Chapter 109

In the next few days, Qin mubai inspected several dams, inspected the rice bags used to build the dams, and further confirmed that his inference was correct.

It's true that the flood in Jiangzhou is a natural disaster, but some people take advantage of this natural disaster to make a fortune and try to cover up the previous accusation of embezzlement of flood control funds. From this, there are also murders.

In the Zhenguan Tang Dynasty, it was already a shocking case!

A few years ago, Zhenguan Datang once set a legal record in Chinese history - only 29 people were sentenced to death in the whole year!

Three years ago, on September 4, the eighth year of Zhenguan, there was an even more sensational anecdote. On that day, all the 300 odd prisoners who had been sent home by Li Shimin for the Spring Festival and spring ploughing and autumn harvest returned to death row. Prepare to die on the execution ground!

The cause of the matter used to be this: there was a custom in the Tang Dynasty that the death penalty must be approved by the Emperor himself and executed after autumn. Moreover, Li Shimin had to patrol the prison before he gave instructions on death penalty. As long as there's a prisoner crying out. No matter how strong the evidence is, Dali Temple must be put back for retrial to avoid killing good people by mistake.

On that day, Li Shimin was on patrol, and there was no one on the death row to blame. Li Shimin was surprised at that time. Why are there so many more death row prisoners this year than the 29 in the previous two years? Are these people not afraid of death? Most of these prisoners are young adults. Li Shimin, on a whim, decided to let the prisoners go home to spend the new year with their families and take part in the spring ploughing in the coming year. He made an agreement with them that they would go back to their cells to be punished in the autumn of the next year.

It sounds a bit of a myth. But a year later, all of the 300 prisoners returned to their cells. After enjoying the last year of their lives with their families, all the prisoners were very grateful and willing to die, which touched everyone, including Li Shimin, on the spot. Li Shimin immediately granted amnesty to all these people and put them back home.

Zhenguan Datang had always been politically clear and in good public order, and always advocated "cautious punishment". The crime rate is also quite low. However, such a terrible incident happened in Jiangzhou. I really don't know how Li Shimin and the more than 300 prisoners would feel when they knew about it.

After several days of secret investigation and evidence collection, Qin mubai has made the case very clear. So he found Li Ke and they had a secret talk.

Qin mubai first told Li Ke all kinds of evidence and inference he had found, and asked Li Ke's opinion: "Your Highness, is it time to catch these corrupt officials?"

"Not busy." Li Ke was not in a hurry. He waved his hand and said, "recently, we have been busy in resettling the victims, rebuilding our homes, and restoring agriculture and mulberry. All the officials in Jiangzhou are doing their best. If you suddenly start to catch people at this time, you will surely be alarmed. This is not good for the overall situation. "

"Your Highness is right." Qin mubai said, "the officials of local prefectures and counties are no better than the officials of Beijing. They cooperate closely with each other and have a very strong relationship. If we really want to find out people, I'm afraid that all of them are more or less involved. I always feel that Jiangzhou is not a small case. Here the size of the officials seem to be firmly held together, like a deep-rooted tree. Once we start to pull up a certain root, I'm afraid we'll have to pull the whole body. A tree does not have much strength and can be lifted easily. But if its roots are intertwined and twisted in the soil, it's not so easy

"Well said." Li Ke's eyes were shining, and he said in a soft voice, "these days, I specially sent Quan Wanji to Jiangzhou city in the name of recruiting the people's wife. In fact, it is to find out the details of Cheng Songnian, Ma Kun and others. As a result, there is a big discovery! "

"Is there anything special?" Qin mubai asked.

"Yes. And it's not just ordinary and special. " Li Ke said, "it turned out that Cheng Songnian and Ma Kun were not common officials. Cheng Songnian, a small governor of wupinzhou, has a long history. More than ten years ago. He was once a minor official in the mansion of Prince Li Jiancheng. After his father ascended the throne, he did not wipe out all these people, but appeased them. Most of them were appointed. At that time, Cheng Songnian was appointed the magistrate of Jixian County. He worked for seven or eight years. Until five years ago, I didn't know what kind of door he had set up. He connected with Shengnan Marquis's house in Jiangzhou and married his daughter to be a concubine. Then his official career was smooth and smooth until he became the governor of the state. Mubai, do you know who this Shengnan marquis is? "

"Who?"

