Chapter 161 Leaving Beijing
"Your Highness, Zhang Xiuting has a strong background, and I dare not act rashly. Moreover, I did not have sufficient evidence before. In order to gain his trust, I had to pretend to be in cahoots with him, and then I collected enough evidence." Shi Jingbo said.
Zhao Xing remained silent upon hearing this. What's the point of going along with the crowd just to gain trust? They should be in the same boat.
Now that the ship was in danger of sinking, he chose to jump off the ship to save himself.
However, Zhao Xing had no intention of investigating further. If he punished Shi Jingbo for reporting the Yangwu County Magistrate, who would dare to report him?
Not only would Zhao Xing not punish him, he would also use him.
Shi Jingbo's backstabbing is very shameful in the officialdom. If he wants to gain a foothold in the officialdom, he can only rely on Zhao Xing.
"You have worked hard to collect evidence, and I am very pleased. If it turns out to be true, I will definitely reward you generously," said Zhao Xing.
"Thank you, Your Highness!" Shi Jingbo said excitedly.
He chose to report Zhang Xiuting, and he went through a struggle between himself and himself in his heart.
There are signs that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not just talking, but is serious about it.
Zhang Xiuting was too deeply involved with the landlords and gentry in Yangwu County, so he chose to go against His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
But he is different.
After all, he was only the county magistrate. Although he also got some benefits, most of the work was still led by Zhang Xiuting.
Shi Jingbo was taking another gamble this time. He bet that if he exposed and reported Zhang Xiuting, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would not hold him accountable for his mistakes in order to show it to outsiders, but would reward him instead.
Even if he lost the bet, he would have the merit of exposing the crime and at most he would be dismissed from office.
If he were to pretend to obey but actually disobey like Zhang Xiuting in an attempt to conceal the truth, he would be exiled even if he could save his life.
Now it seems that I made the right bet.
Zhao Xing chatted with Shi Jingbo for a while, asked about the situation in Yangwu County, and then left.
Shi Jingbo did not ask Zhao Xing when he would take action against Zhang Xiuting. He saluted and walked out.
Zhao Xing tapped the table unconsciously. Shi Jingbo was the first, but definitely not the last.
Previously, there were only three county magistrates implicated by Guo Zixuan, and although the others also had some problems, they were not serious.
Zhao Xing could not rashly replace all the county magistrates, and he did not have so many trusted people to replace them.
Although he selected some people from the new scholars, these people lacked experience. Not only were they unfamiliar with the conditions in various counties, they were also unable to cope with such a situation.
He felt that Sheng Changbai and the other two were the most capable people. Qi Heng had also been fooled around by them and had not been able to break the deadlock until now.
Said Cao Cao, Cao Cao.
While Zhao Xing was deep in thought, a young eunuch came in and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, Young Master Qi sent someone to deliver a letter."
Sanshui stepped forward to take it and presented it to Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing took the letter and opened it to read. In the letter, Qi Heng recounted a series of events that happened after he took office and some mistakes he had made. Finally, he expressed his desire to ask for help.
"Finally you reacted." Zhao Xing said with a smile.
He knew about the situation on Qi Heng's side several days ago, but he did not intervene. Even his original backup plan avoided Weishi County where Qi Heng was.
In Zhao Xing's opinion, the lack of experience can be used for training, and this opportunity itself is an opportunity for training.
He wanted to see when Qi Heng would discover the problem and ask him for help.
"Go and find Yin Hanzhang." Zhao Xing ordered.
"Yes." Sanshui responded and walked out.
Zhao Xing put the letter aside and continued to review the notes.
About half an hour later, Yin Hanzhang walked into the hall.
After he greeted him, Zhao Xing asked, "What is the situation in each county?"
"Go back to Your Highness..."
Yin Hanzhang recounted the news from each county in detail.
Those who went to various counties to beat drums and appeal for justice were all found by the spies he had planted over the years.
Not only were these people persuaded by him through various means not to settle the matter privately, but they were also under his protection.
Despite this, more than a dozen people who filed complaints were still killed, and even many of those who protected them died.
After Yin Hanzhang finished speaking, he carefully glanced at Zhao Xing's face.
This time he was careless. He thought that this was the emperor's territory, and even if someone wanted to assassinate the people who filed a complaint, they would not dare to mobilize too many people. He did not expect that those people were even crazier than he imagined.
After hearing this, Zhao Xing did not intend to blame anyone, but was very interested in another piece of news.
"You mean that when Miss Shen passed by Weishi County, she invited Qi Heng to meet her at the inn at night?" Zhao Xing asked.
"Your Highness, that's right." Yin Hanzhang said.
"Miss Shen is a good wife." Zhao Xing murmured.
Although the atmosphere in the Song Dynasty was not as open as that in the Tang Dynasty, it was not as feudal as that in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
A girl would not stay at home all the time, nor would she talk to a man, which would cause gossip.
Just like when Zhao Xing invited Zhang Guifen and others to sit and chat around the tent at the polo match, it was not considered a violation of etiquette.
But that's all in public, not in private.
For example, Zhao Xing taking Zhang Guifen and others to Jinming Lake for a visit was a violation of etiquette.
However, the concubines he invited had already been chosen by the emperor. He was the crown prince and the only son, so even if it violated the etiquette, no one in the court would use it as an excuse.
