It was already dawn. After being tormented by these two rat demons all night, no one could sleep much. Changsheng understood everyone's hard work and did not leave immediately. Instead, he ordered everyone to rest from the inn until noon, and then set off after lunch. .
It was already past the time for giving out porridge, but a large number of victims gathered near the porridge. They all heard about what happened last night and wanted to see what the high official of the court who killed the rat demon looked like.
At this time, the county magistrate also came after hearing the news. He was worried about disturbing Chang Sheng and others' rest, so he did not visit and disturb them. Instead, he waited outside the inn with everyone, and only came forward to greet Chang Sheng and others when they came out.
Changsheng had a brief conversation with the county magistrate, asked about the disaster situation in the county, and then told the county magistrate to open a good porridge restaurant to ensure that the hungry victims could survive the lean spring and summer.
On the road again, Changsheng stopped talking to Datou and the others. Seeing that Changsheng had been thinking deeply, Datou urged his horse to get closer and spoke side by side with Changsheng, "Sir, are you still thinking about what the rat spirit said?"
Changsheng nodded.
"Do you think it's reliable?" Datou asked.
"How do you feel?" Changsheng asked casually.
Datou thought for a while and said, "Looking at what he said is well-founded and true, he shouldn't be talking nonsense."
"I think so too," Changsheng said. "Its words not only conform to the yin and yang of the universe, but also correspond to the earthly branches and five elements. If it lies temporarily to survive, there will be no flaws."
"What are your plans?" Big Head asked.
Chang Sheng took a deep breath and turned to speak, "Even if what it says is true, right now we don't have time to look for the golden dragon to save the country's destiny and prolong our life. The government must seize the time to rectify it. If corrupt officials are allowed to bend the law for personal gain and enrich their own pockets, It will lose the support of the people. Moreover, we have to rely on us to raise supplies for the next three new armies. Only I can do this, and others really can't do it well."
Chang Sheng paused for a moment before continuing, "Let's put this matter aside for now, and don't mention it to others. In my opinion, the long-term fate of the country depends on the support of the people and the success or failure of the war. , the Golden Dragon and the Twelve Earthly Branches may really exist, but I feel that they are too illusory, and I don’t want to take the wrong approach and play against their ideas unless I am in a desperate and forced situation.”
After hearing Chang Sheng's words, Da Tou knew what he was talking about and nodded in agreement, "Don't worry, sir."
Yu Yi was not far away from the two of them. She heard their conversation and answered them. She only said that the matter would be kept secret and would not be mentioned to others.
If there are words, it will be long, but if there are no words, it will be short. Since we only set off at noon, everyone did not stop at the inn in the evening and rushed all night. Everyone arrived at Jeju Mansion at dawn the next day.
At this time, the city gate has not yet been opened. Changsheng revealed his identity and forced the soldiers guarding the city gate to open the city gate in advance. Then the troops were divided into three groups. Changsheng led 30 agents and rushed directly to the Jeju Yamen. Datou led 10 agents. He rushed to Ping County under the jurisdiction of Jeju to arrest the county magistrate, county magistrate and others, while Yu Yi led ten detectives to Yunshui Township where Zhang Wang's family belonged to arrest Xiang Zheng and others.
When Chang Sheng led the police to the Jeju Yamen, the Jeju Yamen was in the process of ascending the hall. With Chang Sheng's order, a group of policemen from the Yushitai rushed into the lobby and tied up the Jeju governor who was solving the case.
The officer in the yamen didn't know the reason and wanted to step forward to stop him. Changsheng did not pretend to be mysterious and hid his identity. He directly showed his official seal as a censor, walked up to the north seat, and sat on it.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of Zhang Wang's family had been complaining for many days, and most of the government officials in Jeju Prefecture recognized them. Seeing the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law appear in the court, everyone immediately understood why the official official from Yushitai suddenly arrived.
After Changsheng took the throne, he immediately ordered that all the officials and officers related to Zhang Wang's injustice case, including the governor of Jeju in charge of prisons, be arrested. At the same time, he ordered the government officers to notify the county officials and county officials of all counties in Jeju. Cheng, come to Jeju Mansion before midnight tomorrow to wait for orders.
At the same time, officers were dispatched, notices were posted outside the city, and gongs were sounded throughout the city to inform the people in the city that the Zhang family's unjust case would be retried tomorrow at midnight at the Jeju government office, and all people could come and watch.
