When talking about Zhongmou County, the first impression of many people will be to think of keywords such as Cao Cao, assassination of Dong, escape, Chen Gong, etc. However, in the current Han Dynasty, there is no "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and it is shrouded in the reputation of Tokyo. , Zhongmu County is not well-known.
But fame is fame. It is located in the hinterland of the Central Plains, on the bank of the Bian River, connected to Zhengzhou to the west and Kaifeng to the east. It is a thoroughfare between east and west. Zhongmou is truly a large county in the Central Plains. It is a prosperous county in terms of population and economy. Yap.
By the second year of Kaibao, after a new round of household registration census, the registered population of Zhongmu County had reached more than 10,800 households, making it a large county with 10,000 households. Emperor Liu Chengyou also stayed here many times when he was on tour.
In terms of population density, no state capital in the world can compare with Kaifeng. Even the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, which are known for their dense population, cannot compare. There is no way, why do you think this is where the capital is? Inside and outside Tokyo, there are officials, soldiers, farmers, industry and merchants living there. , has reached one million, but if the counties under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture are included, the population will have to increase by several percent. The status of the capital of the world is no joke. The population of one prefecture is comparable to several remote side roads.
For a period of time, Liu Chengyou was happy and proud of the abundant population in the capital. However, as time went by, he began to feel pressure. The overly concentrated population brought great management pressure, and the food supply pressure.
From the overall perspective of the Han Dynasty, the population is far from saturation, and the land conflicts are still very relaxed. However, in local areas like Kaifeng, the population is obviously overpopulated. However, there is no fundamental solution to this. The capital of the Han Dynasty , like a magnet with strong magnetism, attracting people from all over the world to gather here.
In the past ten years or so, the divisions under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture have been continuously expanded, with the intention of diverting the population. But now, this method is not easy to use. After all, the town under the jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture is already large enough. By the second year of Kaibao, In addition to Tokyo City, there are already thirteen counties. If it is expanded further, Gyeonggi Province can be split off directly, and Kaifeng Prefecture will have a separate highway.
But no matter what, for today's Kaifeng Prefecture, the increase in population is completely a happy worry. And the county officials below are happy. The larger the population, the higher the level of the state and county, and the quality of the official position. The higher the rank.
The newly arrived magistrate of Zhongmou County is a young man. Although he is said to be twenty-six years old, he is actually not yet twenty-five years old, but he is very famous. His name is Zhao Kuangyi, and he succeeds his father, Guangpingbo (reduced to hereditary rank), Rongguo The brother of Duke Zhao Kuangyin, who was the crown prince in the fifteenth year of Emperor Qianyou's reign.
The first time Zhao Kuangyi took up his duties was not in Zhongmu. Although he was from a prominent family, graduated from high school, and had the emperor's care, Zhao Kuangyi was initially assigned to Yuanwu County. During his two years in office, he did an outstanding job.
Zhao Er's ability is indeed outstanding, he has good relationships and is very skillful. When he took office in Yuanwu County, he cleaned up the prisons and cracked down on a group of local tyrants and evil gentry. His reputation greatly increased. He always understood the sufferings of the people and solved their worries. To relieve people's difficulties.
Yuanwu County is adjacent to the Yellow River and is a place where floods occur frequently. Zhao Kuangyi also attaches great importance to the construction of embankments and ditches. He likes to do everything by himself. During the dry season in spring and winter, he personally leads people to strengthen the embankments and inspect the projects.
Therefore, one year after taking office, Yuanwu took on a new look, the territory was solemn, and the people were happy. After two years, it was said to be a great governance. Whether it was the officials and people under his jurisdiction, the censors who were supervising, or the Shangguan who inspected, they all regarded Zhao Kuangyi.
Great praise.
Therefore, in the spring of the second year of Kaibao, after an evaluation by the Ministry of Officials, they unanimously believed that a small Yuanwu County was too easy for Zhao Kuangyi, and that he should be given more responsibilities and a wider space to display his talents.
.
Then, with the order of Dou Yi, the Minister of Civil Affairs, he moved to Zhongmu County with a transfer order. Dou Yi, who was somewhat stubborn, actually admired Zhao Kuangyi because of his filial name and because Zhao Kuangyi was a standard scholar-bureaucrat and a young talent.
In fact, when all the advantages are reflected in Zhao Kuangyi, how can his official career not be smooth sailing and how can he not be promoted quickly? People like Zhao Kuangyi have a high starting point and are talented. As long as they follow the steps, they will eventually reach a high position.
Now, less than three months after taking office in Zhongmu, Zhao Kuangyi has already begun to leave his mark. The political climate and people's sentiments are different in each place, and Zhao Kuangyi has also changed his policy direction in Zhongmu.
