Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 1036 Jiangnan Case Sealed
The tone is sharp.

The atmosphere makes it so.

In the main hall of the Imperial City Department, Lan Jili shouted and turned his attention to the issue of converting farmland into mulberry trees. The one who was panicked was not the interrogator or the person answering the question, but Lord Jing who was sitting in front of him, motionless.
As Lan Jili asked the question, Jing Cunliang's eyes narrowed and he fixed his gaze on Lord Lan, the Imperial Censor of Jian, and wondered to himself, what does this mean?
"Humph, what a joke, Lord Lan, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. The matter of converting farmland into mulberry trees was decided by the imperial cabinet. The first thing I heard about this matter was the decree issued by Lord Zhuang. Then, after Lord Jing took office, I checked the acreage of land under Lord Jing. All the tax land in Jiangnan was registered without a single acre missing. The main responsibility of the lower level is to check the number. As for the specific details, that is the business of the county government. I cannot go beyond my authority."

Jia Yucun was confident and knew everything clearly. It couldn't be that the court was wrong.
"Well, that's a good point. If it was the imperial court's policy, then why did Magistrate Jia offer advice and suggestions on various occasions later on about destroying the dikes and flooding the fields?"

Lan Jili stretched out his words, as if asking something.
But Jia Yucun snorted coldly, stood up,

"Lord Lan, there is no need to test us. Whoever did it knows it in their heart. Whoever came up with the idea knows it in their heart. The money in the treasury is recorded in the account book. If I am guilty, just report it to the court. If not, Lord Lan, please do not lose face."

After a few words, he ignored them. Lan Jili looked grim, and his hand holding Jing Mu Tang trembled a little. Finally, he slammed it hard on the table.

"Prefect Jia, we'll tell you whether you're guilty or not later. You'd better confess these words. If you say you're not guilty, you should think about it carefully. In the fifth year of Yuanfeng, the son of the Xue family beat someone in the street and killed the scholar of the Feng family. You actually secretly changed the verdict. If you don't want others to know about these things, you'd better not do them yourself. Prefect Jia, remember?"

"you you,"

Jia Yucun's face was cold. How did he know these secret things? Suddenly, he saw a man in the corner of the main hall. It was Shi Du Yifu, the commander of the Imperial City Division. This could not be concealed.
"As you wish,"

After a sigh, he sat down and ignored it.
This made Lan Jili at a loss as to where to start, so he could only vent his anger on Hu Wenxuan.

"Mr. Hu Wenxuan, the governor of Hutong, tell me, what did you do in Jiangbei before the dikes were destroyed and the fields were flooded?"

The so-called "something" naturally refers to the unsealed mineral deposits. The mines that were sealed in the previous dynasty were now opened, causing resentment among the people in Jiangbei, and then the gentry in Jiangnan flocked to them. These involved the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Especially Ma Guangcheng's attack, it was because of the flood that the jades left in the mines could be loaded onto ships and moved out of the canal. Hu Wenxuan kept these secrets in his heart and did not explain them to Magistrate Jia. So now, Hu Wenxuan was shocked and thought to himself that he was doomed.

But you still have to save yourself, it's just a matter of biting a few more people,
"Lord Lan, what do you think? I am just a small deputy governor of Jinling. I am only doing the tasks assigned by the superiors. The first is to check the treasury. According to Lord Jing's order, after checking, I went to Jiangbei to supervise the jade mining. The second is to receive the documents from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the order from Eunuch Yang to reopen the sealed jade mines. Even if the levee breaks, I have to ship a ship of jade ore north to Beijing."

"What, it's actually like this,"

"No way, these jade mines were ordered by Eunuch Yang."

"What are those jades doing in the north?"

"What do you know? Of course, we're heading north to the capital."

In the hall, no one knew who started the conversation, but these secrets were revealed. The jade stones that went north were naturally brought to the capital to be used by the emperor of Changle Palace for his cultivation. Everyone in the world knew about it.
Many people present understood, but some did not. After others explained, they understood. Only Xu Changwen did not understand what was going on for a while. He suddenly spoke,
"May I ask, Lord Hu, even if there is an order from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, how did you gather enough jade mines to fill a ship in such a short time?"

