Before noon, Old Wu brought the laborers and coolies from Yujiang City to the yarn workshop. The seven or eight laborers were dumbfounded when they saw the scene in the courtyard. The workload of examining so many corpses all at once was overwhelming. But it was something they had never encountered before.
However, since they have been sent here from above, they can do whatever they want! After checking the identity of each corpse, the coolies were directly asked to ship the twenty corpses back to Yujiang City at once.
Shao Xi, Lao Wu and Gao Guang also returned to Yujiang City with the boat. Today Cui Qi will go to court to try the Zhao family for embezzling money and perverting the law, harming the people, privately increasing business taxes, supporting private armies, and intending to rebel in Yujiang County. The two witnesses Shao Xi found were also crucial to the charges, as both of them could directly accuse the Zhao family.
In the lobby of the county governor's house, Cui Qi originally asked Shao Xi to sit on the main seat, but Shao Xi said that he was the chief judge of the case, so he put him on the main seat, while he sat aside and just did Observe and see how he tries the Zhao family's case.
Cui Qi gave an order, and the government officials took Zhao Huajun, Zhao Bin, Zhao Hansi, Zhao Huafei, as well as tax director Zhang Xiaoquan and others to the lobby for trial.
When they came to the hall, several other people were already frightened out of their wits. They were already kneeling on the ground before the Yamen servant could touch him. Only Zhao Huajun stood under the hall with an unconvinced look on his face, refusing to kneel down.
"Prisoner Zhao Huajun, now that you are no longer the governor of Yujiang County, but a prisoner, why don't you kneel down when you come to the court? Have you been serving as the governor all these years in vain? Lian Sheng Have you forgotten the basic rules of court trial?"
Cui Qi was sitting in the lobby at this time. He was full of momentum and no longer looked like a county magistrate at all. His tone when talking to Zhao Huajun also changed from being indifferent to being blunt and questioning.
Zhao Huajun was now wearing shackles, his official robe had been stripped off, and he was put on a prison uniform. His hair and beard looked messy. Although he was still working hard, it could be seen that he was already exhausted mentally and physically, but his face Still looking arrogant and domineering.
"Hmph! You are just a small county magistrate, what qualifications do you have to judge me? Whether I am guilty or not is not the final say for you, a mere seventh-grade official. I am the Yujiang County official officially appointed by the imperial court. Sheriff, you are violating Jingyuan’s laws by privately detaining me and interrogating me now. You know the law and break it. If you want to interrogate me, it’s not your turn. The imperial court has sent people here, and you still want me to kneel to you? You are just wishful thinking!"
Zhao Huajun was acting rogue, and Cui Qi had nothing to do. It is true to say that Cui Qi is now just a mere county magistrate, and the person he serves has not yet been stripped of his official position by the court. In theory, he is still his superior. It is indeed a fact that he is the superior. Without an order from the imperial court, he, a seventh-grade official, was really not qualified to try the Zhao family's case here, especially he had no authority to interrogate Zhao Huajun, which made Cui Qi feel a little embarrassed for a moment.
Cui Qi glanced at Shao Xi helplessly, which meant, "I'm not qualified, now you have to speak."
Shao Xi nodded with a smile and stood up. First, he took out the "Jingchengsi" sign from his bag and slapped it directly in Zhao Huajun's face.
"I am the fourth-rank inspector of the 'Jingcheng Division'. All officials have no rank in front of me. I can supervise and deal with them. As long as the evidence is conclusive, it can be executed first and then reported. There is no need to report it to the Ministry of Punishment, the Ministry of Personnel, or Dali Temple. You Do you think I’m qualified for this?”
Zhao Huajun was stunned by what Shao Xi said, and couldn't help but shudder in his heart. No official knows that the "Jingcheng Division" cannot be offended.
If the "Jingcheng Division" wants to investigate a certain official, as long as it targets you, there will basically be no good results. But now that he is facing a certain death situation, he doesn't care about so many things. He can delay it for a while, hoping that the person in Kyoto can come to the rescue.
"Although you, 'Jingcheng Si', have privileges in your hands, you cannot disregard human lives and make random false accusations against others. Now I suspect that you and the county magistrate Cui Qi conspired to harm me, in order to seize the county's Yunsha industry and enrich your own pockets. Seeking personal gain. I will definitely wait for the officials sent from Kyoto to hear the case fairly, and I will also prosecute you for the crime of frame-up."
Shao Xi saw that Zhao Huajun was still stubborn and refused to give in, so he didn't bother to argue with him anymore. He turned around and took out the imperial edict that Xiao Changyi had personally given to him from his bag.
"I have two imperial edicts in my hand. One of them was issued by the Holy One during this mission, requiring your local officials to cooperate with me unconditionally. If I come up with this one, you may not accept it. That's good! I will do it now. I took out another imperial edict issued by His Majesty himself, allowing me to supervise local officials in Jingyuan on behalf of His Majesty. If I encounter anyone who takes bribes and ignores the national laws, there is no need to report them, but they can be dealt with first. Do you want to see it with your own eyes? look?"
Zhao Huajun was completely confused this time. The issuance of such an edict was equivalent to asking Shao Xi to act on behalf of the Holy One. Everything Shao Xi did was equivalent to the Holy One's doing. If he dared to disobey, he would be guilty of bullying. If he dares to say otherwise now. I'm afraid he won't even need to be interrogated. Shao Xi can order someone to push him out and chop him directly.
Shao Xi looked at Zhao Huajun and smiled coldly, and said: "Since I can act on behalf of the Holy One now, I am qualified to appoint Cui Qi, the county magistrate, as the temporary governor of Yujiang County on behalf of the Holy One. Jiang County has been embezzling money, perverting the law, supporting private armies, and intending to commit rebellion for many years. What else do you have to say? Why don't we finish it together."
