12dz Chapter 513 This is the result 2
Chapter 513 This is the result 2
Fu Jinyuan finally received two orders from Fu Jinyi.
One was to deal with Lu and others, and the other was to re-promote the Salt Lake prefect and the Salt Monopoly Commissioner.
——I have received the mandate of heaven and ruled over the world. I originally wanted to make the country peaceful and the people happy. However, I have found that the Lu and Hong families in Salt Lake are wolves by nature and have the heart of snakes and scorpions. They have betrayed the emperor's grace and killed the people. Their crimes are as high as the sky. Now, I will use the "Da Nan Hui Dian" as a rope and the "Nan Lv·Salt and Iron" as a blade to make the punishment of heaven clear and the canonical punishment clear: Lu and Hong have three crimes: cruelty to the people, disruption of salt administration, and collusion with corrupt officials.
According to the law, the two men were skinned and stuffed with straw, their heads were hung in the salt field for three months, and their bones were ground and scattered into ashes. The male members of Lu Hong’s two clans and nine clans were beheaded at the gate of the salt field, and the female members were made servants in the salt field.
The prefect Li Tang and the salt commissioner Wang Zhang were nailed alive with the "iron salt shackles for corruption", paraded through the streets for a hundred days, and tortured to death by slow slicing 3,600 times.
The importance of Salt Lake concerns the country, so Fu Jinyi discussed with the cabinet ministers for several days before promoting two people from the upright ranks. One was Lin Su, the former director of the Suzhou Salt Tax Bureau, who was promoted to the prefect of Salt Lake and granted the third rank; the other was Lin Su, the former censor of the Salt Road of the Metropolitan Censorate, who was appointed as the Salt Lake Salt Commissioner and granted the third rank.
When they arrived in Salt Lake City, they were under the control of the Regent.
"Your Highness, what should we do with Lu Rucheng?" Wu Yang asked. That day, the prince deliberately asked them to leave Salt Lake City, and now their people are still watching them.
"I won't pay any attention to him. Let him become a lost dog. Spread the news secretly. I am still looking for evidence. If he can find evidence of the Lu family's backers, he will come to me." Fu Jinyuan said lightly.
"Leave the rest to the new prefect and the salt commissioner."
Fu Jinyi's decree did not mention the backers of Lu Hong and his family, which meant that he did not want to investigate the matter further. The secret letter he sent to him only concerned about his health and did not mention anything else.
Fu Jinyuan already understood the meaning.
Then we won’t check it, at least not openly.
After Shen Suian left, he searched Salt Lake City and the surrounding area within a hundred miles, but still found no trace of Yi Lanxin.
He didn't investigate further, as it was obvious that Yi Lanxin had already escaped.
"Go and prepare, and leave for Suzhou in three days."
After his campaign against Mirage, the illegal salt trafficking in the northwest would be stopped for at least a long time.
Queen Dowager Ruan, who was far away in the royal capital, had a bad premonition when she heard the news that Fu Jinyuan and his group were staying in Salt Lake City.
Both the Lu and Hong families were her connections in the northwest. Her army needed silver, so she would give them more convenience in the issuance of salt permits. However, she did not expect that they had done so many heinous things in Salt Lake City.
If they were just smuggling salt, she could turn a blind eye and save their lives.
but……
Empress Dowager Ruan closed her eyes. She thought of the memorial sent by Fu Jinyuan, which was filled with details about the miserable conditions of the salt households in Salt Lake City, the cruelty of salt sacrifices to the wells, and the viciousness of burying young women alive. Every detail was shocking.
"Empress Dowager..." The two women kneeling in front of her lowered their heads in guilt.
"Are you really unaware of what is reported here?" asked Empress Dowager Ruan, throwing the memorial in front of them.
Wei Zhen and Su Bingjie were both female officials promoted by her. Although they were not as famous as Yi Lanxin, they were also her right-hand men.
