No war in the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 22 Depth of Water
"Is that Black Seal Shop still there?"

Su Ze was interested in the printing house because he wanted to build one in Taohuayuan.

Printing was already very developed in the Song Dynasty. In addition to the official workshops under the Taifu Temple that were responsible for printing and publishing, there were also many private printing organizations.

This is also divided into legal and illegal.

The legal ones are booksellers registered with the government. They will help celebrities publish collections of works, or publish some reference books and popular reading materials.

The illegal ones are pirated booksellers, as well as some pornographic books and street vendor reading materials that are banned by the government.

For example, the pirated court gazette that Su Ze bought. Pirated court documents are definitely illegal, so they must have been printed and published by Heiyinfang.

If Su Ze wanted to make money through newspapers, he naturally had to look at how to run a printing house first.

Li Dutou immediately said:
"Our Imperial City Department sealed off the printing house on the day of the raid. Would you like to go and see it in person, Mr. Su?"

Su Ze nodded, but the thin military leader said with a bitter look on his face:
"Mr. Su, the ghost market in Caoshifang only opens at night. Wouldn't it be too conspicuous to go there now?"

Su Ze asked, "Ghost Market?"

The thin military leader was also a smart man. He saw that Su Ze had never been to the ghost market and introduced it to Su Ze:

"Caoshifang is the largest commercial market along the Bian River. All the goods transported by the grain transport converge here. It is the most prosperous place in the capital of the Great Song Dynasty, but it is also the place that causes the Kaifeng government the most headaches."

Su Ze understood that the more bustling the commercial district was, the more filth and dirt it harbored. Moreover, Caoshifang was close to the water transport hub and was a port area, so it was impossible for it to be peaceful.

Kaifeng Prefecture, which is responsible for the public security of Bianjing City, is naturally very troubled by this place.

The thin military leader said again:

"Kaifeng Prefecture has cracked down on ghost markets many times, but the ghost market in Caoshifang is the real ghost market."

"A real ghost market?"

The thin military leader pointed to the ground and said:

"The ghost market in Caoshifang is underground. It was originally the underground sewage canal for the nearby Jiufang. After the imperial court established its capital, those lawless criminals continued to dig and build underground, making it like a maze. Even the Kaifeng government doesn't know how many people live in this ghost market."

Su Ze was also shocked. What kind of underground Bian Jing is this?
But think about it, Bianjing City was also a megacity with a population of one million. How could it not have sewage treatment facilities? Otherwise, the feces of the people in the city alone would be enough to suffocate the city.

The thin military leader said:
"The Ghost Market has its own rules. It opens at midnight and closes at 3 p.m. every day. Our Imperial City Division has only sealed off the Black Bookstore, but we can't control the entire Ghost Market. We can only enter when the Ghost Market is open."

Su Ze nodded and said:

"Then let's go tonight at midnight."

The two nodded, and Su Ze asked Li Dutou:

"Besides this, are there any other clues?"

Li Dutou said with difficulty:

"Besides that, we really don't have any clues at all. Otherwise, we wouldn't have targeted you! The higher-ups are forcing us to solve the case, and we're really desperate!"

Su Ze asked again:
"What about the bookshop owner? What other testimony do you have?"

Li Dutou hesitated for a moment before saying:

"The owner of that bookshop is dead."

"died?"

"He died in the Dali Temple prison."

Su Ze asked doubtfully:

"Why is it the Dali Temple Prison? Isn't this case handled by the Kaifeng Prefecture and the Imperial City Bureau?"

The Dali Temple, the institution responsible for finalizing cases in the Song Dynasty, had a single function in the early Northern Song Dynasty: reviewing cases sent to it by the various prefecture and county courts. Before Emperor Shenzong's reforms, the Dali Temple's role was even weaker, with only the power to adjudicate cases submitted by local authorities, but no authority to hear them.

However, as the nominally highest judicial institution, the Dali Temple also has its own prison, namely the Dali Temple Prison.

Kaifeng Prefecture also had its own prison, and it was against procedure for prisoners to be imprisoned in the Dali Temple prison.

Li Dutou immediately said:
"Mr. Su is indeed a quick-witted man! At the time, we also felt that this case was complicated and of great importance, and that the Kaifeng Prefecture Prison was unsafe, so we petitioned to have him placed in the Dali Temple Prison. Who would have thought that an accident would still happen?"

"How did you die?"

"He committed suicide by hanging."

"Where did you get the rope for hanging?"

"The criminal hanged himself with torn strips of clothing."

Su Ze asked:

"Can't investigate further?"

Li Dutou said:
"The investigation is going nowhere. The judge in the Dali Temple is the current Chief Censor, Wang Gongchen, a figure even Li Jiedushi wouldn't dare offend."

Su Ze understood that Wang Gongchen was indeed a big shot in the officialdom today.

He once studied the official system of the Song Dynasty. The official system in the middle and early period of the Northern Song Dynasty was very complicated, but power is always concentrated.

Generally speaking, there are several powerful departments in the court.

First are the two ministries, namely the Secretariat and the Privy Council.

The Zhongshu Menxia is the government affairs hall, and the Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi is the prime minister. The current prime minister is Lu Jianyi.

The deputy head of the Secretariat was the Minister of State Affairs, or the Prime Minister, who served as deputy prime minister.

The head of the Privy Council is the Privy Councilor, the highest military officer, and his deputy is the Deputy Privy Councilor.

All of the above can participate in state affairs in the Council of State, and can be called prime ministers.

There are also three highest financial institutions, in charge of salt and iron, revenue and the Ministry of Revenue. The envoys of the three departments are called Ji Xiang. Although they do not have the title of prime minister, they have the power of a prime minister.

Next is the supervisory agency. In order to strengthen the imperial power, the Renzong Dynasty continuously strengthened the functions of the Censorate and the Court of Remonstration. The Chief Censor, as the leader of the entire supervisory agency, was also a strong contender for the prime minister.

Now that Wang Gongchen, the Chief Censor, is also in charge of the Dali Temple, Li Yonghe, the governor of the Palace Front Department, dares not act rashly. After all, he is a military officer and a relative of the emperor. If he is targeted by the civil servants in the Censorate, he will have trouble living.

Su Ze felt a little regretful. There were so many people involved in the case of the evil book. He was afraid that it was not only related to the old events of the previous dynasty, but might also be related to a series of political struggles in the court recently.

However, since he had taken Li Dutou's ink stick, and Su Ze also wanted to get a glimpse of the situation in the court, he warned himself to be more cautious and said to the two of them:

"Then wait until nightfall and come to the entrance to pick me up. Don't use the Imperial City Bureau's signboard and keep a low profile."

The fat and thin men nodded, thanked Su Ze profusely, and then left his hut.

Su Ze looked outside. Living in this era, it was inevitable to be caught in the political whirlpool.

If you want to take the exam and become an official, you cannot avoid these things.

Judging from this case, Li Yonghe, the governor of the Palace Front Department, is the most innocent, and given his status, he has no need to cause trouble.

These two people are Li Yonghe's confidants, and they can be used to get a glimpse of the current situation in the court.

As the storm was about to come, Su Ze decided to follow Zhang Daocheng's advice. After breakfast, he prepared to study at home, and then go to Taohuayuan to see the progress of the construction.

It’s a pity that the tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop, and soon there is another knock on the door.

(End of this chapter)