Song Gexing

Chapter 155 The prince is also very aggrieved
The abandonment of the old Loujiang River road caused frequent floods from Suzhou to Kunshan once there was abundant rain. The river was blocked and unable to discharge floods. Naturally, it automatically found low-lying areas and re-opened the waterway.

But this chaotic water channel will not flow to the sea, but overflow everywhere and become a disaster.

The rainwater in the south of the Yangtze River is abundant, which has caused natural disasters in successive years in the prosperous south of the Yangtze River.

This time, Zhao Fang ordered the complete excavation of the entire old Loujiang River, so that the dozens of irregular rivers that had been opened could return to the old Loujiang River and go to the sea.

After the order was issued, Jiangnan Road was boiling. After many years, the imperial court finally made great efforts to control the floods. Originally, they were all concerned about the Yellow River.

Even along Zhejiang Road, some people began to talk about water control. Soon after, Zhao Fang received a letter from Su Shi, pleading with the imperial court to take care of the flood in West Lake.

The West Lake at this time was not the beautiful West Lake in the Southern Song Dynasty. It was also severely blocked, causing seawater to flow back. The Baidi built by Bai Juyi was in dilapidated condition.

Zhao Fang smiled when he received the letter, Da Su, you were the one who presided over the construction of the Su Causeway, now you won’t be self-reliant, and you still need money from me.

But with a smile, he still swiped his pen and approved 50 yuan for him, and gave him an approval, and the rest was settled by Hangzhou.

It's not that he doesn't want to give him the full amount, but he wants to push Dasu. This guy also needs to be pushed, otherwise he still hasn't learned to be self-reliant.

But that's right. At this time, Su Shi had just entered the officialdom. It was different from when he presided over it in history. In history, he was already familiar with the world, but now he is still a fool.

The flood control began in full swing, and two months later the imperial court received a report that the officials in charge of the port construction on Jingxi East Road were corrupt.

Zhao Fang didn't care at first. Corruption is inevitable. Just check it out when you find it. It's impossible to prevent it because people's hearts are greedy.

But as the investigation began, the official sent by the Ministry of Punishment died during the investigation. They said he died of drunkenness, but no one would believe this.

It is true that officials of the Song Dynasty liked to drink, and it was normal to gather people to drink. But the problem was that the person who was sent did not drink. He was famously a teetotaler among the six films.

It’s not that this person is different, it’s that he has no ability to drink at all and gets drunk as soon as he drinks. If you let this kind of person drink, he will suffer. How can he die of drunkenness, just looking at the joke.

"Check! Let the Imperial City Department investigate secretly. The imperial court will send people with fifty imperial guards to see how deep the water is on the East Jingxi Road."

Zhao Fang was angry. This was blatantly treating the court as a fool and playing Zhao Fang as a fool.

As a result, this investigation failed, and the entire Jingxi East Road was in ruins. From the transfer envoys to the state and county officials, the entire line was colluded in corruption.

To say that Shandong has had a good life these years, since the implementation of the New Deal, Shandong has become a major grain-producing province, and the Yellow River has been subdued and flood-free.

The past few years have been good, taxes have increased a lot, and officials' political performance has been good year after year. But I didn't expect that such a major corruption case would occur behind this.

Jingxi East Road was most of Shandong in later generations, and it was not far from Bianjing. It was always the place where high-ranking officials stayed.

Today's transfer envoy is the famous Zeng Gongliang. This capable minister and famous minister has indeed made great contributions to the country and the people, but he failed this time.

This former Councilor and Governor was just here to overdo it. After three years in power, he was sent here. He was originally a popular candidate to be the next prime minister.

After Fan Zhongyan takes office, he can return to the court and take over. But this guy is also famous for his greed for money, but I didn't expect that he would dare to intervene in this corruption case. "Take office! Read his meritorious deeds and save him from exile, take his meritorious service, and return to his hometown to retire. The rest will all be exiled, and those who participated in the murder will be executed!"

Zhao Fang said viciously, the officials of the trial court hesitated, Fan Zhongyan closed his eyes and remained silent, Han Qi and others hesitated to speak.

Sima Guang looked at the crowd, stepped forward and said, "It's not right! Such a heavy sentence violates the ancestral system."

Zhao Fang said angrily: "What's wrong? Don't say yes to the ancestral system. The New Deal has been in place for more than ten years, and you still talk about the ancestral system. Are you pedantic!"

However, Sima Guang refused to give in and retorted: "The ancestral system is not without merit. The new legal reforms only correct the things that are not good for the country and the people. There is no one-size-fits-all change."

"Okay, that makes sense."

Zhao Fang calmed down after being retorted, and understood that what the other party said was right, but he still insisted on his opinion: "Don't these people deceive others, tie them up, and dare to murder officials appointed by the imperial court? Shouldn't they be sentenced harshly? Then what is the law of heaven? Just because they are civil servants, should they be dealt with lightly?"

Sima Guang bowed solemnly and said: "Punishment is not good for scholar-bureaucrats. This is the foundation of the founding of our country in the Song Dynasty. Guilty people should be punished. They should be punished according to the existing criminal laws. Your Highness cannot change the punishment privately because of your own likes and dislikes."

"It's a good way to deal with it according to the law."

Zhao Fang sneered and said: "Criminal law also needs to keep up with the changes of the times. It is impossible for a set of laws to be used for hundreds of years. It has been a hundred years since the founding of the Song Dynasty. People and things in those days were different from what they are now. Such a major corruption Corruption cases should be dealt with on a special basis, and it is an opportunity to reassess the criminal system, does Sima Qing want to ignore this?"

Sima Guang's expression did not change, and he still said solemnly: "Your Highness can use this matter as an excuse to revise the official criminal system, but until the new law is released, the punishment must be according to the original criminal law."

As he spoke, he looked at Zhao Fang and said word by word: "If the name is not correct, the words will not be correct. This is what the king means!"

Zhao Fang was defeated. He was indeed emotional, but it was not entirely wrong to say that he was wrong. It was just that he had to wear this big hat. Who made you the prince?

As a prince, everything you say and do must comply with the rules, because you are the benchmark for the people in the world. No matter what you do, everyone will follow you. If it is a good thing, you are setting an example.

But if it’s a bad thing, then you’re the one who blamed you. People will point at you and say that I learned from you. You can’t control yourself, and you still want others to control themselves.

"What kind of crime is murdering an imperial envoy?"

Zhao Fang, unable to argue, could only find a breakthrough in the murder charge, but this matter had nothing to do with the transfer envoy or even the prefect level.

These people are not that stupid. Even if they want to kill people, they will not give instructions themselves. Smart people know how to give tactful hints and make it impossible for people to catch evidence.

Only Jimo County was executed, and even the magistrate would not come forward. The main culprit who did this was the boss of Jimo County. Fortunately, he had evidence of the magistrate's instructions.

This time, Zhao Fan didn't care about the ancestral system of not killing civil servants. He murdered imperial envoys and killed clans according to the law.

However, Sima Guang argued hard that there was no imperial edict indicating that he was an imperial envoy, but only a note issued by the Ministry of Punishment after being appointed by the imperial court.

There was a back-and-forth confrontation between the two, but in the end Zhao Fang lost without sufficient reasons.

(End of this chapter)