I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 82: Zhao Zicheng: How Zhu Jie died, I have the final say
One day in mid-September, in Suzhou Prison.

Zhao Zicheng, who had been framed by Zhu Zhen and imprisoned for a month, remained very calm and showed no signs of being restless.

Zhu Jie knew that he had not found any evidence that Zhao Zicheng had "disobeyed the imperial order in advance and obstructed the Flower and Stone Gang/colluded with Fang La", and the other party was a member of the royal family, so he never dared to torture him.

At most, they would torture him using methods like fatigue interrogation, or not allowing him to take a bath or change clothes, or starve him.

Even if they starved him, they wouldn't dare starve him to death. At most, they would feed him worse food. They would either eat old rice or wild vegetables, or wheat bran, or even soybean meal after oil extraction, trying to torture his taste buds with unpalatable food.

In a nutshell, during this month, the quality of what Zhao Zicheng ate was about the same as war horse feed, except that the grass was removed from the war horse feed, and everything else was the same.

Unable to do anything else, with poor nutrition and insufficient calorie supply to support his external martial arts fitness practice, Zhao Zi said he could only sit cross-legged in meditation to minimize the loss of his body.

For a whole month, he did almost nothing. He just relied on practicing the breathing method taught to him by Duan Yuyan, which was derived from the Xiao Wuxiang Gong, and the Yi Jin Duan Gu Pian he learned at the end of last year, to regulate his breathing for a month.

It's no wonder that this opportunity to gain enlightenment while in prison seems to be particularly conducive to calming one's mind and improving oneself. Zhao Zicheng's mindset is probably similar to that of Huang Shang, who later meditated in a cave, or Wang Yangming, who attained enlightenment and studied bamboo in Longchang.

During this month, he thought that his progress in regulating his breathing was greater than that he had made in a year when he was busy with government affairs.

"President Zhao, you've been wronged, is it serious?"

That morning, Zhao Zicheng, as usual, was lost in thought, concentrating on regulating his breathing. So absorbed was he that he didn't hear the cell door open and an official walk in. The officer, assuming he'd fallen asleep while sitting, didn't even dare disturb him. He stood for a while, listening to the long, lingering whistle of his exhalation, before finally greeting him.

When Zhao Zicheng opened his eyes, his eyes were bright and sharp. When he looked up, he remembered the person's identity. It was Zhao Lin, the governor of this state.

Zhao Zicheng knew very well that Zhao Lin and himself had always had a bad relationship. This person was a flatterer of Zhu Jie, and Zhu Jie had locked himself up. How could Zhao Lin possibly be on his side?

Furthermore, Zhao Lin had a bad relationship with Tongpan Wei Xian. Wei Xian had repeatedly criticized Zhao Lin for imposing excessive corvée labor to cooperate with Zhu Jie and improve the conditions of the canal. Because of Zhao Lin's forced labor, at least several thousand people died during the work (this number of deaths occurred over several years of his tenure, not just in one go).

Zhao Zicheng huddled together with Wei Xian again, and Zhao Lin hated him even more.

Since they were his absolute enemies, Zhao Zicheng didn't bother to play coy with them. He just raised the corner of his mouth and said arrogantly, "Lord Zhao, you're joking. Could it be that you've received instructions from the thief Zhu again to tease me?"

Zhao Lin didn't dare to get angry, but kept smiling and bowed to the northwest:
"How dare I criticize Zhao Tongpan? To be honest, just now, the emperor's order has arrived to dismiss Zhu Jie and disband the Yingfeng Bureau.

You will temporarily take over as the Tongpan of this state and work with me to stabilize Suzhou. The former Tongpan Wei was meritorious for his memorial and was promoted to the position of Zhizhou of Huzhou.

Furthermore, the Emperor has ordered General Tong to lead the 150,000-man Western Army, originally slated for a northern expedition, to Zhenjiang. They will soon arrive in Jiangnan to quell the rebellion. I also ask that Magistrate Zhao put aside past grudges, prioritize national affairs, and work with me to secure the region.

Zhao Lin recited the decree he had just received in one breath. Zhao Zicheng remained silent, his expression unchanged throughout the entire conversation. Only after Zhao Lin finished did he bow solemnly towards the northwest to express his gratitude.

When he is released later, he will definitely have to receive the imperial decree formally and go through the formal process of thanking the emperor. He is just doing it in prison for now.

The eunuch who was supposed to deliver the imperial edict was also afraid of losing face for the court, so after hearing about the situation in Suzhou, he did not insist on going to the prison to deliver the imperial edict immediately. Instead, he privately agreed that Zhao Lin should quickly settle the matter and make Zhao Zicheng look decent before going to receive the imperial edict.

Otherwise, if a dirty and ragged "loyal minister" just stood there, would the emperor and the court still have face?
Therefore, the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict rested in the inn for two hours.

It was not until noon that Zhao Zicheng, with the help of his maid, completely tidied himself up, bathed, changed his clothes, and used some porridge to condition himself before he went to receive the imperial edict.

After receiving the order, it was natural for the prefect Zhao Lin to host a banquet to entertain the angel.

