I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 76: Almost a Five-Person Tombstone

July 19th, the second year of Xuanhe, Suzhou, Tongle Garden.

Tongleyuan was Zhu Jie's residence in Suzhou, covering thousands of acres and costing millions of strings of cash. It was the most luxurious in Jiangnan.

This day should have been an empty and ordinary day for Zhu Jie.

As the richest man in Jiangnan, with a fortune of tens of millions, 300,000 acres of high-quality paddy fields in Gusu County alone, and millions of acres of land in the entire Jiangnan region, Zhu Jie's daily life was so empty that there was no enjoyment that could arouse his interest.

But on this morning, a verbal message brought from Bian Jing by Cai's personal attendant broke this boring silence.

"Sir! Prime Minister Cai's confidant has come and said he has an important message for you. Tea has already been served in the main hall." Zhu Jie's entourage did not dare to be negligent and came to pass on the news as soon as they received it.

"Oh? Take me there quickly." Zhu Zhen stopped eating the fruit and suddenly stood up from the couch, pushing away the maids beside him. After standing up, he seemed to remember something and changed his words, asking the maids to change his clothes quickly and dress more formally.

Soon, Zhu Zhen came to the main hall in person and met Cai Jing's messenger.

"I wonder what instructions Prime Minister Cai has?" Zhu Jie was very polite to the visitor.

The messenger didn't bring any letter, but merely relayed the message verbally: "Zhu Yingfeng has been operating in Suzhou for many years, and it seems he's not completely impenetrable. How could he allow someone to submit a petition requesting the abolition of the Yingfeng Bureau and the suspension of the Flower and Stone Commission? If it weren't for Prime Minister Cai's cover-up, the emperor might have already known about it by now!"

Zhu Jie was shocked when he heard this. He had indeed felt that something was wrong in the atmosphere of Suzhou's officialdom recently. Some officials had begun to pretend to obey him but actually disobey him. He also felt that the public sentiment had been somewhat agitated recently, but he still did not think about the possibility of a complete break-up.

"How is this possible? Someone actually dared to petition the government to abolish the Flower and Stone Project? Who made the petition?"

The envoy was too lazy to waste words. "It's the Gusu County Magistrate, Zhao Zicheng! He even openly promoted in his memorial the secret method of 'cement' he had devised, asking Your Majesty not to use exotic stones when repairing Mount Gen and the palaces in the future! He also said that the world is in turmoil and the people of Jiangnan are suffering. If we levy the flower and stone levy again, I'm afraid that God will wrath the people and resent the people, and there will be rebellion!"

"Zhao Zicheng?!" Zhu Zhen was stunned for a long time when he heard the name. He couldn't believe it. This was the person he promoted. At least he thought he promoted him. "What a black-hearted and ungrateful bastard! How could I not see through him?"

When Zhu Zhen thought of what made him angry, he slammed the table, not caring that his hands were sore, his whole body was shaking with anger.

Zhu Zhen trembled for a moment, then immediately gave the order: "Have Zhao Lin mobilize a team of yamen runners... Forget it, just ask the militia to mobilize the wing troops, surround the county government office, and capture Zhao Zicheng!"

Compared to Cai Jing, who was in the capital and acted cautiously, Zhu Zhen, who was a local emperor in Jiangnan, did not care about the so-called procedures at all. If he wanted to arrest a county magistrate, he did not need to follow the procedures and directly let the wing troops arrest him.

He originally wanted to use yamen runners, but then he thought that there were not many yamen runners in the prefectural yamen, and Zhao Zicheng had yamen runners from the county, so they might not be able to form an absolute crushing force. It would be bad if there were any more twists and turns, so he changed his mind and directly sent the wing troops.

Soon, Dong Chao, the commander of the local militia, led at least a thousand soldiers to surround the county government office.

……

"My Lady, this is bad! The people from the Yingfeng Bureau have surrounded the county government office with the garrison troops. They say they want to investigate you for the great disrespect of disobeying the imperial order and obstructing the Flower and Stone Gang! Could there be some misunderstanding? My Lady, please get out and explain!"

