Chapter 436: A Complete Reshuffle
Chapter 436: A Complete Reshuffle
A dozen speedboats were ready by the river, and two hundred soldiers were on standby.
When the fleet approached, the speedboats quickly attacked and surrounded the fleet. Soldiers jumped onto the big ships and shouted, "Kneel down if you don't want to die!"
The thirty-odd warriors on the ship could deal with the pirates on the water, but when they saw that the people rushing onto the boat were actually an army, whose number far exceeded theirs, and black crossbows were pointed at them, the warriors dared not resist the army. They were terrified and quickly knelt down with their heads in their hands.
Soon, the fleet manager was brought before You Junda, who shouted, "You are the fleet of the Liu family in Wu County, and your master is called Liu Kun, right?"
The steward nodded tremblingly, "That's right!"
"These supplies all belong to the Wei family, right?"
"Reporting to the general, I don't know whose goods these are. I only know that if the goods are delivered to Xiangyang, someone will come to receive them. They have half a jade pendant that matches the one I carry."
At this time, a soldier came to report, "General, we have checked and found that they are all copper coins, about 300,000 strings!"
You Junda nodded and ordered: "Take all the people and boats to Jiangdu!"
You Junda then led 800 cavalrymen on two horses and galloped towards Wu County.
The next morning, eight hundred cavalrymen arrived at the northern city of Wu County.
There was a farewell pavilion beside the official road outside the north city. As soon as the eight hundred cavalrymen arrived at the pavilion, three people immediately ran out of the pavilion, led by Sima Li Qiliang.
"Excuse me, is this General You?"
You Junda nodded and said, "I am You Junda, and I came to Wu County on the order of His Highness. May I ask who you are?"
"I am Li Qiliang, the Sima of Wu County."
You Junda quickly clasped his fists and said, "It turned out to be Sima Li. His Highness asked me to come find you."
"I know. Please come to the pavilion and talk!"
You Junda asked the 800 cavalrymen to rest on the spot, and he followed Li Qiliang into the pavilion.
There was a stone table and stone bench in the pavilion. The two sat down. Li Qiliang stroked his beard and said, "The key to confiscate the Liu family is the crime. I know of a good opportunity. Last autumn, 80,000 pieces of tax cloth disappeared in Wu County. The case was investigated for a month at the county and prefecture levels, but it was left unsolved.
I was a county-level investigator at the time, and I had already found a lot of clues. Someone saw the Liu family's boat moored outside the warehouse where the tax cloth was lost in the middle of the night. It was empty when it came, but full of cargo when it left, covered with oilcloth. The warehouse was not damaged, and the lock was opened. The key to the lock was in the hands of the county magistrate Wang Younian, who denied that he had lent his key to anyone else. Now all kinds of evidence show that the tax cloth was in the Liu family warehouse, but the governor Wei Yue had previously forbidden the investigation and dismissed the Wujun County Lieutenant, and the case was closed. "
You Junda nodded. "Sima, do you want me to search the Liu family warehouse under the pretext of investigating a case?"
"Exactly!"
You Junda cupped his hands, "I understand, thank you Sima for your assistance."
"There is also the county magistrate Wang Younian. He was promoted by Wei Yue. The disappearance of the tax cloth is directly related to him."
"I see!"
Li Qiliang asked one of his men to lead the army, and the cavalry marched towards Fengqiao in a mighty force.
Liu Kun was having breakfast when someone came to report that an army of unknown origin had broken into the warehouse next door.
Liu Kun was shocked and dropped his bowl and ran to the warehouse.
The Liu family warehouse is right next to the mansion and is actually integrated with the mansion, except that the warehouse door faces the dock alone.
The warehouse was full of soldiers. Liu Kun ran over and shouted, "This is a private warehouse. You are not allowed to go in!"
As soon as we squeezed to the door of the warehouse, we saw more than a hundred soldiers carrying out a large number of sacks from the warehouse. When they opened the sacks, they were full of bundles of cloth.
There was a number on the sack: 'Wu Tax No. 1877.' Liu Kun's legs went weak and he almost fainted. He had completely forgotten about this batch of tax cloth.
In the morning, Wu County Magistrate Zhu Lie rushed to the county government office like a gust of wind and found the acting governor Gu Changqing.
Although they are superiors and subordinates in official circles, they are close friends in life.
"Brother Changqing, what happened to the Liu family?"
As soon as he entered the house, Zhu Lie asked anxiously, "Why did the army come directly to the Liu family and raid their house?"
