Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 361: Zhen Jia

The palace city of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Qianyang Palace.

Gu Yankui and Wei Guanyao were both veteran officials in the court. They clearly remembered that when Emperor Jiazhao first ascended the throne, there was a bloody struggle for the throne, the old and the new were replaced by the new, and there were internal and external troubles.

In order to secure his throne and quell the rebellious trend, the emperor made great use of the internal offices such as the Imperial Chariot Department and the Tui Shi Yuan, placing them above the three judicial departments, arresting officials on a large scale, searching for remnants and eliminating dissidents.

The capital city of Shenjing at that time was in a precarious situation day and night. All the officials in the court were walking on thin ice when they went to court. They didn't know when they would be targeted by the evildoers in the imperial court and end up in jail or die.

But more than ten years have passed since those turbulent and fearful days, and the blood, the fighting, the separations of life and death have begun to fade in the memories of many court officials.

Now, the once heart-wrenching past seems to be slowly being unsealed again...

Gu Yankui and Wei Guanyao looked at this handsome and upright chief of the Court of Judges, who was actually full of evil intentions, and they couldn't help but feel disgusted.

Civil officials have always regarded their reputation as more important than life and death, but the Magistrates' Court has always been quick to convict officials, destroying their reputations before taking their lives. The five officials who resisted the new law were not treated in the same way by them.

To live in disgrace will first tarnish one's reputation and be infamous for eternity, which is a fate worse than death for a civil servant.

How could such a sinister and cruel style of officials not make outstanding civil officials such as Gu Yankui and Wei Guanyao hate it deeply?

Seeing Zhou Junxing speaking to Emperor Jiazhao with clear thoughts, sharp eyes, and words full of bewitching inducements, they all felt a deep fear in their hearts.

……

Zhou Junxing said: "Your Majesty, the Court of Inquisition has been interrogating and torturing 37 people from the Dali Temple and the Five Military Commandery who were involved in the information they gave.

It was initially confirmed that 21 people had no signs of leaking secrets and were currently working normally in the government offices, but their movements in and out were being monitored.

After interrogation and comparison by the Magistrates' Court, it was finally determined that Luo Qingchang, the criminal recorder of the Dali Temple, was the culprit who confessed to leaking secrets!

This person had interrogated Zhou Suqing together with Yang Hongbin, was responsible for recording Zhou Suqing's confession, and knew the confession information in great detail. "

Emperor Jia Zhao said angrily: "It is outrageous that the Dali Temple, the main judicial office, could commit embezzlement. How could he have leaked the secret? Does he have an accomplice?"

The Dali Temple Minister Wei Guanyao, who was standing nearby, turned pale, knelt down and bowed his head, saying, "I have not been strict in running the government, which has caused trouble to my subordinates. I am guilty."

Emperor Jiazhao looked coldly at Wei Guanyao who was kneeling on the ground to apologize, without saying a word.

Wei Guanyao had served as the Minister of Dali Temple for many years. He had always been diligent and capable, and was highly valued by Emperor Jiazhao. However, in the case of Zhou Suqing, the Dali Temple made such a big mistake that made Emperor Jiazhao very disappointed.

Zhou Junxing paid no attention to the kneeling Wei Guanyao and continued, "This person is the first person besides Yang Hongbin to know the contents of Zhou Suqing's confession.

So the Magistrate's Court conducted a intensive interrogation on him, and he initially denied it.

However, under Miki's supervision, he quickly confessed to leaking the information.

Luo Qingchang was a third-class Jinshi, but because he grew up in a poor family, had no background, and was not good at scheming, he was only a seventh-rank criminal recorder after four years in the Dali Temple.

Two years ago, he followed his superior from the Dali Temple to Jinling to assist in closing a major case at the Water Inspectorate. Due to official business, he came into contact with some officers of the Jinling Guard, and thus got to know Zhou Zhengyang, the commander of the Jinling Guard.

Zhou Zhengyang once gave him two singing girls from Jinling, a small courtyard with two entrances outside the northern city of Shenjing, and even used his connections in the Ministry of Personnel's Examination and Reward Department to get Luo Qingchang's performance ranked B, promoting him to the sixth rank.

Zhou Zhengyang had many advantages and leverage over Luo Qingchang, so he was willing to be his spy. When he learned about Zhou Suqing's confession, he was worried that if Zhou Zhengyang was arrested, he would be deeply involved and suffer as well.

On the second day after Zhou Suqing confessed, Luo Qingchang sent a trusted family member to Jinling to report the news to Zhou Zhengyang, which prevented Yang Hongbin from arresting Zhengyang.

