I studied in modern times

Chapter 857 Purge
In the next few days, Zeng Bu and Shu Tan joined forces to torture the officials in the Dali Temple prison.

In the face of the great memory restoration technique, no secret can be hidden.

Of course, biting and pulling are inevitable.

Starting with these clerks, one after another, the families that had been deeply rooted in the counties and towns under the prefecture and had been operating for dozens or even hundreds of years were torn out.

On June 27, Wang Deli, who had been entrenched in Chenliu County for more than seventy years and had monopolized the post of Chenliu County Clerk, was arrested on charges of "forming a clique to plot treason", "murdering the innocent", and "framing loyal officials".

Immediately, all the adult men in the Wang family were sent to the Dali Temple for questioning.

It only took one day!
one day!
The Dali Temple obtained confessions from several members of the Wang family.

These people have exposed many crimes committed by the Wang family!
There were countless cases of embezzling public money, framing others, extorting merchants, forcing farmers to death... and even forcibly seizing people's wives, daughters, land, and property.

It's like a ready-made book that teaches you how to be a corrupt official in the Song Dynasty.

These are actually nothing.

Now, nine out of ten local tyrants who hold local administrative power in the prefectures and counties of the Song Dynasty are of this character.

They all weigh less than 400 grams, and even if they weigh 1,000 kilograms, they can't hold a candle.

Not surprising!
What’s strange is that the Wang family actually got something out of the internal fighting!

Wang Deli’s eldest son, Wang Yunqi, dug out a shocking melon!
"This Wang Deli, did he know the traitor Shiju? Did he have close dealings with him? Did he even keep the prophecy that Zhao Shiju forged back then?!"

After receiving this report, Zhao Xu's eyes suddenly lit up.

The logic makes sense, folks!

There really is a long-planned conspiracy and rebellion group!

Zhao Shiju was a traitor to the Song Dynasty and a criminal who was sentenced to death!
Now, Wang Deli was identified by his own son as having had an affair with the big traitor Zhao Shiju, and even secretly kept the prophecies forged by Zhao Shiju.

This shows what?
The traitorous minister still has the ambition to usurp the throne!

The traitors of the past are still hiding in the court of the Song Dynasty!
Just ...

"Why did Wang Yunqi identify these incriminating evidences?" Zhao Xu asked curiously to Zeng Bu who came to report.

"Report this to Your Majesty..." Zeng Bu bowed and said, "As far as I know, it was probably the traitor Deli who raped Yunqi's wife, causing her to hang herself..."

Zhao Xu's eyelids twitched.

Ok!

Is there such a thing?
People say that even a tiger won’t eat its own cubs. What was going on in the mind of the clerk Wang Deli?

He actually reached out his hand to his daughter-in-law!

However, such things were very common in feudal society.

In the modern Dream of the Red Chamber, there is a classic line: Those who cheat on their husbands cheat on their husbands, and those who keep their brother-in-law keep their brother-in-law.

The landlords and bureaucrats, who are extremely spiritually empty but not lacking in material things, can and dare to do anything in pursuit of excitement!

Relatively speaking, we have actually made progress now.

If you go back to the Wei and Jin dynasties, there was a large group of people who took Wu Shi San every day until they became mentally deranged and didn’t even know who they were.

The literati of the Song Dynasty at least did not take drugs.

Therefore, Zhao Xu did not continue to ask, but looked at Zeng Bu and asked: "Chenliu County Magistrate, what do you have to say?"

Zeng Bu said: "Your Majesty, I know that Chenliu County has submitted a letter of apology and asked to be demoted to a remote military prefecture..."

Zhao Xu hummed and said, "Let's do it this way!"

I didn't even bother to ask the other person's name or resume.

Because Chenliu County is right next to the city of Bianliang, the people who know Chenliu County should be the most sensitive to the movements of Bianliang.

Yet, so many things happened under his rule.

This is enough to show that this person is politically immature and unreliable.

You have not studied the central spirit enough and have not fully understood the emperor's edict!

What's the use of such an official?

After thinking for a while, Zhao Xu said, "From now on, all other counties involved in the case and the relevant civil and military officials in the prefecture will follow this procedure!"

Zhao Xu gave enough opportunities to the bureaucrats in the prefecture.

After the edict was issued, they had more than twenty days to deploy and command.

but……

There are still so many cases of clerks exploiting merchants, framing, blackmailing, extorting, and even killing people.

Although, this was due to the scouts from the Investigation Department stirring up trouble and sowing discord.

However, these are not reasons for them to evade responsibility.

After the court had made the decision and Zhao Xu issued the edict.

They did not strictly discipline the clerks below them and did not manage them well.

This is enough to show that their abilities do not match their status.

In this case, we can only ask them to step down and give the opportunity to capable people!
Zeng Bu listened, slightly stunned, then bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I have already planned to go to the capital hall after returning, and ask the left prime minister to gather the officials of the capital hall to discuss this matter..."

Zhao Xu looked at Zeng Bu and a smile appeared on his face.

In his previous life, he had used Zeng Bu for seven or eight years and was very familiar with Zeng Bu.

One can even say - trust!
If, he had not spread rumors about Zhao Xu in his private notes.

If, after Zhao Xu's death in the previous life, he had not established that bastard Zhao Ji as the emperor in order to deal with Zhang Dun.

In fact, Zhao Xu would make use of him.

Because Zeng Bu is actually a Cai Jing with integrity and morality. He can always understand Zhao Xu's intentions and then do things honestly according to Zhao Xu's intentions.

