Chapter 310: Enough Has Been Done
They underestimated Xie Wanniang's cunning and methods. They never expected that she would be able to leave all the Tatar spies behind. Naturally, they were also unprepared for the Zhenbei Army to follow the clues and find out the many suspicious things that happened during the process of those people successfully arriving in Baoding Prefecture.
Now, not only has the Zhenbei Army captured the other spies that those spies have implicated, but Marquis Dingbei Chang Hongchuan has also submitted a memorial to the court, sharply impeaching certain checkpoints along the way that deliberately allowed suspicious spies to travel to Baoding Prefecture.
He did not accuse the other party of treason, but rather impeached him for dereliction of duty in a more conservative manner.
After all, treason is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family. Without solid evidence, even if Marquis Dingbei Chang Hongchuan disliked those people for being incompetent and neglecting their duties for personal gain, he wouldn't immediately accuse them of such a serious crime that would make them experience the pain of having nine generations of their family wiped out.
Even if he were to deduct the money, the other party would never willingly admit to the crime. Just considering his position, it would be inappropriate for him to act too aggressively.
Even so, those people will definitely not get away with it.
After all, not only is the northern border suffering from both drought and war, but other parts of the Great Wei are also experiencing minor disasters and troubles.
Most importantly, because the Tatars have launched a large-scale southward invasion, other ethnic groups in the Northeast, Northwest, Southwest, and Southeast are also showing signs of restlessness. The emperor is currently overwhelmed with problems and his patience is running out.
Anyone who causes trouble at such a time is destined to be made an example of by the emperor.
Although those people were merely "negligent in their duties," in this special period, "negligent in their duties" is enough to get them dismissed from their posts.
If they are found to have other problems later, it is not impossible for them to be sentenced to confiscation of their property and exile.
Those people were originally Jiang Tong's old subordinates. They turned a blind eye to the Tatar spies entering Baoding Prefecture, which was ultimately due to Jiang Tong's prior instruction.
Now that something has happened, they certainly wouldn't be so kind as to sacrifice themselves to protect Jiang Tong.
Although they dared not directly implicate Jiang Tong in order to avoid their charges changing from "dereliction of duty" to "treason," they were still able to send servants and guards to Jiang Tong for help, subtly threatening him to protect them.
As a result, Jiang Tong lost his appetite and couldn't sleep at night. He was extremely anxious every day, but he couldn't just lie down and resign himself to fate.
After all, if he really does nothing, who knows what those people might do.
In order to avoid being dragged down, he could only use the pretext of taking care of his old subordinates to do favors and pull strings everywhere.
Although the case was of great importance to the emperor, and those in charge of the trial dared not embezzle or break the law, within the bounds of the rules, they still did not mind showing Jiang Tong some leniency because of the generous gifts.
As for Jiang Tong's old subordinates who were imprisoned, seeing that he was indeed working hard for them, their complaints against him naturally decreased.
Furthermore, when their families were granted permission to visit, they recounted how Jiang Tong had taken good care of them during their time in the capital, and the last remaining resentment his old subordinates held towards Jiang Tong dissipated.
Although this incident was instigated by Jiang Tong, it wasn't that they themselves had never done similar things before.
They've done similar things before, for money or to curry favor.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have agreed to help Jiang Tong so readily in the first place.
In the end, the reason they were exposed was simply because the old saying, "If you walk by the river long enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet," came true.
Jiang Tong worked hard and finally managed to keep his old subordinates in check. However, his every move had already been secretly reported to His Majesty the Emperor of Great Wei.
Given the current special circumstances, it was not a good time for him to retaliate against Jiang Tong, and Jiang Tong's crimes were not serious enough. Therefore, the emperor concealed the matter and waited for Jiang Tong to continue accumulating crimes.
As for Xie Wanniang, who has once again made great contributions, the emperor now truly favors her.
After she finished fishing, she began arranging for the guards to settle the payments with the spies they had hired.
Following her instructions, the guards gave those people additional benefits on top of the agreed-upon reward.
Everyone else received silver coins, but the little beggars received winter clothes and fried rice.
After giving them the supplies, the guards kindly advised them, "Before winter comes, gather as much firewood as possible and hide it in the abandoned house or dilapidated temple where you usually stay. That way, when it gets cold, you can start a fire to keep warm."
The little beggars nodded vigorously. They would have done so even without the guards saying so, otherwise, given the extreme cold of Baoding Prefecture, they would never have survived the winter.
They did the same thing in previous years, but back then they were small and weak, and most of what they begged for and the firewood they collected were taken away by the big beggars.
Unlike this year, they not only found work, but their employers also taught them skills that enabled them to better protect themselves and the things they depended on for survival, while also saving up for food and having winter clothes.
The little beggars felt that this year they would not lose their companions one after another due to hunger and cold, as they had in previous years.
After sending away the cheerful spies, Xie Wanniang's guards returned to the estate one after another.
Because of sufficient military equipment, and because the blueprints presented by Xie Wanniang have been gradually transformed into new weapons, the Zhenbei Army did not suffer much more in this battle than in previous battles.
Even so, due to the protracted nature of the war, the Zhenbei Army still suffered heavy losses.
Every time Marquis Dingbei Chang Hongchuan saw the compiled casualty figures, he wished he could personally step in and help those craftsmen make that new type of weapon that could explode in large numbers.
He waited anxiously, and finally, when the disaster-stricken area received its fourth rain, he received the good news he had been longing for.
"My lord, that's enough! The amount is enough! We can send the goods to Zijing Pass now!" His trusted subordinate, who had been supervising the work for several months, finally stopped wearing a serious expression after closing the study door and having people closely guarding the outside.
He stared at his lord with immense joy and excitement, "My lord, please entrust this task to me. No one knows the transportation and usage of those items better than me."
Marquis Dingbei, Chang Hongchuan, was also very excited. After a moment's thought, he agreed to his subordinate's request. However, he did not just send the other party over; instead, he personally accompanied the team escorting these items and made a trip to Zijing Pass.
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