The prince is more stable

Chapter 600 Submitting a Memorial on Illegal Acts
Zhao Xiaoqian didn't want to delve too deeply into things like encroaching on farmland or engaging in market manipulation, as it wasn't very meaningful.

Even with ample evidence, it wouldn't shake the Chai family's reputation.

In the eyes of the officials at court, this minor offense was nothing. Moreover, the Chai family possessed a pardon that granted them immunity from death, making them incorrigible anywhere.

However, the fact that the local government dared not enter the premises to investigate criminals wanted by the imperial court and bandits from the martial arts world is worth pondering.

This charge can be serious or minor, depending on how it's handled.

The privileges were in the hands of the Chai family, but the power was also in the hands of Zhao Xiaoqian.

The Chai family's privileges are merely a shield, only able to protect against harm, but the power in Zhao Xiaoqian's hands is a sharp spear; if it cannot pierce the shield, it may as well pierce it a few more times.

Patting the case file in his hand, Zhao Xiaoqian pointed to the section about harboring imperial criminals and said, "The Imperial City Guard should investigate this one thoroughly and obtain concrete evidence."

Zhao Xin bowed: "Yes, there will be news within three to five days."

"In addition, we will place spies from the Imperial City Guard near the Chai family's residence. From today onwards, we will closely monitor those who enter and leave the Chai family's residence. If anyone is suspicious, we will take them in secret for questioning, but we must not alert them."

"Yes."

Zhao Xin withdrew, and Zhao Xiaoqian continued to review the case files, his brows furrowing deeper with each reading.

The thick stack of evidence of illegal activities all points to the Chai family's involvement. The Imperial City Guard's investigation is unlikely to be wrong. The Chai family's misdeeds extend beyond Daming Prefecture to include multiple prefectures and regions in eastern and western Hebei.

The Chai family does not concern themselves with politics. The current head of the family, Chai Ruona, besides inheriting the title of Duke of Chongyi, also holds a sinecure as a "judge in charge of official business".

However, the Chai family's business empire expanded extremely far, with shops, caravans, and farmland throughout northern China.

The Chai family's expansion of their business empire and accumulation of wealth was not a clean process. In order to seize profits, the Chai family committed many evil deeds that led to the ruin and death of families.

Wherever this family's business empire expanded, it left behind a trail of bloodshed, and the local government dared not question it.

It can be said that the Chai family has become a malignant tumor in the Song Dynasty, and it would not be excessive for the entire clan to be exterminated for the blood debt they have incurred.

Zhao Xiaoqian patiently perused the case files for a long time. The more he read about the cases related to the Chai family that the Imperial City Guard had uncovered, the angrier he became.

Finally, he simply closed the case file, unable to bear reading any further.

That's enough.

In his heart, he had already sentenced the Chai family to death. Since it was a death sentence, whether or not he looked at the remaining case files was no longer important.

Adults' likes and dislikes are not so inexplicable; there are always traces of cause and effect.

The kind of conflicts where you step on my foot on the street, I bump into you, or you are inexplicably mocked while shopping are not life-or-death feuds; otherwise, they would seem ridiculous.

True life-or-death feuds are either about good versus evil, or about interests.

Of course, it may also be related to family and romantic relationships.

Zhao Xiaoqian himself had no grudges against the Chai family. Since taking up his post in Zhending Prefecture, he and the Chai family had kept to themselves and never had any enmity.

What made him determined to eliminate the Chai family was the thick stack of case files in front of him.

Zhao Xiaoqian did not want to represent any justice; he knew very well that he was no good either.

But the Chai family must represent evil, and evil beyond belief.

If this malignant tumor in Hebei is not eradicated completely, countless more people will suffer from the Chai family's tyranny in the future, especially since the Chai family has already extended their reach into the territory of Zhengding Prefecture.

Zhen Ding Prefecture is Zhao Xiaoqian's territory, and the people under his jurisdiction are his people whom he must protect. In order to protect the people, the Chai family must be exterminated.

What good is an imperial edict? The law of the land is supreme, and no one is allowed to exist above it.

The granting of the Chai family a certificate of merit after the founding of the Song Dynasty was a huge mistake, and it is time to correct it.

After pondering for a while, Zhao Xiaoqian picked up his brush and sat down at his desk to begin writing a memorial to the emperor.

A few days ago, after the Xuanqing Temple was shut down, Zhao Xiaoqian wrote a memorial detailing the misdeeds of the Chai family.

The memorial had not yet received a reply from Zhao Xu, presumably because Zhao Xu had turned off his phone before going to sleep.

Now Zhao Xiaoqian continued writing his second memorial, which also reported the illegal activities of the Chai family, but this time it was much more serious.

Zhao Xiaoqian did not embellish the story, but simply recounted the evil deeds committed by the Chai family in a reasonable and well-founded manner, and attached the results and evidence of the investigation by the Imperial City Guard.

After two hours, Zhao Xiaoqian finally finished writing the memorial. He gently blew the ink off it, carefully checked it, sealed it with sealing wax, attached evidence of the Chai family's crimes, and ordered it to be sent to Bianjing immediately, bypassing the government office and presented directly to the emperor.

After completing these tasks, Zhao Xiaoqian smiled with satisfaction.

This memorial will surely make Zhao Xu feel dissatisfied and wary of the Chai family.

The Chai family was not particularly prominent in the past; at least Zhao Xu hadn't paid much attention to them. The Chai family was also quite clever; they committed many evil deeds, but they were very careful not to cross the line with the officials.

This created a situation where the two sides could coexist peacefully for the time being.

Things are different now. Some pieces of evidence, if examined separately, might not seem like much. For example, how many acres of farmland the Chai family occupied, and that was presented to Zhao Xu—does that even matter? Or, for instance, how did the Chai family buy a shop in a certain city at a low price and then severely injure the original owner? Does that even matter?

