Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 70: Posthumously Awarded the title of Imperial Physician
In the main hall of the Henan Prefecture government office, Imperial Censor Cui Yinfu looked at the Henan Prefecture officials present with a complicated expression, and he opened his mouth several times but didn't know what to say.

After he interrogated Zhou Liang day and night and successively summoned a number of officials from Henan Prefecture and the villagers at the scene of the incident, he had basically sorted out the facts of Zhou Liang's case. He even investigated the process of the prefecture's decision to let Zhou Liang take the blame.

After learning the truth, Cui Yinfu was extremely angry, but most of these people were his old colleagues, so he could not say many words of scolding.

"The Luonan flood was originally an accident. If we had dealt with the matter objectively, investigated the cause, and properly remedied it, even if there were minor mistakes, this wouldn't have happened. Now the truth has been revealed to the emperor. Zhou Liang died loyally for the country, and his relatives have falsely accused him of a crime..."

At this point, Cui Yinfu sighed deeply, then continued, "Now I will report the case to His Majesty and respectfully await His Majesty's judgment. With the situation at this point, I cannot escape the blame. I will wear plain clothes and wait for punishment when I return home. You all, please stay in the palace and await your decision..."

"Doctor Cui..."

Upon hearing this, everyone present had a drastic change of expression. They wanted to beg Cui Yinfu to intercede for them, but before they could even utter a word, Cui Yinfu's expression turned stern, and he slammed the table and shouted angrily, "It has come to this, what else can we say!"

"There's one more thing..."

At this time, Liu Gui, the Cang Cao assistant general who had been sitting at the table below with his head buried, raised his hand and spoke boldly, "When we arrested Zhou Lushi's family the other day, we confiscated all the small items from their home and treated them as stolen goods.

"He was found not guilty in this trial and should be returned to his household. However, I have reviewed the files and discovered that the stolen goods do not match the actual possession. I recently stayed at the office and took a brief inventory of the stolen goods before they were put into storage. I have recorded them here for your consideration."

"Is there something else going on?"

When Cui Yinfu heard this, he glared. When the officials involved heard that Liu Gui had taken the initiative to report the matter, their faces suddenly changed and they glared at Liu Gui with gritted teeth.

After receiving the list from Liu Gui, Cui Yinfu briefly compared the contents with the records in the file. His expression became serious again, and his tone trembled with anger: "Can Liu Cang Cao guarantee that what he has recorded is true?"

"This is just a record of what I saw that day. I still need to check with the Zhou family to know if it is complete."

After hearing this question, Liu Gui quickly lowered his head and answered.

"Very good! You guys are truly impressive! Not only are you so audacious as to slander your colleagues, but you're also incredibly generous and capable of keeping things secret!"

Cui Yinfu had been mainly investigating the true cause of the flood in Luonan these past two days, and had not paid much attention to the things confiscated from Zhou Liang's home. He had not expected that the case was about to be closed, and there was still hidden secrets in it.

He immediately slammed the table and stood up, looking at the equally anxious Henan Yin Zhang Jingzhong and said in a deep voice: "This matter has not yet been brought to court by Zhou Liang's family, so the government still needs to investigate it itself. Yin Zhang, please conduct a thorough investigation first. If the matter is not clear, we will open a case for another trial!"

After saying this, he immediately put away the other case files and left the list reported by Liu Gui and the files of Henan Prefecture in the hall.

The mismanagement of stolen goods in Henan Prefecture itself did not fall within the scope of the Censorate's investigation. The Censorate would only intervene in the investigation when the amount returned to the victims was incorrect and the victims filed a complaint.

The other personnel malpractices Cui Yinfu had uncovered were already giving him a headache. If he were to add another official's corruption, his crimes would undoubtedly be exacerbated. Therefore, he simply left the case, which had not yet occurred, in the hall and let Zhang Jingzhong investigate it himself, thus leaving a way out.

Zhang Jingzhong entered the hall and saw that Liu Gui's records of light goods were worth at least 3,000 strings of cash, but the stolen goods recorded in the government books were only a little over 1,000 strings of cash. He then understood why Cui Yinfu was so furious. He immediately slammed the table and shouted angrily, "Did you, the gang involved, accept the stolen goods?"

