When Liu Xin first settled in Jingzhou, Xu Huang had been the governor of Nanyang for a long time and was no stranger to investigating cases. But now that he was concerned about the whereabouts of Cao Cao, he couldn't help but wave his hands and said, "How can I be entangled in such mundane matters?" : "Lord Mandarin, you are the prefect of Jiujiang. Naturally, you will be in charge of the case. Xu will not overstep his authority."
Man Chong was diligent in his work, and what he said just now was just to respect Xu Huang, not an excuse. Now that he saw Xu Huang's refusal, Man Chong no longer showed humility and immediately ordered to be raised to court.
Sitting in the lobby, Man Chong looked at the two rows of government officials standing in the lobby and sighed secretly. The Shouchun offensive and defensive battle was extremely fierce, and all county officials were sent to the city walls to stand. There are several fewer government officials here than usual, and the remaining ones are gray-faced, ragged, covered in blood, and a few are wrapped in bandages, completely lacking their usual majesty.
A policeman had already brought up the drummer, but it was a boy of thirteen or fourteen years old. When the boy saw Man Chong, he suddenly pointed his finger and said loudly: "He is the one I want to sue! How can I let him Coming to interrogate? I want to see the new general!"
The laws of the Han Dynasty in the past had strict restrictions on people suing officials. But in order to mobilize the people to supervise officials at all levels, Liu Xin not only allowed people to sue officials, but also encouraged people to sue officials. Because Liu Xin understood that it was impossible at any time To put an end to corruption, as long as there is supervision, it can be limited to a controllable range.
The young man wanted to sue Man Chong. Man Chong had no choice but to send someone to invite Xu Huang out.
Xu Huang was making arrangements to pursue Cao Cao in the back office. When he heard that such a thing had happened, he was very surprised and had to come to the lobby. Zhang Fei, who had a restless temper, followed him noisily.
In the lobby, the young man was crying with snot and tears. His name was Li Jiao, the youngest son of the wealthy Li Ping. He sued Man Chong for plotting to steal the Li family's property. He first sent Li Ping out of the city to collude with Cao Cao in order to borrow money. Cao Cao tried to assassinate Li Ping but failed. However, he accused Li Ping of collaborating with the enemy and searched all of Li Ping's houses. Only he saw the opportunity and escaped and escaped. Li Jiao said that if the general had not arrived in time, Man Chong would have been killed. Shouchun City has been dedicated to Cao Cao. If the general does not believe it, there is a white flag as proof.
Because Man Chong was a surrendered general under Cao Cao, and he was not trusted by most generals before. Suddenly hearing what this young man said, Xu Huang couldn't help but change his expression and shouted in a deep voice: "Man Chong, what do you have to say?"
Man Chong shook his head and said: "This white flag was indeed prepared by Xiaguan. Xiaguan did ask Li Ping to leave the city twice. However, Xianguan's move was just a delaying tactic and he did not seek to seize Li Ping's family property. If the general does not believe it, Xianguan There’s nothing to say!”
However, Zhang Fei became irritable and shouted: "Man Chong, you have no excuses! How can a doll slander you? I don't think you will shed tears until you see the coffin! Come, bring me the guy, and I'll give you three hundred lashes first." , it depends on whether you want to recruit or not!"
Xu Huang hurriedly stopped him and said: "Third brother, don't be reckless. This matter needs to be reported to the Emperor Ming before he makes a decision."
The Han army has the strictest military discipline, especially collaborating with the enemy. If what this young man said is true, Man Chong will be punished with the death penalty of the Nine Tribes. However, based on Xu Huang's many years of experience in the army, Man Chong's move is indeed like a delaying strategy.
Xu Huang pondered for a long time and suddenly asked: "Man Chong, where is Li Ping's family property?"
Many things cannot be taken at face value. Although the offensive and defensive battle was very fierce, it does not mean that Man Chong must be loyal. Xu Huang then found another way and asked about Li Ping's family property. This is the key to this case. If
If Man Chong really occupied Li Ping's family property, then what Li Jiao said has some credibility, and Man Chong is very likely to have a secret collusion with Cao Cao.
Man Chong said without thinking: "Back to the general, all of Li Ping's property has been confiscated and sent to the treasury. The subordinates have not had time to count it."
Li Jiao suddenly pointed at Man Chong and said loudly: "He is talking nonsense. My family's property is now in the back office. The general will know it when he takes a look behind it!"
Xu Huang came from the back office. He didn't see any gold, silver or jewelry in the back office, so he lowered his head and began to think deeply. But Zhang Fei couldn't hold back and shouted: "Catch the thief and take the stolen goods, little baby, you can do it now."
Go and identify what is yours!"
Without waiting for Xu Huang to agree, Zhang Fei had already picked up Li Jiao and strode towards the back office. Suddenly a woman screamed from the back office. Xu Huang frowned and hurried over with Man Chong, only to see
Li Jiaojiao pointed to a young woman and said, "This is my family's property that he took by force!"
Zhang Fei originally thought that Man Chong had robbed a lot of gold and silver jewelry, but now he finally caught him, but he didn't realize that he was just a woman. He immediately couldn't laugh or cry. He raised his hand and was about to hit Li Jiao, but Xu Huang stopped him and said to Man Chong.
Chong said, "What's going on with this woman?"
Man Chong saw that he couldn't hide it, so he had to hand over his hand and said: "Back to the general, the man led the troops to raid Li Ping's house. He saw this woman crying and pitiful. After asking, he found out that she was a woman from a good family.
