In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

The night in Bianliang is always so fascinating.

The river flows slowly, the city is filled with the fragrance of osmanthus in August, and even the moon is a bit fuller than before.

Zhao Jun was strolling on the way home at this time, raising his head and looking up at the night sky.

He just went to Fan Zhongyan's place and asked Fan Zhongyan why he provoked Kaifeng Mansion, but the other party avoided his advances.

Unexpectedly, Fan Zhongyan not only told him the two previous conjectures, but also told him another possibility.

Those were the middle and lower-level officials of Kaifeng Prefecture, who obviously wanted to use Ding Du, the governor of Kaifeng Prefecture, as their spearhead.

After all, Ding Du is a confused official, and he always thinks what is said below, and he has always been rigid and pedantic. When he heard that the Imperial City Division was seizing power in the Kaifeng Mansion, he would probably go directly to Zhao Zhen to complain.

Cunning villains are easy to deal with, but it is difficult to deal with such a righteous and confused minister. Because they already have their own understanding, they are in high positions, and their personal ethics are quite good.

A guy like Ding Du, who is less than fifty years old, is an official in Bianliang. He has been living in a shabby house with no wives and concubines. He lives a simple life. After receiving his salary, he helps the poor. He cannot be beaten, and he is too embarrassed to scold him, so he can only Just show him the facts.

So Zhao Jun felt that his head hurt. Why was Zhao Zhen causing so much trouble for him? Can a corrupt official or someone smart and capable be replaced as the governor of Kaifeng? If you have an upright and confused official, isn't that just looking for trouble for yourself?

However, Fan Zhongyan still had to side with them, at least on the surface, to maintain the interests of the entire bureaucracy, so as not to be squeezed out before the Qingli New Deal was launched and unable to help him persuade Ding Du.

Therefore, if Ding Du is really used as a spearman by the people of Kaifeng Mansion, basically only Zhao Zhen and Zhao Jun can resist this pressure.

Forget it, let’s do it step by step.

Zhao Jun returned home. At this time, there were several police officers waiting at his door.

Seeing him coming, they all raised their hands and saluted, "Greetings to Chisi."

"Well, come to the yard."

Zhao Jun asked.

The people arrested during the day were brought back to the government office, and he did not have much time to interrogate them personally.

There are countless cases that happen in Bianliang in one day. If he needs to be involved in everything, then he might as well just try cases every day, and he can't do anything else.

So he asked one of Cao Xiu's confidants to handle the matter. Fortunately, Cao Xiu was quite capable. If the Imperial City Department were all people like Wang Shilong, and the orders he gave were followed and violated, nothing would be accomplished.

The group of people followed Zhao Jun into the courtyard. Zhao Jun sat on the stone table under the big tree in the courtyard. The leader of the team came over to salute him.

"Have you asked clearly?"

"After asking clearly, the old woman said that the woman came to Zhongmou a few months ago, saying that she was helpless and married to the old woman's son. After a month or two, everything was fine, but the old woman's son was suddenly beaten to death. Zhongmou The county magistrate ordered her to pay compensation, and soon the woman took the money and ran away. "

The escort told what happened, and then said: "The woman denied it flatly, and said that she was not from Bianliang, and that the two men were her brothers. She came to Bianliang this time to return to her hometown. But before asking her Where he went and where his hometown was was vague. We interrogated him separately. The man said he was from Gyeonggi Road, but the woman said she was from Caizhou. "

"It seems like there's something wrong with this woman and those two men."

Zhao Jun knew with his toes that there was a big problem, which meant that the woman was not careful in doing things. Unexpectedly, she ran to Bianliang and was discovered by the old woman. She did not collude with the two men in advance to give a confession, which led to separate interrogations and immediately Reveal your flaws.

"Yes."

Abban said: "And today a brother told me that he knows those two people."

"Let him come over."

"Qian Li, the governor wants to ask you something."

The escort waved back.

