Chapter 181 Get Off Your Horse

The house search lasted all night.

When the people of the entire county woke up at eight o'clock the next morning, they suddenly found that the sky seemed to have changed.

The once arrogant and domineering Wang family was now occupied by a group of soldiers.

The county magistrate of the county government did not know where he had gone. The chief clerk and the county lieutenant could only watch from afar with the yamen runners and did not dare to make any moves.

According to historical records, the main officials of an ordinary county in the Song Dynasty were the county magistrate, the chief clerk and the county lieutenant, and the remaining clerks were about 200 to 300 people, including yamen runners.

But many of these 200 to 300 people were small clerks such as clerks, accountants, bailiffs, and goers in the various rooms of the county government. There were basically only dozens of real yamen runners and constables, who could not compete with Zhao Jun's imperial guards at all.

So the other side could only watch and could not do anything.

They just watched Zhao Jun move out boxes of things, and he was already looking for victims throughout the city, asking the people to spread the news and let the oppressed people come to complain.

Although the news is spreading slowly at the moment, it is estimated that the people in the villages outside the county town will know the news at least after noon.

The oppressed people in the county town dare not come here rashly due to the power of the Wang family, but if this continues, they will not be able to hold on for long.

So now the officials of Ling County are in a very embarrassing situation.

Go and take care of it, they dare not.

Don't take care of it, they are completely overstepping their authority, raiding the Wang family in front of them, and they don't take them seriously at all.

It seems that they are the officials who manage the local area, and the officials of Ling County are extremely angry for a while.

But Zhao Jun is too lazy to care about the officials' unhappiness, because he is also very unhappy now.

Looking at what the Wang family did, it not only implicates the local officials of Ling County, but also his brother Wang Zai, and many local officials in Bozhou, such as Shi County Magistrate, Guo Zhizhou, and even many Bozhou officials who have been transferred.

This kind of interest transfer has been going on for many years. It was not so rampant at the beginning, because the Wang family was just an ordinary landlord in Ling County at that time, and the land and wealth they owned were far less than they are now.

It was not until the third year of Tiansheng, that is, thirteen years ago, when Wang Qian's younger brother Wang Zai passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi. With his brother's more than ten years of management in the officialdom, Wang Qian's business grew bigger and bigger, and he has become the largest local evil force in Ling County, plundering and doing all kinds of evil.

There are as many as thirteen murders under his hands, and it is unknown how many have not been found.

It can be said that the Wang family in Ling County is extremely evil. There must be innocent people in the Wang family who were executed, but beheading Wang Qian and his servants is probably a great pleasure for the whole Ling County.

When Zhao Jun was tired of searching the house the next morning, he didn't rest all night yesterday. He walked out of the Wang family mansion with a pair of dark circles under his eyes. He planned to find a place to rest.

There were already huge crowds of people outside the gate. The people of Ling County came to watch the excitement. They surrounded the luxuriously decorated Wang's mansion in three layers.

Zhao Jun came out and was shocked by the grand scene. Then he yawned and was about to order the soldiers to clear the way. At this time, the crowd outside was in turmoil. Someone shouted: "The governor is here." "Get out of the way, get out of the way." "Go, go, go."

In an instant, the crowd dispersed and teams of soldiers rushed in. Seeing this, the guards around Zhao Jun also came to protect him. He led a battalion of 500 people, with swords unsheathed and crossbows strung. Shields blocked Zhao Jun. At the same time, various whistles sounded and cavalry surged outside the city.

Seeing this scene, the people rolled and crawled away. The streets were suddenly full of dense soldiers. Guo Chengyou rode on horseback and came with the Bozhou Xiangjun and the imperial guards. He looked around and then looked in the direction of Zhao Jun who was surrounded.

The two sides suddenly entered the confrontation stage.

A step late?

Guo Chengyou frowned when he saw that Zhao Jun had already confiscated the Wang family.

He learned the news at midnight last night, and then set out at 3:30 am. It took more than three hours to urge the soldiers to go faster for 36 kilometers, but he still didn't catch up.

