Red Mansion Royal Cat

Chapter 587 The King is Going Crazy
Jia Cong is not very good at investigating and trying cases.

So far, what he has been able to find out was basically through brute force and the intimidation of his status, following the clues from those eunuchs and the raid on the Dragon Guards.

Fortunately, Chu Bangzheng took the initiative to help. The old fox is worthy of being an old fox. He quickly figured out the context of the Nanzhili imperial examination cheating case and had already begun arresting people in various prefectures.

All the officials, businessmen and scholars related to it were taken to Jinling City.

Since the Mid-Autumn Festival, criminals dressed in Confucian robes but tied with ropes were dragged into the city from the four gates of Jinling, creating a great excitement for the people in the city.

"Nanzhili Education Commissioner Fan Yongxin deserves to be cut into pieces. In the past three years, he has interfered in the county examination, the academy examination, and even the provincial examination... Those useless people who are just filling in the numbers along the Qinhuai River have brought shame to us scholars."

Although Jia Cong had no interest in the drama of talented men and beautiful women visiting Qinhuai, many famous poems really came from this place of brothels.

The cultural and cultural city of Jinling flourished, and the Qinhuai River occupied 30% of it.

I think his father-in-law Laozi wrote poems on the Qinhuai River, and his teacher Xu Qingteng also wrote lyrics on the painted boat...

As for the Qinhuai River today, if someone can come up with a limerick like "one piece, two pieces, three or four pieces, five pieces, six pieces, seven or eight pieces" in half a day, it would be considered good.

Chu Bangzheng was an orthodox defender of Confucianism, and Nanjing was his hometown, so he naturally hated these unqualified people.

"Marquis Yongfeng, these people must be severely punished!"

Another reason why the old prime minister was so angry was that some people said that there were too many officials involved in the case, and if so many people were dealt with at once, it would damage the foundation of the literary atmosphere of Southern Zhili.

Pooh!
With these unqualified people around, even Wenquxing would feel ashamed at the sight of them!
"Without destruction, there is no construction. I would rather the literary spirit of Nanzhili be weakened temporarily than to go out in the future and have people look down on me when they hear that I am a scholar from Nanzhili."

Seeing the old prime minister's face flushed with anger, Jia Cong was really afraid that his blood pressure would rise and he would have a stroke due to anger.

He said quickly, "Don't worry, old man. The imperial examination is a grand ceremony for selecting talents in the country, and it is of utmost importance. I don't know about others, but for me, there is only one word: severe punishment! Especially for officials involved in the case, knowingly breaking the law will be a heavier crime. I have already proposed to sentence Fan Yongxin, the governor of Nanzhili, to death by slow slicing, and his direct descendants will never be allowed to take the imperial examinations again."

Don't talk about the innocence of descendants. When Fan Yongxin committed the crime, why didn't he consider the consequences of his crime?

For Jia Cong, collective punishment must never be abolished.

"As for those who gained fame from Fan Yongxin and the officials involved in the case, their literary reputations were taken away and they were sent to Japan to serve. They will not be allowed to take the imperial examinations for the next three generations."

Cheating in scientific examinations must be severely punished, and this unhealthy trend must be curbed with severe punishments.

Jia Cong's anger level gradually soared to the extreme as the case became bigger and bigger. The imperial examination represented the most fair upward channel for the people. When the upward channel was cut off, the country would be overthrown in a moment.

I have worked hard to make Da Xia prosperous. Whoever wants to dig up Da Xia's roots, I will dig up his ancestral grave!
"I have something to trouble you, old man. I plan to hold two more examinations in the name of the court before the New Year, one for the county and one for the prefecture, and another for the academy in March after the New Year. I don't trust anyone else, so I ask you to temporarily take over as the Nanzhili education commissioner and take charge of the overall situation."

"Oh? I agree to this matter."

Chu Bangzheng understood Jia Cong's idea and uncovered such a large-scale imperial examination cheating case in one go, involving an appalling number of people.

The academic style and culture of Southern Zhili would inevitably suffer a severe blow. The most terrifying thing was that this case would cause the people to lose trust in the court and the imperial examinations.

Therefore, the most important thing at the moment is to rebuild trust, and the best way is to quickly find out the truth and correct the mistakes.

Chu Bang is the only remaining literary giant in Nanzhili. He is also an old prime minister who has retired and returned to his hometown. He has the highest status, position and reputation, and is the best candidate to preside over this matter.

……

The Dragon Guard Jinling Pacification Division was involved in the case. Jia Cong could trust no one except his own soldiers, and he couldn't even trust the generals in the Jiangnan camp.

As a last resort, Jia Cong transferred 3,000 elite troops from the Songjiang Navy and went directly into the city to take over the defense of Nanjing.

The Nanzhili Judicial and Surveillance Commissioner's Office became Jia Cong's base camp. He sat in the central hall to try cases for a month at a time, and he arrested more than a hundred officials below the fifth rank.

This is not the end yet. The scholar's case has not been resolved yet, and problems with the Jiangnan camp have been discovered.

