Chapter 275: Abolition of Noble Status.
When Richard saw that Tang En was fat and white, and seemed to have had little exposure to the weather this year, he immediately lost confidence in what Tang En said.
He stared into Tang En's eyes and said seriously: "Have you carefully checked all the major grain depots? Grain depots are the most likely places for problems. You have to go down and see for yourself. Anyone who resells grain, no matter how far away they are, They must be dealt with strictly. Because the food issue is related to the stability of our regime, any corruption on the food issue is a challenge to the foundation of our rule and an enemy of the Haaland family. We must not relax against such people. If we find one, we will be punished. .Have
you ever gone to the fields to take a look at the summer harvest and autumn harvest work in person?
I put you in charge of agricultural work, not to be a good old man. If you dare to protect them, I will expel you from the Harland family and abolish your As a noble, even your descendants will be implicated and expelled from the Harland family."
After hearing what Richard said was so serious, Tang En immediately did not dare to lie and said tremblingly: "I did not check every grain depot. Most of the data mentioned were reported from below. I think the officials below would not dare to deceive us, right?" After hearing
this, Richard slammed the table and said: "Play the piano randomly. Starting tomorrow, you Take people down and check every grain depot carefully. The grain in the territory must be counted, and you must take responsibility if there is a problem." In recent years, the
Harland family has grown faster and faster, and Richard has become more and more powerful. The bigger. Even the third uncle Bernie and the second uncle Powell did not dare to oppose Richard's opinion, and the family members also respected Richard more and more.
Seeing his cousin getting angry, Tang En suddenly became panicked and lost confidence in lower-level officials.
Early the next morning, Richard directly ordered the establishment of a joint inspection and investigation team, and the disciplinary inspection, intelligence, and food departments were all assigned responsible persons.
Richard appointed Hayden as the leader of the investigation team. His younger brother George, cousin Tang En, second uncle Powell and others were all members of the team to comprehensively investigate the territory's grain storage reserves and clean up the dirt in the food system.
After the investigation team went down, they caught the subordinates off guard with a surprise inspection. They dismissed more than a dozen officials in the food system and counted the food inventory in Haaland's territory.
Sure enough, the actual grain inventory did not match the reported data. Counting the grain reserves in the Chenliang territory, it was already less than 100,000 tons.
More than a dozen officials in the grain system began to embezzle grain reserves three years ago. However, Richard inspected frequently in the past, and the scale of corruption was relatively small, only a few dozen tons a year, one to two hundred tons.
Compared to the huge food inventory in the territory, these little mice are basically impossible to detect.
Richard spent most of this year fighting abroad and had no time to patrol and punish corrupt officials after returning. The burden of grain system officials has become much greater. This year, more than 12,000 tons of grain were embezzled and sold, and the amount of stolen money embezzled exceeded 25,000 gold coins.
The inspection team discovered a huge corruption case, and Powell stayed at the grain depot to stabilize the situation. The three brothers Hayden, Tang En, and George hurriedly came to Richard to report the situation. Tang En even wrote a letter of resignation on the way, preparing to take responsibility.
After receiving the news from the three people, Richard did not panic at all and immediately gave advice on how to deal with it.
"All corrupt officials are sent to the mines to mine, and their relatives are demoted to slaves. They will not be pardoned for three generations. They will not be allowed to join the army, go to school, let alone be admitted as officials. Their recommenders must also be dealt with seriously. , those who have caused serious losses will be dismissed from office and investigated, and those with lighter responsibilities will be deprived of the right to recommend within three years, and the matter will be recorded in the files." All middle and senior officials in the Harland territory have the right to recommend, and officials
above the county level in the civil service system , middle-level bureaucrats at the headquarters can recommend officials. Military officers above the rank of captain can also recommend junior soldiers to serve as junior officers.
But if something goes wrong with the recommended official, the recommender must also bear responsibility. If the situation is serious, they will be implicated. In order to avoid taking responsibility, smart mid-level and senior-level bureaucrats will use their recommendation power with caution and will not easily recommend people with low ability and moral character.
Seeing that Tang En was a little submissive, Richard instantly guessed some clues. He frowned and said, "Why, are you still going to plead with them? Get out of here right now!"
Seeing that Richard could no longer suppress his anger, Tang En fled the mansion in panic.
After Tang En left the mansion, Richard turned to George and asked, "What's wrong with Tang En?"