Gu Changqing glanced at him and said calmly, "Do you still need to ask? Prince Jin is digging up the roots of the Wei family."
"But what about the charges? You can't just raid our house for no reason!"
"Of course there are charges. Do you remember the disappearance of more than 100 ships of tax cloth last year? 80,000 pieces of cloth disappeared overnight, and the case has never been solved. The army found the cloth directly in the Liu family's warehouse. Even the bags were not removed. They were intact and stamped with numbers. The Liu family is now completely finished. They dared to steal taxes from the court. Liu Kun and his two sons will be beheaded, and his family will not escape the fate of exile."
Zhu Lie was stunned for a moment, and said, "How could the Liu family be so careless that they didn't even remove the packaging?"
Gu Changqing snorted, "This is not carelessness, this is recklessness. He thought he had the governor's protection and didn't take it seriously. After the governor fell, he forgot about it, but those who are attentive should remember it!"
"Who?"
"Who else could it be besides Li Qiliang?"
Gu Changqing said coldly: "This happened last year, how could the King of Jin know about it? If no one tipped off the King of Jin, how could he raid the Liu family? The most worrying thing is a traitor. Once there is a traitor, no matter how strong the fence of Wu County is, it will be broken at once."
"What happened?" Zhu Lie suddenly felt something was wrong.
"The court has made the appointment. Xiao Lin is appointed as the governor of Wu County, and Li Qiliang is promoted to the chief secretary. This kid got rich out of a disaster. He cooperated with the King of Jin to check the accounts and helped the King of Jin to catch the Wei family. Once Liu Kun confessed that the theft of the cloth was instigated by the governor Wei Yue, the matter will be serious. It is estimated that Wang Younian's position as the county magistrate will not be kept. According to the new regulations, the King of Jin has the right to directly dismiss the county magistrate. Now the officialdom of Wu County will completely change."
"What about my brother?" Zhu Lie asked again.
"I will be the governor of Xin'an County. I will hand over the matters in my hands to Li Qiliang, and then I will go to Xin'an County."
"Why is it Xiao Lin?" Zhu Lie was puzzled.
"He is a relative of the emperor and once served as the Sima of Danyang County. He was dismissed because of the Twin Princes Case ten years ago. It is normal for the Xiao family to be reused now. Xiao Cong has been appointed as the prime minister, so why can't Cui Lin be the governor?"
"But. But, my brother was transferred away, and the Wu family has become the loser!"
Gu Changqing smiled and said, "That's not necessarily true. In the past, the unspoken rule was that Jiangnan noble families could not serve as county chiefs. Now that I am the governor of Xin'an County, this unspoken rule has been broken. What's more, there are still two vacancies! The Sima of Wu County and the Magistrate of Wu County, don't you have any ideas, my dear brother?"
"This"
Zhu Lie was so confused that he didn't know what to say for a long time, so he just bowed and said goodbye.
Gu Changqing watched Zhu Lie walk away and shook his head secretly. Zhu Lie was still a little naive in the officialdom. He only saw the disadvantages but not the advantages. The Prince of Jin cleaned up the officialdom of Wu County. Of course, the Prince of Jin would eat meat. If the Jiangnan family reacted quickly, they could also get some soup. It depends on whether the Lu family can seize this opportunity. "
You Junda led the army to seal off the home and shop properties of the powerful Liu Kun early in the morning. Because 80,000 pieces of tax cloth that had disappeared last year were found in the warehouse of Liu Kun's mansion, Liu Kun's entire family was taken to Jiangdu for trial. Based on Liu Kun's preliminary confession, Wu County magistrate Wang Younian was also suspended and taken to Jiangdu for investigation.
The Liu family's property was completely ransacked, and nearly 100,000 strings of cash and gold were seized. Many profitable shops, brothels, restaurants, gambling houses, inns, and the like were also sealed.
At the same time, various appointments were made in Wu County. Xiao Lin, the head of the Jinling Xiao family, was appointed as the governor of Wu County, Li Qiliang, the Sima of Wu County, was promoted to the chief secretary, and Gu Changqing, the chief secretary of Wu County, was appointed as the governor of Xin'an County.
For a time, the officialdom of Wu County was completely reshuffled, and everyone was talking about the changes in Wu County. Wu County was the second largest county in Jiangnan Road after Jiangdu County. The changes in Wu County were very much a weather vane, and they foreshadowed the changes in the entire Jiangnan Road.
In the evening, Kunshan County Magistrate Lu Heming hurried back to Lu's residence in Wu County and met his father Lu Shenyan.
(End of this chapter)