Chapter 117 The so-called truth, did you understand?!
"His Majesty……"
Just as Langxi's figure disappeared outside the palace gate, Yang Du handed the memorial he had finished reading to a few people around him for circulation, interrupting the thoughts of the person seated.
The incense smoke curled upwards from the censer, and the eunuchs and palace maids standing on both sides bowed their heads and held their breath. Feng Changshi, who was good at reading people's expressions, glanced at Zhao Yunfu's expression out of the corner of his eye and quietly raised his hand to dismiss the other superfluous people.
In the blink of an eye, only Yang Du and a few civil officials remained in the entire pavilion.
These ministers were not all from humble backgrounds; there were also Wang Situ, Chen Boxia, the Imperial Censor, and emerging prominent families like the Nie family. Nie Lanting's uncle, Nie Yuzi, the Attendant-in-Ordinary of the Secretariat, was also among them.
Zhao Yunfu's gaze remained fixed on the direction of the palace gate where Langxi had disappeared, and he did not respond.
Yang Du exchanged glances with several other important officials, stepped forward, and was about to continue his remarks.
"Yang Zhongshu..."
The person who had been silent suddenly spoke, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger, but carrying a heavy sense of oppression.
"You've read the memorial; the banditry in Ding, Liang, and Xia prefectures has escalated to the point where they dare to raise the banner of 'purging the emperor's inner circle.' I am rather curious..."
Zhao Yunfu had a pair of deep, pool-like eyes. He swept his gaze over every high-ranking official with his head bowed below, his eyes sharp and scrutinizing everyone.
"I am curious, where did these bandits come from?"
"As far as I know, the annual reports from these three prefectures all report on clean governance and peaceful territory. Yet this year, the son of the Prince of Yan and the magistrate of Huaiyuan County have been accused of treason and greed. After the flood in Jincheng Prefecture, the reports all stated that 'the people are living in peace and prosperity' and 'production has gradually resumed.' How long has it been? How could war have broken out overnight, with millions of people suffering? I truly cannot understand. Could these bandits have truly fallen from the sky?"
"So many bandits, tell me, where did they come from?" Zhao Yunfu paused, his voice rising at the end, the chilling aura emanating from him: "Hmm?"
The atmosphere inside the hall suddenly froze, becoming eerily still.
Wang Situ Wang Chang and Chen Boxia looked at each other, seemingly lost in thought, and chose to remain silent.
At this moment, Yang Du, holding a jade tablet, bowed again.
His voice was calm and clear as he slowly revealed the words hidden in his heart:
"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Your Majesty's concern for the people's suffering has deeply alarmed my colleagues and me. Indeed, this matter is quite strange. Logically speaking, if the people's livelihood is truly as peaceful as reported, there is no reason for banditry to suddenly arise. As for the Taoist priest's testimony just now, I dare not say that every word she said is true, but I did notice a few points that Your Majesty and I should investigate carefully."
Yang Du spoke with reason and evidence, in a calm and unhurried manner: "In Shen Daoren's memorials, he repeatedly mentioned that banditry often arose after the floods in Jincheng County. The timing of this event cannot be ignored. After a natural disaster, people's livelihoods are most devastated. If relief and resettlement are not provided adequately, the displaced people will easily become hostile. This is a lesson learned from history."
"This old minister noticed that in the memorial submitted by the Daoist Shen, as well as in his oral account just now, he stated that Jincheng County suffered from 'severe flooding due to torrential rains, with rivers overflowing.' However, when Li Xing, the Imperial Attendant, returned from Jincheng County to report to the court, he clearly stated that Jincheng County had encountered the disaster of 'the Yellow River breaching its banks.' The two accounts are completely different. Is the former spreading misinformation, or... is the actual situation in Jincheng County different from what the Imperial Attendant Li reported, exaggerating a minor disaster into a major one?"
After speaking, Yang Du paused, raised his gaze slightly, and saw that Zhao Yunfu's face was extremely ugly.
