The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 829 Each Holds Their Own Account

Two years have passed since the abolition decree was issued, and as time goes by, more and more people are beginning to know that the imperial court has demanded the abolition of slavery.

At first, the various masters tried their best to conceal the abolition of slavery, but as the government slaves were gradually liberated, many things could no longer be hidden.

Apart from the Guanzhong aristocratic families, whose slaves were loyal to their masters for generations and hundreds of years, ordinary wealthy families simply could not control their slaves. More and more slaves began to escape and seek help from the government.

According to Article 3 of the Abolition Edict, local governments should change the status of runaway slaves to that of commoners and restore their freedom.

However, Wei Commandery did something that seriously violated the abolition of slavery: they actually sent all 320 escaped slaves back to their masters.

This happened two months ago. At that time, an official wrote a letter to the Censorate to complain, and the Censorate sent Inspector Hou Liang to Wei County to investigate the matter.

After more than a month of investigation, the matter was confirmed, and Hou Liang wrote an impeachment letter, which was of course an impeachment of Wang Younan, the governor of Wei Commandery.

Three days later, Shi Xiaozhen led a thousand Imperial Guard soldiers into Wei County.

Shi Xiaozhen ordered the army to garrison in Tangyin County, Ji County, while he himself led fifty guards to Anyang County and booked the Wolong Inn in Anyang County.

The Inner Guard had branches in various provinces. The Hebei Inner Guard was stationed in Wei County. Wolong Inn was the name used outside the province, while it was called the Inner Guard Post Station inside the province. It was owned by the Hebei Inner Guard and was open to both internal and external use.

After Shi Xiaozhen settled in, she immediately sent someone to fetch Yu Feipeng, the person in charge of the Hebei Inner Guard.

The emperor assigned Shi Xiaozhen three tasks: to investigate the truth of the incident, to clarify the responsibility for the incident, and to arrest the relevant personnel. Shi Xiaozhen's first task was to investigate the truth of the incident.

Before long, Yu Feipeng rushed over, knelt on one knee and saluted, "This humble officer greets the Commander!"

"General Yu, please rise!"

Shi Xiaozhen asked Yu Feipeng to stand up and asked him, "How much do you know about the matter of Wei Commandery repatriating slaves?"

Yu Feipeng paused for a moment, then cautiously said, "Reporting to the Commander, the Inner Guard will not participate in the abolition of slavery!"

The abolition of slavery was to be handled by the imperial court and local governments, with the Imperial Guard not involved; this was the established stance from the beginning.

Shih Hsiao-chen nodded. "We don't get involved in normal abolitionist matters, but we do get involved in major cases triggered by the abolition order, at least to understand the situation."

“I understand. In fact, this case in Wei County has caused quite a stir, and the general public is talking about it. Of course, I know some of it as well.”

"Tell me what you know!"

Yu Feipeng thought for a moment and said, "There are rumors that this is an internal power struggle between Governor Wang Younan and Prefect Qi Pei, and someone is stabbing you in the back!"

"Really? What do you think?"

“I know that there is indeed a conflict between the governor and the prefectural assistant, and it is not a small one. When this matter was first reported, I was shocked. This is directly going against the emperor. Who would make such a serious mistake in officialdom? I think there must be something going on, but I don’t know who stabbed whom in the back.”

"But the Censorate has determined that the responsibility lies with Prefect Li Younan. What is his reputation like?" Shi Xiaozhen asked again.

"His reputation is so-so. He has a nickname, 'Fishing Governor,' because he loves fishing. When he can't be found in the county office, his men will go to the river to look for him, and they're sure to find him. Apart from that, there are no rumors of any bad deeds."

Shi Xiaozhen looked at the court's documents and said, "Wang Younan was transferred to Weijun at the beginning of this year, while the prefectural assistant Qi Pei has been in Weijun for five years. He was originally the magistrate of Anyang County, but was promoted for opposing Dou Jiande and has been serving as the prefectural assistant for three years. What are their backgrounds?"

The Ministry of Personnel won't write down personal backgrounds or connections, but as an investigation, such backgrounds and connections must be thoroughly understood. "Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, Wang Younan is from Nanjun and was transferred from Changshajun. He shouldn't have any connections in Hebei. On the contrary, the Prefectural Magistrate Qi Pei is from Liyang County in Jijun. The Qi family of Liyang is a prominent family in the prefecture, and his wife is the eldest daughter of the Meng family of Anyang."

"So Wang Younan is a powerful outsider, while Qi Pei is a local bully?"

