Brother Song Taizu

Chapter 225 Death of Yao Shu
When Zhao Guangmei arrived at Duanwen Hall, the atmosphere in the entire hall was visibly solemn.

Zhao Guangyi and Zhao Pu rarely knelt down in front of Zhao Kuangyin like quails, like children who had done something wrong. Zhao Guangmei also thought about it for a moment before realizing that there was indeed something about Zhao Pu here.

Because Yao Shu, the general magistrate of Chanzhou, was recommended by Zhao Pu.

Although in essence this is an overt promotion and covert promotion, everyone in the world knows which one is greater, the Tongpan in Chanzhou or the promotion official in Kaifeng, but no matter how you put it, he is officially promoted, so naturally Zhao Pu will He must bear the responsibility of improper recommendation.

As for Du Shenzhao and Wang Jien, they were already shaking like chaff, and there was a guy he didn't recognize kneeling next to Wang Jien.

You don't need to ask to know that Zhao Kuangyin was really angry and angry this time. Otherwise, with his character, it would be impossible for him to let the elder Du Shenzhao kneel in front of him for so long without pulling him up. Zhao Guangmei even Everyone can feel that Zhao Kuangyin seems to have murderous intention towards Du Shenzhao, but he can't do it because of family ties.

孽 孽!
"Third brother, do you know it too? Come and sit down, and you should also come and take a look. Thanks to these people, a big hole has been dug in our Zhao Song Dynasty!"

"Brother, calm down, don't be anxious. Although the flood is serious, in the end it is just a compensation. The water in the Yellow River is turbid. It is a natural disaster caused by nine floods in ten years. The embankment was also built by Emperor Shizong of the Zhou Dynasty. It collapsed. I can’t blame our Zhao family. In the final analysis, the word “pension” is just money. Fortunately, we have no shortage of money now.”

Zhao Kuangyin's face looked a little better now. Although it was a bit far-fetched, was it true that Chai Rong built the river embankment?

But soon, his dark face turned dark again and said: "If it is really just a natural disaster, that's it. I hate that this is not only a natural disaster, but also a man-made disaster. If the river embankment breaks, if it can be repaired in time, relief can be provided in time. Even if Even if there is a loss, we can always control it to a certain extent. However, I can only hate that the people in Chanzhou are colluding like a snake and a rat. They actually want to hide the disaster and even write a letter to deceive me, saying that everything is under control. In fact, what about the six states along the river? , they are the only ones in Chanzhou who are able to break up the war. How the hell do you think they have everything under control? Come on, your mother, everyone in Chanzhou Mansion thinks our family is a fool!"

Seeing this, Du Shenzhao kowtowed repeatedly and said: "This matter has nothing to do with me, official. You know me. I have been in Kaifeng for more than a month and have not returned to Chanzhou at all. All matters in Chanzhou are decided by general judge Yao Shu. Ah, this Yao Shu, this Yao Shu, I have long thought that he has evil intentions. He spends all day studying the important affairs of our court, but he doesn't even care about the trivial matters of Chanzhou Prefecture. No, he is full of intrigues but does not understand the principle of serving as an official to benefit one party. He seems to have a great reputation, but in fact he is just a mediocre official."

In fact, it doesn't matter whether he is in Chanzhou or not at this time. He, the prefect, doesn't care about things. It is no exaggeration to say that if he is really in Chanzhou, he may not be able to get a big job in Chanzhou at this time. Water news.

After all, the water did not reach the city.

"Humph!"

Zhao Kuangyin snorted coldly and said: "You, you should really thank Cao Bin. If it weren't for him, you wouldn't have been able to come back so soon. I'm afraid that you will not be able to escape any involvement in the disaster in Chanzhou. Don't tell me it's you, even I won't be able to handle it."

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, Guan, Guan, you are right, it is true this time, Cao Bin saved me, I have to thank him, thank him."

Zhao Kuangyin sighed and said: "Even I, I'm afraid, have to thank him. After this incident, I think you should not go back to Chanzhou Mansion. You can take a job and stay in Kaifeng for retirement. You can ask the third child for the money." , he has plenty of money, but don’t go causing trouble to the place anymore. If you feel uncomfortable living in the capital with its strict rules, the imperial court will move to Luoyang in a few years."

"Yes, yes, the officials are right. Kaifeng is good. Thanks to the officials and King Qin's hard work over the years, even though it has only been two short years, I see that Kaifeng is changing with each passing day. I am a native of Kaifeng. I don’t even know the locals anymore, especially at night, when the electric lights are on, it’s even more lively than during the day. I’ll live in Kaifeng from now on and won’t go anywhere. I’m going to be a prefect in another place. Isn’t there something wrong with that?”

