Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1078 1073 [End of the Road]

As a first-rank official in the Household Department of Chuzhou Prefecture, Li Xiaojian was naturally well-informed and very clear about the development of the situation.

The moment the censor appeared outside the city, Li Xiaojian had guessed the result.

He went back to the government office to work as if nothing had happened. From time to time, servants would come in, say a few words and then leave immediately.

It was getting close to evening and the government offices were about to close.

Another servant came in with a kettle and said anxiously while changing the water: "Sir, the censor and General Li came out of the telegraph office. The censor went back to the governor's office, while General Li went to the direction of the military camp!"

"I understand. You can go home." Li Xiaojian looked confident.

The servant retreated quickly.

This is a public office, where several clerks are busy working.

After the servants left the room, they all looked up and looked at Li Xiaojian, each with a look of panic on their face.

Li Xiaojian sighed and said, "Go home."

A clerk fell to his knees, crying and wailing, "I was blinded by greed and shouldn't have taken the lead in asking for exemption money. Sir, you must think of a way!"

Li Xiaojian remained silent.

Should he blame the person in front of him for being disobedient?
Can't blame you.

Li Xiaojian himself couldn't suppress it, and neither could this clerk.

Most of the clerks and police officers at the prefecture and county levels were already in collusion with each other. Moreover, more than 70% of the police officers were actually members of the Shahe Society - some were gang members who were hired as police officers, and some were originally police officers but joined the Shahe Society.

Even if the clerks were honest and obedient, the policemen would be difficult to deal with.

The Shahe Society has grown into a monster, often pretending to obey Li Xiaojian but actually disobeying his will.

Li Xiaojian naturally didn't take the gang leader seriously.

Zheng Guangzu, the leader of the Shahe Society, died suddenly two years ago, the month after he set fire to the merchant ship. He was too disobedient, and this out-of-control dog must die suddenly in order for Li Xiaojian to feel at ease.

The current leader, Jiang Kuan, is the brother-in-law of the previous leader. He poisoned the wine himself, and outsiders actually thought it was a sudden illness.

At the beginning, Jiang Kuan did behave more obediently, but this kind of obedience depended on the situation.

For example, Jiang Kuan no longer dared to commit such vicious criminal cases as murder, robbery, and arson. After all, he had learned from previous experiences.

But in Jiang Kuan's view, collecting some exemption money was nothing. How could such unruly people dare to rebel? Those gang members who became police officers were all clamoring to take advantage of the opportunity to make money. Jiang Kuan naturally couldn't object, not to mention that he had the support of the clerks in the government office.

Jiang Kuan even wanted to clear his name and work for the government in the future, becoming a small leader in charge of catching thieves.

Then let his son study, and if he can pass the imperial examination to become an official, it would be best. If he fails, he can become a clerk. And he must be registered in the Ministry of Personnel, not a white-collar clerk without a formal position.

If the censor had not shown up this time, public opinion could probably have been suppressed. After all, no one was actually killed, and most of the petitioning people had been dispersed outside the city.

By then, Jiang Kuan will also die suddenly!

Change to another one that is more obedient.

Two heads of the association have died already, so the third one shouldn’t cause any more trouble.

What a pity, there is no chance anymore.

The censor directly asked the Supervisory Office at the telegraph office. No one except the emperor could cover up this matter. His cousin who was the prime minister had long cut ties with the family and was unlikely to come out to plead for mercy. He might even ask for strict punishment.

"Let's go home and see our wives and children." Li Xiaojian raised his hand.

After hearing this, several clerks were distraught and left the household department's office like zombies.

Since Emperor Zhu had always cracked down on corruption, the officials had long since learned their lesson. They had no evidence to destroy, and all the files and accounts were normal, so they could not find any fraud even after ten years of investigation.

So, there was no strange incident of fire in the archives room.

After everyone left, Li Xiaojian sat alone. Suddenly he took off his belt and moved a stool.

In the late Song Dynasty, Song Jiang and other Shandong bandits went south to ravage Chuzhou many times. Although they rarely broke through the city, the big families in the countryside were also very unlucky.

As soon as they heard any sign of trouble, they would take their belongings and hide in the city with their families. The money and food that they were unable to take away naturally fell into the hands of the bandits.

But there are always times when things move slowly.

Song Jiang and his gang robbed the grain boats and moved quickly on the canal. Even the government soldiers were ambushed. How could ordinary gentry and wealthy families be as well-informed as the government soldiers?
During one of the robberies, Li Xiaojian fled with his entire family, taking only a small amount of gold, silver, antiques, and paintings. The copper coins accumulated by generations were all looted. Even the coins hidden in the cellar were found!

During those two years, Li Xiaojian lived a hard life and was almost so poor that he had to sell antiques to make ends meet.

It was not until the founding of the Ming Dynasty that Li Xiaojian finally reaped the rewards of his hard work.

At that time, many officials and wealthy businessmen in Chuzhou heard that Li Hanzhang was the confidant of Prince Zhu, and they came to him with valuable gifts to establish relations with him.