He paused slightly, but did not stop his deduction:
"There's another layer that this old minister still can't understand. If Jincheng County had really just suffered from a common rainstorm disaster, with the grain and salary that the court allocated so quickly at the time, plus Lord Li personally overseeing the disaster relief efforts, all the arrangements would have been sufficient to properly appease the victims, preventing some of them from being forced to become outlaws, and certainly not allowing this little disturbance to escalate into the rampant banditry that has now spread across the three prefectures."
He said meaningfully, "The crux of the matter is probably more complicated than what we see now."
Next, he connected several doubts, weaving the scattered clues into a well-organized deduction: "Therefore, this old minister dares to speculate that the sudden outbreak of banditry in the three prefectures is probably not due to natural disasters, but to human affairs. The source of this chaos is most likely related to the truth of the flood in Jincheng County, and even more so to how much of the relief and resettlement regulations allocated by the court after the disaster have been implemented in the local areas."
"Li Huangmen was entrusted by the Emperor to oversee all disaster relief efforts in Jincheng County. Upon his return to court, he reported a scene of 'peace and prosperity for the people,' which I remember vividly. However, the current state of the three prefectures, rife with chaos and bandits, is not only far removed from what he described, but is worlds apart. Is there something... missing? I am too dull to figure it out. But if Your Majesty wishes to investigate the true origin of the bandits, I fear you must start here to see the root of the problem."
Ultimately, pointing out the shady dealings behind the disaster was something Yang Du had already prepared for in his mind.
He had learned of the unusual disaster situation in Jincheng County a few days prior through a private letter to Huan Xun.
Unlike others who feared retaliation from the aristocratic families, Li Xing's actions of deceiving the emperor and causing immense suffering to the people would naturally draw the ire of the emperor towards Li Xing.
After Yang Du finished his reasoned argument, Nie Yuzi, who was standing in front of him, echoed him, his tone indignant: "Your Majesty! What Yang Zhongshu said is incisive and to the point. The difference between breaching the dike and overflowing is as vast as the difference between clouds and mud. If Li Huangmen was in charge of the disaster relief at the time, and he failed to even find out the extent of the disaster, or found out but failed to report it truthfully, his responsibility is heavy."
"If Jincheng County were truly only suffering from severe flooding, rather than the Yellow River bursting its banks, then the grain and money allocated for the disaster would be sufficient. However, the current situation is that the disaster victims are not receiving adequate relief and are being driven to the brink of despair, leading to today's calamity. Isn't that a logical consequence?"
Nie Yuzi prostrated himself on the ground and pleaded, "Your Majesty, I humbly beg you, this matter concerns the livelihood of the people of the three prefectures and the credibility of the court. It must not be taken lightly. It must be thoroughly investigated to the end, to give the people the truth, and to restore order to the court!"
As he took the lead, an official also bowed and said, "Your Majesty, natural disasters are not to be feared. What is to be feared is the trouble caused by man-made disasters. The root of the problem lies in the matter of relief and appeasement. At that time, Li Huangmen was in full charge and cannot escape blame no matter what!"
Nie Yuzi, who spoke up in agreement, and the officials behind him were all people who did not have deep ties with the aristocratic families.
As soon as they finished speaking, Wang Chang and Chen Boxia's expressions darkened.
The Li family was unaware of Li Xing's actions. Apart from Dingzhou, the other two prefectures, Liang and Xia, belonged to the Longxi area and were the territory of the Li family clan, so they couldn't interfere.
Although they did not know the truth, Wang Chang and Yang Du both served as officials in three different dynasties, and their seniority was comparable.
His years of experience as an official made it easy for him to see from the memorials that Li Xing was definitely covering up the truth about the natural disaster.
With the war on the frontier still raging, the emperor would never allow internal strife to occur. If this matter is thoroughly investigated and the evidence is conclusive, the Li family will certainly be held accountable.
Wang Chang thought differently from Gao Chou; he cared deeply about whether the world belonged to the Zhao or the Xiao family.
In Beiye, there are powerful aristocratic families like them, and in Nanyin, there are also key ministers of the Xiao royal family. He has met Xiao Daozun, and he knows that this man would not easily tolerate outsiders like them.
Moreover, given the current situation, the Wang family is the head of the aristocratic clans, their daughter is the empress, and their grandson is the future emperor. From any perspective, they should protect Beiye and prevent internal strife from affecting the stability of the court.
