"King, Yanmen is in a hurry." Liu Ping hurriedly walked in with a piece of information in his hand.

"Come in and say. What's wrong? Zhao Kuo stretched his waist and walked out of the room, signaling Liu Ping to have hot wine and tea on the table, and he was free to do whatever he wanted.

Sleepy in spring, lack of sleep in autumn, napping in summer, and lying in the bed in winter. Zhao Kuo now pays attention to the disaster situation in the north every day, and goes to the surrounding areas of Handan every two days to have a look, and almost all the rest of the time stays in the palace, either to feast the ministers of the court and the more prestigious craftsmen among the hundred workers, or to stay in the harem to accompany his family.

After the beginning of spring, he was going north to attack the Xiongnu, and he could not accompany his relatives at home for a long time.

"Kong Bin sent a letter to Shangqing, Zhao Tang, the son of Pingyang Jun, and Wang Yu, the head of the coal mine in Woyang County, blackmailed the people and could not go up the mountain to dig coal without gifts to him, resulting in dozens of nearby tribes and villages without coal for the winter, and after the snow disaster came, people froze to death." Liu Ping said in a low voice.

"How many people froze to death?" Zhao Kuo's face changed suddenly, he stood up suddenly, and said in a deep voice.

"So far, nearly 100 people have been counted." Liu Ping said.

"Already cleared?" Zhao Kuo's hands clenched into fists.

"The specific details are not clear, but this matter has been confirmed to be true, it was General Li Mu who discovered this incident during the disaster relief, and then sent someone to watch Zhao Tang and Wang Yu, and reported it to Kong Bin Shangqing. The subordinate eyeliner has just reported the matter. Liu Ping said.

"Does Pingyang-kun know about this?" Zhao Kuo asked suddenly.

"I don't know for the time being, but it won't be long before I know." Liu Ping said.

"Let's go to the study." Zhao Kuo took off the big coat from the shelf and draped it on his body, got up and walked outside.

After arriving at the study, Zhao Kuo shielded the left and right, and then asked, "Is this happening in other places?" ”

"Not yet." Liu Ping shook his head, the three northern counties are so big, he doesn't dare to say that it is too dead, he can only say that this kind of thing will not happen in most areas.

"I'm afraid it's not going to be that simple." Zhao Kuo put down the teacup in his hand, slowly exhaled a breath of hot air, and said with a frown.

This matter was not a big deal, if it wasn't for the snow disaster, Zhao Kuo sent Kong Bin and Li Mu to the rescue, and it might not even be exposed.

Dead people in winter, in Zhao Kingdom, especially in the cold north, it is normal, not to mention that the dead are still ordinary Qianshou, no one will pay attention to this kind of thing.

As for not being able to dig coal in the mountains, everyone will not take it seriously, after all, they were not allowed to dig before, and everyone has long been used to it. Now suddenly let dig, on the contrary, there will be some suspicions

Some people have the attitude of trying it out, go to ask the local officials, and are hinted that they have to pay money to take it, and they will suddenly realize that how can such a good thing not need money, and it is very reasonable to pay money now.

As for the rest who don't understand the hints, they won't take it to heart, and at most wonder why some people can go up the mountain to mine coal, instead of choosing to report to the official.

It can even be said that even if this kind of thing is found out in the end, the local officials will only demote the officials at most, and those who have a relationship like Zhao Tang are likely to change places and continue to be county magistrates.

But now the problem lies in Zhao Tang's identity, he is Zhao Bao's son. Zhao Bao and Zhao Sheng are Zhao Kuo's middle fathers and the largest clan in the Zhao Kingdom.

Zhao Kuo's ascension to the throne relied on force, not the clan. Especially after he ascended to the throne, he gradually improved the status of scholars, farmers, merchants, and even hundreds of workers, but he did not win over the clan.

Zhao Bao and Zhao Sheng don't have any opinions, they are already feudal monarchs, and they both have fiefs, unless Zhao Kuo continues to increase their fiefs, ordinary rewards don't mean much to them, and they are not as useful as fame.

But they have no opinion, it doesn't mean that those people below them have no opinion, Zhao Guo's large and small clans add up to not a thousand, but also hundreds.

Although these people held a lot of land and rights in their hands, the original fief had been recovered by all means by successive monarchs. Naturally, he wanted to take the opportunity to get some benefits from Zhao Kuo, and it was good to eat the worst food.

It's just that these things were suppressed by Zhao Bao and Zhao Sheng together, and they didn't cause trouble to Zhao Kuo.

Now if Zhao Kuo disposes of Zhao Tang in accordance with the law, there will inevitably be a rift between him and Zhao Bao, and it is difficult to say whether he and Zhao Sheng will stand on their side, even if they stand on their own side, it is difficult to say whether they will support themselves as before.

However, if it is dealt with leniently, it will be unfair and untrustworthy to the people.

Zhao officials can see that Zhao Kuo is reforming Zhao step by step, and this process is gradual, not overnight.

And the most important thing in reform is to establish faith, so that the people will believe in you, no matter what orders are given.

Just like Shang Ying's letter at the beginning, even if the prince violates the law, he must insist on punishment.

Now that Zhao Kuo has gone through various measures, it is not easy to establish trust among the people, and once he is lenient, most of the previous efforts will collapse in an instant.

"Subordinate...... I also feel that things are not so simple. Liu Ping thought for a moment and spoke.

"According to the understanding of his subordinates, the son of Pingyang Jun has been timid and ambitious since he was a child, and he eats and waits for death in the house every day, and he rarely even goes out of the gate, let alone causing trouble. Later, Pingyang Jun wanted to train him, so he arranged for him to be a county magistrate in Yanmen. But after Zhao Tang arrived, he still didn't care about anything as before, and stayed at home every day to enjoy himself. ”

"He does not harm the people, to be precise, as if there were no man. However, Pingyuan Jun arranged a very capable housekeeper for him, and used his identity to transfer two good county lieutenants and county officials to the past, and governed Woyang County in an orderly manner, and made a lot of political achievements. ”

"Because of Pingyang Jun's identity, and Zhao Tang didn't do anything bad about bullying men and women, no one has impeached him. And Pingyang Jun's family is not short of money, so he can't embezzle this money. ”

In the eyes of the people, the official did not do bad things, that is, he was doing good things, not to mention that the housekeeper also did a lot of good things in the name of Zhao Tang, so Zhao Tang's reputation has always been good.

"You mean someone framed him?" Zhao Kuo asked.

"It's not a frame-up, the money was indeed accepted by Zhao Tang." Liu Ping shook his head, "But it may be an inducement, Zhao Tang didn't oppress the people, just because he couldn't get in touch with the people, he was completely a person from two worlds, plus he lacked nothing, so he couldn't rob those three melons and two dates." It is not because of love for the people, but to be a good official. ”

"And he'...... If someone induces him, it would be easier to let him embezzle and take bribes. ”

"As long as Zhao Tang commits a crime, the people behind him can use him to pull Pingyangjun into the water. Even if he doesn't pull into the water, Pingyang Jun will not be able to kill his relatives in righteousness. When the time comes, I will stab this matter to the king. No matter how the king punishes, the people behind it can profit from it. ”

"My subordinates feel that this matter is likely to be just the first step, because the snow disaster was suddenly exposed, which is also a good thing for us."