But it didn't matter, the people had been blocked and the things couldn't escape.

Thinking of this, Guo Chengyou put down his heart and urged his horse to get out of the crowd. He was also a general, so he was naturally good at horsemanship. He stepped forward and shouted: "Who is Liu Bin?"

No one answered.

Guo Chengyou was furious for a while, looking in the direction of Zhao Jun and said: "Liu Bin, you see this prefect, why don't you come out to greet me?"

His attitude was very impolite.

The Yingzhou commander reported by Zhao Jun was the leader of the local imperial army. Guo Chengyou had several of them, including the commander-in-chief of the Xiang army and the commander-in-chief of the imperial army. In front of him, they were really just small officials.

But Zhao Jun yawned in the crowd, took out the badge from his waist and handed it to Huang Sanlang, saying: "Go, take the military power of his local Xiang army!"

"Yes!"

Huang Sanlang took the badge, then took out an imperial edict from his arms, walked out and shouted: "Bozhou Xiang army accepts the order!"

In an instant, the whole scene was silent.

Huang Sanlang walked to the opposite Xiang army and the imperial guards, ignored Guo Chengyou, raised the silk imperial edict in his hand high, glared at the Xiang army and said: "Are you going to rebel? This is the emperor's edict!"

No matter whether it was true or false, at this moment, the Xiang army and the imperial guards of Bozhou panicked and quickly took back their weapons. Guo Chengyou was stunned and dared not move.

Seeing this, Huang Sanlang opened the edict in his hand with satisfaction and said: "The imperial edict of the Song Dynasty was granted to the Zhiyuan of the Song Dynasty by Zhao Jun, the Duke of the Song Dynasty. The imperial edict said: Zhao Jun, the Duke of the Song Dynasty, has been ordered to inspect the world. The local Xiang army and the imperial army will all obey the dispatch. , if there is any incident, please sign up to hear it, special order!"

"The Duke of the Song Dynasty. The President of the Political Academy?"

Guo Chengyou opened his mouth wide.

Huang Sanlang took out Zhao Jun's waist card again and said: "The order of the Zhiyuan Zhiyuan is here. Everyone should put down their weapons immediately. The officials issued an edict before leaving, but anyone who harms the Zhiyuan will be destroyed. Clan. Did you hear that, whoever dares to hurt Zhiyuan today, all of you will destroy the nine clans!"

"Ding ding ding ding ding!"

The sound of various weapons being thrown to the ground suddenly rang out. It was not because these people were taking advantage of Zhao Jun's power, but at this moment the cavalry team outside the city also came in, all wearing the armor of the Song Dynasty Shenwu Forbidden Army.

The Forbidden Army is also divided into three, six or nine levels. Some of the Forbidden Army do not even have armor and have poor weapons and equipment.

Some of the Forbidden Forces were not only fully armed, with a set of 58 pieces of armor, they were even equipped with war horses, strong bows and powerful crossbows. The two sides were completely different from each other.

In addition to the more than 200 Imperial City Imperial Guards on the ship, Zhao Jun's escorts also included two battalions of Shenwu Guards, with each battalion having 800 people, all of whom were infantry. The other battalion is cavalry, with more than 300 people, and it is also the most elite group in the Forbidden Army.

More than three hundred cavalrymen wearing the best armor and holding the best weapons surrounded them. Not to mention the Xiang troops in Bozhou who were not very willing to fight, even the Bozhou Forbidden Army, which was slightly stronger than them, were frightened.

Now even if the imperial edict has not come out, no one dares to question Zhao Jun's identity.

Several Xiang army commanders and Bozhou commanders quickly obeyed the instructions and threw down their weapons and equipment.

Under Huang Sanlang's scolding and the threats from the surrounding Zhao Jun guards, the soldiers squatted on the ground one by one and held their heads, not daring to move.

Soon Zhao Jun's personal guards rushed up to disarm them.

Zhao Jun yawned and walked out. He was really tired and sleepy after doing it all night.

