A group of Chenzhou people came to the capital to petition.
Sue the new magistrate for abusing people's power, taking bribes and perverting the law.
The Jingzhao Mansion received the petition and reported the matter to the emperor in the morning court the next day.
So throughout the early dynasty, the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty were discussing this matter.
Some people say: "Zheng Wuji has insufficient qualifications and was once a prodigal son. He is a person of bad character.
Now that he is allowed to serve in a local area, he must be overjoyed and self-righteous.
If people's dissatisfaction boils over, they must be investigated and severely punished in order to appease the people and scare the officials."
Someone immediately objected: "Zheng Wuji went to Chenzhou on the emperor's order. He has just taken office, how dare he act recklessly?
What's more, the King of Huaiyang is in Chenzhou, how can he not be afraid?"
Before he finished speaking, someone retorted impatiently: "That's wrong! Why do you think Zheng Wuji wouldn't dare to do anything random when the King of Huaiyang is here?
Look at the things he did? Do you take Wang Fatianli seriously? Such a bold and reckless person, and the governor of a state, naturally thinks that he can exploit the people without restraint.
But what he didn’t expect was that local people would have the courage to sign a petition.”
"How many times have people jointly signed a petition? Zheng Wuji has just arrived there, how deep can he exploit him?
Actually, hundreds of people came to Beijing to complain. It shows that these people are not ordinary people, right?!
I came to Beijing yesterday and this matter will be heard by the saints today, so who is adding fuel to the flames?"
"The people are complaining. Shouldn't the Holy One know about this immediately? Then what do I, Jing Zhaoyin, do for a living?!
As the saying goes, there is no storm without fire, only holes can make waves. So many people are not fully fed, and false accusations against Shangguan will be punished with serious crimes. Are they crazy? "
Many officials also stood up and advocated that we should find out who is right and who is wrong.
The emperor then said: "This is extremely true. If you want to know the truth, you must investigate clearly. Is Zheng Wuji bending the law for personal gain, or is he being a cunning person to frame Shangguan?
I also want to know what is going on? Then send people to Chenzhou as soon as possible to conduct a thorough investigation."
After hearing this, everyone began to recommend candidates to sink the boat.
Of course, many people have selfish motives.
In order to balance the situation, the emperor finally chose two people.
One is Chen Sijing, who has just returned to Beijing, and the other is Cong Mingzhang from the Ministry of Personnel.
They were ordered to leave Beijing immediately and go to Chenzhou to check whether the things written on the petition were indeed true.
There is no airtight wall in the world. There has been a lot of noise in the court, and the outside world also knows a little bit.
Inevitably, some people gloated about his misfortune, saying that Zheng Wuji was so carried away that he would inevitably fall hard if he stood too high.
Others said that the King of Huaiyang must be behind this.
Zheng Wuji is not his, and cannot be used by him, so he should simply get rid of him to avoid future troubles.
Others say that even if the King of Huaiyang wanted to frame Zheng Wuji, he would have to have really fallen into someone else's hands. Presumably, it was his own misbehavior that led to this disaster.
Of course, the relatives and friends of Zheng Wuji and Xu Chunjun were all worried about them.
Xu Daoqing and others were thinking about whether to report the news to Xu Chunjun and others so that they could be prepared.
However, the three masters of the Xu family and Xu Lang all advocated holding back.
"With Chunjun here, Wuji won't do anything too outrageous. It's obvious that someone is deliberately setting up a trap. If we deliver the letter, we might have fallen into the other party's trap.
The emperor has sent people to conduct a thorough investigation, can't we still not trust the emperor? If someone bites us back and says that we are guilty of committing crimes, we will report the news to Wu Ji and the others, won't it be unclear when the time comes?"
Things in the officialdom are ever-changing, so it’s impossible not to think too deeply about everything.
Besides, Chen Sijing was ordered to go to Chenzhou, and Cong Mingzhang who was traveling with him was the Queen's employee.
He is older than Chen Sijing in both rank and age, so he has the final say.
"Master Chen, we have been ordered by the emperor to go to Chenzhou. This matter is not a trivial matter and we should be cautious.
According to my opinion, we were able to reach Quanzhou at lightning speed, and only then can we hope to find out the truth. Otherwise, if we wasted too much time on the road, we might have heard the news long ago and covered up the truth."
After hearing this, Chen Sijing just smiled slightly and said, "Master Cong is absolutely right, and I think so too."
When Cong Mingzhang saw Chen Sijing nodding, he couldn't help but feel relieved. Originally, he thought Chen Sijing would find a way to delay time!
So they traveled day and night and arrived in Chenzhou in just seven days.
At this speed, even if someone wanted to send a message to Zheng Wuji and the others from the capital, it would probably be too late.
Because it rained a little last night, it was extremely wet and cold in the morning.
Chen Sijing and the others got up before dawn and were on their way, and arrived in front of the Zhizhou Yamen before noon.
After all, Cong Mingzhang was getting old, and traveling around the clock for several days in a row was somewhat overwhelming for him.
Besides, the weather was really wet and cold, and he was about to have a stomachache.
Thinking that it was still early, he saw a tea shed not far from the opposite side, so he said to Chen Sijing: "Mr. Chen, let's go to this tea shed to drink a bowl of hot tea and warm up before going in."
Chen Sijing obeyed, nodded and said, "I happen to be thirsty too."
The stove in the tea shed was always burning, with boiling hot water on it.
A woman greeted her with a smile and said: "Guests, please come in quickly. I see that you have come from afar. What kind of tea do you want to have?"
"Do you have any pepper here?" Cong Mingzhang asked, "Order me a bowl of hot tea with some pepper in it."
Pepper is the best thing to warm the stomach, but it is more expensive.
"Hey, sir, are you feeling upset about your stomach?" The old lady spread her hands and said, "If you don't mind, I have a ready-made hot and spicy soup here. Drink it and you can drive the coldness out of your stomach.
"
"It's very good. Just give us a bowl each." Cong Mingzhang said.
The tea stall also sells breakfast. Although this woman looks a bit old, she is very agile.
Soon, about ten bowls of spicy soup were served.
Cong Mingzhang, Chen Sijing, and their entourage each had a bowl.
Cong Mingzhang drank a few sips of the soup and felt much better.
So he asked the old woman: "Have you, the new magistrate, arrived here not long ago?"
"No, it's not even half a year yet!" the mother-in-law said while washing the dishes.
"How is the official reputation?" Cong Mingzhang asked again. He probably felt that idleness was also idle. After eating more than ten bowls of spicy soup from this woman, he must be willing to ask her something.
"Well, it depends on who said it." Neck sighed first.
"Who's to say? I'm just asking you now." Cong Mingzhang smiled.
"If we ordinary people say so, Master Zhizhou is naturally a good official." The old lady wiped her hands and said, "But rich people may not be willing to pay tribute to him.
Since Lord Zhizhou took office, he has set up free schools and cared for the young and respected the elderly, but he has brought a lot of benefits to the people.
The landlords and big merchants were asked to pay a lot of money, and the richer they were, the stingier they became, but they couldn't bear to part with it!"
