Qing Yao

Chapter 277 You guys have some nerve!

"If it weren't for Lord Zhao, this living bodhisattva, ordering the granaries to be opened and food distributed so that we common people could have something to eat, you two probably wouldn't be able to stay at my house either, because my whole family would have had to go out to escape the famine, otherwise staying at home would only mean waiting to die."

"I've heard that it's a capital offense for officials to open granaries and distribute grain without authorization. You two don't seem like ordinary people; you know more about this than I, a mere farmer. Do you think the court would really punish a good official like Lord Zhao?"

The villager, who was in his thirties, was an honest man, but years of hard work in the fields made him look like he was in his fifties.

When Cao Zhenyong entered the house earlier, he glanced into the inner room and saw three or four children and a woman inside. They were probably too embarrassed to come out and see outsiders, so they were hiding inside.

Little did they know that the woman and child from the same village had no clothes to wear, which was why they were hiding inside.

How should he answer the fellow villager's question? Cao Zhenyong coughed lightly and said that if Magistrate Zhao really released grain without authorization to save the people, then the imperial court would certainly not hold him accountable.

"That's true. If even good officials who care about the people are punished, then the court might as well not exist."

A casual remark from a fellow villager caused Imperial Guard Moergen'e to raise an eyebrow instantly. Cao Zhenyong quickly tugged at him gently. Although the villager's words were unpleasant to hear, they were indeed profound truths.

What is the imperial court?

Ordinary people don't know anything about the imperial court. They only know that a good court is one where the officials are good, and a bad court is one where the officials are bad.

From another perspective, Zhao Youlu's act of distributing grain to the people despite the pressure actually won the hearts of the people for the imperial court.

Not only was he without fault, but he also made a contribution.

He secretly made a mental note of it, intending to report his fellow villager's heartfelt words truthfully.

According to local villagers, before Zhao Daotai distributed grain under pressure, hundreds of people in his area would flee famine every day. Now, although there are still people fleeing famine, the number is much smaller than before.

"I heard from the officials that the imperial court will soon provide relief to us disaster victims again, and they told us to stay at home and not to go out, otherwise we won't get the relief grain."

After saying that, the villager got up to get some food for Cao Zhenyong and the others, but his family didn't have much of the relief grain they had received. If the family of a few people ate sparingly, they could last for another ten days or half a month. If they were to share some of it with the three adult men, they probably wouldn't be able to last that long.

But then he thought that it was a great honor for them to stay at his home, so he gritted his teeth and decided to scoop out a bowl of rice to cook for the guests.

No matter what, everyone who comes is a guest.

"Fellow villager, it's already a great kindness that you've allowed us to stay for one night. How could we possibly eat your rice again? There's disaster everywhere right now, and your family isn't doing well either."

Cao Zhenyong, a shrewd and tactful man, would not want to put his fellow villager in a difficult position. He instructed the driver to take out a bag of dry rations and hand it to the villager so he could boil it with water.

They had the relevant approvals from the Military Affairs Bureau, so if they really had nothing to eat, they could get food from nearby prefectures and counties, instead of having to eat the relief food given to disaster victims.

Nothing happened that night, and the next morning Cao Zhenyong and his party bid farewell to the villagers. Before leaving, Cao Zhenyong also gave the simple and honest villagers two catties of cured meat that he had brought from Jiangning.

Soon the group arrived at Wuhe. Because Moergeng'e and the coachman spoke with a strong Beijing accent, Cao Zhenyong was the one asking around for directions.

The investigation throughout the town yielded a remarkably consistent result: the people were grateful to Magistrate Zhao for distributing grain to relieve the disaster, and no grain merchants had secretly purchased grain from the Wuhe Reservoir at inflated prices for resale.

To confirm that Zhao Youlu had not privately sold grain from the granary, Cao Zhenyong even spent several taels of silver to inquire with several temporary workers at the granary. However, these workers did not reveal anything detrimental to Zhao Youlu. Instead, it was said that Zhao Daotai ordered an inspection of all the granaries, and the former head of this granary, Fan Wentong, was found to have secretly sold grain and was dismissed on the spot. He later fled overnight, his whereabouts unknown.

