Red Mansion Royal Cat

Chapter 611 But I care!
Flood discharge is indeed the only way to save the Yellow River embankment at the moment. After sacrificing the four counties of Yucheng, Xiayi, Feng and Pei, the water level of the Yellow River, which had already overflowed the embankment, has visibly dropped to a safe level.

The city of Kaifeng was saved, and so were other areas on both sides of the Yellow River.

Jia Cong stood on the top of the mountain overlooking the sparkling water, and he couldn't tell what he felt.

The Yellow River embankment was saved by sacrificing the homes of the people in four counties. It didn't have to be like this...

"My Lord, the news from Kaifeng is that Elder Hai has started killing people!"

"It's not too much to skin them and stuff them with straw. If it weren't for them, how could these people have come to this?"

The news sent by Dai Ting did not make Jia Cong feel better, but made him even angrier.

With the support of the imperial court, the people would not be displaced. In fact, with the help of the imperial court, the people might even live better after the reconstruction of these four counties.

But home is home. Who would feel good watching the flood submerge their homes and the land on which they once depended for survival?

Jia Cong looked back at the people busy running around in the drizzle, and listened to the sound of reading coming from the simply built school. The anger in his heart subsided a little.

"It looks like the rain will stop soon. After a disaster there will be a major epidemic. Have someone prepare the medicinal materials sent by the Ministry of Revenue. Follow the epidemic prevention strategy we formulated before. Don't save money. It must fall on everyone. These hills have gathered 100,000 people from Yucheng County. We must not take it lightly."

Dai Ting looked at Jia Cong gratefully and bowed in response.

Judging from the current situation, whether or not Marquis Yongfeng comes, Yucheng County will definitely be the place where flood water is discharged and will not escape the fate of being sacrificed.

Fortunately, the imperial court is not short of money and grain, and with the Marquis of Yongfeng in charge, the capital city continuously sends supplies here, so that the people of Yucheng and other four counties will not be displaced.

Last night he also saw the future planning map of Yucheng County on Yongfeng Hou's desk. Just based on that planning map, he could see that the future of Yucheng County would definitely be a qualitative leap.

"Also, you should make arrangements now. Except for the elderly, women and children, all the people in the county should be classified and numbered according to their abilities and skills. After the flood, we will start rebuilding their homes. We should try to let the people move into their new homes before winter comes."

Hearing Jia Cong's words, Dai Ting was stunned for a moment: "My Lord, are you going to start preparing now?"

Jia Cong nodded: "Of course, idle people are prone to trouble. Tell the people that everyone's daily work will be recorded and distributed according to their work. The court will pay them a salary. This is not only to rebuild their homes, but also a chance for them to change their destiny."

Learning a skill is not an easy thing. Taking advantage of this opportunity, people with quick minds will definitely be able to learn a good skill and even find business opportunities from it.

As long as it does not affect the court's plan to rebuild homes through work-for-relief and does not violate the laws of the country, Jia Cong still hopes that someone can use this to change their destiny.

……

Kaifeng changed three times a day, and the toughness of Hai Gangfeng's methods was completely beyond the imagination of the officials and gentry in the city.

Within three days, Henan Provincial Administration, Judicial Commissioner's Office and Kaifeng government office were all surrounded by the Jinxiang Guard army.

One by one, officials who had once held high positions were taken away. Many big families in the city did not even dare to open their doors and packed up their belongings to prepare to leave the city overnight.

But when their carriage arrived at the city gate, they found that the familiar people who were originally on the city defense seemed to have disappeared.

"According to the order of the elder, you can only enter Kaifeng City but not leave!"

The soldiers of Jinxiangwei will not care how high your official rank is or how much power you have in Kaifeng Prefecture.

No matter how high an official position one holds, he cannot be as high as the imperial commissioner or the cabinet minister.

What's more, they were transferred here by Yongfeng Marquis Jia Cong with a golden order, which means they were following the imperial order.

When the dark clouds dispersed, Kaifeng City saw the sun for the first time in late July after nearly two months of intermittent heavy rain.

Jia Cong received an urgent summons from Hai Gangfeng and hurried from Yucheng County to Kaifeng City.

As soon as he entered the imperial envoy's residence, he was pulled to his front.

"Look at this, it's shocking, shocking!"

After Hai Gangfeng's almost sleepless investigation and interrogation, the Zhiheyin embezzlement case was finally brought to light.

According to the clues found so far and the confessions of those who have confessed, since the 13th year of Yuanyou, the court has allocated a total of 16.7 million taels of silver to the entire Henan Province for river management.

Among these, the largest cost was the renovation and reinforcement of the Yellow River embankment, totaling 12 million taels.

This does not include the cement workshops built by the Ministry of Works in Luoyang, Kaifeng and other places, which provided cheap cement for the river management project.

But what is unexpected is that human desires are really insatiable.

The imperial court had already reformed official salaries, giving officials enough to live a prosperous life, but some people still wanted to take the money for river management.

"They sold the cement that was approved by the Ministry of Industry to merchants, and used cheap and low-quality cement as a substitute, not to mention reinforcing it with steel bars. The Luoshui levee looks shiny on the surface, but it's still old inside and can't be trusted at all..."

