"How did you know that this person is called Shen Hu?!" Gongsun Xun suddenly sneered.
Zhen Du was immediately frightened and speechless.
And this panic is enough to change the situation... In the final analysis, people are fighting for their own good. This County Magistrate Zhen is not defending his innocence at all, but fighting for momentum. It depends on whether he can keep himself from being wronged.
He used his tragic and angry image to suppress the situation, and then won Gongsun Xun's trust.
However, this panic made him feel like everything was over.
Not to mention Gongsun Xun, among the others present, who is not a thoughtful person? At this time, who can't guess that this person is at least closely related to the assassination?
"No, I vaguely heard someone say in Xiangguo that there seemed to be a lost son of the Shen family that day, called Shen Hu..." Zhen Du knew that he had been tricked, and was sweating profusely as he explained again and again.
"Are you sure?" Gongsun Xun's expression remained unchanged. He just lowered his head to look at the knife in his hand, but he didn't kill the opponent with a stick.
"I'm sure!" Zhen Du, who had his hands tied, regained some momentum at this time, and insisted. "Shen Hu is a well-known ranger in the Zhao Kingdom, and he often wanders around. When the king was dealing with the Shen clan,
I vaguely heard that he was not in the clan, and he must have escaped. But then he suddenly disappeared. I thought it was someone from the prince who found him and sent him to Ming Zhengdian for punishment. Now that I think about it, it must have been the Handan clan who hid him.
, and then I concluded that it was Shen Hu..."
"You're talking nonsense!" The chief of the Handan clan was inexplicably angry.
"Junhou, Shen Hu wants to seek revenge from you, and the Handan family has always been lawless, so he is dissatisfied with you and I, two court officials who strictly enforce the law, so we teamed up to formulate such a vicious plan!" Zhen Du doesn't understand at all!
He went to see the appearance of the chief of the Handan clan, and just explained to Gongsun Xun. "That Shen Hu had already had the will to die. Before his death, he was grateful to the Handan clan and wanted to use the help of the king to get rid of me for the Handan clan... What is this?
A vicious heart?!"
"Your Majesty!" The chief of the Handan clan knelt down and kowtowed. "It's just the opposite. It seems at this time that Zhen Du must have taken Shen Hu in and then put the blame on my Handan clan. I hope you can tell me clearly!"
"Your Majesty, the imperial court has appointed you and me as local officials to deal with such cunning and powerful people. Don't let your loved ones hurt your enemies!"
Zhen Du firmly grasped the words "court official" and "powerful" to defend her, and for a while, her momentum actually regained a lot.
"This is really strange." Gongsun Xun's expression remained unchanged. "To be honest with County Magistrate Zhen, I just questioned you not because I was curious about you knowing Shen Hu, but because you named the wrong person...that Shen family
I have asked people who are familiar with the Shen family in the country to identify the body of the remaining sinner. It is a descendant of the Shen family outside the city of Handan, called Shen Jiue, with the long word Zhun... Why did County Magistrate Zhen insist that it was Shen?
Where’s the tiger?”
Zhen Du hesitated again, and then his face turned pale... In fact, what Shen Hui and Shen Changzhen said were true. If others didn't know, wouldn't he know? But neither Shen Hu nor Shen Hui were both in front of him.
Do people have the final say? The answer lies in the hands of others. No matter how hard you argue, you will probably be full of loopholes!
In other words, what he didn't understand at this time was that the other party had already determined that it was him who did it, and there was no way he could win his trust!
"You probably understand." Gongsun Xun looked at the other party coldly. "Actually... what's the use of such a strong argument? You have done such a big thing in Xiangguo. Where did the gold, silver and food for the bandits come from?
Who made the contact with the bandits? Is there really no flaw? I will go to Xiangguo and have you picked up and interrogated carefully. I really can’t determine your guilt? The reason why I only captured you is not because I have any doubts.
, but I don’t want to procrastinate and waste time!”
"But I am the head of a county appointed by the Chancellor. You cannot kill me..." Zhen Du also lowered his head and was in a daze.
Only then did the people around them become convinced...it was actually this person who did it!
"If you have less than six hundred stones, you are not an official of the imperial court after all. There is a chancellor to appoint him, but there is no edict from Huangmen. Who says he can't be killed?" Gongsun Xun asked coldly.