He doesn't even need to be reminded, his subjective initiative will make him push many things in accordance with Zhao Xu's wishes.

such a pity……

Zhao Xu has seen through Zeng Bu's true colors.

He is not a loyal minister!

He is someone who may stab you in the back at any time.

Therefore, in Zhao Xu's mind, Zeng Bu was just a tool.

You do the dirty work and you take the blame!
If you achieve something, you will be rewarded based on your performance.

Zeng Bu had no idea what Zhao Xu was thinking. He lowered his head, suppressed his inner excitement, and said, "Your Majesty, my idea is... let the capital gather to discuss and come up with a plan... From now on, the appointments and dispatches of the counties and towns in the prefecture will not go through the capital... all appointments will be made by Your Majesty personally!"

The smile on Zhao Xu's lips slowly faded.

"My husband's suggestion is very good!" He nodded slightly.

Kaifeng Prefecture is a good example.

It is big enough, has a large enough population, a developed enough economy, convenient transportation, and is close enough to Bian Jing. The imperial power can affect any county in Kaifeng Prefecture at any time!

From any perspective, in today's Song Dynasty, there is no place more suitable for a pilot project than Kaifeng Prefecture.

However, personnel rights are the most critical thing.

Only by obtaining the power to appoint and dismiss personnel could Zhao Xu dress up and decorate Kaifeng Prefecture according to his own ideas.

This is also the reason why Zhao Xu made such a big fuss this time.

He wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to seize control of personnel power throughout the government.

Although before this, Zhao Xu could also directly appoint officials through special decrees and internal commands.

But after all, there is still a layer between them, and it is still not legitimate enough.

Zeng Bu was overjoyed when he heard this and immediately expressed his opinion: "Your Majesty is gifted with divine power and wisdom. Since you ascended the throne, you have recruited talents without any restrictions. You can be said to know how to use people well..."

"No one in the capital has any objection!"

This is not really flattery, because Zhao Xu has real achievements.

As long as they are ministers appointed by him personally, they may have some flaws and problems in their personal morality.

but……

No incompetent!

no way!
With experience from previous life and having read historical materials in modern times.

Who is capable, who is useless, and who is suitable for what?
As long as they left a trace in history, Zhao Xu would be a close friend.

How is it possible to use bad people?

……

On that day, the capital held a meeting to discuss the issue, and then Lu Gongzhu took the lead and submitted a decree which said: "From now on, all dispatches in the prefecture and the country must be issued by Your Majesty personally."

Zhao Xu pretended to decline politely, but the next day, with the unanimous support and pleadings of people inside and outside the court, and under the repeated requests of the prime minister, the minister of military and national affairs Wen Yanbo, the retired prime minister, the Duke of Kangguo Han Jiang, the governor of Zhangde Army Zhang Fangping, the governor of Baoning Army Feng Jing, the Prince of Xingyang County Cao Yi, the son-in-law of the emperor Wang Shouyue, and other ministers, he "reluctantly" agreed to the request of the capital.

Therefore, an official decree was issued, gaining the power to appoint and dismiss officials in prefectures, counties and towns.

This means that the entire Kaifeng Prefecture has been completed in the same style.

Immediately, the intensity of the cleansing of the prefecture suddenly increased.

June Yiyou (29).

The Dali Temple seized Zhao Shiju's forged prophecy artifacts from the cellar of Wang Deli's home in Chenliu County.

Zhao Xu was furious, and the two palaces were also shocked.

Even the Empress Dowager, who had already announced that she would retreat to the main palace, issued an edict, demanding a thorough investigation to eliminate the influence of the traitor Zhao Shiju.

On the same day, Wang Deli's relative, Chen Shi, the chief clerk of Xiangyi County, was imprisoned.

Because letters between Wang Deli and Chen Shi were found in Wang Deli's home, in which they were found to have "slandered" and "cursed" the late emperor.

From then on, the seriousness of the case was elevated to the level of "cleansing the anti-Song and anti-Zhao conspiracy groups."

The intensity of torture in the Dali Temple was raised to the maximum.

One after another, the clerks involved in the case confessed and exposed their superiors under torture.

Then the superiors began to tear apart the local powerful families who occupied important posts in counties and towns, and who inherited and dominated important posts such as clerk, chief clerk, and county lieutenant in the prefecture.

In just a few days, more than 20 officials at the level of chief clerks and county lieutenants in the 17 counties of Kaifeng Prefecture were imprisoned and tried.

The number of officials imprisoned in the Dali Temple prison for related crimes reached as many as one thousand!

In the storm, Xue Zhanshe trembled and was even scared to the point of wanting to commit suicide.

Fortunately, he was discovered by his old gatekeeper, who stopped him and told him that if his lord committed suicide, he would not only fail to absolve himself of the guilt, but would also implicate his brothers and bring disaster to his father and ancestors... Others might say: He committed suicide out of fear of punishment!

Only then did Xue Zhanshe stop thinking of suicide, but he was frightened out of his wits.

Fortunately, on the first day of the seventh month of the second year of Yuanyou.

His savior finally arrived in Bian Jing.

On this day, Ouyang Xiu's widow, Xue, who had been living in Jingxian Township, Xinzheng since Ouyang Xiu was buried in the eighth year of Xining, and was granted the title of Lady of Renshou County, arrived in Bian Jing by carriage.

He immediately submitted a petition, requesting to enter the palace to pay a visit to the two Empresses in the Palace.

(End of this chapter)