Chapter 140: Take Action in Advance
Chapter 140: Take Action in Advance
The emperor's imperial study is in the east upper pavilion of the Taiji Hall. Since last year, Emperor Yang Jian has come to the imperial study less and less frequently, but he happened to be there today.
Yang Jian was listening to Prime Minister Gao Jiong's report on the imperial examination to be held in April.
The imperial examination system of the Sui Dynasty had just begun to be implemented, and could not be compared with the increasingly mature imperial examination system that followed. In fact, each state still recommended candidates to come to Chang'an to take the exam. The candidates recommended by each state were of course children of famous families. Children from poor families would not be without this opportunity, unless they had received special training from a famous family, they would have a chance to be recommended.
Moreover, each state had only a few quotas, only a few people. Chang'an had slightly more quotas, but at most only a dozen people. In the end, only more than a thousand people came to Chang'an to take the imperial examination.
Gao Jiong was tall and handsome. He was also proficient in both civil and military affairs. He could command thousands of troops to charge into battle, and he could also assist the emperor in governing the world.
"My humble opinion is that since Your Majesty has just visited Jiangdu, you should relax the rules for the imperial examinations for those in the south of the Yangtze River and give them more places. This will help win over the southern gentry and make them feel the emperor's great grace!"
Yang Jian nodded, "My dear minister, what you said is absolutely right. I agree with your suggestion. Draft a plan for me to see. If there are no problems, we can implement it!"
"The minister obeys the order!"
At this time, an eunuch reported at the door, "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin wants to see you. He said there is a major corruption case to report to Your Majesty!"
Yang Jian immediately said to Gao Jiong: "Prime Minister, wait a moment, let's listen to the report from the King of Jin!"
Gao Jiong frowned slightly, feeling a little uneasy. After all, he was the prime minister, and if there was a major corruption case in the court, he would also be responsible.
Not long after, Yang Guang hurried in, followed by a eunuch holding a large box and another eunuch holding a tray.
Yang Guang knelt down and saluted, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you, Father!"
"No need to worry, let's get down to business!"
Yang Guang asked the eunuchs to put out the things one by one. Yang Jian asked curiously, "What is this? Why is there food?"
Yang Guang sighed and said, "Father, this is the imperial treatment that Xiao Qilang enjoys while studying at the Imperial Academy. Clothes, bedding, daily necessities and meals are all provided by the court. Father, please look at this meal!"
Yang Guang brought the tray up and said, "Father, this is the meal I eat every day, boiled cabbage, brown rice, and coarse flour buns. I calculated that this meal costs eight cents, so ten cents, three meals a day, nine hundred cents a month.
But in fact, most students pay for their own meals in pubs outside, so four hundred coins have to be deducted, five hundred coins a month, and only six strings of money a year.
And these clothes, beddings, and daily necessities are all the worst stuff, adding up to at most one or two strings of coins. I, your son, will calculate it as four strings of coins, and change them once a year. So, at the end of the year, the imperial subsidy enjoyed by the students is only ten strings of coins.
But the court gives each student a subsidy of 50 strings of cash every year. Now the question is, where did the remaining 40 strings of cash go? "
Yang Jian was somewhat interested at first, but the more he listened, the gloomier his expression became. What he hated most in his life was corruption. Yang Jian was furious and asked Gao Jiong coldly, "Prime Minister Gao, is the King of Jin right?"
Gao Jiong nodded and said, "Your Majesty, the King of Jin is right. There is indeed a big problem here. If the King of Jin hadn't told me, I really wouldn't have known."
"Who is the current chief academic officer of the Imperial College?" Yang Jian asked.
"Wang Yun, the chief academician, passed away at the end of last year. Now the position is held concurrently by Niu Hong, the Minister of Personnel. He accompanied His Majesty to Jiangdu, but he did not actually take over the Imperial College. He should not have known about this!"
Yang Jian said slowly, "I have always thought that corruption is least likely to occur in schools, where there are well-educated and sensible people. I didn't expect that after doing the math, there would be such a big black account. The big rats and the small rats are gnawing at my treasury and destroying the love I give to my students. The students thought I was stingy and mean to them. They are destroying my reputation!"
Yang Jian said to his second son Yang Guang, "This is a major case. The Ministry of Justice will take the lead, together with the Dali Temple and the Censorate. The three departments will try this case for me. My son will be in charge. We must dig out these rats for me and not let any of them go!"