"That's also the official of a state or the chief official of a county!" Zhen Du suddenly raised his head and shouted angrily. "Although you are a Tinghou, you are only a superior in terms of title. In terms of official position, you are only an order of a county! How can you kill me?
?! Yes, as you said, the Taihang Bandits incident involves many things and I can’t hide it. However, it is a matter within my duty. It should be handed over to the Prime Minister and Uncle Fang for investigation... As for you saying that I sent someone to assassinate you?
, but it’s just empty talk. If you don’t accept it, you should go find the Prime Minister! Gongsun Xun, don’t you think about it, if you are a county magistrate and kill the magistrate of a neighboring county, how will the people in the world think of you?! As for that?!”
"It's not that I have any worries in my heart," Gongsun Xun remained calm as usual. "Why do you think I want to interrogate you here? Do you think you can survive through the help of the Prime Minister?"
Zhen Du glanced at the surrounding weeds blankly, then looked at the layout of the official temple lobby, and then realized that this was actually the official temple where the Prime Minister lived!
Now that everything has happened, Zhen Du has no choice but to keep silent.
"This man has already admitted to colluding with bandits." Gongsun Xun turned around and told Juzong. "Kill him on this charge! Gongsun Xun quickly took out the official documents he had prepared..."
Ju Zong didn't dare to neglect. He put down the wooden box in his arms and took out a document written in bamboo sketches... he was actually prepared for it.
"Come with me and ask the Prime Minister for his seal!" Gongsun Xun handed the knife to Qianzhao aside, then took the document and went to the backyard of the official temple.
Juzong and Qianzhao didn't know who they were talking about, so they had no choice but to follow them together.
The three of them walked into the backyard and broke into Xiang Xu's room. They saw the Prime Minister of the State of Zhao sitting cross-legged on the couch with a waist-faced Taoist priest, talking fiercely, and there were several books beside him.
Gongsun Xun was not polite. He stepped forward with the official document and bowed slightly: "Prime Minister, the head of Xiangguo County, Zhen Du, colluded with bandits and massacred innocent people. Now he has confessed. Please use the seal of the Prime Minister to declare the correct punishment!"
Xiang Xu and the Taoist were both startled. However, before the former could react, Gongsun Xun stepped forward to untie the seal on the opponent's waist.
Xiang Xudeng was in a panic. While protecting the seal around his waist, he shouted: "Gongsun Xun, what do you want to do?!"
Gongsun Xun did not answer, nor did he show any emotion. Instead, he slapped his backhand, just like he had slapped the man to death in front of Mengjin Ferry a few years ago... Then he did not untie the seal ribbon, but
He directly asked the stunned Juzong to take out the yellow mud, melt it, and stamp it with the official seal of the Prime Minister.
Immediately, he abandoned the Taoist people and the country and left directly.
After a while, Zhen Du saw a piece of clay-sealed document in the hand of the other party who had left and returned, and immediately collapsed: "I don't accept it!"
"Why are you dissatisfied?" Gongsun Xun handed the soft mud seal together with the documents to Wei Song and others for inspection and testimony, but he directly winked at Qianzhao.
When the latter saw this, he no longer hesitated and walked towards Zhen Du with the knife in hand.
Zhen Du became more and more frightened and begged for mercy on his knees: "Junjun, you should know that I don't really have the intention to assassinate you. Please forgive me for risking my life!"
"Then who will understand the innocent lives in Zhang's manor?" Gongsun Xun disagreed. "No matter what, you can't save your life..."
"I want to report the Handan clan!" Zhen Du suddenly said sharply. "You don't know, but the Handan clan is a conspirator with me in this matter. When Shen Hu came to see me, he said that the Handan clan knew his whereabouts. If not,
I killed him a long time ago, why have I reached this stage?! The Handan family also voluntarily gave up the manor!"
The Handan clan chief's face was already ecstatic, but now he couldn't help but panic, but he had no way to defend himself.
"Okay!" The bamboo slips were passed around with the clay-sealed documents and returned to Gongsun Xun. The latter also became impatient. "You are also a court official, so you should save some dignity... I will talk to you frankly.
, Shen Hu did not reveal a word about you before he died. Instead, he said, 'Learning from past mistakes, I don't want to be a betrayal of my friends'..."
"Does he still have the nerve to say this?" Zhen Du suddenly showed his veins and his face turned red. "I was my county magistrate in Xiangguo, but Shen Hu used the reputation of my clan to coerce me, what can I do?!
