The stream flows out from the depths of the mountains. After winter, the water becomes thin, and the green-brown stones on the river bed are exposed. The gurgling trickle flows happily among the stones - more than a hundred houses are scattered in an orderly manner.
In the valley downstream of the creek, there are slowly rising slopes on both sides.
In the early morning, the land is shrouded in mist, the distant mountains become blurred, and the sparse woods are faintly visible, as if covered with a layer of light veil, giving it a unique charm.
The scattered sound of horse hooves broke the tranquility of the early morning.
The villagers who got up early in the field were frightened by the hundreds of cavalry infantry galloping out of the mist. They watched in amazement as the cavalry headed towards Lujia'ao, wondering what had happened.
The cavalry and infantry rushed to the gate of Lujia'ao. They did not break into the village directly in the valley. They separated into two groups of cavalry. One group galloped to the left slope hillock and went around to the left side of Lujia'ao. The other group crossed the stream.
River, and rush towards the slope on the right.
A small team of people rushed to the fields, summoned a dozen villagers who had gotten up early to work in the fields after winter, asked their names, and took out a list for comparison.
"Xichuan County Lieutenant Liu Wugong is here. Following the order of the Jingxiang Road Prison Department to arrest the criminal, open the village gate quickly without delay!" Liu Wugong rushed to the hastily closed village gate, took off his waist badge, and
Throw it on the wall.
Lu Ji, who rushed to the Dongzhai Gate in panic after hearing the news of the police, looked around and confirmed that it was the county captain Liu Wugong who was leading the team. He hurriedly ordered the gate to be opened, rushed forward to greet him, and shouted in surprise:
"Did the County Lieutenant make a mistake? How could Lujia'ao harbor the criminal? But I don't know who the Jing Prison Department wants to arrest the criminal?"
Lu Ji was extremely shocked, secretly feeling that even if someone in the village committed a serious crime and he didn't know about it, the Prison Department wouldn't make such a big fuss.
Is this mother-in-law here to capture the criminal, or is she here to massacre the village?
At this time, Chen Songze's royal horse slowly came closer.
Unlike Liu Wugong, who was wearing iron armor and a scarlet cloak over his shoulders, Chen Songze was also wearing a patched coat. His face was thin and stern, even in the mist, and he stared at him with gloomy eyes, as if he was trying to dig out a person's internal organs.
come out.
When Lu Ji saw Chen Songze, he felt an ominous premonition in his heart. He forced a smile and said, "Master Chen is also working in the Prison Department now?"
"Long time no see, Mr. Lu." Chen Songze leaned on the saddle bridge with his arms and elbows, looking at Lu Ji and smiling.
It had only been more than a month since Liu Wugong took office in Xichuan. He was not very familiar with the respectable senior gentry in Xichuan. He had only met Lu Ji once before and did not leave a deep impression. At this time, he looked at him and saw that he was not even in his fifties.
, broad purple face, slightly swollen cheeks, and a broken left eyebrow.
"The Criminal and Prison Department is handling the case. You just need to cooperate. Where's all the nonsense?"
After confirming that there was no ambush in the stronghold, Liu Wugong signaled the men behind him to advance into the stronghold first, and ordered Ding Minyong of the stronghold to withdraw from the stronghold wall and return home to wait for orders.
The cavalrymen who surrounded Lujia'ao on the left and right flanks gathered up and returned.
Lu Ji generals Liu Wugong, Chen Songze and their entourage led the Lu family mansion. They couldn't help but asked again: "I wonder who the criminal captured by Liu County Lieutenant is? There really must be criminals in the Lu family's area. Liu County Lieutenant said hello,
Lu Ji will take him to the county government office for questioning, so why bother County Lieutenant Liu and Brother Chen to make the trip?"
"No matter how hard we work, we can't expect Mr. Lu to tie up his hands and feet and run to the county government to surrender," Chen Songze said with a smile.
