Two groups of people, the Censor and the Wude Division, went to Puzhou Juancheng to investigate. However, the matter gradually stirred up trouble in Tokyo. Officials in the court often discussed this issue in groups, mainly focusing on two places. One was Chongqing. Zhengdian, a Guo Mansion.
The discussion became even more intense when Guo Rong returned to Tokyo three days later. Guo Rong was returned in a car in prison uniform and shackles. When he arrived in Tokyo, he was not received by the emperor, but was sent directly to prison. We will make further decisions after the investigation results are clear.
As a result, some bold rumors began to appear in the court, saying that the Guo family was about to collapse. Among the founding fathers, only Guo Wei was left as an auxiliary minister appointed by Emperor Gaozu, and Guo Wei is currently ill at home for months. The circumstances surrounding Yu and Guo Rong's crimes further support this speculation.
If such a situation had occurred in the past, Liu Chengyou would have absolutely sternly stopped it. But this time, he did not express his attitude on the matter, but allowed the discussion to develop. The emperor's ambiguous attitude made the courtiers even more worried.
During this period of time, while Liu Chengyou was waiting for the results of Juancheng's investigation, he also secretly observed Guo Wei's response.
[Get Red Envelopes by Reading] Follow the public account [Book Friends Base Camp] and get up to 888 cash red envelopes by reading!
What surprised him but also expected him was that Guo Wei was very calm. As soon as he learned the news, he "dragged his sick body" into the palace and apologized to Liu Chengyou, asking Liu Chengyou to just deal with it in accordance with national laws.
Afterwards, he returned to his residence, closed his doors, and declined visitors. Sensing the turbulent public opinion in the court, many old officials of the Guo family couldn't help but come to visit him, but they were all rejected by Guo Wei, and no one was seen.
Guo Wei's performance made Liu Chengyou a little confused about his thoughts, but he had to admire his cautious approach so that no one could catch the slightest clue. Liu Chengyou even thought about whether to give Guo Rong a death sentence. How did Guo Wei react... Of course, it was just an idea, and Liu Chengyou couldn't bear to part with it.
On the other hand, Li Ye, the imperial uncle's Xuanhui envoy, jumped up and down during this turmoil without any discernment. He gathered a group of courtiers and told Liu Chengyou that they must severely punish Guo Rong, as if they wanted to put him to death.
Liu Chengyou was actually very dissatisfied with this, because Li Ye made him feel a sense of oppression, although the sense of oppression was not strong and could not even affect him at all. However, Liu Chengyou was a little unhappy. Why did Li Ye dare to do this? It's just because of his status. Where does his confidence come from? It comes from the Queen Mother in the harem.
As for why Li Ye was so active in this matter, Detective Wu Desi gave Liu Chengyou an explanation.
First, Li Ye did have contacts with the slain Puzhou governor Zhang Jianxiong. Li Ye was the envoy of Xuanhui, and one of his responsibilities was to inspect the internal and external dedications. As early as the beginning of the second year of Qianyu, Zhang Jianxiong The two parties got in touch when they were paying tribute to famous products in Tokyo. They kept in touch and exchanged gifts during every year and festival.
Secondly, Li Ye targeted the Guo family in this way because he had old grudges with Guo Wei. When Guo Wei was in charge of the Privy Council, Li Ye sought an official position from Guo Wei for his subordinates, but Guo Wei rejected it; later there were military officers who were good friends with Li Ye After breaking the law, Li Ye went to Guo Wei to intercede again, but Guo Wei still didn't give him face. Because of these two things, Li Ye deeply hated Guo Wei. Now that his son Guo Rong had committed a crime, how could he not seize the opportunity.
Third, it is something that has been heard. Recently, Li Ye hosted a banquet at his house, and while he was drinking heavily, he talked to the people around him. He had great ambitions, but could not stretch them. There were many people in the court who did not respect or even despised others. He wanted to do this this time. He took the opportunity to rectify the Guo family and let the courtiers see the majesty of his uncle Li Guo.
Receiving such a report relieved some of Liu Chengyou's doubts, but his senses about this uncle were even worse.
Compared with Li Hongxin and Li Hongyin's uncles, Li Ye may have stronger personal abilities, but sometimes his talents do not match his ambitions and he likes to interfere randomly and show his presence, which often leads to worse results. And Li Ye , he seems to be a arrogant person with a mind higher than the sky.
It was not until ten days later that Zhao Li and Wang Jingchong returned from Puzhou, brought back their investigation results, and returned to Chongzheng.