Immediately from behind, a policeman came over, bowed his head and cupped his hands and said, "Young man Qian Li, I have met Zhisi."

"Tell me about it."

"Those two are from the beggar gang in the city."

"Beggars gang?"

Zhao Jun was surprised. He didn't expect that the things in Jin Yong's novels actually existed in reality.

It was also that he didn't take "History of Beggars" when he was in school, otherwise he wouldn't be surprised at all.

The Beggar Gang first took shape in the Northern Song Dynasty. The boss was called Tuantou. The beggars at the bottom were in rags, but the Tuantou was wealthy.

According to historical records, in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty in Hangzhou, there was a beggar gang leader who had been hereditary for seven generations - "Big Brother Tuantou Jin". He has jurisdiction over the beggars in Jincheng, Hangzhou, collects their regular money, and takes care of the beggars' lives accordingly.

"Jin Lao Da" has a status like a patriarch and enjoys considerable authority among beggars. With the support of many beggars, he has earned a wealthy family with "a lot of millet" and "more money in his pocket", and even "a moneylender" , although he is not the richest man in the city, he is still one of the richest men in the world.

It can be seen from this that the underground underworld in the Song Dynasty was so exciting. There were dozens of large and small forces such as the Beggar Gang, Wuyou Cave, Ghost Tower, Ghost Market, etc., and their relationship with the Kaifeng Mansion was also intricate. There was often a certain person behind these forces. A big shot or powerful person in Kaifeng Mansion.

"Yes."

Qian Li said: "Those two people are the blue poles of the Beggar Clan, who specialize in doing shameful things. They will find a girl, and when they see a family with a young son and no power, and cannot marry a wife, they will arrange for the girl to marry. Then he encouraged her husband to make trouble with the powerful people, and he was beaten to death by the powerful people. Then he reconciled with others, took the money and ran away. "

"ah?"

Zhao Jun was shocked by this outrageous criminal method and said, "Is that husband so stupid that he dares to make trouble with powerful people?"

Qian Li said with a smile: "So the people they pick are mostly stupid men, and they will not directly provoke the powerful. They go to the shops owned by the powerful to cause trouble. Sometimes these blue-blooded men are even hired as thugs. When a man is instigated by his mother-in-law to cause trouble, he will deliberately beat the person to death and then run away. The trouble will be left to the powerful. If the powerful don't want to make a big fuss, they will naturally have to pay for it. "

Zhao Jun's face darkened.

In addition to the beggar gang, it also involves the magistrate of Zhongmou County protecting the powerful. After beating someone to death, it turned into a minor incident, so he compensated the old woman with some silver coins, and the silver coins were even taken away by the woman. No wonder This old woman wants to come to Bianliang to file a complaint. Her son really will die with his eyes open.

"This is a secret, how did you know?"

Zhao Jun was a little puzzled.

This criminal method was something Zhao Jun never dreamed of. How did Qian Li know about it?

Qian Li looked embarrassed.

Zhao Jun thought for a moment, then did not ask further questions. He nodded and said: "Well, you did a good job. Remember, those three people were tortured. You must ask for all the details about the beggar gang, and it is best to find evidence of the crime. "

"yes."

Everyone agreed.

Zhao Jun was about to wave them away when he suddenly noticed something strange about Qian Li's face. Guessing that he might have something to say to him, he said, "Let the others handle the case. Qian Li will stay. I still have some details about the Beggar Gang." I have to ask you."

"yes."

Qian Li bowed his hands and bowed, and the others left.

Soon only Zhao Jun was left in the courtyard, surrounded by guards such as Di Qing and Zhou Xin.

Zhao Jun said: "These are my confidants and people I can trust. If you have anything to say, just tell me."

Qian Li then knelt down and said: "Zhisi, the villain deserves to die. The villain knows this because he saw his boss shielding them before, so he recognized them."

"oh?"

Zhao Jun said with great interest: "Then why do you dare to tell me? Aren't you afraid that your boss will retaliate against you?"

