Zhao Xun was the eldest son of Duke Chengguo of Zhou Dynasty. He was amazed when he came to Huangzhou Governor's Yamen.
What kind of yamen is this? It's clearly an extremely luxurious private garden.
Although Huangzhou is rich, it has nothing to do with the governor.
The governor was just a temporary official, receiving a salary from the court.
The imperial salary is customized, and no matter what official rank you get, it is impossible to get even a penny more.
The fact that Huangzhou Governor's Yamen was able to build such a luxurious building shows that Zhao Qian had income other than his salary.
As for what the income other than salary is, everyone understands it and it is self-explanatory.
Zhao Xun couldn't help but think of the famous "Jie Stone Inscription":
Your salary is your salary, the people are fat and the people are anointed. It is easy for the people to abuse you, but it is difficult for God to bully you!
Just sixteen words, easy to understand but shocking!
But Zhao Qian, the governor of Huangzhou, obviously didn't understand the reason.
Of course Zhao Xun knew that he could not make Zhao Qian repent. The purpose of his trip was to test Zhao Qian and see if this old fox would show his fox tail.
Zhao Xun waited for about a cup of tea when Zhao Qian, the governor of Huangzhou, arrived late.
As soon as he saw Zhao Xun, he quickly raised his hands and saluted, saying: "My lord, the imperial envoy, forgive me. I am busy with official duties, so I missed the reception from afar. I hope your lord, the imperial envoy, will forgive me."
Zhao Xun squinted his eyes slightly and smiled faintly: "What did Governor Zhao say? You are the official of Huangzhou. It is your duty to handle official affairs. Only when you have handled official affairs can you be free to do other things, right?
As for me, I don’t care about these trivial etiquette.”
When Zhao Xun said this, he was actually testing Zhao Qian. How could Zhao Qian not hear this?
"That won't work. Official business is official business, etiquette is etiquette, and it can't be confused."
Zhao Qian said in a deep voice: "Come here, serve tea to the imperial envoy. Use the best Huangzhou Maofeng."
After saying that, he sat down beside Zhao Xun and asked in a very respectful manner: "I wonder what the imperial envoy has to teach you when he comes here this time?"
"Well, that's it."
Zhao Xun was neither sad nor happy, and said slowly: "I heard that there has been a proliferation of illegal salt in Huangzhou recently, and the quality of the salt cannot be guaranteed. There are actually cases where people are eating it and getting sick. I wonder if Governor Zhao has heard about it?"
Zhao Xun is best at observing micro-expressions, and this time he observed Zhao Qian with this mentality.
If there is even the slightest bit of strangeness in Zhao Qian's facial expression, Zhao Xun can catch it and conclude that Zhao Qian really has something going on in his heart.
The next step is to collect evidence, which is what bad people are best at doing.
But this Zhao Qian is also an old man who has been in the officialdom for many years. He was not deceived by Zhao Xun, but nodded and said: "The lower officials have also heard about this matter. It is some profiteers who are smuggling salt. Their salt is of poor quality.
It is really hateful that the common people will suffer from stomachaches at the least, and headaches and fever in the worst cases."
"Oh? I wonder where these profiteers are now?"
"Imprisoned in the Governor's Yamen Prison."
"Oh? Can I go and have a look?"
"Of course, I wonder when the imperial envoy would like to go?"
"Now."
Zhao Xun said without hesitation.
...
...
Places like dungeons are always cold and damp.
The dungeon of the governor's office in Huangzhou Prefecture is no exception.
Zhao Xun came to the prison accompanied by the governor Zhao Qian. As soon as he entered the prison, he smelled a putrid smell.
Zhao Xun frowned instinctively, but in order to find out the truth, this little pain was nothing.
Zhao Xun is not only a bad person, but also a practitioner!
At least so far, the governor Zhao Qian has behaved normally and doesn't seem to have any evil intentions at all.
Zhao Xun even had some doubts about the accuracy of the information provided by the criminal Anqi blacksmith Zhang Chongzhi.
Zhao Xun's principle is not to wrongly accuse a good person, nor to let a bad person go.
If Zhao Qian is really guilty, Zhao Xun will not let him go.
But if Zhao Qian is not guilty, Zhao Xun will not unjustly accuse him.
"Your Majesty, please be careful. There are steps ahead."
Zhao Qian was obviously very familiar with the dungeon and reminded him very thoughtfully.
The first moment Zhao Xun joined the bad guys, Jia Xingwen told him something that was of great benefit, that is, the order of a place can be judged from the number of prisoners held in the dungeon.
If the Great Hell Prison is overcrowded, then the order in this place must not be very good.
On the contrary, if there are not many prisoners in the dungeon, then the order in that place should be pretty good.
And this Huangzhou Dungeon belongs to the former.
Zhao Xun couldn't help but frown.
But he couldn't conclude anything based on this alone.
Maybe it was just that the governor, Zhao Qian, enforced the law strictly and was selfless?
The scale of law enforcement depends entirely on the parents and officials. Some are strict and some are loose. There is nothing wrong with that.
"Prince Zhao, where are the profiteers you mentioned imprisoned?"
"Report to the Imperial Envoy, at the far west end."
Zhao Qian said loudly: "Just follow this road to the end."
Zhao Xun hummed softly and strode forward.
Zhao Qian followed him slowly, just one position behind Zhao Xun.
After about a few dozen breaths, Zhao Xun walked to the westernmost cell. He took a closer look and was really shocked.
"How is this going?!"
It turned out that all the people in the cell had hanged themselves.
He would die sooner or later, but he died at the moment Zhao Xun arrived!
Zhao Xun felt very angry, turned around and rushed towards Shi Zhaoqian to question.
Zhao Qian looked innocent, spread his hands and said: "Your Majesty, this subordinate doesn't know anything about it either... Where is the cell leader, get over here quickly!"
Zhao Qian scolded him sternly, and the jailer rolled up to them and kowtowed immediately: "Your Majesty the Governor, Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy. We don't know about it either. Maybe the jailer on duty drank too much last night.
That’s why we didn’t notice that these profiteers committed suicide out of fear of crime, causing a tragedy.”
Zhao Qian kicked the cell head away and cursed: "What a waste. What did I tell you on weekdays? You are not allowed to drink while on duty! Drinking will cause trouble! What about you, you turned a deaf ear to what I said.
Right? What should we do now? Tell me what we should do now?"
After that, he kicked the prison head hard again.
"Oh, Lord Governor, please spare your life, Lord Governor, please spare your life. I have realized my mistake, and I will never dare to do it again."
The prison head repeatedly begged for mercy.
If Zhao Xun was really a playboy with no social experience, he might have been deceived by Zhao Qian.
But Zhao Xun was a man of two generations, so if he couldn't see such tricks.
It was clear that Zhao Qian was playing a double act with the prison boss.
"You don't have to be too angry, Governor Zhao. It's not good to get hurt by anger. I don't think it's better than this. I'll let him inspect the corpses first to see how these merchants died."
"What the Imperial Envoy said is true."
Zhao Qian quickly followed the words and said.
"That being the case, your Majesty, please take a rest and leave this matter to your subordinates."