Immediately afterwards, there was a rapid knock on the door.
Ba Zhi hurriedly went out. There was only one attendant in his house, and that attendant was old and deaf. Ba Zhi went out to open the door in person. There were three or four people outside, holding a horse in one hand and a torch in the other.
However, he was dressed as a postman, and the leader looked at Ba Zhi in front of him, frowned, and said: "Excuse me, please report that there is an urgent report and the governor Ba Zhi."
Ba Qi was not angry. He cupped his hands and said with a smile, "I am Ba Qi."
The postman was a little surprised, looked at his clothes, and then hurriedly leaned down and said: "I didn't know that I was in front of you, please forgive me!"
Ba Zhi shook his head and pushed the door open to welcome the postmen in. The postmen dared not accept it, so they immediately took out the imperial report and handed it to Ba Zhi, the governor, and then bowed and left. Ba Zhi took this
After the edict, his friends saw that he had something important to do and did not dare to disturb him anymore. He also said goodbye and left. He took the edict, entered the mansion, sat in the study, found half a candle from somewhere, and started to light a lamp and read.
.
After just reading for a moment, Ba Zhi turned pale and immediately changed his clothes and went to the governor's mansion. He ordered the watchman to call the chief historian, and then hurriedly summoned the officials in the state. Many officials were sleeping soundly in the mansion. When they heard the urgent call from the governor, they all
Knowing that the governor was always steady, and with such an urgent summons, they all went to the government office, fearing that something big had happened.
Seeing everyone gathered, Ba Zhi frowned and said very solemnly: "The Mi family of Donghai distorted the imperial edict, oppressed the people, bought fertile land by force, and committed murders and rewarded Yang Qiu, the messenger of embroidered clothes. The emperor was furious and asked us to arrest Mi all night.
The family, as well as all the officials involved in the case, including Zhao Qian, want us to arrest him!" Upon hearing this, the officials' expressions changed drastically.
Some were angry, some were frightened, and some were suspicious.
Ba Zhi continued: "I know that some of you are aware of this matter, or are suspected of this matter. I hope you can plead guilty on your own. Today, the Emperor is a kind king. If you confess your guilt early and obey the law, I will come to plead for you. The Emperor will
I will forgive you, but if you refuse to plead guilty, and I find out in the end, I won’t be able to protect you."
Upon hearing Ba Zhi's words, several officials immediately stood up and bowed: "We were deceived by that Mi Shun, and I hope you will forgive us!"
Ba Zhi nodded, ordered these people to be tied up, and immediately ordered his subordinates to supervise the thieves, summon Xuzhou County soldiers, and go to the East China Sea. Originally, Ba Zhi did not have such authority. He only came to supervise the governors of various places and report to Situ. However,
Now that there is an edict from the emperor, everyone has no choice but to obey. Late at night, the subordinate governor summoned the county soldiers. What is interesting is that the seat of Donghai County is in Tan County.
The administrative seat of Xuzhou is also in Tan County.
The Governor's Mansion and the Prefect's Mansion are both within the same county. Therefore, these county soldiers did not even need to march outside. They just rushed into the Prefect's Mansion. Zhao Qian was sleeping soundly and was directly broken into. The servants and guests in the mansion were
Anyone who dared to resist was killed. Zhao Qian woke up with a start. When he opened his eyes, he saw several soldiers holding swords across his neck.
“Are you going to rebel?!”
"Aren't you afraid that the emperor will punish your clan?"
There was no fear on Zhao Qian's face, but he just yelled angrily at the soldiers. The soldiers hesitated, and looked at the prefect in front of him. Zhao Qian was furious, stood up suddenly, grabbed a soldier's sword, and started fighting with them.
, at this moment, Ba Zhi walked in slowly. Seeing Ba Zhi entering, the soldiers quickly retreated to his side.
Zhao Qian said extremely angrily: "What does Ba Governor want to do?!" Ba Zhi didn't say anything. He took out the emperor's imperial edict from his sleeve and handed it to Zhao Qian. Zhao Qian just looked at it for a moment, and his vision went dark.
