Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 300 Temptation
The lobby of the Yangzhou government government office that had just been ordered was crowded with people. Except for senior officials such as the Tongzhi, the state judge, and the Tuiguan who sat in the lower positions of the lobby, the other six house officials and head catchers were all in the hall. The rest of the scribes, The book office, yamen servants, and police officers all stood in the courtyard outside the hall.

After the dot-mao, the matter of the Four Seas Merchant walking in the water last night was brought up by the manager of the house and torture room, and asked the elders how to deal with this matter.

Liu Zuogang, who had known the inside story earlier, was about to open his mouth to ask what happened, when the captain in Jinyi, armed with weapons, suddenly poured into the courtyard in front of the hall from the open gate of Siliang.

"Jinyiwei is on business! Don't move everyone! To avoid accidental injury! Everyone in the courtyard stand on both sides!"

After the shouting, the government officials in the courtyard were in a state of chaos. Driven by the captain, they retreated one after another, and quickly vacated an open space in front of the hall.Immediately afterwards, two teams of school lieutenants armed with weapons surrounded the entrance of the hall in two rows on the left and right. Deputy Qianhu Lu Yuanzheng came out in a row, stepped on the steps in front of the hall, and then walked slowly into the hall.

All the officials in the hall were shocked when they saw this, and they didn't know who it was for.Some officials with ghosts in their hearts couldn't help feeling anxious, praying secretly that they would not be the target of this group of disaster stars, while some secretly glanced at the senior officials, and couldn't help gloating in their hearts.

Liu Zuo, who was sitting behind the big case, was stunned for a moment, and then felt bad. He stood up, pointed at Lu Yuanzheng with a halberd and shouted loudly: "Who are you? You are known as the Son of Heaven's pro-army, so you should know the rules of the court! Why today? Trespassing in the yamen and disturbing the court? Now the government has urgent official business that needs to be dealt with urgently. When human life is at stake, you actually come to add trouble! How is this different from the traitors who are disrupting the court?! The official advises you to wait quickly Step back quickly, and treat this matter as if it never happened! If not, this official will at least have to go to the court to impeach you!"

Several subordinate officials of the Yangzhou Mansion also stood up one after another, and criticized Lu Yuanzheng sharply, as if he was not a pro-military but a traitor.

Lu Yuanzheng was stunned for a while, and then he couldn't help laughing out loud: "It's Lu Yuanzheng, the deputy of the Qianhu Office of Jinyiwei Yangzhou Qianhu! It's the first time I heard that Jinyi's arresting people is disturbing the court! Liu Futang has read poetry and books and has been an official for many years, how could he say such absurd words? Hahaha! Forget it, show Liu Futang the driving card! Liu Zuo, something happened to you! Come here, take it down!"

Hearing the sound, a team of captains with swords rushed into the hall and forced everyone out of the hall with weapons in their hands. A few warriors outside the hall with ropes walked quickly around to the big case, and one of them reached out to take off Liu Zuo's black yarn , the other two hurriedly took off Liu Zuo's red official robe and threw it aside, and then held his arms left and right to prevent him from struggling. He quickly tied Liu Zuo up, and the captain who took off Liu Zuo's black yarn pinched it with one hand, and Liu Zuo's jaw dropped. Although he was hooting, he couldn't say a word.

With a wave of Lu Yuanzheng's hand, the school captains escorted Liu Zuo out of the government office and sent him directly to the prison cell of the Qianhu Office in Yangzhou.

"According to the evidence provided by the officials of the Yangzhou government and Jinyi Tiqi's investigation: Liu Zuo, the magistrate of Yangzhou, was suspected of colluding with the bandits, plotting to bring troubles in the south of the Yangtze River, forcibly extorting bribes from businessmen, and having an affair with the case of arson and wounding at the Four Seas Trading Company last night, so our department arrested him Question! Everyone here today is not allowed to leave the government office for half a step. After the criminal Liu Zuo has been tried, we can determine who is innocent according to his confession! However, we are all serving the court. If you report Liu Zuo and others Those who are subordinate to evil deeds can be regarded as having the same heart with the imperial court! Those who have the intention of repenting and rehabilitating are also treated in the same way! Once signed and signed, they will be restored to official status immediately!"

Lu Yuanzheng turned around, glanced at the people in the hall who had known him a while and announced.

When Liang Qi was discussing with Lu Yuanzheng about the Yangzhou government affairs, he believed that arresting Liu Zuo, Xu Qiming, Liu Xingwen and others was the proper meaning of the question, but how to take the opportunity to carry out implicated behaviors such as melon copying was the most important thing. of.Since the emperor intends to target the monolithic Jiangnan officials and gentry, he should simply take the opportunity to expand the scope of the attack and use Liu Zuo's gang as a threat to bleed the wealthy officials in Yangzhou Prefecture in order to try to get more money for the palace. , Let the Jiangnan officialdom know how powerful Jin Yiwei is.

As the emperor's minion, one should naturally have the consciousness of a minion. It doesn't matter if you end up being infamous. The imperial court can't do anything to yourself. Only the emperor has the right to punish the pro-military, and the outer court has nothing to do.

This was a point that Li Ruolian had specially told Liang Qi, and Liang Qi naturally understood it, and after communicating with him, he came to what Lu Yuanzheng said just now.

