During the reign of Qianlong, one spring, Li Han went to Zhucheng as a county magistrate.

As a parent-mother official, the first thing Li Han had to do after taking office was to observe the public sentiment and check the storage of the government office. This investigation really found a big problem. Some big families such as squires and local tycoons ignored the rules and regulations and actually owed their taxes and grain for a long time. Among them, the family of the great scholar Liu Yong has not paid taxes for three years.

As the saying goes, a dead camel is bigger than a horse. Although Liu Yong is an honest official, his family has been an official in the dynasty for generations and has a prominent position. His family will not even be unable to pay this tax and food, right?

It turned out that the former county governor, Yin Zong, was an official who paid for it with money and was well versed in the way of party and personal gain. After he came to Zhucheng to take office, he thought that as long as he served Lord Liu's family well, he could seize a ladder that reached the sky, and he would not worry about not having a chance to rise to the top. So he courted the Liu family in every possible way, and exempted the Liu family from paying taxes and food back then, on the grounds that Lord Liu worked day and night for the country and the people, and local officials should be considerate. Other rich and powerful landlords got the information and followed suit, giving gifts to Yin Zong, looking for various excuses not to pay or delay paying taxes and food.

Yin Zong first accepted bribes and took the means of others; second, he was worried that he would annoy these big families with backers. If there was a disturbance, he would pull out the radish and bring out the mud, and his other activities would be exposed. So he forced the taxes and food owed by the big families on the common people.

This made the common people miserable. Most of them faced the loess and turned their backs to the sky, and worked tirelessly for a year. In addition to paying taxes and grain, the rest of the grain harvested was not enough for the whole family. Gradually, those who had a little way out left their hometowns and went to other places to make a living; those who had no way out would rather flee famine and beg for food than sweat to farm the land. After a long time, large tracts of fields were deserted, where could there be food to hand over to the court?

The situation is so serious that it must be resolved as soon as possible. Capturing the thief first captures the king. Since the matter started at Liu Yong's house, it can only be resolved here first.

Just at this time, Liu Yong returned to his hometown to save his relatives. Li Han decided to meet Liu Yong and take this opportunity to ask for the taxes and food owed by the Liu family.

Master knew his intentions and was startled, reminding, "I can't do anything." Although Lord Liu is a famous good official, it really concerns his own interests, who has no selfishness? Besides, if Lord Liu thinks that you are defiant, disrespectful to Shangguan, and make him lose face, the problem will be serious.

"The prince breaks the law and commits the same crime as the common people. As a great scholar, Lord Liu should persuade his family to abide by the law impartially." Li Han disagreed.

Without further ado, Li Han soon went to visit Liu Mansion. Word came from the gatekeeper, and the butler of Liu Mansion came out and took him to the inner hall.

Li Han said respectfully, "I heard that Lord Liu returned to his hometown to visit his relatives, and I asked the housekeeper to inform him."

The butler said, "It's not a coincidence for Lord Li to come. Lord Liu has gone to visit friends, and it is uncertain when he will come back. Just tell me if there is anything, or come back another day."

Li Han hesitated for a moment and decided to swallow what he was going to say. The Liu family has been in arrears on taxes and food for several years, and others may not know it, but the housekeeper is very clear that if he understands the stakes, it will not be delayed for a few years. If he says that he is here to urge the tax and food, let Lord Liu know his purpose, what if he protects the calf in order to cover his ugliness? It is better to make a surprise attack and make a preemptive strike. So he threw his hands and said, "I just know that Lord Liu has returned to his hometown, so I am here to pay a visit. Since Lord Liu is not in the mansion, I will come back another day."

When Li Han walked to the door, the butler took out a red silk bag from his arms and stuffed it into Li Han's hand, saying, "Small meaning, no respect, please accept it with a smile."

Li Han was stunned for a moment, took it over and opened it to see that it was a silver ticket of one hundred taels. He quickly pushed the silver ticket back.