Qian Li said: "The villain knows that Zhi Si will definitely do something big, so he is willing to help. Moreover, Zhi Si ordered the villain to investigate some things, but the boss secretly leaked the news."

"good."

Zhao Jun said happily: "There is an old saying in China, which is that those who understand current affairs are heroes. If you can turn from darkness to light, it means you are very smart. Go back and continue to monitor your boss. If you can make a contribution, I will definitely use you again."

"Thank you Chiji."

Qian Li was overjoyed. He was taking a big risk this time.

After all, the Imperial City Division's inspectors don't have much luck and they rely entirely on selling information to make money, so the Imperial City Division is also in bad shape internally.

This time, Zhao Jun deliberately spread the word that he was going to investigate some powerful people. The people below quickly went to tip off the news, fabricating false information and reporting it back.

Qian Li originally planned to do this, but he was lucky. He had a cousin who was one of Cao Xiu's confidants. At the same time, this person was also the spy who had been protecting Zhao Jun when he was traveling.

This person knew very well that Zhao Jun had the power to enter and leave the palace at will. Even after entering the palace, the officials ordered Zhao Jun to take charge of the Imperial City Department the next day, and gave the Imperial City Department the ability to arrest, examine, and set up courts. , the power can be described as overwhelming.

So he immediately understood that the situation in the Imperial City Division was about to change, and he quickly ordered his cousin and close friends in the Imperial City Division not to continue to deceive their superiors, lest they cause serious trouble.

And it's not just him. There are more than a hundred Chazi spies following Zhao Jun, and there are many smart people among them. Seeing Zhao Jun's treatment, he also guessed a bit.

Everyone had friends and relatives, and the news spread quickly.

Soon in the next few days, as expected, many people came to tip off the spies Zhao Jun had sent out to investigate.

There were even spies who had colluded with the people under investigation who knew that they had been reported, which caused panic within the Imperial City Division. Many people felt that a disaster was imminent. There were originally many factions and struggles inside, but now it became even more chaotic.

Zhao Jun did not take action immediately after receiving the letter, but suppressed all the information, because if he took action now, he would only be able to catch the surface, and the big traitor hidden inside would not surface.

So he decided to calm down and continue to dig deeper as planned. He would wait until all the investigation reports came out to deal with them again, so as to catch them all in one go.

at the same time.

August 14th is the Mid-Autumn Festival.

This is the seventh day after Zhao Jun was appointed as the Imperial City Chief Magistrate, and there are only three days left before Qiu Wei locks the courtyard.

The time of Autumn in the Song Dynasty was not fixed, and was generally calculated based on the distance from Bianliang.

Because it is necessary to give the successful candidates enough time to go to Bianliang to participate in the spring examination of the following year after passing the examination, so in places like Guangxi, Lingnan, and Fujian, the autumn examination is often held in June.

Bianliang is a little later, usually taking exams from August 15th to September.

For example, the exam for the fourth year of Emperor Renzong's reign in the Song Dynasty was held on August 19th. This year it is August 17th. On that day, all the scholars who participated in the Qiu Wei Festival had to go to Gongyuan. However, Gongyuan would be locked and the exams would be held for three days. , food, clothing and accommodation are all there.

Zhao Jun did not reject Lu Yijian's proposal to participate in the imperial examination, but pretended to deal with it based on the principle of not letting the other party know that he knew their intentions.

Anyway, it doesn't matter whether you pass the exam or not. In the past, I thought that I wanted to go deep into the officialdom to understand the officialdom. Now after forming an alliance with Lao Fan, and with Lao Fan, an old official who has been ups and downs in the officialdom for decades, what are you afraid of because you don't know the shortcomings of the officialdom?

However, he did not intend to completely turn against Lü Yijian and the others, unless the other party was so stubborn that he could not bear it any longer, so he had to be perfunctory.

These two days, he pretended to read in secret, and continued to investigate in secret during the day. He saw a lot of social darkness, and gradually learned a lot of the criminal methods of these underground forces and the ways of the powerful behind them to make money.

