Leniency will be given to those who confess, and severity will be given to those who resist. As long as the crime is not unforgivable and the crime is extremely heinous, the punishment can be appropriately reduced if the person confesses.
Of course, anyone who participates in the murder of an imperial official, especially a censor, is still guilty of a serious crime even if he is not the mastermind. For the sake of his confession, although he can be exempted from the death penalty, he cannot escape from the life crime.
The local officials in Ezhou were tampering with taxes and money. Considering the general environment in Jiangnan, they could not punish any serious crimes, but murdering the censor would touch the bottom line of the court.
Even if Emperor Chen doesn't pursue this matter, the Yushi Yanguan in Beijing will definitely fight with them to the end. In addition, the officials are not easy to mess with. They usually turn a blind eye just because they haven't found an opportunity.
.
After questioning the manager of Yuanyang Tower, Tang Ning returned to her room and wrote a letter to Fang Hong, and handed it to him after these people were escorted to Beijing.
Ezhou is not a big place, with only three counties under its jurisdiction. Within one day, all three county magistrates arrived.
The three of them stood in the hall, their faces all pale. Ezhou governor, Changshi, and Biejia were all put in jail. This shows what kind of ruthless character the official from the capital came this time, in case he was offended by something.
If you let him go, you may end up with the same fate as those people.
Tang Ning looked at them and asked calmly: "Do you all know that the governor of Ezhou has embezzled state tax money for many years, bribed the censor, and attempted to murder the imperial officials?"
The three of them said in unison: "The official knows."
Tang Ning looked at them and asked, "I have taken down all the officials involved in the Ezhou government office. What do you think about this?"
"The governor's crime was extremely heinous, and he deserves it..."
"Your Excellency handled the situation extremely well, and I admire you."
"Thank you for helping Ezhou get rid of this traitor..."
The situation was stronger than the people. It was obvious that the Ezhou governor was in doom this time, and the three of them sided with Tang Ning without hesitation.
What Tang Ning is most worried about is that after taking down these high-ranking officials from the state government, the people of Ezhou will mutiny. Although Ezhou is not big, it is easy to suppress it, but if there is one less thing to do, it will be one less thing. If the county government under Ezhou cooperates, they can suppress it.
The impact of this matter is minimized.
He looked at the three of them and said: "The governor of Ezhou deserves his punishment. You three should take this as a warning and stabilize the people in your jurisdiction. If anyone dares to cause chaos and has evil intentions, I will not be lenient!"
The three of them trembled and immediately said: "I obey your orders!"
After reminding the three county magistrates, and after the three left, Chen Zhou knocked on the door, walked in from the outside, and said, "Sir, the punishment is here at Jiangnan West Road."
The Ti Xing Guan had a very special status in the Chen State. He did not have much real power in his hands, but he had the responsibility of supervising local officials and could directly hand over the documents to the emperor. It could be said to be a sharp sword hanging over the heads of local officials.
He made such a big noise in Ezhou, there was no reason not to alert the executioner, but I didn't expect him to come so quickly.
Tang Ning walked into the side hall and saw someone standing in the hall. After being stunned for a moment, she said, "Mr. Song, why is it you?"
The middle-aged man standing in the hall was no stranger to him. Tang Ning had met Song Qian, the former Jingdong Road prisoner, when he was in Lingzhou.
Song Qian looked at him and said with a wry smile: "It is indeed Mr. Tang..."
Tang Ning ordered Chen Zhou to serve tea. After he sat down, he asked, "Why are you here, Mr. Song?"
Song Qiandao: "A year ago, I was transferred to Jiangnan West Road. This time it happened to be near Ezhou. After hearing the news, I rushed over immediately."
He looked at Tang Ning and said with a complex expression: "Mr. Tang, do you know that if you take the Ezhou officials, it will be very difficult for you to walk in the south of the Yangtze River. It will also be difficult for you to explain to the court. Strictly speaking, you have no
Once the news of your power to capture the governor of Ezhou reaches the capital, it will become the reason for those people to attack you..."
Tang Ning had actually thought of this before taking action, and he moved to Ezhou first with the purpose of killing chickens to scare the monkeys and frighten other state capitals.
On this trip to Jiangnan, he had only one mission, which was to find out the rebel forces in Jiangnan and eliminate them in one fell swoop.
In order to ensure the success of this mission, no matter who or what their purpose is, anyone who causes trouble for this operation will be eliminated directly.
Song Yi seemed to have something in his words. Tang Ning looked at him and asked, "Master Song, what do you mean..."
"Book of Wanmin." Song Yi stroked his beard and said with a smile: "As long as Mr. Tang conveys the public opinion of Ezhou to the capital, he can stop the mouths of those in the capital."
Tang Ning smiled and said, "Thank you, Mr. Song, for reminding me."
"The situation in Jiangnan is complicated. Even though I can't stand what these people are doing, I don't dare to act rashly." Song Yi looked at him and said: "In the next period of time, I will stay in Ezhou to assist Master Tang.
Deal with the follow-up matters.”
"Thank you, Mr. Song." Tang Ning could no longer delay in Ezhou. Some of the subsequent chores needed to be handled by a trustworthy person.
Song Yi waved his hand and said: "Mr. Tang, you are too polite. You have done something that I have always wanted to do but did not dare to do. In comparison, what do I do?"
…
Several major events happened in Ezhou in the past two days.
The first incident was, of course, the governor of Ezhou, Sima, Changshi and other officials, who were captured and imprisoned by high-ranking officials from the capital. This really caused a major earthquake in the officialdom of Ezhou.
For a time, Ezhou officials were panicked, and the incident spread to all directions at an extremely fast speed.
The second thing is that the governor's office will be open for five days in a row. All the people of Ezhou who have been oppressed by these officials can beat the drum and complain, detail their grievances, and sign their names in the book of people.
In response to this matter, the people of Ezhou responded one after another. A long queue formed at the gate of the government office early in the morning, and did not disperse until the government office closed in the evening. Early the next morning, the queue to redress grievances would reappear.
The third thing is that the properties of several officials, including the governor of Ezhou, were confiscated. It is said that the total amount of silver confiscated amounted to millions, and dozens of large boxes were filled with various jewelry, gold and silver.
There was a lot of discussion about this.
"These corrupt officials are actually so rich. Does the imperial court have so much salary?"
"Salary, they haven't had this much salary for hundreds of years, aren't they all obtained by plundering the people's wealth?"
"One million taels, we will never make so much money in ten lifetimes..."
…
"Only one million taels?" Tang Ning looked at Liu Tong and frowned slightly.
Liu Tongdao: "Sir, one million taels is a real amount of silver. The other treasures, jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings are worth nothing in total..."
Silver is the thing that can really give people a visual impact. Although one million taels is already a huge sum of money, Emperor Chen is not a poor emperor now. This money cannot bring him enough impact at all.
Tang Ning thought for a while and said, "Let me change all the banknotes into silver and put them in boxes. All items that are too big will be treated as silver."
Those treasures and antiques are stolen goods and difficult to deal with, but if the banknotes are converted into silver, the visual impact will be much greater. Some things that cannot be taken away can also be pawned on the spot.
Liu Tong nodded and said: "Sir, they also found out that some businessmen in Ezhou colluded with the government to evade taxes..."
Tangning's eyes lit up and she said, "As punishment, according to the law, let them pay back five times the amount. Remember to pay them all in silver, no banknotes required!"