The butler stuffed the bill back in and said with a smile, "My lord, you have to rely on the parents to take care of you in the future. If you don't accept it, are you worried that you will be said to be high and expensive, and your reputation will be damaged?"

This is amazing. Li Han thought: Lord Liu has clean sleeves, I didn't expect his family to be such a thing. If you insist on not accepting it, I am afraid that it will cause the housekeeper to be on guard. It is an expedient measure to accept it first and stabilize the housekeeper.

Therefore, Li Han could only thank him and accept the bill.

The next day, Li Han visited his door again, and Liu Yong received him warmly. During the conversation, Liu Yong told Li Han not only how to be diligent, fair and honest as an official, but also how to serve the court. He also did his best to ask Li Han about his situation after taking office, whether he had encountered any problems, and said that as long as it was for the benefit of the people, no matter how difficult it was, he would help.

Li Han was overjoyed, and since he had said this, he might as well go with the flow and show his intentions. Thinking of this, he stood up, saluted deeply, and said, "What the lord has taught is that the lower official has been taught. Now there is something that must be reported to the Lord to see what should be done. After the lower official took office, he found that the government's treasury was seriously short of money and grain, because many tyrants and big families had long defaulted on taxes and grain."

Li Han told the truth about his investigation…

"The collection of taxes and grain is related to the foundation of the imperial court's great cause. This problem cannot be delayed and must be solved immediately!" Lord Liu said.

"I naturally understand the seriousness of the problem. Otherwise, I won't mention it to your master. But..."

"But what? Are there still hard bones to chew? Don't hesitate, please speak up if you have anything to say." Liu Yong seemed to see something.

"Since that's the case, I have no choice but to tell the truth. To be honest, your mansion has also defaulted on taxes and grain for three years. Those big families saw this, and everyone followed suit, so this phenomenon spread like a plague, not only related to the imperial court, but also damaged the reputation of the people..."

When Liu Yong heard this, he frowned, his face was angry, and said with a dark face, "This official has not returned home for a few years, and there is such a thing! If so, you can just let it go and do it without any worries. I will first ask my family to make up for the tax and grain arrears as soon as possible."

Lord Liu's words reassured Li Han. As long as the Liu family took the lead, it would be easy to take down the others. There were still many things to be dealt with in the county yamen, so he thanked Lord Liu again and was about to leave. Liu Yong told his family to prepare meals and keep Li Han for a casual meal. Li Han was so sorry that he had to stay.

On the dining table, there were six dishes and one soup, and there was almost no meat star; a pot of old wine was brewed at home. After two cups of small wine, Li Han's face was red and his ears were red, and at first glance, it was not the material for drinking.

Liu Yong ordered to serve the meal, and the dried millet rice was brought to the table. Li Han picked up the bowl and just took a bite, "Boom," a grain of sand made his teeth hurt. He wanted to spit it out, but in front of Liu Yong, he felt disgraceful and had to swallow it. Take another bite, there is still sand, and not a grain. Look at Lord Liu, the same rice, chewed slowly and ate very leisurely, but there is no sense of tongue.

Was the sand in his bowl deliberately done by someone? Who else could it be if he didn't mean to eat with Lord Liu? This is to warn him: This bowl of hard rice from the Liu family is not delicious! Go back and think about it before talking!

Unexpectedly, the sanctimonious Lord Liu would play yin! What kind of integrity and integrity, leading by example, speaking better than singing! Li Han's stubbornness suddenly came up, he didn't make a sound, but deliberately bit the sand and swallowed it...

Liu Yong seemed to notice something strange, and asked with a smile, "Why, my Liu family rice is a little hard and not delicious, right?"

Li Han smiled and said, "Master Hui, the lower official's teeth are still good, and he is not afraid of being hard." Then he continued to eat.

Liu Yong also smiled and said, "That's good."

Suddenly, Li Han frowned. It turned out that he originally had a back molar that was a little active. Now, in order to compete with Liu Yong, he deliberately bit the sand hard, how could his teeth stand it...

