Chapter 195 The Moonlight Is Beautiful, Take a Closer Look (Two in One)

Inside Taihe Building, the atmosphere was very depressing.

Everyone lowered their heads, not even daring to breathe.

Zhao Jun arrested Sun Mian on charges of dereliction of duty, which made many officials present feel uneasy, with cold sweat on their backs.

Because it was not just Sun Mian, this phenomenon was too common in the officialdom.

Even if officials were not corrupt, they were often lazy and idle.

So much so that Bao Zheng once wrote in history: "Today, the counties and prefectures in the world are so vast, and the officials are so numerous, but corruption is exposed every day."

This means that the phenomenon of officials' dereliction of duty and corruption is happening every day.

From this, we can see how serious the problems of official corruption, embezzlement, and dereliction of duty are.

If it comes to dereliction of duty, I'm afraid no one present can escape.

So now seeing Zhao Jun's real move, everyone present was trembling with fear, fearing that Sun Mian's previous experience would become their lesson.

Fortunately, Zhao Jun only arrested Sun Mian, and did not attack the other officials present.

Under the mediation of Zhang Xia and others, the banquet continued and the atmosphere slowly returned to normal. Everyone toasted each other, drank a few glasses of wine, and began to use chopsticks.

But everyone ate the food, which was like chewing wax. Even the smiles became a little reluctant.

Zhao Jun saw it, but did not say much. He talked normally with Li Jianzhi, Zhang Xia and others, and did not continue to care about the issue of combating dereliction of duty.

First of all, he used this reason as an excuse to arrest Sun Mian.

Second, to put it bluntly, Zhao Jun was not actually doing anything like a large-scale crackdown on corruption.

His current main task and direction is still to go to the grassroots to investigate, see what drawbacks there are in the local area, see the current life of the people, and prepare for specific policies for future reforms.

There is no way.

There are too many corrupt officials in the Song Dynasty, and they can't be caught.

According to the memorials submitted by Fan Zhongyan, Bao Zheng, Wang Anshi and others, it may be wrong to say that there are more than 40,000 officials in the Song Dynasty, and most of them are corrupt officials, but there is absolutely no difference.

In addition to the group of officials, there is another larger group in the grassroots governance of the Song Dynasty, which is also more prone to corruption - the official group.

Officials are high above, and it is impossible to handle all aspects of local government affairs, so they must rely on many officials.

The income sources of these officials are not stable, and they need some gray income. Therefore, they often use the power of officials to deceive their superiors and subordinates, and ask for bribes from both sides. After eating the plaintiff, they eat the defendant. There are many records of officials asking for bribes in the history of the Song Dynasty.

So if the official group plus the hundreds of thousands of official groups, Zhao Jun will not have to do anything else in his life. Arresting people everywhere all day long will not only make the officialdom panic, but also prevent him from doing the great cause of reform.

Therefore, Zhao Jun's current situation is to understand, record and analyze the grassroots situation when inspecting the local areas of the Song Dynasty, focusing on the great cause of reform. Those corrupt officials were dealt with when they were seen.

If they were not seen, or no one came to complain, then it was natural to turn a blind eye, and wait for professionals like Bao Zheng to clean up corruption in the future.

So as Zhao Jun did not continue to make a big move, the banquet ended in such a slightly awkward situation.

The officials surrounded Zhao Jun all the way to the Hangzhou prefectural government office. After Zhao Jun's army took over the entire government office and settled in it, they left as if they had been pardoned and fled.

Looking at the backs of those officials leaving in a hurry, Zhao Jun smiled, and then went to the government office prison to meet the Hangzhou prefect who had become a prisoner.

In the prison, it was dark.

In the cell where the prisoner was interrogated, a faint oil lamp and candlelight were lit, illuminating the whole room.

Zhao Jun sat behind the trial table, and Jiang Dalang and Huang Sanlang had already escorted Sun Mian over.

At this moment, Sun Mian had calmed down. Although his official hat was taken off, his hair was disheveled, and he looked a little embarrassed, his expression was calm.

"Grandmaster Sun is really calm. He was imprisoned, but he still has such a demeanor."

Zhao Jun smiled and joked: "Do you think that this court will let you go?"

Sun Mian was wearing shackles on his hands and smiled and said: "I have thought about it, but unfortunately I know it will be difficult."

"Grandmaster can have such self-knowledge, I think you admit your guilt?"