George is the eldest son of Mrs. Ola. He is less than twenty years old and serves as the intelligence adjutant of Harland Territory. , assisting Noel in managing intelligence work.
In terms of ability, George's performance at work is relatively average. Nowadays, the intelligence work in Haaland Territory is so complicated. George is young and already the second person in the intelligence system. It is normal for him to be incompetent in his job.
Richard's use of George was a bit misleading. Having no experience at the grassroots level and being in a high position at a young age is actually not a good thing for members of the Haaland family.
The same is true for Tang En, who is only twenty-six or seventeen years old and already serves as the top official in the agricultural system of Harland Territory. In terms of ability, Tang En is actually not qualified.
He has no ability to play tricks with the bureaucrats below. Faced with the flattery of lower-level bureaucrats, Tang En was unable to distinguish the truth from the false, let alone control these people.
"There were problems with the officials recommended by Tang En in this investigation."
"How many?"
"There were all problems with the officials recommended by Tang En in the past three years."
According to the system of the Harland Territory, the right to recommend mid-level and senior officials Subject to great restrictions, only one official can be recommended each year.
Tang En is already the highest official in the agricultural system, and the officials recommended by him are naturally on the fast track, find strong backers, and are all placed in important positions. These people are all Tang En's cronies, they behave unscrupulously and their corruption is the most serious.
This time when the investigation team went down, Tang En also tipped them off, but the preparation time was too short, and these people couldn't get back more than 10,000 tons of grain inventory.
Richard looked out the window and asked coldly, "Is there any hidden secret behind this?"
"The daughter of one of the officials is Tang En's lover."
Upon hearing this, Richard sneered and said: "After all, wealth and wealth will inevitably infiltrate, and sugar-coated bullets cannot be blocked. You must take this as a warning. Don't recommend officials easily without the ability of fire eyes and fine gold. If you want to find a beautiful woman, , you should also keep your eyes wide open. You are members of the Harland family. If you violate the law, I will never be merciful in dealing with it. The goddess's birthday is coming soon. Send someone to inform your third uncle to discuss how to deal with Tang En. opinions."
Tang En is the eldest son of his third uncle and is considered a high-ranking member of the Harland family.
Third uncle Bernie is already a sixth-level warrior, and his military achievements are not far away from being awarded a title. After the next orc invasion war is over, there is a high probability that he can be promoted to a hereditary baron. Tang En is the first in line to succeed his third uncle. When dealing with him, Richard needs to communicate with the main members of the family and listen to everyone's opinions before making a decision.
Seeing that Richard was in an extremely bad mood, George quietly exited the room. The room suddenly became quiet. After waiting for a long time, Hayden broke the calm and said, "Richard, what are you going to do with Tang En?" "
I have made it very clear that he has not fulfilled his responsibilities as a member of the Harland family. , naturally we will drive him out of the Harland family, take back his surname, and abolish his noble status."
Hayden held the table with both hands and said tremblingly: "Twain is our younger brother, the eldest son of our third uncle. You are leaving no room to deal with it this way, and you are a bit too cruel to your relatives. Even if the third uncle doesn't say anything, I'm afraid he will have a problem with you in his heart." "The third uncle has four sons, and there are seven or eight illegitimate children outside. There are more than a dozen heirs. If Tang En is not capable, he can choose other heirs.
Over the years, we have always severely punished corrupt officials. If Tang En is punished too lightly, what seriousness does the law have? Are our laws only Can you deal with the officials below who blindly let the Harland family's corruption go?
If you can't guarantee fairness, how can you win over people's hearts?
Many of the corrupt officials we dealt with before have made military exploits. Now many people are staring at Tang En. How do I deal with him? In order to avoid the grief of the officers and soldiers and to maintain the seriousness of the law, I decided to kill the chicken as a warning to the monkey and deal with Tang En sternly.
I want to tell members of the Haaland family that when you do something wrong, you need to be held accountable. Third uncle has an opinion, so let him keep it in his heart. If he dares to cause trouble, I will hold him accountable. "
Seeing that Richard is so determined, Hayden knows that Richard has been arbitrary since he was a child, and no one can persuade him to do something he has determined.
If Richard insists on going his own way, not even his father William can change his opinion.
The Harland family It has developed to this point, and Richard is the most critical person.