The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict asked about Zhu Jie's recent situation and said that the emperor's decree was to retain Zhu Jie's title, but to remove him from his post and transfer him to be in charge of the palace. Therefore, Zhu Jie must also come to receive the decree and express his gratitude.

Zhao Zi said he had just been released and did not understand the situation, so the prefect Zhao Lin could only explain to the angel with a smile:
"May the angels know that the scoundrel Zhu Jie has been trying to frame loyal officials until recently. Some officers in our Suzhou garrison have become friendly with Zhao Tongpan because last winter, Gusu County paid them money and grain to hire garrison soldiers to perform corvée labor in their place.

Because of this, Zhu Jie, unable to frame Zhao Tongpan himself, sought to capture those close to Zhao Tongpan and torture them into confessions, fabricating false evidence to frame him. Zhu Jie also harbored a grudge against some wealthy Suzhou residents who had enthusiastically responded to Zhao Tongpan's labor service the previous year and contributed significantly to the levy.

These soldiers and righteous citizens had no choice but to act swiftly, finding excuses to flee. It just so happened that Taihu Lake pirates had recently started a rebellion, and Commander Yang, who was familiar with Zhao Tongpan, had no choice but to lead his troops out of the lake to pursue the pirates. Zhu Jie, refusing to give up, continued to pursue them, but his whereabouts are now unknown. If he knew that Your Majesty had deposed him and was investigating his crimes, he might have fled, afraid to return... Please, angel, be patient and wait for two more days. We will do our utmost to restrain our forces and recapture him!

It turned out that Zhu Jie had not returned since he led his troops out, so Zhao Lin didn't know the situation.

But he knew very well that after the emperor's decree arrived, if he wanted to survive, he had to immediately take advantage of the situation, draw a clear line with Zhu Zhen, and then hope to establish a good relationship with Zhao Zicheng.

Although Zhao Zicheng was only eighteen years old and would be nineteen in three months, his official position was lower than his own and he had a shallow foundation, yet he had risen to the top at a very fast pace.

But Zhao Lin had already seen the situation clearly. He could only curry favor with this colleague who held a lower official position than him. Otherwise, he would take advantage of the emperor's favor and the power of the enemy and make a few moves to make him die without a burial place.

I heard that the governors of Muzhou and Wuzhou have all been killed by Fang La!

When troubled times come, the value of civil servants in war zones is severely devalued. Without military force as a backing, they will be killed by the rebels in a matter of minutes!
The entire logic of officialdom had changed overnight. The day Zhao Zicheng came to the fore, Zhao Lin was destined to be a man of understanding.

It was not until this moment that Zhao Zicheng learned about Zhu Zhen's movements in recent days. It turned out that this guy was trying to capture Lin Chong, Lu Da and the Murong family, and fabricate false evidence to frame him.

Fortunately, I made sufficient arrangements before going in.

Now all we have to do is wait for news and make sure we don’t give Zhu Jie any chance to do anything desperate.

...The messenger was persuaded by Zhao Lin and had no choice but to return to the inn to rest after lunch and wait for news from Zhu Jie.

During this period, there will definitely be some opportunities to make money, but this has nothing to do with Zhao Zicheng, Zhao Lin will deal with it himself.

Zhao Zicheng immediately ordered his men to prepare a boat and rush to Dongshan Island on Taihu Lake, which was Yang Zhi's previous base and the pirate stronghold left by Shi Sheng last year.

He wanted to quickly find out the situation from Yang Zhi.

When Zhao Zicheng arrived, Yang Zhi had been temporarily stripped of his military power, presumably due to Zhu Jie's actions. Zhao Zicheng immediately restored Yang Zhi's military power and quickly eliminated Zhu Jie's spies in the army, in order to gain a thorough understanding of the current situation as quickly as possible.

Yang Zhi synchronized a lot of information with him, but it was not comprehensive enough. Zhao Zi said he had no choice but to find other sources of information.

However, it happened that just after Zhao Zicheng released Yang Zhi, within an hour or two, in the evening of that day, a government warship came from the lake in the direction of Huzhou in the west and went straight into the water fort.

After the patrol soldiers in the Dongshan Water Fort noticed what was happening, they immediately notified Yang Zhi and Zhao Zicheng. They personally went up to the watchtower to look out and quickly confirmed that the decorative code on the boat was the boat of Lin Chong and Murong's family.

Zhao Zicheng was slightly puzzled, half talking to himself, half discussing with Yang Zhi:

"Zhu Zhen was fooled by them and wandered around Taihu Lake, but they returned first. This is not in line with my previous plan. Didn't I tell them that if they encountered Zhu Zhen's raid, they should wait until Zhu Zhen's army completely withdrew and then slowly return?

Only after Zhu Zhen's pursuers have completely withdrawn can we confirm that Zhu Zhen has been captured by the emperor. Now they have returned earlier than Zhu Zhen, which is too careless. Or has something else happened? Fortunately, they were not intercepted by Zhu Zhen's ship on the way.