"Your Excellency, please forgive me... Mr. Zhou is only a lowly official of the ninth rank. He has so many hidden possessions in his home. There must be something fishy going on!"

The lieutenant general who was the first to be attacked hurriedly stepped out to bow and shouted.

"I'm not asking you if there's anything fishy going on. I'm only asking if you accepted the stolen goods!"

Zhang Jingzhong became even more angry when he heard that this person was still talking about something else, and asked again in a deep voice.

Upon hearing this, the military officer hurriedly bowed his head and said in a trembling voice, "Yes, there are some..."

"Who else? Anyone hiding stolen goods? Come forward and identify yourself immediately. If caught, they will be severely punished!"

Zhang Jingzhong shouted angrily again. He knew that he could not escape the blame this time. If he was still vague about this matter, he would definitely suffer more severe punishment.

As he repeatedly questioned them, several people in the hall came forward and confessed. They all had the same mentality as the military officer Fa Cao. They just thought that Zhou Liang's official position was low, and it was unreasonable for him to have so many stocks at home. They also believed that his family would definitely be convicted this time, so they secretly hid some of the stocks during the process of handling them.

Seeing these colleagues truly corrupt, Liu Gui cursed them inwardly, yet at the same time, he felt a certain sense of relief. Originally, he had been the one who had done the most harm, but because he had joined Zhang Dai early on and exposed the whole affair, he could now stand aside and watch. Although several of them had voluntarily admitted their guilt, the disparity between their confessions was enormous, which only infuriated Zhang Jingzhong further. He felt that these people were truly stubborn and so he ordered them to be tortured.

"Since we have already pleaded guilty, how dare we conceal the amount? I truly do not know the reason for the difference... It was Liu Cang Cao. Liu Gui was left alone in the mansion that day. He must have done something. He... Your Excellency should interrogate him and torture Liu Gui!"

When the legal officers and others saw the officials bringing the torture instruments, they became even more frightened. They cried out for justice and pointed at Liu Gui and spoke harshly.

When Liu Gui heard that these people were trying to implicate him, he quickly waved his hands and said, "If I had been corrupt, how could I dare to record it in a memorial? Wouldn't that be exposing my own guilt?"

"You bastard, if it's not you, then who else could it be! It must be you... Zhang Yan Gongsun is very anxious for Zhou Liang's family affairs. This money and goods may have been deposited by Yan Gong. Liu Gui, you want to follow him to avoid trouble, so you falsely reported the amount!"

Seeing the disaster coming, several people's minds were racing for a while. One person even shouted out the truth, which scared Liu Gui so much that his face turned pale and he knelt down and cried out for justice.

"Unjust! Please understand, Your Excellency. It is truly difficult for me to get close to Lord Yan. Otherwise, I would have been rewarded during the Eastern Enthronement Ceremony. But now that Lord Yan's power has been lost, how could I, your humble servant,... In short, I have never made false reports. The Zhou family knows the extent of the stolen goods."

Even if it was just to exonerate himself from guilt and suspicion, Liu Gui would grit his teeth and deny it to death. What's more, he was now hiding hundreds of strings of stolen goods, so he would not reveal the truth.

Zhang Jingzhong was furious when he saw that these people were still making random accusations and making excuses. He immediately ordered them to be tortured and sent officials to search each house.

There was chaos in Henan Prefecture because of the investigation of stolen goods. When Zhang Dai arrived at the Henan Prefecture villa, the doctor came to diagnose Mrs. Zhou's illness. The situation was not optimistic. Zhou Lang couldn't help but burst into tears and was very sad.

Mrs. Zhou had been suffering from illness for many years and had long since let it go, but she could not let go of the fact that her husband's reputation had not yet been restored.

They chatted until the afternoon when an official arrived to summon Zhou Lang to the Southern Province of the Imperial City. Zhang Dai suspected that the case of Zhou Liang might have been concluded, so he took Ding Qing and accompanied Zhou Lang to the Imperial City.