But it made Zhao Kuangyin dumbfounded.

"Uncle, get up. After all... you are our elder. Speaking of which, this matter cannot be entirely blamed on you, but also on me."

Although Empress Dowager Du never came forward on this matter from beginning to end, Zhao Kuangyin knew that the old lady was paying close attention to this matter.

How could he not know what kind of virtue his uncle was? If he was of any use, he wouldn't kick people out and become some bullshit prefect. What's the point of embarrassing him?
As he spoke, he glared at Wang Jien and the man kneeling next to him fiercely, and said in a calm tone: "If Cao Bin hadn't delayed things because of the villain's obstruction, what would happen to everyone in Chanzhou Mansion?" Do you dare to deceive your Majesty? Maybe the trick has been discovered long ago, and the water in Chanzhou will not be released."

As he spoke, he suddenly took out an inkstone from the table and hit the eunuch on the head like a dart.

"Our family established the West Factory and the Inner Factory to share the worries of our family. Is this how you share the worries of the Song Dynasty? Where is Cao Bin? Didn't you say you want to investigate? What was found? What's the result? Cao Bin, did he appoint a private person, was he corrupt and perverted the law, or was he unruly? Ah? What exactly did you investigate?!"

As he said this, he was really angry and went up to give the two eunuchs a good kick in person.

Only then did Zhao Guangmei know that the person next to Wang Jien was the first great minister of the Song Dynasty, Qiu Sunyi Duan, who was also the empress.

Zhao Guangmei also heard about the Song Dynasty's re-establishment of Changqiu, but she had never seen anyone. After all, this was a position held during the Han Dynasty. To put it bluntly, except for the Han Dynasty, almost all the post-queer rights in the past dynasties had been abolished. Naturally, The Great Changqiu is gone.

Of course, he couldn't say that he was not interested in the Queen, but he always felt that his eldest brother's move seemed to have a strong political connotation. He seemed to be deliberately loosening the restrictions on the harem's political affairs. Today, he was just building an inner factory and a western factory. Who knew something like the Ten Constant Attendants would come out tomorrow?

In the late Tang Dynasty, the Niu-Li party struggle and the Ganlu Incident were not far behind, so he moved the harem to the front again. Who knows what he was thinking, and his status in the Song Dynasty was equivalent to that of the prince, so he could not ask anyone about this. , so he has even been deliberately avoiding this Changqiu for such a long time, and today is really the first time we meet.

Of course, as a queen, my sister-in-law must not come here to be punished. It would be unbecoming, so any anger would naturally be directed at Changqiu.

It was Zhao Guangmei who stopped and said: "The location of Dongchang, where Cao Bin is located, is inherently sensitive. The more people are investigated, the more they need to maintain their purity, and the harsher they should be punished. Westchang and the inner The original intention of the establishment of the factory was to monitor the Dongchang. I think it is very necessary to investigate the Dongchang thoroughly. Are there any uncles? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with things like forcing a confession, um… you two father-in-laws, didn’t you give in?”

"No, of course not. Your Highness, even if you give me a hundred courages, you still don't dare to be disrespectful to Governor Cao!"

"Where are the people? Which prisons are being used in the West Factory and the Inner Factory now?"

"I absolutely don't dare to imprison you, I absolutely don't dare to imprison you, I'm waiting for you... I'm just letting Governor Cao wait for investigation at home, there is no way to imprison me!"

"Oh, it's just house arrest, right? What about...the other people in Dongchang? After so long of investigation, have you found any corruption bugs?" "In reply to Your Highness, there are...some people among them who are corrupt and accept bribes. , there are 64 people, many of whom were personally appointed by Cao Bin."

Zhao Guangmei nodded, then turned to Zhao Kuangyin and said: "The internal work in the factory is indeed a bit rough, a bit irritable, and even a bit too bossy. It does not take into account the impact. There must be something wrong, but no matter what, , all for the purpose of enforcing the law impartially, it cannot be said that it was a big mistake, in fact, they saved Cao Bin."

"Rescued Cao Bin?"

Zhao Kuangyin couldn't help being stunned, but then he suddenly realized.

Indeed, if Cao Bin was not investigated by the internal factory for this matter, this matter would definitely be a mess now.

Because when the time comes, although Yao Shu will definitely not deceive the court and deliberately refuse to report the incident, he will definitely put all the responsibility for the breach of the river embankment on Cao Bin and his Dongchang.