The Zhang family father and son are currently not in the prison of the state capital. They are originally from Ping County. After being arrested by the state, they have been taken back to Ping County and are currently being held in the prison of Ping County. Changsheng has not sent anyone to the prison of the county to pick up people, because Datou This matter will definitely be mentioned when the county magistrate and county magistrate are arrested, and the Zhang family and his son will be brought back to Jeju Prefecture.
Although Chang Sheng lives in Chang'an, he has long been famous. The governor of Jeju has also heard of some of his deeds. When he saw him coming in person, he knew that a disaster was coming. He was so frightened that his face turned pale and trembled like chaff. He took the initiative to admit it without waiting for Chang Sheng's interrogation. The Zhang family's matter was not handled properly. Although the Zhang family appealed for grievances and ruined Jeju's reputation, they should have tried to dissuade him because he had no intention of doing evil, instead of convicting him of provoking trouble and imprisoning him for the sake of official business.
Changsheng is a royal censor, so he is naturally familiar with the laws of the dynasty. The basis for conviction of this crime of provoking troubles is broad and vague. The initiative is completely in the hands of the government. If the government doesn't like any of the people, they can just find a small fault and make a fuss out of it. He was convicted of provoking trouble and imprisoned.
I don't buy the Jeju Governor's self-reflection. This is completely evasive, misinterpreting the serious crime of covering the sky and harming the people with one hand, and downplaying it as a flaw in handling the case.
While waiting for the return of Datou and others, the chief of Jeju, Changshou, moved all the account books of the state for the past three years to the lobby and checked them in person. He had already made murderous intentions and wanted to kill chickens and monkeys. However, according to the laws of the day, The actions of some officials in Jeju are not worthy of death. If you want to convict them of death, you must find another crime. The crime of bending the law for personal gain and corruption is the best choice. But few officials are completely innocent. Just arrest any one and interrogate them. , almost all have corruption problems.
The penalty for corruption of officials in this dynasty is calculated in terms of silk. One bolt of silk is equivalent to one dou of rice. The price of one bushel of rice is about three taels of silver. Embezzlement of thirty bolts of silk can lead to a death penalty. Converted into silver taels, basically embezzlement of one hundred taels. You can behead.
Chang Sheng read these account books very carefully, and from time to time he circled questionable accounts with a writing brush. When he suppressed the eunuchs, he had already earned a reputation as a cruel official, and he didn't care anymore. The emperor asked him to do the job of taking the blame. Strong medicines are used to treat serious illnesses, and heavy rules are used to treat troubled times. Since you are determined to kill chickens and scare monkeys, you must kill a few more, otherwise it will not be enough to cause a sensation and deter corrupt officials.
These account books involved many people, not just the governor himself, but also the deputy governor and many subordinate officials had problems. Changsheng was reading and drawing at the same time. By the end of the afternoon, he had read through all the account books. More than a hundred taels of ink were involved in the case. There are more than 20 officials, and half of the officials above the ninth rank in Jeju Prefecture will be beheaded.
At Shenshi, Datou escorted a group of officials from Ping County back to Jeju Prefecture. Also brought back were some people involved in the case and the Zhang family father and son who were imprisoned in the prison.
The Zhang family and his son were imprisoned for many days. They were tortured in the prison and became so thin that they lost their appearance.
When the family gathered together, it felt like a world away. Thinking of the injustice they and their family had suffered due to the government's distortion of right and wrong, everyone in the Zhang family hugged each other and cried.
Yu Yi came back relatively late and successfully captured the Xiang Zheng of Yunshui Township, and also tied up the bully who had occupied the Zhang family's property.
In the evening, Changsheng discussed privately with Datou and Yu Yi. They agreed with him that what Jeju did was extremely abhorrent and must be severely punished.
The next day, a large number of onlookers gathered outside the government office. County officials and county magistrates from other counties under the jurisdiction of Jeju also came. There were no less than a thousand onlookers.
Changsheng personally sat in court to review the Zhang family property case, uphold justice for the Zhang family, bring order to the chaos, and hold relevant officials accountable. As officials, we cannot easily label people as unruly people, especially those who have been wronged and want to seek justice. Poor people, we can't just slap names and accuse them just because their actions in seeking justice have tarnished the local government and caused trouble.
The interrogation took two hours, and more than 60 people were involved in the case, all of whom were sentenced to death.
At three quarters of noon, the execution was carried out directly outside the government office. With an order, dozens of people's heads fell to the ground...