Zhao Jun smiled and said: "In this case, explain everything you have done over the years one by one, so as not to waste everyone's time."

Sun Mian shook his head and said: "These are all untrue things. Although I think I am not a good official, I am also diligent. They are all framed by rogue villains. Why should I admit my guilt?"

"You are still so stubborn when you are about to die?"

Zhao Jun frowned and said: "Don't think you can get away with it just because you destroyed the case files and documents of the two counties and the state government. It's not difficult to find evidence. You didn't do it cleanly, and your subordinates are even more dirty. At worst, I will reopen the case file and interrogate them again."

Sun Mian's expression suddenly changed, and then he gritted his teeth and said, "Please do as you please, Sun is upright and honest. No matter how much slander there is, it can't change the fact that Sun is an upright official with clean hands."

"Hahahahahaha."

Zhao Jun laughed and said, "What an upright person, what an incorruptible person. I think you won't give up until you see the Yellow River, and you won't cry until you see the coffin."

He stood up and said, "Okay, I will reopen the case and make you convinced."

Seeing that he was about to leave, Sun Mian hurriedly said, "Minister, are you really going to be so rigid and ignore the way of being an official?"

The way of being an official?

Zhao Jun glanced at him and said, "My way of being an official is to make decisions for the people. I hope that in a few days, you will still be as stubborn as you are now, take you away."

"Yes."

Jiang Dalang and Huang Sanlang took Sun Mian away. Sun Mian looked at Zhao Jun deeply and was locked up again.

Zhao Jun's face was as gloomy as water. After leaving the government office prison, he ordered Li Jianzhi to come.

He ordered Li Jianzhi to issue a notice overnight, saying that the case files of the case previously judged by Sun Mian, the governor of Hangzhou, were all lost, and all related cases had to be re-examined.

Those who knew about the case and those related to the case could appeal.

Li Jianzhi received the order and hurried back to arrange for the clerks to copy the official documents and post them on bulletin boards all over the city before the next morning.

Soon the next day, the whole city of Hangzhou was in an uproar.

Because it was not until now that the people of Hangzhou knew that Sun Mian had been arrested and Zhao Jun had come to Hangzhou, the news spread quickly.

A large number of people related to the Sun Mian case ran to the Criminal Justice Department Office, and a long queue formed outside the office.

At 9:00 am, many local citizens of Hangzhou sat on the street drinking tea and chatting on the tea stalls outside the Criminal Justice Department Office on Baoanmennei Street as usual.

Seeing the long queue outside the office, someone wondered: "What's going on? Is the Xiantai Office so busy today?"

"You don't know yet, Sun Taishou has been arrested, and the Criminal Justice Department is retrialing the cases he has judged."

"What? Sun Taishou was arrested? I didn't expect that such a big thing would happen in Hangzhou after I went to work in the morning and took a short break at noon?"

"Your news is too delayed, this happened last night."

"That's great, this Sun Taishou is not a human being, he should have been arrested long ago. It was the order of Li Xiantai, I said it a long time ago, the newly appointed Li Xiantai is impartial and strict, which is rare."

Before the man finished speaking, he was interrupted by someone else: "It's not Li Xiantai, it's Zhiyuan."

"Zhiyuan? Could it be?"

"Yes, it's Zhiyuan Zhao."

"That's great, Zhiyuan Zhao is coming to Hangzhou."

"Yes, I've heard that Zhiyuan Zhao is a rare honest official. When he comes to Hangzhou, all the corrupt officials in Hangzhou will be arrested."

"That's natural. I've said it before. Zhiyuan Zhao is impartial and strict, which is rare."

The people talked about it, and some were emotional, praising Zhao Jun with words.

The reason is that the news in the Song Dynasty was not lagging behind.

At least the Grand Canal was not lagging behind.

As the second largest commercial city in the Song Dynasty after Kaifeng Prefecture in Bianliang, Hangzhou had a very high status in business.

Because Hangzhou's commercial exchanges not only connected Bianliang and the entire Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Huainan and Shandong, but also the two coastal areas of Fujian Road and Guangdong Road.

In the Song Dynasty, Quanzhou in Fujian Road, Panyu and Chaoyang in Guangdong Road, and other places were all areas with extremely developed foreign trade.

Arab merchants from Central Asia transported goods to these places, which were bought by local merchants, and then shipped by sea to Hangzhou, and finally sent from Hangzhou to the whole country.

