When talking about Zhongmou County, the first impression of many people will be to think of keywords such as Cao Cao, assassinated Dong, escape, Chen Gong, etc. However, in the current Han Dynasty, there is no "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and it is shrouded in the reputation of Tokyo. , Zhongmu County’s reputation is not high.
But fame is fame. It is located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, on the bank of the Bian River, connected to Zhengzhou in the west and Kaifeng in the east. It is a thoroughfare between east and west. Zhongmou is truly a large county in the Central Plains. It is a prosperous county in terms of population and economy. Yap.
By the second year of Kaibao, after a new round of household registration census, the registered population of Zhongmu County had reached more than 10,800 households, making it a large county with 10,000 households. Emperor Liu Chengyou also stayed here many times when he was on tour.
In terms of population density, no state capital in the world can compare with Kaifeng, not even the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, which are known for their dense population. There is no way, who calls this the capital city. The number of officials, soldiers, farmers, industrialists and merchants living in and around Tokyo has reached one million, but if the counties under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture are included, the population will have to increase by several percent. The status of the capital of the world is no joke. The population of one capital is comparable to several remote side roads.
For a while, Liu Chengyou felt happy and proud that the capital was full of people. However, as time went by, it began to feel pressure. The overly concentrated population brought great pressure on management and food.
From the overall perspective of the Han Dynasty, the population is far from saturation, and the conflicts on the land are also very easy. However, in local areas like Kaifeng, the population is obviously overpopulated. However, there is no fundamental solution to this problem. The capital of Han Dynasty is like a magnet with strong magnetism, attracting people from all over the world to gather here.
In the past ten years or so, the divisions under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture have been continuously expanded, with the intention of diverting the population. But now, this trick is no longer easy to use. After all, the town under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture is already large enough. By the second year of Kaibao, there were thirteen counties in addition to Tokyo City. If it is further expanded, Gyeonggi Province can be split off directly, and Kaifeng Prefecture can establish a separate highway.
But no matter what, for today's Kaifeng Mansion, the overpopulation is completely a happy worry. The county officials below were delighted. The greater the population, the higher the level of the state and county, and the higher the rank of the official position.
The newly arrived magistrate of Zhongmou County is a young man. Although he claims to be twenty-six years old, he is actually not yet twenty-five years old, but he is very famous. His name is Zhao Kuangyi, the successor to his father Guangpingbo (reduced hereditary), the brother of Zhao Kuangyin, Duke of Rongguo, and the third flower in the fifteenth year of Qianyou's reign.
Zhao Kuangyi did not perform his duties for the first time in Zhongmu. Although he was from a prominent family, graduated from high school, and had the emperor's care, Zhao Kuangyi was initially assigned to Yuanwu County. During his two years in office, he did an outstanding job.
Zhao Er's ability is indeed outstanding, he has good relationships and is very skillful. When he was in Yuanwu County, he cleaned up the prisons and cracked down on a group of local tyrants and evil gentry. His reputation greatly increased. He always understood the sufferings of the people and solved their worries. To relieve people's hardship.
Yuanwu County is adjacent to the Yellow River and is a place prone to frequent floods. Zhao Kuangyi also attached great importance to the construction of embankments and ditches. He likes to do everything by himself. During the dry seasons in spring and winter, he personally leads people to strengthen the embankments and inspect the projects.
Therefore, one year after taking office, Yuanwu took on a new look, with a solemn territory and pleasant people. Two years later, it could be called great governance. Whether it was the officials and people under his jurisdiction, the censors who supervised, or the superior officials who inspected, they all praised Zhao Kuangyi.
Therefore, in the spring of the second year of Kaibao, after an evaluation by the Ministry of Officials, they unanimously believed that the small Yuanwu County was too easy for Zhao Kuangyi, and that he should be given more responsibilities and a wider space to display his talents. .
Then, with the order of Dou Yi, the Minister of Civil Affairs, he moved to Zhongmu County with a transfer order. Dou Yi, who is somewhat stubborn, actually admires Zhao Kuangyi because of his filial piety and because Zhao Kuangyi is a standard scholar-bureaucrat and a young talent.
In fact, when all kinds of advantages are reflected in Zhao Kuangyi, how can his official career not be smooth sailing and his promotion not slow? People like Zhao Kuangyi have a high starting point and are talented. As long as they follow the steps, they will eventually reach a high position.
Now, less than three months after taking office in Zhongmou, Zhao Kuangyi has already begun to leave his mark. The political atmosphere and people's sentiments in each place are different, and Zhao Kuangyi also changed his policy direction in Zhongmou.
