The capital is always the place where news spreads the fastest, and this is no exception in Daqin.
As soon as Fang was taken to the imperial prison by the Embroidered Uniform Guards, every family in the capital knew about it.
The first reaction of the wealthy families was:
"What? Remnants of the Cui family, rebels? This is impossible!"
"Lord Rui was a great scholar at the time, and the Fang family was a powerful family in the capital. How could they possibly be colluding with the likes of Cui's relatives?"
"This must be the emperor's revenge!"
"Humph, if you want to accuse someone of something, you'll always find a pretext!"
"I want to redress the injustice done to Lord Rui!"
Some people even openly expressed their intention to submit a petition to make suggestions.
"Although Lord Rui offended the Emperor a few days ago when he arrived in Beijing, as the Son of Heaven, he shouldn't be so narrow-minded and fabricate charges to frame wise men. This is not the behavior of a wise ruler!"
But more people were caught off guard and even a little frightened.
Because shortly after the emperor took down the Fang family, he issued another edict, which reprimanded the court judge for not strictly investigating the remnants of the Cui family. The edict clearly stated that there were more than just the Fang family members who had escaped the investigation of the Cui family.
As soon as this decree was issued, those who said they would write a letter to Fang Ruiyao to express their grievances fell silent.
Because the emperor's meaning was very clear. His reprimand to the Chief Justice was fake, and his real intention was undoubtedly to tell those who wanted to jump.
Jump, just jump!
Whoever jumps is an accomplice!
So the righteous and passionate scholar and famous figure in the capital city who was there just a second ago.
The next second they all fell asleep.
Because they knew very well that the Cui family's case was a collusion.
The Cui family has been in the capital for so many years, who dares to say that there is no connection at all.
Just like Fang.
You said you didn't believe Fang and Cui Cen were colluding.
Well then, tell me clearly, was Cuiping Mountain the property of the Fang family before?
Did Cui Cen and his gang raise private soldiers in Cuiping Mountain?
On this point, let’s not talk about collusion.
At the very least, you can't get away with concealing the truth.
If you insist that Fang knows nothing, I'm afraid many people themselves won't believe it.
But then again.
The Cui family was all-powerful at the time. Even if Fang knew about it, she could report it to whom.
Should I report this to Cui Cen?
But this kind of words can only be said behind the scenes, but cannot be said in public.
What was even more unexpected to the wealthy and powerful families was that the Jinyiwei later actually obtained evidence of collusion between the Fang and Cui rebel groups.
Although he did not collude directly with Cui Cen, he colluded with the former Pingyang Magistrate, who also secretly trained hundreds of elite soldiers, and most of these people were tenants of the Fang family, or even from side branches.
The person who acted as the liaison was a constable from the Pingyang County government office, who was also a relative of the Fang family.
Now there is both human and physical evidence.
And the person who figured out all this was Fang's disciple, the current county magistrate of Pingyang County.
Upon hearing the news, all the wealthy families and great scholars in the capital were as disgusted as if they had eaten a fly.
This is indeed very disgusting for the aristocratic families.
Because the system of disciples and patrons can be said to be one of the fundamentals for maintaining the privileges of wealthy and aristocratic families.
Therefore, in the current value system, it is undoubtedly the most immoral and despicable thing for a disciple to betray his benefactor.
But once morality is broken, the difference is always between zero and N times.
Once there is a first time, there will definitely be a second time, a third time, and then countless times.
This is like the Three Kingdoms era in another time and space, when Lu Bu was ridiculed as a slave of three surnames, and even Zhang Fei, a pig butcher, looked down on him.
But by the Northern and Southern Dynasties, just a few years had passed and this kind of thing had become commonplace.
Especially when the first person to try something new reaps the benefits, others will definitely follow suit.
Therefore, Zhao Xin immediately gave great praise to the county magistrate named Li Kuanchen.
And they gave him a high-sounding title, called "sacrifice small righteousness for the greater righteousness."
The wealthy and powerful families, on the other hand, did not hesitate to criticize Li Kuanchen!
But after all, there is nothing to say, it's just something like a slave who betrays his master.
Compared with slogans like "sacrifice small righteousness for the greater good", it is far inferior.
Of course, in terms of market acceptance, the latter is still higher.
After all, the inertia of values cannot be changed all at once.
As the person involved, Li Kuanchen was undoubtedly depressed.
I swear to God, he really didn't think of asking Zhang Xiaoshi to confess all that nonsense.
But it was already done.
What else could he do?
What's more, he himself is not a strong-willed person.
After being scolded again and again, he gradually became desperate.
When he was scolded at first, he felt ashamed and even wanted to resign.
But after being scolded so many times, and those people completely ignoring his explanations, his temper couldn't help but be aroused.
"What the hell did I do to you? You're asking for trouble by colluding with the rebels. I didn't force you to do that."
"I just accidentally found some evidence of the Fang family's crimes. If the Fang family hadn't committed any crimes, would they have this evidence?"
"You don't know how to keep yourselves clean, but you blame me instead!"
As a result, his previous shame instantly turned into anger.
In comparison, he was deeply moved by the emperor's personal commendation.
"As expected of the Son of Heaven, you are truly wise and sage. What you said makes so much sense: Heaven, Earth, the Emperor, Parents, and Teachers. The Emperor comes only after Heaven and Earth.
Loyalty to the emperor is naturally more important than serving one's parents, and serving one's parents is naturally more important than respecting one's teachers."
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