These jade mines have been mined for generations and have long been poor mines. If you want to gather enough jade to dig a ship, you will have to use huge manpower and material resources to dig here. Therefore, only Lord Hu knows the specific arrangements.

"Haha, good question. These jade mines, let alone sealing them up, can't even be doubled. Let's put it this way. The Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a strict order to send all the prisoners in the jails of several counties in the south and north of the Yangtze River. In addition, the Yangzhou Prefecture Army was mobilized to search every household in the five counties in the north of the Yangtze River. When the flood came, those who were still in the mines died. By the way, I would like to tell you that the jade ship went north from the breach one day after the levee broke. It was guarded by a eunuch from the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

Hu Tongzhi explained the details in detail. The more he spoke, the uglier the faces of many officials became. Even Lord Jing felt a little uneasy. Although these things involved him, he was just following orders. Especially the mines in Jiangbei were all under the charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or in other words, they were personally looked after by Eunuch Yang. Who could guess what was going on inside?

Lan Jili frowned. How could there be more trouble? What happened to the jade mines? Since there were prisoners who were exiled, they were not all dead. That was a big case. What about Lord Jing? He looked towards Lord Jing with a little suspicion.
Jing Cunliang's face turned a little livid. He actually dared to bite him. His eyes turned cold and he clasped his fists.

"Lord Lan, although I have given Lord Hu a written document, it was an official document from the Textile Bureau, and I did not give him a warrant privately. I think the two lords have gone to Magistrate Jia and Magistrate Hutong to collect those documents and warrants. Today's case is to interrogate Ma Guangcheng for ordering the digging of the Xinbei Dam. It would be bad to involve others now."

However, Su Chong was standing by with a strange look on his face. The people who were most involved were probably Lord Jing and Eunuch Yang. On the other hand, the prefect Jia Yucun was not at fault. So in this way, the only one who could close the case was Prefect Jia.

"Master Jing is right. It is not good. But judging from the confession now, it was Master Jing's urging and the secret letter from the Textile Bureau that made Ma Tongpan dare to commit such a crime. The details still need to be investigated in the final interrogation. Today, Magistrate Jia can close the case. As for the Xue family's case, it still needs the cabinet to decide. Today, Magistrate Jia can go back to work. Let's go back."

Su Chong didn't care what the others thought. He took the Jingmutang and knocked on the table.
"Let them both sign and seal, and then leave the court."

After getting up, he did not say anything more to the others. He walked side by side with Lord Lan back to the imperial prison, leaving all the officials staring at each other in confusion. It felt like a great start but a poor finish. However, many smart officials had already pulled their friends out of the inner hall and left in a hurry.

"Brother Wang, Brother Wang, I don't understand how the case is being tried today."

"Yes, my brother, it's not that Lord Su and Lord Lan are afraid and have to close the case in a hurry. And Magistrate Jia is really amazing."

The two Yamen officials followed behind, constantly thinking about it, and they felt something was wrong. The one walking in front, Wang, slowed down his pace, turned around and said;
"How can you talk nonsense? The case was just tried in court and the guilt has been determined. It can be said that the evidence is solid. However, since it involves the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Textile Bureau, it is difficult to interrogate this case. Magistrate Jia was very careful in every way, and there are written warrants to prove it. He has also made contributions to disaster relief. Even if there is something fishy about the Xue family case, it is just a reprimand. Go away."

Seeing that many officials had already walked out of the inner hall, they dared not say anything even if they wanted to say anything, and left in a hurry. Until the end, Master Zhuang smiled and shook his head, looking at Master Jing's back, he sighed softly,
"If he really came back from the capital, he has great means. Even if we can find him out, unfortunately, none of the documents or warrants were written by him. Even if he did it, there is no evidence, so no one can do anything to him."

"Sir, even if we can't do anything to him, his confession has been reported to the capital. I don't believe he won't be affected. He might even lose his position as the inspector general," said Zuo Sangui, the grain commissioner, who followed behind Master Zhuang. Although he didn't know what Master Lan and Master Su meant, since they had joined forces, they might not stop. Besides, Jia Yucun could temporarily return to the government office to take up his post because there was no one in charge of the overall situation. If he was left alone, he would be needed to finish the disaster relief work. However, he was not implicated in this case.