Yang Zhi didn't want to criticize his colleagues, and he didn't understand those roundabout strategies. He just said in a smooth-talking manner: "Brother Lin and the people of the Murong family don't seem like they would deliberately disobey orders. I guess they encountered some other unexpected events. Now that you're back safely, it's better to ask them in person first to find out."

Zhao Zicheng nodded. Although there were risks for Lin Chong and the Murong family to return early, since they had arrived safely, there was no need to think too much about the risks that had passed and had not actually occurred.

Things have their priorities. If we want to nip problems in the bud, identify gaps and address shortcomings, and enforce discipline, there is no rush now.

Zhao Zicheng quickly arrived at the dock and greeted them in person. Then he saw Lin Chong, Lu Da and Li Jun get off the boat first, followed by the people who were protecting the Murong family going ashore.

Zhao Zicheng went to meet him, comforted him with gentle words, and explained their respective situations.

Lin Chong and the others hadn't expected Zhao Zicheng to be released, and they were all delighted. They asked about his well-being and whether he had endured any hardship in prison during the past month. Zhao Zicheng brushed off their questions lightly, and then Lin Chong quickly got to the point.

"Didn't I tell you not to rush back? Although the result is good, the process was too careless! Did something unexpected happen?"

Murong Yan bit her lip for a moment, then finally told the story: "...When we were hiding in Huzhou, we took the opportunity to fight against the remnants of Lu Xing'er's pirates and killed an envoy sent by Fang La to pacify them.

Because we had captured Fang La’s flag and token, we thought that if that didn’t work, we could disguise ourselves as Fang La’s ship and break out. That way, even if we encountered Zhu Zhen’s army, we could legitimately break out by force. But…”

Then she explained in detail how she killed Zhu Jie for some reason and broke out of the central government.

Zhao Zicheng listened, his expression a mixture of surprise and solemnity. After listening carefully, he thought about these bizarre changes and shook his head.
"You have indeed helped me a lot and accomplished something I didn't expect. If we follow the court's laws and completely obey the emperor's will, it would not be easy to kill Zhu Jie. At least you helped me kill Zhu Jie. For this alone, I should be grateful no matter what, and I should also thank you on behalf of the people of Jiangnan.

However, you haven't cleaned up the mess from beginning to end. Someone disguised as Fang La attacked and killed Zhu Jie, which would likely boost Fang La's morale and hinder subsequent resistance. Furthermore, we must not report Zhu Jie's death in a clash with Fang La's faction, as that would easily flatter him.

Fortunately, you met me as soon as you came back - who else knows about this place now?"

Murong Yan was unable to answer this question, but Li Jun, standing beside her, was more astute. Seeing this, he quickly stepped forward and added, "Dong Tuanlian was forced by Zhu Jie to lead the navy to search for you. Zhu Jie was killed, and after daybreak, his boat would undoubtedly be discovered by Dong Tuanlian's men. Calculating the distance, they should return a few hours later than us."

They haven't returned yet, perhaps because they've framed their superiors and are afraid of being blamed, so they don't dare return. They want to search again to see if there's a chance to catch the murderer and redeem themselves for their crimes."

Zhao Zicheng nodded. "Dong Chao hasn't returned yet, so there's still room for improvement. Leave the rest to me. I'll handle it. By the way, Yang Zhi, open the box I brought aboard. Inside is the decree from His Majesty."

Before Zhao Zicheng left Suzhou City and came to Dongshan Island in Taihu Lake, he thought of bringing the imperial edict to appoint him as an official and dismiss Zhu Jie with him. There is no need to verify the specific details. Anyway, he used some tricks, saying that it was an emergency and he had to take the decree, which was beneficial to national affairs.

The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict did not make things difficult for him, knowing that this was wartime and the most important thing was to control the situation as quickly as possible. As for the procedures for delivering the imperial edict, they could all be fine-tuned.

Zhao Zicheng received the order and privately opened the eyes of Yang Zhilin, Li Jun, and Murong Yan, and then ordered: "When Dong Chao returns, bring him to me immediately. I will be in charge of the specific report.

If he refuses to obey, then you will follow my orders, relying on his flattery of Zhu Jie and illegal deployment of troops. However, from my understanding of him, he is afraid of death and will definitely obey my orders when he sees the imperial edict and knows that the situation in Suzhou has changed.

Everyone quickly took the order and started to prepare. They also sent out a patrol boat to try to contact Dong Chao and tell him to stop looking for him and come back quickly to report.

A night later, Dong Chao's fleet appeared outside the Taihu Dongshan Water Fort. Zhao Zicheng's newly dispatched patrol boats must have contacted the enemy, letting them know that the court had dismissed Zhu Zhen and released Zhao Zicheng, allowing him to regain power.

Only then did Dong Chao dare to come back, and no longer considered "catching the thief who killed Mr. Zhu first in order to redeem himself for his crime."

As soon as Dong Chao's boat reached the shore, he leaped onto the bank and slid down to his knees before Zhao Zicheng, saying, "President Zhao! I knew all along that you were wrongly accused by the thief Zhu!"

Zhao Zicheng was too lazy to waste time talking to him: "Get up! You guys leave first. I want to ask Dong Tuanlian alone how Zhu Jie died."

(End of this chapter)