As soon as Liang Hao finished speaking, Zhang Qixian, the pacification envoy and governor of the Yongxing Army of the Song Dynasty, immediately laughed and clapped his hands, "Good, great good! Tai Su deserves to be known as one step at a time. In this way, I can advance and retreat freely."
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"Thank you, Enxiang!" Liang Hao smiled modestly and gently cupped his hands, "Xiaguan just took advantage of staying out of the matter. After Xianguan returned, he immediately sent someone to mention Zhou Chong. Then, he also invited Enxiang.
Report to the imperial court as soon as possible and ask the officials about their plans."
"That's natural!" Zhang Qixian smiled and nodded.
Liang Hao's original intention was to take Zhou Chong to the pacification envoy's residence to verify the authenticity of his confession and to control the further development of the case.
After all, so far, the only accusations against the officials involved are the confessions of Zhou Chong, and there is a serious lack of physical evidence and other witnesses.
As long as Zhou Chong is in his hands, Zhang Qixian will have complete control over how the case is investigated and to what extent it is investigated.
Moreover, during the period when Zhou Chong was escorted to the pacification envoy's camp in Chang'an, he could also write a memorial and send it to Bianliang in an eight hundred-mile express.
The official roads in other places in the Song Dynasty were not very good, but the official roads from Bianliang to Chang'an, Luoyang, and Taiyuan were maintained with special funds every year. It took four days for a messenger to go back and forth from Chang'an to Bianliang.
When Zhou Chong was sent out by Liang Hao, he was escorted from Fangzhou to Chang'an by the economic and strategic pacification envoy. The emperor's approval of the memorial was almost back.
By then, if the emperor wants to take the opportunity to rectify the Yongxing military line, Zhang Qixian will certainly not hesitate to investigate several cases involved in the confession and get to the bottom of it!
At that time, if the emperor wanted to stabilize the number one position, Zhang Qixian could of course quietly send someone to order Zhou Chong to change his tune. In this way, although it was unlikely to save Zhou Chong's life, at least most of the other officials on the Yongxing Military Road would have the opportunity to clean up their positions.
Blame yourself and get away with it.
Of course, whether it is the former or the latter approach, there are inevitable trade-offs in human relations.
Therefore, it is even more important to hold Zhou Chong in hand.
Otherwise, once this person becomes completely desperate and Fangzhou bites them randomly, the trouble will become increasingly difficult to deal with.
"There are two more details. I wonder if Enxiang noticed it?" Liang Hao did not leave in a hurry, but waited for a while and asked again with a smile.
"Which two? Tai Su might as well tell him directly. I am already over sixty years old, and my energy and physical strength are not as good as before!" Zhang Qixian was not polite and directly asked Liang Hao to give him some advice.
Liang Hao nodded and added very calmly, "Ding'an Grain and Grass Depot is just one of several grain depots under the Transshipment Department, and it is not ranked among the top three. Moreover, during the Battle of Xiazhou last year, the warehouses on Yongxing Military Road have been
We are supplying grain and grass to the front line. But this year’s summer grain, when the Ding’an County grain and grass warehouse caught fire, not all of it may have been put into the warehouse!”
"That is to say, there is actually not much food to burn in the grain depot, or the deficit is not actually too big." Zhang Qixian immediately understood what the other party meant and responded with a smile.
"Enxiang can see it clearly!" Liang Hao raised his thumb, "There must be a deficit. For the private sector, it is not a small number. For the Yongxing Military Road Transport Department, it is within the scope of being able to make up for it by borrowing from elsewhere."
"That's true!" Zhang Qixian nodded slightly again, put away his smile, and sighed in response. "That's why some people can be confident! Alas -"
After many years of ups and downs in the officialdom, he already knew very well how the officials of the Song Dynasty were governed.
The imperial court learned from the lessons of the Five Dynasties and did not easily kill civil servants. On the one hand, it led to the great development of culture and education, and everyone was proud of reading and literacy.
On the other hand, it has led to civil servants increasingly disregarding the law in their work.
Especially for local civil servants, those who are not greedy are even rarer than rare ones. It is the norm in officialdom to reach out everywhere and pluck the hair of geese.
If we investigate carefully, I am afraid that any grain depot under the National Transshipment Department has a problem of illegal sales. The only difference is the scale of illegal sales.
The reason why the accounts can still cope with it, and when the court needs food and grass, the grain depot can still supply it is because some holes can be filled by embezzlement and borrowing within the Transshipment Department.
Some holes were leveled by collecting a few extra bushels from the heads of the people when summer and autumn grains were put into the warehouse.
Therefore, the theft and sale that occurred in the Ding'an County grain depot is not actually a major case.
If Han Qing hadn't kicked it open and made it known to everyone on Yongxing Military Road by setting off sky lanterns, I'm afraid someone in the Transportation Department would have made a little tamper and let the case disappear without leaving any trace.
No matter how strange Liu Sicang's death was, no matter how suspicious the fire started, it would still be the same!
Anyway, from a high-level perspective, the loss to the government was not huge. And the cause of the fire can also be attributed to thunder.
"Another detail is what Zhou Chong confessed to the Red Lotus Sect. If what he confessed is true, almost the entire Ding'an County has become the possession of the Red Lotus Sect." After waiting for a while, the sighs completely subsided.