I originally thought I would take a nap, and then wait for the canal to be dredged, then I would take a boat and the army would escort a group of prisoners and evidence to Qiao County to deal with Guo Chengyou, but I didn't expect that he would arrive at his door.

"Guo Zhizhou, early in the morning, came with so many troops to look for Honzhiyuan."

Zhao Jun walked closer, raised his head and looked at Guo Chengyou on the horse, and said with a smile: "Are you planning to rebel? Or are you planning to murder Shangguan?"

This big hat was pulled off, which made Guo Chengyou frightened at the time, but he suddenly remembered that he was backstage, so he calmed down and said: "It turns out to be the Zhiyuan. I didn't know that the Zhiyuan came to Bozhou, and the lower official failed to welcome him. Please Zhiyuan Haihan. The lower official is I heard from the magistrate of Fuxian County that there were soldiers and bandits in Fuxian County, so I led the troops to quell the rebellion."

"oh?"

Zhao Jun glanced at the crouching Xiang troops and Imperial Guards on the ground and said, "You don't have the Privy Council's troop mobilization order and tiger talisman. Who gave you the courage to mobilize so many troops?"

"Since we are quelling chaos, we must focus on speed. Hasn't Zhiyuan heard of the saying that military speed is the most important thing?"

Although Guo Chengyou had vaguely heard of Zhao Jun's power, he had never seen it with his own eyes. Secondly, his backstage was the current emperor. As the son-in-law of the Zhao family and an attendant of the East Palace, he could be regarded as Zhao Zhen's first servant. Naturally, he was not afraid of foreign ministers.

But he obviously found the wrong person. Zhao Jun sneered and said: "It's true that soldiers are valuable and quick, but firstly you didn't find out the identity of the other party. Secondly, you regarded the Xiangjun Forbidden Army as your own bodyguard and regarded the court's laws as nothing." , you still dare to shout?"

Guo Chengyou was obviously eating meat in front of a hob, and he laughed and said: "The court's laws have their own laws, but the imperial court should not cling to the laws. If soldiers and bandits really come to cause chaos tonight, I don't know how many people will die in the city. Can the magistrate take on this responsibility?"

"Oh throat?"

Zhao Jun thought for a while, then nodded in a rare way and said: "What you said makes sense. If I believe it, then I will exempt you from the charge of mobilizing troops."

"Thank you Chiyuan!"

Guo Chengyou bowed on his horse with a proud look on his face.

Who doesn't know his background?

Even if the prime minister has overwhelming power, shouldn't he still be given a little less favor?

However, Zhao Jun continued: "If you are exempted from the crime of mobilizing troops, let's talk about your corruption and perversion of the law to paint pictures for fame, which caused the destruction of people's families."

A skinny old man next to Zhao Jun stood up, glared at him and said: "Zhiyuan, this is the guy. My brother Zhang Xian has been doing good deeds throughout his life, and he is very famous in Bozhou. For that painting, he actually fabricated charges and imprisoned my brother. If he is killed, please make the decision for my good brother!"

Tian Chang could be regarded as having a life-long friendship with the wealthy Zhang family in Bozhou. If it were anyone else, even if he climbed into a powerful position, he would not necessarily dare to do so in the face of another powerful person.

Because the essence of mutual protection between officials is actually an exchange of interests.

There is essentially mutual assistance between one official and another official. If you have power in your hands, you can naturally export it in your own interests.

And for ordinary people, what can they bring to an official? Nothing to give.

Even if an upright official had to stand up for the people, the cost and price he had to pay were very high, especially in the Song Dynasty, which was extremely tolerant of corrupt officials.

People like Fan Zhongyan, Bao Zheng, Zhao Pian, and Chen Xiliang are just a few.

The vast majority of them are either doing nothing like Wang Sui and sitting on their backs. Or be like Guo Chengyou, acting recklessly and lawlessly.

