It's easy to be a villain, but hard to be a princess

Chu Muqing said coldly: "Back then you swore in front of the king that you would be a good official. I don't know, after many years, do you still remember what you said back then?"

Zhang Mian said in a low voice, "Your officer will remember."

"Since you still remember, you still owe me an explanation for the sharp reduction in taxes in Yunzhou in recent years and what happened tonight."

Zhang Mian tightly closed his eyes, not making a dying struggle, and said in a deep voice: "The criminal took advantage of his position to embezzle tax, please punish the prince."

The man in cotton robe said, "My lord!"

Chu Muqing looked at Han Zixiao at the side, "Since Mr. Zhang has pleaded guilty, Mr. Han, what do you think we should do?"

Han Zixiao said to the guards on the left and right: "Arrest the corrupt officials!"

The man in padded robes and a few accomplices stood in front of Zhang Mian, with a gleaming knife in his hand, "Don't move a single hair of your lord, otherwise don't blame my knife for not having eyes!"

The two guards who stepped forward also drew their long swords from their waists, ready to fight hand to hand, but Zhang Mian shouted at this time: "Don't be rude to the prince! Back off!"

The man in the cotton robe frowned, "My lord, you can't be taken away by them!"

"This is my business, you all go down!"

"grown ups!"

"Go down!"

The man in the padded robe and the few people standing in front of him retreated, Zhang Mian raised his head and looked at Chu Muqing, "My lord, the embezzlement of taxes was done by a single criminal, and I hope that my lord will not involve innocent people. "

"Who is innocent and who is guilty, this king will find out."

Two guards stepped forward to arrest Zhang Mian, and escorted his comrades back together.Those seven or eight carriages were loaded with sacks of rice. Han Zixiao ordered people to go into the old house to search again. There was a lot of gold and silver hidden in the basement of the old house, all of which were tax money embezzled by Zhang Mian.

After dealing with the follow-up matters, it was already four watch days before returning to the inn.Still unable to sleep, Chu Muqing and Han Zixiao asked the waiter at the inn to prepare some wine and appetizers, and drank in the room.

"I heard from Zhang Mian just now that the lord treats him with kindness?" Han Zixiao asked casually.

Chu Muqing calmly talked about what happened seven years ago, "Back then, he was still a poor scholar, and he failed to make the list in three consecutive examinations. When he was disheartened, he came to my palace and wanted to ask me for an errand. The king saw that he was talented, honest and honest, and he was a Juren, so he arranged an official position in the court. During his tenure in the court, he kept his own law and did not collude with others, so the king transferred him to this cloud. The prefect of the state."

"So, that Zhang Mian is really a first-class actor." Han Zixiao sighed softly, "It really took a lot of pains for the prince to treat him."

Chu Muqing took a sip of her wine and said, "Promoting him is nothing more than a matter of effort for me. It's a lot of painstaking effort, so it's not worth it."

"That's right." Han Zixiao smiled, the case was solved so smoothly, and he felt relieved, "I don't know how the prince plans to deal with him?"

Chu Muqing glanced at Han Zixiao, "It's the duty of the Yushitai to supervise the officials and punish the criminals. With Mr. Han here, do you want me to do it myself?"

Han Zixiao smiled awkwardly, "I know my mistake."

The magistrate of Yunzhou is a fourth-rank official. According to the law, he should be handed over to the court for his corruption and violation of the law. Han Zixiao is just a fourth-rank censor Zhongcheng. Although he can be convicted, he cannot be punished.

On the second day, Han Zixiao took someone to interrogate Zhang Mian in the prison and recorded it.Zhang Mian was very cooperative and explained clearly how the tax was embezzled in the past few years, and admitted that the account book turned over to the court was manipulated, and the real account book was still in the house.

After Han Zixiao's interrogation, when he got out of the prison, he saw a sea of ​​people outside, surrounded by the people of Yunzhou, all shouting to release the magistrate.

Someone knelt in front of Han Zixiao and said: "My lord, Mr. Zhang is a rare and good official, and he will never do anything that is corrupt and perverting the law. Please find out the truth, Mr. Zhang, and give Mr. Zhang justice!"

Another person came over on his knees, "My lord, the people of Yunzhou know best how Mr. Zhang is an official. I hope your lord will not mistakenly arrest good people!"

A few more people came to intercede one after another, Han Zixiao felt a headache, rubbed his forehead, and said: "I know that you don't want to believe it, but this time Master Zhang confessed the crime himself, and I just confessed the crime according to law. act."

The next day, Han Zixiao escorted Zhang Mian back to Beijing.Still many people from Yunzhou came to see him off, and sent them good wine and meat to thank Mr. Zhang for his great kindness.

Beijing.

The regent was not in the capital for a month, and Chu Ruihong felt comfortable all over, like a fish that had escaped from the net.But he knew in his heart that this unrestrained life could only last for about two months, and when the regent returned to Beijing, he still had to be controlled by him.Therefore, before he comes back, let yourself establish prestige among civil and military officials.

Above the court, a few ministers who were usually loyal to the regent still liked to refute his political views, Chu Ruihong nodded casually, which was considered as a way of saving face.

