allendalepharm Chapter 767: Not even one person was left alive
Chapter 767: Not even one person was left alive
Kong Chengling said a name without hesitation, which surprised Jiang Youzhen.
"I am from Jiangnan. He approached me two years ago. I thought that if I could rely on him, my career would be smooth. Why wouldn't I agree? So I readily agreed. Sure enough, within less than a year, I was promoted to Imperial Lecturer."
Kong Chengling spoke with some emotion, the Prime Minister was the Prime Minister after all. Not to mention that he had all the power in the court, but just say that when the Emperor set up a cabinet, all memorials had to go through the Prime Minister's hands. This was power, this was the Emperor's grace.
"Did he ask you to do anything afterwards?" Jiang Youzhen didn't think that the Prime Minister just paved the way without paying a price.
"Just say that my current position is too low and we can talk about it later."
"Do you know who is behind him?" Jiang Youzhen continued to ask.
Kong Chengling was stunned. "I haven't mentioned this before. I was only mentioned before, but I was promised that I would be transferred to the Censorate after the three-year period."
The Censorate? Jiang Youzhen pondered. It seems that the Censorate is a force that the Prime Minister cannot interfere with? Even the low-ranking Kong Chengling was not spared, which means that the Prime Minister still cannot control the Censorate.
"If he makes any unusual moves, tell me as soon as possible."
"Okay!" Kong Chengling nodded without any hesitation.
All this seemed to be taken for granted. Kong Chengling had a complete mind and did not feel any hesitation in respecting and submitting to her.
The New Year is coming soon, and white snow means a good harvest.
The yamen started reporting on the eighth day of the first lunar month. Jiang Youzhen got up early, straightened his official hat, and took a carriage to the yamen.
The first month of the lunar year is not even halfway through, but the atmosphere of the New Year is still there in the market. Children are chasing and playing, and adults are wishing each other a happy new year. It is a new atmosphere.
Jiang Youzhen raised the corners of his lips and lowered the curtain.
As soon as the carriage arrived at the yamen gate, Mu Yuan was already waiting there.
"Mr. Jiang, Happy New Year! I wish you a happy New Year every year."
"Okay! Let's celebrate together!" Jiang Youzhen nodded.
A few more colleagues came. Jiang Youzhen was greeting them and was about to step into the yamen when Pang Shun came running over in a hurry.
"Jiang, Lord Jiang... hurry up! Come with me to the court, the emperor has summoned you!"
Hall of Supreme Harmony
Jiang Youzhen stood under the red wall, thinking about something.
Today was the eighth day of the first lunar month, and the government offices were just opening. Today's morning court session was a routine meeting, and it should have ended quickly. But the emperor had summoned him. What had happened in the court?
Everything is calm in the capital and here, Jiang Youzhen feels that it has nothing to do with the capital.
"Summon the Imperial Academy's Attendant Jiang Youzhen to the court!"
Amid the shouts of "yes", Jiang Youzhen walked quickly towards the long steps.
"Your Majesty! It's just after the New Year, and those villains are so rampant. They really don't take our court seriously. The salt transportation in Jiangnan Road has been in turmoil since last year. The salt inspector Xu Zhanrong was poisoned, but the court has only received the news now.
As the prefect of Lin'an Prefecture, what was Zhou Qing doing? He was derelict in his duty when he learned about the death of a person several days after he died at home.
Prime Minister Lin Juhui was very angry. Xu Zhanrong had been the Inspector of Salt for more than five years, and the emperor had planned to send a new Inspector of Salt this year, but who would have expected such a thing to happen.
"Your Majesty, I think Zhou Qing should be arrested immediately. He may be guilty of harboring a criminal, or even colluding with those thieves to murder loyal people."
This man is really violent, he wanted to take someone's official hat right away. Wei Donglai, the Minister of Justice, never missed an opportunity to eliminate dissidents.
"Your Majesty! Jiang Youzhen, the reader of the Hanlin Academy, has arrived!" Steward Zhou reminded immediately.
