The Overlord of the Red Mansion

Only half a day later, Zong Zheng delivered the investigation results.

I had a meeting in the morning and the investigation report was delivered in the afternoon before I had dinner.

Jia Rong hadn't read the report yet, but he had a guess in his mind.

"Has this kid been planning to do something bad for a long time, just waiting for an opportunity?"

Jia Rong had no expectations of the Minister of the Imperial Clan, so he arranged for an investigator who was known for his integrity.

The Minister of Justice and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court are the main force in the investigation.

This kid, Zong Zheng, must have been harboring a grudge against the Jia family for a long time. He secretly collected a lot of evidence and brought it out as soon as the opportunity came.

Jia Rong quickly opened the investigation report.

Zong Zheng's handwriting was pretty good, and all officials in the court had to practice writing in pencil.

Few people practice traditional calligraphy nowadays. Just like hairstyle and clothing, it needs to be changed.

Even the way of speaking, the fonts used to record history, and places where text is published in books and periodicals are all written in vernacular that ordinary people can understand.

Jia Rong changed not only the way of writing, but also reduced the difficulty of reading and unified the names of various units of measure and medicinal materials.

Even customs such as childbirth, confinement, marriage, and funerals have been redefined.

There are no different customs in every ten miles, only the unified modern customs of the holy church.

Things that cannot be forced to be done in modern times, Jia Rong can do them at will.

Jia Rong is the law of the country, and he is the only person in the world who can kill someone without being guilty.

Jia Rong's son does not have the privilege of killing people without guilt, nor does he have the ability to make everyone shut up after killing someone.

[On May 1, the seventh year of the Holy Dynasty, the Fourth Prince had an argument with a servant while hunting in the Nanyuan Paddock and shot and killed the servant.]

Jia Rong looked thoughtful and quickly continued reading.

There were several murder cases, as well as corruption and bribery. He accepted the support of some businessmen and used his status as a prince to provide disruptive opinions to some officials in power.

There were cases of him taking advantage of women, and there was also a case of him seeing that a lady of honor who had entered the palace was beautiful, and using his status as a prince wanted to force her to submit, but was rejected.

Jia Rong frowned. Although Zong Zheng also sacrificed some dandy young men from the old royal family, the main body of this report was still the children of the Jia family.

Not only the children of the Jia family, but also the concubines in the harem who helped conceal the truth and passed on messages to officials outside to take good care of their troublesome sons.

And all kinds of things about the wet nurse's husband and son causing trouble to the neighborhood.

Great...something to do.

Jia Rong was so moved that he wanted to cry. He had been in a daze these years, especially in the past few years as emperor, and he always felt that something was missing.

That is a fulfilling experience that cannot be obtained whether flying a plane, playing with women, or writing imperial edicts in the court.

Jia Rong is not only looking for trouble with bad guys. He is not interested in those officials who embezzle millions.

What Jia Rong wants in his heart is the kind of eccentricity that normal people would not look back at the explosion.

It's the kind of thing that has nothing to do with you, but it makes a big fuss.

If others don't shout, it will be meaningless, so you have to make a loud noise.

Illegal things are different from legal things. Jia Rong now finds it legal to kill people, but he does not want to kill legally.

Executing a deserving person by court law and imperial decree is far less shocking than an assassin executing a deserving person.

When the emperor executes a corrupt official with an imperial decree, even if the official is dissected into a specimen, the deterrent effect is limited and the official will be forgotten after a long time.

Jia Rong has created real terror, such as the time when many princes did not dare to return to the capital and ministers did not dare to work the night shift.

So many people in Beijing voluntarily paid to replace their wooden houses with concrete houses, and it was not because concrete houses are beautiful and fire-proof.

There was no great terror. There were so many noble and old-fashioned children in the capital who were unwilling to tear down their mansions and build new ones.

As for his own son... Jia Rong felt that it was not a big deal.

There were definitely quite a few emperors who killed their sons.

But if he is really killed, the harem will be in turmoil again.

Jia Rong didn't have that much ill will towards Jia Yuanchun.

Soon Jia Rong began to write the results of handling each case.

[Zongzheng, you did a good job. I need people who dare to speak up. It is normal for a tree to have some branches and it is normal for it to have worms, but people are not trees. They should have the ability to purify themselves from worms.]

[Investigate why the Fourth Prince killed his servants, write a detailed report, and let the Right Prime Minister, the Supreme Court Minister, and the Minister of Justice supervise it together.

[During this period, the Fourth Prince's surname Jia will be restored, and Jia Yuanchun and others are not allowed to interfere. From now on, during my reign, the harem is not allowed to interfere in government affairs, and officials at all levels are not allowed to accept messages from the harem. Anyone who sends messages will be punished for impersonation! This report is given to the cabinet for review.]