Richard has two counts under his name, while William only has one barony. The reason why the surname Harland is noble is also based on Richard's prestige.
Richard's influence in the territory far exceeds that of William, Bernie and other people of the previous generation. The
territory's 16,000-strong army will only obey Richard's orders. Because this army is controlled by Richard's hands and feet Built. The backbone of the army are also Richard's cronies.
Among the members of the Harland family, Richard is the one who holds the key power.
"Now that you have made up your mind, it is best to communicate with your third uncle before announcing , don’t cause conflicts. Richard
patted Hayden on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry about this. I will deal with Tang En severely, which is a good thing for the development of the Harland family." If Margaret and Philip do something wrong in the future, I will also deal with them severely. "
After sending Hayden away, Richard wrote a letter to his third uncle, telling him his opinion on punishing Tang En.
Seeing that Richard punished his heir so severely, third uncle Bernie was very unhappy. But Richard was very firm in his opinion that Tang En's aristocratic status must be abolished.
His third uncle Bernie found William to plead for mercy, but it still didn't work. In order to avoid the conflict becoming public, Bernie could only angrily agree to Richard's request. Tang En's aristocratic status was abolished.
Before the goddess's birthday, Tang En left the Harland family in despair and settled in Nolan.
Without his noble status, Tang En could not have a good development in Nolan. Nolan's class was solidified. It is far more serious than in Northern Xinjiang, and it is very difficult to rise to the next level.
Tang En is already an ordinary person in this lineage. Although his third uncle Bernie helped Tang En with some money, Tang En could only become a small businessman in Nolan. Even if his descendants achieve military exploits and become hereditary nobles, they will still need the nod of the main lineage to restore the Harland surname.
Such a severe punishment is enough to wake up the members of the Haaland family.
After dealing with Tang En, as the goddess's birthday was approaching, Richard called together the senior civil servants of the territory to make an annual summary.
Harland territory is divided into two counties. Rogge is the county governor at the southern foot of the Eagle Mountains, and Powell is the county governor east of the Grotta River.
The territory has just completed the reform of the county system, and the work is complicated. It will take next year to sort everything out.
"Has the census of the territory been completed this year?"
Rogge replied: "The census has been completed. The fertility rate in the territory this year is still very high, exceeding 5%. Our registered population is about 341,000. This year we moved people from the Grand Duchy of Stanek in four phases, totaling 130,000 people including the families of captured soldiers. In addition, we received 96,000 people from the counties east of the Grotta River. The new population in the territory this year is particularly large, about 20,000. 150,000 people. The total population of the territory has exceeded 570,000 people."
Although he had estimated this figure, Richard was still very happy after hearing Rogge's report.
The population of 570,000 has exceeded that of the counties in the south.
The four earls in the southern part of the Grant Kingdom only have a population of three to four hundred thousand people in their territory.
The territory of the four eastern marquises is larger, with a total population of between 50,000 and 800,000. From a population point of view, the Harland Territory is already at the level of a marquis, and its military strength is somewhat stronger than that of the four eastern marquises.
"How many indentured servants and how many free people are there in our population?"
Rogge has a good memory and is very attentive to government affairs. He keeps many data in the territory firmly in mind. After hearing Richard's question, he blurted out: " This year, 56,000 indentured servants became freedmen in the territory. In addition, there were originally 13,000 free people in the county east of the Grotta River. Adding the original 93,000 free people in the territory, the free people in the territory were approximately 160,000 taels. Thousands of people.”
"Do the free people of the county east of the Grotta River need us to divide their fields?"
The county east of the Grotta River was the original Earl of Roger. The free citizens of this county are inextricably linked to King Roger. Although those who are closely related to King Roger have returned to Nolan in the past few years, it is impossible for the remaining people to be demoted to indentured servants by Richard, so as not to The rule is unstable.
"Most of the free people in this county are the families of soldiers. Almost all of these soldiers are serving in the Royal Guards. Some of them have saved enough money and will move to Nolan in a few years. But no matter what, according to the policy we still They should be divided into fields.
The specific method of dividing the fields will be done after the farmland statistics are completed. Anyway, it is the standard of five acres of land per capita. We also recognize the extra land produced by free people." Seeing that Rogge had considered it more carefully,
Richard He nodded and said: "We must pay close attention to this matter and try to ensure fairness when dividing the fields."
(End of Chapter)