If I don't respond and betray my friend's name again, our Yingchuan Zhen family will completely end our career! It's him who caused this!"
Gongsun Xun was startled for a moment, but he still made a gesture to Qianzhao, who immediately raised his hand...
"I only want one thing from you!" Zhen Du's heart felt cold, but she couldn't help shouting loudly. "There is only one thing I want from you!"
"Come on!" Gongsun Xun did not refuse to give the other party this opportunity.
"After my death, I ask you to only report the matter of colluding with bandits to the central government of the state, and do not mention the matter of Shen Hu..." Zhen Du burst into tears, but kept grabbing the ground with his head. "That day, my uncle asked for help by betraying his friends.
Rong became famous all over the world, but as a result, my family has not produced 1,600 shi for twenty years. I think I studied hard since I was a child, but I was always looked down upon. In the end, I worked hard and went through a lot of hardships to be appointed as the county magistrate! Now, I really don’t want to
Let the younger generations of the clan suffer this again! If the name of betraying our friends is spread again, our Yingchuan..."
"I know...it's sad!" Gongsun Xun suddenly raised his hand to signal.
When Qianzhao saw this, he no longer hesitated, and directly slashed down with his sword, beheading this poor man who was burdened by his family reputation in front of the official temple hall.
Blood splashed everywhere, but it was mostly blocked by weeds.
Most of the onlookers were speechless. They didn't know what to say and didn't dare to say anything.
But at this moment, an untimely cry for help suddenly came from the corner of the official temple. Everyone went numb when they heard the cry, only to find that it was an ugly Taoist with a waist face who was trying to support a tall and thin man while shouting. The latter had both hands.
His eyes were closed, his teeth were clenched, and his complexion was white, bluish and red, and he didn't know what disease he was suffering from!
Of course, after seeing the seal around his waist, no one dared to neglect him. Even Gongsun Xun had no choice but to wave people to check it out.
Two servants were supporting this person. The pig-kidney-faced Taoist, Wang Xian and Wang Minhong, who were sent by Gongsun Xun to chat with him, pinched Xiang Xu's middle... This made Fu Yi step in.
Zhao Guoxiang, who was so frightened out of his mind by the scene just now in the front yard, finally woke up faintly.
"Everyone, step aside and let the Prime Minister breathe." Gongsun Xun remained silent. As a meritorious officer of the county, Lu Fan had no choice but to speak at this time.
Everyone quickly got out of the way.
Xiang Xu looked around blankly, his eyes turning from the grass hiding the corpse in the distance to the expressionless Gongsun Xun, and then from the bearded warrior holding a bloody blade to Taoist Wang Xianwang next to him. In the end, it was
He looked nervously towards the backyard.
"Everyone, please wait a moment," Gongsun Xun also sneered in his heart when he saw this. "I will send the Prime Minister back to his room...I will be back soon."
Naturally, the leaders of the noble families in the country did not dare to say anything. Gongsun Xun also waved his hand and asked two attendants to carry the Prime Minister to the backyard, and he himself followed him again.
Ju Zong wanted to follow, but was pulled back by Lou Gui. Lu Fan took Gongsun Xun's knife back from Qian Zhao's hand, then took out the silk and wiped it.
Turning back to the backyard, the two attendants placed the Prime Minister of Zhao State on the couch and exited the room. Gongsun Xun immediately entered the bedroom again with his hands behind his back, and then looked directly at the Prime Minister.
Xiang Xu dodged and evaded, but finally spoke:
"Master Wang, I think you are from the Wang family in Taiyuan and you are also practicing Taoism, so I will explain to you with knowledge, but why did you slap me just now?"
Wang Xian let out a long sigh, but Gongsun Xun sneered: "It turns out that the prime minister of the country is as talkative as others, and he is not stupid in his heart!"
Xiang Xu, who was lying there, immediately shed two lines of tears when he heard the words: "Why did Mr. Gongsun County tease me? What I did when I was young was partly out of true arrogance, and partly because I wanted to live up to the name of my ancestors.
I don’t want to hide the remaining three points from you, just to be invited to be an official... But I have been a stranger for half my life, and I have been the prime minister of a country, but I don’t know anything, I can’t even talk to people properly.
