mtl008 Chapter 472: Yushan County Bandits
Chapter 472: Yushan County Bandits
At the morning court, Emperor Xiao Ye was in a good mood because of Concubine Jia's pregnancy.
After reporting on ordinary matters, he asked, "If you have anything to report, please do so. If not, please leave the court."
At this time, the Prime Minister Cui Maoxing stepped forward and reported in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I have something important to report. Ten days ago, bandits from Luotuo Mountain in Yushan County, Xiangzhou, came down the mountain to burn, kill and loot. No place within a radius of dozens of miles was spared. Countless people were killed and injured. I request the court to send troops to suppress them."
The emperor's slight joy instantly faded, and he asked coldly, "Why didn't the local prefectures and counties resist and protect the people?"
Cui Maoxing said: "The memorial said that the bandits attacked in the middle of the night, when the soldiers were exhausted and the people were asleep, so they had no time to resist."
Jiang Fu said: "I have heard of this gang of bandits. They have always been rampant and often go down the mountain to burn, kill and loot when supplies are scarce. In recent years, most of the tax revenue in Xiangzhou has been used to make up for the losses caused by the bandits. Sometimes when the harvest is poor, they still need the Ministry of Revenue to help them survive."
Yang Yun, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was indignant. "Yushan County in Xiangzhou was originally a rich place, but because of these bandits, the people are living worse than in other places! We should find a way to catch them all in one fell swoop!"
The emperor frowned and asked, "Who is the governor of Xiangzhou? Why can't he even suppress the bandits for so many years?"
Cui Maoxing said, "Your Majesty, the magistrate of Yushan County is Zhao Xuannai, who was the top scholar in the Ning'an Academy for ten years. He has taken various measures to fight against bandits in recent years, but these bandits are cunning and elusive in the mountains, so it is impossible to find their lair, so he can't do anything about them. He once wanted the prefect to report to the court to suppress the bandits, but the prefect was worried about affecting his political achievements, so he suppressed the matter. In addition, if there are bandits, he can apply for relief from the court, so he colluded with the bandits and let them rob from time to time."
"I haven't sent anyone to investigate yet. How did Minister Cui know about this?" The emperor looked at Cui Maoxing with suspicion.
Cui Maoxing explained, "Last night, my servant found a letter at the door. It clearly stated the whole story. It was written by Zhao Xuan, the magistrate of Yushan County, so I knew it. Not only that, the letter also said that the massacre was done by the Xiangzhou prefect in collusion with bandits in order to kill Zhao Xuan and prevent him from suing him. I have brought the letter with me, and it has Zhao Mo's official seal on it."
After saying that, he took out a letter from his pocket.
Eunuch Wan immediately came before him and presented the memorial and the letter to the emperor.
"Asshole!" The emperor was so angry that his face turned blue. He asked, "Who is that prefect? How dare he be so bold!"
At this time, a small voice came from somewhere saying, "That person is from the Wang family of Xiangzhou."
In a word, the whole court was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
The Wang family of Xiangzhou is the maternal family of the current emperor.
Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Cui felt himself sweating profusely. He only wanted to punish corrupt officials, but he didn't expect that he would end up plucking hair from a tiger's head.
But even if the hair on a tiger's head grows crooked, he still has to pluck it out!
Cui Maoxing stood up straight with his head held high and his chest puffed out. His round and square face showed a righteous expression, as if he was not afraid of life or death.
The emperor lost his mother when he was young and was adopted by the current empress dowager. After the emperor ascended the throne, he missed his mother and made compensation to his mother's family.
He secretly had officials confer official positions on members of the Wang family, but the positions were not high, ranging from ninth to seventh rank. This was because he was worried that someone would become complacent and do something wrong because of their high-ranking positions.
Before conferring the title, he even sent people to deliberately warn people about why a member of the Wang family could reach the fourth rank and commit such a crime of disregarding human life?
He remembered that these things were asked to be done by Su Heng.
The emperor looked at Cui Maoxing coldly, not understanding why he did not mention the matter in private.
He was seen standing in the hall with his head held high and his chest puffed out, a righteous look on his face, as if he would not give up no matter what.