"What does this mean?" Lv Ji asked in panic. "Lv Ji was devoted to good deeds and never interacted with treacherous people. He also asked himself that he had never done anything treacherous or violated the law. He had a banquet with the county magistrate the day before yesterday and had a talk. How come he is today?
Are you about to become a prisoner?"
"This case was supervised by the Department of Criminal Prisons. Someone reported that Lu Yuanwai had an affair with a bandit." Liu Wugong said.
"Someone is definitely slandering me. I, Lu Ji, have an innocent background and have no sworn relationship with the bandits. How could I collude with the bandits? Lieutenant Liu, I, Lu Ji, have been wronged!" Lu Ji shouted.
"Whether it is unjust or not, the Xiansi will examine it on its own. Liu is also acting under orders. I also ask Yuan Lu to cooperate. Don't make it difficult for Liu..." Liu Wugong said coldly.
The county captain is in charge of three squads of yamen servants, the standing squad is a subordinate, and the catching squad has a relatively high status. The prefectures and counties no longer use corvee as payment, but convert it into exemption money and apportion it; those who guard the city gates, warehouses, and county jails
Zhuangban sword archers have always been mainly recruited from rural soldiers to serve as corvees.
Xichuan is the capital of Xichuan, Xiping. Xu Huai not only personally appointed Liu Wugong to serve as county captain in Xichuan. After the county sword archers expanded to two battalions, they also changed the previous recruitment of people for corvee service, fully implemented the recruitment system, and accepted the supervision of the military and horse capital of the government.
Dual jurisdiction, commanders, generals, and even military officials such as team leaders are all dispatched by the Prefecture's Military and Horse Supervision Department, and the county government and county officials have no right to recommend and appoint them.
This basically ensures that local troops and horses in prefectures and counties are directly controlled by the Control Department.
The Prison Department and the Military Intelligence Department had limited personnel in Xichuan. For such a large-scale operation, Liu Wugong led the county sword archers as the main force. At the same time, he also borrowed 100 cavalry from the Xixia Du Inspection Department and the Jingzi Du Inspection Department to the periphery.
Carry out a blockade to ensure that the core criminals cannot escape.
In addition to detaining Lu Ji on the spot, the county police officers and men were controlling the inside and outside of Lu's house. They also cooperated with the investigative officers of the Criminal Prison Department and used the list provided by Chen Songze to identify stewards and accountants who were likely to handle the private sale of official grain.
One by one, they were arrested and brought to justice. At the same time, Lu Ji's mansion was sealed off and all suspicious evidence was searched.
This kind of thing also happened in other properties of the Lu family such as grain stores, warehouses, farms, etc...
…………
…………
"What crime did Lu Ji commit, and why did he directly imprison more than ten members of the Lu family without going through the prefectures and counties? Where do you think the court system is?"
Lv Ji and more than a dozen of his immediate relatives, including the grain shop, farm stewards, and accountants, were arrested by the county swordsmen led by Liu Wugong. Together with more than ten boxes of evidence such as account books, they were moved into seven properties including the county Weisi, Lv's mansion, and warehouses.
Seizing and banning people from entering and exiting naturally caused an uproar in Xichuan County.
However, Liu Wugong handled the case in the name of the Criminal and Prison Department. In addition to the criminal officials from the Criminal and Prison Department participating in the interrogation, Fan Yong also personally rushed to Xichuan to take charge of the case. Yu Lian, Zhou Li and others were unable to intervene for a while.
However, Fan Yong quietly left Xichuan three days later. Lu Ji and others were still detained in the County Weisi and were not allowed to escape. After two days of delay, Yu Lian could no longer sit still and took Zhou Li, Lu Fang and others into the County Weisi.
Si Da Yuan asked Liu Wugong what he wanted to do and wanted to take Lu Ji and others away from the County Wei Si.