Chen Boxia glanced at Wang Chang discreetly, his eyes seeming to ask him whether he wanted to get involved in Li Xing's affair.
But Wang Chang never looked at him; he just stared at the ground.
After listening to everyone's words, Zhao Yunfu, sitting on the throne, remained silent for a long time.
"Torrential rains caused disasters, the Yellow River breached its banks..." He repeated these two sentences in a low voice, "What a wonderful promise of people's livelihood and well-being, what a wonderful promise of gradual recovery."
Before he could finish speaking, the anger that had been building up in his eyes suddenly erupted. He slammed his hand heavily on the hard imperial desk, causing the writing brushes and inkstones on the desk to splatter with black spots.
The loud noise startled everyone in the hall, who dared not utter a sound and stared down at the ground.
“You all think I’m easy to fool, daring to tell such a colossal lie. You think that because you hold power and have a powerful network of backers, you can do whatever you want right under my nose.”
He stood up abruptly, his previous suppressed calm vanished, and he strode to the desk in a fit of rage.
"Do you really have to wait until you've completely ruined and destroyed the entire land of Beiye, until I, the Son of Heaven, am dead, before you feel at ease and satisfied?"
The final roar, like a mountain pressing down, was the culmination of all the emperor's pent-up suspicions, anger, and murderous intent.
Almost simultaneously, everyone present knelt heavily on the ground:
"We deserve to die a thousand deaths! Please, Your Majesty, calm your anger!"
"We dare not! Please, Your Majesty, calm your anger!"
Zhao Yunfu's anger remained unabated: "If the truth of this matter is wrong and it was caused by human error, I will not forgive it. Every single one of them will be beheaded and their entire family exterminated!"
His furious outburst echoed through the hall, and none of the officials dared to raise their heads to look directly at the emperor's face, their expressions tense. Only Chang Yushan, the Grand Eunuch in charge of the Imperial Horse Stables, remained calm.
"Chang Yushan!" Zhao Yunfu paced back and forth in front of the desk, shouting angrily.
Chang Yushan crawled forward on his knees and said, "Your subordinate is here."
Zhao Yunfu's voice resounded throughout the entire Dongguan Pavilion: "I entrust this matter to you, the Imperial Horse Administration, for personal investigation!"
"You shall immediately select capable men and lead ten thousand White Guards to the three prefectures to thoroughly investigate for me. Investigate the true situation of the banditry, and at the same time, you must wipe out all these thieves. You must also investigate the truth behind the flood in Jincheng Prefecture, whether it was due to torrential rain or a breach in the dike. Investigate every inch of these matters for me, and find out who actually ate the relief funds!"
"Your subject obeys the decree." Having received the order, Chang Yushan immediately withdrew and set off for the three prefectures of Ding, Xia, and Liang.
Then Zhao Yunfu instructed Yang Du and Nie Lanting: "Yang Du, Nie Yuzi, listen to my orders."
"Your subject is present."
"Your subject is present."
"I hereby order you two to conduct a full investigation into this matter. You need not follow any departmental rules. You may access all relevant files and archives, whether from the Secretariat, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, or the relevant prefectures and counties. You must not obstruct or delay for any reason. You have the right to summon, question, and even detain all officials involved, regardless of their rank. In case of emergency, you may make decisions on the spot without having to report to me for every matter. Just deal with it first and then report back to me afterward."
"I only want two things: the truth and the result."
"You two must investigate this thoroughly, thoroughly, no matter who it leads to, even if they are imperial relatives or noble families. You must investigate to the end and show no leniency whatsoever! I want to see with my own eyes who has the audacity to try to undermine my empire right under my nose."
Zhao Yunfu lowered his voice: "Did you understand?!"
Yang Du and Nie Yuzi bowed: "Your subjects... will respectfully obey Your Majesty's decree."
Having said all he could say, Zhao Yunfu waved them away, leaving only Wang Chang and Chen Boxia behind.
Then, he ordered Attendant Feng: "Send someone to call Li Xing over here!"
Feng Changshi hurriedly replied, "This servant obeys the order."
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