Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 160: The Imperial Edict that Lost Its Composure and Breached Its Defense
The three of them immediately knelt down in respect.

Zhang Yi was pushed down by Luo Sigong from the shoulder.

Cheng Jing opened his mouth directly: "I am very angry, very disappointed, and very disappointed!"

Not only Xiao Daheng and the other two, but also Zhang Yi was stunned.

Could it be that this imperial edict was written by the emperor himself, without even paying attention to the standard wording?
"Investigate the fake Japanese pirates and expose Geng Dingli. Investigate Geng Dingli and push the blame onto the opposition gentry. Mr. Xiao, can't you tell right from wrong? Geng Dingli pushed out so many gentry whose families had no one in office, and you investigated? And you still say you want to clear my doubts?"

"Just investigate! The results are all true. Every family has problems. Nine out of ten county chiefs have problems. Is Jiangnan rotten to the core?"

"Zhang Yi, your name has been mentioned 1,381 times by those local officials who have confessed their crimes and by those gentry who have been investigated! I have counted them, 1,381 times! Are you also right every time you check?"

Hearing the two 1,381 times from Cheng Jing's mouth, Zhang Yi's eyes became even angrier and he looked directly at Xiao Daheng.

For those local gentry whose family members have no one in officialdom, no matter what great figures their ancestors may have been, how many of them can be directly linked to Zhang Yi?
This was a conspiracy from the beginning!
But the emperor still vented his anger in his edict.

"An additional 200,000 taels of gold and silver, what are you thinking, Zhang Yi, that you must ask the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue to distribute it?"

"Strip him of his official uniform and escort him to the capital. I will personally interrogate him!"

Only then did Zhang Yi realize what the audience was like; the emperor wanted to interrogate him personally.

He wanted to grit his teeth, but his mouth was still blocked and saliva was flowing.

"Jiangnan is so rotten, why continue investigating? Are you going to find out the rotten Jiangnan and show it to the provinces in Jiangbei and the nine borders?"

"Just ask the other officials in the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue. Fine each of them one year's salary and report the truth to me!"

"Tell those local officials who submitted petitions to plead guilty that I will leave a way out. I will not make it public or question them, but they will all be fined one year's salary. They will also be asked to send me the stolen money as a wedding gift!"

"Xiao Daheng, you have to stay in the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing and clean up the mess you made. I will fine you until you have cleaned it up!"

"Zheng Jizhi, you will temporarily take charge of the Nanjing Military Department and help Cheng Jing stabilize Jiangnan. If there is any more trouble, I will hold you responsible!"

"Luo Sigong and the Yongwei Battalion returned to the capital with a mess of people and things. I thought there might be some daring people in Jiangnan, but I didn't expect them to be so rotten! Did they kill them all?"

"Li Tingji, you take another decree with Niu Yingyuan and Wang Dewan to pacify the various prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River, and then you return to the capital!"

"Appreciate this!"

Xiao Daheng had a complicated expression: "I am ashamed of my inconsiderateness. Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace..."

Zheng Jizhi was happy to be promoted from the Minister of Dali Temple to the second rank, but he also had to express his shame for causing trouble.

Li Tingji received another imperial edict from Cheng Jing. He opened it and saw that it had a different tone. It was drafted by the cabinet.

To the effect:
First, the Cheng family in Jiangyou pretended to be Japanese pirates to rob and destroy grain and kill transport soldiers, which made the emperor furious. The imperial envoy went south and found Geng Dingli as the mastermind. He also pointed out that the families in Jiangnan threatened them with heavy taxes.

Upon questioning, no threats were found, but there were many other things that caused trouble to the community and concealed land and people. He also confessed that the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue had been poor in collecting land taxes on behalf of the villagers for many years, causing difficulties for the prefectures and counties.

Now, it has been found that not all the families have been corrupted by the local bullies.

The officials involved in the case will be fined their salaries, but will remain in their original positions to make up for their mistakes; the local gentry involved in the case will only be stripped of their official titles, and any other crimes they are involved in will be tried and punished according to local laws.

Li Tingji was sweating profusely. This was different from what the three of them had thought before.

The emperor seemed to have truly realized the importance of Jiangnan and "backed down", but this left most of the Jiangnan officials with a "criminal record" in the emperor's mind.

As for those hundreds of local gentry, after losing their reputation and fame to protect themselves, they will have to be tried and punished according to the law. One can imagine what kind of situation they will be in.

Without fame and privileges, is he still a gentry?

The local officials were filled with hatred after spending money to avoid disasters, and they were definitely the fat meat to be bitten. They were living examples and hidden dangers in the future. I am afraid that according to the law, they will definitely find ways to fill the border, so as not to cause any more disasters in the local area with hatred.

As for now...

The person who seemed to be taking the blame was actually Xiao Daheng, who had "stirred up trouble". It was he who went south on the imperial order but failed to handle the matter properly, and he found out things that forced the emperor to "give in".

Now that the problem was completely exposed, the emperor issued such a special imperial edict, the tone and format of which showed that he was completely angry and out of control.

Then he planned to let Zhang Yi take the real blame, and let Xiao the tycoon clean up his mess before he could continue to receive his salary.

Xiao Daheng got the benefit in substance, but on the surface...even though he was punished by the emperor, he still looked good in terms of face.