When Jia Cong sent his personal soldiers to sneak into the Jiangnan camp secretly, the news they brought back almost made him faint from anger.

"30% of them are empty-handed, and 30% are old and weak. How dare they do this?"

According to the news sent back by the personal soldiers, the Jiangnan camp was originally supposed to have two guards, 40,000 regular troops, and 10,000 auxiliary troops.

After the Wu Wangfu entered the capital, Xu Jinglong, the first-class baron of the Duke of Wei's mansion, was appointed as the commander. Xu Jinglong had the final say on daily drills and deployments, including the distribution of money and food, equipment upgrades, etc. The Duke of Wei's mansion also reported to the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Revenue allocated silver twice a year, and they were allowed to purchase and distribute on their own.

This gave him an opportunity to take advantage of. The emperor was far away and as soon as the King of Wu left, wouldn't his Duke of Wei's Mansion be the largest in Jinling City?
Xu Jinglong had actually been gradually testing the waters over the years, becoming more and more daring, and now the Jiangnan camp was only a shining facade, while the interior was already old and dilapidated.

He did not re-recruit personnel who had retired or been laid off in the past few years, but simply reported the vacancies in the documents sent to the capital and started collecting the salary without doing anything.

Thirty percent of the salary was for nothing, and there were also those crappy things he found from who knows where. Half of the salary would be handed over to the Duke of Wei's Mansion after he got it...

"What I am worried about now is the firearms assigned to the Jiangnan Camp. Xu Jinglong is even more greedy than we thought. This kind of person is likely to have sold all the firearms!"

Jia Cong stood up almost instantly, a chill running up his spine to the top of his head.

"Uncle Eleven, hurry up, go to Songjiang Navy to mobilize troops... Also, inform Father and Master Thirteen, and have them travel day and night, and rush south without stopping."

If he was just collecting the salary without doing any work, Jia Cong would have dealt with it himself.

But after Jia Shiyi said this, Jia Cong didn't dare to guarantee that Xu Jinglong had done anything else ridiculous.

Damn it, the firearms allocated by the imperial court to the Jiangnan camp are of the same standard as those of the Beijing camp.

The latest artillery and muskets developed by the Ministry of Industry were first equipped in the Jiangnan Camp, apart from the Beijing Camp and the major navies.

Given Xu Jinglong's love of money and his boldness, he might have sold these firearms as well.

If this is true, then we will be in big trouble.

"Do you want me to control Xu Jinglong first?"

Jia Cong shook his head: "No, we can't alert the enemy. If this guy really sold the firearms, we must first find out who he sold them to and find these firearms."

This thing is different from other things. If it is really sold, anyone who buys it will use it to fly to Purple Gold Mountain, and Jinling City will be bombed into ruins.

……

Although the Dragon Guards of Jinling City are useless, the personal soldiers of the Jia family are really the best.

The spies who secretly sneaked into the Jiangnan camp soon reported back the latest news. Xu Jinglong was really bold. He really sold half of the firearms assigned to the army, and they were the latest batch.

After reading the intelligence, Jia Cong's hands and feet turned cold with fear.

If he hadn't been rational, he really wanted to lead his men into Duke Wei's mansion and slice Xu Jinglong into pieces and feed him to the dogs.

"The Jiangnan Camp is no longer useful, and we have to prevent them from causing trouble. So, urge the Songjiang Navy to speed up their march. In three days, I want to see them surround the Jiangnan Camp."

Just when Jia Cong was having a headache, Master She and Old Thirteen, along with a thousand imperial guards, paraded into the city of Jinling.

"What do you think happened to Cong that made him rush us so anxiously?"

"That's your son, you ask me?"

The messenger only said that Jia Cong was in trouble, but did not say what it was. Jia She and Liu Ke did not dare to delay and gave up the idea of ​​continuing to take the boat. Instead, they galloped south without stopping.

They had hardly rested for three days and had worn out many horses before they finally arrived at Jinling City in a hurry.

Both of them looked exhausted. Ignoring the curious looks of the people in the city, they were led by Jia Shiyi to Mengyuan where Jia Cong and Daiyu were temporarily staying.

As night fell, the two people who were originally slumped in their chairs were so frightened that their hair stood up after listening to Jia Cong's explanation.

Old Thirteen screamed like a groundhog and cursed, "Is Xu Jinglong crazy? Those are artillery pieces, nearly 300 pieces of artillery. Did he really sell them?"

There are more than three hundred cannons, and thousands of muskets.

Based on what he has found out now, Jia Cong has basically figured out why Xu Jinglong dared to be so bold.

Most of the buyers of these firearms were his mother's nobles in Nanjing, including Liu's clan members and the clansmen from the capital who stayed in Nanjing.

If Jia Zhen had not just "died of illness" at that time, and Baoyu had not come to Jinling to deal with the funeral, the Jinling people would not dare to commit crimes under the nose of Master Bao, and it is estimated that Jia Cong would have hanged himself with a rope.

"These people bought firearms from Xu Jinglong in order to equip their ships for overseas plundering. After all, buying from Xu Jinglong is much cheaper than from the Ministry of Industry."

