Chapter 102: Continue CPU Zhao Zhen Chapter 102: Continue CPU Zhao Zhen →:
When Zhao Jun gets angry and starts spraying people, it's like he's stabbing straight into their lungs.
Strictly speaking, Lu Yijian and the others didn't necessarily come here to plead for the Han and Ma families.
Because Zhao Jun surrounded Kaifeng Prefecture, it caused a huge and adverse impact. The prestige of Kaifeng Prefecture was completely destroyed, which had immeasurable consequences for Kaifeng Prefecture's future governance of Bianliang.
From now on, the people will no longer trust Kaifeng Prefecture. Even if an honest official emerges from Kaifeng Prefecture, they will definitely despise the imperial court under such public opinion.
But since it concerns the reputation of Kaifeng Prefecture and also the reputation of the imperial court, Lu Yijian and others had to come and seek discussion to see if Zhao Jun could save some face for Kaifeng Prefecture and the imperial court.
Zhao Jun knew that the so-called face had always been a major issue related to the state system in the Song Dynasty.
During the Chongxi Increased Biscuit Incident, Emperor Xingzong of Liao demanded that the annual tribute sent by the Song Dynasty to Liao should be called "offering" or "receiving". Fu Bi believed that this was an insult to the national dignity, so he insisted on calling it "gift".
They were forced to pay money, which was itself a humiliating act for the country. However, just because of a difference of one word, in order to save this so-called face, Fu Bi insisted on calling it a "gift". This shows how much they whitewash the situation and how good they are at comforting themselves.
And today, Zhao Jun wants to break this so-called face, make them lose face, make everything public, and make the Song Dynasty court lose face.
"Actually, what Prime Minister Lu and the others said makes some sense. After all, this concerns Kaifeng Prefecture and the reputation of the imperial court."
Zhao Zhen heard what Zhao Jun said and said hesitantly: "How about..."
"No."
After Zhao Jun vented his anger on Lü Yijian and the others, he gradually calmed down. He shook his head and said, "The court's reputation has never been important. If a dynasty wants to be strong, it must face its own problems directly, not simply cover them up."
"You can cover it up temporarily, but you can't cover it up forever. Just like what you call the prosperous reign of Emperor Renzong, the history books boast about the peace, but is there no one in the society who will record it, and no one will know the truth?"
"And historical records say that Emperor Huizong and Emperor Qinzong of Song were two saints who were exiled to the north. So what? Can painting those two idiots' faces like this earn them a good evaluation from future generations?"
“Wake up!”
"History will only record that you, Zhao Zhen, were incompetent and were led by the nose by those civil officials and literati. It will only record that Song Huizong and Song Qinzong were incompetent fools, led north by the Jin people like two dogs."
"Respect has never been important. Only when the country is strong and wins the hearts of the people can the Song Dynasty truly maintain its reputation. Just like Emperor Wu of Han, who was senile in his later years and issued an edict of self-criticism, will this hinder future generations from evaluating his great talent and strategy?"
Zhao Jun spoke bluntly again. In fact, Zhao Zhen had been very capable in this matter and had withstood a lot of pressure. Moreover, his ability to arrest people was also the authority given by Zhao Zhen.
But Zhao Jun still had to continue to CPU him.
Because I'm really worried.
Throughout history, this guy was really good at shielding corrupt officials.
During the Zhihe period, a corruption case occurred in Tanzhou in which local officials confiscated pearls from merchants and sold them at a low price without authorization.
At the beginning of the first year of the Yuan Dynasty, Guangzhou merchant Ji Shunzhong was traveling north with five kilograms of pearls to sell. While passing through Tanzhou, he tragically fell ill and died. Local officials discovered his pearls, but because the tax receipts for them were missing, they confiscated them, accusing him of tax evasion.
Afterwards, officials including Ren Zhuan, the then magistrate of Tanzhou, and Li Zhang, the magistrate of Hunan Transportation, arbitrarily sold pearls worth more than 3,000 strings of cash for a price of more than 400 strings of cash, and bought them themselves.
Soon after, Ji Ziqiao, the son of merchant Ji Shunzhong, came to Tanzhou to search for his father. Upon learning that his father had passed away and that the pearls he had brought with him had been sold at a low price by local officials, Ji Ziqiao was furious and reported the matter to the court. The court ordered the Hunan Judicial Department to investigate the case.
However, after investigation, the officials in charge of the case found it very difficult.
Because some of the officials involved in the case had deep backgrounds, such as Li Zhang, the judge of Hunan Transport, who was the son-in-law of the prime minister Chen Zhizhong at the time, and another official involved in the case, Lan Weiyong, was the son of a minister in the court.
Therefore, the case-handling officials of the Hunan Provincial Criminal Court hope to make a big deal out of a small matter.
Later, an upright censor learned of the incident and filed a petition to impeach the emperor. At his insistence, Zhao Zhen was forced to let Wang Gongchen, then the Minister of the Three Departments, oversee the case.
Unexpectedly, after Wang Gongchen arrived in Hunan, he not only did not thoroughly investigate the case, but instead handed the pearls confiscated from the officials involved to the internal worshiper Liao Haoran, and sent them to the palace for retention.
Since the pearl, a key piece of evidence, was missing, its value could not be determined, and the officials involved could not be convicted. As a result, the case had to be dropped.
Therefore, on May 12, the second year of Zhihe, the upright censor wrote another memorial entitled "A Memorial to Inquire into the Affairs of Wang Gongchen Regarding the Submission of Stolen Pearls", impeaching Wang Gongchen, the Minister of the Three Departments, for ignoring facts and bending the law for personal gain.
In fact, the case is not complicated. The key is that the officials involved have connections in the government, which has led to the delay in closing the case.
At the insistence of the censor, Emperor Renzong of Song had no choice but to have the Court of Criminal Justice review the case. In the end, all the officials involved and the criminal who protected Wang Gongchen were demoted.
It sounds like the matter has come to a successful conclusion, but in fact it is not the case at all.
On the surface, both the officials involved and the criminals who sheltered them were dealt with, but in reality, the punishments were very light, and most of them were later promoted.
For example, Ren Zhuan, the former prefect of Tanzhou, was reinstated as a scholar of the Longtu Pavilion the following year after his demotion, and later retired as a guest of the crown prince. Li Zhang, the magistrate of Hunan's transportation department, was soon transferred to the central government as a junior official in the Dali Temple.
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