"Your Highness, I am not sure if I am shirking my responsibility by saying this now. We did find out about the illegal salt trafficking, and we warned Lu Qiufeng, but he repeatedly assured us..."
"We have never heard of sacrificing salt to wells or burying women alive." Wei Zhen said in a sad voice.
It was only after the Regent arrived in Salt Lake City and investigated the mirage that they realized the Lu family had committed so many crimes.
"Empress Dowager, it was I who contacted the Lu family. Now that the incident has happened, I will take all the blame. It is all my fault." Su Bingjie said with red eyes.
Queen Mother Ruan sneered, "You guys take responsibility? How are you going to take responsibility?"
"Just because you are the backer of the Lu family, do you think the Lu family dares to do these things in Salt Lake City? Do the Salt Lake prefect and the Salt Commissioner dare to make so much money?"
"Both the Regent and the Emperor suspect me." Empress Dowager Ruan whispered.
Wei Zhen and Su Bingjie looked up in panic. They both knew how much the Queen Mother valued her two sons and absolutely did not want to have any grudges against them.
"Empress Dowager, you are unaware of what happened in Salt Lake City. How can this be blamed on you?" Wei Zhen said.
"They are so bold because they rely on me for support." Empress Dowager Ruan pressed her fingers on her aching forehead.
"Is Yi Lanxin back?" she asked.
"Replying to the Queen Mother, Lord Yi...the last time he wrote to you, he only said that he was going to Suzhou for a trip. It has been a long time since he last wrote to you." Su Bingjie said in a low voice.
Queen Mother Ruan's eyebrows jumped suddenly, "Why did she go to Suzhou?"
Wei Zhen and Su Bingjie looked at each other and didn't dare to answer.
"Does she want to place spies in Suzhou?" Empress Dowager Ruan's voice was filled with anger.
"It's only three hundred miles from Suzhou to Salt Lake City. Did she go to Salt Lake City?"
"Empress Dowager, I don't know either." Wei Zhen said in a low voice.
Queen Mother Ruan: "Send a message to her immediately and ask her to return to the capital city immediately."
"I know what you are thinking. The emperor was weak before, and the late emperor intended to pass the throne to Fu Yuxuan, so I had this idea. But now the emperor is working hard to govern the country, accepting advice, and appointing talented people, which is completely different from the late emperor. What's wrong with this?"
Su Bingjie and Ye Zhen both remained silent.
After a long while, Wei Zhen slowly said, "Empress Dowager, compared to you ruling the country personally, the emperor still has many shortcomings, and the emperor has always been weak..."
"The emperor's heart disease has been cured." said Empress Dowager Ruan.
"I am not afraid of being an enemy of the aristocratic family, but I do not want to be alienated from my son."
Wei Zhen and Su Bingjie kowtowed, "Your Majesty, I understand."
"Su Bingjie, you failed to supervise properly. I will remove you from your official position and ask you to reflect on yourself at home." Empress Dowager Ruan said in a deep voice.
The imperial edict sent by the emperor to Salt Lake City did not mention the backers of the Lu and Hong families in the royal capital. Perhaps they had found out, but did not want to mention it because it was related to her.
Empress Dowager Ruan felt that she should have a good talk with the Emperor.
"When Yi Lanxin comes back, ask her to come to the palace to see me immediately."
"Yes, Queen Mother."
Queen Mother Ruan waved her hand and asked them to leave.
After sitting quietly for a while, she called Qingli over and said, "Go to the imperial study and tell Changfu to come to Kunning Palace when the emperor is done with his work."
Qingli bowed and said, "Yes, Queen Mother."
"First, please ask the Prime Minister to come to the palace to see me." Empress Dowager Ruan said again.
"Yes." Qingli looked at Queen Mother Ruan with some concern.
She hadn't seen the Queen Mother trapped in trouble for a long time. What the Regent did in Salt Lake City this time was like cutting off an arm of the Queen Mother.
I don’t know how the Emperor and the Regent will resolve this matter. Will they pretend they don’t know, or convict the Queen Mother?