Three days passed in the blink of an eye. After traveling around the clock, Hai Rui finally arrived in Jinan Prefecture, Shandong Province.
Early in the morning, Shandong Governor Cao Feng led local officials to greet him, fearing any slight.
Not only that, there were patrolling soldiers everywhere on the streets, and ordinary people were ordered to stay at home and not to go out on the streets at will.
Although they had been waiting for a long time, there was no look of impatience on the faces of many officials present.
After all, Hai Rui, who was sent by the imperial court, was holding their black gauze hat in his hands.
In order to maintain confidentiality, Cao Feng asked his staff to reveal that Hai Rui's purpose in coming to Shandong this time was to thoroughly investigate the corruption of local officials.
After all, with Hai Rui's background as Inspector General, the whole thing makes perfect sense.
As soon as the news came out, officials of all sizes in Shandong were immediately panicked and had no time to think about anything else. They started asking people everywhere to find out where Hai Rui came from.
After the officials found out about Hai Rui's glorious record through various channels, they immediately panicked. After all, this was the ultimate ruthless man who dared not give Yan Dang and Qingliu face at the same time!
After Cao Feng released this smoke bomb, the development of things did not go beyond his expectations, and those officials no longer struggled with the real purpose of Hai Rui's trip to Shandong.
After all, no matter what, for things like a thorough investigation of corruption, it is better to believe that it exists than to believe that it does not exist.
If unfortunately you become the unlucky one, it will be too late to regret. Even if you have all the means, it will not help.
While Cao Feng was still thinking about how he should face Hai Rui next, Shandong Chief Minister Liu Zhengzhong beside him was restless.
I saw him raising his head from time to time to observe the expression on Cao Feng's face, which was full of hesitation.
After a while, he seemed to have made up his mind, mustered up the courage, came to Cao Feng, and lowered his voice.
"Sir Governor, do you know who Hai Rui is?"
Upon hearing this, Cao Feng came to his senses immediately, took in the expression on Liu Zhengzhong's face, sighed, and explained unhurriedly.
"Well, I don't know much about this matter. It is said that someone delivered the impeachment memorial to the Supervisory Council. After His Majesty read the impeachment memorial, he was very angry and immediately sent Hai Rui to investigate the matter thoroughly!"
After Liu Zhengzhong received the news from Cao Feng, his face was filled with horror and he immediately lost his voice.
"Ah, what, who is it..."
However, before Liu Zhengzhong finished speaking, a guard hurried to Cao Feng and whispered a few words.
After listening to the guard's report, Cao Feng nodded, then turned around and announced to the surrounding officials.
"Everyone, cheer up, the Imperial Censor sent by the imperial court will be arriving soon!"
After Cao Feng finished speaking, not long after, he saw a carriage, escorted by a large number of guards, gradually approaching the direction where everyone was.
Soon, the carriage stopped not far from the crowd. Hai Rui got off the carriage with the help of the guards.
Seeing this, Cao Feng on the side quickly stepped forward, cupped his hands, and bowed: "I am the governor of Shandong, Cao Feng, and I have met your lord!"
After Cao Feng, the officials behind him also bowed and said: "I have met you, sir!"
When Hai Rui heard this, a slight smile appeared on his face, and he responded: "I followed your Majesty's order to rush to Shandong to investigate the case. If there is any offense on the way, I hope you will forgive me!"
As soon as Hai Rui finished speaking, Cao Feng responded without hesitation: "No, no, since you are here under His Majesty's order, I should fully cooperate with you!"
After the greetings were completed, Cao Feng began to introduce the officials around him to Hai Rui one by one.
"Sir, this is Shandong Chief Minister Liu Zhengzhong!"
When Liu Zhengzhong saw Hai Rui's eyes falling on him, he immediately lowered his head in fear and said, "I've seen you, sir!"
Upon hearing this, Hai Rui nodded slightly and immediately looked away from Liu Zhengzhong.
After Shandong Chief Envoy Liu Zhengzhong, Cao Feng introduced Shandong Inspector Chen Wanyuan and Capital Commander Zhang Yuan to Hai Rui respectively.
Among them, Hai Rui's eyes stayed the longest on Commander Zhang Yuan.
After that, Cao Feng came to his senses and made a gesture of invitation to Hai Rui.