"You, you are right in what you said just now, but you have to know that if it weren't for Lord Jing, it's unknown how long the matter of converting farmland into mulberry trees in Jiangnan would have been delayed. In addition, Jing Cunliang is from the Zhongshun Palace and was once a student of Lord Prime Minister. With his skills and intelligence, it is impossible for him to send himself to prison."

At this point, he was helpless. He rejected the cabinet's proposal. If it weren't for Lu Ge Lao's manipulation in the court, he might have lost his position as the governor long ago. Zuo Sangui was a little depressed. The infighting above would hurt people like them. The grain commissioner seemed to be a lucrative position, but if the Ministry of Revenue made a mistake during the investigation, the grain commissioner would be the first to go to jail. He could only wait until these cases were over before thinking of a solution.
"Yes, sir, the finishing work in Chunyang County has already been completed, please rest assured."

"Okay, Sangui is thoughtful. Go back and wait. The best is yet to come."

With a smile on his face, the two of them left the Imperial City Office, one in front and one behind.
And the back hall of the government office,
Lan Jili had a gloomy face. He, Lord Su, and Commander Shi Du Yifu were sitting in the warm room in the back hall. The table in front of them was already filled with records and documents, including three copies of the files on the destruction of dikes and flooding of fields in Jiangnan. Ning Kai, the Imperial City Secretary, stood beside them. Fortunately, Commander Shi Du guaranteed him and kept him.
Ning Kai carefully read the search documents in his hand.
"My lords, last night, I led the Imperial City Guards to secretly search the residences of the three lords in the government office. We found a lot of letters and warrants from the secret compartments in the study and the bookcases in the main house. Most of them were from Eunuch Yang of the Weaving Bureau, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Lord Jing, the Inspector General. There were especially many letters from Ma Tongpan's residence, especially letters to the pirates, and some records of things that happened when the dikes were destroyed and the fields were flooded."

Ning Kai did not dare to neglect and pointed to the pile of letters on the table. Several adults were not idle either. They took the letters and read them. As they expected, Prefect Jia was not deeply involved. Most of them were transfer orders from the Governor Zhuang. It seemed that this prefect was the Governor's man, and the other one was the Associate Magistrate Hu Wenxuan. The letters around seemed a bit complicated, and most of them were useless. There was only the written order from the Weaving Bureau, which was the key.
Su Chong took it and read it carefully. It turned out that it was indeed the order issued by Eunuch Yang himself. It was he who ordered the mining of the five counties in Jiangbei. For this reason, he could not escape the blame. Unfortunately, he was a person in the palace. At this time,
Su Chong narrowed his eyes and glanced at Lord Lan with some uncertainty. Whose man was this person? He was hiding so deeply. Behind Lord Zhuang stood Lord Gu, and behind him stood Lord Lu. Lord Jing also had a background. Could it be that he was the Prime Minister's secret agent?

"Well, in that case, let's make another copy of these letters, and then the three of us will write the files and documents, and send them to the capital at an expedited rate of 800 miles. As for the rest, we just need to wait for the palace's order. How do you do that?"

Lan Jili was also a bit troubled. He had wanted to use this opportunity to interfere in the Jiangnan officialdom, but who knew that he would encounter such secrets. But now, the arrow has been put on the string and has to be shot.

"Okay, since the evidence is solid and there are witnesses and evidence, we will close the case immediately. We will also inform the cabinet and send it 800 miles away urgently. I agree."

Su Chong nodded, and then looked at Commander Du, who also nodded. In this way, the three of them used a red express letter bag on the spot, sealed the mouth and painted it, and after checking that it was correct, they sent the Imperial City Siti Cavalry to the dock at high speed and headed north by speedboat.

But the wind has already started blowing in Jiangnan
"Quick, the whole army speeds up, and rush to Shizhou City before sunset."

"Keep up, keep up, the front army speeds up,"

On the official road north of Runan, hundreds of thousands of troops hurried northward.