[Other minor matters will be handled as appropriate. Anyone who disturbs the imperial concubine will be investigated and exiled to the desert of West Asia. They will not be allowed to return to the Middle Earth within three generations.]

For Jia Rong, the last one is the biggest crime.

Jia Rong himself had done many things like beating servants to death...

Because he had done a lot of things, even though he was a little unhappy with Jia Shu's behavior, he still gave him an investigation result and would deal with him according to the law after the result came out.

The most serious thing was the imperial edict that disturbed the entry into the palace. The fact that Jia Rong sent Jia Zhen to the underworld because of such a thing showed how seriously some things were taken.

Some palace maids would go out of the Holy Palace every year. It didn’t matter whether these people got married, had children, or became concubines. Jia Rong didn’t care.

However, the titles of ladies and young ladies who entered the palace were prepared by Jia Rong for himself, not for others.

Not being able to distinguish between the big and small kings is also a serious crime.

No one dares to investigate the things that Jia Rong cares about, so they can only handle the matter impartially.

But they couldn't appear to have done nothing, so they arrested the husbands of the wet nurses and interrogated them, and soon found a large amount of evidence of their crimes.

Jia Rong did not cause trouble for Jia Yuanchun, nor did he mention the matter during the meal. He continued to chat about various things and spend time with his family and children as usual.

The next day, when he was preparing to go to court to deal with matters, he saw Jia Yuanchun kneeling on the ground as soon as he went downstairs.

Not only Jia Yuanchun, but also Qin Keqing, Wang Xifeng, Baoqin, You Erjie and You Sanjie.

The children of the second and third sisters are not very old. The second sister's child is thirteen or fourteen years old, but he has also gotten into a lot of trouble. In addition, the relatives from the You family have also taken advantage of their power to bully others and do a lot of things.

"Your Majesty! I was not a good parent. Please forgive me!" Jia Rong said gently, "Children are children, and you are you. If your son did something wrong, I would not blame you. If your brothers did something wrong, I would not blame you either."

"Get up. The country has its own laws and the family has its own rules. We have hundreds of children in our family. If we don't discipline them seriously, we won't be able to manage them all. If he gets into trouble today and it's okay, but tomorrow someone else gets into trouble and gets punished, they will resent me for being partial."

"You don't have to beg for mercy. It's not like you only have one child. Just discipline the other children and make sure they don't make the same mistake again."

Baoqin cried out, "Your Majesty! Please, Your Majesty, spare my son for the sake of our relationship of more than 20 years!"

Jia Rong frowned and said quickly, "Jia Du did not commit a capital crime, but he just disturbed the imperial concubine who entered the palace with frivolous words. I sent him to the western desert to dig for oil for his own good. If you want to use your twenty years of friendship to keep him, that's fine."

Baoqin hurriedly said, "Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you for your mercy!"

Jia Rong said casually: "Since you care so much about your son, why don't you move out of the palace with him? You are forty years old now, and it is time for you to enjoy your old age."

"I will arrange for you to go back to Jinling. Don't come back again."

After Jia Rong finished speaking, he walked out.

"Your Majesty!" Jia Yuanchun quickly tried to plead for Baoqin. Baoqin also called out to Jia Rong, but Jia Rong left in a cool manner.

Because of his son's mistake, Baoqin's good days are over.

It was none of her business, but she insisted on coming out to deal with it, so she has to take responsibility.

Soon Jia Rong announced the results of the handling in the court.

"Jia Shu's behavior is improper and his mind is not right. He killed someone out of anger because his servant did a bad job. He is unworthy of being a son!"

"Imprison Jia Shu in the Ministry of Justice and sentence him to life imprisonment!"

"Jia Du's frivolous words disturbed the imperial edicts and damaged the reputation of the royal family. She was demoted to a commoner and exiled to Huangshan. Her mother was a poor parent and interfered in state affairs. She was demoted to a commoner and sent to Jinling County to be supported by her relative Jia Zheng. All royal salaries and benefits were revoked, and she was no longer allowed to call herself a royal woman!"

"Jia Pu and Jia Ji, you privately possessed guns and illegally sold guns and gunpowder to your brothers and outsiders. You will be imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice for three years! To serve as a warning to others!"

After Jia Rong finished speaking, he looked at the results of the handling submitted by his subordinates and found that many of the husbands of the wet nurses in the Holy Palace had been punished, but few of the royal family members had been punished.

Forget it, it takes both parties working together to get things done.

Jia Rong dealt with his own family members, and the people in the cabinet dealt with the people below them. In other words, each of them did their own thing.

"How is the issue of banning guns among the public handled?"

Jia Rong talked about the gun ban, which was also the main issue this time.

The left prime minister said: "Reporting to His Majesty, it is slowly being carried out, but it continues despite repeated bans."