"My son obeys the order!"
Yang Guang immediately came to the Dali Temple, and Zhang Guo hurriedly came out to greet him and said, "Your Highness, I have found out that the murderer of Yun Shitai is the Fengxiang thief Liu Huan!"
"Is the evidence conclusive?"
"Based on the current evidence, it is basically him."
Yang Guang nodded. "Write a detailed formal report and give it to me along with the evidence. The case will be closed. The only thing left is to arrest the murderer."
Zhang Guo was relieved. He thought the King of Jin would investigate, but he didn't expect it to be so easy to fool him. "I will write a report immediately and attach all the evidence!"
Yang Guang held up the emperor's handwritten edict and said, "There is a new major case now, a serious corruption incident. The emperor is furious and requires the three courts to hold a joint trial. The Dali Temple will send a junior official and two hundred imperial guards to the Ministry of Justice to form a three-court court!"
Zhang Guo didn't know the prince's plan, so he quickly asked, "When does your highness need help?"
"Right now, we must arrest him tonight to prevent him from escaping!"
Half an hour later, Chief Censor Zhang Heng arrived at the Ministry of Justice with a dozen censors, and Dali Temple Junior Secretary Wang Qiu also came with more than 200 imperial guards. Together with the twenty or so officials from the Ministry of Justice led by Wang Chao, they formed the Sansitang.
In the back hall, Wang Qiu knelt on one knee and saluted, "I pay my respects to Your Majesty!"
Yang Guang smiled and said, "I have received Wang Shaoqing's letter. Zhang Guo actually dared to falsify and deceive the emperor. He cannot escape the crime of deceiving the emperor."
Wang Qiu took out a confession from his pocket and presented it to Yang Guang. "This is the original document that has not been modified. I specially kept it. I copied another confession and randomly pressed the fingerprints of a death row prisoner to pretend to be the original. Zhang Guo modified the confession and added a description of the murderer's face with a scar. As long as you compare it with the original, you will know that he falsified the confession."
"Very good! If you can capture Zhang Guo, I will recommend you as the Minister of the Dali Temple!"
Wang Qiu was overjoyed, "Thank you for your help, Your Majesty. I will serve you wholeheartedly!"
Yang Guang smiled again and said, "Today we are arresting prisoners from the Imperial College and the Imperial Academy. You have to work harder. If you make great contributions, I will have reason to recommend you to take over as the Minister of the Dali Temple!"
"I understand the humble position!"
Yang Guang knew very well that he had to act before the crown prince launched an attack, and this case must not be left overnight.
In particular, Zhang Guo will report to the prince, so immediate action must be taken.
Yang Guang immediately led a large group of people to Wubenfang and sealed the gate of the Imperial College, prohibiting anyone from leaving.
He also sent Wang Qiu to lead the Dali Temple's Tiqi to arrest the officials in charge of logistics in various schools. The most crucial thing here was to arrest Wei Shaolin, the logistics director of the Imperial College.
Seeing the critical situation, the warriors sent by the prince to protect Wei Shaolin rushed into Wei Shaolin's house and said urgently: "Manager Wei, let's go from the back!"
Wei Shaolin asked in panic: "What about my family?"
"They won't hurt your family, just follow me!"
"What exactly happened?" Wei Shaolin asked again in confusion.
"I don't know either, let's hide first!"
The warriors escorted Wei Shaolin as he ran towards the back door. Just as they reached the backyard, two people suddenly jumped down from the roof. They were Sun Lei and Li Luming. They quickly swung their swords and forced back the prince's warriors. Li Luming grabbed Wei Shaolin and dragged him into the room.
The warrior was startled and rushed forward to grab the man, but was stopped by Sun Lei with his sword. At this time, Wang Qiu led the Dali Temple's cavalry to rush over, and Wang Qiu shouted: "The Dali Temple is investigating the case!"
Seeing that the situation was not good, the warriors sent by the prince turned around and fled, and soon disappeared into a forest.
Sun Lei did not chase him. He and Li Luming escorted Wei Shaolin out, clasped their fists and said to Wang Qiu, "This is Director Wei, who is in charge of logistics at the Imperial College!"
Wang Qiu had already received the instructions from King Jin, and he knew what was going on, so he immediately ordered, "Take the prisoner away!"
Wei Shaolin was shocked, "I am the victim, I was beaten by the students!"
The Dali Temple Tiqi ignored him and took him away by force.
(End of this chapter)