"Why don't you report it to the superiors?" Zhao Kuo's eyes were cold and he wanted to squeeze the Hengshan County Sheriff in front of him to death. If Xu Lin was just embezzling, that would be fine. He was illegally raising funds in the name of the government, and he was destroying the entire imperial court.
Believe it or not, he is digging up the roots of Zhao State.
Zhao Kuo did not expect that the credibility he had worked so hard and spent several years to establish for the court would be used in this way.
If one day, the people no longer believe in the imperial court, no matter what orders the imperial court issues, the people will no longer obey, or even feel disgusted and opposed from the bottom of their hearts.
Will the State of Zhao still exist?
In comparison, even corruption and bending the law are nothing!
"Xu County Magistrate is Tingwei's nephew, I don't dare." Chang Kai knelt on the ground and said bitterly. Although he held local power and was considered a high-ranking official in the entire Zhao Kingdom, he was not as good as Tingwei.
Xu Li is nothing compared to him.
And unlike ordinary ministers, Xu Li followed Zhao Kuo's father and was a direct lineage. Even Zhao Kuo would call him his uncle in private.
How dare Chang Kai impeach Xu Li's nephew for such a trivial matter? Moreover, even if he files a petition for impeachment, it is not certain whether he can go before Zhao Kuo's case. If he offends Xu Li, the consequences will be beyond what he, a small county governor, can bear.
of.
In addition, Xu Lin promised him that as long as he turned a blind eye, he could not only share his benefits, but also recommend him to his uncle as an official in the court in the future.
With risks on one side and benefits on the other, it’s not surprising that Chang Kai would choose.
After all, not everyone has the courage to gamble with their own future.
"Except for Kuxing County, do similar things happen in other counties in Hengshan County?" Zhao Kuo asked in a deep voice.
"Your Majesty, this kind of situation never happens in other counties." Chang Kai said quickly.
"It's normal for you not to offend someone in Magistrate Xu's court. I can understand it," Zhao Kuo said.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Your Majesty." Chang Kai kowtowed vigorously and breathed a long sigh of relief.
"But as a county guard, if you are so afraid of power, there is no need to be an official in our country of Zhao. I think you have a good reputation. You have passed the middle school in all three years of assessment. Please submit your resignation yourself." Zhao Kuo waved his hand.
"I... thank you, Your Majesty." Chang Kai was stunned and collapsed on the ground. He had studied hard for decades and never got the opportunity to display his talents. He finally waited until the Zhao Kingdom recruited talents and started from the county magistrate step by step.
When he was promoted to a county guard, he worked conscientiously and did not dare to be careless, just to be able to fulfill his ambitions.
Now it's all over...
But what could he say?
Unjust?
If such a problem occurs under the rule, no matter what the reason is, as a local official, it cannot be called injustice.
"Where are the county magistrate and the county captain?" Zhao Kuo's eyes slowly swept over the heads of everyone.
"I pay my respects to the king." Two officials crawled out from the crowd.
"The same goes for you two, submit your resignations together." Zhao Kuo said without mercy. He gave Zhao officials the best treatment in the world and did not let them enjoy the blessings by doing nothing.
Since you have rights, you must also bear responsibilities.
How can it be explained by saying that there are people in the other party's court and they don't dare to offend?
If they were not directly involved in this matter, it would not be as simple as asking them to submit their resignations.
Of course, the specific outcome of the matter depends on the final investigation, and it is still only the county governor's opinion.
"I pay my respects to you, Your Majesty." The county magistrate and the county lieutenant did not dare to say anything. They only dared to lie on the ground and tremble.
Although Zhao Kuo is usually very amiable, can chat with anyone, and never puts on airs, no one will forget that Zhao Kuo won the throne step by step.
When he first ascended the throne, he dismissed hundreds of officials and their families, affecting nearly ten thousand people.
"Continue to investigate this matter. We need to know if there is anyone else behind it." Zhao Kuo said to Liu Ping.
"Your Majesty, where is Ting Wei..." Liu Ping looked at Zhao Kuo.
"Tell Tingwei about this, and don't worry about the rest." Zhao Kuo's face was cold. He dared to dig into the foundation of Zhao State, let alone Tingwei's nephew. Even Tingwei was a capital offender, but Zhao Kuo believed that Xu Li was not involved.
this matter.
The reason is very simple. If Xu Li was involved in this matter, it would no longer be a county.
For a mere county to have to deal with the ministers of the DPRK and China, it would be too disrespectful to the ministers of the DPRK and China.
When Liu Ping heard this, he immediately understood Zhao Kuo's determination and immediately arranged for personnel to start investigating and interrogate Xu Lin at the same time.
