After Da Tou said this, he quickly followed Chang Sheng, and the accompanying Yu Lin army also evacuated immediately. The group walked out of the town and rode their horses back the same way.
Seeing Changsheng frowning and saying nothing, Datou guessed what he was thinking, "Sir, you have warned them sternly in advance, but they still dare to commit crimes, that is, they are seeking death. I mean to kill another group to avoid others." The officials in the prefectures and counties thought that what happened in Jeju would not happen again, and another wave of killings from Lizhou would be enough to deter all local officials. Let’s see which local official dares to deceive the subordinates and hide it from the superiors, and exploit the common people.”
"What you said makes sense," Changsheng said. "If the country was stable during the prosperous Tang Dynasty, there would be no need to be so urgent and ruthless in rectifying the government. However, after the Huangchao Rebellion, the people's morale is now seriously unstable. If local officials continue to do whatever they want, It will make the people completely lose confidence in the imperial court. This is something that will destroy the country and its foundation. He must be killed, but what I am worried about is how to kill him."
"Punish the three tribes," Datou said, "You have made it clear on the notice that anyone who dares to prevent the people from redressing their grievances will be punished by the three tribes. You can't just say it but not do it. If you do that, you will not be able to deter other places. The effect of the officials.”
"Executing the three tribes is much crueler than killing the whole family," Changsheng frowned and said, "Do you know how many people would be killed if the three tribes were really killed?"
"I have been in Yushitai for so long, I must know," Datou said, "The father's clan kills the married aunts, sisters and daughters, the mother's clan kills the aunts and cousins, and the wife's clan kills the father-in-law, mother-in-law and the whole family. After all, we kill No matter what, one person will implicate hundreds of people."
"The government officials are just following orders, and there are officials at all levels above them," Changsheng said. "If they are all found out, I'm afraid tens of thousands of people will be killed."
"It seems a bit much," Datou said with a confused look on his face, "But you have already said what you said, so you have to kill me, right?"
"I'm just scaring them," Changsheng frowned and sighed, "I know the virtues of local officials. If they don't speak harshly, they will definitely deceive them. Who knows that they actually dare to prevent the wronged people from redressing their grievances and filing a complaint. Now it's better. , riding a tiger is hard to get off.”
"Sir, you are still in charge of the household department. How many people are there in Datang now?" Datou asked.
"There are 77 million people registered," Changsheng said.
"There are so many more, so let's kill them. It will scare those corrupt officials into pissing their pants," said the boss. "People generally don't like officials. If the court wants to unite the people, the best way is to investigate corruption." , kill corrupt officials.”
"Can't kill, there are too many," Chang Sheng shook his head repeatedly, "One person is responsible for the work, and it is unfair to implicate. If I really kill tens of thousands of people, I will be infamous for thousands of years. The historians above the court will not let me go. , the rotten scholars and moral literati in the market will not let me go, they don’t know what it means to kill to stop killing, they will only slander and slander me with all their benevolence, justice and morality."
"What should we do?" Big Head asked.
"We have a solution," said Changsheng, who was anxious and wise. "No official who bullied the people will be spared. All those involved will be imprisoned to be executed. If the official document is sent to the court, the emperor will definitely understand my intention and will pardon them as they go. This will make it difficult for them to do so." More than half a year is enough to scare officials in other places.”
"Yes, yes, this is a good method," Datou happily agreed. "It can not only scare other local officials, but also put a golden face on the emperor."
Having solved the problem, the two men accelerated their horses and returned to Lizhou City with the Yulin Army.
As soon as they arrived at the city gate, they found a man riding out of the city. It was the fourth watch at this time, and ordinary people could not go in or out at all. When he saw the man riding out of the city, Da Tou immediately shouted loudly and asked, "Who is that person?!"
The rider on the horse was a young man. He was already nervous when he saw the crowd, and when he heard the big head shouting and asking questions, he became even more frightened. He shook the reins and urged the horse to gallop away.
Upon seeing this, Datou immediately turned his horse's head and galloped to catch up.
The big head was riding a sweaty horse. After running a hundred feet, he caught up with the man and captured him, then dragged him back.
"Sir," Big Head handed over a wrinkled letter, "This guy wants to stuff this letter into his mouth."
Changsheng took the letter, tore it open and read it, and saw that the letter was actually written by the governor of Lizhou to Wang Jian of Xichuan. The general meaning was that he wanted to surrender the city and asked Wang Jian to send troops to garrison the city.
Changsheng handed the letter to Datou. After reading it, Datou cursed angrily, "This bitch knows that he cannot escape his guilt, but he actually wants to betray the imperial court and join the rebels."
The two of them were already very angry. When they saw that Lizhou Governor was trying to rebel, they became even more angry. They immediately led the Yulin Army and galloped back.
Although the number of our side was small, Changsheng and Datou were both martial arts practitioners. After returning to the government office, Lizhou Governor did not dare to resist, so he had to be captured without mercy.
After stabilizing the situation, the Yulin troops sent to various places also returned one after another. None of them returned empty-handed, and they captured all the officers sent by the local government to prevent the people who had been wronged from complaining.
After dawn, the people who had been wronged came one after another without any obstruction. Chang Sheng personally sat in court and tried them one by one.
As the saying goes, you will not do anything wrong in your life, and you will not be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door in the middle of the night. The reason why local officials do everything possible to prevent people who have been wronged from filing complaints is mainly because of their guilty conscience, because they all know that the cases they judge confuse right and wrong, cannot withstand scrutiny, and cannot be seen in the light.
