Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 156 Offending Both Sides
Prince Jiang looked at Chen Qing.

"Originally, I should have brought you a file on this Prefect of the Capital, but your Garrison Command is more skilled in this, so I won't presume to teach you."

Chen Qing also lowered his head and took a sip of tea, then said with a smile, "Zhou Pan is from Taiyuan. He passed the imperial examination in the eighth year of the Jianlong era and was transferred from the position of Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review to the position of Prefect of Jingzhao in the seventh year of the Jingyuan era."

Prince Jiang was about to drink his tea when he heard this and froze in mid-air. He stared blankly at Chen Qing for a long while before exclaiming, "You're really something else. When did you go and investigate?"

Chen Qing also lowered his head and took a sip of tea, then smiled and said, "I didn't check. After taking on this task, all the important officials in the capital should know something about it. I just took a look over these past two days."

"I happened to see this Lord Zhou today. I don't remember the details, but I know the general idea."

The position of Jingzhao Yin, a third-rank official, was not low even in the capital. Moreover, the various factions in the capital were complex and chaotic, and the position of Jingzhao Yin was very different from that of the prefects in other places, or even the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture in the south.

The position of Prefect of the Capital (京兆尹) requires the ability to coordinate with all parties to ensure that the capital does not descend into chaos. Otherwise, one cannot do a good job as Prefect of the Capital.

The chubby boy clicked his tongue and laughed, "No wonder you're so successful."

Chen Qing didn't reply, but simply asked, "Are you in a hurry?"

The chubby boy was speechless. "What? Are you in such a hurry that you can't possibly go and get him today?"

Chen Qing said with a smile, "If you're really in a hurry, the Zhenfu Division can go to the Jingzhao Prefecture today to arrest the person and invite this Lord Zhou to the Zhenfu Division for questioning."

Prince Jiang frowned: "You dare to arrest a third-rank official of the imperial court without any evidence?"

Chen Qing said calmly, "When we were investigating the White Lotus Religion case before, two county officials under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Prefecture were involved with those rebels. I wasn't originally in charge of interrogating these two officials, but later I still went to question them."

"At that time, if we wanted to make a big fuss, we could have implicated this Lord Zhou. However, His Majesty did not express his opinion, so the matter was dropped and only a county under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Prefecture was investigated."

The chubby boy clicked his tongue and asked, "You mean Zhou Pan has ties to the White Lotus Sect?"

"That's not the case."

Chen Qing said with a smile, "A folk sect doesn't have the ability to connect with the Prefect of the Capital. But one thing is certain: the bribes from the White Lotus Sect were handed over at each level. This Lord Zhou must have also gotten some of the benefits. Otherwise, how could he have remained unaware for so long?"

"On this reason alone, the Zhenfu Division can summon him for questioning. The Crown Prince has been to the Zhenfu Division's prison before, so he should know the Zhenfu Division's methods."

Chen Qing said with a smile, "After those cult members went in, they all confessed in one night. Those torture instruments, let alone using them on this Lord Zhou, would probably terrify him to death just by showing them to him."

The Zhenfu Division was infamous.

At least within civil service circles, he was infamous.

The Zhenfu Division had a bad reputation, not only because it took away some of the judicial power belonging to the imperial court, but also because of the methods used by the Zhenfu Division.

When Chen Qing first entered the Zhenfu Division prison, there were only about twenty "existing" prisoners in the Zhenfu Division, including that Vice Minister Zhao.

Moreover, Vice Minister Zhao maintained a peaceful and serene demeanor even while imprisoned.

In fact, the reason these twenty people were able to survive in the imperial prison was because their vitality was so strong.

Some of the punishments were so severe that even Chen Qing couldn't bear to watch.

"A high-ranking official of the third rank."

Prince Jiang smiled wryly: "If I were to be locked up in the Zhenfu Division and beaten up for no reason, and then after a while, His Majesty replaced me with a new person to take the position of Prefect of the Capital, it would be too obvious."

"shameful."

The chubby boy looked at Chen Qing and said, "It would be best if the evidence was conclusive. Then the Zhenfu Division could handle the case, or the evidence could be handed over to the Censorate of the Censorate so that the Censorate can impeach him."

Chen Qing thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "If you want to maintain a respectable image, why not just promote him to another department?"

"His Majesty is not satisfied with this Prefect of the Capital."

Chen Qing nodded, then remembered: "In the imperial examination of the eighth year of Jianlong, wasn't Minister Yang the chief examiner?"

"Ah."