After crossing the Tianjin Bridge over Luoshui, Zhou Lang entered the imperial city from the Zuoye Gate under the guidance of an official, while Zhang Dai and the other man were waiting nearby.

About an hour passed before Zhou Lang finally came out. In addition to being accompanied by several officials, there was also a carriage carrying some items behind him.

After Zhou Lang left the imperial city, he searched everywhere. When he saw Zhang Dai, he rushed up to him and knelt before him, crying out in sorrow, "My Lord, my Lord, my injustice has been redressed! The court has ruled that I am innocent and have made meritorious contributions, and I have been posthumously awarded the title of Fifth Rank Doctor..."

After an investigation by Imperial Censor Cui Yinfu, it was discovered that Zhou Liang, the recorder of Henan Prefecture, was not the culprit who caused the flood in Luonan. Instead, he was a hero who died while saving people from disaster. In addition, he had made contributions to the country and was posthumously awarded the fifth-rank doctor of the imperial court, given a red fish bag, and allowed one of his sons to be an official. He was also given 100 pieces of silk to help with his funeral and Luoyang County was ordered to allocate a house to accommodate the orphans and widows of the hero.

After hearing the court's posthumous reward for Zhou Liang, Zhang Dai couldn't help but smile with relief and tears in his eyes.

Although Zhou Liang ultimately received this series of rewards mainly because of his proposal for the reform of the grain transport system, Zhang Dai did not feel it was a pity. Zhou Liang's concern for the suffering of the people and his deeds alone were worthy of this reward.

The fifth rank was the dividing line between middle and lower-ranking officials in the Tang Dynasty. Those who reached the fifth rank were considered "Tonggui" (Tonggui) and could entrust one of their sons to official positions. This meant that Zhou Lang, after completing his mourning period, could obtain official reserve status and proceed to the Ministry of Personnel for selection. Zhou Liang's posthumous promotion from his previous ninth rank to a fifth rank official was a considerable reward.

Zhang Dai helped Zhou Lang up and immediately wanted to go back to share the good news with Mrs. Zhou. However, at this time, another group of officials came out from Zuoye Gate. The one in the lead had a lonely expression. He was Li Linfu, who had been demoted and exiled.

Li Linfu was immediately agitated when he saw Zhang Dai, the man who had persecuted him so much. He rushed over and pointed at him from a distance, cursing, "Zhang, you little brat, you are so vicious and evil. You have raped and harmed me..."

Zhang Dai saw the patrolling armored soldiers nearby and thought Li Linfu wouldn't dare do anything to him. He signaled Ding Qing, who had drawn his sword to protect him, to put it away. He looked at Li Linfu and smiled, "Mr. Li, are you complaining about the unfair punishments and rewards of the officials in the Southern Province? Why not follow my example and write a letter to the emperor in the copper box, asking for his approval?"

It would have been better if he hadn't said this. After hearing this, Li Linfu immediately became even more hysterical, wishing he could go back to his previous life and tear Zhang Dai apart. Even though he was stopped by his relatives and friends who caught up with him from behind, he still couldn't stop roaring in anger.

A middle-aged man with a dignified look stepped forward from the back, looked Zhang Dai up and down, and then said, "Zhang's brat is very sharp with his words, hurting people without them noticing. It's a pity that I wasn't on duty in Taichung the night before, otherwise I wouldn't have allowed you to be so rampant today!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai knew this man was Yuwen Rong, the man his grandfather loathed. He put away his smile, crossed his arms in a slight greeting, and then said, "I beg your pardon, Yuwen Zhongcheng, for your words. Zhongcheng has served in the censorship office for a long time and should know the evils of factions. I, a young man, will act with integrity and have no fear for Li or Zhongcheng."

Yuwen Rong sneered after hearing this, and then his eyes passed Zhang Dai and fell on Zhou Lang behind him. He raised his hand and ordered the servant to hand Zhou Lang a name card, saying: "Son of Zhou, I have also read the legacy you submitted. You are truly a wise man who is capable of planning for the country and discussing the truth with the emperor.

It is a pity that he died in such an accident. When the mourning period ends, if you are worried about having no way out, come find me with this!"

(End of this chapter)