Handan, Tingwei Mansion, a woman came to Xu Li crying.
"Brother, you must save your nephew. My sister only has one seedling. If anything happens to her, she will die." When Xu Li's sister, Mrs. Xu, saw Xu Li, she immediately knelt on the ground and hugged Xu.
I cried bitterly on my thighs.
Xu Li allowed his sister to hug his thigh and cry bitterly without any change in his face. Only when he could no longer cry anymore did Xu Li pull his sister up and asked, "Brother-in-law, is he at home?"
"What do you want to do with your brother-in-law at home?" Mrs. Xu looked at Xu Li and asked sobbing, feeling a little confused. What matters now is how to save her son. What's the use of her useless husband?
Unlike most families, her husband is a surrogate son-in-law, commonly known as stepping in on the doorstep. He has a low status and has always been looked down upon by others.
In fact, Xu's husband did not have much ability. If he had ability, he would not be able to become a son-in-law. These days, the status of a son-in-law is as low as a slave.
In addition, the Xu family is relatively strong, so the Xu family has always made the final decision in family matters.
Fortunately, these days there is no saying that women cannot show their faces.
"Tomorrow I will take you to the imperial doctor to check your health and try to have another baby." Xu Li said slowly. If Zhao Kuo had not specifically told him about this matter, then Xu Lin could still be saved.
Zhao Kuo was afraid that it would be difficult for him to do so, so he spared Xu Lin alone.
But Zhao Kuo specifically informed him of this incident, and his meaning was very clear: be prepared.
Of course, this was because Zhao Kuo missed his old friendship and was kinder.
If Zhao Kuo did not miss the old relationship, he would call him directly, leave the matter to him, and force him, his uncle, to kill his nephew.
Therefore, Xu Li knew very well that his nephew was hopeless. The only difference was when to kill him.
Instead of wasting all your efforts, it is better to find a way to have a second child.
His brother-in-law and his sister had only one child after being married for such a long time, so there must be something wrong. They asked the imperial doctor for treatment. Although they were a little older, there was still a lot of hope.
The medical skills of the old men in the palace are quite reliable.
"You...what do you mean?" Mrs. Xu was stunned and sat slumped on the ground, at a loss.
"The king has made a decision, and no one can change it. And I have seen the course of the case. It can be said that Xu Lin deserves it. I can't help him." Xu Li shook his head. Zhao Kuo did not let him kill his nephew himself.
He was already very grateful.
…
A few days later, Liu Ping reported to Zhao Kuo that there were indeed people in the DPRK helping Xu Lin cover up the matter, but they were all minor officials and had no publicity, and no real high-ranking officials in the DPRK were involved in the matter.
Xu Lin also confessed everything, and the story was almost the same as what the Hengshan County Sheriff said, with just a few more details: how he came up with it, how he deceived people, and how he tied the entire county, including county officials, on board.
"What a fucking talent." Zhao Kuo couldn't help but say, if Xu Lin were to be placed in future generations, he would be a perfect MLM master.
The people in the county who were able to be deceived handed over most of the food, even if they didn't even have enough to eat, they still believed it. This was not something ordinary people could do.
It's a pity that it went astray. If it is used in the right way, it may not be able to honor our ancestors in the future.
"Behead him and confiscate his house. In addition, inform the people in the county to behead him outside the city in three days." Zhao Kuo waved his hand and said.
"No." Liu Ping said.
"Do you know how much food and grass was raised from the people?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"I asked, but Xu Lin didn't have a list, but each township has its own collection list," Liu Ping said.
"All officials involved in this matter will be beheaded and their homes will be confiscated. Those who do not report the information will be deprived of their titles and official positions. According to the list, the money and food will be returned to the local people. In addition, they will be reminded not to believe this kind of thing." Zhao Kuo said.
He didn't know whether to be happy about the court's credibility in the eyes of the people or angry about their stupidity. Fortunately, this matter was discovered in time and it did not lead to a major disaster.
What happened in Kuxing County quickly spread to other places, and all the officials were trembling with fear and frantically checking for leaks to see if they had done anything wrong.
Zhao Kuo continued to patrol north. Along the way, several more county magistrates were dismissed until Zhao Kuo arrived at Jicheng.
The officials in Jizhou breathed a long sigh of relief, but the officials in Yan began to become nervous, especially for those old officials of Yan State, Zhao Kuo's reputation was more of a bad reputation.
Jicheng developed very well under Li Mu's governance. There were many business travelers coming and going, and the people looked good, unlike the people in Kuxing County who looked very good, which looked abnormal at first glance.