Soon, Zhao Zicheng, who was in the county government office, heard the county officials crawling in in a panic to report the news. The heads of the yamen runners were so panicked that they couldn't even hold the water and fire sticks steadily.

Zhao Zicheng sighed. Before dealing with Zhu Jie, he hadn't been able to cultivate close allies within the Suzhou officialdom because the disparity in strength between the enemy and himself was too great. If he had tried to open up to anyone, telling those scholars, "Follow me, and after we take down Zhu Jie, we'll all be rich and powerful together," they would have definitely betrayed him.

No scholar would follow him to do something that would guarantee his survival, so Zhao Zi said that he could only rely on warriors who were born into outstanding families.

He couldn't expect a literary hero like Yu Yunwen or Wen Tianxiang, who was full of righteousness and disregarded personal honor, disgrace, life and death, to suddenly appear by his side.

Winning over the literati who were absolutely loyal to him could only be done after he had successfully carried out the case to overthrow Zhu and had gained absolute popularity. For now, this was the only way to make do.

"Sure enough, he came. However, Zhu Jie is smarter than I expected. At least he pretended to accuse me of disrespect, but he didn't dare to torture me directly. Then I will accompany him to fight this lawsuit." Zhao Zicheng sneered and stood up and walked out without any fear.

Zhu Zhen still knew what was important. Although he had absolute power in Jiangnan, it was impossible for him to use private punishment to deal with court officials without going through the court trial procedures.

Although the Northern Song dynasty was corrupt, the Song dynasty still upheld the principle of not executing scholars and officials and requiring them to undergo a trial process. Compared to previous dynasties, the rule of law in the Song dynasty was indeed an improvement.

Zhu Jie's ability to exert absolute control was also based on fundamental legal principles. Over the past decade or so, his most proficient charge was "great disrespect," a common trap used by the Yingfeng Bureau, a system capable of slapping anything under the hood. Why was the Yingfeng Bureau able to charge others with great disrespect? Because the Yingfeng Bureau oversaw the collection of the Huashi Gang, legally speaking, a tribute voluntarily offered by the subjects to the emperor.

Therefore, obstructing the people's channels for spontaneous contributions and obstructing the people from expressing their heartfelt respect and love for the emperor is undoubtedly a crime of great disrespect.

This time, Zhao Zicheng wrote a letter to the emperor requesting him to stop the Hua Shi Gang and abolish the Yingfeng Bureau. Doesn't this count as "blocking the channels for the people to express their love for His Majesty"?

Even if Zhao Zicheng followed the legal process of submitting a petition to express his opinions, Zhu Jie could still add fuel to the fire by saying that "long before he formally submitted the petition, he had made many private remarks and actions that slandered the government and the people's love for the emperor." Using this excuse, he could definitely lock him up for a while and slowly collect evidence.

Soon, Zhao Zicheng arrived at the gate of the county government office. Dong Chao, the militia commander and Zhu Zhen's confidant, had already surrounded the county government office with thousands of soldiers, and not even a bird could fly out.

"County Magistrate Zhao, you have slandered the people's love for His Majesty and the Flower and Stone Gang, which is extremely disrespectful! The bureau should take you back for questioning according to the rules. Are you convinced?" Dong Chao asked in a slightly weak and timid voice.

Zhao Zicheng naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity to build momentum. He stood tall and proud, addressing the crowd in a loud voice, "I'm submitting a petition in accordance with court regulations. How could that be disrespectful? I'm offering the court my 'cement' solution, asking nothing in return, solely to alleviate the burden on the people of Jiangnan. Ask the people of this city if this isn't disrespectful."

When the wing troops surrounded the county government office, they had already alarmed a large number of people in Suzhou City and the most central urban area to watch. At first, everyone was whispering, not knowing what was going on.

After listening to the conversation between the militia leader who led the arrest and the county magistrate, many people understood the situation.