The matter of the Yangzhou government office must be ended in the shortest possible time, and officials of all sizes cannot be dismissed in one go.After all, there are still a lot of public affairs that need to be handled by people, especially the rapid restoration of normal market operations and the settlement of compensation for the residents affected by the arson case last night as soon as possible. All these require the government to send someone to deal with them. .

"Come here! Take all the people in the hall away and interrogate them separately! After Liu Zuo makes a confession, he will verify with each other! I would like to tell you that after the confession is clear, you can be leniently dealt with according to the severity of the crime, or even exempt from prosecution. If you are confessed by Liu Zuo , no matter how big or small the crime is, it will be punished with the same crime!"

Lu Yuanzheng saw hesitation on the faces of some of the dozen or so people in the hall, and immediately gave the order decisively.

Liu Zuo's relatives in the backyard of the government office have been detained in a house. Lu Yuanzheng entered the back house and entered Liu Zuo's study under the guidance of the school captain.He gave an order casually, and after a while, He Yunxian, the magistrate of Yangzhou Mansion, who was wearing a green egret mending uniform, entered the room under the guard of two school captains.

"Show He Tongzhi the seat! You two go and guard outside the door!"

He Yunxian put on a calm and breezy posture, walked to the opposite side of Lu Yuanzheng, pulled up his robe and sat down, with his head and neck turned to one side, not looking directly at Lu Yuanzheng at all.

Lu Yuanzheng, who was used to the way civil officials behaved, smiled indifferently and said, "Maybe He Tongzhi also understands that once a prisoner enters the imperial prison, there are very few survivors, and it is difficult for Liu Zuo." I am spared; I will not talk about the rest, but only one thing: the magistrate of Yangzhou must be vacant, He Tongzhi, as the assistant, has no intention of rectifying the righteousness in his heart? A great opportunity is in front of him, how to choose, He Tongzhi must not teach you, right? "

He Yunxian's body suddenly became stiff, and he stood motionless like a wooden sculpture.

He is a few years older than Liu Zuo, and he took the pilot test one subject later than Liu Zuo. He entered the officialdom for more than ten years before he got into the current fifth-rank position.

Since he went to Yangzhou, he soon fell into the misty and rainy Jiangnan, a gentle town full of luxury and money. Although he only served for two years, his greatest wish was to stay in Yangzhou as the chief officer.

But He Yunxian knew in his heart that this was just his wishful thinking, and the reality was extremely cruel.The magistrate Liu Zuo is younger than him, and he doesn't know how long he will work.And although the general judge below him is one level lower than him, he is much younger than him, and there are rumors that he has a big backer in the court.

In the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, as long as there is a big boss in the court who speaks for you, the fact that you are promoted is normal, so he has already thought about it. Even if Liu Zuo leaves office in the future, it may not be his turn to be the magistrate. After he is full, the imperial court may decide where to transfer him to take up any post.

But Lu Yuanzheng's words gave him a glimmer of hope: Yes, the position of magistrate is already vacant, as long as there is no one else competing for it, the throne that he dreamed of may be his own!
This idea just flashed through He Yunxian's mind, years of experience in officialdom made him calm down quickly.

"I don't know about Liu Futang, and I haven't participated in it. I'm old, and Wei Tongpan is young and promising, and he has a lot of connections. Why don't this Lu Qianhu ask him? What's more, the position of magistrate of Yangzhou is occupied by important officials of the imperial court. Although Lu Qianhu is the son of the emperor, he probably has no right to be involved in the selection of officials by the Ministry of officials, right? Isn't Lu Qianhu's words fooling the naive?"

He Yunxian turned his head slowly, looked at Lu Yuanzheng and said.

The meaning of his words is very obvious: Liu Zuo's crimes can be discussed, but the judge is young and has a background, why don't you make a fuss about him, but find me, the oldest person?The magistrate of Yangzhou is a high-ranking official of the fourth rank. How can you, a deputy of Jinyiwei, have the right to interfere with the appointment and dismissal of the court?

Of course Lu Yuanzheng knew what He Yunxian meant, but opening the hole from He Yunxian was the result of careful consideration by him and Liang Qi.

According to the investigation by Jin Yiwei, although He Yunxian is not an innocent official, he and Liu Zuo are at odds with each other, but Wei Heyou, the general judge, is very close to Liu Zuo, so He Yunxian is temporarily in charge of the Yangzhou government. The best candidate.

The case of Liu Zuo cannot become a nest case, otherwise, without the government to maintain order, there will be chaos in the city in just a few days, and they cannot afford this responsibility.

"Wei was judged to be Liu Zuo's accomplice. No matter what his background is, it will be very difficult to get out this time! He Tongzhi knew Liu Zuo's evil deeds, and he has always hated his evil deeds. At this time when the pro-military is on business, He Tongzhi He stepped forward, took the initiative to report his crimes, and immediately sent people to appease the people and comfort the injured, so that the city of Yangzhou will be orderly in a short period of time, and all the people and businesses will live and work in peace and contentment. He Tongzhi, if such big things and small things are heard by the heavens, the saints Considering the stability of Yangzhou, how can you send officials from other places to work here? In this way, who else can compete with you for the position of Yangzhou Prefecture?"

　The state is so bad that I am not satisfied with what I wrote.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)