Encouraging farmers to teach, and enforcing the law impartially, these are the basic policies, because Zhongmou is adjacent to the capital and can be regarded as the emperor's foot. The official administration is not much worse, and the public security is also very good. Many heavy-handed actions cannot be used.
Therefore, Zhao Kuangyi began to focus his main energy on encouraging reading and learning, actively improving the conditions of local schools, subsidizing poor scholars, encouraging learning, promoting education and moral education, and gathering some literary talents in the county to compile a Zhongmu County Chronicle.
In a short period of time, Zhao Zhixian's reputation has been established again. This is a person who has no worries about finding something to do. Moreover, he is full of energy. While strengthening his education work, he has never neglected his official duties. He always handles official affairs with a full mental state, analyzing them in an orderly manner.
During the hot summer season, the weather is extremely hot. Under normal circumstances, people in Zhongmou County are either busy with their livelihoods despite the heat, or hiding at home to escape the heat, or enjoying the coolness under the trees by the river, or drinking tea and listening to stories in the tea house.
But today, something was obviously special. Hundreds of people gathered at the county government office to watch the excitement. Although with the peace of the world, people's entertainment activities have begun to become more abundant, but the excitement in front of them is obviously rare and very attractive, so there are so many people gathering to watch regardless of the heat.
More than a dozen county government officials, holding water and fire sticks, maintained order. Before the ceremony, they saw the large number of people watching. The weather was hot and the people were crowded. The county magistrate Zhao Kuangyi also specially ordered people to prepare two large tanks of well water and carry them to the Yamen for the people to quench their thirst and relieve the heat.
Although it was only a small gesture, the people of Zhongmu who were watching all praised this newly appointed official who was close to the people and felt that they really received the care of a parent.
A case that can cause such a sensation is obviously no small matter. It is indeed the largest case that has occurred since Zhao Kuangyi took office. Although the matter is big, it is not difficult to investigate and judge. The facts are clear and the evidence is complete.
This is a human tragedy caused by property. There is a wealthy family in Zhongmu County whose surname is Zhang. He was an officer of the Forbidden Army when he was young. The owner of the family is called Zhang Weng. The family owns more than 500 acres of land and houses, and has several industries in the county. He is a relatively well-known wealthy family in the county.
He has three sons. In early May, Zhang Weng fell off his horse and was seriously injured on his way back from visiting relatives. He later died. He left a large family property without a will, which caused a lot of blood among his sons.
Of course, the only ones who were qualified were the eldest son and the second son. These two were born to Zhang Weng's wife and the third son to his concubine, so they could only watch the show. Normally, it is difficult for an upright official to settle family affairs. Even if it comes to the government, it is difficult to deal with it. At most, it will be returned to the hometown and let the elders of their clan make a joint decision. The key is that this time involves human lives.
After discussion between the elders of the Zhang family and the village elders, they all agreed that the eldest son should inherit the family business, take the big head, and share part with his two younger brothers.
Of course, the second son, who is both a legitimate child, is not satisfied with this result. Faced with the huge family fortune, the eldest brother took over the lion's share just because he was born early. Either because of jealousy or because he is obsessed with money, he colludes with the local scoundrels. The eldest son was tied up and thrown into the river, making it look like he had slipped and drowned.
But the eldest son had better luck and was rescued by the third son who was passing by, and then things happened. As for brothers, if you are unkind and I am unjust, the eldest son will directly sue the official. The county government sent people to collect, and all the people involved in the case were locked up. Zhao Kuangyi interrogated them personally. The gangsters involved cleared the matter in front of them.
At this point, the matter has basically come to a conclusion. In order to seize the family property, the second son was ruthless and determined to kill his own brother, causing a huge public outcry. However, what really caused an uproar was what was reported later. It was said that the reason for Zhang Weng's death was that the eldest son had done something to kill his father while serving as a medicine man. Likewise, it was also for the sake of inheriting the property earlier...
Zhao Kuangyi paid more attention to this. This kind of unethical behavior was more serious than those vicious security incidents. We conducted another investigation, collected evidence, and listened to testimonies. After half a month of investigation, we found out the truth, and today the verdict was pronounced in court.
The eldest son killed his father in order to seek family property. He was guilty of one of the ten worst crimes and was sentenced to death in court. He only had to be sent to the Ministry of Punishment and Dali for review before being sent to Tokyo for execution.
The second son's crime was less serious, but it was also an attempted murder. He and several other conspirators were exiled to the northwest. As the main conspirator, he also had fifty sticks.
At the same time, the Zhang family's dramatically changed property also had its ownership. Zhao Kuangyi also directly pronounced the verdict that the third son would inherit it, but he must support his aunt's mother and raise the children of his two elder brothers...
