Chapter 229

Yang Hongbin, the Left Temple Justice of the Dali Temple, was promoted from a Dali Temple judge to Left Temple Justice for his meritorious service in assisting in the investigation of the major water monitoring case in Jin Ling.

He and Jia Cong had worked together and shared hardships in Jin Ling, and their private friendship was very deep.

Yang Hongbin was upright and cautious; in the past few days, he had also heard the rumors in the market about the Prefect of Zhen'an Prefecture, Zhang Shou'an, breaking the law.

But based on the principle of the people accusing officials, although the criticism in the market was surging, the Dali Temple could only sit and watch the changes.

Even if the Dali Temple reverses unjust cases, it requires the lower-level government offices to report the cases for review before the Dali Temple can fulfill its supervisory and corrective duties.

However, in the Xiuniang Incense Shop case, Zhen'an Prefecture put people in prison without forming a complete case file, and used torture to force a confession, and Jia Cong rescued people in time, so the procedure had not yet reached the stage of the three judicial departments.

This was also the reason why, even though the rumors of Zhang Shou'an harming the people were boiling in the market, the three judicial departments such as the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, and the Censorate remained unmoved.

Because the regulations were not met, and the legal power of the departments was difficult to exercise; the three judicial departments lacked a reasonable fulcrum to exercise their power.

One cannot just arrest a Grade 5 capital official because of the discussion of small people; spreading it out would be a joke in the officialdom.

And just when the rumors of Zhang Shou'an breaking the law reached the boiling point in the market of the Love Shenjing.

Ever since Jia Cong visited Zhen'an Prefecture that day, with a glib tongue and verbal restraint, he forced the Prefect Zhang, who had always been calculating, to have to release people on the spot.

……

He heard from the yamen runners on the scene that Jia Cong was extremely indignant about the people of Xiuniang Incense Shop being subjected to cruel torture by Zhen'an Prefecture.

He had called his confidant and strategist Liu Binfang to discuss countermeasures, but Liu Binfang, who had always been witty and shrewd, became clumsy and stupid this time, unable to say anything.

Although Liu Binfang was promoted by Zhang Shou'an and had been loyal to Zhang Shou'an in the past, he had more bottom lines than Zhang Shou'an and thus had a few more points of cold calmness as a bystander.

It was just that the next day, Liu Binfang's subordinate reported that Judge Liu had suddenly fallen ill and had left a leave note, needing to recuperate at home for a period of time.

The three judicial departments were like sitting on wax, and the group of talkative censors of the Censorate were rubbing their fists and wiping their palms, but couldn't find an excuse to vent.

Because accusing at this juncture, with the boiling public opinion as a backing, even if there were backstage connections in the three judicial departments, wanting to absolve Zhang Shou'an, it was impossible.

If it weren't for everyone knowing that she was just a shop manager, a victim persecuted by a cruel official, and a woman lacking knowledge of officialdom and politics.

And he also associated it with the performance of this youth during the witchcraft incident in Rongguo Prefecture back then.

From the moment he saw Feng Shi's tragic state of torture, he never thought of letting Zhang Shou'an go, and must cut off his retreat and cause his death!

All he could do was burn with anxiety every day.

Although the Xiuniang Incense Shop matter broke out like this, he couldn't be sure it was planned by this youth.

In these days, as the criticism in the market became a raging fire, everyone in Zhen'an Prefecture, from auxiliary officials like Liu Binfang to ordinary yamen runners and jailers, felt a sense of oppression like a mountain rain coming.

Because that is defying the world!

And this is the result Jia Cong wanted; Zhang Shou'an could sit firmly in the position of Prefect of Zhen'an Prefecture for three years, and there were some connections in the court.

And as the rumors outside became more boiling day by day, Zhang Shou'an, who was at the center of the vortex, was completely helpless; how could one prevent the mouths of the people?

He must have had a skeptical attitude towards her accusing at this juncture.

Zhen'an Prefecture government office back hall.

When the situation was triggered to the point of perfection, Feng Shi knocked on the drum of injustice at the Dali Temple as if she were stepping on a point.

And after that, things got out of control; this matter actually spread to every street and alley in the Love Shenjing within a few days, as if it had been pushed by an invisible hand.

But the situation had rotted to this extent, and he could see that Zhang Shou'an had no chance of surviving this time; although the other party had the grace of promotion, he wouldn't go so far as to die with him.

He was extremely fortunate that when he learned about the Xiuniang Incense Shop matter, he was able to wisely stay out of it; otherwise, there would be no lack of his name, Liu Binfang, in the rumors in the market now.