"Announce!" The emperor frowned.
Jiang Youzhen could hear Wei Donglai's passionate voice even when he was standing outside the hall, as if he was digging up his family's ancestral grave.
"Your Majesty, I, Jiang Youzhen, pay my respects to you. Long live the emperor!"
"My dear Jiang, please stand up!"
Everyone looked at Jiang Youzhen, feeling very dissatisfied. Why did the emperor summon a sixth-rank official for such an important matter? Could it be that all of them were not as good as a sixth-rank official?
"Your Majesty, I think an imperial envoy should be sent immediately to Lin'an Prefecture to investigate the case thoroughly. It just so happens that the post of Salt Inspector also needs someone to take over." Minister of Rites Luo Chengyi stepped out and said.
Jiang Youzhen was about to walk to the end, but the emperor pointed to Lin Juhui's seat and said, "Lord Jiang, please listen here!"
Everyone was shocked. What did it mean?
The ministers were so angry that their noses were crooked, and those second-rank officials were so angry that their eyes widened.
The six ministers of the six ministries were inferior to Jiang Youzhen, and a sixth-rank official was riding on their heads? If this continued, how could they still have dignity?
"Your Majesty, this is unreasonable, isn't it?" Luo Chengyi frowned.
"I am just listening in. Jiang Aiqing does not know the first place and has nothing to do with the others."
Uh... Jiang Youzhen was ashamed. Wouldn't this bring hatred to her?
"I will not listen to the wind. Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I will stand here and entrust you with your duties!"
Jiang Youzhen pointed to the two doors behind the emperor. The doors on both sides were indeed open, but to say that there was wind was nonsense.
The emperor waved his hand and said, "Well!"
Jiang Youzhen quickly stood at the end. Being too arrogant was not a good thing. If he really stood behind Lin Juhui, wouldn't he become the public enemy of all officials?
It was not until Jiang Youzhen stood to the end that everyone's expressions eased a little, but they still had cold faces.
"My dear Minister Sui, please tell me what happened in detail again." The emperor pointed at Sui Yuanchao and said.
Sui Yuanchao was so angry that his face twitched. He was asked to explain it to Jiang Youzhen in detail? What a great honor.
Although he was reluctant, Sui Yuanchao had to tell the story.
However, it is said that a few years ago, the Salt Inspector Xu Zhanrong visited Lin'an Prefecture. He found that smuggling of salt was rampant in Lin'an Prefecture and there were problems with salt transportation, so Xu Zhanrong planned to come and check it out.
Unexpectedly, within a few days, Xu Zhanrong died in the temporary rented house, and no one knew about it.
All the servants in the house were killed, not even a single one was left alive.
"Did he go there secretly? Otherwise, the prefect of Lin'an Prefecture would not be unaware of it." Jiang Youzhen raised the question. If Zhou Qing was not going there in disguise, how could he not know about it?
"That's right! At first, it was indeed a private visit, but later, Censor Xu had to seek Zhou Qing's help, so he revealed his identity. He sent a secret letter to the capital, which described what happened before.
According to the memorial, the section of the canal where the salt was transported from Lin'an Prefecture was often plagued by bandits, who even dared to rob official ships. It was simply outrageous!" Sui Yuanchao nodded.
"Who would have thought that he would die in the rented house just a few days after he announced his identity. And Zhou Qing did not find out until after the New Year. This was either dereliction of duty or intentional. In any case, he cannot escape the connection." Minister of Works Feng Side snorted coldly.
"Then may I ask, gentlemen, who discovered it? Was it Lord Zhou, or someone else?"
There must be many servants in the house. How could he have died in the house for so many days without anyone noticing? It must have been at least ten days. Even in winter, there must have been a stench of corpses.
"It was the landlord who found out. He said Xu Zhanrong had only rented the place for a month. Halfway through the month, he came to ask if we wanted to renew the lease because other tenants had already asked. He wanted to make preparations early."