Emperor Jia Zhao sneered, "What a great third-rank military officer of the Jinling Guard, he actually had the ability to reach out to the Ministry of Personnel Examination and Reward Department. I will conduct a thorough investigation and will not tolerate any officials involved!"

Zhou Junxing took out a memorial and presented it, saying: "Your Majesty, the Magistrates' Court has sorted out and investigated Luo Qingchang's confession during the interrogation and found that Zhou Zhengyan used his connections in the government to seek promotion for Luo Qingchang.

Among them, seven officials from the Ministry of Personnel were involved, including the Deputy Director, Director, and Left Vice Director of the Ministry of Examination. In addition, Luo Qingchang's superior, the Director of the Ministry of Criminal Records of the Dali Temple, was also involved in falsifying Luo Qingchang's annual evaluation records.

The above mentioned people disregarded the laws of the country, colluded with cliques, and abused their power for personal gain. I ask Your Majesty to conduct a strict investigation to serve as a warning to others and to set the record straight! "

……

When Gu Yankui and Wei Guanyao heard this, they both took a deep breath.

Zhou Junxing likes to use drastic measures. Before he entered the palace, he must have anticipated the situation. Once he reported Luo Qingchang's leak of secrets to the emperor, the emperor would definitely pay attention to the reason why he leaked the secrets.

This person was involved in cheating in the Ministry of Personnel's merit examination and promotion, which would surely anger the emperor, so he investigated the matter in advance and wrote a memorial to the emperor in order to give the emperor a preconceived idea.

One memorial brought down eight officials, and after these eight officials were arrested, no one could predict how many more people they would blame...

He was able to guess the emperor's intentions so accurately, to collude with evil forces, to be ruthless and vicious, and to have no scruples. He deserved the name of a cruel official. Now that the Court of Inquiries is controlled by this man, I'm afraid there will be no peace in the court from now on.

Perhaps it was because of his character that the emperor promoted him to be the head of the Court of Judges...

Gu Yankui and Wei Guanyao felt pity in their hearts, this man was the emperor's sharp weapon. To put it nicely, he was used to rectify the administration of officials. To put it more presumptuously, he was used to control all officials by the Court of Inquiries.

……

Emperor Jia Zhao read the memorial and said sternly: "The Court of Inquiry shall make every effort to investigate and investigate those who are involved in corruption in the Ministry of Works. They shall be dealt with according to the facts and shall not be let off unjustly!

Regarding Zhou Suqing's confession leaking secrets, those who have substantiated the evidence will be severely punished, and those who are still suspected will be investigated. Those who spread the poisonous secrets must not be left out, so as to avoid further trouble. "

Emperor Jiazhao gave Zhou Junxing some more instructions and let him leave the palace first. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, he did not avoid Gu Yankui and Wei Guanyao during the whole process.

After Zhou Junxing left the palace, Emperor Jiazhao said to the two again: "Officials are corrupt and treacherous, colluding with others to corrupt the government, and if this continues, it will lead to great disaster.

I use the severity of the Court of Judges in order to rectify the officialdom, remove the rot and regenerate new flesh, guide the clean stream and deter the scoundrels.

Both of you are the chief officials of this office. You should take this as a warning and rectify the administration of your department!"

Gu Yankui and Wei Guanyao were filled with awe and quickly responded in unison. Wasn't it a shock to them what Emperor Jiazhao and Zhou Junxing had just said?

Especially since the culprit who leaked the secrets this time came from the Dali Temple, Wei Guanyao, as the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple, felt like he was facing an abyss and walking on thin ice.

Emperor Jiazhao said: "Since the court has already investigated the leak, we can put our worries aside for now. We must speed up the investigation of Zhou Zhengyang's case in Nanjing.

Regarding the document transmission and information transmission related to this case, I will assign the best personnel in the inner court to be in charge to prevent any further accidents. In addition to Yang Hongbin continuing to serve as the director in Nanjing, I have decided to send another capable person to Nanjing to assist in the investigation.

The two of you can recommend reliable candidates for my consideration."

After hearing this, Gu Yankui breathed a sigh of relief. The main culprit in this case, Zhou Zhengyang, was a third-rank military officer. The troops under his command were affiliated with the Ministry of War, and the military positions he led were under the jurisdiction of the Five Military Commanders' Office.

Now that the Five Military Commission has been deeply implicated in the incident, and two of its officials have died as a result of torture, can the Ministry of War stay completely out of it?
The cruel officials in the Magistrate's Court are trying to squeeze the marrow out of the bones, using this incident as a starting point to dig up and implicate more crimes.

The most urgent task now is to solve the Jinling case as soon as possible, bring Zhou Zhengyang to justice, and end the ever-expanding vortex as soon as possible.

Only in this way will the emperor put down his raised butcher knife, although many of the officials implicated by the Court of Inquiry are not good people either.

