Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 71 Return of the property to its original owner
Yuwen Rong was rude to Zhang Dai, but very friendly to Zhou Lang, the orphan of a loyal and righteous man, and even directly tried to recruit him.

This is not empty talk. Yuwen Rong's power now and for a long time in the future will be greater than that of a real prime minister. If he appreciates and values ​​someone, he is indeed capable of promoting him quickly.

Zhou Lang knew that his family's affairs had been entirely dependent on Zhang Dai's help, and he considered Zhang Dai his only benefactor. Seeing that Yuwen Rong was not friendly to Zhang Dai, he took the invitation and threw it to the ground, refusing to accept this kindness.

When Yuwen Rong saw this action, a trace of shame and anger flashed in his eyes.

Zhang Dai turned around and picked up the name card, brushed off the dust on it, and apologized to Yuwen Rong with his hands crossed.

He did this not because he was afraid of Yuwen Rong. The previous struggle was a struggle, and it did not mean that he rejected Yuwen Rong in his heart. In fact, he still approved of some of Yuwen Rong's views and practices, and believed that Yuwen Rong was indeed a pragmatic person who could alleviate the difficulties of the time.

But anyway, Yuwen Rong is similar to his grandfather, with significant character flaws. And when it comes to fighting tactics, Yuwen Rong is no match for Zhang Shuo, a seasoned warrior who'd been through the Wu Zhou era.

Once he left his comfort zone and truly entered the central political situation, he couldn't play around anymore. He set a record for the shortest time as prime minister, second only to his old boss Yuan Qianyao, and was finished in just over three months.

Yes, Yuan Qianyao was truly amazing. On the one hand, he served as prime minister for over nine years during the Kaiyuan era, and on the other hand, he also held a record for fastest success: his first appointment as prime minister alongside Yao Chong was dismissed after just two months.

Of course, this was not his problem. The emperor was tired of Yao Chong, so he removed Yuan Qianyao, the side dish, as well.

Yuwen Rong is very capable, but also has great flaws. He is not suitable to preside over the comprehensive central administrative affairs, but if he is placed in a special field, his abilities will be greatly exerted and he will burst out with extremely strong energy.

So Zhang Dai also had a crazy idea in his mind, that is, if Yuwen Rong couldn't make it in the future, he could try to recruit him under his own command.

Of course, he didn't dare to say this out loud, otherwise Yuwen Rong would be furious on the spot. The other party had just defeated Zhang Shuo, and he, a kid without even an official position, actually wanted to make him his subordinate. It was simply unrealistic!

Yuwen Rong didn't know that the strategy he admired so much was written by Zhang Dai himself. They were not on the same page, and he was too lazy to argue with the junior, so he turned around and left, continuing to send Li Linfu across the south of Tianjin Bridge.

Zhang Dai and his companions naturally did not stay any longer and hurried to Xuanfanfang to tell Mrs. Zhou the good news.

When they returned to the Henan Prefecture Villa, several Henan Prefecture officials also arrived. Since Zhou Liang's reward had been announced, the punishment for the Henan Prefecture officials was naturally issued at the same time.

First, Zhang Jingzhong, the governor of Henan, was demoted to Sima of Hengzhou. The rest of his subordinates were also punished, some even exiled to Lingnan. Even Liu Gui, the assistant general of the Cang Cao, was dismissed. Zhou Liang's death alone led to the downfall of half the officials in Henan Prefecture.

This was certainly due to Zhang Dai's powerful destructive power, but it also reflected the deep-seated malpractices within Henan Prefecture. More specifically, in this region of powerful and influential people, there was too much abuse of power, and these malpractices manifested themselves in various forms. With a little serious scrutiny, the root of the problem would be revealed.

Although these Henan officials were punished, they still had to stand their last shift. For example, the things they had confiscated from the Zhou family had to be returned now.

If these things are not done well, they will continue to be investigated. In the Tang Dynasty, there is no such thing as closing a case and convicting a criminal. As long as there is a new breakthrough in the case or new crimes are discovered, punishment will continue, and the punishment will be more severe than the previous one.

Even Zhang Shuo had to stay at home and behave himself cautiously. Naturally, the newly punished officials in Henan Prefecture were even more worried, fearing that they would be caught in any more weaknesses. If that happened, they might not even need to go to Lingnan and could go directly to Nanshi!
When Mrs. Zhou learned that her husband's case had been settled and not only was he cleared of all charges, but he was also posthumously awarded an official position and his son was allowed to serve as an official, she was so grateful that she burst into tears. She forced herself to get out of bed and kowtowed to Zhang Dai repeatedly to express her gratitude.

Zhang Dai really couldn't stand this, so he asked Zhou Lang to stay in the inner room to comfort his mother, and he went to the outer room to hand over the meeting to these Henan officials.

He raised his hand to take the list of stolen goods handed over by the Henan official and found that it was slightly different from the list he had previously given to Liu Gui. The types and quantities were missing. He immediately frowned and said unhappily, "The stolen goods listed here seem to be different from those found by Zhou Lushi's family a few days ago. Are these the only stolen goods found in Henan Prefecture? Should we ask Doctor Cui of the Censorate to check and inventory these minor matters together?"

"No, there's no need to trouble Doctor Cui! Please wait a moment, Master Zhang. I've been so busy lately that things haven't been coordinated in the mansion. I'm afraid that Mr. Zhou's family will be anxious, so I've asked you to come and tell me some of the details first. I'll fill in the rest later."

