"Have you found the place where Diao hid his money?"

The little golden squirrel narrowed his eyes and said with a smile, "Sir, not only did I find a darkroom in Diao's study, I also found this ledger.

This man surnamed Diao took advantage of the fact that he was the chief officer of the Duzhi Department and had the power to control the world's rents, property, land and water, and the expenditure and expenditures of the annual budget, so he actually put his mind on the fire consumption."

Shi Zhongkui's eyes lit up, "Although there is no law in the Zhou Dynasty regarding the return of fire to the public, it also clearly stipulates that it cannot exceed 30%.

In other words, when the broken silver collected by the government needs to be cast into official silver ingots, the loss is 10% to 15% in Jiangnan, and 30% is allowed in remote areas.

Therefore, the tax revenue of 10,000 taels is only 7 to 9 taels when it reaches the Ministry of Household Affairs.

And this does not include the cost of transporting money.

The ancient casting technology was not up to standard, and the broken silver itself was of different quality. When it was cast into official silver, there was bound to be loss.

Even in the wealthy areas of Jiangnan, private castings were mixed with other metals, and too many silver ingots were circulated.

At one time, there was a situation where the government would lose money when casting silver ingots if it did not increase the fire consumption by 20% or 30%.

In some remote counties, fire control takes up to 50% of the time.

Of course, no matter how strict or sound the laws are, they will never be able to stop those who are willing to do so.

Lao Zhu kills corrupt officials like he kills chickens, it's not because some people want money but not their lives.

Shi Zhongkui wanted to bring down Diao Dexing, a big rat.

But consider that I am just a Hanlin Academy editor, even if I only focus on Diao Dexing, I don’t care about the people behind him.

There is no benefit in the end, let alone being promoted to an official position.

It's better to keep him as your stepping stone.

However, this did not prevent him from asking the Golden Mouse to bring back a copy of the account book.

But before that, Diao Dexing must be dealt with first, otherwise he won't be able to get money, let alone dredging the river, even if he wants to do rice field fish farming in the Tuntian Division, it will be impossible.

No, having only money but no food is also a problem.

Moreover, it is already mid-April, and all the rice in the north will be sown if it continues further.

So at this time, he was most concerned about raising fish in rice fields and dredging rivers. It shouldn't be a big problem to delay it for a month.

After receiving the order, the golden-haired rat quickly ran out from the roof beam.

Shi Zhongkui called Yu Shun, and soon Shi Guangzhu hurried over with six or seven strong servants.

Seeing Cui Hezhong from one hundred households sitting in the main hall, the embroidered guard, and five general banners, Shi Guangzhu immediately lost his temper.

He greeted Cui Hezhong and others politely, sat on the chair obediently, and waited for Shi Zhongkui to come over.

Not long after, after seeing Shi Zhongkui, Cui Hezhong and the others hurriedly stood up and saluted, "I've met you, sir."

Shi Zhongkui smiled and nodded, sitting on the main seat in the main hall, staring at Shi Guangzhu who stood up but did not salute.

After Cui Hezhong also looked at him, Shi Guangzhu felt a hair in his heart before he reacted.

He hurriedly cupped his hands and saluted, "I have met you, sir."

Only then did Shi Zhongkui give instructions.

After receiving the order, Shi Guangzhu took his servants with him, but Cui Hezhong and others followed the order without taking the servants and the ordinary schoolmaster, Li Shi, all the way to a house outside Chengde Gate.

While Shi Guangzhu ordered his servants to buy food.

A general laughed and asked Cui Hezhong, "Sir, what did the champion want me to do when he asked me to wait here?"

"Shut up." Cui Hezhong glared at the general banner who was speaking, "I told you before the stall came here that Prime Minister Xia Nei in the palace was embarrassed in front of the champion this morning. He could only smile to greet him. I understand.

without?"

The five general flags suddenly turned pale with fright.

Xia Shouzhong could kill himself and others with just one word, and Cui Hezhong's words just now showed that Shi Zhongkui's holy family was in good health, and even Xia Shouzhong did not dare to offend him.

It was almost time for curfew, and when Shi Guangzhu, Cui Hezhong and others were getting impatient, fire suddenly broke out in the house.

The golden-haired rat lit a fire in the firewood shed of Diao Dexing's outer house, pinched his throat, pretended to be a woman and shouted, "The water has leaked, the water has leaked."

Diao Dexing, who was drinking wine and eating grapes with his wife outside, pushed away his beautiful concubine when he heard this.

Through the papered doors and windows, I saw a fire in the yard, and I was immediately frightened to death.