Encouraging farmers to teach and enforce the law impartially, these are the basic policies, because Zhongmou is adjacent to the capital and can be regarded as the emperor's feet. The administration of officials is not much worse, and the public security is also very good. Many heavy-handed actions cannot be used.
Therefore, Zhao Kuangyi began to focus his main energy on encouraging reading and learning, actively improving the conditions of local schools, subsidizing poor scholars, encouraging learning, promoting education and moral education, and gathering some literary talents in the county to compile
Zhongmu County Chronicle.
In a short period of time, Zhao Zhixian's reputation has been established again. This is a person who has no worries about finding something to do. Moreover, he is very energetic. While strengthening the education work, he has never neglected his official duties and always
Handle official affairs with a full mental state, analyze them in detail, and be in an orderly manner.
During the hot summer season, the weather is extremely hot. Under normal circumstances, people in Zhongmou County either brave the heat and are busy making a living, or hide at home to escape the heat, or enjoy the coolness under the trees by the river, or go to the tea house to drink tea and listen to stories.
But today, something was obviously special. Hundreds of people gathered at the county government office to watch the excitement. Although as the world became more peaceful, people's entertainment activities began to become more abundant, but the excitement in front of them was obviously rare and very attractive.
So many people gathered to watch, regardless of the heat.
More than a dozen county officials, holding water sticks and fire sticks, maintained order. In front of the hall, they saw that there were many people watching. The weather was hot and the people were crowded. The county magistrate Zhao Kuangyi also specially ordered people to prepare two large tanks of well water.
It was carried to the Yamen for the people to quench their thirst and relieve the heat.
Although it was only a small gesture, the people of Zhongmu who were watching all praised this newly arrived official who was close to the people and felt that they had really received the care of a parent.
A case that can cause such a sensation is obviously not a trivial matter, and is indeed the largest case that has occurred since Zhao Kuangyi took office. Although the matter is large, it is not difficult to investigate and judge. The facts are clear and the evidence is complete.
This is a human tragedy caused by property. There is a wealthy family in Zhongmou County whose surname is Zhang. When he was young, he was an officer of the Forbidden Army. The owner of the family is called Zhang Weng. The family has more than 500 acres of land and house, and there are several industries in the county.
He is a relatively well-known wealthy family in the county.
He had three sons. In early May, Zhang Weng fell off his horse and was seriously injured on his way back from visiting relatives. He later died. He left behind a large piece of family property without a will, which caused a lot of blood among his sons.
Of course, the only ones who are qualified are the eldest son and the second son. These two were born by Zhang Weng's wife and the third son by his concubine. They can only watch the show. Normally, it is difficult for upright officials to deal with household affairs. Even if they cause trouble with the government, they will
If it is not easy to deal with, the best thing to do is to return it to the hometown and let the elders of their clan make a joint decision. The key is that this time involves human lives.
After discussion between the elders of the Zhang family and the village elders, they all agreed that the eldest son should inherit the family business, take the big head, and share part with his two younger brothers.
Of course, the second son, who is both a legitimate child, is not satisfied with this result. Faced with the huge family fortune, the eldest brother took over the lion's share just because he was born early. Either because of jealousy or because he is obsessed with money, he colludes with the local scoundrels.
The eldest son was tied up and thrown into the river, making it look like he had slipped and drowned.
But the eldest son had better luck and was rescued by the third son who was passing by. Then things got serious. As for the brothers, you are unkind and I am unjust. The eldest son directly complained to the officials. The county government sent people to claim the money and asked the people involved in the case.
, were all locked up, and Zhao Kuangyi interrogated them personally. The gangsters involved cleared the matter in front of them.
At this point, the matter has basically come to a conclusion. In order to seize the family property, the second son was determined to kill his own brother, which caused an uproar. However, what really caused an uproar was the incident that was reported later and was said to be the cause of Zhang Weng's death.
, it was the eldest son who did something to kill his father when he was serving medicine, also in order to inherit the property early...
Zhao Kuangyi paid more attention to this. This kind of unethical behavior was more serious than those vicious security incidents. He investigated again, collected evidence, and listened to testimonies. After half a month, he found out the truth, so today, on the same day,
The court pronounced the verdict.
The eldest son killed his father in order to seek family property. He was guilty of one of the ten worst crimes and was sentenced to death in court. He only had to be sent to the Ministry of Punishment and Dali for review before being sent to Tokyo for execution.
The second son's crime was less severe, but it was also an attempted murder. He and several other conspirators were exiled to the northwest. As the chief conspirator, he also had fifty sticks.
At the same time, the property that caused the drastic changes in the Zhang family was also assigned. Zhao Kuangyi also directly pronounced the verdict that the third son would inherit it, but he must support his aunt's mother and raise the children of his two elder brothers...