Immediately, Hai Rui and Cao Feng were seen walking at the front of the team, followed by officials from all over Shandong, large and small.
Hai Rui didn't exchange too many pleasantries and got straight to the point: "Master Cao must be very clear about the purpose of my trip, right?"
When Cao Feng heard this, he immediately responded without any hesitation: "Don't worry, sir, Xiaguan has already made preparations before this. Please follow Xiaguan to the government office!"
"Um."
After that, Hai Rui and Cao Feng were seen getting on the sedan that had been prepared and heading towards the direction of the government office.
…
As soon as the two entered the government office, Cao Feng stopped, turned around, and reported to Hai Rui.
"Sir, please follow me here. The files related to the White Lotus Sect are all prepared in the study!"
"Um."
Upon hearing this, Hai Rui responded in a subtle way, and then led by Cao Feng to the study room in the government office.
After entering the study, Cao Feng pointed to the file on the desk, which was almost as tall as a person, and reported to Hai Rui.
"Sir, all the files related to the White Lotus Sect are here!"
"It's time for you, Mr. Cao!"
After Hai Rui finished speaking, he immediately came to the desk, picked up a file, and started to read through it.
The content recorded in the file is the general scope of activities of the local White Lotus Sect, as well as the numerous crimes it has committed.
After reading the contents, Hai Rui put the file back in his hand and immediately asked Cao Feng.
"I have just arrived here, and I really don't know much about the situation of the local White Lotus Sect. I hope you will give me some advice."
"No, no, my lord, you are serious!"
After that, Cao Feng calmed down the look of fear on his face and began to describe the specific situation of the local White Lotus Sect to Hai Rui.
"Sir, you don't know something. This place in Shandong has always had a tradition of believing in the White Lotus Sect. This has been the case since the Hongwu and Yongle years!"
"It is precisely because of this that no matter how strict the regulations promulgated by the government are, they cannot prevent the common people from believing in the White Lotus Sect!"
"But if you believe in the White Lotus Sect, can you please do it?"
"The final outcome of those people who believe in the White Lotus Sect is that they are defrauded of all their property, and then ruthlessly abandoned after being squeezed out of the last bit of use value!"
"What's more, those innocent people were even incited by those damn White Lotus cultists to fight against the government and even rebel!"
When Cao Feng said this, his eyes were filled with sadness. After a pause, he continued.
"Currently, the White Lotus Sect is becoming more and more rampant in Shandong. Their bases are mainly in Yidu, Putai and other places. It is conservatively estimated that there are thousands of followers. Not to mention others, even in Jinan Prefecture. Many people secretly believe in the White Lotus Sect!"
"Since most of their followers are ordinary people, generally speaking, the White Lotus Sect holds gatherings at night and disperses at dawn."
"In addition, the White Lotus cultists in Yidu, Putai and other places are preaching in the name of Tang Sai'er. They claim that they are Tang Sai'er's disciples and are here to save the people from the fire and water!"
After listening to Cao Feng's introduction, Hai Rui combined it with the contents recorded in the files about the White Lotus Sect that he had seen before, and he had a general understanding of the current situation.
Especially when Cao Feng mentioned that those White Lotus cultists were preaching in Tang Sai'er's name, Hai Rui's brows furrowed and his face became full of solemnity.
After that, Hai Rui turned his attention to Cao Feng. Unable to suppress his inner curiosity, he turned to ask: "Since there is a tradition of believing in the White Lotus Sect in the local area, didn't the previous governors think of taking any measures?" Measures?"
After hearing the doubts raised by Hai Rui, Cao Feng sighed helplessly and immediately responded.
"Oh, why not? It's just that none of the measures they took have worked. The people are still going their own way and don't listen to the government's advice at all!"
When Cao Feng said this, he seemed to suddenly remember something and turned to Hai Rui.
"By the way, sir, I was lucky enough to capture a few White Lotus cultists before this. Maybe you can get some information from their mouths?"
When Hai Rui heard this, his face was full of curiosity: "Oh, White Lotus Cultist?"
Seeing that Hai Rui was interested in this, Cao Feng immediately called his subordinates and gave instructions: "You guys, hurry up and bring those White Lotus cultists you captured earlier to me!"
As soon as Cao Feng finished speaking, several subordinates responded in agreement.
"Yes, Lord Governor!"
