In the Xue family manor, Hangzhou Sima Yuan Yi stood in front of everyone with a secret order in his hand.
Everyone present was staring at the secret order in Yuan Yi's hand. At the moment, it was no longer important whether Xue Zhongzhang was related to the King of East China Sea.
What's important is that everyone wants to know the content of this secret order from the Ministry of Justice.
"Read it." Lai Jingye glanced at Yuan Yi and said politely: "Just read it!"
"Here!" Yuan Yi did not hesitate at all and read out the secret order of the Ministry of Punishment directly in front of everyone: "Mr. Zhongling of the Ministry of Punishment ordered Xuanyi Lang Xue Zhongzhang to investigate the case of Hangzhou's officials, aristocratic families, and the common people Tongdonghai Wang's treason. What is done is done conveniently in every state and county.”
Yuan Yi read out the secret order from the Ministry of Punishment, and Xue Zhongzhang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
This was the only way he could think of to excuse himself in a hurry. Otherwise, once the official document was reported, not only would his career be over because of the suspicion of treason, but he might also be imprisoned.
Li Xuan, on the other side, glanced at Xue Zhongzhang lightly, with a trace of pity flashing in his eyes.
The poor kid didn't know anything. If he didn't take out this secret order, Pei Yan would kill him no matter what in Chang'an. But after taking out this secret order, Pei Yan wouldn't care about him, let alone him. I wish I could kill him.
Xue Zhongzhang suddenly raised his head and saw the pity in Li Xuan's eyes.
As if he could see through Li Xuan's thoughts at a glance, a hint of disdain flashed across Xue Zhongzhang's lips, but his eyes gently turned to the secret order on one side, with a trace of resentment in his eyes.
No one in the world knows better than him what kind of person his uncle Pei Yan is.
If he was really directly framed this time and had something to do with the King of East China Sea, then his uncle Pei Yan would not only not save him, but would even go so far as to personally request that he be removed from all official positions.
When he returns to Chang'an later, Pei Yan may compensate him, but the so-called compensation is no more than a county captain at most.
Not as good as his former secretary Lang, nor as good as his current Shangzhou Fa Cao joining the army.
And he has to be grateful to Pei Yan.
This was what his uncle was like, cold and ruthless, but also hypocritical.
At this time, Lai Jingye turned to look at Xue Zhongzhang and said politely: "Pei Shangshu's hands are indeed very long. He sent people to Hangzhou with secret orders to investigate, but he didn't even know that he had heard from the governor. It seems that he is You are also suspicious of this governor!"
When Lai Jingye said something, the expressions of everyone present changed at the same time.
You know, in the official documents of the Ministry of Punishment, almost everyone in the Hangzhou Governor's Office was investigated. To put it bluntly, anyone living in Hangzhou was suspected by the Ministry of Punishment.
In an instant, everyone present looked at Xue Zhongzhang angrily.
If this thing is a secret order, then even if one or two people know it, they can only cooperate obediently. But if this thing becomes known to everyone, the loyalty of everyone in Hangzhou to the Tang Dynasty will be affected. I wonder how these people could not be angry.
Of course, no matter how angry they were, they would not do anything to Xue Zhongzhang. At most, they would just be cold and alienated from him.
The Jiangnan Sixteenth Family is a local household in Hangzhou. If they are alienated and indifferent to Xue Zhongzhang, then even if Xue Zhongzhang, the Hangzhou magistrate, can continue to work, he will be unable to do anything.
Social death, this is the fate of Xue Zhongzhang.
Li Xuan turned his head and looked at the other people present with cautious eyes, because he knew that the person who was really in trouble was Pei Yan.
Xue Zhongzhang secretly investigated all the officials and aristocratic families in Hangzhou, but did not report to Jingye. If Lai Jingye did not report, he might have resigned from the central government immediately due to suspicion, and many officials and aristocratic families in Hangzhou would also have to do so. Apologize to the center.
They will not impeach Pei Yan. Pei Yan is the Minister of Punishment. It is his duty to investigate the traitors, so it is useless to accuse him.
They had no choice but to plead guilty and resign from all their official positions and honors.
Think about it, all the officials and aristocratic families in Hangzhou all appealed to the court and resigned, which caused a sensation.
How big.
I'm afraid the entire southeast will be shaken.
Did the emperor distrust all the aristocratic families and officials in Hangzhou, or did he distrust all the aristocratic families and officials in the southeast?
Pei Yan is in big trouble.
"Ahem!" At this time, Li Xuan suddenly coughed twice, attracting everyone's attention. Then he looked at Xue Zhongzhang and said: "Although there is an official document from the Ministry of Punishment to prove Xue Lang's matter, but you What exactly was heard and said during the relationship with Wenxu needs to be explained in detail one by one.
Especially this courtyard now. Did you take it to get close to him, or did you take it and be approached by him?
Have you revealed anything to him that he shouldn’t know, especially Hangzhou’s city defense and personnel..."
"No." Xue Zhongzhang immediately defended himself, denying: "Wen Xu is originally the lieutenant of Xiaoshan County. He is more familiar with the affairs of Yangzhou than me. Why should he ask me? It is more important that I ask him Ask who is suspected in Hangzhou..."
"Okay, don't talk about it." Lai Jingye suddenly interrupted Xue Zhongzhang's defense. After giving him a cold look, he then looked at everyone again and said, "Tonight's matter is here for now. Nancheng and Xicheng are still here." Fires need to be put out, the corpses on Dongcheng Street need to be cleaned up, and there are inanimate traitors that need to be hunted down, so everyone can go about their business. As for Xue Canjun."
Lai Jingye looked at the Qianniu Guard behind him and said in a deep voice: "From today on, Xue Canjun will stay in this house, guarded by the Qianniu Guard. The state government will deliver meals every day, and he is not allowed to leave without orders."