He fell to the ground, looked at the edict, and his eyes were about to burst. He looked at Ba Zhi and asked, "Why didn't I know about this?!" Ba Zhi shook his head and said, "Yang Qiu originally wanted to inform you.
You refused."
"Ah~~", Zhao Qian roared angrily. He remembered that day, when Yang Qiu, the notorious eagle dog, wanted to see him, he sternly refused. It turned out that it was because of this, Mi Shun! Chen Yu! Insult my name.
!Zhao Qian's eyes are red. He has always loved the people like a son. He has never been stigmatized in the ten years since he was an official, and he has never lost face to his grandfather Zhao Jie and uncle Zhao Dian!
Zhao Qian raised the long knife in his hand. Ba Zhi's expression changed drastically and he stepped forward to stop him. Zhao Qian was very fast and pointed the long knife at his abdomen and stabbed it directly in. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. Ba Zhi rushed to his side.
Standing next to him, he supported him and said angrily: "Why are you doing this? You don't know about this. The emperor can only scold you a few times!"
"Jing Zu, kill Mi Shun and County Magistrate Chen Yu for me!"
Zhao Qian's eyes widened and he said tremblingly. After saying that, he died.
When many officials of the prefecture heard that Zhao Qian had committed suicide and apologized, no one mourned. Instead, they went home. Ba Zhi was ashamed of it. However, after they returned home, they said goodbye to their relatives and wives and gathered in front of the prefecture.
, thirteen people committed suicide one after another and left with Zhao Qian. When Ba Zhi heard about it, he rushed to the house, but he saw about ten people lying in a pool of blood, and no one was afraid to run away.
Ba Zhi cried loudly and said, "How can we kill many righteous people in one day?"
The grieved soldiers of Donghai County went to Qu County angrily.
The sleeping county magistrate Chen Yu was caught by the soldiers and beaten severely. Chen Yu could not bear the humiliation and committed suicide by hitting the wall.
Then came the Mi family.
The head of the family, Mi Shun, was lighting a lamp and reading at night in the mansion. Suddenly, a servant reported that the county magistrate Chen Yu came to see him. Mi Shun was shocked and thought there was something important. He immediately got up, changed his clothes, and drove to the gate with a few people.
The slaves immediately opened the door, and just as Mi Shun was about to step forward to salute, he saw numerous soldiers suddenly appearing outside the door, swarming in with swords in hand and subduing Mi Shun. Many slaves resisted and were all killed!
Mi Shun was shocked and looked up into the distance. Ba Zhi walked in slowly, staring at Mi Shun in front of him with an angry expression. Mi Shun exclaimed: "I don't know why I offended you, but I hope you can tell me!"
", Ba Qi looked at him coldly, then looked at the luxurious decorations around him, and sneered: "How could you, force me to kill a dozen of my righteous men?!"
"What an injustice. I have always been loyal and good. I have never done any evil, let alone kill anyone!" Mi Shun shouted with his eyes widened.
However, Ba Qi did not listen to his excuse and directly ordered everyone in the Mi family to be captured. Anyone who dared to resist would be killed without mercy. However, things did not go very smoothly. There were many slaves in the Mi family, and they actually hid sharp weapons, bows and crossbows, and fought with the soldiers.
They started fighting in the mansion, but they did not lose. Seeing this situation, Ba Qi became even more angry, and his eyes towards Mi Shun became colder and colder.
Mi Shun quickly shouted: "Don't resist! There must be some misunderstanding here. Everyone, surrender to me!" He also ordered several slaves to shout, and the slaves shouted in the mansion. Those slaves just threw down their weapons.
, surrendered one after another, Mi Shun was trembling all over, and he probably understood the reason in his heart, but he did not expect that the matter that he had covered up so secretly was still leaked.
Even if the emperor learned about this matter, it would only be his own death. The Mi family would suffer heavy losses, and it would not be enough to wipe out the clan. But if he resisted the county soldiers, then the people sent by the temple would not be the county soldiers.
If the Northern and Southern armies are sent in, will anyone in the Mi family be left alive?