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Chapter 146 The Jiangnan matter is settled, and I am very pleased! Something has happened in the Imperial Prison!

The matter in Jiangnan Prefecture is settled.

Shen Ci reported the situation to the court, stating that some of the direct descendants of the aristocratic families had been executed, and the rest had been arrested and were now in prison awaiting their fate. Emperor Xuanwu was extremely furious when he saw Shen Ci's memorial.

"This Jiangnan Prefecture has fallen into such a state of decay! Where are the laws of the dynasty? All their education has been for nothing!"

He couldn't imagine how the Great Zhou would collect taxes the following year if tens of thousands of Japanese pirates wreaked havoc in Jiangnan Prefecture.

He never expected that the people of Jiangnan Prefecture would dare to collude with Japanese pirates.

Shen Ci's memorial, several thousand words long, detailed his experiences from leaving Bianjing to arriving in Jiangnan Prefecture.

"Although Shen Ci's actions were somewhat ruthless, wiping out all the powerful families in Jiangnan Prefecture, there were reasons for it."

When he looked further down, he saw the spoils Shen Ci had acquired on this trip.

His eyes lit up as he recovered 13 million taels of tax silver and confiscated a total of 90 million taels of family property from prominent families.

Emperor Xuanwu was overjoyed after reading it.

"Excellent! Like father, like son. Shen Ci truly lives up to his reputation as Shen Moxuan's son. Wang Xi, issue an imperial edict to reward Shen Ci with ten thousand taels of silver and appoint him as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice."

He had never seen the national treasury so full, nor did he expect that the Jiangnan aristocratic families were so wealthy.

Emperor Xuanwu handed Zhou Zhang to Zheng Jun, who was standing to the side.

"Look how bold these people are."

Zheng Jun carefully read the memorial; he had already reported these matters to Emperor Xuanwu.

Showing Zhou Zhang to him at this moment was Emperor Xuanwu's way of showing him favor and trust.

Regarding the silver, Zheng Jun was unable to verify the exact amount, but he knew that Shen Ci must have embezzled some.

However, Emperor Xuanwu did not speak, indicating that he had already tacitly approved, so he naturally would not mention it.

However, if they knew exactly how much silver Shen Ci had embezzled, they probably wouldn't be so calm.

"Your Majesty, Shen Ci's account is detailed and without any omissions. However—"

"But what?"

"However, he did not mention the person who was crucial to this trip—Shen Yan."

Emperor Xuanwu was somewhat surprised to hear the name Shen Yan, as the last time he had heard of him was during his duel with Zeng Yanqiu.

"oh?!"

"He was appointed by Shen Moxuan as the commander of the Vermilion Bird Army. He is suspected of killing a second-rank expert during his trip to Jiangnan."

"It's quite a strange story that Shen Yan, who wasn't a prison warden, became the commander of the Vermilion Bird Army."

Emperor Xuanwu was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. Killing a second-rank expert meant that Shen Yan was at least a second-rank martial artist.

If the Shen family produces two first-rank officials, then they are indeed quite powerful.

Fortunately, Shen Moxuan was partially crippled, and Shen Yan's rise to power made up for some of his weaknesses.

Only a few months have passed since Zeng Yanqiu's incident, and he has already reached the level of a second-rank official. Such talent should not be underestimated.

Emperor Xuanwu remained expressionless, his gaze deep and unfathomable, lost in thought.

Shen Yan did not receive an appointment from the Ministry of War on this trip, so Shen Ci naturally dared not write about it in detail to claim credit for him.

That's why all the rare and precious materials were given to Shen Yan as compensation.

Of course, Shen Yan didn't care about these achievements; strength was far more important than such merits.

If your fist is strong enough, these things will naturally follow.

When leaving Bianjing, a batch of Fire Spirit Pills will be enough to make him a personal bodyguard.

The elixir I obtained upon my return is a hundred times more precious than the Fire Spirit Pill.

They are able to receive such treatment entirely because of their own strength.

If he were only at the middle third rank, Shen Ci wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to appease him.

It would be even more impossible for him to affectionately address Ziyan as "Brother Ziyan".

Upon hearing the news from Jiangnan Prefecture, Zeng Shihong fell off his armchair.