But if the water is too clear, there will be no fish. How many honest and incorruptible officials can there be in the court? The government offices need to be opened and things need to be done. If there is any unrestrained involvement, I am afraid that chaos will arise.

Gu Yankui thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, I recommend Weiyuan Earl Jia Cong to go to Jinling to assist in handling this case. When the Water Conservancy Bureau case broke out, it was Jia Cong who repeatedly came up with ingenious plans in Jinling and solved the case.

He was familiar with the whole story of the case, and Jia Cong was a man of both civil and military talents, good at making strange plans, and skilled in commanding troops. I think he is the most suitable person to go to Nanjing." Wei Guanyao, the Minister of the Dali Temple, also said: "I agree. Zhou Suqing was captured by Jia Cong in Liaodong, which shows that he knows the details of the major case of the Water Supervision Bureau very well.

He and Yang Hongbin once worked together to solve a case in Jinling. They were familiar with each other and must have cooperated well. In addition, the Jia family was a prominent family in Jinling and had the advantage of geographical location and connections.

Jia Cong is indeed the best choice for His Majesty to solve the important case in Nanjing."

Wei Guanyao and Gu Yankui had the same idea, which was to send their most capable people to fill the hole in Nanjing as soon as possible. If they delayed any further, who knows how many people would be harmed by the Court of Inquisition.

Moreover, the person who leaked the information was from the Dali Temple. If Zhou Zhengyang continued to be at large, his position as the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple would be over.

Emperor Jia Zhao looked at the anxious expressions on the faces of the two old ministers, glanced at the memorial on the table in which Zhou Junxing investigated the Ministry of Personnel for fraud, and the corners of his mouth twitched tightly.

No matter whether it is the Imperial Chariot Division or the Court of Inquisition, when the blade is out of its sheath and it wants to kill but does not, that is when it is most intimidating.

……

Ningrong Street, Earl's Mansion, Jia Cong Courtyard.

Ever since the construction specifications of the Improved Red Cannon were determined, the main task of the Firearms Workshop has been mass-forging cannons.

Jia Cong was good at the research, development and improvement of firearms, but he was not good at the specific matters of firearm manufacturing. That was the specialty of Liu Shizhen, deputy director of the Firearms Bureau.

Therefore, the busiest person in the firearms workshop recently is Liu Shizhen. He can be seen going in and out of the workshop every day, devoting himself to supervising the production of new artillery.

Emperor Jiazhao has decided to allocate some new artillery pieces, with a priority on equipping the coastal passes of Songjiang and Suzhou, because in the past six months, these places have often been harassed by Japanese pirates advancing westward along the sea entrances.

Jia Cong also consciously stopped the research and development of firearms. Due to the current level of construction technology in the Great Zhou Dynasty, he proposed too many new concepts that could not be realized at the moment, so he had some free time in his official duties.

He spent more time studying classics, contemporary literature and art, or regularly going to Luocang Mountain to listen to Liu Yanxiu's lectures.

That morning, after he and Yingchun had breakfast, Jia Mu's maid Yuanyang came to invite Yingchun to meet a guest at the West Mansion.

It is said that the wife of the Zhen family in Jinling brought the third daughter of the Zhen family to the capital from afar. Because the old concubine in the palace was in poor health this year, the women of the Zhen family had to go to the palace to pay homage to the old concubine.

Because the Zhen family and the Jia family are old relatives of the Jinling aristocratic families, after meeting the old empress dowager, they also came to visit Lady Jia. Also accompanying them was Princess Beijing, because before Princess Beijing got married, she was the second daughter of the Zhen family.

The relationship here is quite complicated, and Jia Cong was also stunned when he heard it.

Jia Cong stayed in the East Courtyard until he was ten years old, almost isolated from the outside world. Later, he went to Qingshan Academy to study and was away from home for most of the year.

After that, he went to Nanjing and Liaodong, and did not spend much time at home. In addition, the daily contacts between the Zhen family and the Jia family were not as frequent as those between the Wang, Shi, and Xue families, so naturally he did not have much idea about the Zhen family.

Ever since the eighth branch of the Jia family settled in Shenjing, as no one from the Zhen family served as an official in Shenjing, the Zhen family's roots were still stationed in Jinling. Therefore, the exchanges between the Jia family and the Zhen family in Shenjing were not as close as those between the other families.

Jia Cong and his grandmother had been estranged for many years, and he would avoid Rongqing Hall if possible, so naturally he would hear even less information about the Zhen family.

……

However, Yuanyang has been with Lady Jia since she was a child, and is more familiar with the relationships with these old relatives than anyone else.

Ever since Jia She and Lady Xing forced Yuanyang to marry him as a concubine, and after the turmoil in Rongqingtang, Yuanyang no longer has any worries.