Upon hearing this, several Henan officials quickly waved their hands. Their government had nearly been overthrown by this evil spirit, and now they dared not disclose the scandal of internal embezzlement. So they could only give vague answers and delay. "What nonsense! Since we haven't investigated the matter yet, we must investigate it immediately. How can we be so vague and covert? Go now, and come back next time when everything is settled!"

Zhang Dai casually threw back the information sent by the Henan officials. Even if he clearly wanted to blackmail them, these people had to swallow the bitter pill. Their things were well kept in Zhou Liang's house, and who asked them to be so shameless as to break into the house and search!
Zhang Dai was simply afraid of being punished, otherwise he would have simply written that there was an imperial seal inside and forced these guys to retrieve it for him.

Several officials from Henan Prefecture could only return to the government office in disgrace to report. At this time, in the government office, Zhang Jingzhong had just received the notice of punishment against him from the Ministry of Personnel, and was lamenting in his heart.

He had served in Shuzhong for several years and had finally been transferred to Henan Prefecture, intending to use it as a stepping stone to enter the imperial court. However, he hadn't expected a moment of confusion to lead him to empty-handedness, and was directly sent south of the Yangtze River. Hearing that troublesome young man from the Zhang family make another request, he couldn't help but feel even more annoyed.

The homes of several officials involved have been searched, but the proceeds are far from enough to make up for the huge difference.

Zhang Jingzhong seriously suspected that the young man from the Zhang family was blackmailing him, but Liu Gui refused to admit it and he had no evidence. At the same time, the personnel in the mansion were in chaos, making it even more difficult to find any clues.

If the matter is delayed until the Censorate comes forward to investigate, Zhang Jingzhong will be charged with the crime of condoning his subordinates to embezzle. If this is reported to the higher authorities, Lingnan may not be the end of his exile. He will probably have to pack up and go to Annan.

The only solution now was to replace the stolen goods as quickly as possible. However, he had already been dismissed from his post, and in addition to the stolen goods, there was still a shortfall of nearly two thousand strings of cash, and he did not dare to use the government treasury to make up for it privately.

After thinking about it, in order to prevent the boy from making more noise and causing trouble, he could only grit his teeth and use his own money to make up for it first, and then go and collect the money from those corrupt officials.

Zhang Jingzhong had previously served as the Chief of Yi Prefecture. After leaving his post in Shu, he became the prefect of Henan Prefecture. As a result, he had a considerable amount of money, especially valuable goods such as Shu brocade. To replenish the stolen goods as quickly as possible, he had no choice but to order his family to pack up some of the family's fine goods and personally deliver them to the villa.

Zhang Dai saw that two baskets of light goods were looted, but two large carts were filled with goods when they came back, especially a lot of light goods from Shu, such as Shu brocade. Among them were even high-end Shu brocade fabrics such as halo, which he had been reluctant to buy in Nanshi before.

His expression became more polite, and he bowed to Zhang Jingzhong, his fellow surname, and said, "Your Excellency can just send your followers to transport these vulgar goods. How dare you trouble me to come in person!"

"Recently, the government handled matters unfairly, causing unrest in the family of Mr. Zhou, the recorder. Fortunately, Mr. Zhang impeached the higher authorities and corrected the situation. I have not let down a loyal official, and I deserve your gratitude. Recently, the government was in chaos and the treasury was short of supplies. I have been returning the stolen goods with other goods. I hope Mr. Zhang will understand."

Now that everything has been decided, Zhang Jingzhong just wants to understand it quickly and not be dragged down by any more twists and turns. Therefore, he is very polite when facing Zhang Dai and is not as angry as Li Linfu, who cannot afford to lose.

Although Zhang Dai was happy that Zhang Jingzhong was quite tactful, but considering Zhou Liang's death and all these twists and turns, he naturally would not be too friendly to him. He sent the man out with a little perfunctory attitude, and accepted the returned light goods with a smile.

The value of light goods is inherently difficult to estimate, and the higher the quality of the goods, the greater the price fluctuations. Zhang Jingzhong returned most of the items in the form of Shu brocade and light goods, and their actual value was significantly higher than the price Zhang Dai had previously offered.

It's worth mentioning that Li Linfu's tenure as Chief Censor wasn't just for fun. Previously, the Tang Dynasty's judicial system lacked a standard for pricing stolen goods, leading to significant fluctuations in sentencing. While serving as Chief Censor, Li Linfu petitioned the court to establish a standard.

Although he lacked the ability to govern the people, he did have his own insights into the procedural standards of government agencies. If he had not stayed in a position as prime minister, a position with such great responsibilities for a long time, he might have become a qualified or even excellent office director.

Although Zhang Dai extorted a lot of wealth from Henan Prefecture, he did not take it all for himself. He only took back his share. As for the extra few hundred strings of light goods, he left them to Zhou Lang and his son.

They will not only have to handle the funeral but also settle down in Luoyang. They will not have a stable income in the next few years of mourning and will always need to make a living.

Although Zhou Lang repeatedly expressed his desire to become Zhang Dai's disciple, and Zhang Dai was happy to accept him, he certainly wouldn't treat him like a slave. Furthermore, Zhou Lang could be released from mourning and serve as an official, making him the most promising and promising member of Zhang Dai's family. Zhang Dai also planned to secure a better official position for him in the future.

After making arrangements for Zhou Lang and his mother, Zhang Dai asked Ding Qing to transport his light goods back to his villa in Huixunfang, while he himself returned to his mansion in Kangsufang to tell his grandfather about his assistance to King Qi in exorcising evil spirits last night, and to exchange views on the changes in the current situation.

(End of this chapter)