Therefore, as a businessman who can see through the essence of these things, Tian Chang can muster the courage to expose Guo Chengyou to Zhao Jun, which is considered the end of his kindness to his brother.

Fortunately, he didn't make a mistake.

Hearing Tian Chang's words, Guo Chengyou was shocked, and then he denied it in every possible way: "Zhiyuan, this is all framed by someone, there is no such thing. Zhang Fu oppressed the good, the evidence is conclusive, and it has been reported to the Huainan Criminal Division, and it has been investigated Tested.”

"Then it seems that there is a problem with the Huainan Punishment Department, and we need to investigate."

Zhao Jun pondered for a moment and nodded.

"hehe."

Hearing his words, Guo Chengyou smiled and said, "The Imperial Court is a good idea. We will investigate the case whenever we ask the Criminal Division."

"Well, don't mention the Criminal Division. I investigated the three divisions as soon as I asked. Is Han Yi still the Deputy Prime Minister? How about now?"

Zhao Jun asked back: "You know the state from the fifth level at a young age, but you are very courageous."

"oh?"

Guo Chengyou pretended not to know: "What does Zhiyuan mean? I don't understand."

"I think you are pretending to be confused because you understand."

Zhao Jun said: "What else do you have to say about Zhang Fu?"

"Without proof or evidence, Zhiyuan's words alone can't explain it clearly."

Guo Chengyou sneered: "If you want me to plead guilty, the Supreme Court can at least provide evidence of the crime."

At least he felt that Zhao Jun had no evidence of Zhang Fu's incident.

There is indeed no evidence of guilt in Zhao Jun's hands.

He originally planned to go to Bozhou to investigate the matter, but he encountered the case of the Wang family's daughter's bones on the way, and Guo Chengyou was implicated.

But Zhao Jun has other evidence of guilt.

He pointed at the box behind him and laughed loudly: "Then you embezzled and demanded bribes, helped landlords to rob, raped women, and plundered the people. The evidence is conclusive, right? Tell me, what crime should you be guilty of?"

"Forehead"

Guo Chengyou was stunned for a moment, this was what he was afraid of.

He has been lawless in the local area for too long, and he is too public and careless. It is quite embarrassing to have baskets of incriminating evidence lying there.

However, it is recorded in history that he was "involved in wild arrogance and had no respect." Therefore, even if Zhao Jun found evidence of his crime, Guo Chengyou still said arrogantly: "I should be demoted, so what? At the worst, I can go to the local area to serve as a regiment training envoy for two years." , The officials will pick me up in a year or two."

"hehe."

Zhao Jun smiled, felt sleepy, yawned, stood there and calmed down for a while, then cheered up, pointed at Guo Chengyou and shouted: "Get off the horse!"

The sound was loud and burst out all of a sudden, leaving Guo Chengyou stunned.

Then Zhao Jun shouted: "Where are the Imperial Guards?"

"exist!"

"Catch this madman."

"yes."

Many imperial guards rushed over at once.

Guo Chengyou was horrified and said: "Zhao Jun, what do you mean?"

"What's the meaning?"

Zhao Jun raised his head and said to him with contempt: "How dare you, a small magistrate, dare to be so trusting and refuse to reply in front of this magistrate. Do you think that you are the son-in-law of the Zhao family and that you are from the East Palace? The hospital doesn’t dare to touch you? I’ve killed many people like you in Bianliang, and even the officials can’t save you, that’s what I said!”

"Take it!"

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand.

In an instant, the surrounding guards swarmed forward, pulled Guo Chengyou off his horse, and pushed him to the ground.

Guo Chengyou shouted: "Zhao Jun, if you dare to touch me, the officials will not let you go."

"That's wrong. I won't let the official go to protect someone like you. When I return to Bianliang, I will scold him severely."

Zhao Jun walked over, lowered his head and looked at him and said: "As for you, you may not live until that time. I am a little sleepy, so I will go and rest first. I will send people to search your house later. Wait for me Zhiyuan, please get up and take care of your affairs."

After saying that, he turned around and walked away, leaving only the floor in shock.