Chapter 258 The Qing Lishu Office’s Southern Yunnan Office (Part 2)

"Master Li, do you feel that this arrangement of my official is inappropriate and don't want to be ordered?"

Bian Xuedao's slightly stern words came to his ears, and Li Ling was pulled from his thoughts and quickly replied: "The officials dare not. The officials are just worried that they will not be able to comply with such heavy responsibilities, which has let down the adults' hard work."

Bian Xuedao glanced at him sideways, then waved his hand with a smile: "You don't have to be too humble. With your talent, I believe that I will be able to do this job well. Look, this is the relevant document, please accept it." As he said that, he pushed some errand documents from the yamen to Li Ling and signaled him to sign and confirm.

Having said this, Li Ling couldn't refuse any more, so he could only go forward and bow to thank him. Then, under the gaze of the other party, he signed his name on it, and a small seal he didn't carry with him was also pressed on the document. In this way, even if he was completely confirmed that he was the head of Yunnan in the Ministry of Revenue Qingli Office from this moment on!

After confirming that there was no problem, Bian Xuedao's smile became more kinder: "Very good, I will send all the relevant documents and accounts to you later. By the way, there is another thing you need to know. Just a few days ago, your former official had already made all the tax accounts for southern Yunnan next year, and I have seen it without any problems, so you shouldn't be too busy in the next half year."

If these words were placed in other positions, they would only make the new official happy. After all, who wouldn't want to save his errands lightly? But Li Ling's expression changed at this moment. The other party's hand was really amazing and he didn't give him any room for maneuver.

But he was a senior official and crushed people to death. After becoming the Minister of the Internal Affairs Office, he was still not able to raise objections. He could only suppress his anger and clasped his fists again: "I thank you for your care. I will not forget what happened today."

"Haha, it's just a little bit of trivial matters, which can be regarded as a reward for your contribution to the Ministry of Revenue. Go and do it well. I am very optimistic about you." After saying that, Bian Xuedao waved his hand and signaled that Li Ling could go out.

Li Ling still bowed to him with great etiquette and then left in a hurry. While watching him leave, the smile on Bian Xuedao's face became ridiculous. He believed that when taxes were collected next year, he could kick him out of the yamen with dignity and even punish him for being ineffective.

When Li Ling returned to the public housing shared by him and his five colleagues, he found that the eyes of these people looked at him were playful and even gloating. Obviously, they had already known about this earlier and learned that they had become the head of southern Yunnan.

This made him feel even more depressed. As some servants and others kept moving the relevant accounts, when he picked up the tax he had just set for next year, he felt even more chilling in his heart - 346,200 taels, this is the tax silver that the former chief of Yunnan Province had to pay the court next year before leaving office!

This number is naturally inconspicuous in other places. Not to mention a province, even a government is too small. If you go to Jiangnan, it will be just a number of taxes paid by a county in a year. But if you change the place to southern Yunnan, the situation will be completely different. If Li Ling remembers a good memory, the taxes in southern Yunnan have not exceeded 200,000 taels in recent years, and in a few years, even one taels of silver have not been sent to the capital.

Looking at this number, Li Ling's face was extremely gloomy. Bian Xuedao handed over such an impossible task to himself, which was obviously necessary to deal with him with legitimate reasons, and even if he couldn't find any mistakes, it was difficult for the emperor to maintain. This was a real open conspiracy, and it was the most difficult thing to deal with in the officialdom, but he had to face.

After being stunned for a while, Li Ling suddenly stood up. Under the surprised gaze of other colleagues, he strode out and headed straight for Lu You's public housing not far away. However, what he was looking for today was not Lu You, but Xiang Daxing.

Xiang Daxing, who was forcibly dragged to a quiet corner by Li Ling, looked confused: "Wen Zhong, what are you doing?"

"I have something to ask you for advice, and I hope you can give me some reference as much as possible." Li Ling looked at him with a serious expression. Seeing that the other party was also singular, he said again, "Do you still remember the accounts submitted to the court in southern Yunnan over the years?"

Xiang Daxing is indeed a person who knows the past accounts of the Ministry of Revenue for many years, so he nodded: "I remember the local accounts for fifteen years."

"Then do you think the court can receive taxes of more than 300,000 taels of silver from the local area in a year?"

"This is impossible." Xiang Daxing shook his head immediately, "Southern Yunnan is already poor and has a small population. In addition, local transportation is blocked and commercial roads are blocked, so it is difficult to improve whether it is agricultural tax or commercial tax. The tax has been small for many years, let alone 300,000, or even 200,000."