Not long after, the guards of the government office were seen escorting all the White Lotus cultists that Cao Feng mentioned.
When those people were escorted up, the coarse linen clothes they wore had already become tattered. Not only that, their bodies were also covered with large and small scars, and there were still bruises in their eye sockets that had not dissipated for a long time. green.
As soon as those people were escorted in front of Hai Rui and Cao Feng, they couldn't help crying: "Sir, we have been wronged!"
"Yes, we are not White Lotus cultists at all. We are just farmers in the suburbs. At that time, the officials took us into prison without saying a word, and then..."
However, before those people could finish their words, they were coldly interrupted by Cao Feng: "Hmph, you dare to speak harshly when you are about to die, why don't you tell me all the news you know about the White Lotus Sect!"
"This way, you can save yourself a lot of physical pain. Otherwise, you won't have to blame me for being so ruthless!"
After Cao Feng finished speaking, the officers who were waiting on the side couldn't help but have an angry look on their faces when they saw this situation, and they tried to step forward to teach them a lesson. Unexpectedly, before they could do anything, Hai Rui stopped them with words. .
"etc!"
When the officials saw Hai Rui's words, they had no choice but to retreat to the side angrily.
Hai Rui came to these people, leaned down and asked.
"Are all the things you just said true?"
Seeing that someone was willing to stand up for themselves, the faces of those people suddenly showed expressions of surviving the disaster. They kowtowed on the ground and kept saying: "Sir, what I just said is absolutely true. We all Make a living by farming!”
"Three days ago, a group of officials came from nowhere. Without saying a word, they labeled us as White Lotus cultists. After that, we were all imprisoned in the government prison and suffered a lot in it. Torture!”
"Please, sir, please make the decision for us. We are really not White Lotus cultists!"
Observing the expressions and demeanor of these people, Hai Rui already believed a few points of their words.
After that, Hai Rui came back to his senses and immediately ordered the people kneeling on the ground: "In that case, stretch out your hands and see!"
Faced with Hai Rui's request, those people naturally did not dare to disobey, and immediately ordered them to spread their palms, and waited uneasily for the final decision.
After Hai Rui carefully observed their palms, he immediately turned his eyes to Cao Feng and spoke.
"Master Cao, come here and take a look. These people's hands are extremely rough. It seems that they are caused by long-term farming."
"What's more, there is still dirt left in their fingers. Combined with their previous statements, I feel that they are indeed innocent!"
Seeing Hai Rui's words, Cao Feng couldn't help but soften his attitude. He sneered and said, "Since your Excellency thinks they are innocent, then I just need to let them go!"
When Hai Rui saw this, he glanced at Cao Feng and said calmly: "Master Cao, you might as well call the officials who were in charge of this matter. After a confrontation, the truth will naturally come out!"
"After all, this is "killing a good person and taking credit for it"!"
After Hai Rui finished speaking, he deliberately prolonged his tone, and the meaning contained in his words was self-evident.
Cao Feng naturally understood the meaning contained in Hai Rui's words, and saw that he summoned the previous subordinate in charge of the matter and gave instructions.
"Immediately call all the officials who were in charge of this matter to come here. I have something to confirm with them!"
When the subordinate saw this situation, his heart suddenly thumped, and immediately he did not dare to make any stop, so he conveyed Cao Feng's order.
Soon, the officials who were in charge of this matter turned pale with fright and lost their minds after learning of this order.
"It's over, it's all over, the governor knows about this, what should we do?"
"Alas, now that things have come to a point, we can only take one step at a time!"
With this idea in mind, those officials had no choice but to bite the bullet and come to the government office. But soon, in the face of the iron-clad facts, they had to admit that they had framed innocent people.
After learning the ins and outs of the matter, Cao Feng was furious and immediately ordered his subordinates to capture these officials on the spot and put them in jail to await their punishment!
After dealing with the official affairs, the matter came to an end for the time being. Cao Feng turned his eyes to Hai Rui, his face full of gratitude.
"Thank you for your advice, sir. If it weren't for your sharp eyesight, I might have wronged a good person!"
Hearing this, Hai Rui didn't seem to care about it. He waved his hand, looked away from Cao Feng, and said slowly: "It doesn't matter, since this matter is over, let's discuss it carefully next. How to deal with these White Lotus Sect!"
"Yes, sir!" (End of chapter)