Jia Rong said directly: "Then step up the efforts! Make sure to deal with it as soon as possible! I have read reports from various places, and there are many young and hot-tempered people who have injured people with guns. There are also many sons of craftsmen and military households who, when they quarreled with their fathers, took out guns and shot their sons and fathers."

"You should all have guns at home, and many of you have disobedient sons. Whether you can control yourselves or whether they dare to rebel, it is not a good thing. People will inevitably get angry, and it is easy for guns to go off accidentally."

"Besides, it doesn't take much technology for civilians to make their own compulsory artillery shells. Once a village has the ability to make guns and artillery, it will be difficult to control."

"Starting from here, my dear ministers, no household is allowed to privately possess guns! Only guards who have received formal training are allowed to carry guns. No one else, whether a prince or a first-rank minister, is allowed to carry guns except in times of war!"

"I will set up a special shooting range to teach people how to use guns. I will collect guns from every household in the capital. If anyone refuses to hand in their guns, if something goes wrong in the future, their entire family will be expelled from the capital and sent to exile in the frontier!!"

Jia Rong has already dealt with his own son. If anyone dares to privately possess guns or cause trouble again, and is sentenced to death, don't blame Jia Rong for not reminding them.

***
Half a month later

Yu's younger brother, who had taken possession of someone else's wife, was shot and hanged in a neighborhood in the government office area. His younger brother was a sixth-rank official in the imperial court and was shot through the forehead while wearing his official uniform.

In addition, large red-letter posters were posted on all sides and above the neighborhood.

[After the Three Masters, he enforces justice on behalf of the heavens, the sharpshooter Zuo Luo]

The capital was in great shock! Everyone was in danger!
When Zuo Xiang and others saw the news sent back by the Minister of Justice, they could no longer remain calm.

Everyone was anxiously thinking of countermeasures.

“Yu Du! It’s Yu Du!!” Zuo Xiang shouted loudly, clenching his fists.

The right prime minister also looked gloomy and anxious, and said angrily: "We should have caught them all at once! Cut off the grass without leaving any roots!"

In the case of the Three Masters, not enough people were killed. This was a recognized fact before, and now I regret it even more for not killing all nine clans of those people!
The Minister of War asked, "Your Majesty is still in seclusion, when will he come out?"

Neither the Left Prime Minister nor the Right Prime Minister knew that the weather was currently hot. The Holy Emperor did not go into seclusion every year, but it was normal to do so at this time of year.

"I've sent someone to inform them." Zuo Xiang tried to calm down. "Who exactly is that Zuo Luo? He doesn't seem to be from the same faction as the previous assassin."

The Right Prime Minister nodded. Everyone was familiar with the case of the Three Masters, as well as the earlier cases of the victims and assassins.

That happened about six or seven years ago, and the memory of it is still very vivid.

"The previous assassin was an old man with great martial arts skills. Now he is a man with a gun. I am afraid that he is trying to stop a chariot with his bare hands because the imperial court has confiscated guns!"

Zuo Xiang calmed down a little and said, "It will be easier if we use a gun."

It is indeed much easier.

Compared to the terror brought by guns, what is more terrifying is the ruthless man who rushed towards an army of 100,000 people alone a few years ago.

The lethality of guns is really limited and is not as powerful as punches and kicks.

Back then, whether the assassin used guns, cannons or explosives, he could not kill as many people as he did with fists and kicks.

Moreover, a firearms battalion was formed to prevent the attack back then, but it was defeated time and time again.

For countless people in the capital who have experienced this firsthand, assassins with martial arts skills are no longer something that can be dealt with by guns and cannons.

Soon the eunuch came running over.

"The emperor is still in seclusion. After hearing about this, he asked the left prime minister to handle it. The investigation is the investigation, but do not disturb the people. Do not make a big fuss and cause panic. First, control the guns and ammunition, especially the source of the gunpowder must be clearly recorded."

"Every department must investigate if a gun is lost, and if a gun is lost, the official hat must be lost, and a detailed interrogation must be conducted. If the lost gun and bullets cannot be found, they will be imprisoned for interrogation!"

The left prime minister breathed a sigh of relief and bowed respectfully to the eunuch who delivered the message, "I obey your order!"

The rest of the people also felt much more at ease. What they had to do now was to strictly check the guns and ammunition and not give Zuo Luo a chance to shoot.

Since that man is a sharpshooter, his martial arts skills should not be as strong as the old man's, right?
Anyway, the old man in the Three Masters Case has been killed. Even if he has practiced magic, he should not be as terrifying as the one from far away.

A few days later, the Minister of Revenue was shot dead. The sharpshooter Zuo Luo once again shot the court official in the middle of his eyebrows and left a business card with Zuo Luo's name on it at the original place.

The speed of collecting the gun suddenly increased tenfold!
The left and right prime ministers and other ministers were all stationed in the office building, urging progress day and night. (End of this chapter)