The day after Zhao Jun returned to the palace, news came back that most of the soldiers who had been questioned at Nanyun Campus returned to Yunzhou City early this morning.
And their true identities have also been found out clearly.
In the study room of the palace.
Zhao Jun looked at the secret report in his hand.
[Zhang Dazhuang: Real name (Liu Sanlai) is a member of the Nancheng Shenquan Society. He makes a living by collecting security fees on the streets occupied by the Shenquan Society. He is a gangster in the market. 】
[Liu Sanwu: His real name is (Ma Da), a member of the Xicheng Sanshou Society. He makes a living by stealing. The society he belongs to is well-known throughout Yunzhou City. He claims that anything lost in Yunzhou City can be found in the Sanshou Society. Wrong, even if it wasn't done by them, it was done by someone related to them, the largest force in the world of stealing in Yunzhou City.
[Li Yongda: real name...
However, all the information that Zhao Jun asked that day was recorded in the book. They all have a common characteristic, that is, the names are all fake.
According to the intelligence, they were all recruited to serve as temporary soldiers before New Year's Eve at a high price of three taels of silver. They only learned some simple daily drill moves, which were completely used to fool Zhao Jun.
After carefully reading the information booklet one by one, Zhao Jun calmly placed the booklet on the table, picked up the tea cup, stood up and walked to the window, sipping the tea while looking at the still white scenery outside the window.
Wang Huaien began to collect the booklet on the desk, and accidentally caught a glimpse of the information contained in the booklet. After arranging the booklet, he came behind Zhao Jun, who was silently admiring the scenery and drinking tea, and asked softly:
"My lord, do you want to use the fact that Cheng Cheng used others to pretend to be soldiers to conceal the true number of soldiers and take advantage of them to take down Cheng Cheng?"
Putting the tea cup on the window edge, Zhao Jun did not look back and breathed out gently. The breath instantly condensed into a white mist in the air. It was obvious that the temperature outside was still not high.
"Do you think it's useful?"
Zhao Jun's voice sounded faintly.
"It should... be useful. This is free money. The imperial court has had poor financial performance over the years. This kind of behavior should not be tolerated by the imperial court."
Wang Huaien expressed his thoughts after thinking.
"Yes, the imperial court's treasury revenue has been declining year by year in recent years. Coupled with the plague in the past few years, sudden disasters have occurred in various places in recent years. The Southern Barbarians in the south have continued to cause chaos, the southeast has also been experiencing maritime instability, and the Xiongnu in the northwest has committed crimes year after year. Bian, why don’t you need money for these piles and piles?
The imperial court had long been in trouble due to lack of money and was starving for food every year. If the issue of empty pay came out, normally the imperial court would not let Cheng Cheng go.
However, this is normal. "
Zhao Jun paused, looking out the window at the scene where scattered snowflakes were still falling. He stretched out his hand to catch one and let it melt in his hands, turning into a puddle of snow. He felt the coldness of the snowflakes melting into snow and falling on his hands. Touch.
Then he continued: "However, it has long been common practice for soldiers in various places to eat empty pay, and it has long been a practice to guard against the Xiongnu border in the northwest of the Song Dynasty. Now, once this matter breaks out, it will be difficult for the court to deal with it.
All the military in the Song Dynasty will focus their attention. If the imperial court punishes severely in accordance with the law, although it will be a knock on the mountain for the army, it will also arouse the army's guard against and dissatisfaction with the imperial court. Those military leaders will not be willing to sacrifice the people they have already swallowed. The meat in your mouth!
It is still unclear whether those military leaders will still be loyal to the imperial court wholeheartedly in the future.
If treated leniently, the imperial court's majesty will be ruined. In the current situation where troops are needed everywhere, military leaders will put down their fear of the imperial court and despise it. Whether the imperial court can still control the armies of various places over time can only depend on God's will. . "
Wang Huaien was shocked and said in horror: "But this Cheng Cheng is just a military commander of Yunzhou County. Will it really cause such an uproar?"
"Wang Banban, do you know that the fox is sad when a rabbit dies?" Zhao Jun suddenly asked.
Wang Huaien's expression paused, and he immediately understood what his prince meant.
"Then should we let Cheng Cheng go like this? If we let him go, Your Majesty, you will not be able to get the military power of Yunzhou County. This will always be a constraint for you, and it will also hinder what you want to do, right?"
The cold wind blew outside the window, and a gust of snow suddenly blew into the study along the open window. The two people in the freezing room couldn't help but shrink their necks.
Wang Huaien hurriedly stepped forward to take away the tea cup and closed the window. The temperature in the room gradually returned to warmth due to the burning of the coal stove, and the two of them breathed a long sigh of relief.
Zhao Jun walked slowly back to his desk, sat down on the chair, leaned back slightly, folded his hands behind his head, supported his head and closed his eyes slightly, adjusted to a comfortable posture, and then replied:
"How can I let him go? The things he did are enough to kill him with a thousand cuts. Whether it is from the perspective of my personal needs or my status as the prince of the Song Dynasty, I will never let him go." he.
It's just that... we can't use the matter of taking free money to punish him, other charges can still be used. "
"But your lord, we only have evidence of his crime in our hands now, how can we bring him down?" Wang Huaien was puzzled.
Zhao Jun just smiled and asked, "Wang Banban, do you know where the true identity information of these gangsters pretending to be soldiers came from?"
"where?"
"It was compared one by one according to the Dinghu Bo of the county governor's office!"
Wang Huaien was shocked when he heard this.
"My lord, does this mean that Cheng Cheng knows that we are investigating his free salary? The person in charge of the county governor's office now is the county prime minister Liu Xishan. This guy is the same as those four families and Cheng Cheng. ah!"
Faced with Wang Huaien's shock and confusion, Zhao Jun just smiled slightly: "Yes, he will definitely know."
"Your Majesty, this is..."
Before Wang Huaien finished asking, Zhao Jun continued:
"But I just want him to know. Only in this way will he focus on how to deal with me.
Now the only thing he can do is to quickly ask Liu Xishan to help him transfer the household registration of these naughty people to military registration before the king launches an attack, so as to deal with the attack by the king.
But this is definitely not a small project. It requires a lot of time and a lot of manpower. He does not have the time and manpower to help the four companies complete this year's transactions like in previous years. Only then can I steadily handle the transaction. Four families decide.
And as long as we can figure out those four companies, based on the relationship between them..."
At this point, Zhao Jun opened his eyes fiercely and said coldly: "By then, this achievement will be nothing but fish on my chopping board. You can do whatever you want with it!"
It was only then that Wang Huaien finally understood that the investigation of these fake soldiers was just a suspicion set up by the prince. What the prince really wanted to do was to build a plank road in secret and secretly build a plank road to directly drain the firepower of these local snakes in Yunzhou County!
At the same time, Cheng Cheng, who had just thought he had survived the disaster, received a message from Liu Xishan, informing him that Prince Yun's investigation of the gangsters revealed that he was on free wages. Leng sweated and immediately rushed to the county governor's house to discuss countermeasures.
After discussion, the two agreed that the only solution for now was to convert those gangsters who pretended to be soldiers to military status to confirm their status as military households. Only in this way could King Yun no longer be able to embarrass them in this regard.
As for those people who were originally good civilian households and were converted into military households, what do they think and are they willing? This is out of their consideration.
The people on the left and right are just some untouchables. They just obey their arrangements honestly. Do you dare to have any opinions? They will naturally let these unruly people know the consequences of resistance!
…
