Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

"They have an enigmatic confidence, and some of them even seem to have come from Liangshan!"

Chapter 3313 Case of Corruption

“They always say that the emperor used to be their chieftain and that their son was a student of the prime minister in the mountains.”

This kind of thing is perfectly normal. How arrogant the founding military generals were is clearly written in the history books.

Among the founding generals of all dynasties, Wang Quanbin was undoubtedly the most outrageous, not to mention his rampant killing and looting.

The emperor of Later Shu had already submitted a memorial of surrender, but this guy's slaughter and looting had only just begun.

He forced the surrendered Shu army to rebel, and the rebel army gathered more than 100,000 people.

Fearing that the rebels would surrender too soon, he even massacred Quan Shixiong's entire clan, who had been forced to become the rebel leader.

They seized the property and women of the entire clan, and then, under the guise of suppressing a rebellion, they plundered and massacred people everywhere.

The Later Shu, which had just surrendered, was actually forced into rebellion in seventeen prefectures by the Song army.

Fearing a rebellion by the Sichuan army within Chengdu, Wang Quanbin lured and massacred 20,000 surrendered Later Shu soldiers—these were nominally his own troops!

After finally quelling the rebellion, Wang Quanbin refused to leave Sichuan and continued to support his bandits.

Zhao Kuangyin was furious, but he could only forgive his crime and take the opportunity to relieve him of his military command.

More than ten years later, he was even appointed as a military governor (without military power) and rewarded with 10,000 taels of silver, 10,000 bolts of silk, and 10 million coins.

He was able to die peacefully and was posthumously awarded the title of Grand Secretary.

As for Lan Yu, his glorious deeds go without saying.

The encroachment on farmland and the wanton killing were minor matters. When he led his troops back to Xifengkou, the guards did not greet him in time, so he directly launched an attack on his own fortress.

This behavior could be considered a crime of treason!

In comparison, Zhao Yuan's generals, who merely seized wasteland and oppressed the people, were practically good boys.

There were also corruption cases in Guiyang, where there were many silver mines.

During the interrogation, Sun Di, the prefect of Chenzhou, was implicated.

Although Sun Di's embezzlement amount was not large, the nature of the case was extremely serious.

This fellow actually embezzled resettlement materials and illegally collected exorbitant taxes, causing the immigrants in the counties under his jurisdiction to suffer from hunger and cold in the first year after settling down on the land.

I wonder how many people have frozen or starved to death!

It's certain that Sun Di will lose his head; the current discussion is about how many people should be implicated as well.

The Ming Dynasty law now stipulates that individuals are punished based on their household registration. However, Sun Di actually registered a separate household, and his wife and children are the only ones listed on the household register. His parents and brothers are not related to him.

"Report this to the Ministry of Justice; this person clearly planned this all along."

“I suggest that his parents be punished as well, but his brothers and the like should not be implicated.”

"But his brother must be investigated; he may also be involved in embezzlement."

“Sun Di had previously attached himself to Huang Qianshan during the Song Dynasty. He was only employed by the new Ming Dynasty because he impeached Cai You and was praised by some for his outspokenness.”

"I've heard that the Sun brothers aren't good people either!"

"Alright, let's consult the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate to thoroughly investigate the Sun brothers."

"How should the magistrate of Chen County be sentenced?"

He said he was forced by Sun Di and had even publicly opposed him.

"Indeed, several clerks confessed that the magistrate of Chen County was unwilling to collect miscellaneous taxes."

"But he still reached out and took the money."

"He didn't take much, only a few hundred strings of cash."

"His main crime was that during the repair of water conservancy projects, he forcibly seized more than 300 mu of newly reclaimed paddy fields, and then resold half of them to local gentry."

Chapter 3314 He can really run!

"Confiscating their property and exiling them is enough."

This magistrate of Chen County was none other than Emperor Huizong of Song.

In late autumn, the Ministry of Justice swiftly approved the case of corruption in Chenzhou Prefecture.

