I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 396 That's OK (4.2k)

Facing Tao Qian, Zhang Wen also realized the benefits of raising the banner.

Anyway, the emperor agreed with his suggestion and explicitly hoped that he would use this case to warn Tao Qian.

As for the certainty of it, that would naturally be decided by Zhang Wen.

He will definitely be able to grasp it.

It won't overturn.

Therefore, although what he said to Tao Qian was not spoken by the emperor himself, he had carefully considered it before speaking, and he must have complied with the emperor's will.

When Tao Qian heard the bad news, he realized that Zhang Wen had grasped his weak point, and Zhang Wen kept telling him not to panic.

How could he not panic? How could he not be anxious?
But he saw that Zhang Wen seemed to be well prepared, and knew that it would be difficult to break the impasse today, so he forced himself to suppress his fear and waited for Zhang Wen to continue his move.

Tao Qian pretended to be puzzled and said, "I don't know why the Inspector General of the Capital sent people to arrest my Jingzhao Yinfu official? What crime did they accuse him of?"

"So Gongzu didn't know yet? They embezzled disaster relief supplies, which is a heinous crime!" Zhang Wen said, staring at Tao Qian.

Tao Qian was immediately furious. Three parts of it were false, and seven parts were true... It would have been fine if Cao Hong and his gang couldn't hide their embezzlement from Gongcao Du Ji, but even the Inspector General of the Imperial Guards knew about it. What a fool!
Where did her usual cleverness in front of him go?
——"During this natural disaster, they actually seek profit for themselves? This is really intolerable! Once verified, we will not forgive them!"

"But..." Tao Qian looked at Zhang Wen with an embarrassed expression, "Minister Cao, who is in charge of coordinating disaster relief supplies, is now in Chang'an... Since this matter involves disaster relief supplies, I think we should send someone to find Minister Cao as a witness, which will also facilitate evidence collection. Otherwise, it may not be appropriate... What do you think, Sili Xiaowei?"

Tao Qian was unwilling to let Zhang Wen have the final say in the upcoming trial.

He believed that he had established a close relationship with Cao Song during the time Cao Song arrived in Chang'an. From what he knew about the money embezzled by Cao Hong and others, it was only a drop in the bucket for disaster relief supplies, and given Cao Song's generous character, he should not care.

At this moment, Cao Song, who was considered by Tao Qian to be generous and righteous, was indeed giving away his money.

Of course, it wasn’t his family’s money that was scattered.

It was winter, and most of the temporary dwellings were leaky. After so many years of being cut down and used by people, the trees near Chang'an were no longer sufficient, so coal became the best fuel for heating.

Cao Song was arranging people to distribute coal.

Logically speaking, for such a thing, Cao Song could just take a look and then leave.

But he remained at the scene.

As for the reason, it was not complicated - the people present looked at the attitude of the officials and knew that Cao Song was a high-ranking official, especially when Cao Song clearly showed the gold seal and purple ribbon representing the title of Marquis of Feiting inherited from his father Cao Teng and the silver seal and blue ribbon representing his status as a minister. The people who received the coal balls saluted him one by one before leaving.

Cao Song enjoyed it.

He said to his youngest son Cao De, "Just wait and see. The people of Jingzhao will certainly remember the emperor's favor, but they will also not forget that it was us, the Caos, who brought them the emperor's favor..."

"If you have the opportunity to serve as an official in Jingzhao in the future, as long as you let people know that your surname is Cao, the people who have received your kindness will remember your kindness today."

“This is reputation!”

Cao Deshang was a little confused, but he nodded heavily and kept his father's words in mind.

The scene before him, which he had never seen before, was shocking his young mind.

After educating his son, Cao Song continued to enjoy the grateful gazes of the crowd. However, this scene, which he felt was very harmonious, was soon interrupted by someone.

"You mean, the Sili Xiaowei has found evidence of several Jingzhao Yin officials embezzling disaster relief supplies? Do you want to invite me to join the trial and be a witness?"

"How ridiculous!" Cao Song immediately jumped up. These materials were allocated from various places with his painstaking efforts, and even he did not dare to be corrupt. How could a few petty officials dare to be so blatant?
"Quick, take me there quickly!"

When Bu Mi saw Cao Song's statement, he thought to himself that it was bad.

He was not worried about the fate of Cao Hong and others, and he was not even too worried about Tao Qian. He was just worried that the then Grand Marshal Huangfu Gong, who had recruited him as an official, would be implicated.

But his influence was insignificant, so he could only suppress his worries and go to the Jingzhao Yin Mansion with Cao Song.

This time, Cao Song did not bring Cao Detong with him.

On the way, Cao Song asked Bu Mi about the details of the case. He had a good relationship with Zhang Wen, after all, Zhang Wen had been recommended by Cao Teng, and the two of them also had a friendship later.

But when Cao Song learned that the officials of Jingzhao Yinfu, headed by Cao Hong, had not embezzled much, he was not very angry.

He had also heard about the love-hate relationship between Zhang Wen and Tao Qian, and knew that although there was a slight possibility that Zhang Wen could use this incident to bring down Tao Qian, this would mean that Zhang Wen's previous generosity in forgiving Tao Qian had been in vain.

