Zhang He, and Zhang He gave him a resolute gaze. The storehouse official plucked up his courage and said to Liu Zhang: "Your Excellency is unaware that due to Zhao Wei's chaotic governance, the imperial edicts changed frequently, and the income and expenses also became complicated. If we record them one by one, often when the next order is transmitted, we have to erase the previous item."

  "This went on repeatedly, and a book was often rendered unrecognizable. In the end, the chief clerk had to insert each item one by one. If Zhao Wei wanted to change an order, he would throw away the previous one, resulting in this state. Please, Your Excellency, take a look."

  "Ah, this official has examined it, this official has examined it." Liu Zhang picked up a handful of bamboo slips. These bamboo slips were not only disorganized but also written in Chinese characters. To sort out these accounts would probably take at least a month's time. Liu Zhang found it difficult and said: "But this official is unclear about the current financial situation of Jiangzhou, how can we allocate funds."

  Household History Zhang He smiled and said: "This is not difficult, because Zhao Wei's expenditure is unlimited, the official often checks the accounts, and is very clear about Jiangzhou's finances. Zhao Wei's chaotic governance for six years has almost collapsed Jiangzhou's finances. Now there are less than 3,000 guan in savings, while the daily annual expenditure is at least 800,000 guan, and the annual tax is about 100,000 guan. Now it's still three months away from tax collection, probably needing to spend around 200,000 guan."

  "Ah." Liu Zhang nodded: "That is to say, this official needs to allocate 20,000 guan to Jiangzhou, and there is no tax revenue, but also need to allocate 70,000 guan to Jiangzhou every year."

  "Your Excellency's calculation is not bad." Zhang said respectfully: "However, we officials in Jiangzhou will also be frugal and public-spirited, try to reduce expenses, while developing the people's livelihood. I estimate that after a few years, we can be self-sufficient and won't need any more allocations from the prefecture."

  "Governor Zhang is really sharing the worries for this official." Liu Zhuang carefully placed the teacup on the tea table, his palm pressing tightly against the rim of the cup. After a while, he suppressed the anger that was about to erupt and said to Zhang He: "Then Governor Zhang will take all the officials back, each doing their own job, waiting for this official to allocate funds for you."

  "Thank you, Your Excellency." Zhang He and the other officials bowed and withdrew.

  The last official had just disappeared from the door, Liu Zhang swept away the tea cups on the tea table, and his anger finally burst out uncontrollably. The surrounding attendants, including Fa Zheng, were all startled. Yang Huai stepped forward and said: "My lord, these Jiangzhou officials are too presumptuous, deceiving their superiors and deluding their inferiors, their crimes cannot be tolerated."

  "Did you see that? Even Wu Jiang saw it." Liu Zhang gritted his teeth at Fa Zheng: "This group of Jiangzhou officials is not a single good thing, the responsibility is pushed clean, all on Zhao Wei's body. Does he think I'm an idiot? I didn't expect the politics of Jiangzhou to be so bad, it's simply lawless."

  Fa Zheng saw the murderous intention surging on Liu Zhang's face and hastily advised: "Your Excellency need not get angry, we can immediately adopt the previous plan and replace all the officials of Jiangzhou..."

  "No need to say more." Liu Zhang waved his hand, his face tense: "This group of parasites, if we don't kill them, we can't face the people, and if we don't kill them, it's hard to vent the hatred in our hearts. Not a single one will be left, kill." The last word was almost squeezed out from between his teeth, with a hint of chilliness, and the entire room instantly froze.

  As soon as Liu Zhang finished speaking, everyone around him, except for Yang Hui and other military officers, including Zhang Ren, all knelt down. Fa Zheng bowed his head and urgently said: "My lord must not do this, killing officials will make the people's hearts unstable, offending the aristocratic families, causing great chaos in southern Shu, for the sake of the king's enterprise, please my lord think thrice and withdraw your order."

  "Please reconsider, Your Excellency." Wang Lei and his entourage all bowed together.

  Liu Zhang stood up from the tea table, with his hands behind his back and took two steps forward. He said slowly: "Do you know why I chose to meet them here? This place is not big, I can clearly see their facial expressions. Those officials stand in a group, thinking that others will block me, and they speak privately without restraint. It's hard for me to imagine how painful it is. They can be so contemptuous of me, what about the people of Jiangzhou?"

  Liu Zhang thought of the dull eyes on the streets, a kind of numbness under corrupt rule, and just for this, Liu Zhang felt that killing these officials a thousand times was not excessive.

  "Your Excellency, I have observed the officials of Jiangzhou and it is clear that Zhang He is the ringleader. We can eliminate the main culprit to warn others, as long as you give the order, I will immediately take down Zhang He." Although Zhang Ren was a military general, he was different from other generals of the Three Kingdoms period who were known for their bravery but not their wisdom. He was calm and composed in his decision-making, although not to the same extent as officials like Fa Zheng, and was able to weigh the pros and cons.

  "Zhang He?" Liu Zhang sneered, "Behind Zhang He is the aristocratic Zhang family. The head of the Zhang family dares to tell General Yan that if he wants to investigate and punish the crime of connivance, he should first execute himself. This shows the actual power of the Zhang family in Jiangzhou. With the Zhang family around, what's the use of killing one Zhang He? The Zhang family will join forces with other aristocratic families, and in the end, the politics of Jiangzhou will still be a heap of rotten flesh. Let's just drop it."

  Fa Zheng listened to Liu Zhang's words, "With the Zhang family around, what's the use of killing one Zhang? Then killing other officials wouldn't be of much use either. Does milord really want to take action against the aristocratic families?"

  Fa Zheng thought of this result, no matter how angry Liu Zhang was, he did not dare to dissuade him. He hastily said: "My lord, my lord must not kill the families of the officials. I know that these families are tyrannical in their localities and act lawlessly, causing heaven's anger and people's resentment. However, please consider that our great cause has not yet been accomplished and the wings of Shu have not yet flourished. If we do this, what will be lost is not only the hearts of the officials' families in Shu but also the hearts of all the officials' families under heaven. This would not be beneficial to your imperial ambitions."

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