Chapter 31 "Before beheading, all of them shall be punished by the palace."

In addition to the Jinyi Guard and the Shangzhiwei were under the personal control of the emperor, the other guards in the capital and the guards in various places were under the jurisdiction of the Governor's Office of the Five Armies, and the Governor of the Five Armies belonged to Cao Xun, the governor of the Chinese army, who had the greatest power.

After separating from his father-in-law Li Yong, Cao Xun went directly to the Shen Cewei under the Governor's Mansion of the Chinese Army and transferred a hundred elite soldiers and took them away on the pretext of temporary drills.

It was still early in the morning, and only some early risers had smoke rising from the roofs of their homes.

Hurry up and whip up, when there are still fifty zhang away from the courtyard called "Changyuan", Cao Xun reins in the horse.

The hundred elite soldiers behind him immediately stopped, no one made a noise, just waiting for the order of the Metropolitan Governor.

Chang Yuan specializes in unsightly things, deliberately built at the foot of a hill far away from the nearby village, in the early morning, there is basically no one around, at most the domestic servants inside may come out to clean, or go to the town to buy vegetables and meat.

Cao Xun ordered eight archers to quietly ambush them in four directions, southeast, north, and west, and once someone came forward, they would shoot them immediately, so as not to prevent the other party from running back to ventilate the news.

Once the archers were in position, the remaining elite guards jumped off their horses and galloped to outflank them from all directions.

Cao Xun rode on a horse and led a team of twenty people straight to the main entrance.

The sound of the hooves of a single horse was not obvious, and when they arrived outside the main gate of Changyuan, the centurion standing in front of Cao Xun's horse looked at the governor of the capital, imitated the three birdsong as the trumpet, and then led nineteen of his men to climb over the wall, open the door from the inside, and then go towards the houses respectively.

Li Yong's paper to his son-in-law not only explained the location of Changyuan, but also drew a map of Changyuan, clearly marking what houses are in it and what are used for what purposes.

Cao Xun went directly to the courtyard of Ji Weifang, the owner of Changyuan.

When he came over, Ji Weifang had already been broken into the door by the elite soldiers of the Shen Ce Guard, and what Cao Xun saw was a panicked man wearing only a satin shirt with loose hair, with pale skin, looking like a human dog, and even a kind of scholarly elegance, but he was still hiding from two seven or eight-year-old girls on the bed, hugging each other in a panic and fear, not knowing what was going on.

Cao Xun only glanced at it, and kicked Ji Weifang in the chest.

Ji Weifang fell to the ground on his back, and the corners of his mouth immediately oozed blood, but unfortunately his chin had already been removed, and he could only wail vaguely.

Just two quarters of an hour later, all the living people in Changyuan were taken to the main courtyard, and more than 50 girls ranging from six or seven years old to eleven or twelve were temporarily placed in the backyard, and the others all tied their hands and feet and stuffed rags in their mouths to prevent someone from gritting their teeth and committing suicide.

Half an hour later, Shen Cewei rummaged through all corners of Changyuan and moved all the letters, ledgers, notes, and other things he found in front of Cao Xun.

Cao Xun didn't look at it.

He is only responsible for sealing Changyuan, and the emperor will send appropriate officials to investigate the case.

Almost after the seizure was completed on his side, Li Yong arrived with the holy decree.

Li Yong, the Duke of Ningguo, was ordered by Emperor Yuanqing to thoroughly investigate the "Changyuan Case", Jinyiwei, Dali Temple, and Shuntianfu had to obey Li Yong's dispatch at any time, and Li Yong had the right to summon any imperial relatives, civil and military ministers, and businessmen and ordinary people to Changyuan to cooperate with the examination, and violators would be punished according to the crime of resisting the decree.

In addition, Emperor Yuanqing temporarily handed over the hundred elite soldiers of the Shen Ce Guard transferred by Cao Xun to Li Yong, if a hundred were not enough, Li Yong could continue to ask Cao Xun for it.

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The case soon spread throughout the capital.

Because it was Chang Yuan, where Li Yong tried the case and Cao Xun sealed it, everyone who was curious about what happened in Chang Yuan set their eyes on the two state mansions. Ordinary people can only be curious in their hearts, and the female relatives who have friendships with the Cao and Li families came to the door one after another, wanting to get some news from Yunzhu's mother and daughter.

It's a pity that Yunzhu's mother and daughter also don't know the inside story.

After Li Yong took this errand, he went directly to Changyuan to try the case, Meng Shi had never even seen her husband's face, Cao Xun was in the Governor's Mansion, and Yunzhu would not be able to see him until the evening.

Pan was the first to come to Yunzhu to inquire, in the face of such a big case that shocked the whole city, it is okay to lower his body for a while, and satisfying his curiosity is the most important thing.

Yun Zhu didn't talk to Pan Shixuan, and said bluntly with a smile: "First, I really don't know anything, I have nothing to say." Second, even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you, so Mrs. Tai should ask someone else. ”

The two sentences made Pan's face turn blue with anger, and he left with hatred.

