Chapter 302 True Feelings Revealed
Here we come!
Sun Xiaozhun's heart skipped a beat.
He knew that what he had just said was just a prelude. This imperial envoy, who had been despicable and had been trying to trick them since they entered the city, was finally going to show his true colors.
"Please speak, sir. I will tell you everything I know." The dark and thin prefect in red robe had a serious look in his eyes.
Zhao Duan raised his hand curiously and drew a circle in the air in the courtyard:
"Since this place is so prosperous, why is the county government office so plain? The county magistrate was so greedy, so he must be a lavish person. It's hard to believe that the government office is so shabby."
Sun Xiaozhun said seriously:
"Egregious villains are simply skilled at disguising themselves. Wang Chusheng has always been honest and upright, which is why he has been able to conceal his actions until now."
You answered pretty quickly, you must have prepared a good script...
Zhao Duan stared at him, nodded slightly, and accepted the answer.
His gaze passed over the golden autumn chrysanthemums and fell on the two plump white geese under the tree, and he sighed softly:
"What the prefect said makes sense. How could a truly impoverished government office raise such fat geese?
I once heard that to tell whether a person is loyal or treacherous, don't look at his clothes or appearance, but look at the people around him.
Gentlemen are kind to gentlemen, and villains are kind to villains. But I don’t know how many geese have been fattened up in the Taicang County government office.”
Sun Xiaozhun said nothing, but heard the hidden meaning:
"Your Excellency means..."
Zhao Duan suddenly said:
"Is Sun Futai from a poor family?"
The change of topic was so abrupt that Magistrate Sun was completely unprepared!
He was stunned for a moment before nodding and said self-deprecatingly:
"The word 'poor family' is a bit of a compliment to me. I am just a small family."
A poor family is also a family... This statement may not be appropriate in Dayu.
The fact that the country lasted for six hundred years without any change of dynasties is almost a miracle.
But during these six hundred years, the powerful families in the dynasty changed again and again.
It was a natural decline, but also intentional by the Dayu royal family.
Some poor families with a long history have long been as impoverished as ordinary people, with no connections left, and only the legend that "their ancestors were wealthy".
Sun Xiaozhun is a rare person from a humble background who rose to prominence through his political achievements.
The experience is not legendary, it is just steady and cautious.
If he is not special, it is that he is one of the rare officials who took the initiative to choose to serve in a remote and difficult county.
Because he could endure hardships, he was able to seize positions that were looked down upon by the children of powerful families and climb up through political achievements.
"Well, since he suffered a lot, did Mr. Sun raise geese when he was a child?" Zhao Duan asked again.
Sun Xiaozhun frowned and answered truthfully:
"It's not just childhood. When I was a county magistrate in Lingnan, my wife raised chickens, ducks, pigs, and dogs at home, and even grew her own vegetables."
What a miserable county magistrate... Zhao Duan said:
"When I was in Beijing, the Prime Minister once told me a story. He said that when he was a child, he was a sheep herder. He said that sheep were interesting, but they followed blindly, so they needed a leader to lead them.
But I am curious, look at this flock of geese, there is no such thing as a leader goose.
Each one is about the same size, and when they gather together, they are like a cloud. At the slightest disturbance, they disperse like mist, making a loud noise and fanning the wind to dazzle the eyes.
Sun Xiaojun was confused at first, but gradually, his expression changed.
Zhao Duan stood in front of a large field of brilliant golden chrysanthemums.
Reach out and pick the chrysanthemums.
His sight went beyond the county government office and looked towards the towering fiery red mountains in the south.
Yellow nearby, red in the distance, like gold and fire...
Zhao Duan suddenly turned his head and said with a smile:
"But I'm thinking that the flock of geese must have a 'leader'; otherwise, how could they survive? And how do they determine direction when running? Where do you think that 'leader goose' is?"
Where is the head goose?
A question.
Sun Xiaozhun's heart skipped a beat, and he lowered his eyes and said:
"I believe that flocks of sheep are different from flocks of geese. The former are powerful livestock, while the latter are weak beasts."
"Hmm, so the beasts are too weak to have a leader?"
"Since I can't see it, I guess it doesn't exist."
"No, there is." Zhao Duan shook his head and said:
"The leader of the flock of geese is the owner who feeds them. Do you know where their owner is?"
Sun Xiaozhun's forehead was covered with sweat again. He was silent for a moment, then shook his head with gritted teeth:
"I don't know, please enlighten me, sir."
Zhao Duan stared at him deeply, loosening his hand from the chrysanthemum, letting the petals between his fingers be blown by the wind and float in the yard:
"People raise geese for their eggs. So whoever gets the eggs is the owner."
"When people raise geese, they must be on guard against them being stolen. Therefore, whoever stops me from catching the goose is the owner."