So much so that when he opens his mouth, he either speaks scriptures or curses. In such a situation, what else can we do but lie down on the couch and be a person who 'rules by doing nothing'?"
Gongsun Xun believed this... Xiang Xu had been aloof for decades before. Every time he saw a visitor, he would stick his butt out and say nothing. After decades, it was natural that he could not even communicate with others normally.
"So, I am kind to the Prime Minister?" Gongsun Xun continued to sneer with his hands behind his hands. "If I hadn't sent Brother Wang to keep you company and talk to you all day long, I'm afraid you would be saying the same thing today.
It won’t come out.”
"Don't...don't tease!"
"Xiang Gong," Gongsun Xun suddenly said calmly. "Have I ever made fun of you? I came to Zhao country not long ago, but I have also seen that there are no people who are driven crazy and stupid by being an official? To put it bluntly, they are all
They're just poor people... Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore, I just want to ask you, you want to be an official, and I want to do something, isn't there something wrong?!"
"Governing by inaction is the right thing to do. Governing a big country is like cooking small dishes. You have gone too far. You are always killing people and laboring the people..."
"But now," Gongsun Xun shook his head and said. "Xiang Gong, you can't even get out of the house, so how can you talk about cooking fresh food? But I have already killed everyone, and I will soon have to work hard for the people... The two have to be together.
?”
Xiang Xu cried more and more: "Why do you have to embarrass me?"
"I'll speak frankly." Gongsun Xun said simply. "Xiang Gong is the prime minister of the country... If you want to rule by doing nothing, just send a document directly to the higher authorities, saying that I am good at killing, beating, and seizing seals. The king's governor and the central government
The princes will definitely give you an explanation. When I drive into Luo, you can naturally continue to rule by doing nothing; and if you don't want to send me to prison, please turn your ears to the outside world and feel free to delegate your power to me! How about that?
?!"
Xiang Xu tried his best to hold back his tears, and then thought about it. He was also frightened and frightened in his heart, and he hesitated for a moment.
"Xiang Gong." The pig-kidney-faced Taoist Wang suddenly sighed and advised. "It's better to obey Gongsun County Lord... If he really drives into Luo, do you think his men can let you go?"
Xiang Xu was shocked when he heard this. After a long time, he managed to say: "Mr. Gongsun County, I will give you the seal and ribbon. Don't force me in the future... How about that?"
Gongsun Xun slowly shook his head: "Where is the county magistrate who holds the seal and ribbon of the Prime Minister? That's good. You will put it in the next room, lock the door, and give it two keys, one for yourself and one for Wang Taoist.
...The latter holds the key as your confidant, and I also come here to ask for advice on official matters, so it makes sense!"
"It's all up to you!" As he said that, Xiang Xu took off the seal ribbon and threw it to Wang Daoren. Then he leaned over and cried non-stop. The latter had no choice but to catch it with all his strength.
Gongsun Xun and Wang Daoren winked, and they immediately left Xiang Xu and walked out of the bedroom.
"Put it away." Gongsun Xun sighed. "I will naturally ask Lu Fan, the county meritorious officer, to come to you... If you have time, you and I will have a good chat... As for the Prime Minister, I will allocate some more people.
, and take good care of him for me..."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty." At this point, Taoist Wang could only reply like this, but the sadness in his ugly eyebrows could not be concealed...
In fact, as Gongsun Xun said before, where are the people who are driven crazy and stupid by being an official?
Not to mention how sad the backyard was, Gongsun Xun turned back to the front yard, but immediately put away his sad expression and put on the cold face before:
"Everyone, the Prime Minister of the State has approved my petition, appointing a famous scholar from Jizhou as the Northern Supervisor to supervise Bairen and Zhongqiu County, and appointing a famous scholar from Nanyang named Lou Gui as the Central Supervisor to supervise Yiyang and Xiangguo.
Two counties... five counties will work together to appease the bandits in the mountains, survey the fields, and build a public school. If successful, the whole country will use its strength to repair the Gelu River! You are the famous clans of Zhao State, but there are some people who have any plans for the Prime Minister and me.
Have something to say?"
When the words came to this point, before anyone else could speak, the Handan clan chief felt a chill in his body, and responded anxiously, praising him again and again. At this moment, the other big family members in the country naturally had nothing to say.
In fact, what can they say?