After dealing with a few more ladies, Yunzhu simply handed over to the porter, and today the Dingguo Mansion was closed.

The people who were scratching their hearts and lungs didn't know that Yunzhu was actually just as curious as they were.

Cao Xun came back later than usual tonight, if it weren't for the news from him, Yunzhu really had dinner by himself, so he wouldn't wait for him.

"The emperor asked my father to investigate the case, why did you come back so late?"

Seeing Cao Xun in the front yard, Yun Zhu complained first.

Cao Xun looked at the little lady who ran to the front for the first time and waited for him, and explained: "The emperor asked Shen Cewei to assist my father-in-law in trying the case, and after I got off duty, I went to Changyuan to see if there was anything I could help." Okay, I'm sweating all over my body, you go to the back and wait for me first, I'll change my clothes and go over immediately. ”

Yunzhu had been waiting for a day, and impatiently waited any longer, and followed him to the bathroom in the front yard.

Of course, Yunzhu was not interested in watching him wipe his body, standing on the side of the screen, and asked in a low voice, "What's going on over there?" ”

Cao Xun actually didn't want to tell her, but she must be very curious, and when the case is investigated, she will always announce the world, and sooner or later she still has to know.

Cao Xun tried to be as concise as possible about the case.

Just because he said it too concisely, Yun Zhu didn't understand, and after Cao Xun had to explain further, Yun Zhu was stunned, and the next moment he couldn't wait to take the lives of those people with his own hands: "How dare they!" Are they all still human! How can you do it......"

Before he finished scolding, Yun Zhu suddenly covered his mouth and turned around, retching non-stop.

Cao Xun hurriedly wrapped the scarf around his waist, turned around to support her, and helped her carry it with one hand.

Yun Zhu was already disgusted, and when he caught a glimpse of the towel around his waist, he thought of those poor and innocent girls, and vomited even more, because he hadn't eaten dinner yet, and his stomach was empty all afternoon, and all he vomited was bitter water. I felt uncomfortable in my heart and my stomach was uncomfortable, and my eyes were red: "How can there be such a disgusting person!" ”

Cao Xun tried to stand behind her as much as he could.

He ran down her back one by one, and the cloud beads gradually calmed down.

Cao Xun returned to the back of the screen, changed his clothes after a simple wipe, hugged her and said: "God has eyes, let my father-in-law bump into me, you don't worry about others, you should always believe in your father-in-law, and you will definitely bring all the offenders to justice." ”

Yunzhu really believes in his father, who may not be able to fight, he is the most upright, and he will definitely seek justice for those poor children.

It's just that she really couldn't eat this dinner, so she left Cao Xun and lay down on the bed early.

Cao Xun coaxed several times, but she refused to eat.

Yunzhu also had a nightmare in the middle of the night, and Cao Xun heard her muttering "don't" while smoking, so he guessed that she probably dreamed of things in Changyuan.

He had to wake her up.

Yunzhu lay on his shoulder, crying for a while and scolding for a while, and finally fell asleep again.

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As time passed, Li Yong found more and more officials.

At the beginning, only Ji Weifang, the owner of Changyuan, was a brute, and he didn't like the beautiful wife his parents married back for him, and he wanted a girl of seven or eight years old.

Ji Weifang is a businessman, and businessmen have to deal with officialdom a lot of times, and gradually, officials with the same human face and beast heart heard about Ji Weifang's habits, and when they were corrupt, they didn't want gold or silver, as long as Ji Weifang made some special arrangements.

In order to serve these officials more conveniently, Ji Weifang carefully built Changyuan, and specially sent people to look for girls with clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes from all over the country, either in the name of buying them to be maids, or simply abducting them. There are always people who are too poor to get by, and there are ruthless fathers and mothers who are greedy for money and sell women, and in this way, the girls in Changyuan have never been less than fifty.

In addition to the officials who flattered Ji Weifang himself, there were also officials who introduced each other, and some officials were even afraid of the East Window Incident, so they tried every means to lead their colleagues or Shangfeng or powerful people to this road, and they couldn't wait for all the civil and military officials in the capital to get on the same boat and take care of each other.

It was really Emperor Yuanqing who guessed that Wang Manchang, the deputy commander of Jinyiwei, had gotten on this boat five years ago, so even if Jinyiwei received some rumors, they were suppressed by Wang Manchang's ideas. Shuntianfu and Dali Temple are all the same, if it is a big case of greedy for gold and silver, murder and arson, the officials may not dare to hide it, but what is locked up in Changyuan is only some girls who have been sold by their parents, and girls who have died and no one cares, so why should they offend their colleagues and go to the peak for these mustards?

Li Yong investigated for twenty-three days before handing over the list of all the officials involved in the case to Emperor Yuanqing.

In the past 23 days, Li Yong's methods of trying the case have become more and more ruthless.

