Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 74: Second Imprisonment
"What's wrong, sir?"

Zhang Yu poured a glass of water for Guo Tu and asked, "How did you travel all the way from Qiao County to Zheng County?"

Guo Tu took a sip of water and sighed, "Since Ji'an left Yuzhou, I followed the envoy to Qiao County to rectify the officials who violated the rules in the state. Many officials who worshipped the eunuchs abandoned their posts and left, and they still hate the envoy."

"Afterwards, the Yellow Turbans in Runan rose up again. The envoy personally led his troops south to completely quell the Yellow Turbans in Runan. After a great victory over the Yellow Turbans, the envoy unexpectedly obtained a secret letter from the leader of the bandits, which showed that Zhang Rang's guest had secretly communicated with the bandits."

"The envoy was furious and ordered me to personally submit a memorial to impeach Zhang Rang. I tried to persuade the envoy repeatedly but to no avail. I had no choice but to obey the envoy's order. The memorial was submitted to the court. Your Majesty believed Zhang Rang's slander. There were also slanders from the old officials of Yuzhou. Your Majesty punished the envoy for false accusation. Now you have ordered people to go to Qiao County to detain the envoy."

Guo Tu looked anxious and said, "Tu heard the bad news and came to Zheng County to look for Ji'an."

The crime of false accusation in the Han Dynasty belonged to the criminal law of false accusation. If you falsely accuse someone of a crime, you will receive the corresponding punishment. Wang Yun impeached Zhang Rang for colluding with the Yellow Turban Army, and Zhang Rang was sentenced to death. If Wang Yun was the false accuser, he would receive the same punishment, which was death penalty.

Compared to the anxious Guo Tu, Zhang Yu was relatively calm. Although it is unknown how Wang Yun escaped the disaster, judging from the historical results, Wang Yun eventually escaped the disaster.

Zhang Yu frowned slightly and asked calmly, "Have Wang Gai and Wang Chen made any moves?"

Guo Tu shook his head and said, "Wang Chen went to visit Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shao agreed to help. I don't know the current situation."

"Ji'an, what should we do now?" Guo Tu asked.

With his direct superior being arrested, Guo Tu didn't know what to do and could only ask Zhang Yu for help.

Zhang Yu comforted Guo Tu and said, "Your Excellency is highly valued by the officials in the court. Although you are now detained in Luoyang, you will probably petition for your pardon. The most important thing now is to see what the court will do."

After a pause, Zhang Yu pondered for a long time and said, "You should go to Luoyang first to observe the subsequent developments. If the envoy is detained in prison, you can send a letter to me as soon as possible. I will think of a strategy and work hard for the envoy."

Zhang Yu knew that Wang Yun had a strong network of contacts. He was not like the famous scholar Lu Zhi, who seemed to have a high reputation but actually did not have many connections.

After being dismissed from his official position by Emperor Ling of Han, Lu Zhi was sentenced to life imprisonment. It was not until the Yellow Turban Rebellion was defeated that Lu Zhi was released and reappointed as a minister thanks to Huangfu Song's help.

Wang Yun had close ties with the Yang and Yuan families, who had been dukes for four generations, and was highly valued by Yang Ci and Yuan Kui. Now that Wang Yun was in trouble, Yang and Yuan made a petition, and Wang Yun would most likely be pardoned.

Of course, if the eunuch group was determined to kill Wang Yun, the situation would be much more complicated. But for Zhang Yu, there was a lot of room for maneuver.

For example, the hype of Gongsun Zan being recommended as a filial and honest official was a popular internet celebrity behavior. The governor Liu Qi was convicted and exiled, and Gongsun Zan made a big fuss and escorted him. Halfway through the journey, Liu Qi was pardoned due to a general amnesty, and Sun Zan was also recommended as a filial and honest official because of his behavior.

And if Zhang Yu makes a bigger splash and becomes famous, wouldn't it be easier for him to get promoted?

Be selected as a talented person by the state, or be promoted to a frontier county for gilding?
After all, according to the conventional promotion process, if he wanted to be promoted from a county magistrate to a prefect, he not only needed merit, but also time to persevere.

While trying to calm Guo Tu's panic, Zhang Yu was thinking about the opportunities therein.

Guo Tu naturally didn't know what Zhang Yu was thinking, but seeing that Zhang Yu was calm, he couldn't help but admire him. After all, Wang Yun was Zhang Yu's mountain, and now that the mountain had fallen, Zhang Yu would inevitably be affected. The fact that he looked normal now, didn't it prove that he had an extraordinary character?

On that day, Zhang Yu reminisced about the past with Guo Tu, and learned about the specific situation in depth from Guo Tu, and then arranged for Guo Tu to rest.

The next day, out of concern for Wang Yun, Guo Tu did not dare to stay in Zheng County for long, and hurried to Luoyang.

Zhang Yu waited for news from Wang Yun in Zheng County. After more than half a month, it was September.

In early September, Zhang Yu received a letter from Guo Tu. With the joint petition of He Jin, Yuan Wei and Yang Ci, Liu Hong pardoned Wang Yun's crime and restored him to his original post.

Although Zhang Yu felt fortunate for this, he also felt regretful that he could not benefit from this matter.

However, ten days later, the situation changed drastically. Guo Tu wrote to say that an old official in Yuzhou had reported Wang Yun for accepting bribes. Under the instigation of Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong, Liu Hong was furious. Only four days later, he ordered the arrest of Wang Yun again. He wanted to sentence Wang Yun to death for the two crimes of corruption and false accusation.

It is obvious that Zhang Rang does not intend to let Wang Yun go. He wants to kill Wang Yun directly to prevent Wang Yun from causing trouble for the eunuchs. However, Wang Yun is afraid that it will not be so easy to be pardoned this time.

