On the evening of the second day of March, Zhao Ning went to the prison of the Ministry of Punishments.

Weng Yanguo was imprisoned here.

The Weng family has been sealed up, and the entire family of more than 100 people has been put under control.

Seeing Zhao Guan's family coming, Weng Yanguo just said symbolically: "See your Majesty."

Zhao Ning asked: "Did you receive instructions from others, or did you make your own decision?"

"I made my own decision."

"No one from above gave you instructions?"

"No."

"In that case, why do you dare to kill officials? Don't you know it is a capital crime?"

"I know, but I have to do it!"

Zhao Ning asked calmly: "Why?"

"Because there is no other choice." Weng Yanguo didn't seem to expect that he could survive, but only wanted to die quickly.

"Isn't it enough for the imperial court to support you with high salaries? We must take away every last grain of rice from the common people?"

Weng Yanguo remained silent. After a moment, he spoke: "Your Majesty, we want to investigate Huaixi, but we can't!"

"Can't check?"

"Can't find it!"

"Why?"

"Your Majesty knows the reason."

"I don't know!"

"If your Majesty wants to investigate, eight out of ten Huaixi officials will be found guilty. Do you still want to investigate?"

Zhao Ning said nothing, looked at Weng Yanguo quietly for a while, turned and left, and finally turned around at the door and said one word: "Check!"

When I was waiting to go out, I could still hear Weng Yanguo's laughter: "Your Majesty can't check it. Even if you check it, you can't move it!"

The third day of March, Shouzhou.

This time, Cai Mao's handling methods can be said to be very cruel. Regardless of whether he is one of his own, he will be dismissed from office.

The dismissed officials were all escorted to the capital.

Originally, this matter affected a wide area and was quite difficult to handle, but when the three thousand imperial guards sent by Zhao Guan's family to Cai Mao stationed there, things suddenly became easier.

All those who should be arrested were arrested, and no one resisted.

At the same time, the new transfer envoy from Huaixi also arrived at Shouchun Mansion.

Who is the new transfer envoy to Huaixi?

Li Guang, the former Gyeonggi Road transfer envoy.

The current New Deal structure of Gyeonggi Road has been completed and many matters have been straightened out. It would be too wasteful for Li Guang to place it in Gyeonggi Road again.

The transfer envoy from Gyeonggi Road to the Huaixi transfer envoy seems to be a downgrade.

But Zhao Ning gave Li Guang the honorary title of Jiedu Envoy to show his favor.

In the Tang Dynasty, Jiedushi was basically a local emperor who held military, personnel, financial, and judicial power, but in the Song Dynasty it was just an honorary title.

This means that you go over and settle the situation for the time being, and then come back and move up after the settlement is complete.

Li Guang is known for his tough approach to matters and is not afraid of the power of the powerful.

Zhu Meng (mian, three sounds), a powerful official in the Huizong Dynasty of the Song Dynasty, was Cai Jing's lackey. No one dared to offend him. His servant bullied others, so he was kidnapped and imprisoned by Li Guang.

Cai Mao was sent there to change the officialdom, and Li Guang was sent there to severely suppress the local landlords and gentry and purge the law.

Of course, the direct purpose is to let Huaixi pay all the taxes to solve the urgent needs of the national treasury.

In early March, the news that Weng Yanguo had been arrested had spread to various roads around Gyeonggi Road, including Jingdong East Road, Jingxi East Road, Jingxi Northwest Road, Jingxi South Road, and Huainan East Road.

A man who had enjoyed great fame before was suddenly imprisoned, and all official circles were shaken for a time.

As more officials in Huaixi were arrested for interrogation, more officials involved in tax evasion came to light.

On March 5th, Cai Mao, Chang Nie and Li Guang were sitting in the Huaixi transfer envoy's yamen.

After hearing the list and their respective crimes, Cai Mao felt a little heavy.

Even though he was mentally prepared for this time and had dismissed many officials, he shuddered when he saw these lists now.

Half of the officialdom is engaged in corruption, collusion to evade taxes, and deceiving superiors and subordinates.

There are also many people and officials who do private business without paying taxes and merge fields maliciously.

Those officials who usually seem to be very fair on the surface turn out to be good guys with thousands of acres of fertile land, and they use their family members to monopolize the local salt and tea business.