That day in Rongqing Hall, Yuanyang wanted to cut her hair to show her determination, but Jia Cong stopped her in time. Later, in Jia Mu's room, the old lady said those words to Yuanyang again.

Although Yuanyang didn't show anything on the surface, she was becoming closer to Jia Cong in her heart.

Seeing that Jia Cong was a little confused, and since the female guest had not arrived yet and there was still time, he told Jia Cong in detail about the history of the Zhen family.

It is said that there is an old empress dowager of respected status in the palace. She is over 70 years old. She was the concubine of the late Emperor Hongxuan and one of the very few concubines of Emperor Hongxuan who is still alive.

Although this old concubine was not the biological mother of the retired emperor, she raised him and the retired emperor regarded her as his mother, so her position in the harem was very respected.

There is another more important thing, this old empress dowager was born in the Zhen family of Jinling.

Because of the existence of the old Concubine Zhen, although the Zhen family of Jinling had no merit in expanding the military and national territory, nor did they have the title of hereditary nobleman, they still enjoyed a respected status and wealth and luxury in the south of the Yangtze River.

Compared with the four great masters of Jinling, Jia, Shi, Wang and Xue, they are even better.

Not to mention that the second daughter of the Zhen family, who is of the same generation as Baoyu, was married to Prince Beijing Shui Rong as his principal wife, and her status as a noble lady was even higher than that of Lady Jia.

However, the Princess Beijing was a very polite person. She usually only respected the affections of her elder relatives from the aristocratic family, looked up to Lady Jia as her elder, and never put on airs as a princess in front of her.

Because of his sensitive status, he cannot visit the Jia family often, but he has a good relationship with Lady Jia. This time, he came here with the help of the female relatives from his hometown who were visiting.

Yingchun knew more about the old relatives in the mansion than Jia Cong. She had also heard of the origins of the Second Miss Zhen, but this was the first time she had heard of the Third Miss Zhen.

Curiously, he asked, "The women of their family are going to the palace to pay homage to the old concubine, so it is only right for the mistress of the house to come. Why do they let an unmarried girl show up in public?"

It was understandable that Yingchun had such doubts. Since the Miss Zhen San who came with them was called a girl, she must be an unmarried girl.

In aristocratic families like the Jia family and the Zhen family, unmarried young ladies never leave the house and rarely appear in public.

Not to mention Miss Zhen II, who traveled thousands of miles to the palace to pay homage to the old Concubine Zhen.

Yuanyang smiled and said, "The old lady did mention this in her spare time. This Third Miss Zhen is an unusual one. She is a powerful one among the young ladies in the Zhen family, just like the Third Miss in our mansion."

Yingchun looked at Jia Cong and smiled: "This is a coincidence. It seems that the third generation are all powerful characters."

Yuanyang also smiled at Jia Cong and naturally understood what Yingchun meant. Wasn't Jia Cong also the third in line?

Yuanyang continued, "There is another reason. Some years ago, Miss Zhen was still young, and the old concubine was lonely in the palace, so the Zhen family sent Miss Zhen to the palace to accompany her and educate her.

She was sent back to Jinling only a few years ago, so the old concubine is particularly close to Miss Zhen San, and that is why Miss Zhen San came to the palace to pay homage this time.

Because it was an old relative's female guest who came to visit, the old lady asked Miss Lin, the third Miss, and the fourth Miss to meet the guest, and also asked the second Miss to go along.

Now the second young lady is the eldest daughter of the Earl's Mansion, and she must be present when meeting the female guests of the Zhen family."

Ever since Jia Cong took Yingchun to live in the East Palace, Yingchun is Jia Cong's biological sister, the eldest daughter of the Weiyuan Marquis's Mansion. This status is much more important than the original concubine's daughter of the Rongguo Mansion.

Although Lady Jia was not close to Jia Cong, Jia Cong was granted the hereditary title of Earl Wangtai at a young age. He was a man of both civil and military talents and had a great reputation. He was now the undisputed face of the Jia family.

The women of the Zhen family came to visit, including an unmarried girl of the same generation as Jia Cong. Because of the differences between men and women, Jia Cong naturally could not show up.

Letting Yingchun come out to meet the guests means that she represents the Earl's Mansion and the glory of a family with two titles, which is respectable for Lady Jia and the Jia family.

However, when Jia Cong heard that the principal wife of Prince Beijing Shui Rong was actually the second daughter of the Zhen family in Jinling, he became somewhat wary.

But he didn't care about Miss Zhen San, she was just an unmarried woman.

　The second and third daughters of the Zhen family in Jiangnan appear in the 56th chapter of A Dream of Red Mansions.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)