This is really a turn of events. No one expected that this seemingly ordinary case of occupying private land would actually contain such a hidden secret.
If it is true, as Zhao Xi said, that Wang Ben killed Cai Yi's family and took away the land in the north of Ye County, then this land should now be regarded as ownerless land.
Liu She's occupation of this land is not really an occupation of civilian land. At best, it can be regarded as an occupation of a field that should have been returned to the county government.
Liu Xiu asked: "Zhao Xi, where is the guest Wang Ben you mentioned? Can you find him?"
Zhao Xi said sternly: "Wang Ben is kind on the surface, but in fact he is vicious and ruthless. He has done things like killing people and stealing goods secretly many times. This Wang Ben's disciple who I know does not despise what Wang Ben has done."
Because, now that he has left Wang Ben, he is hiding in Wancheng, and the common people can find him and confront Wang Ben face to face!"
"Okay!" Liu Xiu nodded and said, "Bring him to the camp immediately. Also," as he spoke, Liu Xiu turned to look at Xuying and said, "Notify the county immediately and send someone to Ye
County, capture Wang Ben and bring him back to Wancheng."
"Yes! Your Majesty!" Zhao Xi and Xu Ying agreed one after another and walked out together.
Before Zhao Xi left the palace, Liu Xiu suddenly thought of something, and suddenly stopped him and asked: "Since you knew that Wang Ben was seeking wealth and murder, why didn't you report it to the official?"
"It's because the common people don't dare." Zhao Xi bowed and said.
"Don't you dare?"
"In the past, someone had complained to Wang Ben, but because they could not provide any real evidence, or the county government was deliberately covering up, the case was ignored. Instead, the person who reported the report was killed at home within a few days. Common people have no rights.
I am powerless and dare not risk my life and that of my family. If His Majesty had not come to Nanyang in person this time, the common people would still not dare to mention this matter to anyone." Zhao Xi spoke, knelt down and said, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty.
crime!"
Liu Xiu frowned and waved his hands, saying: "Get up! If it is true as you say, Wang Ben is a heinous murderer, and I will punish him severely!"
The retainer Zhao Xi was talking about was named Wang Yuan. He was a man in his late forties. He was tall and muscular, with a muscular face and beard that gave people a rather sinister impression.
He lived in the Caishikou area and lived in seclusion at home. Zhao Xi often visited him and sent him some food from time to time.
Wang Yuan and Wang Ben were from the same clan, and precisely because of this relationship, Wang Yuan was trusted and reused by Wang Ben.
However, he helped Wang Ben do too many bad things, and Wang Yuan often felt a cold wind running down his spine. He felt that continuing like this was not a long-term solution. Maybe one day the incident would happen, and he would have to follow Wang Ben to see the King of Hell.
Unable to bear the fear around Wang Ben, Wang Yuan found an opportunity and left without saying goodbye, fleeing to Wancheng to join Zhao Xi.
Zhao Xi's reputation is quite good in Nanyang. People say that Zhao Xi is a loyal man who loves to make friends and is willing to do good deeds.
Wang Yuan defected to Zhao Xi because he wanted to seek Zhao Xi's protection.
In the past, it would have been more than enough for Zhao Xi, a general of the rank and file, to protect Wang Yuan. But the problem is that now he is just a white man. In the face of power, he can't even protect himself, let alone protect Wang Yuan.
However, Zhao Xi did not turn Wang Yuan away. He placed Wang Yuan in a house near Caishikou and let him live temporarily. He provided all his daily food and clothing.
Zhao Xi currently does not have the ability to protect Wang Yuan or sue Wang Ben, but he is keenly aware that this is an opportunity. As long as he finds the right time, he can use this matter to enter his official career.
As the saying goes, opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared. When Zhao Xi found out about Wang Ben's secret activities, he did not make any announcement or report to the official, but kept waiting for the best opportunity to appear.
In the end, the opportunity really came to him. The emperor happened to pass by Nanyang on his southern tour. This was the opportunity that Zhao Xi had been waiting for. He originally planned to wait until Liu Xiu passed by Wancheng, and then go directly to meet the emperor and tell him about it.
The matter is clear.
Unexpectedly, when Liu Xiu passed through Ye County, Wang Ben went to sue the emperor and successfully sued Liu She, the king of Sishui. After learning about this, Zhao Xi jumped up to the sky with excitement at home and sighed:
"It's a big deal!"