As the head of the civil officials, even the emperor has to give him some face.
The emperor rubbed his brows and said to Zhang Zhong, the Minister of Justice, and Duan Xu, the Minister of Justice: "Zhang Zhong, Duan Xu, you two should verify this matter. We will discuss the follow-up measures after verification!"
"Yes, I obey your command." The two of them responded together.
Master He was listening on the side, and he probably had a follow-up plan in mind.
At this time, doubts also arose in his heart.
How did Xiao Yu know about this?
Is he related to this robbery and murder?
If he was the one who caused this disaster, then wouldn't I be aiding and abetting the evil?
After the court session was dismissed, Tutor He immediately returned home and wrote a letter to Xiao Yu.
*
Yan Qing got the letter and came to Furong Pavilion. He asked Luzhu who was sweeping outside and found out that the prince and princess had not gotten up yet, so he took the letter to find Yunting.
"The prince and princess are still asleep. Do you want to open the letter? Is there something urgent?"
Yun Ting took the letter without hesitation and opened it. He saw that it was written by Tutor He, asking about Yushan County, and his every word was full of questions.
He handed the letter to Yan Qing and said, "I will go to see Master He and tell His Majesty not to worry."
In the He family study, Grand Tutor He looked at the young man who was about the same age as his grandson and asked, "Was the tragedy in Yushan County caused by Prince Su?"
Although Yun Ting was just an adult, he was not inferior in momentum at all, and he said solemnly: "In the second year of the emperor's accession to the throne, he asked Su Heng to secretly arrange official positions for all the members of the Wang family, my mother's clan.
The magistrate of Qingshui County was the emperor's cousin, and he was not a big tyrant, embezzling only 10,000 taels of tax silver a year. The county government of Bailong County, from the yamen runners to the magistrate, were all relatives of the Wang family. The people of the whole county saw the Wang family as if they were local tyrants, and allowed them to bully men and women without daring to resist. Every year, they embezzled 30% of the county's tax revenue.
The worst-hit area is Yushan County, which has been living under the tyranny of bandits for thirteen years. Ten years ago, Zhao Xuan won the third place in the imperial examination and was appreciated by the emperor to enter the Imperial Academy. He found that the affairs of the court were controlled by Su Heng. He did not want to be involved in the corruption, so he was demoted to Yushan County and was tortured by the Wang family. In the past ten years, Zhao Xuan has been under the surveillance of the prefect Wang Quanfu. He cannot leave Yushan County, his memorials cannot be submitted to the court, and he must always be on guard against the prefect's lack of money and the bandits coming to plunder. "
"Taifu, do you understand the despair of having your ambitions crushed by the emperor you swore allegiance to?"
Master He looked at Yun Ting in silence for a long time before he asked, "Are you planning to use this incident to completely eliminate the Wang family?"
Yun Ting did not answer, but looked at him calmly and asked: "Master, are you willing to continue?"
Seeing his indifferent expression, Master He was filled with anger. Even if he agreed to change the crown prince, he did not agree to join Xiao Yu in killing innocent people.
"The lives of those people are also lives!" Tutor He said angrily, his eyes, full of traces of time, seemed to bulge outwards because of extreme anger.
Yun Ting looked at Master He's furious expression and knew that he would find it difficult to accept it for the time being.
He explained: "Without the blood of those people, this case would never have appeared in the court, and more people would continue to be persecuted by the Wang family!"
Master He disagreed with what he said from the bottom of his heart.
There are hundreds of ways to punish corrupt officials, but human lives should never be treated as worthless.
He looked at Yun Ting coldly and said, "If the price of breaking off the engagement is the lives of innocent people, Prince Su and I will part ways. We have different ideals and cannot work together. Please go back, Your Excellency!"
Yun Ting said nothing more and turned away.
Looking at Yun Ting's back, Master He said loudly to him, "If it is finally found out that it was Prince Su who did it, I will definitely not tolerate it!"
Yun Ting didn't look back, but said coldly: "The Grand Tutor cares about the people. The prince and I are waiting for the Grand Tutor to seek justice for the people of Yushan County!"