The chubby boy said helplessly, "That's not surprising. There are far too many of Yang Yuanfu's former protégés and subordinates in the capital."

After thinking for a moment, Chen Qing said, "Okay, I'll do it as soon as possible, and I'll make sure it's done perfectly."

The chubby boy sighed, "Don't be too ruthless. If they use my name, they'll hold a grudge against me."

“Those civil officials had long been dissatisfied with the imperial clan system.”

Chen Qing was speechless.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I understand." "I'll take care of it today, and I'll start working on it tomorrow."

…………

The next day, in Zhifang Hutong, Beicheng.

Chen Qing and Gu Pan sat together in the Zhao family's courtyard, talking with the Zhao family mother and her two children. At this time, Madam Zhao's illness had improved somewhat, and her face had regained some color.

Chen Qing briefly explained the situation of Vice Minister Zhao in the Zhenfu Division prison to them. After he finished speaking, he looked at the Zhao family members in front of him and asked, "Gentlemen, what exactly happened to Vice Minister Zhao three years ago? I asked him, but he refused to say because he was a wanted criminal. I was in the Zhenfu Division, so I couldn't ask around to avoid any misunderstandings."

"I need to know exactly what happened so I can come up with a solution; otherwise, I'll be running around like a headless fly, doing nothing to help."

Miss Zhao Manjun stood up, looked at Chen Qing, and gently gritted her teeth: "Young Master Chen, I know a little about it."

Chen Qing nodded, stood up and walked to the side with Miss Zhao, then asked, "Miss Zhao, please tell us."

About three or four years ago.

Miss Zhao gritted her teeth and said in a low voice, "His Majesty had not been in power for long. At that time, my father had just been transferred from the position of Vice Minister of War to Vice Minister of Rites."

Chen Qing knew that Zhao Shilang had served as the Vice Minister of War.

Anrentang's rise to prominence likely began when Zhao, then Vice Minister of War, purchased large quantities of Gu's external injury medicines from Anrentang on behalf of the Ministry of War. This enabled Master Gu to accumulate his first round of wealth, after which his business grew larger and more successful.

That kind of wound medicine was later made into external application medicated towels by Anrentang, and it still sells well to this day.

Chen Qing looked at her and asked, "And then?"

“My father submitted an eleven-point memorial to His Majesty, vehemently criticizing the ills of the court.”

Zhao Manjun gritted her teeth and said, "And that's why I went to jail!"

That very night, the Zhenfu Division sent people to take my father away. Later, the imperial court even sealed off the matter. My father's memorial is still publicly displayed to outsiders.

Chen Qing raised an eyebrow, then frowned and asked, "Just a memorial to the throne?"

Although he didn't have much contact with the emperor, he had a general understanding of the emperor's personality. The emperor... didn't seem like the type to punish people for their words.

“My father must have impeached many people in his memorial to the throne.”

"This includes Yang Yuanfu, his two sons, and the various mistakes he made during his eight years in charge of the cabinet."

Chen Qing stroked his chin for a while before saying, "Just that?"

Zhao Manjun lowered her head and remained silent for a while before whispering, "Perhaps...perhaps also the Marquis of Leling and the Earl of Pingyuan."

Upon hearing those two names, Chen Qing's mind raced, searching for information about the two men. After a long while, he suddenly remembered and murmured, "The Empress Dowager's two brothers..."

Zhao Manjun lowered her head and said, "Yes."

"These two men have been acting recklessly, and my father has always deeply despised them. Although I haven't seen the memorial, I suspect that my father also impeached these two men..."

Chen Qing rubbed his forehead, feeling somewhat speechless.

By this time, he finally roughly figured out why Vice Minister Zhao had been imprisoned in the imperial prison for three or four years!

It turns out that he not only wanted to settle scores with Yang Yuanfu at the beginning of the emperor's personal rule, but also planned to target the emperor's two maternal uncles at the beginning of the emperor's personal rule!
This... has such low emotional intelligence!

Even if we deal with them one by one?

If you impeach Yang Yuanfu, the emperor might secretly protect you.

If you single out two imperial brothers-in-law, the civil service might even give you a thumbs up, praise you for your courage, and then jointly petition to protect you.

You've offended both sides...

If you don't go to the Imperial Prison, who will?
Thinking of this, Chen Qing sighed slowly.

This Vice Minister Zhao was quite lucky; he didn't ruin himself.

Just as he was about to continue speaking, Yan Cong's voice came from outside: "Boss!"

Chen Qing turned his head and saw Yan Cong standing outside the courtyard, calling out to him.

"The person has been brought."

(End of this chapter)