Zeng Yue was a member of the Zeng family, and it was he who recommended him to take up a position in Jiangnan, so he was naturally involved in this matter.

He immediately wrote a letter to apologize.

Allowing Japanese pirates into the country, even punishing their entire families would not be excessive.

Although the Zeng family will not be wiped out, they will suffer a great loss of strength.

After all, Zeng Shihong was a leader of the Qingliu faction, and his disciples were all over the Great Zhou territory.

Punishment is permissible, but the entire clan must not be exterminated.

Emperor Xuanwu issued several imperial edicts in recent days, not only dismissing Zeng Shihong from his position as prime minister.

He also lavishly rewarded Shen Ci and others.

Emperor Xuanwu had no intention of sending Shen Ci back to the capital to those members of aristocratic families.

Let him choose a time and execute him in Jiangnan Prefecture.

This also gives Shen Ci a legitimate chance to vent his anger, since he has added so much silver to the national treasury and made such a great contribution, he should naturally be rewarded.

Shen Ci and the others had been waiting in Jiangnan Prefecture for many days, and today the imperial edict finally arrived.

As he expected, the Vermilion Bird Army was left in Jiangnan Prefecture. Shen Moxuan had mentioned this before they set off, and if it was the emperor's order, they could not resist.

However, Shen Moxuan did not expect that the Vermilion Bird Army would encounter tens of thousands of Japanese pirates and almost be wiped out.

The Vermilion Bird Army is nominally responsible for maintaining stability in Jiangnan Prefecture.

In reality, Emperor Xuanwu knew his time was near and dared not leave the Vermilion Bird Army near Bianjing; this was preparation for his own future.

With the change of imperial power, the capital city will face its most turbulent period.

As for the members of the aristocratic families, Shen Ci did not kill them all as the imperial edict had stated.

The heads of all the families and their children were all left behind and escorted to the capital.

The reward was also within his expectations.

Shen Ci informed Shen Yan that he would be setting off to return to the capital soon.

Shen Yan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief; his trip to Jiangnan had been a complete success.

If it weren't for the constant need to guard against the remnants of powerful families, Shen Yan would have already begun researching the uses of these potent medicines.

These rare medicinal herbs, some dating back thousands of years, were far more attractive to Shen Yan than any stunning beauty.

Bianjing, the imperial prison.

Ma Danian, Chen Xiaoshuan, Lü Youcai, and others were gathered in the prison cell.

Their faces were grim as they discussed the matter briefly.

Ma Danian said, "How should this matter be resolved? If this happens in the prison, everyone involved will be in deep trouble."

Chen Xiaoshuan said, "We don't know when Lord Shen will return. What should we do?"

Lu Youcai's face was somewhat unpleasant. He heard some resentment in their words, and his gaze darted back and forth between the two men.

Finally, he gritted his teeth and said, "It's true that this happened on my territory, but I didn't release the person. There must be something else going on."

Chen Xiaoshuan said somewhat irritably, "Then tell me, how did a perfectly good flower thief become a beggar? Did the beggar just run in there on his own?"

"I truly know nothing about this? Don't you know what crime that person committed? How could I possibly do such a thing?"

Ma Danian said in a deep voice, "We've been set up."

Lu Youcai immediately responded, "That's right, this matter is not aimed at us, but at Lord Yang."

It turns out that after Shen Yan left Bianjing, the imperial prison took in a death row inmate who was a womanizer.

This person was not tried by the Ministry of Justice, but by the Court of Judicial Review. He was imprisoned in the imperial prison and awaited execution.

If it were just a common flower thief, the loss of a person would be a big deal, but it wouldn't cause the three of them to panic.

But this man had an affair with the daughter of the Prince of Huaiyang, who was a member of the imperial family.

This even alarmed Emperor Xuanwu, and the man was naturally doomed to die.

But now he's gone, and he's become a beggar imprisoned in the dungeon.

This would constitute the crime of deceiving the emperor, and Yang Wanli's situation in Bianjing was already difficult during this period.

This matter will definitely be heavily attacked by those who believe in integrity and uprightness.

As for the prison guards in the Heavenly Prison, no one cared about their lives; they were nothing more than ants to be crushed at will.