The entire hall fell into an absolute silence.
Both Cui Hao and Zhou Ding felt their hearts leap into their throats.
How could Li Mao'er have been captured?
Even if this kid was incapable, he still had several hundred men around him!
If he couldn't defeat the imperial army, wouldn't he know how to run?
Could it be that this person named Han was bluffing and being mysterious?
Yes, it must be!
At this moment, they could only use this reason to comfort themselves.
However, their last sliver of hope was soon shattered by reality.
"Lord Han, is this, is this really Li Mao'er?"
Even Pang Yue was starting to get restless.
"Rest assured, my lord, it's the genuine article!"
Seeing the triumphant smile on Han Mo's face, Pang Yue's heart sank.
"Zhou, you bastard, you're not dead yet? What a born scoundrel! Hahahaha!"
Upon seeing Li Mao'er, Zhou Ding completely collapsed onto the ground.
At this point, any further辩解 was useless.
This was genuine human evidence, combined with irrefutable material evidence.
"Lord Liao, is there still a need to continue this trial?"
As Han Mo spoke, he took out Li Mao'er's confession from his sleeve.
Looking at the detailed confession on the document, Liao Wenxing's body trembled like a sieve.
His current state clearly indicated that his psychological defense had completely collapsed.
As an official of the imperial court, he had actually engaged in deception in such matters.
Furthermore, he had escalated the issue to such a degree; even if he survived, he would lose a significant part of himself.
"It seems Lord Liao has nothing more to say. Lord Pang, this is Li Mao'er's confession, please examine it! After you've reviewed it, I believe the truth will be self-evident!"
As Han Mo spoke, he winked at Xu Fengnian.
Understanding the signal, Xu Fengnian immediately stepped forward, picked up Li Mao'er's confession, and placed it on Pang Yue's desk.
"Liao Wenxing! What exactly is going on here?"
With the situation having reached this point, Pang Yue could only focus on protecting himself.
At this moment, the only thing he could do was shift all the blame onto Liao Wenxing.
Looking at the chilling killing intent on Pang Yue's face, Liao Wenxing's heart turned ice cold.
This was truly a case of trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice!
If it weren't for that position in Bozhou, how could he have ended up in such a predicament?
However, it was too late to say anything now.
"I, I don't know what's going on. County Assistant Cui, I ask you, what exactly is going on?"
Looking at this sudden, unexpected burden, Cui Hao was truly speechless.
He knew in his heart that Liao Wenxing was trying to make him a scapegoat!
However, this matter was essentially instigated by himself, and with almost all the documents being forged by him, and the specific actions being carried out by him.
At this moment, even with a thousand mouths, he couldn't explain it!
Although Liao Wenxing was his accomplice, even a co-conspirator.
But who was to blame for him being a Jinshi official?
"Your subordinate was momentarily confused..."
He could only offer a bitter smile and directly confess his guilt.
"Guards, strip him of his official robes and have him immediately escorted back to the Transport Office for a thorough interrogation!"
Seeing that Liao Wenxing had already produced a scapegoat, and Cui Hao had also confessed, Pang Yue was naturally happy to close the case.
After all, the biggest problem facing him at this moment was not these matters.
What was truly critical was the empty treasury in Tangyin County.
It was important to know that the deficit in the Tangyin County treasury was not solely Liao Wenxing's doing.
After the founding of the Song Dynasty, it was not until the late period of Emperor Taizu that the imperial court's overall situation stabilized. At that time, peace generally prevailed across the land. The various taxes collected, apart from those submitted to the imperial court, and local government expenses, left a surplus.
Initially, this surplus money was directly transported to Bianliang and entered the national treasury.
However, later on, the court discovered the drawbacks of this approach.
Although the national treasury was replenished, if disasters occurred in various regions requiring relief, not only were the procedures complex, but the transportation costs were also prohibitively high.
To resolve this issue, in the sixth year of Kaibao, the court issued another decree prohibiting the transfer of this portion of funds and grain to the capital, allowing them to be retained locally for emergency use.
It was this decree that provided corrupt officials throughout the land with the opportunity to embezzle.
By the time of Wang Anshi's reforms, with the abolition of the Three Bureaus, the various provincial transport commissioners gained complete control over the funds and grain of each circuit.
Each year, the taxes collected from the circuits, apart from the fixed portion submitted to the imperial court, were divided into three parts.
The first part was for meeting the administrative and military expenses of their own regions. The second part was called "transfer funds," which, in simple terms, meant that the transport commissioner oversaw the profits and losses of the regions under their jurisdiction, taking from the surplus to cover the deficit.
Of course, this part had a fixed limit, which was not to exceed one-third of the remaining funds after the imperial tax had been paid.
Violators would be sentenced to two years of imprisonment!
The remaining last portion was used as reserve funds for emergencies.
Each year, the provincial transport offices were responsible for auditing this portion, and every expenditure from it required detailed scrutiny.
The system was very strict, but systems are dead, and people are alive!
Especially after Emperor Huizong ascended the throne, the imperial court's exploitation of the various regions intensified. Many transport commissioners, in order to meet the imperial court's ever-increasing expenses, were forced to increase taxes.
However, the people's capacity had its limits. Even with the most strenuous efforts to extract resources, when the amounts still fell short, they had no choice but to resort to crooked means.
This included deducting military pay, misappropriating local treasuries, and various forms of falsification.
Once the door to such practices was opened, it became impossible to stop.
The oppression of the common people led to frequent uprisings in various regions. The people's rebellions resulted in increased military expenses and reduced tax revenue. Reduced tax revenue coupled with increased military expenses led to a shortfall in the funds submitted to the imperial court.
Once this cycle began, everything became irreversible.
This was precisely the situation in Hebei!
The treasuries in various regions had long been emptied. The money and grain in the local treasuries essentially only existed on paper.
This was basically a game of hot potato, with no one knowing whose hands the bomb would eventually explode in!
Previous officials like Wang Ge chose to conform and blend in, while also amassing wealth.
However, it was clear that Xu Churen's choice this time was different!
If the dark secrets of Tangyin County were exposed, the entire officialdom of Hebei would undoubtedly face a ruthless purge!
Under such circumstances, how could Pang Yue dare to let Liao Wenxing truly fall into trouble...