Those who need to be beheaded are escorted to Beijing, while those who serve less than two years in prison are fined to offset their crimes, because the prisons are already full.

The remaining 400-plus people, along with the elderly and children, were exiled to Anyi County (Zhenyuan County, Guizhou).

Emperor Huizong of Song, accompanied by his wife Zeng and their two-year-old son, embarked on his journey to exile amidst tears and sobs.

All the assets he had accumulated in recent years had been confiscated; he was only allowed to take some changes of clothes with him.

Fortunately, there were boats for the whole journey, and the government provided food along the way, so they didn't suffer too much along the way.

After crossing Dongting Lake and arriving in Wuling County, these exiled criminals waited temporarily. Two more groups arrived and joined them, and finally even an army came.

"Damn it, everyone stay alert! Anyone who dares to run away will be beheaded!"

Sun Li cursed and swore, taking his anger out on the exiled prisoners.

This guy followed Yang Zhi to join Daming Village, but he could never get rid of his greedy nature.

When the property of a traitor was confiscated in Hebei, he was punished for embezzling the money and was sent to Huainan to serve as the deputy commander of the Grand Canal.

Having already suffered losses, Sun Li dared not be greedy again, much less daring to embezzle the grain transport funds.

However, he used his spare cargo ships to transport goods for merchants, thus avoiding tax checkpoints along the way, which caused delays in the transport of thousands of bushels of grain.

One of the merchants was arrested, and during interrogation, he implicated Sun Li as well.

Zhao Yuan made an exception and allowed Sun Li to continue leading the troops.

However, the location where he was stationed was changed to Anyi County, which was full of barbarians.

As they boarded the ship, Sun Li shouted, "All officials of the seventh rank and above who have committed crimes, come aboard my ship. Their families will be housed on other ships!"

Emperor Huizong bid farewell to his wife and children and boarded the ship. He was led to a cabin where there were already two people.

They exchanged names and bowed in greeting. The two convicted officials were Cao Chengda, the prefect of Nanchang, and Guo Yu, the vice-prefect of Nanchang.

Emperor Huizong chatted with them for a few minutes, and then Li Yuanding, the supervisor of the Guiyang Mint, came in.

Cao Chengda suddenly asked, "Do you know where Anyi County is?"

"I don't know."

Guo Yu and Li Yuanding shook their heads.

Emperor Huizong of Song said, "It belongs to Sizhou and is the land of the various Xi barbarians."

Originally, Emperor Huizong was the lowest-ranking official, and the three of them hadn't taken him seriously. But now they looked at him differently and inquired about the specific situation in Anyi County.

Why did Emperor Huizong of Song know this?

Because the name Anyi County was personally chosen by him back then!

The emperor loved to expand his territory, and officials naturally catered to his desires.

With no soldiers available in the southwest, local officials contacted the barbarian chieftains, using threats and inducements to force them to surrender territory.

This is how Anyi County was established, and soldiers and civilians were forcibly relocated there.

Due to inadequate resettlement, a large number of people fled, and conflicts frequently broke out with the Yi people. As a result, Anyi County was renamed Anyi Fort.

Several years later, the soldiers deserted almost all of them, and the place gradually became deserted.

As they chatted, several more convicted officials entered.

"Come out, everyone! The general is calling you over!" a soldier shouted from outside.

These soldiers were all criminals, having committed crimes to varying degrees.

Emperor Huizong followed the others to see Sun Li.

Sun Lishen sat there, looking annoyed. "Everyone should introduce themselves and follow the ranks. I heard there's a Provincial Governor?"

A middle-aged man stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Xiang Ziyin, former Left Provincial Governor of Jiangxi, pays his respects to General Sun."

Sun Li nodded and said, "That's right, that's right. All the provincial governors who were arrested this time, except for you, were beheaded."

"You were only exiled after your property was confiscated, so you can be considered an honest official."

"I am truly ashamed."