"Oh, are you alright?" With a concerned look on Liu Yong's face, Li Hanlian said it's okay, and continued to eat. At this time, he already had an idea in his heart.

After dinner, before leaving to return to the county yamen, Li Han handed over to Liu Yong and said, "My lord, I have something to ask for, and I also ask my lord for help." Liu Yong quickly asked what it was.

"I would like to ask the Lord to give me a handful of rice, the kind of rice used for cooking at noon today."

Liu Yong laughed and repeatedly said that it was okay. While telling his family to go to the back kitchen to get rice, he asked Li Han why he asked for rice. What was so special about the rice of his Liu family?

"My lord, the rice in your mansion is much harder than ordinary rice. Although the lower official has a small position and his teeth are not very good, he has always liked to eat hard rice and chew hard bones. The way of being an official in the official world is also this habit. If there is anything wrong with the lower official, it is also due to his personality. Please forgive me."

Saying that, a small bag of rice was delivered. Li Hanxie took the rice bag and left.

Li Han stepped into the yamen, and the Liu family sent the tax grain in arrears, and it was the housekeeper who came.

Li Han wrote a short letter explaining the intention of collecting the red envelope at that time. Together with the tax receipt and one hundred taels of silver, he put it in an envelope and asked the housekeeper to bring it back.

No matter what, Li Han was very pleased that the goal had been achieved. He struck while the iron was hot and immediately issued a notice ordering other large households that had defaulted on taxes and grain to pay all taxes and grain within three days, otherwise the punishment would be doubled, and those who were stubborn would be punished for resisting the decree.

When the local tycoons saw the notice, it was already well known that the Liu family had paid taxes. How could they dare to neglect, they obediently paid the taxes and grain they owed. For a time, the yamen entrance was very lively.

In a few days, all the taxes and grain owed were successfully recovered. Li Han was very happy and posted a notice to settle the people, asking those who had left their hometowns to return to their hometowns, continue to cultivate the fields, and live and work in peace and contentment.

Master knew about sand rice and reminded Li Han, "Master, you can't be optimistic about this matter. If Master Liu explicitly asks his family to pay taxes and food to fill the pit in order to preserve his reputation and stabilize you, he will come back to settle the accounts in secret."

Li Han said lightly, "I'm not afraid of the shadow slanting." After all, he never lost the small bag of rice he asked for, and the bowl of sand rice was always stuck in his throat. He was ready to pack up and leave at any time.

A year passed in a flash. On this day, the imperial court suddenly ordered Li Han to be promoted to a prefect somewhere in Zhili.

The good things came too suddenly, which made Li Han unexpected. Although the cities were orderly under his governance and all industries were prosperous, how could He De get an exceptional promotion so quickly?

This is due to the bowl of sandy rice.

As a high-ranking official of the imperial court, Liu Yong always put the maintenance of the national government first. In order to maintain long-term stability, corrupt officials must be severely punished and moths must be eliminated. Therefore, all officials he came into contact must be deliberately inspected for the purpose of selecting talents for the imperial court.

The first time Li Han visited the mansion, he didn't go out. He deliberately didn't see Li Han and asked the housekeeper to send him a "gift", just to test the personality of the county magistrate in his hometown. Seeing that Li Han dared to accept the bribe of the Liu family, his heart skipped a beat and he shook his head secretly.

The second time Li Han came to ask for tax food, Liu Yong was impressed by him. It was not easy for a small county magistrate to come and "ask for debt" from him! But what should he say if he accepted the money ticket from the housekeeper?

The second monk Liu Yong Zhang was puzzled. In order to further investigate Li Han's character, he used a bowl of sand rice as a test to see what the county magistrate would do.

Liu Yong read Li Han's letter and the returned silver ticket, and smiled happily. This is really a talent who is both wise and brave, and who enforces the law impartially. He must be reused in the future. Immediately after Heshen fell, his comrades fell one after another, and the court urgently needed people with lofty ideals to fill the vacancy. Liu Yong took the opportunity to recommend Li Han...