Go, Liang Hao added in a low voice again.
"You are saying that the importance of this case is far greater than officials stealing grain from the warehouse!" Zhang Qixian frowned quickly and responded in a deep voice, "I think so too. However, I don't know if it is just Ding'an County or other states.
In the county, there is also a Red Lotus Sect that is actively developing followers."
"This is what I'm most worried about!" Liang Hao also put away his smile and nodded solemnly, "The officials who are corrupt and pervert the law can be solved with a few emissaries sent by Enxiang and a single edict. And if the evil cult grows bigger, I'm afraid it will be no less harmful.
The incident in Xiazhou. To the north of Dingzhou are Huanzhou and Qingzhou, which Li Jiqian has been eyeing!"
"If the Red Lotus Rebellion breaks out, Li Jiqian will definitely take the opportunity to raise troops to invade the south. All his promises to the court will be reduced to nothing!" Zhang Qixian's face was horrified and he sneered repeatedly, "The plan will be safe, the plan will be safe? I'm here,
In less than a year, the Red Lotus Sect has been able to win Zhang Weidu into the sect, and I am afraid that it will already have deep roots in Yongxing Military Road."
"Stable." Liang Hao already had a countermeasure in mind. Hearing Zhang Qixian's urgent question, he immediately gave the answer.
"Sure?" Zhang Qixian was stunned, his eyes full of confusion.
"Yes!" Liang Hao nodded lightly, "Mr. En, if the contents of this confession are written into the memorial and sent to Bianliang at night, the officials will definitely give instructions. But no matter what the officials give, I think that
, Enxiang must hold on to the word stability."
After a pause, he continued to add, "Even if the imperial edict requires that the case be investigated to the bottom, Enxiang's goal is not to arouse the people. Moreover, the matter of the fire in the grain depot was kept in the open. As for the matter of the Red Lotus Sect,
, and went to investigate in secret. He even asked Zhou Chong to change his story, saying that the reason why he confessed like this that day was because he couldn't stand Han Qing's lynching and was making random claims!"
"This -" Zhang Qixian pondered for a long time before finally fully understanding Liang Hao's suggestion and nodded slowly.
Immediately, he quickly shook his head and said, "Tai Su's words are very reasonable. Li Jiqian is watching eagerly in Xiazhou, and there will be no chaos on the Yongxing military road. However, it is easy to talk to the officials. When I was reporting, I was a little confused.
With just a flick of the pen, the official's approval can be in line with my expectations. But the Red Lotus Sect may not be willing to give me time to deal with them calmly."
"I'm afraid the Red Lotus Sect was also caught off guard by Han Inspector's move!" Liang Hao quickly took over the conversation and responded very confidently, "If they really have the idea of rebellion and are fully prepared, they will not
Could it be that we took advantage of Li Jiqian's rebellion last year to cooperate with him internally and externally?"
"Hmm -" Zhang Qixian hesitated and muttered in a low voice.
"Suddenly stabbed by Inspector Han, I estimate that the Red Lotus Sect is at a loss right now. Therefore, as long as no one is forcing them anymore, the first thing they have to do is to cut off all kinds of clues to avoid the official
Follow the clues. Then, decide whether to rebel."
"That's true!" Zhang Qixian nodded in agreement.
Based on his experience, most of the cults spread in local areas are just for money and sex. Ordinary people join cults for peace of mind.
Cults that truly aim at rebellion are actually very rare. Ordinary people can also chant sutras and worship Bodhisattva, and offer sesame oil and money, but those who rebel are not sensitive to thanksgiving.
If the Red Lotus Sect itself has no purpose of rebellion, but is just a tool for some magicians to make money or deceive people, after the government discovers that its power is too great, it is definitely better to slowly try to suppress it than to immediately take heavy action and force him to rebel.
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If you slowly figure it out, you only need to find a way to seize the backbone, and your followers will scatter. But rushing to make a heavy move will cause some blind followers to think that they have no way out, and simply follow the backbone and take risks.
"So, the official thought that holding Zhou Chong in his hand was of course the key step. Bringing Inspector Han to his side for protection was the second key step!" Liang Hao's voice sounded again, lower than before.
It sounded a lot, but it sounded extremely cold.
"Yeah!" This time, Zhang Qixian didn't ask for any explanation and immediately nodded happily.
Although Liang Hao and he didn't say it clearly before, he knew very well in his heart that Han Qing was the most uncontrollable factor in the whole incident, and its harmfulness and importance far exceeded Zhou Chong.
Turning uncontrollable factors into controllable is the way to be an official. Zhang Qixian can guarantee this with more than thirty years of experience in the ups and downs of officialdom.
"We can no longer let him continue to indulge in his own temper. Otherwise, the situation will definitely get out of control. Whether it is for his own safety or for the stability of the place, he should be invited to Enxiang's side as early as possible."
Liang Hao's voice was even colder, and his breath turned into clouds of white smoke in mid-air.
"The worst thing is that Enxiang recommends him to go to a prosperous place and become a county magistrate. He will also have a perfect explanation for Zheng Jijiu and the Han family in Bianliang!"
The white smoke became thicker, gradually blocking the sunlight in front of their eyes.
