I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 536: Yin-Yang Official! The greedy official behind the poverty
The twenty-sixth day of the twelfth lunar month.

afternoon.

Shantytown in the south of Bianjing City.

Inside the temporary court set up by Kaifeng Prefecture.

Bao Zheng was looking carefully at a portrait of a thin young man with a long face.

At the bottom of the portrait it was written: Qian San, 37 years old, about 6 feet 7 inches tall, unemployed, no fixed residence, currently beating night barbarians in the city, an important witness in a murder case, anyone who finds him will be rewarded with 30 strings of cash.

Then, Bao Zheng looked at the yamen runners in front of him.

"Quickly make multiple copies of this portrait and post them throughout the city. At the same time, take this government's documents to the Imperial City Department and the Dali Temple, and order the officials of the two yamen to give up their vacations and help Kaifeng Prefecture search for the man!"

"Yes!"

All the yamen runners bowed at the same time, and then all went about their business.

At this time, Su Liang, Liu Sandao and a young man in gray came out from behind the screen.

The young man in gray was none other than Qian San in the portrait.

Bao Zheng looked at Qian San and said, "Go ahead. Make sure Bai Zhen finds you. The servants in the mansion will help you secretly."

"Yes." Qian San bowed heavily and walked out quickly.

now.

Su Liang finally understood Bao Zheng's strategy: let the real murderer reveal himself.

This Qian San is a pseudonym.

He was impersonated by a captain of the police in Kaifeng Prefecture who had extensive experience in handling cases.

Bao Zheng had already written in the document he informed the Imperial City Department and the Dali Temple:

After the autopsy, the coroner determined that the three people from the south city did not die in a fight, and the real murderer was someone else.

After questioning the surrounding residents, we learned that one of the victims in the south of the city, Liu Shi, had been drinking with his fellow villager Qian San the night before, and had revealed that he would get a windfall the next day. It is very likely that Qian San knew the identity of the real murderer.

As the Chief Justice of Dali Temple, Bai Zhen could naturally see this document easily.

If he was the murderer of the three people, he must be extremely anxious, fearing that Liu Shi would tell Qian San that he was hired to rob him.

You need to know.

After Liu Shi finished his "looting", he spent the entire night and half of the day in the shantytown.

Bai Zhen didn't know whether he would tell others about this as a "strange story".

The possibility of this happening is very high.

Given Bai Zhen's desire for a career in politics and his concern for reputation, he would first determine how much Qian San knew, and then decide whether to kill him.

If he wasn't the murderer.

There would certainly be no tricks. After catching Qian San, he would naturally be immediately handed over to Bao Zheng.

For this kind of case where there is a clue but insufficient evidence, the best way is to let the murderer reveal himself.

……

At dusk that day.

All the officials in the capital from Kaifeng Prefecture, Imperial City Administration, and Dali Temple were mobilized.

While posting the portrait of witness Qian Sanzhi, they were looking for the person.

Dali Temple Sizhi Bai Zhen also participated with several officials.

After all, Bianjing was a big city with a population of nearly two million. It was not easy to find an ordinary citizen who had no place to live and few friends.

into the night.

People dressed as ghosts and gods and wearing night beards began to roam the streets.

Officials focused their inspections on this type of people.

In an alley.

Bai Zhen and his men had just checked out several "ghosts" who were beating the night tiger.

At this time.

An official said, "Bai Sizhi, do you want to go eat something first? I don't think we can rest tonight. If we don't eat something, I'm afraid the brothers won't be able to hold on!"

Bai Zhen smiled and said, "You guys go eat first. I'm not hungry. I'll go check things out first."

"Bai Sizhi, you are really diligent. You will definitely be the candidate for the Supervisory Censor after the new year."

There are no secrets inside the Dali Temple.

The news that Bai Zhen had become a candidate for the Censor-in-Chief had already spread within the Dali Temple.

"Don't talk nonsense. Everything is decided by the government. Those three people robbed me and are now dead, causing panic among the people of the whole city. If the real culprit is not found before the New Year, the people of Bianjing will not have a good New Year!"

After Bai Zhen finished speaking, he walked quickly forward, not realizing that someone was following him.

Less than half an hour later.

Bai Zhen suddenly noticed a lone man wearing a Zhong Kui mask in front of him. He immediately walked over quickly and grabbed him by the collar.

He lifted the man's mask and couldn't help but be overjoyed, saying, "You...you are Qian San?"

"You...how do you know my name?" Qian San asked puzzledly.

Bai Zhen showed ecstasy on his face. He pulled Qian San to a secluded place and said, "Qian San, do you know that the officials in the entire Bianjing city are looking for you?"

Qian San was stunned.

"Looking for me, I...what crime have I committed?" Qian San looked confused.