Li Xiaojian tasted the power.

He was too cautious at first. Li Bao and Fang Mengqing took over Huainan. As the situation was still unclear, Li Xiaojian had been hiding at home pretending to be sick, missing the best opportunity to become an official. When Zhu Guoxiang ascended the throne and became emperor, Huainan was basically pacified, and people came to give gifts one after another. It was difficult for Li Xiaojian to become an official directly.

So, he thought about becoming an official through clerkship and becoming a powerful and wealthy official.

Later, the whole country suddenly launched a crackdown on corruption. Li Hanzhang asked his brothers to come back and divide the family property, and asked the clan members to abide by their duties and not break the law. Only then did Li Xiaojian finally realize that something was wrong.

He refused to be promoted even though he could have been, and was content to be a local tyrant, being promoted from the county government to the prefectural government.

Moreover, he only developed his power in Chuzhou Prefecture and would never go outside of Chuzhou Prefecture.

Every time there was a severe crackdown, he would temporarily stay out of the spotlight.

Even during the period of land tax distribution, he took the initiative to cooperate with the government.

At that time, Li Xiaojian was willing to listen to the officials at both the provincial and government levels, and the clerks below did not dare to cause trouble.

However, as more and more officials colluded with each other and supported the Shahe Society to engage in illegal salt transportation, Li Xiaojian became more and more unprudent and increasingly unable to control the huge group of clerks and gangs.

Not only him, but also his family.

The second son even accidentally killed a scholar out of jealousy.

The scholar had the title of a scholar, and someone in his family was an official. Fortunately, he was from another place, far away from Chuzhou, so Li Xiaojian had enough time to settle the matter.

First, they coerced and bribed the witnesses, and then asked the experienced officials to collude with each other.

They confirmed that someone was killed because of jealousy, but it was not Xiao Xianggong who killed him. It was Xiao Xianggong's servants who saw their master being beaten, so they rushed to help but accidentally missed. They couldn't even tell which servant killed him. They also insisted that the deceased was drunk and started the fight first, and the deceased also had a lot of responsibility.

The family of the deceased mobilized their connections and argued for the case, and the lawsuit lasted for two years.

In the end, the Li family paid two thousand strings of cash for funeral expenses, and all the servants were sent to jail, but Mr. Li got away with nothing.

After this incident, Li Xiaojian's second son not only did not restrain himself, but became even more troublesome, forcing his father to help him clean up the mess countless times.

The third son, who was originally very well-behaved, gradually began to follow his brother's example and was completely led astray by his brother.

Even her two married daughters were arrogant and domineering in their husband's families and were known as tigresses.

There is only one eldest son, who is honest and hardworking, but too honest to be the one to take care of the household.

Qin Hui's case back then also implicated Chuzhou.

Fortunately, the main focus at that time was on investigating and punishing Qin Hui's followers, and the whole country was investigating. Due to shortage of manpower, many things were not investigated in depth, otherwise Li Xiaojian would have been finished.

During the investigation, Li Xiaojian couldn't sleep all night and vowed to stop at the brink of danger. But when the limelight passed, he forgot everything.

Li Xiaojian and his accomplices even thought they were awesome. If they were fine with such a big case, what else was there to be afraid of?

There were even many people saying that it was Lord Li who was providing remote protection.

Such statements were believed not only by the clerks and gang members, but also by many officials. The number of officials who had joined forces with Li Xiaojian to commit crimes actually increased because of this incident!
Regret?
do not know.

Li Xiaojian was now filled with only fear, and he didn't even dare to accept interrogation.

"Oh!"

The stool was kicked over and Li Xiaojian kicked around with his legs in the air.

I don't know how long it took, but a group of soldiers rushed in and the leader kicked the door open.

Inside the house, Li Xiaojian's body was tied to his belt and was swaying slightly due to the airflow from the open door.

"Damn it! He hanged himself!" The officer in charge was shocked and angry.

If he didn't hang himself at this time, he would commit suicide if he was thrown into jail. Li Xiaojian didn't think he could survive.

He has too many things to do, far more than a village head can tell.

To the north of Fuzhou City, there is a town called Beishen.

In a parallel universe, when Zhao Li defended Chuzhou, the Jin soldiers set up camp in Beishen Town.

The business in this town is extremely developed, and the tax revenue from one small town is equivalent to that of several counties in remote areas.

The headquarters of the Shahe Society had already moved to the town.

The second leader, Jiang Kuan, also built a mansion outside the town and, through various illegal means, annexed hundreds of acres of land in two years.

Some of the lands were even sold to him voluntarily, and the original owners were frightened.

What is Jiang Kuan doing now?
He was sending people to inquire and confirm the information of those unruly people who led the riot. Once this matter calmed down, he would carry out crazy retaliation. He would never allow anyone in Chuzhou to disobey.