"The crime Lu Ji is involved in is not trivial. The Prison Department will directly interrogate him. If there is anything wrong, please ask the county magistrate to report to the court to correct it. Liu is a martial artist who only knows how to act according to orders. I also ask the county magistrate Haihan...
..." Although Liu Wugong was born in the frontier army and had made military exploits, he had been a military official for more than ten years in Tangzhou and Nanyang Prefecture's Military and Horse Supervision Department. At this time, he also had the production department's support behind him, so he was not able to cope with it.
No more Yu Lian.
Seeing that Liu Wugong refused to eat oil and salt, Yu Lian took Zhou Li with him angrily, and Lu Fang returned to the front hall of the inner house. He had a premonition that something was wrong, but there was nothing he could do.
Although Yu Lian, as the county magistrate, naturally has the right to mobilize the three squads of yamen servants when there are normal things, but the three squads of yamen servants are under the direct jurisdiction of Liu Wugong and the county captain.
Moreover, after Liu Wugong took office, he carried out some rectification of the three squadrons of government officials and stuffed many military officials from Chushan's direct line into them.
This also means that within the entire county government, except for Yu Lian and their privately hired staff and secretaries, Liu Wugong's eye spies are at the top and bottom.
Even if many of the practices of the Impeachment Department of the Imperial Court are not in compliance with regulations, and even if the memorial is not intercepted, how long will it take to deliver it to the DPRK?
Not to mention that the court may not really pay attention to violations that don't seem to be serious.
"Fan Yong, who joins the army in the production department, is in Xichuan again. On this trip, he is also accompanied by General Judge Zhou Yunze and Zhou Langjun. They have entered the city and are heading towards the county government..."
A close confidant came to the back hall to report.
Nanyang, Xiangyang, and Jingzhou were merged into Chushan to establish the Jingxiang Road. The three prefectures of Rucai and Shen were used as war zones, and military and government officials were recommended and appointed by the Department of Control. In prefectures and counties that were not connected to the enemy, except for the three official seal officials, the prefecture of Nanyang, the prefecture of Xiangyang, and the prefecture of Jingzhou, the soldiers
Except for the Ma Du Supervisory Department and individual assistant and secondary officers who were recommended by the Production Department, other officials were still promoted and transferred by the Central Staff Department in accordance with the old regulations.
Ning Ci, the former prefect of Nanyang, has been transferred to the central government to serve as a counselor for political affairs, but officials such as Tong Magistrate Zhou Yunze have remained. They even have the power to supervise and impeach officials of the Nanyang government and counties.
Fan Yong left and returned, and Zhou Yunze also came to Xichuan this time. Yu Lian didn't think it was Zhou Yunze who noticed that the production department was abusing its power in Xichuan and came here to support them.
Before Yu Lian, Zhou Li, Lu Fang and others could discuss any countermeasures, Liu Wugong led his people to the front hall of the back house and said to Yu Lian and others: "Your Majesty, the county magistrate, Zhou County Cheng, and Lu Jingcheng are here just right."
, Fan Canjun, the production secretary, and Zhou Tongxuan, the government official, have arrived at the former government hall. The county magistrate, Zhou Xiancheng and Lu Jingcheng of the Qianliangyuan went there together. It was said that the criminal and prison department would interrogate Lu Ji together with the Nanyang government office and the Xichuan county government office.
The case of stealing and selling official grain..."
Hearing what Liu Wugong said, not to mention Zhou Li and Lu Fang, Yu Lian's legs felt weak.
The amount of stealing and selling official grain was astonishing, and it was a serious crime to be executed by the whole family. How could Lu Ji not confess them?
Seeing Chen Songze standing behind Liu Wugong with a relaxed expression, Zhou Li finally understood:
Chen Songze pretended to be crazy that day, but it still played a role in setting up the pacification envoy. Otherwise, how could people like Fan Yong and Zhou Yunze be dispatched by Liu Wugong and Chen Songze?
