A few days later.
The official documents of the Constitutional Council and Zhao Zhen's personal letters were sent to Bozhou.
At this time, Zhao Jun had been in Bozhou for half a month.
He was slow in sending official documents. Firstly, traveling from Huainan to Bianliang required sailing against the current, so it was normal that the speed was slow.
Secondly, he deliberately released the news slowly, waiting until the dust settled and the evidence was confirmed before he passed all the news back to Bianliang and directly convicted these officials.
However, the message from Bianliang was transmitted to Bozhou very quickly, mainly because the boats sailed south from Bianliang, which was smooth sailing and naturally much faster.
As he appeared in Bozhou, the news spread quickly and all the officials in Huainan East Road knew of his arrival. For a time, the Huainan officialdom was shaken and uneasy.
Zhao Jun actually didn't want to reveal his identity so early because he mainly wanted to investigate the consequences of the drought in Huainan in the past two years.
See whether the government has properly resettled the victims and whether any corrupt officials have embezzled disaster relief funds.
As a result, because Guo Chengyou's affairs were exposed in advance, other officials in Huainan would definitely prepare for the response early, and it would be difficult to investigate and crack down on corruption at that time.
But it has to be done even if it is difficult.
At least for now, the officialdom in Bozhou has been cleaned up, and Shao Jingxian, the Tongpan of Bozhou, has been appointed as the acting prefect to stabilize the people's livelihood in Bozhou.
After the crackdown on corruption, another wave of anti-gangster and evil storms came. Any landlords in Bozhou who colluded with the government, oppressed the people and seized their land would be punished and their land would be returned immediately.
Strictly speaking, the number of such landlords in the entire Song Dynasty was not large, thanks to the large number of officials. If ordinary landlords did not have relatives in official circles as a communication channel like the Wang family, it would be difficult for them to quickly establish good relationships with local officials.
Even if they want to collude with the government, they often collude with local officials, deceive their superiors and subordinates, and operate behind closed doors.
Therefore, Zhao Jun asked officials from all over Bozhou to be self-disciplined, purge local officials, and reduce the occurrence of incidents like the Wang family, where local tyrants colluded with the government to occupy people's land and oppress the people.
Today, Shao Jingxian was hearing a case in the court in the front yard. After Guo Chengyou fell, a large number of Bozhou people came to beat drums to appeal for justice. Some were from Bozhou and some were from various counties. They sued officials, landlords and the like and told their grievances.
In the backyard, Zhao Jun looked at the documents handed over one by one. Basically, all the cases that Shao Jingxian had reviewed were handed over to him for review. If there was no problem with the judgment, it would take effect as soon as he signed it.
Guo Chengyou was the first to be sentenced. In addition to corruption and bribery, his crimes also included withholding grain, approving proclamations, violating the law to punish minor crimes, killing civilians, framing wealthy families, borrowing Hanlin equipment, carrying flags and guns when going out, and using imperial guards as collaborators, etc.
He entered the officialdom through family connections, not through the imperial examinations. However, in the Song Dynasty, officials were generally not subject to punishment, and civil servants were often given lenient sentences.
In the past, these crimes would probably result in demotion.
But now Zhao Jun has directly sentenced him to immediate execution and he is currently imprisoned in Bozhou Prison, waiting for Zhao Jun to finally announce the time for his execution.
At this moment, Jiang Dalang came in and said, "Minister, the court has sent a messenger with an urgent message."
"oh?"
Zhao Jun was sitting at the desk in the backyard. When he heard Jiang Dalang's words, he raised his head, put down the documents in his hand, and said, "Let someone in."
A dusty messenger came in, knelt on one knee and said, "I am the messenger from the Imperial Court, here to see the Magistrate."
Caodi is not a person's name, but a position. The Jinzouyuan was responsible for delivering messages. Since messages were delivered by boat and generally through canals, it was called Caodi.
Zhao Jun nodded and said, "Is this the document from the Constitutional Court?"
"Yes."
The messenger opened the mailbox on his back and handed over a roll of documents.
Zhao Jun took it and glanced at it.
The content was very simple. The people from the Constitutional Council told him that the imperial court would send people to resolve some of the matters he had investigated openly and secretly in Yingtian Prefecture.
In addition, regarding the affairs of Bozhou, the government and the Council of Political Affairs meant that he had full authority to handle them and there was no need to report.
"Um."
Zhao Jun nodded.
The messenger continued, "The emperor has a secret decree."
As he spoke, he took out a letter from his pocket and carefully handed it to the table.
Zhao Jun took it, opened it, glanced at it, and nodded. "Okay, I understand. Go and have some rest. Tomorrow, I'll take my reply back to Bianliang. Dalang, thank you for your hard work on the canal delivery. I'll give you two strings of cash."
"yes."
Jiang Dalang agreed.
The couriers went back happily.
After everyone left, Zhao Jun opened the letter from Zhao Zhen again.
The letter said that Guo Chengyou was Zhao Zhen's attendant in the Eastern Palace, and he had been by Zhao Zhen's side since he was very young.
Moreover, he was the son-in-law of King Shu and a descendant of a founding hero of the Song Dynasty.
Therefore, I hope that Zhao Jun can show leniency for the sake of Zhao Zhen and Prince Shu. Even though Guo Chengyou is guilty of a heinous crime, he should not be executed but should be exiled to Lingnan.
After reading the letter, Zhao Jun threw it on the table. On the table next to him was a pile of evidence of Guo Chengyou's crimes that Zhao Jun had collected over the past half month.
As soon as the page was opened, it was clearly recorded how Guo Chengyou, as the governor of Bozhou, colluded with some merchants and landlords in the city, forced purchases and sales, embezzled and abused power, and even withheld taxes and grain.
Even though the crime of corruption and abuse of power was not punishable by death, for the sake of the Zhang family's painting, he framed Zhang Fu, tortured him to death, and exiled his family.
If Zhang Fu's close friend Tian Chang had not found Zhao Jun, it is likely that no one would have overturned Zhang Fu's verdict in his lifetime.
The criminal process that Guo Chengyou downplayed has become an insurmountable mountain for countless ordinary people, destroying their families, separating their wives and children, and leaving their homes devastated.
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