"The Emperor bestowed upon you the Imperial Sword so that you could govern Youzhou and discern between loyalty and treachery, good and evil. It was not intended for you to scare others, much less to eliminate dissidents."
Liu Feng's rhetorical question was very serious, especially the following few sentences. He emphasized the words "eliminate dissidents" with particular emphasis.
It seems like what the governor is doing now is really to eliminate dissidents.
These words were like a knife, strangling the governor's neck.
It made his whole body tremble uncontrollably.
On the surface, this was just Liu Feng's angry words.
What is his identity?
Xia Lihong is the emperor's man and a disciple of the emperor. His going to Youzhou is to create a pure land for the emperor to be loyal to him.
On the one hand, we must provide His Majesty the Emperor with everything necessary, and on the other hand, we must curb the rebellious forces in Yanzhou and the northern barbarians.
This imperial sword represents the emperor's trust in him, and it is also a symbol of his identity as a governor that distinguishes him from others.
The function of the Imperial Sword is to eliminate possible destabilizing factors for Your Majesty.
What is alien?
Those rebels who went from Yanzhou to Youzhou.
Those who may collude with the Northern Barbarians.
There are also powerful clans within the entire Youzhou.
In his eyes, all those who are disloyal to the emperor and pose a threat to the imperial power are enemies.
Although he holds the imperial sword, there is only one person who truly holds the sword, and that is the current Emperor Shunde.
He was just the emperor's hand, a hand used to kill people.
Loyal or treacherous?
The emperor doesn't care about these things. Under the imperial sword, the only option is death or a worse death.
He only understood this after working hard as the governor of Youzhou in recent years.
But after hearing what Liu Feng said, he became more aware of the helplessness of power.
When he first became an official, didn't he want to be a good official who spoke up for the people?
But what His Majesty the Emperor needs is not a loyal official who is wholeheartedly dedicated to the people. Loyalty, treachery, good and evil are not important. What His Majesty needs is the stability of imperial power and his own position as solid as Mount Tai.
Just like the trial today, he knew that the woman was wrongly accused, but she had indeed committed adultery.
The crime is not punishable by death, but can he spare the life?
Yes, he could have spared his life, but if he had given a lighter sentence, then he would be the official who was wholeheartedly serving the people in the eyes of the common people.
But can he really save her?
He can't. If he handles the case impartially today, he will lose his dignity, and all cases, big and small, will be handled by him in the future.
If the vegetables in your field were pulled up, or my chicken was lost, and he was asked to judge all the trivial matters, there would be no peace.
Now the stability of Youzhou City is gone.
The people don't care what their superiors think, they only care what their officials do.
If he handles the matter impartially today, what about tomorrow? And the day after?
This is how ordinary people are. They will argue endlessly and to the death for petty gains.
He has to face these things if he wants to save people.
Then how could he do other things for His Majesty the Emperor? Only in this way could he free himself and hand over many things to his subordinates.
His thoughts returned to the present, and Xia Lihong looked at Liu Feng.
He did not answer Liu Feng's question, but asked a question in return.
"How did you know that I wrongly accused that woman?"
"Sir Governor, are you questioning my intelligence?"
"Look at that lady. She was naked, hungry, and had injuries on her body. She only struggled and resisted until the moment she was sentenced to death."
"I believe such a person would commit adultery. After all, they have to survive. If adultery can be exchanged for two whole grain steamed buns, why not do it?"
"But how can such a poor woman afford to buy poison?"
"Did the adulterer give it to him? Or was it stolen from the pharmacy?"
"It's entirely possible that the adulterer gave him poison."
"You think everyone is stupid."
Liu Feng said disdainfully.
"Poisoning one's own husband, this kind of thing happening in a wealthy family is understandable. After all, it's not uncommon for people to try to steal family property."
"But it happened to such a poor family, how could it be justified? She killed her husband, would the adulterer support her? How would she survive on her own?"
"Looking at her struggle just after being taken off the court, she didn't want to die. Perhaps she still had some ties at home that she couldn't break."
"For such a person, even if the adulterer really gave poison, he would not necessarily kill the person."
Xia Lihong nodded.
He didn't expect that Liu Feng was so amazing. This analysis was almost exactly the same as his deduction, and even more complete than his deduction.
If she really poisoned her husband, then this woman must have been prepared to die after the truth was revealed, and she would not have cursed and struggled like that.
"Yes, the bailiffs investigated and found that he had four children."
Perhaps because they had the same attitude towards the incident, Xia Lihong actually felt a sense of mutual understanding towards Liu Feng.
She added that there are children at home.
Then he waved his hand.
"Someone, give him a seat."
"I heard you're willing to wipe out the bandits in Feihuoshan. Tell me how much silver you want."
"It should be at least 1,500 taels of silver. Feihuoshan has thousands of bandits."
Xia Lihong was silent for a moment.
"We can discuss the money, but what guarantees can you offer to take Feihuoshan Mountain?"
"Sir Governor, isn't this simple?"
"There were dozens of bandit gangs, big and small, around Tianyong City. Are there any left?"
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