This is to put him under house arrest.
Although there was an embarrassment on his face, Xue Zhongzhang breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, raised his hands to Lai Jingye and said, "I obey the order!"
"Let's go!" Lai Jingye didn't want to stay in this courtyard for a moment longer.
Soon, a group of people came to the alley outside and followed Lai Jingye back to the Governor's Mansion.
In the backyard of the Governor's Mansion, Lai Jingye looked at the open bank and said in a cold voice: "Move all the salary money back to the bank and seal it. Hu Changshi, Yuan Sima, and Guan Yuan joined the army. You can discuss tonight's matter." Now, write a memorial and send it to me tomorrow. After reading it, I will sign it and send it to Chang'an."
"I obey the order." Lai Jingye said one word, and no one present dared to slack off at all.
Everyone can clearly feel the anger in Lai Jingye's heart.
At this time, the sky was bright.
In the back hall of the Governor's Mansion, Li Xuan handed a memorial to Lai Jingye and said softly: "My nephew will send this memorial to Chang'an today and deliver it to the prince. If uncle Shi delivers the copy, please also Hurry up."
"Don't worry, you won't be much slower than your nephew." Lai Jingye gently pushed Li Xuan's memorial back, shook his head and said, "What's yours is yours, what's mine is mine. I'd rather not do this." It’s good to interfere with each other.”
Li Xuan raised her eyebrows and nodded suddenly, "What Uncle Shi said is absolutely true."
"If this incident hadn't happened with Xue Zhongzhang in the end, I'm afraid it wouldn't have been so troublesome." Lai Jingye couldn't help but frowned. He was not willing to push the matter to this point, but he had no choice. When that fool Xue Zhongzhang said these four words of the secret order of the Ministry of Punishment, everything was doomed and there was no room for maneuver.
Li Xuan shook his head slightly and said softly: "Uncle Shi is overly concerned. It is actually easy to settle this matter. We can find Wenxu, capture him, and then deliver him to Chang'an. Everything will be settled."
Hearing what Li Xuan said, Lai Jingye nodded slightly and said softly: "Uncle Shi, do you know what to do?"
Li Xuan smiled faintly, and then said: "The next thing is about my nephew. There is no danger in Hangzhou this time. Although my nephew has His Majesty's secret decree, it is not suitable to be made public. Therefore, I still need to use the name of Uncle Shi to stay. The Hangzhou Navy will temporarily clear out all the pirates in the coastal waters, and then request an order to ask what to do with this half of the Navy."
Lai Jingye nodded. The reason why the secret order was secret was because he could not disclose it to the public easily.
Just like the secret order of the Ministry of Justice in Xue Zhongzhang's hand, although he suspected that there were people from the King of East China Sea among the officials and families in Hangzhou, he could conduct a secret investigation, and even Hangzhou and all the families could help, but when he made the secret order public When coming out,
It had already forced everyone into a corner, and no one had any way out. They could only grit their teeth and fight with Pei Yan.
"It's a pity that Wen Xu's trace has never been found." Lai Jingye couldn't help but frowned.
Li Xuan was very calm and said: "The whole group of Wusheng Black Soldiers has been almost wiped out. Although some people have fled into the mountains, they have been nailed to the tail. Without these Wusheng Black Soldiers, Hangzhou, Yue and Wuhutai are wanted together. , he can’t escape.”
"What my nephew said is true." Lai Jingye nodded slightly, then looked at the sun outside, stood up and said, "Let's go, everyone is still waiting."
"Follow the order!"
In the lobby of the governor's office, Lai Jingye sat high on the governor's seat, while Li Xuan stood silently by the side.
"Chang Shi, how is the situation in Hangzhou City now?" Lai Jingye turned to look at Hu Yu.
Hu Yu immediately raised his hands and said: "Reporting to the envoy, Nancheng, Xicheng, and Dongcheng have all been dealt with. Last night, more than 300 Zhoushan pirates were killed, and more than 500 others abandoned their weapons; six Wusheng rebels were killed. There were more than 100 people, more than 200 people abandoned their weapons, and nearly a hundred people fled into Tianmu Mountain. Yan Tao, the captain of Kuaiji Prefecture, was leading his troops to pursue them. The nearby villagers actively provided information and even assisted in the hunt."
Lai Jingye nodded, knowing that it was the wealthy families in Hangzhou who were taking action.
"The people hate the Wusheng Cult bandits extremely. Those who deserve to be rewarded will be rewarded as mentioned before." Lai Jingye looked at Sima Yuan Yi on one side and said in a deep voice: "Sima, starting immediately, let Yuhang County send experienced hunters Go into the mountains and cooperate with the rebels to kill the rebels. Notify the villages in the mountains in advance and ask them to dig out internal and external mountain roads to prevent the rebels from breaking into the mountains and starting killings."
"Your Majesty loves the people." Yuan Yi sighed and handed over to Lai Jingye.
"The other thing is about Xiaoshan Wenxu." Lai Jingye said coldly: "Guan Canjun, after you come down from the hall, you personally and Xiaoshan will thoroughly check all the people and things related to Wenxu, and I will I don’t believe it, he has been in Xiaoshan for many years without leaving any trace.”
"I obey the order." Guan Mi immediately retreated.
"The other thing is about the Hangzhou navy." Lai Jingye looked at everyone and said in a deep voice: "This time the Zhoushan pirates attacked Yuhang. Fortunately, Hangzhou sent back reinforcements and timely reinforcements. I plan to..."
A "dong" gong sounded outside the governor's house, and immediately, Xu Captou ran in frantically: "Your Majesty, the imperial edict has arrived!"