Therefore, not only is the postage free in modern Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai in later generations, but even in ancient times, the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai regions were also important hubs for the Song Dynasty to participate in international trade, and can be said to be the starting point of foreign trade and inland trade in the Song Dynasty.

In this case, the communication between Bianliang and Hangzhou was very frequent. Merchants traveling between the two places would transmit messages between the two places to achieve the purpose of mutual exchange.

For example, the reason why Meng Chengqi knew about movable type printing was that the Meng family had business dealings with Hangzhou. After Bi Sheng invented it in Hangzhou, it naturally spread to Bianliang.

Therefore, what Zhao Jun did in Bianliang last year, and even the fact that he set out to the south this year and exposed his identity in Bozhou, had already spread to Hangzhou.

The people of Hangzhou were all looking forward to his arrival, hoping to give a little shock to the local dark officialdom.

Now that he finally came, the people of the city were naturally excited and applauded.

So in this joy of the whole city, countless people who were oppressed, bullied, and framed by the government ran to the Criminal and Prison Department to report to the officials.

Not only Qiantang and Renhe counties, but also people from Xiaoshan County, Yuezhou, on the other side of the Qiantang River, came.

After all, Sun Mian not only dominated Hangzhou, but also intervened in Xiaoshan next door. For example, Zheng Min, a silk merchant from Xiaoshan, was sentenced to exile in Fujian and confiscation of all his property on the grounds of tax evasion.

The result was that overnight, the Criminal and Prison Department was full of people who came to request a reversal of the case. And it was not just about the Sun Mian case, but also other cases.

The local government of the Song Dynasty was very dark and corrupt. Sun Mian was just one of the typical cases. There were more officials and clerks who still took advantage of it.

Now that Zhao Jun is here, the people naturally put their hopes on him, so as long as they feel wronged, even if it has nothing to do with Sun Mian's case, they will go to the Criminal Justice Department to file a complaint.

This will undoubtedly increase the pressure and workload of the Criminal Justice Department, so on the third day, Li Jianzhi found Zhao Jun with a sad face.

Zhao Jun gave instructions to deal with Sun Mian's case first, and record other cases first and deal with them slowly later. As for the problem of insufficient manpower, first borrow the manpower of the Transport Envoy's Office.

Because the government officials in the state capital and Qiantang and Renhe counties were the main targets of complaints from the people, it was obviously impossible to let them try their own cases, so naturally they could only be seconded.

And in order to motivate the officials who were reviewing the case, they worked overtime during this period, and everyone took part of the inventory funds of Jiangzhe Road as overtime pay.

Anyway, after dealing with a bunch of corrupt officials such as Sun Miao and ransacking the house, I would probably come back tenfold or a hundredfold, so there is no need to be stingy.

As a result, under this incentive measure, officials became extremely efficient.

In just over ten days, several unjust, false and wrong cases that Sun Miao had been sentenced to were found out.

The breakthrough lies in the side inquiry.

The police officers found a large amount of stolen goods at his residence.

In addition, there are people who have testified against him, and there are both witnesses and physical evidence. With the evidence conclusive, the bad things Bian Xun did have become irrefutable.

Zhao Jun sent Huang Sanlang to interrogate him. Through the great memory recovery technique and the promise that he could avoid death as long as he confessed the matter and revealed the mastermind, and made meritorious service, he was able to answer the questions very quickly, like beans poured out of a bamboo tube. He said it all.

Under Bian Xun's testimony, the Prison Department quickly found other evidence against Sun Miao. Including stolen goods, letters, testimonies, etc., Sun Miao's close men also confessed everything.

In this case, even if Sun Miao denied everything, it would be of no use.

But Zhao Jun frowned when he looked at the testimonies of Sun Mian's close men. On May 9, the twelfth day after he put Sun Miao in prison, he came to the cell again.

It was at night, Sun Mian was being held in solitary confinement in the cell, and was monitored by six guards 24 hours a day. There were also guards patrolling outside the cell. It could be said that his custody was extremely thorough, and he was not given any chance to escape at all.

Only a soft ray of moonlight peeked in through the small window in the cell, shining on the bed covered with straw and cotton mattresses, scattering like silver across the earth.

Sun Mian stood by the window with his hands behind his hands, raising his head and looking up at the night sky.

The window was very high, taller than him, so he couldn't see the scenery outside the window, and could only barely see the moon.

