Chapter 108: The Thief Cries "Catch the Thief"

Zhao Xiaokun instructed Fang Xinyu to spread the news that the strange hero Yizhimei had been beheaded by Fang Xinyu, the chief constable of Jiangyin County. Ten thousand taels of silver were confiscated, and his head was sent to Zhenjiang. It was a brilliant play of the thief crying "stop thief!", directed by Zhao Xiaokun and starring Fang Xinyu, and thus the greatest case of the late Ming Dynasty was solved. In reality, the murdered man was a pirate, whom Fang Xinyu had trained with his militia on.

Jiangyin County's jail held numerous pirates, and several of the leading figures had been executed. To save their lives, the other underlings, some of whom were in command, admitted that their fellow bandits had organized a martial arts alliance. Their own leader had joined the alliance, and they collectively called themselves the Strange Hero Yizhimei. The confessions were obtained and compiled into a report and sent to Zhenjiang.

Yingtian Governor Zheng Xuan was astonished! Such a major case, one that none of the prefectures and counties had the ability to solve, was solved by Jiangyin County alone. This made him look up to Zhao Xiaokun. Like Zhou Yuntian, he looked down on officials who didn't pass the imperial examinations. He also heard that Zhao Xiaokun was the older brother of the consort Zhao Xiaofei, which further disdained him. As long as the Jiangyin people didn't see an uproar, he didn't bother to intervene.

However, it seems that Zhao Xiaokun is quite capable. He immediately asked Zhao Xiaokun to send the pirates to Zhenjiang Prefecture, and he wanted to interrogate them personally. Zhao Xiaokun received the letter and immediately replied, promising to send someone to send the pirates there.

However, on the way to the scene, he staged another self-directed and self-acted robbery of a criminal. Moreover, it was seen by passing merchants. Zhao Xiaokun personally went to Zhenjiang to explain the situation to the governor.

"Sir Zheng! We encountered a group of pirates on the road, and they planned to kidnap these prisoners. I was afraid that these people would be kidnapped and cause a big case, so I killed them all! This is the confession from the previous interrogation, please take a look, Sir Zheng!" Zhao Xiaokun handed the confession to Zheng Xuan respectfully.

Zheng Xuan took the confession, glanced at it, and said, "You did a good job! If we let them escape, Jiangnan would be in panic. This time you have made a contribution, and I will report this to the emperor."

"Thank you for your support, sir!" said Zhao Xiaokun.

"Send the remaining two ounces of silver here immediately. I will deposit them into the national treasury!" Zheng Xuan said.

"Sir! Shouldn't the money be returned to the victims? Why should it be sent to the national treasury?" Zhao Xiaokun asked.

"You have only been in my Ming Dynasty for a short time and are not familiar with the situation there. If I want to return the silver to the victim, how can I return such a small amount of silver? Don't forget that the amount of silver reported is as high as more than 1 million taels. How do we divide this amount of silver? No one will be satisfied if we give less to them. It is better to send it to the national treasury and tell them that this matter has alarmed the court. The court ordered that the dirty silver be escorted to the capital and handed over to the court for processing. By then, no one will bother us, and the court will not make things difficult for us even if it gets the benefit." Zheng Xuan said.

"Thank you for your advice!" Zhao Xiaokun said. He thought to himself, we only received more than 800,000 taels of silver, how could we have received more than 1 million taels of silver?

"The Captain Fang next to you is a talented person. Are you willing to give him up?" Zheng Xuan said.

"This...Sir, my Jiangyin County cannot do without him! I have just arrived in Jiangyin and I need a lot of help from many people. So..." Zhao Xiaokun said.

"I'm just asking. No problem! But you can give him an official position, and make him a loyal and brave captain!" Zheng Xuan said.

"I understand! Thank you for your consideration!" Zhao Xiaokun said. Zheng Xuan took a sip of tea, and Zhao Xiaokun understood that this meant he was sending the guests off. So he left the governor's office.

The memorial was sent to the capital, and Chongzhen stumbled upon it. He spent most of his time reading memorials on banditry, so minor local cases like these were usually lumped together. One day, Chongzhen accidentally knocked over the memorials, and one fell. He picked it up and examined it. He discovered it was from Zheng Xuan of Yingtian Prefecture, reporting the destruction of the strange hero Yizhimei organization. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was handled by Zhao Xiaokun, who had been in office for less than a year.

Chongzhen thought, it seems Zhao Xiaofei's family is full of talented people! Zhao Xiaofei guarded Gongji County, and his elder brother caught bandits. He is truly a man of both civil and military talents! Why not give him a promotion and see what he can do?

So he called Zhao Xiaofei, who was busy sending the gold back to the modern era. When he heard the imperial edict asking him to go to the palace, he rushed to the Forbidden City without saying a word.

In the Yangxin Palace, Chongzhen said, "Your elder brother did something wrong in Jiangyin County, but in just a few days he solved a major case! How about I promote him and let him go to Nanjing to be a Tongpan (Tongpan) in charge of the criminal justice system?"

Zhao Xiaofei thought, what do you mean by asking me about promoting my brother? It's not up to you to decide where he should go. But he should stay in Jiangyin first! It would be great if I could promote my eldest brother myself when I get to Nanjing. So he said, "Your Majesty! My eldest brother and I have just been in Ming Dynasty for a short time and are not familiar with many things. Please let him stay in Jiangyin for a while longer and get familiar with local government affairs. Don't promote him too quickly just because he has made some contributions occasionally. It's not good for him to grow too fast!"

"You and your elder brother are both loyal ministers! Others would be extremely happy if they heard that they were promoted, but you, on the other hand, are stopping them! I feel so relieved!" Chongzhen said.

Zhao Xiaofei thought to himself: You called me here for such a small matter? I might as well get some sleep at home or spend more time with my wife!

"Let me ask you! What is the current epidemic situation? How many people have died around the capital?" Chongzhen asked.

"Your Majesty! There is basically no need to control the situation outside the city. Almost all the dead are dead. Those who are still alive will not be able to survive. There are now 100,000 people dead in the city, and some people have moved away. There are only 800,000 people left in the capital now." Zhao Xiaofei said.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!