I rushed out of the house without thinking. Fortunately, there was only a fire in the woodshed. Not only was the fire not big, it didn't block the way to escape.

I originally planned to call someone to put out the fire, but when I thought that I had secretly married an outsider, if the head wife of the family found out, there would definitely be a commotion.

Moreover, officials from the Five Cities Military and Horse Department and Shuntian Prefecture Yamen Service will definitely come over after they escape.

When someone sees me, it is inevitable that rumors will spread.

"Master, save me." The concubine ran out in disheveled clothes and grabbed Diao Dexing.

If the fire blocked the road, Diao Dexing would not care about this beautiful concubine.

But since we can escape together, of course no one will die, so things will be easier to suppress.

Pulling the concubine, the mother subconsciously shouted to the maid who had run out to serve the concubine, "Quickly put out the fire."

But as soon as he finished speaking, he added, "Don't worry about it, it's important to save your life."

There are several maids, and my mother doesn't have the guts to put out the fire.

Seeing Diao Dexing running away with his concubine, he also ran out.

When the golden-haired rat who set fire saw Diao Dexing and the others running away, he narrowed his eyes and laughed.

Since several of the embroidered guards had arrived long in advance, of course the golden-haired squirrel also arrived early.

After a few kicks that had been bitten off by him, a large piece of the woodshed beam was missing at both ends.

In an instant, the roof collapsed and a large number of tiles fell into the woodshed, temporarily suppressing the fire.

Not to mention that, the golden-haired rat took out a diamond talisman from the small rope bag tied around his neck and slapped it on his body.

A faint golden light flashed, and the golden-haired rat instantly felt that not only was he a lot stronger, but there seemed to be a protective shield around his body.

I tried to hit the wall of the woodshed and made a crack in the wall, but I didn't feel any pain at all, and I was very happy.

There were several bang bang bang sounds, and the earth wall was knocked down by him.

This time the fire was extinguished by 80% or 90%.

And there is no need to worry about the eaves catching fire and spreading to other houses in the yard.

At this time, even if all the remaining remains of the woodshed are burned, it will not cause a major fire.

Diao Dexing, who ran out, had not even taken a few steps when he was stopped by Shi Guangzhu and his servants.

Then Xiu Yiwei Liu also blocked the way from the other end of the street.

Shi Guangzhu chuckled, "Isn't this Mr. Diao? Is your house on fire?"

Diao Dexing wanted to slap himself in the face at this moment. It would be great if he went home directly today.

He took out a few banknotes from his sleeve and said, "I am just passing by today, and I will definitely thank you very much tomorrow."

Cui Hezhong and others knew at a glance that Diao Dexing wanted to use money to seal their mouths.

He shook his head hurriedly and said, "Sir, the official and others are just passing by, and this matter is not our business, so we won't talk too much."

After saying that, he looked at Shi Guangzhu who was staring fiercely at the disheveled concubine.

Diao Dexing thought for a moment and suddenly remembered that Shi Guangzhu was the banner brother of Shi Zhongkui's mentor, and the emperor also asked him to assist Shi Zhongkui in dredging the river.

He immediately understood that this was Shi Zhongkui's revenge.

Normally, he wouldn't care about Xiu Yiwei and Shi Guangzhu.

But now that they are blocked and not allowed to leave, when the surrounding neighbors and officials arrive, tomorrow the whole city will know about raising an outhouse.

"Master Baihu, judging from the situation, the fire has been extinguished by itself."

Everyone looked back and immediately discovered that apart from the smell of fireworks, the firelight was indeed gone.

For a moment, Diao Dexing mistakenly thought that Xiu Yiwei had definitely done this.

The people in the Xiuyi Guard thought that Shi Zhongkui's men set the fire and put out the fire, but this man must be very good at it, so that they and others did not notice it.

"Since there is nothing to do, Master Diao, I will not disturb you anymore."

Cui Hezhong bowed his hand and was about to leave, but Diao Dexing still grabbed him and thrust the banknote into Cui Hezhong's hand.

Then he took out a 500-tael silver note and gave it to Shi Guangzhu, "Tell Zhuangyuan Gong and ask him to come to the Hubu Yamen tomorrow to discuss it."

Shi Guangzhu took a look at it with a smile under the moonlight. When he saw clearly that it was 500 taels, his eyes suddenly lit up.

He nodded and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Diao, I will definitely bring the message to you."

Separating from Diao Dexing, Shi Guangzhu, Cui Hezhong and others went all the way to Shi Zhongkui's home.

After receiving the report, Shi Zhongkui laughed and looked at the 200 taels of silver notes handed over by Cui Hezhong in his hand.

Look at Shi Guangzhu again.
To be continued...