Thinking about this, Cao Song felt that Zhang Wen agreed to let him go because he wanted him to act as a lobbyist to help clear Tao Qian of suspicion in this case.

And he could also make Tao Qian owe him a favor.

After all, Tao Qian had made great contributions in the military farming in the Three Auxiliary Prefectures, and his future was very bright. It was not impossible for him to become one of the Nine Ministers or even one of the Three Dukes in the future.

Being able to gain Tao Qian's favor, this ending is simply too wonderful!

Bu Mi didn't know why, while Minister Cao was asking the question, his mood suddenly changed from gloomy to cheerful.

He just hoped that this was a good thing for Mr. Huangfu.

At the Jingzhao Yin Mansion, while waiting for Cao Song, Cao Hong and his companions had already been taken there.

Relying on Tao Qian's indulgence, they made no effort to conceal their crimes, and evidence of corruption could be easily found in their homes.

When Wei Jie, an official from Jingzhao, showed up with the evidence, Cao Hong and the others had no room for rebuttal.

By the time Cao Song arrived, everything was ready.

In the court, Wei Jie loudly listed the evidence of the crimes of Cao Hong and others, and harshly denounced their evil deeds.

Cao Song saw that the crime was as clear as a nail in the coffin, so he said nothing more. He just couldn't help but cursed at Cao Hong, the leader: "You are worthy of the surname Cao!"

He couldn't help but be angry. Ordinary people might not be able to distinguish between the Cao family of Pei State and the Cao family of Danyang. If they confused the two, all his hard work these days would be in vain!

After cursing, Cao Song remembered his mission. If he wanted Tao Qian not to be implicated, the best way was to reduce the punishment on Cao Hong and his men. After all, they were not greedy for much now.

"Everyone, I have been ordered to coordinate the transportation of materials. I know the difficulties in transporting materials from various government warehouses to the hands of the victims... The loss on the road is far greater than the corruption of a few people! Recently, I have been distributing materials to the people every day, and I know the hard work involved. In my opinion, the disaster relief situation in Jingzhao has far exceeded expectations, and the affected people are not in danger of freezing or starving..."

Zhang Wen looked at Cao Song and could not help but smile bitterly. He did not expect Cao Song to become a good guy at this time. He also did not know what kind of magic potion Tao Qian had given him during these days in Chang'an.

But considering their friendship, he interrupted Cao Song and said, "Jugao, this matter has been reported to the emperor. I am here on the emperor's orders!"

Cao Song's words came to an abrupt end.

Your Majesty also knows about this?

That's fine.

Cao Song immediately changed the subject: "That being said, we cannot condone them just because the amount of money they embezzled is small. This is the life-saving money for the disaster victims!"

Cao Hong, who originally thought that things would turn around, looked at Cao Song with gratitude at first, but when Cao Song suddenly said this, he was immediately embarrassed and annoyed. Cao Song also noticed Cao Hong. It was fine for others, but how dare you, Cao Hong, look at me? He immediately scolded him, "Why are you looking at me? You can't escape the blame today!"

Cao Hong immediately turned to look at Tao Qian and begged, "Master, save me!"

Tao Qian also turned his head away.

But he still felt a little bit reluctant, and was afraid that Cao Hong would make false accusations because he had lost hope, so he rebuked him, "Since the evidence is solid, he should be punished according to the law. A few years ago, the Han law was revised to punish those who embezzled more than 300,000 yuan. Although the amount embezzled by Cao Hong and others is far less than 300,000 yuan, they cannot escape the blame!"

"What Jingzhao Yin said is wrong!"

Tao Qian looked back and saw that the person who spoke was Wei Jie, an official of Jingzhao. Wei Jie was a famous scholar of Youfufeng and was not afraid of Tao Qian at all.

"Before I came here, I asked the clerks under Cao Hong and learned that although they have not yet embezzled 300,000 yuan, they have already planned to do so. It was only because Minister Cao was still in Chang'an that they were afraid and were arrested while carrying out their evil deeds."

"Otherwise, once Minister Cao leaves Chang'an, they will certainly embezzle the materials as planned, and the livelihoods of the victims will be affected!"

As he spoke, Wei Jie took out a piece of document from his arms, which was the testimony.

At Zhang Wen's suggestion, he first handed the testimony to Tao Qian: "All the plots here are recorded here. The Jingzhao Yin will know the truth from the false at a glance as to the people involved!"

Tao Qian took it and looked at it carefully. He had to admit that it was indeed the work of Cao Hong. He didn't believe that Zhang Wen could make it look so real.

"Cao Hong! Is this true? How dare you do this?"

Before Cao Hong could answer, another villager of Tao Qian could no longer bear the pressure and spoke up first: "Your Excellency, I strongly opposed Cao Hong's decision when he said he wanted to do this."

Tao Qian asked angrily: "Since you are against it, why didn't you tell me?"

"Your subordinate, your subordinate...I have been blinded by greed and feel ashamed of my Lord..." The man burst into tears after saying this.

When Tao Qian saw this scene, he almost gasped.