What, the Censor shows up?
When investigating Qin Hui's followers, there were also censors who came to Chuzhou. Li Ge Lao was protecting him, so a mere censor was nothing!
Two hours ago, Li Xiaojian sent someone to tell Jiang Kuan to stay out of the spotlight for a while, and all members of the Shahe Club were not allowed to cause trouble.

Jiang Kuan also knew that this was an extraordinary period, so he strictly ordered his gang members to abide by the law.

But he did not choose to run away. He thought there was no need to do so, and running away would make him seem guilty.

"Husband, it's bad, the provincial capital is mobilizing troops!" The housekeeper ran to the inner courtyard and shouted in panic.

Jiang Kuan stood up quickly and asked: "But are we going to send troops to arrest the troublemakers?"

"I don't know, I'm afraid... I'm afraid..." The butler didn't dare to say the rest.

Jiang Kuan finally panicked. Remembering Li Xiaojian's warning, he rushed to the entrance of his own cellar.

There was no gold, silver, or copper coins.

Nowadays, those who make money through illegal means, whether officials or civilians, like Ming Dynasty treasure notes. Wrapping it with layers of oil paper and placing some charcoal around it, the Ming Dynasty treasure notes can be well preserved and can be easily taken away in case of trouble.

The old woman at home was no longer wanted. She was the sister of the previous leader of the guild and had always suspected him of poisoning her brother, and the couple had a lot of unpleasant quarrels.

Moreover, that yellow-faced woman can only give birth to daughters and cannot even give birth to a boy with a penis.

Jiang Kuan had more than ten concubines, half of whom were robbed.

It was not an open robbery, but mainly a means of intimidation, forcing the other party to marry his daughter as a concubine.

He put the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes into his bag, called two concubines who had given birth to sons, and a concubine who had not given birth to a child but was very favored. He didn't want the rest, not even his daughter, and only took his son with him and ran away.

The steward had prepared the boat and brought his wife and children with him.

They asked the boatman to row quickly, and in the blink of an eye they were sailing far away.

But soon, the boat slowed down.

The housekeeper exclaimed in a low voice: "The last checkpoint seems to be closed, and there are a lot of merchant ships stuck there!"

"Hurry to shore!"

Jiang Kuan urged anxiously.

Without waiting for the boat to stop, he jumped onto the shore and urged his three concubines to speed up.

Two of the concubines were holding their sons, both of whom were born this year.

When the previous leader was still alive, the old woman in his family was particularly arrogant. She couldn't give birth to a son and didn't allow him to have sex or take concubines.

After poisoning his elder brother-in-law, Jiang Kuan became the head of the gang and immediately let himself go, taking in more than ten concubines in two years.

"Hurry up, don't dawdle any longer!" Jiang Kuan became more and more anxious.

With two concubines holding babies, how could they dare to get off the boat if it wasn't stable?

Just when they were being cautious, the most favored concubine who had not yet given birth to a child suddenly picked up a bamboo pole and pushed hard on the shore.

The boat that had already reached the shore took another step back.

One concubine fell into the water holding a baby, and another concubine almost fell while holding a baby.

Before anyone could react, the "troublemaking" concubine jumped into the river and swam for several meters before resurfacing.

"Thief!"

Jiang Kuan was furious, and then he shouted to the boatman: "Hurry up and save your mistress and her husband!"

Those boatmen were also members of the Shahe Gang. They looked at the blocked banknote gate in the north and then at the gang leader who was eager to escape, and they just stood there in a daze without immediately following orders.

Jiang Kuan shouted, "You are also responsible for the murder and robbery. Do you still want to arrest me and take me to the government to claim the reward?"

The boatmen really wanted to make meritorious deeds to atone for their sins, but after being reminded by Jiang Kuan, they gave up the idea.

However, no one tried to rescue the concubine and the baby who fell into the water. They all jumped into the river and swam to the other side.

As the leader of the gang, he is too big a target and it would be easy to get caught if we escape with him!
The boatmen are certainly not stupid.

Seeing this, Jiang Kuan did not go into the river to rescue his son. Instead, he abandoned the housekeeper's entire family, his concubine and son, and fled with the Ming Dynasty banknotes in his bag.

The butler was angry and anxious. He was just like the boatmen, not a good person, and had even killed someone with his own hands.

The housekeeper was too lazy to care about the women and children who fell into the water. He picked up a bamboo pole and paddled the boat to the shore. The bottom of the boat hit the head of the concubine who was struggling in the water.

"Come on!"

The butler jumped onto the shore and shouted, then quickly took his wife and children off the boat and ran away.

On the boat, only a concubine was left holding the child in her arms, she was stunned. She quickly put the child down, used a bamboo pole to push the boat open, and looked for the sisters and the baby who had fallen into the water.

But the woman who fell into the water was knocked unconscious, and her body could be vaguely seen rising and falling underwater, but the baby had disappeared.

"woo woo woo woo……"

The concubine finally sat on the bow and cried, and the child beside her started crying too.

(End of this chapter)