"It can be said like this!"

Shi Xiaozhen had a general idea of ​​what was going on. After a moment of contemplation, he said to Yu Feipeng, "I need a list of 320 slave owners. Go to the county government office tomorrow and get it for me. Also, make it public that the Imperial Guards are staying at the Wolong Inn and are specifically investigating the slave repatriation case."

"Your subordinate obeys!"

Yu Feipeng bowed and left in a hurry.

Shi Xiaozhen knew that the Censorate had already reached a conclusion on the case, and the person responsible was Prefect Wang Younan. Both the Prefect and the Assistant Prefect had signed the repatriation order. So, whoever had the higher rank was responsible, and that was the basis for the Censorate's judgment.

If the case were investigated according to standard procedures, the final conclusion would certainly be the same. However, this is merely the common practice in officialdom, a matter of accountability for the principal official, and not the truth of the case. There must be a truth to this case, after all, both the governor and the prefectural magistrate signed off on it.

Shi Xiaozhen then considered investigating the case from the perspective of interests, to see whose interests were involved. From the backgrounds of the two officials, Shi Xiaozhen vaguely guessed some clues. It was likely that the interests of the Prefectural Magistrate were greater. Prefectural Magistrate Qi Pei was a local tyrant, and the 320 slaves were precisely the interests of the local tyrant.

At this moment, Su Fang, the chief clerk of the Imperial Guard, said, "Commander, have you noticed something interesting? There's no mention of the county government. Logically, dealing with slaves should be the responsibility of the county government, so how did it become the responsibility of the prefectural government?"

Shi Xiaozhen flipped through the investigation records of the Censorate, and sure enough, whether it was interviewing people or checking files, it was all done in the prefectural government office, without mentioning the county government office at all.

Shi Xiaozhen asked, puzzled, "That is indeed a bit strange. What could be the reason?"

Su Fang stroked his beard and smiled, "This humble servant can go and visit them to see why they are silent?"

That afternoon, news of the Imperial Guard's investigation into the repatriation of slaves spread throughout Anyang County, immediately putting the entire officialdom on edge. The Imperial Guard was not the Censorate; its investigation meant that the Emperor was paying attention to the case.

That evening, Prefect Qi Pei came to visit Shi Xiaozhen. Shi Xiaozhen politely invited him to sit down, saying, "Prefect Qi, there's no need to be in such a hurry. I'm going to the prefectural office tomorrow morning, and we can talk in detail then!"

Qi Peinian was about forty years old. He was handsome and had a refined demeanor. He smiled slightly and said, "If we talk in the county government office, it will just be a repetition of the Censorate's investigation process, and I believe the conclusion will be the same. If the general wants to know the truth, we will have to talk in private."

"Could Magistrate Qi tell me the truth?"

"The truth is, these 320 slaves did not come to Anyang County. It was a scholar who visited the slaves of more than a dozen wealthy families in Wei County and pleaded for their rights. We sent people to find this scholar, but he disappeared without a trace. So we don't know if this matter is true or false. Then we went to find these slaves according to the list he provided. Almost all of them said that they had no intention of leaving their masters. According to the abolition of slavery, everything is based on voluntariness and slaves are not forced to leave their masters. So we withdrew this application for abolition of slavery. I signed it and Governor Wang also signed it. But for some reason, it was misrepresented and in the end it became a case of sending the slaves back to their masters."

Shi Xiaozhen frowned. "Is the Censorate so careless in its investigations? Such an obvious matter has turned into an impeachment case. Or did you fail to tell the Censorate the truth?"

Qi Pei gave a bitter smile and said, "The Censorate doesn't believe what I say at all. They think that the scholar was murdered to silence him, and that the slaves are afraid of their masters and dare not tell the truth or come to Anyang County. Forgive my bluntness, but the Censorate doesn't care about the truth at all. They are just impeaching for the sake of impeaching."

"Then how will the governor explain this to the censor?"

"I don't know how Governor Wang explained it, but as far as I know, the Censorate also doesn't believe what Governor Wang said. The Censorate went to investigate in the countryside themselves and finally concluded that we sent back 320 slaves. If we really want to hold someone accountable, I should be the first to be held responsible, since I was the one who signed it first."

Shi Xiaozhen found it strange. Wasn't it said that the relationship between the governor and the prefectural assistant was very strained? Why did it feel like this prefectural assistant was speaking up for the governor?

This case is a bit confusing, with everyone having their own version of events. I wonder how the governor will explain it tomorrow?

(End of this chapter)