Yes, individually, they're not a big deal. But what about when they're put together?

Was the psychological impact on Zhao Xu significant enough?

Zhao Xiaoqian added insult to injury by specifically mentioning the "iron certificate," emphasizing that the Chai family dared to commit so many illegal acts precisely because they relied on this certificate.

This means that the imperial edict and the iron certificate had become something that transcended the laws of the imperial court.

Zhao Xu saw it all; how could he remain unmoved?
The law is the imperial power. Which emperor could calmly accept that there is something in the world that transcends imperial power?

What was once bestowed as a sign of favor, exceeding even imperial authority, will ultimately become the family's death warrant.

This is the inevitable logic of history.

…………

After Chai Ruona left Zhen Ding City, Zhao Xiaoqian waited patiently in his residence for several days.

He was waiting for the Chai family's response.

At the banquet a few days ago, Zhao Xiaoqian warned Chai Ruona to her face that any establishments like Xuanqing Temple under the jurisdiction of Zhending Prefecture must be shut down.

Zhao Xiaoqian was waiting for Chai Ruona's response.

The Imperial City Guard is conducting a thorough and secret investigation into the Chai family, but they also need to pay attention to the matters at hand.

Under the jurisdiction of Zhen Ding Prefecture, Zhao Xiaoqian forbade the Chai family's influence to interfere; if they already existed in the area, they had to withdraw immediately.

This is Zhao Xiaoqian's explanation to the people under his rule.

Punishing the Chai family is a matter for later; Zhao Xiaoqian needs to clean up his own territory first.

Unfortunately, Zhao Xiaoqian waited for three whole days.

Three days should have been enough time for the Chai family to react, but unfortunately, they remained completely silent.

The Imperial City Bureau found no fewer than ten Taoist temples, Buddhist temples, and other money-making establishments related to the Chai family in the Zhen Ding Prefecture.

Moreover, Zhen Ding Prefecture is located on the border and has been plagued by war for many years, resulting in rampant banditry. Bandits frequently plunder the area, and the investigation by the Imperial City Guard revealed that at least three to five bandit groups were also related to the Chai family, or rather, they were the Chai family's forces, working to seize profits for the Chai family.

One of the findings of the Imperial City Guard's investigation was that the Chai family had long-standing ties with江湖人士 (jianghu figures) in Hebei, confirming that they harbored wanted criminals of the imperial court. Naturally, they also had dealings with bandits and even provided them with direct financial support.

Having several bandit gangs under his control might not be as simple as just robbing money for the Chai family. These shady, criminal gangs can sometimes help the Chai family solve many of their dark-spot problems. The extent of the Chai family's business empire is probably inseparable from the involvement of these bandits.

To be honest, Zhao Xiaoqian had never really cared much about the security of his jurisdiction before. His attention was focused on the Song and Liao states, and he only had eyes for the offense and defense of the regular army of the imperial court, as well as the strategic deployment of the whole country.

Zhao Xiaoqian did indeed somewhat neglect the problem of bandits under his jurisdiction.

He led the imperial army to conquer many new territories, but in terms of governance, the imperial court had not yet had time to establish government offices, and the administration was basically a blank, which gave the bandits a good opportunity to grow stronger.

Of course, Zhao Xiaoqian has now noticed this problem, and the bandits' good days are over.

The Chai family has been given three days, but there has been no movement from the Taoist temples, Buddhist temples, bandits, and other entities related to the Chai family under the jurisdiction of Zhen Ding Prefecture.

Zhao Xiaoqian's patience had run out.

This is a classic case of refusing a toast only to be forced to drink a penalty shot.

Zhao Xiaoqian immediately summoned Chen Shou and ordered him to send someone to the Juma River camp to mobilize troops using his tiger tally. Zhe Keshi led 10,000 troops south to assemble under the walls of Zhengding City.

The Zhen Ding government office had its own bailiffs, and the city also had its own garrison troops, but neither the bailiffs nor the garrison troops could handle this matter, so Zhao Xiaoqian had to mobilize the imperial guards.

A few days later, Zhe Keshi was ordered to rush to the city of Zhengding, bringing with him the original Dragon Guard Battalion, totaling 10,000 men, carrying firearms and ample ammunition.

Zhao Xiaoqian immediately left the city and entered the temporary camp set up by the Dragon Guard.

Zhe Keshi greeted him warmly: "Your Highness, I've missed you so much!"

"Get lost, I'm not into that kind of thing!" Zhao Xiaoqian rudely kicked him aside and said, "While I was away from the camp, has anything changed in the army?"

Zhe Keshi shook his head: "Deputy Envoy Xu and General Zhong Jianzhong are strict in their military discipline. They conduct daily drills regardless of the weather. The 30,000 troops brought from Bianjing live together with the original Dragon Guard Battalion, and the two sides are already very harmonious."

"That's good. Have any factions emerged in the army? Like the Dragon Guard faction, or the new recruits from Bianjing faction..."

"No, no, absolutely not. General Zhong and my men are well aware of Your Highness's taboos, and we nip any signs of trouble in the bud."

Zhe Keshi chuckled and said, "The comrades follow Your Highness because they want to make a name for themselves. Even if they don't get promoted, they can at least make some money to support their families and maybe even help their descendants turn their lives around. Nobody has any interest in such boring things as factionalism in the army."

After a pause, Zhe Keshi finally got to the point: "Your Highness, is there something wrong with suddenly mobilizing troops?"

Zhao Xiaoqian nodded: "If something is wrong, mobilizing troops is obviously for killing people."

"Whom to kill? Your Highness, just give the order, and I, Zhe Keshi, will handle it perfectly." Zhe Keshi immediately revealed a menacing aura.

(End of this chapter)