"Your Majesty, urgent report from Yanmen." Liu Ping hurried in holding a piece of information.
"Come in and tell me. What's going on?" Zhao Kuo stretched and walked out of the room, indicating to Liu Ping that there was hot wine and tea on the table, and he could do as he pleased.
He was sleepy in spring, dozed in autumn, and lay in bed in winter. In addition to paying attention to the disaster in the north every day, Zhao Kuo went to Handan every two days to see the surroundings. The rest of the time, he almost stayed in the palace, or entertained the ministers and hundreds of people.
The more prestigious craftsmen in their craftsmen either stayed in the harem to accompany their families.
After spring, he will go north to attack the Huns, and will not be able to stay with his relatives at home for a long time.
"Kong Bin sent a letter from Shangqing. Zhao Tang, the son of Lord Pingyang, joined forces with Wang Ti, the coal mine director of Woyang County, to blackmail the people. They cannot dig coal in the mountains unless they give him gifts. As a result, people in dozens of nearby tribes and villages have no coal to survive the winter, and the snowstorm is coming.
After that, people froze to death." Liu Ping said in a low voice.
"How many people froze to death?" Zhao Kuo's expression suddenly changed, he suddenly stood up and said in a deep voice.
"Nearly a hundred people have been counted so far," Liu Ping said.
"Has it been found out?" Zhao Kuo clenched his hands into fists.
"The specific details are still unclear, but this matter has been confirmed to be true. It was General Li Mu who discovered this matter during disaster relief, and then sent people to watch Zhao Tang and Wang Ti, and reported it to Kong Bin, Shangqing. His subordinates
The eyeliner just reported this matter," Liu Ping said.
"Does Lord Pingyang know about this?" Zhao Kuo suddenly asked.
"We probably don't know yet, but we will definitely know it soon," Liu Ping said.
"Let's go to the study and talk." Zhao Kuo took the cloak off the shelf and put it on his body, got up and walked outside.
After arriving at the study, Zhao Kuo blocked everyone around him, and then asked: "Could this happen elsewhere?"
"We haven't found anything yet." Liu Ping shook his head. The three northern counties were so big that he didn't dare to say too harshly. He could only say that this kind of thing would not happen in most areas.
"I'm afraid this matter won't be that simple." Zhao Kuo put down the teacup in his hand, slowly exhaled a breath of hot air, and said with a frown.
This incident was originally not a big deal. If there hadn't been a snowstorm and Zhao Kuo sent Kong Bin and Li Mu to rescue, it might not even have been exposed.
It is normal for people to die in winter in Zhao State, especially in the cold north, not to mention that the people who died were ordinary Guizhou people, and no one would pay attention to such a thing.
As for not being able to dig coal in the mountains, people don't take it seriously. After all, they were not allowed to dig coal before and everyone has long been used to it. Now that they are suddenly allowed to dig coal, they will be a little suspicious.
Some people, with the attitude of giving it a try, went to ask local officials and were told that they had to pay to harvest. They suddenly realized that such a good thing could be free of charge. It makes sense to pay now.
As for the rest who don't understand the hint, they don't take it to heart. At most, they wonder why some people can go to the mountains to mine coal instead of reporting to the official.
It can even be said that even if this kind of thing is finally discovered, the local officials will only be demoted at most. Someone with connections like Zhao Tang will most likely continue to serve as county magistrate in another place.
But now the problem lies in Zhao Tang's identity. He is the son of Zhao Bao. Zhao Bao and Zhao Sheng are the fathers of Zhao Kuozhong, and they are also the largest clan in the Zhao Kingdom.
Zhao Kuo's rise to power relied on force, not the clan. Especially after he came to power, he gradually improved the status of scholars, farmers, merchants and even hundreds of workers, but he did not win over the clan.
Zhao Bao and Zhao Sheng didn't have any objections. They were already feudal lords and both had fiefs. Unless Zhao Kuo continued to add more fiefs to them, ordinary rewards would not mean much to them and were not as useful as reputation.
But just because they don't have any objections doesn't mean that the people below them don't have any objections. The total number of large and small clans in the Zhao Kingdom ranges from hundreds to hundreds, if not a thousand.
Although these people held a lot of land and rights, the original fiefdoms had been taken back by all the kings of the past dynasties. Naturally, they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get some benefits from Zhao Kuo, even if it was not good for food, it would be good.
However, these matters were suppressed by Zhao Bao and Zhao Sheng together and did not cause any trouble to Zhao Kuo.
Now if Zhao Kuo deals with Zhao Tang in accordance with the law, there will inevitably be a rift between him and Zhao Bao. Will he and Zhao Sheng still stand on their side? Even if they stand on their side, will they still support themselves as before?
Hard to say.
However, if the treatment is lenient, it will be unfair and break the trust of the people.
All Zhao State officials could see that Zhao Kuo was reforming Zhao State step by step. This process was gradual and not accomplished overnight.
The most important thing in reform is to establish credibility and make the people believe in you, no matter what orders you give.
Just like when Shang Yang established trust in the emperor, he would still be punished even if the prince broke the law.
Now Zhao Kuo has taken various measures to build trust among the people. Once he is dealt with leniently, most of the previous efforts will collapse in an instant.
"My subordinates... also feel that things are not that simple." Liu Ping thought for a moment and said.
"According to my subordinates' knowledge, Lord Pingyang's son has been timid and has no ambition since he was a child. He lives in the house every day, eating and waiting to die. He rarely even leaves the house, let alone cause trouble. Later, Lord Pingyang wanted to train him.
, and then arranged for him to be sent to Yanmen as a county magistrate. But after Zhao Tang arrived there, he still didn't care about anything as before, staying at home and enjoying himself every day."
"He does not harm the people. To be precise, it is as if he does not exist. However, Mr. Pingyuan arranged a very capable housekeeper for him, and also used his status to transfer two good county captains and county magistrates.
He managed Woyang County in an orderly manner and achieved a lot of political achievements."
"Because of Pingyang Jun's status, and because Zhao Tang didn't do any bad things like bullying men and dominating women, no one has ever impeached him. Moreover, Pingyang Jun's family is not short of money, so he can't afford to embezzle this little money."
In the eyes of the people, if an official does not do bad things, he is doing good things. What's more, the housekeeper has also done a lot of good things in the name of Zhao Tang, so Zhao Tang has always had a good reputation.
"You mean someone framed you?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"It's not a frame-up. The money was indeed accepted by Zhao Tang." Liu Ping shook his head, "But it may be inducement. Zhao Tang did not bully the people, just because he had no contact with the people. He was a person from two different worlds. In addition,
There is no shortage of anything, so there is no need to snatch those three melons and two dates. It is not because you love the people and want to be a good official."
"And he... is pure-minded at best, stupid at worst, and doesn't understand anything. If someone induces him to do so, it would be easy for him to take bribes."
"As long as Zhao Tang commits a crime, the people behind him can use him to drag Pingyang Jun into trouble. Even if he doesn't drag him down, Pingyang Jun will not be able to kill his relatives out of justice. When the time comes, he will bring this matter to the king. No matter how the king punishes the person behind it,
Everyone can profit from it.”
"My subordinates feel that this matter is probably just the first step. It was suddenly exposed because of the snow disaster. For us, it is also a good thing."