After checking again, my dear, I haven't paid taxes for several years.

For example, Wang Yanhai, the magistrate of Haozhou next door, has a family of more than 70 people, all engaged in business, ranging from fertile land, salt and iron, to silk, gambling, kilns, etc., everything is involved.

He also built a high-end brothel, specializing in lending money to wealthy people and officials to build his own connections.

This time, as the Shouzhou Transshipment Department and the Tongfang Department were investigated, they were also implicated.

The Su Provincial People's Court went to check and found out everything.

These are the norm!

Cai Mao sighed and said, "You two, what do you think about these lists?"

Nie Chang said: "Of course I will present it to His Majesty."

If this had happened before, and there was no Su Provincial Yuan, and another official came to investigate, he would definitely have said: Of course it was decided by the Prime Minister of the Dong Prefecture.

The governors of Dongfu have the power to appoint and remove personnel.

Under normal circumstances, the Zhao family will not go beyond the prime minister. Even if they want to appoint someone, they will discuss it with the prime minister.

For example, the appointment of Li Guang to Huaixi was discussed with Zhao Ding.

This is an ancient process because the prime minister is the head of the government.

But now the role of the Su Provincial Yuan is independent of the Dongfu, and it even has supervisory power over the officials of the Dongfu.

Cai Mao could use his power to suppress Li Guang, but he could not use his power to suppress Nie Chang.

Nie Chang said that he wanted to report it to His Majesty, and he could not stop it.

Cai Mao said: "If I report it to His Majesty, it will make it very difficult for Your Majesty. As a minister, you should share your worries for the king."

"Then what does Mr. Cai mean?"

"I have already reported a group of officials to Your Majesty. These officials are just low-ranking officials. I don't think you need to trouble Your Majesty. Mingshan (Nie Chang's word), what do you think?"

Nie Chang said: "How your Majesty decides, that is your Majesty's business. I am the provincial envoy appointed by your Majesty. It is my duty to report the investigation and handling situation truthfully."

Cai Mao continued to ask: "Mingshan, do you know what the consequences will be if you report it?"

"That is His Majesty's holy decree, I cannot interfere with it."

Nie Chang stood up, ignored Cai Mao, and walked out.

Looking at Nie Chang's back as he left, Li Guang thought to himself: Nie Chang turned Huaixi around this time, and he would probably become famous in the Song Dynasty, and the rest of the world would be shaken in the future.

This is also good for Li Guang.

Cai Mao wanted to kill a group of people, protect a group of people, and keep the situation under control.

But his idea was obviously not what he wanted.

On March 13, multiple copies of the list of all the officials found so far in Huaixi and their charges were prepared and sent to the capital as quickly as possible.

On March 18, Huaixi's investigation results arrived in the capital.

One copy was reported to Dongfu, one was sent to Yushitai, and another was sent directly to Zhao Guan's family.

More than a hundred officials were involved, affecting most of Huaixi.

Among them, there are countless officials.

No wonder the imperial courts in history were unwilling to investigate. This investigation was totally fucked up!

These more than one hundred officials include Shouzhou, Haozhou, Luzhou and Guangzhou.

There are also Huangzhou, Shuzhou, Qizhou, and Hezhou, but Wuweijun did not check them, probably because of lack of time. Among these states, Shouzhou is still a bit far away.

I guess it turned out to be a mess.

From the moment Cai Mao was sent to Huaixi, the officials in Tokyo City knew that something big was going to happen in Huaixi.

But I didn't expect it to become such a big deal.

The news was still in the Yushitai and Dongfu. Maybe it was too involved, and several of the officials in the Dongfu didn't make it public immediately.

Zhao Ding, He Li, Xu Han, and Zhang Shuye went to the Wende Hall first to see you.

Not long after, several people came out with solemn expressions.

The chamberlains outside Wende Hall heard the angry voices of Zhao Guan's family inside.

After the ministers left, Qin Hui was the next to enter the Wende Hall.

In the next few days, the first batch of officials escorted from Huaixi to Beijing arrived.

Qin Hui initiated a joint trial among the three departments and interrogated all officials.

Of course, this kind of interrogation is just a judicial process.
Chapter completed!