Zhao Huajun saw that the situation was over now. It seemed that he could not wait for the person from Kyoto to send someone to rescue him. He suddenly felt like a deflated ball. His head drooped and he stopped talking.
Shao Xi suddenly shouted, "Why don't you kneel down quickly? Do you want me to order the execution?"
thump……
Zhao Huajun no longer looked as arrogant and domineering as before. His legs softened and he knelt on the ground, lowering his head and waiting to be interrogated by Cui Qi.
Now that the main criminal has been restrained at this time, the subsequent trial of the case will go much smoother.
Because over the years Cui Qi and Lu Ju have secretly collected many evidence of the Zhao family's corruption, bending the law, privately collecting commercial taxes, squeezing the people, suppressing merchants, and only seeking personal gain for the Zhao family's industry. The evidence is complete and detailed, and there is no room for the Zhao family's sophistry. All charges are proven.
The next trial was the crime of the Zhao family supporting a private army, supporting soldiers to support themselves, and intending to rebel.
Now that the private army has been wiped out, there is countless evidence about the Zhao family collected from the military camp. The evidence is naturally conclusive, and some of the generals captured in large numbers can also be used as witnesses, not to mention that there is a Gao Can irrefutable evidence.
This crime is certain, the Zhao family has no chance of survival, and everyone must be slaughtered, no chickens or dogs left.
joke! No one can be saved from the crime of supporting one's own troops and intending to rebel, not even the man in Kyoto. What's more, this private army was raised for that person, would he jump out and admit that he intended to rebel?
Be it a scapegoat or a scapegoat. In short, this matter is now going to be blamed on the Zhao family. Even if your Zhao family doesn't admit it, the guy in Kyoto will find a way to force this matter on you.
Whenever Zhao Huajun dares to tell the truth, he will be charged with false accusation. This is the result of following the wrong person and making the wrong calculation. Now he can't blame others.
What was finally tried was the crime of recruiting assassins to assassinate court officials, and the official who was assassinated was an official who held the imperial edict and acted on behalf of the Holy Father. From another perspective, this is no different from assassinating the current emperor.
If you dare to kill people who come out to do things for the Holy One, does that mean that you also dare to kill the Holy One when he comes? Speaking of this matter is just a matter of words.
However, no matter who you assassinate, it is already a capital crime, and there is no point in worrying about the details. The various crimes added together are beheadings, and listed separately are also beheadings. Is there any difference between beheading once and beheading a thousand times?
Both Gao Can and Gao Guang came to court to testify that the assassinations they committed were all directed by the Zhao family, that is, by Zhao Huajun.
The twenty corpses parked outside the hall are also physical evidence. The most important point is that the two pieces of silver that Shao Xi took from Gao Guang turned out to be official silver given by Gao Can inadvertently, and there was Yujiang County on it. The mark of the treasury.
Now, Zhao Huajun couldn't rely on him even if he wanted to. The only reason is that he has been treating the county government treasury as his own private treasury and using the official banknotes as private banknotes. Over the years, he has completely forgotten that there is a mark on the official banknotes.
Every piece of evidence is irrefutable. The Zhao family has been uprooted in Yujiang County since then. The mountain that has been weighing on the people of Yujiang County has now collapsed.
From now on, local craftsmen and merchants will no longer have to be exploited by the Zhao family, nor will they have to pay those exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes fabricated out of thin air. There will no longer be any forced bribery incidents like Zhao Er's in water transportation.
After the case was heard, Cui Qi stood up and bowed to Shao Xi, asking for instructions on how to deal with it.
If normal procedures were followed, the entire Zhao family would be taken into custody and then reported to the Ministry of Punishment. The Ministry of Punishment would send people to supervise and review and then report back to the Ministry of Punishment again. The Ministry of Punishment would then formulate a disposition opinion and submit it to the Holy Emperor for a final ruling to determine the final method of execution.
Especially for officials like the county governor, before reporting to the Ministry of Punishment, they have to report to the state, and they must first pass the governor's test. This kind of nonsense will be dragged into the year of the monkey, and no one can predict the various changes in advance, so Shao Xi doesn't intend to delay.
Since Shao Xi now has the emperor's orders and can act on behalf of the Holy Emperor, the execution decision he proposes is the Holy Emperor's execution decision, and he can skip all the complicated and lengthy procedures in the middle.
Therefore, when Cui Qi asked Shao Xi for instructions on how to deal with it, Shao Xi gave the opinion that all the principal criminals of the Zhao family should be executed, and all the collateral relatives of the Zhao family should be exiled. They would be sent thousands of miles away and would never be able to return to the rest of the world. Jiangjun.
Shao Xi was showing mercy on this matter. Normally, the crimes of supporting a private army, supporting soldiers to support themselves, and intending to rebel would be enough to kill the whole family and all nine clans.
But Shao Xi still felt a little soft-hearted. After all, many of the collateral relatives did not know about it, not to mention that there were many old, weak, women and children. If they were all questioned and killed, hundreds of people would be killed. Those who knew nothing about this matter would be killed. Aren’t people being wronged?
After all, he came from the modern world, and he still had some resistance to this kind of continuous punishment in his heart. Since he now holds the emperor's life, he should let it go if he can!
Zhao Huajun and the principal criminals of the Zhao family were escorted to the execution ground amidst cries, and Cui Qi personally supervised their execution.
The falling of heads also means that the days when the Zhao family has dominated Yujiang County and covered the sky with one hand have come to an end.
It's raining. This is the first light rain in May in the south of the Yangtze River. The pattering rain seems to be washing away the sins of the Zhao family, and it also seems like the grievances of the people of Yujiang County for many years have finally been released.