This case is actually very easy to investigate. As long as you are not afraid of offending the entire Henan officialdom and gentry, and those people in the capital who are covering for you, it is easy to find evidence.

For example, the Luoshui Dam, which was built and reinforced with inferior cement, is something that anyone who knows the business can tell is wrong at a glance.

Because of this, when Xu Jin arrived at Kaifeng Prefecture and said he wanted to investigate the embezzlement case of river management silver, the damn Luoyang prefect Lu Man and Yangcheng Hou Chang Yantai were worried that their crime would be exposed, so they sent people to dig up the Luoshui embankment, hoping to cover up the evidence of their crime under the guise of a flood.

"According to the information I have so far, only half of the 16.7 million taels of silver allocated by the court to Henan for river management has actually been put into use. Marquis Yongfeng, this is the most shocking case of corruption since the founding of this dynasty. I am going to kill him, and I need your help."

Ok?
Jia Cong asked doubtfully, "Isn't Lord Hai already killing them?"

Hai Gangfeng pointed to a roll of paper on the corner of the table and said angrily, "I have a lot of people to kill. Some of them are high-ranking and prominent. I don't have the power to do that. I need to borrow the Yongfeng Marquis's golden mace to kill the king!"

hiss!
"You always come with a golden order. Is there anyone you can't kill?"

With the golden order arrow and the royal flag, those below the third rank can be executed first and reported later. Those above the third rank can be arrested and brought before the emperor for punishment.

Before, Xu Jin skinned a marquis of the imperial dynasty with the help of Jia Cong’s golden mace. Does that mean the old man is going to skin a marquis of the imperial dynasty too this time?
"Prince of Runan Liu Si, Crown Prince Liu Rong, General of the Nation Liu Shinan, General of the Auxiliary Nation Liu Shiying, Marquis of Puyang Yue Chunzhi, Marquis of Lingbao Li Jingzhong..."

This small roll of paper captured almost all the royal family members and military nobles whose fiefs were in Henan.

Even Jia Cong's hands were shaking slightly: "Old man, please give me a definite answer. Are these people involved in the river silver embezzlement case?"

Hai Gangfeng looked solemn and nodded solemnly: "The evidence is irrefutable. I originally wanted to arrest all these people and send them to the capital to be punished by Your Highness. But you should know that many things would be easy to deal with if the late emperor was still alive. But now that His Majesty has gone overseas, I am worried that it will damage Your Highness's reputation if you let the Crown Prince do this."

Not to mention others, King Liu Si of Runan was of the same generation as the late emperor. In terms of seniority, Crown Prince Liu Hong had to call this man "Uncle King".

The reason why unofficial history is called unofficial history is because it is truly unofficial.

The imperial court implemented the policy of enfeoffment overseas, and most of the clan members responded positively, but some did not want to give up their comfortable life in the Central Plains and rejected the court's proposal.

For a case like the Prince of Runan's Palace, even if the imperial court wanted to drive it out of the fertile land of the Central Plains, it would be difficult to do so too obviously.

This time, Liu Si was found to have embezzled as much as 800,000 taels of silver for river management, and also seized 30% of the shares of the cement workshop built in Luoyang. According to the law, he should be executed.

But who will do the killing is a big problem.

If he were sent to the capital and Crown Prince Liu Hong ordered his execution, some members of the royal family would surely say that the palace was using this as an excuse to eliminate the clan members who were still in the Central Plains.

Even if it is those military meritorious nobles, if the prince kills too many of them, he will also be labeled as a murderer.

"Let me do it. Only I can do this, and it's the most appropriate thing to do!"

Jia Cong rejected Hai Gangfeng's proposal to borrow his mace, as it would be inappropriate for someone else to have this thing in their hands.

Only in Jia Cong's own hands, even if he wiped out the entire officialdom in Henan, as long as the evidence was conclusive, no one would be able to find any fault.

At most, they would say that Jia Cong committed murder and gave him the reputation of a butcher.

Just based on the good reputation that Jia Cong has built among the people over the years, even if the entire court calls him a butcher, it will not have much impact on him.

After all, all along, he has always put the people at the center and taken the approach of "overcoming the superiors with the inferiors."

"Why do you have to take the blame for me..."

Hai Gangfeng smiled bitterly, but Jia Cong shook his head: "I am not taking the blame for you. Have you forgotten my title of Imperial Cat? Imperial cat, imperial cat, is a cat that doesn't catch mice worthy of the title of Imperial Cat?"

……

In order to prevent this group of people from taking desperate measures, Jia Cong waited in Kaifeng City for a full half month. Only when a total of 20,000 troops from Ningshan and Luzhou arrived at the city of Kaifeng did he issue a series of military orders and dispatch several armies to the places on the list.

Jia Shiyi personally led the troops to Runing Prefecture. When the 3,000-strong army arrived at the city of Runing, the city guards of Runing Prefecture thought that the city was being attacked by bandits.

After Jia Shiyi took out the warrant of Marquis Yongfeng, he ignored the obstruction of the officials of Runing Prefecture and rushed directly into the Prince of Runan's Palace in the city.

