Confession is lenient, resistance is severe, as long as it is not heinous and the crime is extremely heinous, the confession can be appropriately commuted.

Of course, those who participated in the murder of the imperial court officials, especially those who supervised the imperial history, even if they were not the masterminds, were serious crimes, and for the sake of his confession, although the death penalty could be avoided, the living crime could not be escaped.

The local officials in Ezhou, taking into account the general environment in the south of the Yangtze River, could not cure any serious crimes, but the murder of the supervising imperial history touched the bottom line of the imperial court.

Even if Emperor Chen doesn't pursue this matter, the imperial historian in Beijing will definitely fight them to the end, and in addition, the officials are not easy to mess with, and they turn a blind eye on weekdays, just because they didn't find a chance.

After inquiring about the shopkeeper of Yuanyang Tower, Tang Ning returned to the room and wrote a letter to Fang Hong, waiting until these people were escorted into Beijing, and then handed it to him by the way.

Ezhou is not big, there are only three counties under its jurisdiction, and within one day, all the county orders of the three counties will be completed.

The three of them stood in the hall, their faces were pale, Ezhou Assassin History, Changshi, Don't Drive, they were all arrested and put in prison, it can be seen what kind of ruthless character the Jingguan who came this time, if something angered him, he might end up with the same fate as those people.

Tang Ning looked at them and asked calmly: "You all know about the Ezhou Assassin Shi who has been greedy for national taxes and silver for many years, bribing the imperial history, and intending to murder the imperial court officials, right?" ”

The three of them spoke in unison: "Xia Guan knows." ”

Tang Ning looked at them and asked, "This official has taken down all the officials involved in the Ezhou Mansion, what do you think of this matter?" ”

"Yu Assassin's crime is extremely heinous, this is what he de......serves"

"The adults handled it very well, and the lower officials admired it."

"Thank you, my lord, for getting rid of this traitor in Ezhou......"

The situation is stronger than people, and it is obvious that this time the Ezhou assassin is in a catastrophe, and the three of them did not hesitate to stand on Tangning's side.

Tang Ning is most worried that after taking down these high-ranking officials, the people of Ezhou will mutiny, although Ezhou is not big, and it is easy to suppress it, but if there is one less thing, there will be one less thing, and if the county government under the jurisdiction of Ezhou cooperates, the impact of this matter can be minimized.

He looked at the three of them and said: "The three of you should take this as a warning and settle the people in the jurisdiction, if anyone dares to make trouble from it and has bad intentions, this official will not be spared!" ”

The three of them trembled for a moment, and immediately said, "The lower official obeys the order!" ”

After reminding the three county magistrates, when the three of them left, Chen Zhou knocked on the door, walked in from the outside, and said, "My lord, Jiangnan West Road has arrived." ”

The position of the criminal officer in the state of Chen is very special, and the real power in his hands is not large, but he has the responsibility of supervising an official, and he can directly hand the fold to the emperor, which can be described as a sharp sword hanging over the head of a local official.

He made such a big move in Ezhou, there was no reason not to alarm the criminal officer, but he didn't expect him to come so quickly.

Tang Ning walked into the side hall and saw a person standing in the hall, and after being stunned, he said, "Lord Song, why are you?" ”

He is no stranger to the middle-aged man standing in the hall, who used to be sentenced to Song Qian on Jingdong Road, and Tang Ning knew him when he was in Lingzhou.

Song Qian looked at him and said with a wry smile: "Sure enough, it's Lord Tang......"

Tang Ning instructed Chen Zhou to serve tea, and after sitting down, he asked, "Why is Lord Song here?" ”

Song Qiandao: "A year ago, this official was transferred to Jiangnan West Road, and this time it happened to be near Ezhou, and when he heard the news, he immediately rushed over." ”

He looked at Tang Ning, and said with a complicated expression: "Lord Tang, do you know that if you take the Ezhou officials, it will be difficult for you to walk on the road south of the Yangtze River next, and it is not easy to explain to the imperial court, strictly calculated, you do not have the right to arrest the Ezhou assassins, once the news reaches the Jingshi, this will become the reason for those people to attack you......"

Tang Ning actually thought of these things before he started, and he moved Ezhou first, the purpose was to kill chickens and monkeys, and deter and deter other state capitals.

On this trip to Jiangnan, he had only one task, that is, to find out the rebel forces in Jiangnan and destroy them in one fell swoop.

In order to ensure the success of this mission, whoever they are, no matter what their purpose, will directly wipe out any trouble that causes trouble to this operation.

Song Yi seemed to have something to say, Tang Ning looked at him and asked, "What does Lord Song mean......"

"The Book of the People." Song Yi stroked his beard and said with a smile: "As long as Lord Tang conveys the public opinion of Ezhou to Jingshi, he can block the mouths of those people in Jingshi." ”

Tang Ning smiled and said, "Thank you Lord Song for reminding me." ”

"The situation in Jiangnan is complicated, even if the official is no longer accustomed to the actions of these people, he does not dare to act rashly." Song Yi looked at him and said, "In the next period of time, this official will stay in Ezhou to assist Lord Tang in handling the follow-up matters." ”

"Thank you, Lord Song." Tang Ning can't continue to delay in Ezhou, and some follow-up chores need to be handled by a trustworthy person.

Song Yi waved his hand and said, "Lord Tang is polite, you have done what the official has always wanted to do but did not dare to do, in comparison, what did the official do?" ”

……

Several major events have occurred in Ezhou in the past two days.

The first thing was naturally that officials such as Ezhou Assassin Shi, Sima, and Changshi were arrested and imprisoned by senior officials from Beijing, which actually caused a major earthquake in the officialdom of Ezhou.

For a time, Ezhou officials were panicked, and this matter spread to all directions at a very fast speed.

The second is that the Yamen of the Assassination History was opened for five consecutive days, but all the people of Ezhou, who had been oppressed by these officials, could beat the drum to complain, elaborate on their grievances, and sign their names on the book of the people.

For this matter, the people of Ezhou have responded, a long queue at the entrance of the yamen early in the morning, until the night closed the yamen did not disperse, the next morning, the team of redress will reappear.

The third thing is that including the Ezhou Thorn History, the family property of several officials was confiscated, and it is said that the seized silver taels add up to millions of dollars, all kinds of jewelry, gold and silver, filled dozens of large boxes, and the people have a lot of discussions about it.

"These corrupt officials are so rich, are there so many people in the imperial court?"

"Yulu, they haven't had so many Yulu for hundreds of years, aren't they all from looting people's fat and people's ointment?"

"A million taels, we can't make so much money in ten lifetimes......"

……

"Only a million taels?" Tang Ning looked at Liu Tong and frowned slightly.

Liu Tongdao: "Lord Hui, one million taels is a real silver tael, and other treasures and jewelry, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, add up to unknown value......

Silver is the thing that can really give people a visual impact, although one million taels is already a super huge amount of money, but Emperor Chen is not a poor ghost emperor now, and this money can't bring him enough impact at all.

Tang Ning thought for a moment and said, "Let people exchange all the silver tickets for silver, and put them in boxes, and all the objects that are too big will be treated as silver." ”

Those treasures and antiques are all stolen goods, which are not easy to deal with, but if the silver ticket is exchanged for silver, the visual impact will be greater, and some things that cannot be taken away can also be used on the spot.

Liu Tong nodded, and said: "My lord, they also found out that some businessmen in Ezhou colluded with the government to evade taxes and evade taxes......

Tang Ning's eyes lit up, and he said: "Punishment, according to the law, let them pay back five times, remember to pay all the silver, not the silver ticket!" ”