"He is my eldest brother, the younger brother of the prince's nurse." Li Ke said with a smile, "don't look down on nanny. The descendants of our royal family are mostly brought up by nannies. Sometimes they are more intimate with nannies than with their own mothers. In private, when the prince saw this Shengnan Marquis, he even called him "uncle."! I treat my nanny's son like a brother. Last time, I was impeached because I gambled and hunted too crazy with them

"So Jiangzhou is really a place with deep roots. The prince is involved Qin mubai twisted his brows and recalled what the emperor had told him. He suddenly understood that: no wonder the emperor's words were so ambiguous. It turned out that he had long thought that this might have something to do with shengnanhou, thus involving the prince. Now, the wind and rain of Manchu Dynasty are all about how the prince disdains it, and the emperor intends to abolish it. If this case involves the prince again, it would be really sensitive. No wonder the emperor repeatedly told Li Ke and Qin mubai not to rush to scare the snake. If there's any special situation, play it back to him first."The origin of Ma Kun is not small!" Li Ke said, "a few years ago, he was just a little ordinary soldier. Why did he suddenly rise so fast. How about becoming a wupinduwei in charge of the whole state? It turns out that this Ma Kun was Cheng Songnian's brother, and they worked together in the crown prince's house. After the Xuanwu Gate, Ma Kun left the crown prince's Mansion because he was a nobody and returned home six times. To continue farming, at most, is an ordinary soldier. But later, Cheng Songnian made great achievements, so he promoted his brother to Jiangzhou, until he became the commander of Jiangzhou. He and Cheng Songnian, a Wen Yi Wu. In Jiangzhou, it can be said that it has covered the sky. Coupled with the relationship between Shengnan Marquis and the capital, Jiangzhou is almost a country of its own. Of course, the king of this country is Shengnan marquis. Cheng Songnian and Ma Kun are just his accomplices. "

"Ironic! How dare a little Sheng Nan Hou be so perverse Qin mubai could not help sneering, "Your Highness. What's your plan now? If we report this report, we have no conclusive evidence, but as long as the emperor sends the censor and the people of Dali temple to investigate thoroughly, we will be able to find out. At that time, we will be able to wipe out all the malignant tumors that have come up from Jiangzhou. "

"I know that." Li Ke twisted his brow. In fact, it's not difficult to deal with Sheng nanhou, Cheng Songnian and others. Although they seem to be more powerful, at most they only deserve to run rampant in front of state and county officials. I have not paid attention to them yet. It's just This matter concerns the prince, so we have to be cautious. You know that. His father always hated the emperor's relatives and relatives for breaking the law and hiding their misdeeds with his own identity. Last time I was impeached, the reason why my father was so angry and punished me so severely was that he could not stand me hanging out with my nanny's sons. My father scolded me personally, as a royal. We should always think about safeguarding the dignity of the royal family and taking responsibility for ourselves. The identity of imperial relatives is not used to bully the people. This time, if you let him know that the younger brother of the prince's nurse is so perverse It's hard for me to say whether the emperor will take advantage of this to the disadvantage of the prince. "

"I know how you feel." Qin mubai said, "now, the competition for the crown prince and the crown prince is becoming more and more fierce. The two camps of the crown prince and the king of Wei are not allowed to criticize each other. The emperor is very angry about this, but there is no perfect solution for the moment. So it's a bit of a mess. If you suddenly join the prince's book at this time That's really something to think about. The emperor and his ministers would guess whether the king of Wu was helping the king of Wei to fight for the crown prince, or whether he wanted to jump out and get a piece of the cake? As the saying goes, melon field does not accept shoes, plum is not the whole crown. Even if you don't mean it. We'll be under suspicion. Once you're caught in this torrent, it's hard to know what's going on. "

"Not bad." Li Ke frowned deeply and said, "if I hide and don't report, it's also a big crime to cover up the fierce and stubborn. What's more, I don't know what to do! In this case. There are Zhu Chengwen who died unknowingly, the people of the two counties who were poisoned by the flood, the Treasury property that was embezzled by corrupt officials, and the soldiers who died in the flood relief. In my sleep, there are countless ghosts haunting me. Those corrupt officials seem to be shouting and provoking at me - I'm not willing to let those corrupt officials go anyway

"Does your highness want a panacea?" Qin mubai said faintly.

Li Ke was surprised: "what's mubai's plan?"

"Yes, it is, but it's not so wonderful, and it seems a bit silly." Qin mubai said with a smile.

"Say it

"If you want to have both, you have to start with your majesty." Qin mubai said, "obviously, before the emperor sent us to Jiangzhou, he vaguely felt that there was a ghost in Jiangzhou. Otherwise, he would act rashly and alert the enemy. We secretly investigated the two of us and did not rush to catch the alarm. It's unusual for the emperor to be used to thundering. Therefore, unless he had already guessed that it was about the prince, he would not

"That's right! Go on

Qin mubai said: "I worked as an official in the harem. I contacted the emperor and his family members every day. I found and summed up a characteristic of the emperor. I don't know if it's right or wrong. If it's right. Your highness will continue to listen to me. If it's not right, you'll think you haven't heard anything, so we don't have to discuss. How are you

"Well, you say." Li Ke said decisively, "I am a man. You should understand. No matter how unbearable, you will never betray your friends! "

www.novelhall.com , the fastest update of the webnovel!