"Liu Si, your story has been exposed!"

Liu Si of Runan was a member of the Liu clan and a prince of the royal family who was of the same generation as the late emperor.

When Jia Shiyi led his troops and broke into the house, he was furious and ordered the guards in the mansion to capture him.

Unexpectedly, Jia Shiyi took out the golden mace from the sword box on his back.

"Here is the King's Golden Mace. Seeing this mace is like seeing the late emperor. Kneel before me!"

"How could it be? How could it be? How did this end up in your hands?"

Liu Si had never expected that someone would rush into the palace holding a golden mace to beat the king. He stared in amazement at the golden mace raised high until he was pressed to the ground.

Jia Shiyi said coldly, "Prince Liu Si of Runan and his son Liu Rong embezzled the money for river management and robbed people... They colluded with Luoyang prefect Lu Man and Yangcheng Marquis Chang Yantai to dig up the levee and destroy the evidence, causing hundreds of thousands of people to be displaced and suffering heavy casualties... Now, I am here to arrest Liu Si and Liu Rong and bring them to Kaifeng Prefecture for trial in accordance with the order of Da Wang Jinjian and Yongfeng Marquis!"

Three thousand soldiers turned the entire Runan Palace upside down.

No one in the Ru'ning Prefecture government office dared to ask any more questions. The shining golden mace carried supreme power. Even the Prime Minister of the central government and the governor of the Grand Marshal's Office had no right to ask about it.

"The rest of the palace is not allowed to go out. Runing Prefecture is responsible for guarding them and waiting for the imperial edict."

After saying this, Jia Shiyi waved his hand, and Liu Si, Liu Rong and the main members of the palace were all stuffed into the prison car and rushed to Kaifeng Prefecture in a mighty manner.

At the same time, several groups of people and horses galloped in all directions from Kaifeng City.

A total of eighteen royal relatives and military heroes involved in the case were brought to Kaifeng City.

Some people still wanted to raise troops to resist, but the three guards of Luzhou, Ningshan and Jinxiang did not hold back at all. In front of the regular army of the imperial dynasty, these guards of the royal palace and thugs of the marquis' mansion, who usually could only bully the common people, were all beheaded on the spot.

In more than a month, the number of people who died indirectly at the hands of Jia Cong has far exceeded one thousand.

"Send a message to all the prefectures in Henan. This Marquis does not want to see any signs of 'civil uprising'. Whoever has trouble in his jurisdiction, this Marquis will chop off his head!"

These royal relatives, nobles, or military gentry were accustomed to using "civil unrest" to coerce the court to make major events minor ones.

But Jia Cong didn't indulge them in these bad habits. What kind of civil uprising was that? How could a gathering of hooligans to cause trouble be considered as public unrest?
A handwritten order was sent to all prefectures in Henan, directly blocking the last way out for the traitors and parasites, leaving them no chance to struggle.

In the dim cell, Jia Cong sat on the armchair with his horse and sword, looking coldly at Liu Si and others who were tied to the torture instruments.

"The Luo River levee collapsed, hundreds of thousands of people in Luoyang were displaced, and tens of thousands were killed or injured. Your crimes are light, skinning and stuffing are the least of your crimes. Liu Si, especially you, you are worse than pigs and dogs, don't you know that what you are doing is digging up the foundation of your Liu family?"

Jia Cong could understand if others did this, but this damn Liu Si must have lost his mind. As a member of the Liu family, he was stealing his own family's people. Jia Cong couldn't understand why he did this.

"Is the imperial court paying you less than your salary and reward? Are you so short of money?"

"A relative of the Liu clan? Ha, I don't enjoy being the uncle as much as you do as the Marquis of Yongfeng."

Liu Si sneered and said self-deprecatingly, "I just don't want to live a hard life overseas, but the emperor let Xu Jin seize my land and close my shop... What? I am a prince of the imperial court, so I can't occupy a few more acres of land and open a few more shops? Since when do I need to care about the lives of those peasants? Do I need to give the food and silver that should belong to me to those untouchables?"

"You are such a fool. Is that your field? Is that your shop?"

Jia Cong raised the whip and whipped him again. This man was really shameless. It was clearly his teacher Xu Jin who found out that he had occupied the people's land. He didn't pursue these crimes for the sake of the royal family's reputation. He still dared to speak nonsense here.

He whipped Jia Cong more than ten times in a row, until his wrist was sore, and then he stopped.

"I have seen clearly that in your eyes, you Liu clan members should be supported by the people of the world. You don't care about the lives of the common people at all. In your eyes, the common people are just ants. Who would care about the lives of the ants under your feet?"

Jia Cong threw the whip in his hand to the ground and sneered at Liu Si: "Yeah, they are just ants. Who cares if more of them die? But I do care!"

Faced with these beasts who didn't take the lives of ordinary people seriously, Jia Cong even felt a little bored.

He waved to the soldiers beside him and said, "Come here, give Liu Si medicine and ginseng soup. Tomorrow, I will chop him into pieces in front of all the people in Luoyang to commemorate the people of Luoyang who died because of him!"

(End of this chapter)