"I really have no hope at all?" Li Ling's face became increasingly ugly, and he stared at him.

"What are you doing when you pay so much attention to taxes in southern Yunnan?" Xiang Daxing asked in confusion first, and then suddenly realized: "You... aren't you entrusting the head of southern Yunnan?"

Li Ling smiled bitterly: "Not only that, but he was also required to have a tax silver tax of more than 300,000 taels."

"How can this be done? Even if there is a good harvest in the local area, all the benefits are over the hands of local local officials. The officials appointed by the court cannot receive much tax at all..." Xiang Daxing looked at him with a worried look, "Is there really no way to push this job?"

"What do you think?"

Xiang Daxing lowered his head and said nothing. He knew that this was impossible. The court officials are not a market transaction, so how could they do whatever you want?

However, Li Ling was not completely discouraged, but continued to look at him: "Actually, what I want to ask you is, as far as you know, how much taxes and silver have you paid at most in southern Yunnan over the years?"

"I really remember this. It should be in the 18th year of Xianlong that the taxes delivered to the court in southern Yunnan reached as much as 220,000 taels. At that time, the chief of Yunnan was also evaluated by the Ministry of Personnel and was promoted the following year..."

Li Ling raised his eyebrows: "How did it do it in the first place?"

"I was already working in the Ministry of Revenue at that time, but I heard someone mention it, saying that the head of the company set a double tax than the previous year in order to get rid of this deadly official position as soon as possible, and then went to ask for help from several people in southern Yunnan. As a result, one of his people was the descendant of a local official in southern Yunnan. He came forward to finish the job.

"But this is the only exception. In the years since, there has never been a tax of more than 150,000 taels in southern Yunnan. So I was afraid of all the officials of my Ministry of Revenue. No one wants to get involved here."

Li Ling's mind quickly turned: "In other words, in fact, more taxes and silver can be paid in southern Yunnan, but it is only because of some reasons that he looks so poor?"

"Maybe, I don't know what the inside story is."

"Then you tell me, if I go to southern Yunnan and talk to the officials and natives there, can I ask them to help me this time?"

"You... do you want to go to southern Yunnan?" Xiang Daxing was even more surprised and shouted, "This is too risky. Not to mention whether the court would let you leave Beijing for more than half a year to the southwest. Just the thousands of miles away, the dangerous road, and the more bizarre and dangerous environment in the local area are not something that scholars like you and me can deal with. Moreover, even if you are really lucky and arrive in southern Yunnan safely, it is impossible to convince the local officials there. If the local people do not follow the education and do not accept the orders of the king, how could they pay multiple times the tax and silver just because you are in a battle?"

These questions were asked directly by Li Ling. He thought of such a solution because he suddenly encountered a difficult problem. As for whether it was appropriate or not, it was hard to say.

"Wen Zhong, don't do it nonsense. This fact is too dangerous. Even if the job cannot be done, we will be criticized at most. Even if we lose our official position, it is better than paying our lives!" Xiang Daxing continued to persuade. He was really concerned about Li Ling, for fear that the other party would do reckless and ignorant actions in an urgent manner.

Li Ling also looked at him with some emotion, and then smiled and said, "Don't worry, I cherish my life very much. There is nothing that can make me ignore my own safety. What you said is that there is still time for this matter. I can make a long-term plan and find other ways to deal with it."

"That's good." Xiang Daxing then breathed a sigh of relief and said with a hint, "It's a pity that I have limited abilities and I really can't help you in this matter..."

"No, you have helped me a lot, at least let me know that there is still this way to go in the end." Li Ling said sincerely, then clasped his fists at the other party, and then they dispersed.

In this way, Li Ling, who had regained his exact authority, sat in the yamen for half a day and went home until the evening. During this period, he understood more clearly that learning the Tao can not only deal with him in a legitimate manner, but also have a certain purpose of procrastination.

Because if the other party punishes himself at a mistake now, once the report is reported, it will be known to the emperor. In a few days, the emperor naturally cannot let it take revenge. However, after half a year, the time has passed, and the emperor may have forgotten himself. It will be easy for the Minister of the Bian to deal with himself with such a legitimate reason, so that no one can find any fault.

"So the official is really a traitor. I am in the officialdom, so I have to be more careful in the future. Of course, more importantly, I can climb up as soon as possible. I can't always be a slaughter and a fish. I have to fight with my life every time!"

When Li Ling finally got off the car, he had a certain idea in his mind. But then, he adjusted his mindset again, but he didn't want his sister to know his difficulties, which affected her.
Chapter completed!