While Zhao Jun was still moving steadily according to his plan, at this moment, in Zuixiang Building in Yulin Lane, Dongcheng, several officials from Kaifeng Prefecture were sitting in the inner room, talking about some things.

When Fan Zhongyan was the governor of Kaifeng Prefecture, he always enforced the law and cracked down on evil, so the scoundrels were frightened for a while, and the public security on the streets of Bianliang was much better than before.

In the future, it will take until Bao Zheng, who is now mourning for his parents in his hometown, becomes the governor of Kaifeng Prefecture in 20 years, so that he can once again eliminate the cancer inside Kaifeng Prefecture, and then devote himself to cracking down on evil forces and make Bianliang a new one.

Unfortunately, both Fan Zhongyan and Bao Heizi could only clean up the surface. The Song Dynasty did not eradicate the underground Wuyou Cave, Guifanlou, Beggar Gang and other large-scale evil forces.

It was not until the Yuan Dynasty that the Mongols directly ignored the martial ethics, defeated the ten skills with one force, and frantically poured water into it, and then they eliminated the Wuyou Cave that had been entrenched in Bianliang for hundreds of years.

At this time, with Fan Zhongyan being transferred away, Zhang Yi’s tenure was too short, and Ding Du was a confused scholar. Without the suppression of clear-minded officials, the dirty scoundrels below began to move again.

There are five Kaifeng Prefecture officials in the room, namely Kaifeng Prefecture Procurator Liu Yuanzhi, Judicial Counsel Liao Yu, Li Dewen, Silu Counsel Zhang Pengfei, Zhan Wu.

Kaifeng Prefecture is usually composed of one prefect, one Tongpan, two judges, and three procurators.

The prefectural governor is the actual person in charge, the magistrate is the deputy, the judge is in charge of the left and right halls respectively, and the prosecutor is in charge of the Southern Court. Then the prefectural court is set up, with six judicial and recording officers in charge, who are also the superiors of the six departments.

However, as the redundant officials become more and more numerous, the number of officials of all sizes in Kaifeng Prefecture has increased dramatically, although most of them are nominal positions without the word "powerful knowledge". But now it has expanded to the point where there are two magistrates, three judges, five prosecutors and more than ten prefectural court officers, and the redundant officials are very serious.

This has caused the internal Kaifeng Prefecture to be divided into several small groups and factions, fighting for power and profit, and the opinions are not unified.

Liu Yuanzhi's faction is still quite powerful, including Liao Yu and others, and there are several six departments and advisors under it. Moreover, in Kaifeng Prefecture, the resident officials are at the top level when they reach the prosecutor, and they can work for a few more years.

Because these people are civil servants, most of them are from the family of the same Jinshi or the same Jinshi, and they have a low official status, but they can work longer in lower-level positions.

Those above the magistrate are usually Jinshi graduates, with high status, but they are temporary officials, and can only work for one or two years at most, and cannot form long-term benefits.

Therefore, Kaifeng Prefecture harbors corruption, and most of them are below the magistrate.

At this moment, Liu Yuanzhi met with several confidants to discuss the behavior of the Imperial City Department that exceeded its duties in recent days.

"The Imperial City Department is getting more and more rampant now. I don't know what Zhao Jun's origin is, but he can actually deceive the government and let the Imperial City Department have the power to arrest and judge."

"I heard that on the first day of his appointment, he hinted to his subordinates that he had a relationship with the royal family. Could he be the son of the royal family?"

"The royal family cannot serve in the government. Your Majesty is breaking the laws of the ancestors by doing this."

"No news came from the Imperial Clan House, which means that this person is not in the royal family jade book. Could it be the late emperor?"

"Don't think too much."

The few people first toasted each other and talked about the situation of the Imperial City Department.

Then Liu Yuanzhi looked around at everyone and said in a deep voice: "You may not know that on the first day of this prefect's appointment, he asked his subordinates to secretly investigate the officials of Kaifeng Prefecture."