After Zhao Jun walked in, he said in a deep voice: "The prefect is leisurely and elegant, and he can also look at the moon."

When Sun Mian heard what he said, he turned around and said calmly: "It's just a way for me to have fun when I'm bored."

"Enjoyment in suffering?"

Zhao Jun laughed: "Why, are you in this prison more miserable than the people you tortured? They were separated from their wives and families by you. Some of them were simply killed by you, and those who survived, I have been in fear, suffering, pain, and torture all my life. Compared with them, I don’t think the prefect is that miserable.”

"haha, really?"

Sun Mian smiled and said, "What are their identities, and what am I?"

"Why, are you born nobler than them?"

Zhao Jun was so angry that he took the official documents from Jiang Dalang next to him, threw them into the cell, threw them on Sun Mian, and angrily shouted: "Look at all the good things you have done, how can you have the face to claim to be upright and have a breeze on your sleeves? "

Sun Miao didn't feel angry after being hit. He just sat on the bed leisurely and said softly: "This is the first time for Zhiyuan to be an official. After all, he is too young to be an official for the first time. It's a pity. You became an official at such a young age, but you have reached a position where one person is better than ten thousand people. I really don’t know how you did it.”

"What, you want to teach me the way to be an official that you haven't finished talking about last time?"

Zhao Jun slowly calmed down his anger and said with interest: "Why don't we come and listen to what Grand Administrator Sun has to say about how to serve as an official?"

"It's not a high opinion."

Sun Mian said openly and honestly: "When I was young, I was as passionate as Zhiyuan is now. But officialdom and being a human being are sometimes contradictory. When you are high up, your situation will naturally be different, and your eyes will also be full of enthusiasm. There will be no more people below.”

"People change, especially officials. Yes, I am a corrupt official. But so what? After reaching my position, no matter what the world is like, natural disasters or man-made disasters, I will still enjoy peace and prosperity, and be extravagant."

"Not to mention the officialdom, it is just a pool of muddy water. This is the way the world is. If you are not evil, how can you climb up? How dare those people let you climb up?"

"So in this officialdom, there are no people as stubborn as you, Zhiyuan. Even if you have a righteous heart at the beginning and have been in the officialdom for a long time, most people will eventually become like me. Do you think everyone is like this?" Was it all my fault? "

"The lower official doesn't think so. Before the magistrate tried me, he must have seen my past political achievements. I must have been excellent in governing the place. But it doesn't matter if my political performance is outstanding. Should I be promoted or not."

"As a result, the lower official later learned to be smart, and became able to manage his superiors and use clever words to persuade. Slowly, the lower official rose up step by step, reaching where he is today."

"I have harmed many people, ruined their families for money. So what? I used the money I got from them to bribe officials, and I was promoted along the way. I governed many places, saved many people, and sacrificed many people. Personally, it benefits more people, I don’t think this is a bad thing.”

"Furthermore, the Zhiyuan is upright and honest, and hates evil as much as hatred. But now all the officials in the Song Dynasty are like this. The Zhiyuan may be able to make the sky bright and clear in this turbid world, and make the dark officialdom clear up, but how can it be possible? What about ten years later? It’s still the same.”

"Being an official is for promotion and wealth. Maybe the original intention is good, but who can live without the ways of the world? Entering the officialdom, with power in hand, family members, relatives, friends and siblings around you will naturally gather around you."

"Over time, the officialdom will return to its original state."

"Now it has only been a short time since the prefecture was appointed as an official. When he has been appointed for a long time in the future, he will naturally understand the difficulties of the subordinates."

"So in my opinion, the prefecture might as well let such an officialdom exist from the beginning. If the prefecture can turn a blind eye to the sedan chair, the officials will not have to live so hard and will be grateful for the prefecture's great kindness."

"In the future, if the prefecture wants to do something big to benefit the people, officials all over the world will naturally thank the prefecture for its kindness and support it. Isn't this a good thing for the country and the people?"

At the end, Sun Mian had already made an impassioned speech, as if he was righteous, and his righteous appearance made people dumbfounded.

Now Sun Mian himself admitted that he was a corrupt official, and he was no longer as stubborn as last time.

Because he also understood that since Zhao Jun came this time, he must have found the ironclad evidence of his crime.

In the face of ironclad evidence, there was actually nothing to quibble about, and it would be a disadvantage. It would be better to admit it openly and sell his way of being an official.