However, the situation of Miss Shen and Qi Heng was different. Although they were engaged, if they met in the middle of the night, it would have a great impact on the reputation of both families.
The Shen family was a family of scholars, and they must have very strict education for their daughters. Under normal circumstances, it was impossible for a girl from the Shen family to do such a thing. Even if Qi Heng took the initiative to go, she would not meet him.
But the truth was that she took the initiative to invite him, and the two chatted in the room for quite some time.
Combined with Qi Heng's letter, Zhao Xing came to the conclusion that Qi Heng asked him for help only after being persuaded by the girl from the Shen family.
As a result, his rating of Qi Heng was greatly reduced.
Zhao Xing shook his head, no longer thinking about these minor details, and looked at Yin Hanzhang and asked, "Where is the evidence?"
The people who filed the complaint were assassinated, and Zhao Xing was actually very angry.
But Yin Hanzhang cannot be blamed for this incident. Zhao Xing positioned the intelligence system as just an intelligence system. It was not like the Jinyiwei, which had a certain amount of military force.
Moreover, the current intelligence system is hidden and does not even have an official identity. If you hire some thugs and get noticed, you will be suspected of rebellion.
Even though he was the only son of his father, he did not dare to gamble.
The evidence he asked about was whether it had been found out who sent the people.
Yin Hanzhang also knew this, and said, "We have found some clues, but it will take some time to verify them."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Zhao Xing said indifferently.
He could choose not to pursue the assassination of the citizen who filed a complaint, but he could not ignore the fact that Yin Hanzhang did not report it.
"Your Highness." Yin Hanzhang said with some cold sweat on his forehead, "I just learned the news not long ago. I wanted to wait for the results of the investigation to come out before reporting to Your Highness."
Zhao Xing didn't say anything, just looked at him.
Although Yin Hanzhang did not look up and could not see Zhao Xing's gaze, he could feel it.
Sweat was pouring down his forehead and cold sweat was oozing down his back.
The reason why he did not report it was that he was worried that Zhao Xing would blame him, so he thought about finding evidence and reporting it to reduce his own guilt.
After a long while, Zhao Xing withdrew his gaze and said coldly: "Go back and get thirty lashes. If you do it again, think about whether your neck is stiff or not."
Naturally, he could guess some of Yin Hanzhang's little thoughts.
If there was no suitable replacement, Zhao Xing would have made a substitution.
However, this incident also reminded him that the intelligence system cannot be controlled by Yin Hanzhang alone, and he needs to find someone to control it.
Now that Yin Hanzhang can delay the news in order to reduce his punishment, he may hide the news from him in the future for some benefits.
"Yes!" Yin Hanzhang breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that.
Zhao Xing looked at him without saying a word, which put a lot of pressure on him.
"Please make a note of this. I will be going to Yangwu County soon. Any disturbances in other counties must be reported immediately." Zhao Xing ordered.
Now it's time for him to step in person and show his determination.
"Yes!" Yin Hanzhang responded quickly.
"Go ahead." Zhao Xing waved his hand.
…………
What Zhao Xing thought was right. In the next few days, a number of officials came to him to report their crimes.
Seeing that the time was ripe, Zhao Xing asked to see his father and proposed to go to Yangwu County.
Yangwu County is located to the east of Bianjing, more than 100 miles away from Bianjing, and is one of the outermost counties of Kaifeng Prefecture.
The closer a county is to Bianliang, the fewer problems it has, and the farther a county is from Bianliang, the fewer real powerful people it has.
This is also the reason why Zhao Xing chose Yangwu County.
The emperor was a little hesitant about Zhao Xing's personal visit to Yangwu County, but finally he agreed after Zhao Xing's repeated requests.
After all, Yangwu is not far from Bianjing, so there will be no danger.
After obtaining his father's permission, Zhao Xing returned to the Eastern Palace and began to make arrangements.
This was the first time he had truly left Bian Jing since he was a child. Although he had gone out of the city to go to the polo field before, he was still within the city of Bian Jing.
Although Zhao Xing did not leave Kaifeng Prefecture during this trip to Yangwu County, he was very excited.
If possible, Zhao Xing still wants to travel around and see different scenery.
But he knew that this situation was almost impossible.
My father hesitated for a long time before agreeing to go to Yangwu County. If it was too far, he would not agree at all.
Even if he ascended the throne in the future, he would not be able to leave Bianliang easily.
So Zhao Xing was still very excited about this outing.
Originally, Zhao Xing wanted to bring Yu Yanran with him, but after thinking about it carefully, he gave up the idea.
He didn't go to Yangwu County for sightseeing, so it would be inconvenient to bring Yu Yanran with him.
Early that morning, Zhao Xing, accompanied by Yu Yanran, boarded a carriage and, under the protection of a thousand imperial guards, left the city from the east gate and headed towards Yangwu County.
Except for my father, even the accompanying guards only knew about this trip before departure.
It's more than a hundred miles, and it's definitely impossible to reach the destination in one day by land.
We stayed in a county town and rested for the night.
The county officials were frightened by the sudden arrival of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. However, after Zhao Xing entered the city, he went directly to the post station and did not meet with the officials. He left early the next morning, leaving the officials confused.
(End of this chapter)