Zhang Jinyu sat in the bumpy carriage, lifted the curtain, and looked out at the sun. It was already past noon.
We have only walked half of the way. It is true that a horse will die if it is seen as a mountain. This is especially true for the official road, which is like a mountain road, full of bumps and bruises.

"Ningbian, what's going on? This road is close to Runan, why is it so bumpy? Didn't the court allocate money for repairs every year?"

It is said that to get rich, one must first build roads. This is true not only in later generations, but also in all dynasties. Runan City is an important transportation route. I never thought that this official road would be so damaged.
King Jin was sitting opposite him, and his expression was a little unnatural when he heard this. Others didn't know what was going on, but he knew it.

"My Lord, don't worry. Even though the road is difficult to travel, just be patient. You can't blame the court for what happened here. In recent years, the Ministry of Revenue has not had enough money in its bank account, so Lord Gu proposed to cut costs. The extra expenses originally given to the provinces, such as repairing official roads, were pushed to the prefectures. It's up to them whether to repair them or not."

While the King of Jin was explaining, Ning Bian came over on horseback to report.
"My Lord, the road has been in disrepair for a long time. It also encountered heavy rain before. When the ground was not yet dry, the army trampled on it, and there were more potholes on the road."

There is no other way. If you use smelted soil to pave the road, it will deteriorate quickly if you don't repair it every year.
Zhang Jinyu was a little speechless. What he said was really right. He remembered that the official roads in ancient times were all compacted with roasted soil. One reason was to make it soft for paving the road, and the other was to prevent weeds from growing.

"Got it. How far is Shizhou?"

Since sitting was uncomfortable, walking was even more uncomfortable. Looking at the pace of the soldiers outside, even if they walked faster, they seemed much slower.
"My Lord, we still have an hour to go. Shizhou is not far away. It is at the entrance of the ancient mountain road ahead. But the scouts reported that the White Lotus Sect has set up a big flag in Shizhou. There should be a heavy army guarding the city. However, Shizhou must have experienced a great war. The city walls are broken and bloodstained. My Lord, when we get there, should we attack the city first or set up camp?"

Ning Bian reported in front of the car window, thinking about what the generals asked. After knowing the situation in Runan City, the generals seemed impatient. If they tried to attack, and it was really as the women who surrendered said, that they were all slave soldiers with few elite troops, they could win in one battle. Then they would get the first credit. After all, Shizhou City was not big, and although it was a strong city, it only had the advantage of geographical location.

"Hmph, you dare to say that. It's only two hours before sunset. How much time will you have to prepare for the siege? Is it someone who is asking you again? How dare they think that when they get there, they can set up camp around the city?"

Zhang Jinyu shook his head and said unhappily that in recent days, due to the arrogance in the army, some generals have become arrogant.

"Yes, sir, I will obey your order."

Ning Bian didn't care, he just asked on his behalf. If the Lord didn't allow it, no one could act rashly.

So he rode his horse to follow the carriage. Inside the carriage, King Jin Zhou Ding was a little confused. He looked at the sky outside the carriage. It was clear and bright. After the beginning of summer, the daytime hours became longer.
"My Lord, what General Ning asked just now makes sense. Shizhou City is already in ruins, and the city is not very big. If we let Yang Shixiong lead the army to raid it, there will be hope."

When the words came to his lips, King Zhou Ding of Jin immediately changed his words. As for the war, it still depends on what the marquis says. On the contrary, Zhang Jinyu, who was half lying in the car, felt a little helpless. Attacking a city has never been a trivial matter. Since it is a strong city, the battlements on the city wall must be built high. As long as the troops keep up, they can surround it.
"Your Highness, the smaller the city, the easier it is to defend. Otherwise, why would the White Lotus leaders lead their troops to retreat north? Now the rebel army has enough troops. If we don't use siege weapons such as Thunderbolt Chariots, it will be difficult to capture the city in a hurry. So let's stabilize it for a day and rest for a while. We can talk about the siege tomorrow."

"Uh, yes, sir, I'll obey you in everything."

Zhou Ding thought about it and it made sense. After all the travel, and being in such a hurry to attack the city, they would only get half the result with twice the effort. General Yang and his men were getting anxious.

(End of this chapter)