Chapter 109 Deep Roots

In the next few days, Qin Mubai inspected several dams, tested the rice bags used to build the embankment, and further confirmed that his inference was correct.

It is true that the flood in Jiangzhou is a natural disaster, but some people take advantage of this natural disaster to make a fortune in the national disaster and try to cover up the previous charge of embezzlement of flood control money. From it, some people were murdered.

This is already a shocking case in the Zhenguan Datang Dynasty in the peaceful and prosperous era of Langlang Universe!

A few years ago, Zhenguan Datang set a record of the rule of law in Chinese history - only 29 people were sentenced to death in the next whole year!

Three years ago, on September 4, the eighth year of Zhenguan, there was a sensational anecdote that happened - on that day, more than 300 death row prisoners who had been released home by Li Shimin for the Spring Festival and participated in the spring ploughing and autumn harvest were not absent, and all of them returned to the death row and were ready to die on the execution ground!

The cause of the incident was once like this: there is a common rule in the Tang Dynasty that all death must be personally approved by the emperor and can only be executed after autumn. And before the death penalty is issued, Li Shimin will be imprisoned. As long as a prisoner complains of injustice, no matter how the evidence of the case is conclusive, Dali Temple must be retrialed to avoid killing good people by mistake.

On that day, Li Shimin was on patrol, and no one on death rowed for more than 300 prisoners. Li Shimin was surprised at that time. Why are there so many more death row prisoners this year than the 29 in the previous two years? Aren't these people afraid of death? Seeing that most of these death row prisoners were young and middle-aged, Li Shimin suddenly had a whim and decided to let these death row prisoners go home to reunite with their families for the New Year, and participate in the spring ploughing in the coming year. He made an agreement with them that they would return to their cells for punishment in the autumn of the coming year.

This sounds like a fantasy. But a year later, more than 300 death row inmates all returned to their cells. After enjoying the last year of their lives with their families, these death row prisoners were grateful and willing to die, which moved everyone, including Li Shimin, on the spot. Li Shimin immediately granted amnesty and put all these people back home for their sins

Zhenguan Tang Dynasty has always been politically clear and public security, and has always advocated "prudent punishment". The crime rate is also quite low. However, such a bad incident happened in Jiangzhou. I really don't know how Li Shimin and the more than 300 death row prisoners will feel after knowing it.

After several days of secret inspection and evidence collection, Qin Mubai has made the case very clear. So he found Li Ke and the two talked secretly.

Qin Mubai first told Li Ke the various evidence and inferences he found, and asked Li Ke for his opinion: "Your Highness, is it time to catch these corrupt officials?"

"I'm not busy." Li Ke was not in a hurry and waved his hand and said, "Recently, we have been busy settling disaster victims, rebuilding our homes and restoring farmland. All the officials in Jiangzhou Prefecture are doing their best. If you suddenly start to catch someone at this time, it is bound to scare the snake and make a sound. This is not conducive to the overall situation.

"What Your Highness said." Qin Mubai said, "The officials of local prefectures and counties are no better than Beijing officials. Their cooperation and close relationship with each other is also very strong. If you really want to find people, I'm afraid that everyone will be more or less implicated. I always feel that Jiangzhou is not a small case. The officials here seem to hold tightly together, like a deep-rooted tree. Once we start to pull up a tree root, I'm afraid we have to pull a hair and move our whole body. A tree is not very powerful, and it can be easily lifted. But if its roots are winding in the soil, it will not be so easy.

"Well said." A touch of light appeared from the corners of Li Ke's eyes and whispered, "In the past few days, I specially sent Wanji to Jiangzhou City in the name of the requisition of Mrs. Min. In fact, it is to find out the details of Cheng Songnian, Ma Kun and others. As a result, there are a lot of discoveries!"

"Is there anything special?" Qin Mubai asked.

"Yes. And it's not just special." Li Ke said, "It turns out that Cheng Songnian and Ma Kun are not ordinary vulgar officials. Cheng Songnian, the small assassin of Wupinzhou, has a great history. As early as more than ten years ago, he was a minor official in the family of Li Jiancheng, the hidden prince. After his father ascended the throne, he did not extermination these people, but appeased them, and most of them continued to be appointed. At that time, Cheng Songnian was appointed as the county magistrate of Ji County for seven or eight years. Until five years ago, I didn't know what kind of doorway he entrusted. He had a relationship with Shengnan Houfu in Jiangzhou and married his daughter as a concubine. Then he swayed smoothly all the way until he became the governor of the state. Mu Bai, do you know who this Shengnanhou is?

"Who is it?"

"He is my eldest brother - that is, the younger brother of the prince's wet nurse." Li Ke smiled and said, "Don't underestimate the nurse. Most of the descendants of our royal family have been brought up by wet nurses, and their feelings with wet nurses are sometimes more affectionate than their own mothers. In private, the prince saw this Marquis of Shengnan and called him 'uncle'! I treat my wet nurse's son like a brother. Wasn't it impeached because I gambled and hunted with them too crazy last time?