"Sun Futai, is this true?"
Following the three soul-searching questions, Sun Xiaozhun's head drooped little by little.
When he finished asking, the shrewd and powerful prefect suddenly seemed a head shorter than him.
Others may not understand these indirect criticisms, but how could Sun Xiaozhun not hear them?
Is Zhao Duan doubting him?
The incognito visit is suspicious.
As the person who indirectly arranged the investigation and the chief official who obstructed the investigation by outsiders, it is undoubtedly difficult for Prefect Sun to clear himself of suspicion.
What's more, Song Tiju's list clearly mentioned that Prefect Sun had taken money from the Taicang County Magistrate.
now.
Hundreds of cavalrymen blocked the county government office, and Magistrate Sun was isolated and helpless. Zhao Duan exposed his true intentions and interrogated him.
silence.
After a while, Sun Xiaozheng slowly raised his head, and his body, which had been shortened, grew taller step by step.
He no longer groveled, nor did he show any humility or flattery on his face. He simply looked at Zhao Duan calmly and said:
"Master Zhao, I've been in office for less than two years."
Zhao Duan said softly:
"Three years as a clean official earns ten thousand taels of silver. Two years is not short."
Sun Xiaozhun's chest heaved, as if he was trying hard to suppress his emotions. He didn't blink:
"Sir Zhao, when I was the county magistrate, my wife not only raised geese, but also fish. At first, the fish she raised kept dying in the tank. I asked the fishermen for advice, and they said it was because my wife changed the water too frequently.
If the water in the fish tank turns green, sour, or smelly, the fish can still survive by replacing half of the water. But if you replace all of the water with clean water, the fish will die.
Tsk, I didn't expect he was a fish farmer...
Zhao Duan had no expression:
"If any fish die, they can be replaced with new ones. This is no reason to tolerate stinky water."
Sun Xiaozhun suddenly became excited:
"But between black and white, there is gray, Master Zhao!"
At this moment, the Taicang prefect, whose temperament was different from that of ordinary officials, seemed to be tired of the Buddhist way of communicating with witty remarks.
He poked through the window paper, stared at Zhao Duan, and said:
"Sir! You are an official in the capital, so you should know that even under the eyes of the emperor, the officialdom is not clean!
Let’s not talk about anything else. Every winter and summer, officials from all over Dayu would send cartloads of gifts to the capital. What? In the winter, they would send carbon as a tribute, and in the summer, they would send ice as a tribute. What kind of carbon and ice? They were all tributes to the emperor.”
"Who doesn't know this? You don't know, or the saints don't know? Isn't it a convention and tacit agreement?
Why?
I didn't understand it when I was a county magistrate in Lingnan. Later I found out that as a local official, there are always various ways to make money and eat well.
But Beijing officials can’t do that!
The officials in the capital were crowded in the pool in the capital to grab food. Their appetites were so big, how could they get enough?
If the officials in Beijing don't have enough to eat, then when evaluating the local officials, there will be no mercy at all. Are the local officials afraid? How can they not be afraid? "
"Not to mention officials, even ordinary people, when they are sick and ask a doctor for help, they have to seal the package with red paper. If not for the sake of cure, they are afraid that the doctor will be unhappy and make the treatment worse."
"This is all about keeping your official hat. Without a backer, who can feel at ease? Who can sleep peacefully?
What about those who want to get promoted?
Not to mention, if you rely solely on your political achievements, no one in the capital will speak for you, and how would the emperor know you?"
Sun Xiaozhun spoke faster and said all this in one breath.
The words were extremely straightforward, without any concealment.
Zhao Duan was stunned.
It’s not that these contents are unexpected.
But he was surprised that the prefect was just throwing in the towel?
Or how:
"Sun Futai, you..."
Sun Xiaozhun waved his hand and interrupted him:
"Master Zhao, please listen to me first."
He took two steps back, with a look of self-mockery on his face:
"You must be wondering why I'm saying this. It's not that complicated. Wang Chusheng committed a crime and ran away. It seems he can't be found.
Then who will take the blame next?
It must be someone of some weight to get the job done. Who is suitable?
After much thought, I think I am the most suitable one.
He is the immediate boss, but he has no big family as a foundation.
We can't let Governor Gao and Ancha Liu take the blame, right? Since that's the case, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on as prefect for many more days, so I might as well just make it clear."
He took a deep breath, his eyes almost red, staring at Zhao Duan, and said:
"Master Zhao, I know that since you dared to reveal your identity and directly dispatch troops here, you must have already obtained some evidence. Yes, I did accept Wang Chusheng's filial piety, but who hasn't?"
After a pause, Sun Xiaozhun suddenly bowed and said sincerely:
"Master Zhao, we can't investigate! If we continue, it will become a mess."
(End of this chapter)
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