Chapter 193 The court came to inspect
The journey from Mianzhu to Brazil County takes only a few days at a quick pace.
After Ma Di left Chengdu, he went straight to Mianzhu and rushed to Brazil County with his own soldiers, preparing to test the water first by targeting the Zhou family.
The three counties of Bazhong, Brazil and Badong are the so-called Samba boundaries. It is close to Hanzhong and Jingzhou and is a relatively rich area in Shu. Because of this, many great scholars and powerful men in Shu were born here.
Ma Su's current position is Dongcao of the Prime Minister's Office, which is not a high position in theory. The salary is 600 dan, which is not even as big as the position of county governor.
But because this position is the assistant to the Prime Minister Chang Shi, he has the power to supervise the county magistrate and other officials below. And Ma Di also used this power to boldly go from Chengdu to local areas to inspect acres of land.
As long as he says that he is Dong Cao of the Prime Minister's Office, he has the right to access any files, and no one has the power to stop him.
Unless Jiang Wan came to drag him in person, or the palace ordered him to be recalled.
Ma Su led his men and horses along the official road in Shuzhong and arrived in Langzhong at noon on the fifth day.
As soon as he entered the city, Ma Su asked a few soldiers to inform the county magistrate, and then he personally took Dong Cao Yin and went straight to the county government.
The six months of governance in Longyou gave Ma Su experience in dealing with local wealthy families. This kind of wealthy family, which can make all the decisions locally and still have a voice in the court, often does not seriously destroy evidence.
After all, if the higher-ups came to investigate, they would have received the news before the officials even left Chengdu. When the time comes, just deal with the evidence and records in a targeted manner. There is no need to go through the trouble of cleaning them every once in a while.
Therefore, when Ma Su conducted a surprise inspection, his first target was the archive room that recorded household registration and land in Langzhong. As long as he controls this place, Ma Su can easily take the next step.
When I rushed to the door of the archives room, I was stopped by the clerk in charge of the place, saying that no outsiders were allowed to enter. Ma Su didn't talk nonsense to him, and directly threw Cao Yin, the east minister of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and then squeezed past the clerk and went straight into the archives room.
Langzhong is a large county in Brazil County with a large population and a prosperous economy. This also indicates that there are definitely not a few archives here.
But obviously, Ma Su is not in a hurry about this. As long as he can protect the archives room, he will have plenty of time to find out all the dirty things about the local wealthy family. It's just a matter of time.
Not long after Ma Su took control of the Langzhong archives room, the county magistrate rushed over in a hurry. As soon as he reached the door, he saw the heavily armed guards and immediately shrank back in fear.
What is the situation like this? Why did the high-ranking officials from Chengdu bring so many old soldiers with them when they came down for inspection?
"Are you this Langzhong Ling?" Ma Di also saw Langzhong Ling arriving and asked his soldiers to bring him in.
"I have met Mr. Ma Di. He is Zhou Wen, the magistrate of Langzhong." The county magistrate cautiously raised his hand and saluted Ma Di.
"Zhou Wen? Didn't I, a big man, have an order not to allow local scholars to serve as local officials?" Upon hearing this name, Ma Di immediately felt that something was wrong and frowned.
"Your Majesty, I am from Nanzhong, not from Langzhong. I just happen to be a member of the Zhou family." Zhou Wengong cupped his hands and replied bravely.
Ma Su: Haha.
As soon as these words came out, Ma Su basically understood what was going on.
In the Han Dynasty, there has always been a tradition of local officials replacing officials in other places. The positions of county magistrate and county guard cannot be open to local people. Employing foreigners as officials can effectively prevent local people from colluding with each other and maintain central control over local areas.
But obviously, the territory of Shu Han was too small, and there were not many scholars who could serve as officials in other places. Moreover, because the local faction has been working hard in Shu for many years, many rules have gradually become ineffective.
For example, the person in front of me is a typical example of exploiting loopholes.
"I came here this time to investigate the situation in the entire Brazil County where powerful people have embezzled acres of land and over-held the land. During this period, I hope Langzhong Ling can cooperate with X's actions."
"If this Dong Cao discovers that there is collusion to deceive the court, I will never condone it!" Ma Di looked at Zhou Wen and said slowly, and then waved his hand to Zhou Wen like a fly.
"Go and do your work first, wait until I finish checking the household registration and land title!"
After Zhou Wen left in fear, Liu Yin followed and asked strangely.
"General...Shijun, why don't you detain him first? This Langzhong Ling is clearly the spokesperson of the local powerful. If we let him go, won't our actions be exposed?"
"If you don't let him go, he will be exposed. Don't forget that the Chengdu Zhou family is the one who can send the maid to my bed. Can we hide this action from them?" Ma Su smiled slightly and said that it was not a big problem.
"What's more, I don't know how many of their informants there are in Langzhong, and I don't even know how much evidence of them can be found. It's better for us to let the word out first, so that Zhou can take action first, and then we can't respond. Not too late!"
"Anyway, the archives room is not lost. Dealing with the Zhou family is not much more difficult than dealing with the Longyou clan!"
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Ma Su's guess was correct, and the messenger sent by Zhou Shu arrived with Ma Su. When the Zhou family in Langzhong heard that the Jingzhou faction was preparing to take full action against them, everyone immediately became anxious.
Later, Zhou Wen, the commander of Langzhong, came back with Ma Su's harsh words and told him the scale of the personal guards that Ma Su would bring.
"More than a hundred elites rode straight into the archives room? Ma Su is coming with bad intentions!" The person who spoke to the Zhou family in Langzhong was Zhou Shu's younger brother Zhou Yun. After hearing about Ma Su's behavior, his heart trembled.
This is not the first time that a high-ranking official from the imperial court has come down for inspection, but when did someone bring soldiers down for inspection? Moreover, it was a surprise inspection. After entering the city, the goal was clear and he went straight to the archives room.
"Master, should we take any measures?" the servant asked cautiously.
"What are you afraid of? Even if he finds out something, what will happen? At worst, he will vomit out all the things he has accumulated over the years. Can he still destroy our Zhou family?" Zhou Yun waved his hand and scolded the timid man. He is a human being, but his words cannot hide his lack of confidence.
After all, the heads of the family in the court said that they should make plans in advance. Obviously, things are no longer the trivial fights they used to be. Judging from the analysis of the family leader's letter, it is obvious that the Jingzhou faction intends to use the force of conquering Wu Shengli to suppress them.
If they want to have a truce, they may be drained of blood by the Jingzhou faction.
"Send someone to find this Dong Cao and ask if you can come and have a detailed chat to test his attitude." Zhou Yun waved his hand and then ordered the servant to prepare to receive Ma Di.
"If we send someone to deliver a message to the farm outside the city, we still have to make plans in advance!"
"The inheritance of several generations of our Zhou family cannot be thrown into my hands!"