The regent was not in the court, and Chu Ruihong's uncle, Fan Youcheng, also became active in the court.In the early years, the regent was the dominant one in the court, and those who disobeyed the regent did not dare to confront him. Now that he is not around, they all naturally become arrogant.

Recently, the court has been arguing endlessly about the increase of taxes in various places. All the ministers around the regent oppose the increase of taxes, but Fan Youcheng strongly advocates the increase of taxes, and the reason is very reasonable.

Chu Ruihong also agreed to increase taxes. The treasury has been unable to make ends meet due to the war in the northwest.

In the court, Chu Ruihong and Fan Youcheng spoke eloquently, and many ministers agreed, but Yu Kang, the servant of the household department, did not agree to increase taxes.After going to court, I went to the imperial study to list a lot of reasons why it is not appropriate to increase taxes.In the end, the regent was moved out, saying that if the regent is here, he will definitely not agree to increase taxes and so on.

Chu Ruihong was just impatient at first, but when he heard that Yu Kang moved out of the regent, in his eyes, it was simply a threat.

These ministers are all close to the regent. Is the regent the king of the country or Chu Ruihong? !

The resentment accumulated in Chu Ruihong's heart for many years finally broke out, and he was charged with the following crimes with the Minister of the Household Department and sent him to the sky prison.

Although only Yu Kang, the minister of the household department, was punished, it undoubtedly served as a warning to other officials who followed the lead of the regent.Chu Ruihong just wanted to let them know who is the master in this world!

But what I never expected was that Yu Kang, the minister of the Ministry of household affairs, died of a relapse of his old illness on the fifth day after he was sent to prison.

When Chu Ruihong heard the news, his heart was shocked. He didn't want Yu Kang's life, but just wanted to punish and punish others as an example, so that those ministers would know that he, the emperor, still had real power.But unexpectedly, he actually...

Chu Ruihong was restless, so he summoned Fan Youcheng into the palace, frowned and said, "Uncle, I didn't want his life, but I didn't expect him to be so fragile, what should I do?"

Fan Youcheng said: "Your Majesty, you don't have to blame yourself, Yu Kang's death is his fate, it has nothing to do with Your Majesty."

Chu Ruihong still felt a little guilty, "But, if I hadn't thrown him into the sky prison, maybe he wouldn't have died."

Fan Youcheng sighed, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for speaking bluntly."

"Uncle, please tell me." Chu Ruihong looked at him and said.

"When the first emperor was in power, he killed many ministers openly and secretly in order to eradicate dissidents, including loyal ones, but now people in the world still call him a wise monarch when they mention him." Fan Youcheng raised his eyes, "Your majesty, you are the king of a country." Lord, in the future, tens of thousands of dissidents will be executed for the sake of the country and the country, but Yu Kang's death today is nothing."

Chu Ruihong looked thoughtfully at the golden dragon head incense burner on the imperial case, and clenched his fists, "Uncle is right, if I really want to become the king of a country, I have to be ruthless!"

Fan Youcheng said: "If the emperor can calm down, the regent will not dare to be unscrupulous again. Sooner or later, the emperor will take the power into his own hands."

The light in Chu Ruihong's eyes gradually dimmed, and he also admitted that he was too weak before, so he was restrained by the regent everywhere, and he watched helplessly as he covered the sky with one hand but was powerless.Now, he wants to become powerful and establish his majesty as a monarch in front of civil and military officials!

Han Zixiao escorted Zhang Mian on the way back to Beijing. The regent's ship docked in Suzhou, and they had to go to Suzhou first.Due to the heavy rain on the way, Han Zixiao and his party were delayed on the road for two days, and they arrived in the suburbs of Suzhou on the fourth day of departure.

Han Zixiao was riding on the horse, listening to the cicadas singing and the birds singing on both sides of the forest, he felt quite comfortable, so he also hummed a little song in a low voice.

"Master Han is really in a good mood."

Chu Muqing's voice came faintly from the side.

Han Zixiao turned his head to look at Chu Muqing who was riding on the horse, and smiled, "The weather after the rain is pleasant, and I feel happy for some reason."

Chu Muqing looked ahead and said expressionlessly, "It's good to know that Mr. Han is in a happy mood. Why did you make a noise and disturb others' cleanliness?"

Han Zixiao understood that the Prince Regent disliked the bad tune he was humming.Han Zixiao's heart was more or less frustrated, "I couldn't help myself for a while, I'm really sorry for disturbing the prince."

Chu Muqing glanced at him lightly and stopped talking.

Since he couldn't hum, Han Zixiao looked around to see the scenery along the way.When I looked forward, I suddenly noticed that something was wrong, the front was dark, obviously there was something.When I got closer, I realized that it was a person, not just one or two, but a group.

The group of people were all dressed in coarse linen and knelt on the ground. This scene was more spectacular than the emperor's tour.Han Zixiao looked at Chu Muqing who was next to him, "It seems that the people of Suzhou came to pay a special visit to him when they learned that the prince passed by here."

Chu Muqing glanced at him, "Master Han is thinking too much."