"Your Majesty, your ministers are in Puzhou, questioning the relevant officials, officers, soldiers, and people. The results have been obtained regarding Guo Shijun's murder of the assassin Zhang Jianxiong. All witnesses and testimonies are available!" Zhao Li handed over a case file and said Li Ze narrated:
"On the second day of February, Guo Shijun led his troops to inspect the spring plowing matters in Fan County, Puzhou. He found that the people were not cultivating the land, but the government did nothing, and instead advocated miscellaneous donations. Guo Shijun was angry and went to the state to govern Juancheng. Under Juancheng's rule, everything was just like Fan In the county, some people blocked the road and complained, saying that Zhang Jianxiong, the governor, had occupied land and persecuted innocent people. The state government questioned him, but Zhang Jianxiong was very negligent. Later, there was a conflict in the government hall, and Zhang Jianxiong actually used state soldiers to resist. Guo Shijun ordered his arrest with an angry look. In the fierce fight, Zhang Jianxiong died!"
Zhao Li briefly introduced the situation, but from his verbal description, we could feel a certain bias, and he had a vague intention to excuse Guo Rong. Liu Chengyou couldn't help but glance at Zhao Li. This person was originally just because he was upright and did not avoid powerful people. , outspokenly admonished, entered Liu Chengyou's field of vision. Within three years, he had been promoted several times to the important position of Yushi Zhongcheng.
But this time, Liu Chengyou didn't know whether he was worried about the Guo family or whether he was biased because he suspected that it catered to his emperor's wishes.
While Liu Chengyou was reviewing the case file, Zhao Li took out another copy and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, after investigation, there are also violations of national laws committed by Zhang Jianxiong, the governor of Puzhou, during his tenure. First, he ignored the authority of the imperial court. Since your Majesty took the throne, , None of the new policies promulgated have been implemented in place. Your Majesty's policies to benefit the people, the reduced taxes, and the taxes have all enriched yourself and gone into your own pockets."
"Secondly, in the name of paying taxes to the imperial court, they were arbitrarily allocated under the rule and plundered the people. Private checkpoints were set up to extort money from the people, industry and merchants."
"Third, accepting bribes and covering up illegal activities has allowed villains to run rampant in Puzhou."
"Fourth, connivance with relatives and servants, occupying land, running rampant in the countryside, and sending jackals to intercept those who complain."
"Fifth, they do not comply with the "Penal Regulations" and are imprisoned for every marriage incident, and torture is indiscriminately carried out."
"..."
"In this way, there are so many crimes and bad governance that it is difficult to describe them. Please give your Majesty a clear lesson!" Zhao Li said.
After hearing the report, Liu Chengyou digested it a little and said: "From what Zhao Qing said, Zhang Jianxiong is the person who should be killed?"
Zhao Li paused for a moment, cupped his hands and said, "If you do what you did, you will never be able to atone for your sins even if you die!"
When the emperor's eyes fell on him, Wang Jingchong also moved, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, according to my observation, for the sake of governance, there has long been discord between Guo Rong and Zhang Jianxiong. Guo Rong is in trouble. In three years, the government of Chanzhou was harmonized and all industries were revived, while Puzhou was under the rule of the Zhenning Army and became its own entity. When Zhang Jianxiong was in office, he always ignored Guo Rong's government. The accumulation of conflicts between the two parties did not occur in a day. Gong, this outbreak happened just at the right time!"
"Zhao Zhongcheng reported Zhang Jianxiong's crimes while he was in office in Puzhou, and the results of my investigation revealed almost no omissions!"
After listening to Wang Jingchong's report, Liu Chengyou pondered and said nothing for a while. His head was still buried in two case files.
After a long time, Liu Chengyou raised his head and asked the two of them: "How far is it from Puzhou to Tokyo?"
Upon hearing the question, both King Zhao and King Zhao were stunned and confused. Zhao Li replied: "Your Majesty, the distance between Puzhou Prefecture's Juancheng and Tokyo is less than three hundred miles."
"A mere three hundred miles away, you can shut me up to such an extent?" Liu Chengyou suddenly had a fit, threw the two case files on the imperial case, and said coldly: "Then Zhang Jianxiong carried out his evil policies in Puzhou and corrupted the world. Why have I never heard of the reputation of the imperial court? What about the imperial censor in Henan? What about the military detective in Kinki? Hmm?"
"The territory of the Han Dynasty is more than a thousand miles, and what is the situation beyond that thousand miles? I really feel chills running down my spine right now!" Liu Chengyou's voice was not high-pitched, but it echoed in the Chongzheng Palace, making people feel the anger in it. , dangerous and terrifying.
Zhao Li and Wang Jingchong almost unanimously knelt down on the ground and kowtowed: "I have failed to supervise you, please punish me!"