"Your Majesty, there is an urgent report from Yanmen." Liu Ping hurried in holding a piece of information.
"Come in and tell me. What happened?" Zhao Kuo stretched and walked out of the room, indicating to Liu Ping that there was hot wine and tea on the table, and he could do as he pleased.
Sleepy in spring, sleepy in autumn, dozing in summer, and lying in bed in winter. In addition to paying attention to the disaster in the north every day, Zhao Kuo goes to Handan every two days to see the surroundings. The rest of the time he spends almost all his time in the palace, either entertaining the ministers and the more prestigious craftsmen among the hundreds of craftsmen, or staying in the harem. Spend time with your family.
After spring, he will go north to attack the Huns, and will not be able to stay with his relatives at home for a long time.
"Kong Bin sent a letter from Shangqing. Zhao Tang, the son of Lord Pingyang, joined forces with Wang Ti, the coal mine director of Woyang County, to blackmail the people. They cannot dig coal in the mountains unless they give him gifts. As a result, people in dozens of nearby tribes and villages have no coal to survive the winter, and the snowstorm is coming. After that, people froze to death." Liu Ping said in a low voice.
"How many people froze to death?" Zhao Kuo's expression suddenly changed, he suddenly stood up and said in a deep voice.
"Nearly a hundred people have been counted so far," Liu Ping said.
"Has it been found out?" Zhao Kuo clenched his hands into fists.
"The specific details are not yet clear, but this matter has been confirmed to be true. It was General Li Mu who discovered this matter during disaster relief, and then sent people to watch Zhao Tang and Wang Ti, and reported it to Kong Bin. His subordinates The informant just reported this matter," Liu Ping said.
"Does Lord Pingyang know about this?" Zhao Kuo suddenly asked.
"We probably don't know yet, but we will know it soon," Liu Ping said.
"Let's go to the study and talk." Zhao Kuo took the cloak off the shelf and put it on his body, got up and walked outside.
After arriving in the study, Zhao Kuo blocked everyone around him, and then asked: "Could this happen elsewhere?"
"Nothing has been found yet." Liu Ping shook his head. The three northern counties were so big that he didn't dare to say too harshly. He could only say that this kind of thing would not happen in most areas.
"I'm afraid this matter won't be that simple." Zhao Kuo put down the tea cup in his hand, slowly exhaled a breath of hot breath, and said with a frown.
This incident was not a big deal originally. If there had not been a snowstorm and Zhao Kuo sent Kong Bin and Li Mu to rescue, it might not even have been exposed.
It is normal for people to die in winter in Zhao State, especially in the cold north, not to mention that the people who die are ordinary Guizhou people. No one will pay attention to such a thing.
As for not being able to dig coal in the mountains, people don't take it seriously. After all, they were not allowed to dig coal before, and everyone has long been used to it. Now that I am suddenly asked to dig, I will be a little suspicious.
Some people went to ask local officials with the attitude of giving it a try, and were told that they had to pay to harvest. They suddenly realized that such a good thing could not be free of charge. It makes sense to pay now.
As for the rest who don't understand the hint, they don't take it to heart. At most, they wonder why some people can go to the mountains to mine coal instead of choosing to report to the official.
It can even be said that even if this kind of thing is finally discovered, the local officials will only be demoted at most. Someone with connections like Zhao Tang will most likely continue to be a county magistrate in another place.
But now the problem lies in Zhao Tang's identity. He is Zhao Bao's son. Zhao Bao and Zhao Sheng are the fathers of Zhao Kuozhong and the largest clan in the Zhao Kingdom.
Zhao Kuo's rise to power relied on force, not clan. Especially after he came to power, he gradually improved the status of scholars, farmers, merchants and even workers, but he did not win over the clan.
Zhao Bao and Zhao Sheng didn't have any objections. They were already feudal lords and both had fiefs. Unless Zhao Kuo continued to add more fiefs to them, ordinary rewards would not mean much to them and were not as useful as reputation.
But they have no objections, which does not mean that the people below them have no objections. The total number of large and small clans in Zhao State is not only a thousand but also hundreds.
Although these people hold a lot of land and rights in their hands, the original fiefdoms have been taken back by successive kings by all means. Naturally, I want to take the opportunity to get some benefits from Zhao Kuo, even if it is not good for food, it is also good.
It's just that these things were suppressed by Zhao Bao and Zhao Sheng together and did not cause trouble to Zhao Kuo.
Now if Zhao Kuo deals with Zhao Tang in accordance with the law, there will inevitably be a rift between him and Zhao Bao. Will he and Zhao Sheng still stand on his side? Even if they stand on their side, will they still support him as before? Hard to say.
However, lenient treatment would be unfair and would break the trust of the people.
All Zhao State officials could see that Zhao Kuo was reforming Zhao State step by step. This process was gradual and not accomplished overnight.
The most important thing in reform is to establish credibility and make the people believe in you, no matter what orders you give.
Just like Shang Yang established trust in the emperor at the beginning, even if the prince broke the law, he would still be punished.
Now Zhao Kuo has finally built trust among the people through various measures. Once he is dealt with leniently, most of the previous efforts will collapse in an instant.
"My subordinates... also feel that things are not that simple." Liu Ping thought for a moment and said.
"According to my subordinates' knowledge, Lord Pingyang's son has been timid and has no ambitions since he was a child. He lives in the house every day, eating and waiting to die. He rarely even goes out of the door, let alone causing trouble. Later, Lord Pingyang wanted to train him. , and then arranged for him to be sent to Yanmen as a county magistrate. But after Zhao Tang arrived there, he still didn't care about anything as before, staying at home and enjoying himself every day."
"He does not harm the people. To be precise, it is as if he does not exist. However, Mr. Pingyuan arranged a very capable steward for him, and also used his status to transfer two good county captains and county magistrates. He managed Woyang County in an orderly manner and gained a lot of political achievements."
"Because of Pingyang Jun's status, and because Zhao Tang didn't do any bad things like bullying men and dominating women, no one has ever impeached him. Moreover, Pingyang Jun's family is not short of money, so he can't afford to embezzle this little money."
In the eyes of the people, if an official does not do bad things, he is doing good things. What's more, the housekeeper has also done a lot of good things in the name of Zhao Tang, so Zhao Tang has always had a good reputation.
"You mean someone framed you?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"It's not a frame-up. The money was indeed accepted by Zhao Tang." Liu Ping shook his head, "But it may be inducement. Zhao Tang did not bully the people, just because he had no contact with the people. He was a person from two different worlds. In addition, There is no shortage of anything, so there is no need to grab those three melons and two dates. It is not because you love the people and want to be a good official."
"And he... is pure-minded at best, stupid at worst, and doesn't understand anything. If someone induces him to do so, it would be easy for him to take bribes."
"As long as Zhao Tang commits a crime, the people behind him can use him to drag Pingyang Jun into trouble. Even if he doesn't drag him down, Pingyang Jun will not be able to kill his relatives out of justice. When the time comes, he will bring this matter to the king. No matter how the king punishes the person behind it, Everyone can profit from it.”
"My subordinates feel that this matter is probably just the first step. It was suddenly exposed because of the snow disaster. For us, it is also a good thing."