This is because even God is favoring him and paving the way for him! When Liu Zhong, Liu Shun and other Liu clan members took the initiative to come to see him, Zhao Xi was only surprised on the surface, but in fact he was already happy in his heart.
With all the previous preparations, he dared to declare with confidence in front of the Liu clan that he could rescue the King of Surabaya and allow Wang Ben to die without a burial place.
This is the cause and effect of the matter. Zhao Xi took Wang Yuan to the palace and met Liu Xiu. After meeting the emperor, Wang Yuan no longer had to worry or hide anything. He told everything he knew and everything he had personally experienced.
, including Wang Ben's plot to murder Cai Yi's family, he told Liu Xiu everything in detail. Of course, he kept it clean and said that he did not do anything and did not kill anyone.
After listening to Wang Yuan's story, Liu Xiu was furious. He slammed the table and said angrily: "What a vicious and lawless thief!"
With such a powerful witness as Wang Yuan, the case can basically be closed without interrogating Wang Ben. He can even tell clearly where the bodies of Cai Yi's family are buried.
What's trivial?
Four days after the incident, Wang Ben was brought back to Wancheng by the county government officials. The prefect Liu Shun interrogated Wang Ben personally.
At first, Wang Ben was very tough and refused to say anything, but as the tortures continued, even though Wang Ben had steel and iron bones, they were all broken into pieces by the various tortures.
Finally, Wang Ben couldn't bear the torture anymore and confessed everything about his murder of Cai Yi's family.
Wang Ben fell in love with Cai Yi's land. Hearing that Cai Yi was moving his family, Wang Ben immediately came to the door and offered to buy the land. The price he gave was two hundred per mu.
money.
At that time, Nanyang was in chaos, and the land price was indeed very cheap. But the problem was that Ye County was located on the border of Nanyang and was not affected by the war. The price of the land was basically around 500 yuan per mu. If it was fertile land, the price would still be higher.
Higher. Cai Yi had no intention of selling the land, and since Wang Ben’s offer was so cheap, Cai Yi rejected it on the spot.
Wang Ben said all his good things, but seeing that Cai Yi could not be persuaded, he had no choice but to return home. The more he thought about it, the more unwilling he was. Cai Yi's family was moving away, and no one knew where they would move.
If their family suddenly disappeared on the way, it probably wouldn't arouse anyone's suspicion.
Furthermore, the war is now in chaos and there are traitors everywhere. Even if someone notices that Cai Yi's family is missing, who will suspect him? Before Cai Yi moved away, Wang Ben spread the news in Ye County.
It is said that Cai Yi sold his family's hundred acres of fertile land to him.
When Cai Yi heard the rumors, he didn't take them seriously and just scoffed. As a result, when he was moving home to Yingchuan, he was overtaken by Wang Ben and others. The whole family was killed by Wang Ben and others, and all his money and land were deeded.
He was also snatched away by Wang Ben.
After disposing of the bodies of Cai Yi's family, Wang Ben returned to Ye County. Taking the land deed he snatched from Cai Yi, he naturally took over the hundred acres of fertile land in the north of Ye County.
Since Wang Ben had already spread rumors earlier, the people of Ye County were not surprised that he could 'buy' the Cai family's land.
Wang Ben had calculated all his plans, but he failed to calculate that after the Luoyang court implemented a series of preferential policies in Nanyang, a large number of Liu family members would flock to Nanyang. What he did not expect was that Liu She, the king of Surabaya, would also come to Ye.
County, fell in love with the land owned by Cai Yi's family at a glance, and took it over without any explanation.
This is really the big fish eating the small fish, and the small fish eating the shrimp. Compared with Liu She, the vicious Wang Ben is just a small fish with no ability to resist.
Wang Ben had no way to deal with the fact that the land he had risked to snatch was eventually occupied by Liu She. Not to mention him, not even the magistrate of Ye County or even the Nanyang Prefect dared to interfere with Liu She.
Wang Ben was almost furious at home. He had always bullied others. When had he ever been bullied like this?
The more he thought about it, the more unwilling he became. The more he thought about it, the more angry he became. Just as he was rubbing his intestines, Liu Xiu passed by Ye County. At this time, Wang Ben was also blind and made an astonishing move to stop Liu Xiu.