"So the county magistrate is pleading for the people! She's offering the court some techniques that could replace the use of Taihu stones in garden construction, hoping the court will stop the Flower and Stone Tax!"

"The Yingfeng Bureau wants to arrest the county magistrate because of this grudge, saying he's extremely disrespectful!"

"Zhao County Lord is truly a good official! In the past ten years, Suzhou has never produced such a good official who dares to speak out for justice and request the abolition of the Flower and Stone Gang!"

"You can't arrest him! County Lord Zhao is a good official!"

In just a cup of tea, the open space in front of the county government office and the adjacent cross street were crowded with thousands of people. Most of them knelt and cried, begging the officers and soldiers of the wing army not to help the tyrant and not to arrest a good official like County Lord Zhao.

Dong Tuanlian's scalp was tingling as he watched, and he felt a little scared. If he handled this situation improperly and provoked a civil uprising, he would be finished. He said in a timid tone:

"Zhao Zicheng! Are you trying to incite the people to revolt? Hurry up and get these people to retreat! Otherwise, it will be your fault for deliberately causing rebellion!"

"What nonsense! I, Zhao, am the sixth-generation grandson of the great Emperor Taizu and a member of the imperial family of the Song Dynasty. Who in the world would wish for peace and prosperity for the Song Dynasty and for the people to live and work in peace and contentment more than us, the Zhao family? You actually said that a member of the imperial family wants to see the people rebel. How could anyone in the world believe such a thing?

Moreover, as a member of the imperial clan, my family has a clan leader who bestowed titles upon me according to the genealogy. Do you still expect to abuse me and force me to confess? "

Dong Chao was completely terrified and hurriedly explained, "Who said I was going to be tortured into confessing? I'm just investigating your crime of disrespect! The Yingfeng Bureau does have the authority to conduct preliminary trials of civilians who oppose contributions and commit crimes of disrespecting the government! Once a conviction is made, it will naturally be handed over to the relevant authorities! As a member of the imperial clan, as long as you cooperate, you will naturally be treated according to the law!"

If you have no intention of causing trouble, quickly persuade these people to disperse. Otherwise, if something really happens, you won't be able to turn back!"

Zhao Zicheng glanced at the environment and confirmed that today's incident had become big enough. The Yingfeng Bureau should not dare to act recklessly and will definitely follow the procedures. Then he would be able to avoid suffering physical pain.

If he was temporarily imprisoned, Zhu Jie's next method of dealing with him would be to find other people to interrogate separately and try to fabricate charges against him. For example, he would find wealthy households in the county who had been levied taxes and grain by Zhao Zicheng, and induce them to confess, making them state that "Zhao Zicheng had previously privately expressed his dissatisfaction with the Flower and Stone Gang and mocked those gentry who voluntarily contributed to the government."

However, these confessions cannot directly determine the case. As long as the procedures are followed, there is no need to worry about delays.

The bigger the incident becomes, the longer it drags on, and the longer it remains unresolved, the further your reputation will spread.

Of course, thanks to his status as a member of the Song imperial family, and his official status with the Zongzheng, Zhu Zhen, even with all his courage, wouldn't have dared torture him before he was convicted. If it were someone with no background at all, even if he managed to get through this time, he would have inevitably suffered some physical pain.

Now that he was confident, Zhao Zicheng must of course do everything thoroughly and never give anyone a chance to criticize him.

He bowed before the thousands of onlookers from Suzhou and said, "Fellow villagers! Please return for a moment. Although Zhu Jie has framed me, as a member of the royal family of the Song Dynasty, he would not dare to abuse his power. I will convince you with reason and slowly deal with him!"
I, Zhao, swear here today that I will make the officials, who have been deceived by treacherous officials, see the true situation of the people in Jiangnan and abolish the Flower and Stone Gang! If an official fails to benefit the people during his tenure, wouldn't he be unworthy of the people's money he has received?

(End of this chapter)