Jia Cong was also helpless. Xu Jinglong was really bold. He reported the losses to the capital, used public funds to buy firearms from the Ministry of Works, and sold them to the nobles in Jinling City at a discounted price, then put the money into his own pocket.

When the Governor's Office and the Ministry of War conducted routine inspections, he would rent them from various companies at very low costs, and then return them after the inspections were completed...

My goodness, this guy really uses all his brain to deceive the court.

"Among them, there are more than ten cannons and more than six hundred muskets whose whereabouts are unknown. My son is worried that these firearms will fall into the hands of bandits. Therefore, he has not alerted the enemy until today. He has been waiting for you and Master Thirteen to come so that we can discuss a countermeasure."

Xu Jinglong's bold move really silenced Master She and Old Thirteen.

I have seen outrageous things, but I have never seen anything so outrageous.

There are often cases of people drawing empty salaries in the Beijing army, but they are nothing compared to this guy.

Liu Ke couldn't help rubbing his brows and complained, "It's not easy. The artillery made by those crazy people in the Ministry of Works is light and powerful. I'm afraid that as soon as we investigate Xu Jinglong, they will hide the firearms. If they are just hidden, it's okay. If they really fall into the hands of bandits, they only need to find one outside the city... Enhou, then we will really become sinners of the court."

Don’t be fooled by the fact that the country is thriving and prosperous now.

But bandits have never been eliminated, especially in the most prosperous brothel in the south of the Yangtze River, such as the White Lotus Sect and the Holy Fire Sect. They are like cutting leeks, one after another.

Just when Jia Cong sent people to secretly investigate Xu Jinglong, he also found a three-eyed Buddha statue in his mansion.

It was not known whether they belonged to Xu Jinglong himself or to other people in the Duke of Wei's Mansion. This group of Buddha statues symbolized the Sanyang Sect and represented that the bandits had already extended their hands into the Duke of Wei's Mansion.

Therefore, what Liu Ke said was exactly what Jia Cong was worried about, which was the reason why he had been holding back.

The day before yesterday, he even accepted an invitation to a banquet hosted by Duke Wei's Mansion, and spent the entire afternoon chatting and laughing with Xu Jinglong.

"It's really hard to deal with..."

Master She thought for a long time and finally set his sights on Liu Ke.

"We can't investigate openly, let alone arrest Xu Jinglong. So, Old Thirteen, you have to sacrifice yourself!"

what?
"I?"

Liu Ke pointed at himself in confusion.

A strange smile suddenly appeared on Master She's face. "The news of our entry into the city has probably reached Duke Wei's mansion by now. How dare Xu Jinglong not give us a welcome? When the time comes, you can find a reason to get mad and beat him half to death. It would be best if you could put him under house arrest..."

what?
Old Thirteen pointed at Master She angrily and yelled, "Why aren't you the one who gets mad? You old bastard who can't even give birth to a child, why do I always have to do the things that bring bad reputation?"

In the face of Old Thirteen's curse, Master She was not even angry.

He just raised his eyebrows and said leisurely: "Because you can't hold your temper, I want to 'make friends' with him, Xu Jinglong, and do business with him again!"

……

Prince Zhongshun and the eldest master of the Rongguo Mansion came from afar. It is said that they caused unrest in the court in the capital and gave all the civil and military officials a headache.

It just so happened that there was a mess between the eunuch in charge of Nanzhili and the eunuch in charge of the Maritime Customs, so the emperor packed up the two of them and drove them out of the capital, and asked them to go south to deal with the matter.

Few people in Jinling City could guess what the reason was.

However, this did not prevent the Jinling nobles from welcoming the two men, one of whom was a prince and the other a duke... uh, a former duke.

As long as these two people have fun in Jinling, and when they return to Beijing they can praise so-and-so to the Emperor, and then they will have a bright future, right?
Jinling is the secondary capital, and these nobles who stayed behind are just the foil of the capital. If they want to get ahead, don’t they have to curry favor with the nobles?
"Master Thirteen, Lord She, I didn't expect that I, Old Xu, would see you again!"

Xu Jinglong, Liu Ke and Jia She are old acquaintances. When the old emperor made many southern tours, the Duke of Wei's Mansion was one of the places where the emperor stayed. As the crown prince, Xu Jinglong had many dealings with Liu Ke, Jia She and other popular figures in the imperial court.

Now that we meet again, shouldn't we first reminisce about our old friendship?

What a pity, Old Thirteen is not here today to reminisce about the past, he has to get angry, he must get angry.

What excuse can you give?
After thinking it over, the Thirteenth Prince suddenly blurted out, "Oh, Xu Jinglong, if you hadn't said it, I would have almost forgotten. When I accompanied my father on his southern tour, I stayed at your house, and you actually prepared sweet tofu pudding for me... I only eat salty tofu pudding..."

Monthly ticket recommendation ticket

　I got up late today and updated late, sorry.

　　I’ll stop here for now and continue tomorrow morning.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)