Now, the torrential rain cannot stop them.
They rode their horses amidst the thunder, their imposing figures appearing even taller and more majestic in the lightning.
In the middle of the night, Lei Fangzhou was still sitting in the lobby drinking tea, unable to sleep.
He himself couldn't explain his feelings. He had given away 50,000 strings of cash in one go, so at least he wouldn't have to stay in the town prison anymore. Going to another place to become a county magistrate would be no problem at all.
Logically, he should be happy, but he couldn't feel happy at all.
He knew he wasn't used to Wang Quan's rough methods.
However, judging from his life experience, he will get used to it quickly, and once he gets used to it, it won't be a big deal.
Everything takes time.
He had just finished a cup of tea when the door was kicked open.
Some people wearing straw raincoats walked in, ignoring the guards outside, as if they were in an empty place.
Before he even arrived, his voice rang out: "Lei Fangzhou, I am Xiao Jiangwei, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial City Guard of Jiangling Prefecture. I have come here to investigate a case on the Emperor's orders!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than the person entered.
One of the guards tried to stop them, but was kicked away and rolled around in the puddle.
After Xiao Jiangwei came in, he took off his straw hat and poured himself some tea.
When Lei Fangzhou heard that the visitor was the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial City Guard of Jiangling Prefecture, he was so frightened that he knelt on the ground.
How could a lowly official like myself have alarmed such a big shot as the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial City Guard?
Lei Fangzhou was momentarily stunned.
"This humble official...this humble official greets the Commander-in-Chief!"
“Lei Fangzhou, you don’t need to kneel. Stand up and speak.”
Lei Fangzhou struggled to his feet, his legs trembling.
"I wonder what brings you here so late at night, sir? What are your instructions?"
"Tell me, what were you doing at the ferry crossing today?"
Lei Fangzhou was startled, his legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground again.
“This…” Lei Fangzhou’s mind went blank.
"This humble official...this humble official has been at the government office all day..."
Xiao Jiangwei said sternly, "Lei Fangzhou, you have never committed any major crimes. If you tell the truth today, I will be lenient with you!"
boom……
A clap of thunder outside startled Lei Fangzhou, bringing him back to his senses.
It's likely that the Imperial City Guard had spies within his ranks.
"Reporting to my superior, I went to find Wang Quan...I went to find Wang Quan!"
"What brings you to see Wang Quan?"
Lei Fangzhou's mind raced: "Two women came to me today to file a complaint. They are both from Zhoujia Village. Cui Sanniang's son, Zhou Qi, was hacked to death at the ferry. She said... she said it was... Wang Quan who ordered her son to be killed!"
"So...so I took them there to verify the facts, but...but..."
Xiao Jiangwei suddenly smashed the teacup on the ground, shattering it: "But Wang Quan killed them!"
Lei Fangzhou was so frightened that he knelt on the ground again: "Sir, this matter has nothing to do with me. It was Wang Quan who did this!"
Xiao Jiangwei's eyes were as cold as ice. He said coldly, "Do you still have the statements from those two women?"
Lei Fangzhou was slightly taken aback, then said, "Yes, yes, yes, it's right here with me!"
Lei Fangzhou quickly found the transcripts of what Cui Sanniang and Huang Xiaoniang had said and handed them over to Xiao Jiangwei.
In the latter half of the night, the rain intensified, accompanied by continuous thunder.
Xiao Jiangwei led a total of more than one hundred Imperial Guards across the river.
Before going, he sent his confidant to the residence of the major general of the Central Army stationed in Jiangling Prefecture to request an audience with Yue Fei.
Currently, there are 50,000 Xiang Army soldiers in Jiangling Prefecture, of which 30,000 are He Yuanshan's men.
Jiangling Prefecture is located in the center of China and is a vital transportation hub connecting the east, west, north, and south. The main function of these local militia is transportation.
Naturally, it was under the jurisdiction of the Transport Commissioner. Since Jiangling Prefecture was not a border area, there was no position of Military Commissioner, so the Transport Commissioner held the highest position.
The Jinghu Road is currently divided into two major factions: one is the Transport Commissioner He Yuanshan, and the other is the Prefect of Jiangling Prefecture Luo Cong.
He Yuanshan was a man who survived the era of Cai Jing. He was a cunning and shrewd old fox who was best at controlling the political climate of the court. Even during the most turbulent times, he remained unscathed.
In the first year of the Jingkang era, Tang Weilin, the prefect of Jiangling Prefecture at the time, participated in the anti-new policies movement, implicating more than a thousand officials, but He Yuanshan was not found to have any problems.
It is said that the first thing he did every morning was to recite the emperor's new policies and then emphasize them to his subordinates.
However, the accounts of Jiangling Prefecture have never been settled in recent years.
Every year, officials of all ranks are exposed for corruption, but these crimes have nothing to do with He Yuanshan.
In order to stabilize the overall situation in Jiangling Prefecture and to ensure that the new policies were implemented in Jiangling Prefecture as soon as possible, the Council of State Affairs did not move He Yuanshan when assigning personnel, and instead placed the new-faction Luo Cong in Jiangling Prefecture.
The most intriguing thing is that during the southern rebellion, in order to prevent unrest in Jiangling Prefecture, the emperor secretly arranged for the Shenwu Army of the central army to be stationed in Jiangling Prefecture.
During peacetime, Yue Fei was in Jiangling Prefecture.
His role was to keep the old faction in check.
As the years passed, Yue Fei's military achievements grew, and the prestige of Jiangling Prefecture also increased.
The presence of the Central Army in Jiangling Prefecture created a unique situation, and it can be said that the Central Army played an indispensable role in the peace and tranquility of recent years.
Xiao Jiangwei walked forward in the rain. Since the drought began, Jiangling Prefecture, which had been peaceful for a long time, was no longer peaceful.
Grain from all directions was being transported here in droves, and the small gaps that existed on ordinary days suddenly became uncontrollably large.
Those who benefited from that chain of interests have now revealed their greedy nature, and the person at the very top seems to be losing control of the situation.
At this point, the flaws were already fully exposed.
At least, the Imperial City Guard has gathered more information during this period than it has in the past few years.
There is already a lot of evidence pointing to Liu Yuan, the commander of the Xiang Army.
One of the cases involving the embezzlement of grain even implicated Deng Yue, the Supervising Judge of the Ministry of Justice.
Such a significant case requires the assistance of the Divine Martial Army!
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