Liannan Prefecture, Beijun Commandery, Pingliang County.
"My lord, my lord! Disaster has struck!"
"What's all this commotion? Is there anything in this county that your lord cannot handle?"
The county magistrate of Pingliang reprimanded with great displeasure.
"My lord, this matter, you might truly find difficult to handle. The imperial court has dispatched a special envoy to our county, said to be investigating your actions and account books!"
"What!?"
Magistrate Ding stood up in shock.
He then paced back and forth with a worried expression: "Damn it! Why is the imperial court sending someone to investigate this official out of the blue? Didn't they say the court was short-handed? How can they spare extra personnel to manage the affairs of this small Pingliang County?"
"Where are they now?"
"They have already entered Pingliang County's territory. They rested last night in Kaiping Town and should arrive in about two to three hours."
"No, I must find someone to discuss this with. I cannot let this happen to me alone."
Magistrate Ding thought for a moment and decided to consult his patron.
"Quick, prepare the carriage!"
"Yes!"
Soon, Magistrate Ding, accompanied by a few trusted servants, entered a rather luxurious residence within the county town.
An hour later, he emerged from the residence. Unlike his flustered and uneasy demeanor upon arrival, Magistrate Ding was no longer panicked. Instead, a faint smile played on his lips.
A few hours later, a convoy, escorted by soldiers, arrived outside Pingliang County.
"Your subordinate, the County Magistrate of Pingliang, pays his respects to your excellencies!"
"The County Magistrate of Pingliang? How did this fellow know we were coming?"
Inside the carriage, Steward Wang and the other principal officials looked bewildered.
"He probably has some channels to know court matters. It seems this will be difficult to handle."
"Let's take it one step at a time. As long as his guilt is proven, we'll handle it, no matter how difficult."
Soon, Steward Wang and the others alighted from their carriages. After some pleasantries with Magistrate Ding, they proceeded towards the county yamen.
Inside the yamen, Steward Wang and his entourage sat on either side below, regarding Magistrate Ding coldly.
"May I inquire why your excellencies have jointly come to my humble county?"
"Why? Does Magistrate Ding have no idea?"
Steward Wang sneered and retorted.
Magistrate Ding feigned innocence: "This official is busy with governance day and night and is unaware of anything that would warrant your excellencies' visit. I implore your excellencies to state the reason clearly."
"Heh heh~" Steward Wang chuckled coldly again and said, "In the imperial court, an imperial censor has accused you of improper conduct, of arbitrarily imposing excessive taxes, damaging the reputation of the New Three Laws, and of personal embezzlement. Is this true?"
"Lord Wang, you are mistaken!"
Magistrate Ding's face contorted in distress: "This official has poured all his efforts into Pingliang County, all for the sake of the common people's well-being. How could I possibly impose excessive taxes? If you don't believe me, your excellencies may examine the account books of the county's Ministry of Revenue!"
Saying this, Magistrate Ding gestured to the Ministry of Revenue official standing to his left: "Go, present the account books to Lord Wang for his perusal."
"Yes!"
The Ministry of Revenue official left the yamen and soon returned, followed by seven or eight people carrying several baskets of documents, which they placed in the center of the yamen.
"Your excellencies, my lord, these are the account books for the past six months. If you require older ones, please wait a moment longer."
"No need, these are sufficient!"
Steward Wang waved for the Ministry of Revenue official to step aside, then approached with his men and squatted down to casually examine the writings within.
The account books detailed categories of agricultural tax, commercial tax, and tiered taxation, as well as land registration, types of shops, and so on.
To an outsider, it would surely be dizzying.
But Steward Wang and his men were professionals in this field and found it quite engaging.
However, there was something amiss with these account books. Why? Because they were too normal.
Not only were there no exorbitant taxes, but every entry was meticulously detailed, so normal that it instinctively felt suspicious.
For example, if the magistrate himself was not corrupt, surely his subordinates would be? Even if they dared not embezzle large sums, they would surely engage in minor corruption or expense claims? But none of these were present in these documents!
This was what Steward Wang and his men found abnormal, and it further solidified their belief that all the officials in Pingliang County were problematic.
But as Steward Wang and his men reached for the documents at the bottom, they felt something hard.
Steward Wang frowned and pulled out the object. Upon closer inspection, he realized it wasn't a document, but a solid ingot of silver, weighing twenty taels!
Steward Wang's expression changed.
Was this Magistrate Ding so bold as to openly bribe an imperial envoy?
Steward Wang exchanged a glance with the others. The other three immediately reached into the baskets and, upon withdrawing their hands, indeed found themselves each holding a twenty-tael silver ingot.
"Magistrate Ding, what is this?"
Steward Wang stood up sternly, displaying the silver ingot in his hand.
"These are documents, my lord. Is there a problem?"
Magistrate Ding glanced at the ingot and, with a smile, told a blatant lie.
"Documents?" Steward Wang heard this, looked at the silver ingot in his hand, and grabbed more. He roared, "Insolent! This is clearly silver! You placed silver in the baskets and covered it with documents, what are you trying to do? Trying to bribe us? I, Wang Mengda, would rather starve than embezzle a single tael of silver!"
"Hey? How could there be silver in the baskets? That's impossible! The item in Lord Wang's hand is clearly a document. If you don't believe me, tip the baskets over and see if it's documents or silver!"
Magistrate Ding's expression turned displeased, and he insisted.
"You won't shed a tear until you see the coffin!"
Steward Wang kicked over a basket. All the documents spilled out, and along with them, the silver ingots at the bottom of the basket were revealed. They were all twenty-tael ingots, more than ten of them!
Over two hundred taels of silver? That was almost half a month's income for them. This...
A flicker of hesitation crossed Steward Wang's mind, but he quickly reaffirmed his resolve.
Risking the loss of his official hat and confiscation of his property for a mere bribe equivalent to half a year's income was simply not worth it.
But just then, several porters entered carrying several wooden chests and then departed.
After they left, Magistrate Ding quickly stepped forward, opening the wooden chests as he spoke: "Your excellencies, the Ministry of Revenue also has documents from the first half of the year. Would you care to examine them as well?"
Steward Wang and the others frowned, unsure of what Magistrate Ding was trying to achieve. But when the wooden chests were fully opened and they stepped aside, they realized these were not documents at all! The five wooden chests were filled entirely with twenty-tael silver ingots, packed to the brim in each chest!
Estimating the amount, it was likely no less than three thousand taels. The dazzling silver, shining brightly, left Steward Wang and his men in silence.
"Hey? Your excellencies, why aren't you coming forward to examine the documents?"
"This..."
After a moment of internal struggle, Steward Wang and the others inwardly exclaimed, "It smells so good!"