Seeing Guo Tu's anxious mood in the letter, Zhang Yu was moved. He was afraid that he had to go to Luoyang this time, but how to go to Luoyang was another matter.

Because Zhang Yu was a county magistrate from another place, he was not allowed to leave Zheng County without permission, let alone sneak into Luoyang.

After thinking for a long time, Zhang Yu asked someone to call Du Ji. Whether he could go to Luoyang, he still needed Du Ji's help. In the hall, Du Ji hurried into the hall after hearing the news, and when Zhang Yu saw Du Ji, he immediately took the initiative to bow and greet him.

Seeing this, Du Ji hurried forward to support Zhang Yu and said in panic, "How can the county lord perform such a great ceremony?"

"There is an urgent matter now and I need the help of the Marquis!" Zhang Yu said without moving.

"Don't dare!"

Du Ji helped Zhang Yu up and said, "The county lord has something to say, if I can help, I will do my best."

After hearing what Du Ji said, Zhang Yu straightened his back, took Du Ji's hand and sat down.

Zhang Yu sighed and said, "To be honest with you, I am the son-in-law of Wang from Qi County, and Wang Yun, the governor of Yuzhou, is my uncle. I was recruited by him and served as a provincial official, helping him pacify the people of Yuzhou."

"When Wang Yuzhou was suppressing the rebels, he found the secret correspondence between Zhang Rang and the Yellow Turbans from the rebel leader. For the sake of national affairs, Wang Yuzhou ignored the advice and impeached Zhang Rang. But because Your Majesty was deceived by Zhang Rang..."

Listening to Zhang Yu's story, the young Du Ji was filled with righteous indignation and said, "The reason why the world is in turmoil today is because the eunuchs have disrupted the government and deceived the emperor. Now they are slandering loyal officials and plotting to kill them. This is really abominable!"

Zhang Yu held Du Ji's hand and said, "Bo Hou, Wang Yuzhou is now unjustly imprisoned. I am his relative and former official, so I dare not not run for Yuzhou. However, I am the magistrate of Zheng County. According to the law, Yu dare not leave his post without permission. Moreover, if I leave the post of magistrate, there may be no one to take care of the affairs of the county."

"I thought deeply about it. I wanted to pretend to be sick and recuperate and sneak to Luoyang secretly. And Lord Lao Bo would take my place as the county magistrate and conceal my whereabouts."

Du Ji pondered for a moment and said, "The other day the governor sent me a letter saying that he would recommend me as a filial and honest official. You might as well go to Luoyang under my name, and I will claim to Liang Mi and others that you are going to Chang'an to do business."

"Aren't you going to the Shangshutai?" Zhang Yu asked.

"No!"

Du Ji shook his head and said, "Ji was born in a poor family and has no recommendation from a great family, so he cannot be a palace official. The Shangshutai will directly appoint him to an official position, which is generally no more than a county magistrate or other official positions, but he cannot be a senior official."

Hearing this, Zhang Yu sighed and said, "Most of those who serve as eunuchs have no talent, and the Marquis has the talent of a senior official, but he cannot serve as an eunuch. The world is so unfair!"

Zhang Yu's words were not flattery, but his true words. Although there were many outstanding people among the officials of his time, such as Dong Zhao, Yuan Mi, Zhong Yao, etc., most of them were incompetent. They were selected as Xiaolian by relying on their family background and then appointed as officials.

As for Du Ji, who was unable to serve in the Secretariat, his political ability was at least as good as Zhong Yao's, but it was a pity that he could not serve in the Secretariat because of his family background. If he had served in the Secretariat, Du Ji would have been more than qualified to be a county magistrate.

Hearing Zhang Yu's regret, Du Ji also sighed, but quickly recovered his mood and said, "It is not easy to be recommended by the Lord, Ji dare not ask for anything else."

"Ji'an went to the capital under my name to see if he could find a duke to help him. Wang Yuzhou is a loyal minister of the country. How could he be humiliated and die by eunuchs?" Du Ji said in a deep voice.

The reason why Du Ji helped Zhang Yu was not only because Wang Yun was a rare wise official, but also because after spending several months with Zhang Yu, he recognized Zhang Yu from the bottom of his heart.

Although Zhang Yu was cunning and calculating, judging from the policies he implemented, he cared about the people. And judging from Zhang Yu's current behavior, he was willing to take risks to work for Wang Yun, which shows that he valued friendship.

Now Zhang Yu has something to ask of him, how dare he not help? Not to mention that this matter is not risky, if Chang Qia knew the truth, he would probably be criticized at most.

"Thank you, Lord Bo!" Zhang Yu said gratefully.

"Easy to do!"

With Du Ji's help, Zhang Yu took sick leave and handed over all county affairs to Du Ji, while Liang Mi continued to preside over the reclamation of Longweili.

After settling the internal affairs of Zheng County, Zhang Yu borrowed Du Ji's name and identity and took Hao Zhao to Luoyang. In order not to cause any disturbance, he left Zhang Feng and Meng Ningzhi in Zheng County.

Using Du Ji's identity, Zhang Yu spent three or four days riding a fast horse and rushed to Luoyang overnight. He met with Guo Tu, Wang Chen, and Wang Gai in the palace. After learning about Wang Yun's situation in prison, he immediately visited Yuan Shu.

The reason why Zhang Yu visited Yuan Shu was that he had been on good terms with Yuan Shu when he was in Luoyang, not with Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao already had Wang Chen to visit him, so Zhang Yu was no longer necessary, so it would be better to look for Yuan Shu, who had more power.

Yuan Shu is currently the governor of Henan. He has the right to know the details of Wang Yun’s case and can provide many conveniences for Zhang Yu!

(End of this chapter)