"In this way, this place in Jiangzhou is really deep. Unexpectedly, the prince is involved!" Qin Mubai frowned and recalled what the emperor told him at the beginning. He suddenly understood in his heart: No wonder the emperor's words were so ambiguous. It turned out that he had long thought that this matter might be related to the Marquis of Shengnan, which involved the prince. Now the ups and downs of the dynasty are all about how disdain the prince is, and the emperor has the intention to abolish it. If the prince is involved in this case again, it will be really **. No wonder the emperor repeatedly told Li Ke and Qin Mubai not to be in a hurry to scare the snake. If there is a special situation, he should reply to him first.

"This Ma Kun's coming from is not small!" Li Ke said, "A few years ago, he was just a small ordinary soldier. Why did he suddenly rise so fast and become a fifth-grade lieutenant in charge of the whole state? It turned out that this Ma Kun was originally the brother of Cheng Songnian, and the two of them worked together in the House of the Hidden Prince in those years. After Xuanwu Gate, Ma Kun was an insignificant person, so he left the Invisible Prince's mansion and returned home to continue farming. At most, he was an ordinary government soldier. However, Cheng Songnian made a record, so he took his brother up until he became a lieutenant of the Jiangzhou government. He and Cheng Songnian, one article and one martial arts, can be said to cover the sky in Jiangzhou. Coupled with the relationship between the Marquis of Shengnan in the capital, Jiangzhou is almost a country - of course, the king of this country is naturally Shengnanhou. Cheng Songnian and Ma Kun are just his accomplices.

"What an irony! A small Shengnanhou dares to be so obedient!" Qin Mubai couldn't help sneering, "Your Highness, what are you going to do now? If this report is reported, although we don't have conclusive evidence now, as long as the emperor sends the imperial history and the people of Dali Temple to investigate thoroughly, it will definitely come out. At that time, the group of cancers that came up from Jiangzhou can be uprooted.

"I know that." Li Ke frowned and looked embarrassed, "In fact, it's not difficult to clean up Sheng Nanhou, Cheng Songnian and others. Although they look stronger, they only deserve to run rampant in front of state and county officials at most, and I haven't paid attention to them yet. It's just... It's about the prince, and we have to be cautious. Do you know that the father has always hated the emperor's relatives for breaking the law, relying on his own identity to protect his behavior. Last time I was impeached, one of the important reasons why my father was so angry and punished me so heavily was that he didn't like me hanging out with my wet nurse's sons. My father personally scolded me. As a royal, I should always think about maintaining the dignity of the royal family and taking responsibility. The identity of the imperial relatives is not used to bully the people. This time, if I let him know that the prince's wet nurse's younger brother is so obedient... It's hard for me to say whether the emperor will play on this topic, which is not good for the prince.

"I know how you feel." Qin Mubai said, "Now, the wind of competing for the crown prince in the court is getting more and more fierce. The two camps of the prince and the king of Wei can't attack each other. The emperor is very angry about this, but there is no perfect solution for a while, so they are a little anxious. If you suddenly join the Prince's book at this time... it's really thought-on. The emperor and the ministers will guess whether the king of Wu is helping the king of Wei compete for the crown prince, or does he want to jump out and get a piece of the pie? As the saying goes, the melon field does not accept the shoes, and Li Xia does not complete the crown. Even if you don't have this intention, you can't escape the suspicion at that time. Once you are involved in this torrent, it will be unpredictable.

"Not bad." Li Ke's eyebrows were deep and he said, "If I hide and don't report it, it's also a serious crime to cover up the fierceness. What's more, I don't know what to do! In this case, there were Zhu Chengwen, who died inexplicably, the people of the two counties who were poisoned by the flood, the treasury belongings that were swallowed by corrupt officials, and the soldiers who died in flood relief. In my sleep, there are often countless ghosts entangled around me, and those corrupt officials seem to be shouting and provoking at me - I am not willing to let go of those corrupt officials anyway!"

"Does Your Highness want a perfect solution?" Qin Mubai said lightly.

Li Ke's eyes lit up with surprise: "What's wrong with Mu Bai?"

"Yes, but it's not very good, and it looks a little silly." Qin Mubai said with a smile.

"Ter up!"

"If you want to do both things, you have to analyze it from His Majesty the Emperor." Qin Mubai said, "Obviously, the emperor vaguely felt that there was a ghost in Jiangzhou before sending us to Jiangzhou. Otherwise, he would not be so low-key and obscure. He secretly ordered the two of us to investigate secretly and not be in a hurry to startle the snake. With the emperor's usual thunderous style, this is very abnormal. Therefore, unless he had already guessed that this matter was about the prince, he would not be like this.

"It makes sense! Keep talking!"

Qin Mubai said, "I work in the harem. I contact the emperor and the royal family every day, and find and summarize a characteristic of the emperor. I said it, I don't know if it's right or wrong. If it's right, Your Highness will continue to listen to me; if it's not right, you can pretend that you haven't heard anything, and we don't have to discuss it. "How are you?"

"Okay, you say it." Li Ke said decisively, "You should know what I am. No matter how unbearable it is, it will never betray your friends!"