Bai Zhen, dressed in black, stood up straight and said, "I am a messenger from Kaifeng Prefecture, and I am here on the orders of Master Bao to look for you. Tell me, where were you the night before yesterday? Who were you with?"

"I...I was in the shantytown in the south of the city, drinking with Liu Shi."

"What is your relationship with Liu Shi?"

"My fellow villager. It was he who told me that I could make money by beating the night barbarian, so I bought all the equipment to do this." Qian San answered honestly with a look of fear on his face.

"Then the night before yesterday, when you were drinking, did Liu Shi tell you that he was going to make a fortune?"

Qian San thought for a moment and said, "Yes, yes. He told me that there was an official who was cheated, who seemed to be the Dali Temple's Sizhi, who paid him and his two friends to rob him in order to gain fame. He also said that he would treat me to a drink after the success!"

Hearing this, Bai Zhen's face turned gloomy.

"Did you know that Liu Shi and his two accomplices who robbed officials are dead?"

"died?"

Qian San looked puzzled and pretended to be panicked and said, "I...I have been drunk during the day and came out at night these past two days. I don't know anything!"

"You don't need to know! You are a bunch of low-level ants. Don't you know that talking too much will shorten your life?"

The moment Bai Zhen finished speaking, he suddenly pulled out a dagger from his waist and stabbed Qian San in the stomach.

Qian San was prepared.

Swish!
The first three dodged in a flash, then shouted loudly: "Catch the real murderer!"

soon.

Several Kaifeng government servants rushed over with long swords in hand, quickly subdued Bai Zhen, and tied his hands and feet.

Bai Zhen was a little confused.

"I am the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple. Why are you arresting me? Why are you arresting me?"

The yamen runners ignored him and immediately found a carriage and threw him in. …

An hour later, Kaifeng Prefecture.

The real murderer had been caught, so the officials from Kaifeng Prefecture naturally returned to Kaifeng Prefecture.

In front of the government office lobby.

Bao Zheng sat in the front, Su Liang sat on one side, and Liu Sandao stood behind him.

Bai Zhen had his hands tied and was taken to the court.

"Master Bao, you...what are you doing? Why did you tie me up? What crime have I committed?"

boom!
Bao Zheng slammed the gavel.

"Bai Zhen, why don't you quickly confess the murder of three people outside the city?"

"I killed someone? Master Bao, did I kill someone for three strings of cash? Do you... do you have any evidence?"

Bao Zheng looked at Su Liang and said, "Witnesses, please step out and speak!"

Su Liang slowly stood up.

"Bai Sizhi, you won't kill for three strings of cash, but you will kill for your career, and you will kill for the position of Censor."

"Su Zhongcheng, you...what are you talking about? I don't quite understand." Bai Zhen pretended to be calm.

"On the evening of the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, when I arrived at your house, you had just returned from an outing. I noticed that your robe and shoes were covered in mud. Although you had wiped them, the extent of the mud showed that you had obviously been out of town. But you told me that you were just drinking tea in a teahouse on the next street. If you were not guilty, why did you lie?"

"And when you went to identify the looters, the grass and mud on your clothes and shoes were almost the same as yesterday. You must have been to the shantytown in the south of the city!"

Bai Zhen frowned.

"Mr. Bai, this is evidence? During the New Year holidays, I was on official business and did not return to my hometown to reunite with my family. I went out of town to relax and accidentally got stained with grass mud. Can't I keep it secret?"

"Yes. But you know there is no such person as Qian San. The Qian San you saw was a captain of the Kaifeng Prefecture. If you are not the murderer, why did you kill him?"

"You clearly paid the three common people to pretend to rob you, so that you could gain a reputation of being poor and become a censor. But I didn't expect that I saw the true face of one of the robbers. You were worried that the matter would be exposed, so you killed them when you paid them. With Bai Sizhi's martial arts, killing these three people is as easy as pie!"

And this moment.

The captain of the police named "Zhang San" also came out from behind and looked at Bai Zhen with a gloomy expression.

Bai Zhen lowered his head and bit his lip, then he bowed to Bao Zheng and said, "Master Bao, I am innocent! Su Zhongcheng's words were all based on speculation. I attacked this yamen runner because I was afraid that he would escape. I... I was eager to catch the thief!"

"Central Minister Su, have I offended you in any way? I cannot bear your false accusation! What you just said is not direct evidence. Is it wrong for me to be poor? Is poverty for the sake of career? Is it the motive for murder? When has our dynasty been so careless in investigating cases?"

"Hmph!" Su Liang snorted coldly.

Bai Zhen knew that it was still a bit of a stretch to convict him, so he was determined and gritted his teeth and refused to admit it.

At this time.

Bao Zheng shouted, "Show us what we searched for."

Immediately, two yamen runners brought a long table, on which were placed twelve gold leaves, ten silver cakes, three thousand strings of Jiaozi notes, five jars of fine wine worth a hundred strings of silver, ten cakes of fine tea, and a dozen small jade bottles.