Xiang Ziyin blushed with embarrassment.

As the two were talking, Emperor Huizong of Song was so frightened that he quickly lowered his head, because Xiang Ziyin was his cousin.

Sun Li took out the list of exiles and asked, "Han Dong, the councilor of the Jiangxi Provincial Administration Commission, step forward and let me see him."

Immediately, a convicted official stepped forward and said, "Greetings, General Sun."

Sun Li continued reading, "Who is Yang Gao, the prefect of Chenzhou?"

"Yang Gao, a sinner, greets General Sun."

Another prisoner stepped forward.

One after another, convicted officials introduced themselves to Sun Li, with Emperor Huizong, a minor figure, only being ranked last.

When Emperor Huizong stepped forward, Xiang Ziyin was instantly dumbfounded and quickly rubbed his eyes, thinking he had seen wrong.

Emperor Huizong was sweating profusely, fearing that his cousin would use him to gain merit.

Xiang Ziyin did indeed want to do this; finding the great merit of the previous dynasty's tyrannical emperor might be used to atone for his crime.

But thinking about how the tyrannical emperor had treated him very well, not only had he never wronged him, but he had also been given important positions and promoted by him, Xiang Ziyin simply couldn't bring himself to say it.

All the convicted officials had appeared, and Sun Li finally began his address: "The convicts from Jiangxi, Hunan, and Guangxi are all being sent to Anyi County."

“The criminals from Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang were exiled to Taiwan.”

"Don't ask me where Taiwan is, I don't know either."

"I only know that Anyi County is very important, so we can keep a close eye on the Tian family in Sizhou."

"In the future, when the imperial court conquers the Dali Kingdom, the eastern route army will also pass through Anyi County."

"I'm a convicted official, and so are you. Perhaps there's still a chance for you to earn merit. Xiang Ziyin!"

Chapter 3315 Exile and Military Service

While Xiang Ziyin was struggling with his decision, he suddenly heard Sun Li call his name. He quickly went forward and said, "Yes!"

Sun Li said, "His Majesty considers that you are the Left Provincial Governor, more restrained than other corrupt officials, and that you made a great contribution by donating land in the past, so he will give you some leeway this time."

“Anyi County will be renamed Zhenyuan Fort. I will be in charge of military affairs, and you will be in charge of civil affairs.”

“We should manage that place well, so that when the imperial court conquers the Dali Kingdom, Zhenyuan Fort will be the outpost of the eastern route army.”

Xiang Ziyin was immediately moved and turned to bow to the north, saying, "Your Majesty, I thank you for your kindness!"

Seeing the other convicts' envious expressions, Sun Li said, "I want to select a few more people to serve as officials in Zhenyuan Fort."

"I haven't decided who to choose yet. You guys will see how you perform along the way."

Sun Li then instructed, "When you arrive at Zhenyuan Fort, whether you become officials, clerks, commoners, or soldiers, you must work hard with me."

"His Majesty said that if the number of registered Han Chinese in the Zhenyuan Fort area reaches five thousand, Xiang Ziyin and I can be promoted and leave."

“If we promote other convicted officials to take charge of military and political affairs, for every 500 additional Han Chinese registered in the country, we can have one civil official and one military official promoted and transferred away.”

Everyone was overjoyed upon hearing this, seeing hope in their desperate situation.

"I won't say any more empty words," Sun Li instructed. "We are all in the same boat, and the Han people are our lifeline."

"It is forbidden to embezzle or withhold the food and clothing of the Han people, and it is even more forbidden to oppress or exploit the Han people. Let them have more children and quickly reach the required number."

"We are willing to help the general to multiply the people!" the convicted officials shouted in unison.

Sun Li added, “If the local barbarians have been registered for more than three years, and the whole family has changed their names and surnames to Han, and there are three adult men and women in the family who can speak Han, they can be considered as naturalized Han people.”

"Therefore, those obedient barbarians should be treated kindly, and they should be taught to speak Chinese properly."