Li Mu also built a wharf outside the city to control the water flow, so that people can go directly down the river to the Bohai Sea to facilitate the transportation of goods.
"Not bad." Zhao Kuo patted Li Mu's shoulder solemnly. A few years ago, Li Mu was just a young general, but now he has become a frontier official who can control the country and command both civil and military officials.
"It's all thanks to King Hongfu." Li Mu pointed to the endless farmland outside the city and the business travelers passing by, and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, although Yandi looks prosperous on the surface, in fact, the only one that can really compare with Jizhou is Jicheng.
Guangyang County in the center is far behind other places. Except for Guangyang County and the Liaohe Plain, the rest of the Yan region is almost entirely mountainous, making development difficult and business travel inaccessible. And the Liaohe Plain has not yet been developed...
…”
After Li Mu got to know the land of Yan, he realized that it was not unreasonable for the country of Yan to be called a land of bitter cold, and its strength was ranked at the bottom of other countries. Although the area was several times that of South Korea, the cultivated land and population were not as large as South Korea, and the territory was either large or mountainous.
There are no roads connecting Daze, making it difficult to communicate with each other. At the same time, there are also intrusions from foreign enemies.
Fortunately, the surrounding foreign enemies have been seriously injured and will not pose any threat to Yan Di in a short time.
"Although other places are bitter cold places, after our Zhao State destroys Donghu, these places will become our Zhao State's important channels to connect with the grassland." Zhao Kuo said with a smile.
"Your Majesty, are you ready to take action against Donghu?" Li Mu looked at Zhao Kuo excitedly. When he was in charge of Dai County, he was just to guard against Yan and Donghu. Now he is in charge of Yan, still to guard against Donghu.
However, what makes him regretful is that Donghu has been very honest in recent years and has not had any conflicts with Zhao State. On the contrary, the recently rising Ding Ling people have become more and more aggressive, and some do not take Zhao State seriously.
"We have this idea, but we won't use too many troops. After all, transporting grain and grass on the grassland is a bit troublesome," Zhao Kuo said.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. As long as I lead the 10,000 Great Wall Army, no matter how many barbarians there are, I will make sure they never return." Li Mu said loudly.
"Your Majesty, the general and Lord Wu An have been studying for several years, and finally came to the conclusion that the key point for our Great Wall Army to regain its strength lies in the barbarians." Sima Shang leaned his face over and said nervously.
"Is there such a thing?" Zhao Kuo looked at Sima Shang.
"Your Majesty, what do you think the purpose of our Great Wall Army is? Isn't it just to deal with the barbarians? In the past few years, our brothers have sacrificed their lives to train, but no matter how we train, even if we destroy the Yan Kingdom and defeat the Army Soul Legion, our strength is still there.
There is no way to recover. So the general and Wu Anjun agreed that the crux lies with the barbarians. We, the Great Wall Army, must fight against the barbarians." Sima Shang said with great certainty.
Zhao Kuo looked at Li Mu, and Li Mu nodded.
They were not sure, but this was the only way they could think of. If even this method didn't work, the only result for the Great Wall Army would be to cancel its establishment.
After the Hu people were pacified, Zhao State no longer needed the Great Wall. If it didn't even have a Great Wall, how could it have a Great Wall guard.
What's more, it's still an army without talent.
No country will retain an army without talent for a long time!
But Li Mu was unwilling to give in, and every Great Wall Army was unwilling to give in. This army had gathered the hard work of countless people for generations and had protected the Zhao Kingdom for decades. How could it disappear like this?
No matter what method he uses, Li Mu will lead the Great Wall Army back to its peak.
No country would disband a military spirit army!
"I just came here to take a look this time. You also know about the famine in the Central Plains last year, so it is impossible to use troops this year, but there is always a chance for you to make use of it." Zhao Kuo patted Sima Shang on the shoulder.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Sima Shang said happily.
"You can't just focus on Donghu. Donghu is not the only enemy in the north of Zhao State now. Ding Ling has been ready to invade the grasslands of Zhao State, but he is too timid to really quarrel with each other. I am not like this.
Since Ding Ling doesn’t want to tear his face apart from those who swallow their anger, I, Zhao Guo, will tear this face apart.” Zhao Kuo said in a deep voice.
In the afternoon, Zhao Kuo went to the military camp and rewarded all the soldiers of the Great Wall Army.
To be honest, Zhao Kuo admired the soldiers of the Great Wall Army very much. Although they had no talent, their efforts were much greater than any other army, and even Zhao Feiqi could not compare with them.
Even though there was no result, they still did not give up, but worked harder just to break the shackles.