Chang Sheng handles cases very quickly. No matter how old or complicated the case is, it can be completed within a stick of incense. The reason why it is so fast is not only careful and perceptive, but also a very important reason, which is the presumption of innocence. There is no If there is sufficient evidence to prove that the prisoner is indeed guilty, he will be found not guilty.
It is very difficult for an official to not unjustly punish a good person or let go of a bad person. It is pure nonsense. No matter how powerful the law official is, he cannot do this. Therefore, his principle is I would rather let a bad person go than unjustly accuse a good person.
Several prefectures and counties got wind of the case in advance and knew they could not withstand re-examination, so they secretly destroyed the files. As long as the files were incomplete, they would be regarded as unjust cases and officials would be held accountable. Fear of investigation means a guilty conscience, and a guilty conscience means there is something wrong.
Officials are also human beings, and when everyone makes mistakes in judgment, the correct approach is to correct them when they know they are wrong, rather than trying every means to cover it up. There is no shame in admitting mistakes. Not only will the people not laugh at them, but they will think that the officials are magnanimous. If you insist on continuing to cheat and maintain the so-called official dignity even though you have made a mistake, you will easily lose the support of the people.
In one day, Changsheng tried more than 40 old cases, which was extremely fast.
But after a day of trial, Chang Sheng felt extremely heavy. These cases were all cases in which the victims or victims had appealed for redress of grievances for many years. Among them, there were few poor people, and most of them were people who had read books or had some property. And the suppression by local officials has made their lives difficult, and many of them have become destitute.
In addition, why are there no poor people among those who petition for redress of grievances? Do the poor people have no grievances? Of course not, but the poor people are illiterate and have no money. Even if they are wronged, they can only swallow their anger and suffer silently. They cannot even appeal or redress their grievances.
The number of people who appealed for grievances decreased significantly the next day. Even if no one came, Changsheng still sat in the hall and waited. Datou and the inspectors sent by Yushitai served as jurors and sat with Changsheng for three days.
In the evening, a soldier delivered a letter on horseback. It turned out that the rebel army led by Long Haotian was passing through the city tomorrow and asked Lizhou to send someone to comfort the army to welcome them.
After reading the letter, Changsheng threw it aside casually. Dozens of officials, including the governor of Lizhou, were now in prison, waiting to be beheaded tomorrow. He had no time to talk to Long Haotian.
According to the custom, the beheading time was three quarters of noon, but Long Haotian was frightened by Chang Sheng's intention, so he set the time for beheading to the next day's hour, and changed the place of execution from the south gate to the east gate.
The army arrived in a mighty manner, and the executions began. More than a hundred officials and officials were killed, and their bodies were scattered all over the field, and their blood flowed into rivers.
Long Haotian was originally a gangster. Although he was granted a title as a general, he could not change his banditry habits. He walked slowly and leisurely along the way, and he had to extort money from local officials wherever he went. After setting off, he did not fight a single battle, but loaded more than a dozen carts with soft money. .
Although Long Haotian is a bad guy, he is not the kind of serious bad guy, but a profit-seeking gangster. Seeing his army crossing the border, Chang Sheng executes and kills people. Knowing that Chang Sheng is coming for him, he is not angry, but reins in his horse. He was determined and asked with a smile, "You are such a cruel official. You kill wherever you go. The killings in Jeju are not enough, so you come here to kill me again? You also deliberately killed me on the way to march. What are you doing? Killing chickens to scare the monkeys." ?”
"Are you a monkey?" Changsheng was not angry either.
"Of course not," Long Haotian didn't dismount, "Since it's a first-class official, you are a first-class official. If you don't enjoy peace and happiness in Chang'an, why bother going to a place where rabbits don't poop?"
"I received a tip that the leader of the Xichuan Branch of the Beggar Clan led his people to rebel against the imperial court. I came out this time just to investigate the matter thoroughly," Changsheng said.
"Hey, hey, stop it, stop it," Long Haotian shook his horse whip, "I won't ask anymore, and don't smear shit on me. We are both ministers in the same palace now. I, the army of the West Route, still expect you to help me. Where are the military supplies and rations?"
"Humph." Changsheng sneered.
"Look, why do you always look down on me? I've apologized to you for everything before." Long Haotian was thick-skinned and could be described as shameless. "By the way, I haven't had time to thank you yet, please." Thanks to your blessing, I have been promoted to Taixuan and can enjoy the peak of purple energy."
Changsheng had previously given the Heavenly Silkworm Divine Art to Long Haotian. Long Haotian's promotion to Taixuan was undoubtedly due to the Heavenly Silkworm Divine Art. Changsheng felt very angry when he thought of Long Haotian plotting against him that day, "Congratulations to you, but Zi Qi The peak is not invulnerable, so you need to be more careful when killing enemies in front of the formation."
"Look at you, you are armed with a gun and a stick. I won't tell you anymore. We still have to rush to the front of the battle." Long Haotian pointed to one of the carriages. "By the way, the officials along the way gave me some money for tea. I will share it with you." You some?"
Long Haotian looks like a big boss, but in fact he is rough and subtle. In this way, after Chang Sheng's birthday, naturally he can't talk about the money he made along the way. Chang Sheng is too lazy to argue with him and waved his hand impatiently, "I don't want it. Let's go quickly."
"Thank you, thank you so much," Long Haotian waved his hand, "Brothers, let's go and quell the rebellion."
When Long Haotian walked away, Datou whispered, "Sir, this guy doesn't look like a master who can win the battle."
"Hmph, let alone win the battle, the court will be thankful if he doesn't lead the crowd to defect..."