, was snatched into the house by Li Ping. The lower official felt pity for a moment and did not put her in jail. Instead, she was temporarily placed in the back office, intending to deal with it after the war was over. Unexpectedly, the house was searched urgently, but
I missed Li Jiao, so today he is talking nonsense and falsely accusing subordinates."
Xu Huang sneered: "If that's the case, why didn't you take the initiative to explain it in the first place?"
Man Chong lowered his head and murmured: "This is obviously a woman, not property."
In fact, in the eyes of those noble families, except for the mistress, no matter whether it is a maid or a concubine, they are not property that they can dispose of at will. Therefore, Li Jiao had already shouted from the side: "She is my father's concubine, that is.
My family’s belongings!”
However, Zhang Fei knew that neither Liu Xin nor Ma Yun liked treating their servants as human beings. Just now they believed Li Jiao's words and almost made a fool of themselves. Now he was even more furious and said: "Little baby, you keep talking nonsense! Believe it or not."
If you don’t believe me, I’ll cut you!”
Xu Huang waved his hand and said: "Man Chong, having said that, it is very inappropriate for you to deal with the family members of criminals at will. If someone comes, please take them all under custody first, and then deal with them after reporting to the Holy Master."
It was a matter of whether Man Chong had colluded with the enemy. Xu Huang did not dare to neglect and quickly sent people to find out everything that happened in Shouchun City in the past two days. However, Zhang Fei lost interest in this, yawned, and went back to the Houya to sleep.
.
In the middle of the night, a warning gong suddenly sounded on top of the city, which was particularly clear in the silent night. Xu Huang had just fallen asleep and hurriedly put on his clothes, but saw several soldiers running over, cupping his hands and saying: "
General Qi, Your Majesty is here!"
It turned out that Liu Xin was very worried after receiving the news that Cao Cao had withdrawn his troops from Hulao Pass. Now that Yuan Shao was holed up in Yecheng and Cao Cao had withdrawn his troops, the pressure on Sili was greatly reduced, and Liu Xin was most concerned about Cao Cao.
He decided to go there personally. This time, he personally took Dian Wei and five thousand flying tiger guards all the way east. Due to the timely battle report, Liu Xin did not take any detours and went directly to Shouchun City.
Xu Huang quickly called Zhang Fei and others up and went out together.
As soon as Liu Xin met him, he asked, "Do you know the whereabouts of Cao Cao?"
Zhang Fei sighed: "I fell into his trap yesterday and let him escape. Dozens of troops have been sent out to search, but there is still no whereabouts of him. But don't worry, brother, there are not many people around Cao Cao."
Liu Xin shook his head and said: "If Cao Cao was followed by a large team, his whereabouts would be easy to grasp. Now it is like finding a needle in a haystack, it is difficult."
Xu Huang cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will dig three feet into the ground to find Cao Cao!"
Liu Xin waved her hand and said: "There is no need to be too anxious about this matter. By the way, why don't you see Man Boning?"
Xu Huang quickly told the story about Li Jiao's complaint against Man Chong, and then said: "Your Majesty, the general has sent people to investigate. Man Chong secretly recruited nearly 20,000 people, causing heavy casualties to the people in the city."
Liu Xin suddenly laughed and said: "Man Chong has followed Cao Cao for many years and knows very well what Cao Cao is like. How could he surrender to Cao Cao again? Sending Li Ping, a big man in the city, to fight with Cao Cao must be a delaying strategy! There are few soldiers in the city and they are not enough to resist Cao Cao's army.
The situation is urgent and the authority must be obeyed. Moreover, in such a fierce battle, the casualties were only thousands of people. Man Chong had no fault, or he said that he would not hide his merits. He just kept Li Ping's concubine privately..."
Xu Huang couldn't help feeling ashamed that he suspected Man Chong, and he hurriedly took the initiative to intercede for Man Chong: "Since your Majesty thinks that Man Chong is a delaying tactic, then it must be so. The general thought that Man Chong could be exempted from the crime by having his merits reduced.
It was his fault for keeping Li Ping as his concubine."
Liu Xin mused: "If you don't hide your faults, if you don't have full favor to stick to Shouchun, and hold Cao Cao off for two days and one night, Cao Cao's twenty-strong army will cause trouble in many places. She is just a concubine of a wealthy family, passing on my will.
Give her full favor."
Xu Huang hesitated and said, "I'm afraid this is against the law."
Liu Xin waved her hand and said: "My rules in the past were a bit inappropriate, and I was too harsh on you. Well, the families of the enemy generals in Puyang City have now been taken to Chang'an. When the war is over, you guys will also
Go pick one."
Liu Xin has already figured something out from the matter of Man Chong. Everyone follows him to conquer the world, and most of them don't hope to live a good life of glory and wealth. But the law is very strict, corruption and bribery, robbing men and dominating women
Everyone will have their homes confiscated and their clans exterminated, and few people dare to break the law. Although the salaries of officials at all levels are generous, they are only slightly better than ordinary people. If the family is not engaged in business or other industries, I am afraid that even ordinary nobles will not be able to live in peace.
Even the big players can't compare.
Although some of those who followed Liu Xin were from the gentry family, most of them like Zhang Fei, Xu Huang, Zhang, and Zhao Yun were from the Han clan. With their salary alone, they would never be able to catch up with those wealthy gentry families, let alone those with huge wealth.
Not to mention compared with Mi Zhu, Kuai Yue, and Cai Mao, who were both from noble families and held important positions. Therefore, for the long-term peace and stability of the Han Dynasty, it was time to make some changes.