After he coughed violently twice, his breathing returned to normal, as if he had aged several years in an instant.

Cao Hong's ambition for wealth was beyond Tao Qian's expectations.

He didn't expect that he would lose control of Cao Hong, and the villagers he brought with him actually followed Cao Hong to deceive him.

Tao Qian suddenly thought of what Du Ji said when he advised him before he resigned from his post as Gongcao: "A thousand-mile dike is destroyed by an ant hole." Perhaps, when he first learned that Cao Hong had embezzled the ten kilograms of coal, he should have stopped it in time. In this way, what happened today probably would not have happened.

Unfortunately, there is no regret medicine in the world.

Thinking of this, Tao Qian sighed and admitted: "I am indeed guilty of not governing my subordinates strictly. I would like to write to Your Majesty and ask Your Majesty to punish me!"

Although he admitted defeat, Tao Qian still had his toughness.

The emperor can punish him, but you, Zhang Wen... can't!
but……

Zhang Wen responded: "It is fine for Gongzu to write to Your Majesty to apologize, but there is no need to wait for punishment."

Tao Qian was about to use this to mock him by saying, "How can you decide for the emperor?", but suddenly he remembered that Zhang Wen had always said that it was His Majesty's will from the very beginning...

He realized something.

He straightened his sitting posture and looked at Zhang Wen.

Zhang Wen also sat upright at this time, pointing at Cao Hong and saying, "How can someone like Cao Hong be worth my special trip to Chang'an?"

"I am here because Your Majesty is mindful of Gongzu's hard work and great contributions. That is why I am here in person to enlighten you before he makes a big mistake!"

"You must know that if a 2,000-stone official is in charge of a region, even a little slackness will affect the livelihood of the people! You must not be careless at all!"

"..."

Although Zhang Wen's trip to Chang'an was to avoid the potential turmoil in Luoyang, he gave Tao Qian a lecture, and Tao Qian, who had always been rude to him, could only endure his scolding.

This feeling made Zhang Wen extremely happy.

After Zhang Wen finished talking about the teachings of sages and their ideas on governance, he stopped only when he felt his mouth become dry.

He added: "Your Majesty has taken this earthquake in Jingzhao very seriously and ordered me to come here to take care of the resettlement of the victims. In the future, I hope that Gongzu will remember the lesson of today!"

No matter how aggrieved Tao Qian felt, he had to endure it.

Who made him make the mistake first?

……

Luoyang.

Recently, a strange thing happened to the newly formed Yulin Doctors, which puzzled many of them.

Some of them were children of high-ranking officials, while others were promising talents in the army. They mixed together, and over time, under the leadership of heroes like Sun Ce and Ma Chao who were capable of combining both, they were able to live in harmony.

There is even a subtle competitive relationship between the five groups, which allows them to unite regardless of their backgrounds.

However, the appearance of Dian Wei and Xu Chu broke the previous harmony.

Because the two of them do not belong to the two sources of the Five Ten Yu Lin Lang.

But soon, the Yulin Lang understood why these two people came here.

——"Youwei, you were careless this time. Next time, be well prepared and you will definitely be able to beat Dianwei down!"

Zhang Xiu did not appreciate the visitor's concern at all, and bluntly exposed the visitor's hypocrisy: "Cao Zixiu, don't pretend. Do you think I don't know that you went to Huangfu Sima to transfer Dian Wei to your division?"

Although both of them came from Bingzhou, they only met each other when they set out. One was the son of a high-ranking official, and the other was a talented soldier. Later, both of them were selected as the leaders of a group. Although there was competition between them, their relationship was also quite close.

Cao Ang was not embarrassed at all when he saw that what he had done was exposed by Zhang Xiu. He defended himself by saying, "You know that Zhang Shizhong retired due to illness last month. Now that we have a new recruit, we have to make up for it anyway!"

Zhang Xiu snorted coldly, and suddenly felt the bruises left by the beating, and took a breath of cold air.

"Youwei, don't think too much. The most important thing is to rest and recover. I see that Li Li under your command is eager to take this opportunity to replace you!"

"Hmph!" Zhang Xiu had learned his lesson this time and snorted, "You haven't finished your work yet? Don't you value Dian Wei's bravery? Otherwise, why didn't you go find Sima before I fought Dian Wei?"

Cao Ang seemed to suddenly remember something at this moment, and he stood up and said, "So, Youwei, I still owe you a thank you!"

After that, he bowed to Zhang Xiu and said, "If it weren't for Youwei, how could I have improved my strength? In the next assessment, I will definitely be the first!"

Zhang Xiu laughed in anger and asked, "Don't be too happy too soon. Even I have to admit that Dian Wei is very brave, but he is illiterate. The martial arts test is easy, but what about the literary test?"

Cao Ang was confident: "Don't worry about this, Youwei. If you have this thought, you should think about Li Li under your command!"

After that, he said goodbye and left, leaving Zhang Xiu lying on the couch. After recovering from his rage, he thought to himself: Since Li Li had deceived Cao Ang, he must be able to deceive others. Then maybe they could take advantage of the opportunity of being ignored and make a splash!
(End of this chapter)