You must know that the postal supervisor is a county supervisor, with a rank of only 100 shi. However, just as the governor of a state with 600 shi can supervise the county governor of two thousand shi on behalf of the central government, this position can also supervise the county magistrate and magistrate below on behalf of the county governor.
, has always had heavy powers and responsibilities. However, with Xiang Xu's behavior before, this position was naturally abandoned. But today, Gongsun Xun first killed the county magistrate of a neighboring county in public, and then openly placed his cronies in these two positions.
, it seems that he is going to completely break his face and openly seize the power of the Zhao Kingdom!
At this time, what can they, the big middle school businessmen who signed the petition, do except express their approval?
In other words, Wei Song had the confidence to shake his head in public, but it was just a shake of the head.
Handan is very close to Yecheng, so two days later, when the document with the seal of the Prime Minister of Zhao arrived in the state, Wang Fang, the governor of Jizhou who had already known the inside story from Zhao, was on pins and needles...
…He did not dare to open this official document.
A confidant from the state office next to him was a person personally promoted by Wang Fang. Upon seeing this, he couldn't help but ask seriously: "Is it possible that what Uncle Fang is worried about is that after the document was opened, the procedures were complete and there was no unauthorized killing?"
"That's right!" Wang Fang responded helplessly. "Gongsun Xun took a neighboring county magistrate to Handan without permission, and then killed him in public. Everyone in the Zhao Kingdom knew about this... It's terrible, but Xiang Xu is so incompetent that he allowed himself to be killed.
Gongsun Xun completed the formalities. Tell me, if this is the case, should I just admit it? Or should I go to Zhao State to inquire carefully and find out the matter?!"
"Difficult!" the confidant said quickly. "There are three extremely difficult aspects of this matter... One is that Zhendu, the head of Xiangguo, did collude with the bandits. This person admitted to his face that all the famous people of Zhao were present. It was true that
The blame for the crime cannot be evaded; secondly, Gongsun Xun was so arrogant and domineering that he tied up the county magistrate with the county order and then publicly executed him. This matter is also known to everyone; thirdly, it is Zhao Xiangxu who cannot deal with it rationally...
And under such a situation, if Uncle Fang does not investigate, he will probably be criticized, saying that Uncle Fang is afraid of Gongsun Xun and allows him to be domineering and bully his superiors and kill his subordinates. But if we really pursue this matter, there will be no investigation..."
"That's right!" Wang Fang became more and more helpless. "This is exactly the reason. If I don't investigate, I'm afraid it will be troublesome to clear my name. But if I really pursue it, I'm afraid I'll make myself embarrassed... So, what can I do?"
"It's better to resign." The confidant thought for a moment, but suddenly gave an unexpected suggestion. "Uncle Fang has been in office for almost two years. It seems that the court will not let you live in Jizhou anymore. According to the
Conventionally, Fang Bo should be appointed to a large county, but you have often told me before that the emperor openly sells officials in the West Garden.
Name. In this case, why not leave a few days early..."
It turned out that this Jizhou Fang Bo had already intended to resign and return home.
In fact, Wang Fang thought carefully and nodded in agreement.
——————I added the dividing line——————
"Taizu was the magistrate of Handan, and Zhendu, the county magistrate of the neighboring country Xiangguo, colluded with the Taihang bandits. He first massacred the village with the bandits and then destroyed them as merit. Later, he was attacked by others. Taizu was angry when he heard about it, so he returned to Handan as the county magistrate.
, Fu Ye paid a visit to the Prime Minister to ask for execution. The Prime Minister suddenly did not dare to respond. Taizu repeatedly reported that the Prime Minister agreed, and immediately killed him inside the temple gate. After killing him, he sent a message to the state, and the governor Wang Fang also sighed: "There are still more people to blame for the death, but with one
The order to kill is long-lasting, and the minister is forced, but it has not been heard! How can it be?" Zuo Zuo sarcastically said: "If you avoid the Handan order, you will lose your virtue; if you allow it, you will lose your law. Fang Bo Danggui." Fang Nai abandoned it.
The official left. After leaving, Taizu heard about it and said to everyone: "First kill the chief, then force the prime minister, and then take away the uncle, is it okay?" - "Xin Yan Shu". Volume 1. Taizu
The Chronicle of Emperor Wu
PS: Embarrassing, so panicked...Finally, the total number of effective words updated this month is 160k.