I think that when he tried the case on the first day, Ji Weifang's mouth was tightly closed, and the centurion of Shen Cewei proposed to lynch him, and Li Yong was still a little unable to do it, for fear that he would be tortured into a confession. The Li family's family style is very positive, the old grandfather and Li Yao have a hot temper, and they may take some extraordinary measures, while Li Yong completely follows the gentleman's style in the book, and even his own servants rarely say a word seriously.

When he was in a dilemma, his good son-in-law came, and when he learned that the trial was stuck here, Cao Xun picked a whip with his own hands and directly sucked half of Ji Weifang's life in front of Li Yong.

Ruthless enough, and effective enough.

Cao Xun said to Li Yong: "When my father-in-law is soft on these people, just think about the evil they did to those innocent girls. ”

Li Yong remembered this sentence deeply.

Emperor Yuanqing unfolded the list of guilty ministers, counted them one by one, counted to "sixty-seven", and finally finished counting.

Looking at the names on the white paper, most of them were the "pillars" of the Jinshi who read poetry and books first and then became officials, Emperor Yuanqing smiled.

"These sixty-seven thieves, all of them were pulled to the noon gate and beheaded."

"All the children of his family, those who have knights cut off their titles, and those who are officials will win officials, and they will not be reused in this life, and the three generations of future generations will be forbidden to test their fame."

Great Xia has been weak for more than 100 years, and it is not easy to usher in the peaceful and prosperous era again, since it is a peaceful and prosperous era, how can you condone the officials to be evil and the people?

Emperor Yuanqing wanted to punish him heavily, and he wanted other officials to weigh it carefully before they moved these ugly thoughts, to see if the head on the neck was important, or the two taels of meat......

"By the way, before the group of thieves is beheaded, all of them will be sentenced to palace punishment."

Glancing at a black cat that had become unusually supple after being very naughty as a child under the coffee table, Emperor Yuanqing added quietly.

Chapter 32 "We must live our lives well."

In addition to the 67 officials who committed the crime themselves, there were also some officials who had never set foot in Changyuan, but they were also imprisoned and demoted because they accepted bribes, failed to report what they knew, and helped cover up.

Among them, Jinyiwei, Dali Temple, and Shuntianfu have the biggest changes, who let them have a vegetarian meal, and let Changyuan do evil at the feet of the Son of Heaven for more than ten years?

Jinyiwei's deputy commander Wang Manchang was beheaded because of his involvement in the case, and although the commander Gao Yong didn't do anything, he was also wrong in not doing anything, and Emperor Yuanqing directly scolded the blind commander in the court, and scolded Gao Yong to kneel on the ground and kowtow repeatedly, and finally was carried down by the palace people.

In the end, Gao Yong was released due to dereliction of duty, and the position of Jinyiwei was vacant, and it happened that Ning Guogong had a meritorious role in exposing and trying the case, and Emperor Yuanqing let Li Yong take the top.

Before the defeat last year, Li Yong served as the commander-in-chief of the Praetorian Guard, a position that could not be taken by non-emperors' favorite henchmen.

Similarly, Jinyiwei is the eye of the Son of Heaven to supervise hundreds of officials and the world, from the establishment of Jinyiwei to the present, its commanders are the cronies of the emperors of the past dynasties.

In other words, even if Emperor Yuanqing snubbed Li Yong for nearly ten months, Li Yong's status as a cronie in his heart was not shaken, and it was just an opportunity to make a meritorious return.

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Yunzhu went back to her parents' house.

Li Yong's reuse should have been a great joy for everyone in the Li family, but thinking of the girls who suffered in the Changyuan case, neither Yunzhu nor Meng was in the mood to celebrate it.

Mother and daughter sat in the water pavilion and talked.

In the capital in early August, the sky is blue, the breeze is gentle, and it is very comfortable to be in the garden view.

Yunzhu poured a cup of tea for her mother: "The case is over, how is my father doing in Jinyiwei, are you still used to it?" ”

Meng Shi sighed: "Just one Changyuan case has made him angry, how many cases have Jinyiwei accumulated, and a group of people have been replaced, and some of them are busy." ”

Compared with the errand of the Jinyi Guard, the errand of the commander of the Praetorian Guard is much easier, the key is to worry, not to bother too much, and not to be distressed and angry for the suffering lords who have been wronged.

Meng and Li Yong have been husband and wife for more than 20 years, and they have long known who their husbands are, and they were born as the sons of a two-hundred-year-old noble family, and they have been in the palace since the age of seven or eight to be read to Emperor Yuanqing, enjoying the glory and wealth, far away from the people's suffering, and because the Li family has a simple population and upright family style, Li Yong has not had any dirty things around him.

The biggest grievance that her husband suffered before his defeat was probably that he was always disliked by his father and talked about it on paper.

Now that he has experienced three defeats, months of dormancy, and the case of Changyuan, her husband is like having experienced three storms, and there have been new changes from the inside out.