Li Banghua’s method for collecting tax arrears was ingenious.
First, he granted local military authority to those officials who were not colluding with the local gentry, allowing them a free hand to act. Did someone refuse to pay? They were thrown into jail first and dealt with later. If they still refused to pay, they were beaten until they complied. Because these soldiers were stationed far from home, they obeyed the officials' orders implicitly; they had no personal concerns to hold them back when they laid into someone.
As for the officials who were in league with the local gentry, Li Banghua granted them military authority as well. This wasn't a choice—it was impossible to distinguish the good officials from the bad at a glance. But that didn't matter, because the core of the audit team was not the local officials, but the clerks accompanying the imperial envoys. They came from the Ministry of Revenue, Beizhili, Shandong, and other regions, and they were experts at auditing accounts.
Chapter 467