Seeing this, Bai Zhen's face turned pale instantly.

Bao Zheng stood up.

"Bai Zhen, these items were all searched out of your home. How could you have such a huge fortune from a poor family? If it was from your salary, then your claim of donating money to local government schools and private schools was false, wasn't it?"

"This... this... this is what I earned through business. I was wrong to do business while serving as an official. I admit my mistake."

"Why don't you tell the truth? These dozen jade bottles of yours are all filled with eight-flavor treasures for great tonic. You must have been to brothels a lot in private!"

The Eight Treasures, namely ginseng, deer antler, musk, tiger whip, deer whip, gecko, epimedium, and Morinda officinalis, have the effect of warming the kidney and strengthening yang, and are very expensive men's supplements.

"You live in a shabby room in Slaughterhouse Alley, and your appearance of poverty is fake. The real thing is that you drink fine wine and tea in private!"

"You left your wife in the country for work, but it was for a better life!"

"Even if you don't confess, do you think this government can't find out? As an official of the imperial court, you are two-faced, hypocritical, you forged a career, and finally killed someone. Are you worthy of the sage books you read? Are you worthy of the cultivation of the imperial court?"

……

Bao Zheng stared and spoke loudly, revealing all the dark sides of Bai Zhen hidden deep inside.

At this moment, Bai Zhen suddenly looked at Su Liang and said in a hoarse voice: "Su Liang, it's all your fault. If you hadn't seen Cai Dashi, I...why would I have killed those three people? No, I only killed two people. Cai Dashi was killed by those two people. If Cai Dashi showed his face, they would also be arrested. So I asked them to kill Cai Dashi. I only killed two people. And these two people were looters. They deserve to die. I am innocent!"

"This... this... all of this is your fault, Su Liang. If it weren't for you, the three of them wouldn't have died, and I would have become the Censor-in-Chief, and later the Director, and the Prime Minister. Su Liang, it's you... it's you who killed me. You and Bao Zheng set up a trap to kill me, and you deserve to die!"

……

Bai Zhen suddenly rushed towards Su Liang and opened his mouth to bite Su Liang.

He has gone mad.

Liu Sandao rushed forward and threw him to the ground.

Bai Zhen collapsed on the ground, his eyes dull and he looked a little dazed.

Su Liang looked at him and said, "You are hiding too much! People like you are not suitable to be a censor. Do you think that if you are good at writing, good at debate, hate evil, dare to impeach your superiors, and even dare to die to remonstrate with the monarch, you can be a good censor?"

"No. A good censor must first have a good heart and advise out of kindness, not for personal gain."

Bai Zhen seemed to understand but not quite.

After hearing this, I couldn't help but burst into tears.

Bao Zheng waved his hand and asked the bailiffs to take him away.

At this moment, it is already late at night.

Bao Zheng and Su Liang did not go home, but started writing documents in the back court of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Bao Zheng had to prepare a memorial to be submitted to the government and announce the result of the matter to the people tomorrow morning to prevent panic among the people.

Su Liang applied to Zhao Zhen to start the Hundred-Day Performance Evaluation System immediately after the New Year, with an emphasis on additional supervision of officials' personal morality and conduct, in order to dig out all the "yin-yang officials".

Such officials are really awful.

If he becomes a high-ranking official, he would be a pest that would burrow into the bones and blood of the Song Dynasty, causing great harm.

Wait until the beginning of next year, when the Song and Liao dynasties will engage in a full-scale war.

If such a thing happens in the local prefectures later, it will cause big trouble. We must conduct a comprehensive inspection to ensure that there are no corrupt officials in the ranks of the Song Dynasty's scholar-officials.

……

The next morning.

When Zhao Zhen and other ministers learned about the "affair of Yin-Yang official Bai Zhen", they were all very surprised.

They immediately unanimously agreed with Bao Zheng's verdict: sentencing Bai Zhen to death.

In the Song Dynasty.

Such Yin-Yang officials are definitely not isolated cases.

When the imperial court evaluated officials, they attached too much importance to the reputation of "being poor and indifferent to fame and fortune", almost equating it with "being virtuous, the people's savior, and the pillar of the country."

This should also be changed.

Immediately, Zhao Zhen agreed to Su Liang's application and ordered the Secretariat to start the Hundred-Day Performance Evaluation System again after the new year, with a focus on eliminating the corrupt officials hidden in the official ranks.

When the people of Bianliang learned about this, they were also shocked, and then they applauded the court's decision.

Some of the scholars were even dumbfounded, and some even slapped themselves in the face.

Two days ago, they praised Bai Zhen to the sky.

Unexpectedly, the latter turned out to be such a double-faced devil who was greedy for wine, tea and sex, and dared to kill people for his career.

(End of this chapter)