Not only did he have an additional reason to be "unkind" in Jiangnan in the future, but he also gained a reputation as a capable minister who "advanced to retreat" and helped Jiangnan quickly extricate itself from this turmoil - smart people would naturally recall when reviewing the situation that, after all, he only sacrificed Zhang Yi and some gentry families whose families had no officials at the moment.

Li Tingji could think clearly, and Zhang Yi naturally could think clearly too.

Now that he had heard the imperial edict, he stared at Xiao Daheng as if he wanted to kill him with his eyes.

"Captain Cheng." Xiao Daheng had already entered the role of the Minister of Finance in Nanjing. "Your Majesty is furious. Isn't it better to stabilize Jiangnan as soon as possible? Those 'gifts' don't need to be brought back to the capital by Commander Luo and the Yongwei Battalion, right?" Cheng Jing sighed, "Your Majesty, I understand. Your Majesty didn't expect the matter to turn out like this. Well, let Pingyi Bo take the boat tomorrow. The sooner we set off, the better."

"... For the matter of pacifying the people, we still need to invite the elders and the great families from all the prefectures and counties. Although Your Majesty has only ordered Deputy Chief Li, Governor Niu, and Inspector Wang to pacify the people, I wonder if Commander Cheng and I should go together as well? The autumn harvest is about to be ripe..."

"We should at least share your majesty's worries." Cheng Jing nodded in agreement.

"What about the other officials in Nanjing's Ministry of Revenue?"

"Invite them all." Cheng Jing said, "Let them know the seriousness of the situation, let His Majesty know the truth about Jiangnan. If they return home before dawn, it won't be a big deal."

After that, he stood up and said, "I will take Zhang Yi to the garrison first. The Zhang family will leave Deputy Captain Yao here. You should tell the truth to the officials of Nanjing Ministry of Revenue. The burden in the future is still heavy. The more honest you are now, the easier it will be to explain to His Majesty in the future. How bad can it be?"

A sedan chair was carried into the courtyard, Zhang Yi was moved in, and then carried out.

It seems that his treatment will not change. But for the sake of appearances, the court still has to save face.

I'm afraid that when he arrives at the garrison, Cheng Jing will still have some ideological work to do with him.

At this time, a right assistant minister and six doctors from the Qinglisi who were retained from the former officials of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue walked tremblingly to the main hall of the Zhang family.

The one sitting at the top was Mr. Xiao.

"Your Majesty has decreed that Zhang Yi has been dismissed from his post and sent to the capital to be questioned. I am to be appointed as the Minister of Finance in Nanjing..."

Xiao Daheng began to introduce the previous situation. He did not hide anything and just quoted and quoted some words in the emperor's edict related to the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue.

These people's faces suddenly changed and they wanted to defend themselves immediately.

But Mr. Xiao raised his hand to stop them: "A one-year salary deduction is nothing now. This is the case with the Jiangnan incident. I am also to blame. Now that His Majesty is furious, I will not be able to get any salary until I have sorted out the taxes in Jiangnan. Your Majesty is waiting for the truth, and so am I."

Late at night, the main hall of the Zhang family became a temporary official office of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue. A right vice minister and six doctors sweated profusely here all night. They were sure that they had escaped the disaster temporarily, but they had to face new burdens.

After dawn, the news spread like wildfire.

There were only one imperial envoy left out of the three, and he was the imperial envoy for pacification.

When Cheng Qinan went to work at the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing, he stared blankly at the Minister of Revenue who had become Xiao Daheng.

The three judicial departments in Nanjing took over the task of searching and confiscating Zhang Yi's house, but only the emperor could convict Zhang Yi.

The news spread: the imperial case was concluded, and the Northern Pacification Office and the Yongwei Battalion would set out north soon.

Xie Tingzan came over to ask Xiao Daheng, "What about me? Is he back in Beijing or has he made other plans?"

Xiao Daheng looked at him and said, "Since the decree didn't mention you, you must stay."

"...Then I will be unemployed first?"

Yes, I am a mere official, not worthy of being mentioned in the will.

"What's wrong with being unemployed? Which mess do you want to take over?"

Xiao Daheng originally hated him, but he did a good job in the Jingjiang incident. After that, he and Wang Dewan went to various juries and also handled the matter well.

Even a rookie who has just started out has his uses and potential.

Bringing him here doesn't seem biased.

"...Then I'd better wait for your orders."

"If you have nothing to do, go to Longjiang Shipyard more often. You've been bored in Jingjiang for more than a month, so why not ask them how they got the work from Longjiang Shipyard and how they do it? We still need the Chief Censor of Caojiang."

Xie Tingzan turned around and looked at him in disbelief: "Cao Jiangdu Yushi? I am only a sixth-rank official..."

"I didn't say it was you. If we need to fill one, we will naturally need another."

Xie Tingzan was amused by him, looked at him speechlessly, and left.

Only then did Xiao Daheng smile meaningfully.

He tacitly helped the emperor to handle the case. Although Xiao Daheng was punished, he was meritorious.

The same goes for Xie Tingzan. After all, this is my support for him.

It won’t be like that in the future, right?

I forgot to set the time at noon, there is another chapter later

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(End of this chapter)