They will definitely say: It’s all because of you, Cao Bin, who bites us hard and refuses to let go. If something is too big, we have to investigate and investigate again, which seriously delays the daily work of our yamen and leads to mistakes in work, which is why the river embankment is caused. burst.

Although the reason is nonsense, it may not be untenable. How the court will judge it will be the old routine of partisan struggle.

Yao Shu is a member of Zhao Guangyi and was recommended by Zhao Pu. Even if he is himself, I am afraid he will not insist on it. Then in the end, the court might really turn a big issue into a trivial one, and let things go smoothly. It was done, and then it left a stain on Cao Bin in a confused manner. When Dongchang does things again in the future, it will inevitably be tied up.

In fact, this is really the most common method used by corrupt officials to avoid inspections. Anti-corruption will definitely delay the normal process of the government and even the normal development of a region, because even if it is not delayed, local dignitaries will definitely find ways to delay.

If it weren't for Cao Bin, who knows how many compromises and helplessness there would be?

"Brother, let me say something that I shouldn't say. What happened in Chanzhou today is certainly a great misfortune for the people of Chanzhou, but in fact, it's not a good thing. Be careful, even I feel guilty because of this. I am deeply touched. Our Song Dynasty still does not have enough requirements for clean government."

As he said that, he glanced at the two eunuchs kneeling on the ground with a half-smile and said: "Of course, although the investigation in the West Factory and the Inner Factory is definitely correct, there must be regulations for the investigation. Investigate Cao Bin, why do you have to put him under house arrest for investigation? Especially when you clearly have no evidence. What does this mean? This shows that you don’t value evidence at all and only value the leader’s subjective assumptions. Even you gave him What we are doing is an inference of guilt. Brother, don’t there be rules and regulations for officials in the inner court to handle affairs?”

This was directed at Zhao Kuangyin.

Zhao Kuangyin sighed and nodded: "Of course we need charters, but... who will supervise their charters?"

Zhao Guangmei smiled and said: "I think the regulations should be set down and let everyone in the world jointly supervise the affairs of the inner court. Unless there is an express decree from the palace, the court officials can clearly reject anything that is not in compliance with the regulations. Otherwise, , wouldn’t it be true that in the future, as long as these eunuchs are doing things for the palace, they can do whatever they want outside? I think that when it comes to Dongchang, especially those at Cao Bin’s level, in the future... or else Come and take a breather with my brother?"

Zhao Kuangyin was stunned for a moment, and then there was a long silence.

Then he nodded again and said yes.

When things have reached this point, the case itself is actually not very important anymore. In other words, the people of Chanzhou, issues such as dyke breaches and floods are no longer important. No matter how serious the matter is, since it has already happened, it is indeed important. Just losing money.

On the contrary, it is the power structure issues involved in this matter that are truly serious.

Chanzhou is a small place, but it involves not only the position of the imperial relatives in the court, but also the power game between the newly built East and West factories, and even the dispute between the three brothers Zhao D, Zhao Er and Zhao San. A question of distribution of powers and responsibilities.

Then, by some mistake, Zhao Guangmei won another match out of nowhere. After this incident, the West Factory and the Inner Factory would not be able to really suppress the East Factory for at least a few years.

No matter what purpose Zhao Kuangyin set up Da Changqiu, or whether it was for Zhao Guangmei, for the time being, their role was limited.

After thinking about it, Zhao Kuangyin said with a dark face: "Yao Shu has committed a heinous crime. I ordered him to cut his body into pieces with knives and throw him into the river. Zhao Pu recommended him inappropriately and issued an order to reprimand him and fine him a year's salary. As for the old man, two……"

Zhao Guangyi quickly knelt on the ground.

"Hey~, I think you need to take good care of your people. When Cao Bin comes out, ask him to investigate."

"Yes."

Then he looked at Zhao Guangmei: "The disaster in Chanzhou is serious, and the magistrate and magistrate have been killed and evacuated. Who do you think is more suitable to provide disaster relief?"

Zhao Guangmei thought for a while and said, "Didn't Lu Mengzheng get the top prize in this year's imperial examination? I am an old acquaintance of this man, and I know his abilities. Why don't we just let him be appointed as the prefect of Chanzhou in the face of danger?"

"Isn't it inappropriate to directly promote a Jinshi from Xinke to the prefect?"

"Isn't it suitable? Then... I don't know who is suitable, brother."

Zhao Kuangyin glanced at Zhao Guangyi and saw that he was also silent. Then he sighed and said: "Well, it's up to you. Although Lu Mengzheng is just a newcomer, he is a well-known person after all. He is just a prefect. He It's worthy of the honor. Come and tell Lu Meng to come and see him."

(End of this chapter)