Even if he thought it was impossible, what if he succeeded? Maybe there was a glimmer of hope.

"What a bunch of perverse theories of corrupt officials."

Zhao Jun couldn't help but praise: "If you have talents like you, you may become prime minister in the future."

With such eloquence, if he went to the Southern Song Dynasty to be a peacemaker, Qin Hui would probably have to call him brother.

Sun Mian said seriously: "It's just stating some facts."

"Some of what you said is right."

Zhao Jun said: "Even if I clear the world of corrupt officials now, within 20 years, the officialdom will still be the same as before."

Sun Mian smiled and said: "If that's the case, why should the prefect take so much trouble?"

"Because I want to be worthy of my conscience."

Zhao Jun pointed at himself and said solemnly: "If all officials in the world are like you, what way out will the people have? There are so many people in the Song Dynasty, and you have only harmed dozens or hundreds. But there are so many officials in the Song Dynasty, and everyone harms dozens or hundreds. Add them together, what will be a big number?"

He said with a firm look: "So what I can do is to at least ensure that when I am in power, the people of the world have a way out, and the officials of the world do their part. As for a hundred years later, it will naturally be solved by people a hundred years later."

"It seems that the prefect's heart is as hard as iron. Even if there are bumps ahead, he will have to move forward with difficulty."

Sun Mian said sarcastically.

Although it is estimated that it is impossible to persuade Zhao Jun, it is inevitable to feel a little disappointed.

I'm afraid I'm doomed this time.

"Okay, stop selling your crooked ideas."

Zhao Jun said in a deep voice: "Bian Xun has already explained that Yang Riyan sent his brother to deliver the letter. You just wrote back to someone else. Your trusted subordinates did not leave Hangzhou. It was not you who killed people to silence them. There are others behind you. Tell me."

"Since I will definitely die, why bother talking too much?"

Sun Mian sneered: "The magistrate is very powerful, why don't you guess it yourself?"

Zhao Jun looked at him deeply.

The county magistrate of Jiangxi Road was killed and silenced by Sun Mian, unless he sent the letter to a group of desperate criminals.

Then this group of desperate criminals are highly skilled and do things cleanly and neatly, and they can easily get rid of people.

But does Sun Mian really have the ability to recruit such a group of capable talents?

Zhao Jun doesn't believe it.

So he thinks there is someone behind Sun Mian.

Huang Wei, the former Huainan West Road Transport Envoy, is impossible. Huang Wei was transferred to Hebei Road.

Unless the person sent by Sun Mian to deliver the letter can take a plane, the time will not match.

Then we can only lock on the high-ranking officials in Huainan Road and Liangzhe Road.

Perhaps it was Sun Mian's father-in-law, Bian Su, the transport envoy of Fujian Road.

This person once led the army as a civil official, and was also a salary official who served as the Minister of War. It is possible that he has a team of elite soldiers under his command.

But Bian Su had never been an official in Huainan Road before, and he should not have participated in the Huainan corruption case.

Is it necessary for him to help Sun Mian kill people at the risk of offending Zhao Jun?

This is a question.

But no matter what, since Sun Mian didn't speak, he could only find other ways.

Zhao Jun said lightly: "If you don't say it, someone will naturally say it in the future."

Then he turned his head and prepared to leave.

After walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped again, looked back at Sun Mian's cell, and smiled suddenly: "Sun Taishou, the moonlight is beautiful tonight, look at it more, maybe in a few days, you can't see it anymore."

Then he left without stopping.

He won't wait too long to kill corrupt officials.

After the computer crashed, I struggled to code again for more than three hours. I was really desperate at that moment, but there was no way. I definitely couldn't finish it before 12 o'clock, so I had to stay up all night to continue.

Some people say it's an excuse. In this state of collapse, I really don't want to comment.

In addition, it is a pity that the dialogue between the protagonist and Sun Mian is not well presented. The dialogue before the crash was carefully thought out and written for a day. It is quite profound, meaningful and meaningful. But I really can't remember how to rewrite it. The meaning I want to express is too far from the previous one. I am very dissatisfied. But after a long time, it is still not as good as before. There is really nothing I can do. I am really really really frustrated when encountering such a thing. Alas. This chapter is to make up for yesterday's, and there will be more today. The broken computer has been with me for five years. There are many problems, such as freezing, slow startup, and sometimes crashing. It is really time to replace it.