Unable to find out anything locally, Cao Zhenliu took Moergenge to inquire in the surrounding areas. They didn't just ask around randomly; they conducted a targeted investigation of nearby rice shops and grain transport boatmen.

The exact amount of the original deficit in the grain depot was not important, because it was not Zhao Youlu's responsibility; at most, it was negligence on his part.

But if Zhao Youlu were to take advantage of the disaster to sell grain at high prices and amass wealth, then this would be a fatal matter.

After three or four days of secret investigations, both the grain merchants in the surrounding area and the boatmen transporting the grain indicated that they had not transported any grain from the Wuhe Reservoir.

Moergenge was too tired from running around, so he made a definitive statement: "There's no need to investigate any further. Zhao Youlu has definitely been framed!"

Cao Zhenyong had no choice but to agree with Morgeng'e's "characterization" because Zhao Youlu was indeed without fault.

At this time, the "Imperial Envoy" Jiangning Provincial Governor Fuchang, who had already arrived in Fengyang Prefecture, also made the same assertion.

Fu Chang did not go to Wuhe Reservoir to investigate like Cao Zhenyong, but went directly to Fengyang Prefecture.

Firstly, Jing Daoqian, the acting governor of Anhui, was in Fengyang at the time directing disaster relief efforts; secondly, the whistleblower, Fan Wentong, was also in Fengyang.

On the way here, Fu Chang and Master Chen had analyzed the case. If "Wu Fu'er" was indeed innocent, and Zheng Fuyang, the prefect in charge of distributing grain in Anhui on his behalf, was also innocent, then the problem must lie with the whistleblower, Fan Wentong.

"The corrupt practices among the lower-ranking officials in this dynasty are very serious, and they wield enormous power in their localities. If they are at odds with their superiors, these lower-ranking officials will collude to fabricate false testimony and flatter their superiors."

Based on his years of experience in officialdom, Master Chen analyzed that Fan Wentong was likely found to have done something, which is why he harbored resentment and falsely accused "Wu Fu'er".

After hearing this, Fu Chang sighed, "The imperial examinations don't test practical skills, and officials rely on clerks. It's a case of officials relying on documents and clerks relying on bribes. This dynasty truly lives up to the saying 'sharing the world with petty officials.' I remember in the case of Tu's wife murder in Macheng during the Yongzheng era, it was the clerks who colluded with the coroner to tamper with the autopsy results, falsely reporting a male corpse as a female corpse to frame the county magistrate. If the court hadn't sent people to investigate thoroughly, the county magistrate would surely have been beheaded. Now it seems that Fan Wentong has a problem. When we get to Fengyang, we must interrogate him in detail."

Master Chen shared the same idea. As advisors, they often dealt with clerks and had their own ways of dealing with them, as well as ways of getting Fan Wentong to tell the truth.

Upon arriving in Fengyang City, Fuchang soon met Jing Daoqian, the acting governor of Anhui, who was exhausted from days of disaster relief.

After some pleasantries, Fu Chang got straight to the point and explained his purpose.

Jing Daoqian had already received a notice from the governor that the imperial court had sent the Jiangning Provincial Administration Commissioner to thoroughly investigate Zhao Youlu's grain embezzlement case, so he cooperated very well.

Fu Chang didn't delay and directly asked Jing Daoqian to bring the whistleblower, Fan Wentong, so that he could question him face to face.

Jing Daoqian hurriedly sent someone to fetch Fan Wentong, while he, despite his exhaustion, accompanied Fuchang for tea. Before long, the clerk who had gone to fetch Fan Wentong rushed over in a panic, panting, saying that Fan Wentong had hanged himself.

"What? Fan Wentong is dead!"

Jing Daoqian stood up in shock, unable to believe his ears.

Fu Chang was also stunned. After a moment, he suddenly stood up and looked coldly at Jing Daoqian: "I have just arrived and the witness has already hanged himself. Is this a case of no one being able to testify against him? Hmph, the officials of Anhui have quite the nerve!"

(End of this chapter)