"I also know about this. Someone sold the news to me on the same day."

Li Dewen sneered: "This Zhao Jun is really interesting. He wanted to investigate Kaifeng Prefecture on the first day of his appointment, but all his subordinates came to me."

"How many people came to you?"

Liao Yu asked.

Li Dewen said: "I'm afraid there must be more than a dozen people."

"Did you buy them all?"

"Why would I buy so many if I have nothing to do?"

"Stupid."

Liao Yu frowned and said: "Aren't you afraid that those people will hold a grudge and really investigate secretly?"

"Haha."

Li Dewen sneered: "Let them investigate, what can they find out."

"You are not cautious in doing things, and you will kill me sooner or later!"

Liao Yu was very unhappy.

Although they were both military officers in the prefecture, Liao Yu was admitted as a Jinshi, and he always looked down on Li Dewen who entered the officialdom through family background.

Now that he has done something stupid again, he is even more angry.

But Li Dewen still doesn't realize it, and said coldly: "You don't know how big the other party's appetite is. I don't have so much spare money to buy more than a dozen copies of the same news."

"How stupid!"

Liao Yu couldn't help but curse.

"You TM"

Li Dewen was very angry.

"Okay!"

Liu Yuanzhi slammed the table and said: "What are you arguing about? I asked you to come here to discuss countermeasures, not to quarrel. Now the Imperial City Division has clearly set its sights on us, and you are still fighting among yourselves here?"

The two of them stopped talking.

Zhang Pengfei pondered and said: "Brother Cen Gao (Liu Yuanzhi's name), what do you think should be done?"

Liu Yuanzhi said: "What do you think? Speak out and let me hear it."

"I heard from the people above that Zhao Jun is a new official who has been favored by officials for three reasons, so it is not appropriate to have a direct conflict with him."

Zhan Wu analyzed: "That's why we ordered the people below to be more cautious, but now they have put their hands on us. I suspect it is not only us, but also Ma Tuiguan and Gao Tuiguan. It is better to join forces with them." stand up?"

"Unite?"

Liu Yuanzhi smiled and said: "We fought them to the death before, but can we still unite now?"

Zhan Wu said: "It wasn't possible before, but now that we have foreign enemies, we really need to unite."

"Yes, if we really let the Imperial City Division continue to pursue this, there is no guarantee that something will be found."

Liao Yu also said: "After all, Ma Yi's brother is the censor in the Yushitai. If we can unite with Ma Yi and let the Yushitai impeach the Imperial City Division, we may be able to calm down Zhao Jun."

Li Dewen immediately confronted him and said: "In the past few days, have the Yushitai and Jiantai impeached the Imperial City Secretary a lot? The officials are clearly protecting Zhao Jun, what effect can it have?"

"hehe."

Liao Yu said with a smile: "If the Imperial City Division can find out the case, it will naturally be useless. But if the case cannot be found, or if the case is found to be unjust or wrong, and someone else is framed, wouldn't the Yushitai impeachment be useful? By then, wouldn't it be useful? It’s not easy for officials to protect them either.”

"you mean?"

Liu Yuanzhi looked at him.

Liao Yu said: "It's very simple. If they want a case, just give it to them. As long as it's not a case involving us, we can even create a case for them."

"Well"

Several people looked at each other and smiled.

They may not be good at solving crimes, but creating cases is their specialty.

Only Li Dewen looked at Liao Yu with dissatisfaction. He had always been at odds with this guy. He was a Jinshi who broke with his peers and looked down on his family background. Now he was in the limelight, which made him very unhappy.

"The governor can also complain to him about how arrogant and domineering the Imperial City Secretary is now, and ask him to go to the officials and tell him."

"Well, Minghui (Liao Yu's nickname) is still wise, comparable to the ancient Cheng Yu."

Liu Yuanzhi was overjoyed.

If these methods continue, I will not believe that the Imperial City Division will not submit.