Xiu's holy driver issued a royal decree.
What happened next was that Liu Xiu captured Liu She, and Wang Ben naturally took back the land.
Now that the truth has been revealed, after reading the confession submitted by Liu Shun, Liu Xiu's face became ashen as water, and she said to Liu Shun: "This thief killed people and stole goods, and took human life lightly. His crime is extremely heinous and unforgivable. He should be sentenced to death by having his waist cut in half."
Liu Shun hurriedly bowed and saluted, saying: "Your Majesty is wise!"
Liu Xiu said: "We must not let go of any of Wang Ben's accomplices!"
"Yes! Your Majesty!"
"Also, does Cai Yi have no relatives anymore?"
"This..." Liu Shun lowered his head and said, "All of his direct relatives have been killed by Wang Ben. There may be some collateral relatives in Ye County."
Liu Xiu nodded, pondered for a moment, and said: "Wang Ben's family wealth should be confiscated in accordance with the law, and part of it can be distributed among Cai Yi's relatives."
"Your Majesty's kindness is really a blessing to the people!" Liu Shun cupped his hands and bowed to the ground.
Liu Xiu didn't say anything more and waved to Liu Shun. Liu Shun resigned and returned to the county government. Soon, he had people put up notices to make Wang Ben's evil deeds public.
The people of Ye County all applauded Wang Ben's defiance of the law. In Ye County, Wang Ben was considered a local tyrant, and many people were bullied by him.
Liu She, the king of Sishui, who was previously captured by Liu Xiu, has also been released without charge. In fact, Liu Xiu did not make things difficult for Liu She at first. He said he captured him, but in fact he just kept him by his side and fed him well.
With.
When Liu She heard about Wang Ben, the old man became energetic and yelled that Wang Ben was not a thing. She thought that he did not look like a kind person, so she occupied his land.
Zhao Xi came forward and sued Wang Ben, so that everything was settled satisfactorily. Even Liu Xiu, who was riding a tiger and had trouble getting off, no longer had to be embarrassed by Liu She's affairs, and Liu She was released naturally.
The Liu clan relatives were naturally grateful to Zhao Xi, and brought Liu She to visit Zhao Xi. Liu Shun still remembered his original promise and said to Zhao Xi: "It seems that I will give up the post of prefect to Zhao Xi in the future."
Mr. Zhao came to do it."
Zhao Xi quickly bowed his hands and saluted, saying: "Marquis Chengwu has defeated the common people. Even if the common people have ten heads, they still don't dare to be the governor of Nanyang!"
He was telling the truth. In his opinion, the position of Nanyang Prefect was the most difficult one. Apart from the clan members, no matter who else took the position, it would be difficult for him to do so.
After hearing what he said, Liu Shun laughed loudly and said to everyone present: "Mr. Zhao is a great talent. I will jointly recommend him to Your Majesty!"
When all the clan members heard this, they all nodded their heads. The clan members were not just talking about it. On the same day, they actually went to the palace together, met Liu Xiu in person, and recommended Zhao Xi to him.
Liu Xiu's impression of Zhao Xi was actually very average. After all, Zhao Xi and Deng Feng were close friends. Based on this alone, Liu Xiu couldn't like Zhao Xi.
But this time Zhao Xi did make a contribution and helped him solve a problem. Liu Xiusi thought about it, looked at Liu Qi and said, "A Qi, how about asking Zhao Xi to be your prime minister?"
Liu Qi is Liu Xiu's brother of the same generation. Liu Xiu canonized Liu Qi as the Marquis of Jianyang. However, Jianyang is in Jiangnan, and the counties and counties in Jiangnan have not yet submitted to the imperial court. Jianyang is actually controlled by the Jianyang Order. Liu Qi's Jianyang
Hou is in name only.
As a marquis, there is a marquis in the fief, and his duty is to help the marquis manage the fief. But now that Jianyang is not in Liu Qi's hands at all, it is useless to arrange a marquis for him! After hearing this, Liu Qi had a look on his face
embarrassment.
Liu Xiu smiled indifferently and said slowly: "You recommended Zhao Xi and said that he has great talents, and I believe it. I will give him two thousand soldiers and horses. If he can capture Jianyang, he can be the Marquis of Jianyang.
If you don’t want to leave Jianyang, let’s continue to be his waiting bus, what do you think?”