For him, the most rational approach now was to stay completely away from this matter and keep a sufficient distance from Zhang Shou'an; claiming illness at home was also a good way.

Of course, in the government office, there were also fools like head catcher Liu Erzhen, who still didn't feel anything in the government office, recently looking like he had made a fortune, and his mood was quite good.

Forgetting that it was he who received Zhang Shou'an's instructions to arrest people at Xiuniang Incense Shop that day, and it was also he who used torture on people.

……

Ever since the news of incense shop manager Feng Niangzi accusing at the Dali Temple came out, the criticism in the market climbed to a peak again.

This time, the people in the market seemed to be no longer satisfied with the Xiuniang Incense Shop matter, but began to circulate various illegal things done by Prefect Zhang Shou'an of Zhen'an Prefecture in the past.

Such as fawning over powerful officials, helping the tyrant to do evil, persecuting the people to sell good farmland at a low price;

Protecting wealthy merchant descendants who beat others to death, collecting 10,000 taels of bribes, and the murderer is still at large;

Powerful bullies seizing civilian women, families having no way to sue, and instead being put in prison and persecuted to death;

Every matter was told with nose and eyes, and I don't know where they heard it from.

And some of these things might not have been done by Zhang Shou'an, but were also deliberately attributed to him by others, with extreme slander.

And all of this kept the public criticism in the market at a heat like cooking oil on a raging fire.

……

Ever since the Left Temple Justice of the Dali Temple received the accusation from Xiuniang Incense Shop, the news spread in the three judicial departments such as the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate in less than half a day.

It was a pity that it was past the morning court that day, but it gave those talkative censors of the Censorate enough time to write impeachment memorials.

The censors, who had been holding a belly of anger after listening to market gossip for several days, had sharp words and righteous spirits, wishing to turn their pens into knives and behead the thief Zhang Shou'an.

And at the morning court the next day, not only did four censors of the Yongzhou Road each submit memorials to impeach the Prefect of Zhen'an Prefecture for breaking the law and harming the people, but censors from other provinces and roads in the capital also submitted memorials to impeach him one after another.

Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao was furious when he learned of the cause; the capital was a heavy place, the capital of the Great Zhou, and the Prefect who acted for the monarch to shepherd the people was actually so disregarding of the law, violently harming the people, causing public resentment to boil to this point!

The Emperor pointed out in court that the Ministry of Personnel selected officials every year and assessed them every year, but the matter was so decadent that such a cruel official was allowed to be an official, leaving endless poison, greatly damaging the country's body, and failing the imperial grace!

The Minister of Personnel was criticized and investigated in court, and the official of the Ministry of Personnel's Examination Department, who was said to have a family friendship with Ningguo Prefecture and was responsible for the performance evaluation of officials, was dismissed and investigated on the spot.

Emperor Emperor Jia Zhao issued an edict for the Embroidered Uniform Guard to quickly arrest Zhang Shou'an and put him in prison, with the Dali Temple as the main trial, and the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice as supervisors, with a time limit to investigate the case, and all related criminals would be strictly punished without leniency.

Finally, a storm that shook the imperial court was caused by a shop and a secret recipe for making incense!

……

Zhen'an Prefecture government office.

Although Zhen'an Prefecture had been suffering from criticism recently because of the Xiuniang Incense Shop matter, head catcher Liu Erzhen didn't seem to take it to heart.

Anyway, this matter was taken by the Old Master, and they were just acting on orders; if the sky fell, there was the Old Master, this tall man, to hold it up, so how could it reach a small catcher like him.

And he had made a few small fortunes during this period, and Liu Erzhen's mood was quite good.

Jia Rong of Ningguo Prefecture asked the Old Master to arrest the manager of Xiuniang Incense Shop and plot the secret recipe for making incense.

Although the act was a bit low, that Jia Rong was sensible; in order to get things done quickly, he tipped everyone who handled it in the yamen.

He got 50 taels of silver from Jia Rong.

He had long taken a fancy to the top card Chunxing of Yicui Building, and this silver made him happy in Chunxing's room for several days.

Yesterday, someone asked him to drink and asked him who asked the Old Master to handle Xiuniang Incense Shop; in fact, this matter was known to ghosts, and there was nothing to keep secret.

He just said Jia Rong's name and got 100 taels of benefits; recently, his financial luck was really rolling.

Liu Erzhen was calculating which girl's room in Yicui Building to go to tonight, when he looked at the entrance of the government office inadvertently, and was stunned, thinking that he had been too dissolute these days and had spent his eyes.

The entrance of the government office was dusty, people were walking and horses were neighing, and in an instant, a large group of fierce Embroidered Uniform Guard agents rushed in.

(End of chapter)