Duke of Zhenguan

Lin Chuan ignored the burly man's shouts.

Minister Jiang, who had just spoken, spoke again, offering his advice:

"Chief Secretary Lin, if his father is indeed a Sa Bao appointed by the imperial court, then Chief Secretary Lin has no right to punish him..."

Lin Chuan sighed, took out Cheng Yaojin's general's seal from his pocket, handed it to Vice Minister Jiang, and said with a smile:

"Minister Jiang, this is General Cheng's seal of office. Would you like to take a look?"

"This humble official has no authority to handle this, but surely the General does?"

Jiang, the Vice Minister, dared not accept the official seal and said with a wry smile:

"But we can't really kill them, can we?"

"Minister Jiang, you heard what he said. If we don't kill him today, he will kill my whole family another day!"

For the sake of peace and quiet in the future, it's better to kill him!

Even if his father is a Sabao, I will still kill him without hesitation.

And he should be thankful that it was me sitting here today; if it were General Cheng sitting here…”

Lin Chuan didn't finish his sentence, but everyone present immediately understood his meaning.

Appointing a duke and Right General of the Imperial Guard as the Inspector of Longyou Circuit, and granting him the authority to act expediently, means that even if he were to kill a governor, let alone a Sa Bao, he would at most receive a few words of reprimand from His Majesty upon returning to the capital.

After Lin Chuan finished speaking, he shouted outside:

"Next!"

One by one, the leaders of those Hu tribes were brought in. Lin Chuan always adhered to one principle: those who did not cooperate, like that giant bone deer, were dragged out and beheaded.

According to the investigation data sent by the Hundred Riders Division, these people are all related to mountain bandits.

Some are proactive, some are reactive.

Even if they were all killed, not many would be innocent.

Lin Chuan cooperated and gave them a chance to explain, even if their explanations sounded far-fetched. He gave them a chance to correct their mistakes.

As long as they are not genuinely opposed to the imperial court, Lin Chuan doesn't mind turning a blind eye.

After all, the court's goal was to regulate the local areas, not to actually kill all the Hu people.

Although the Hu tribes in the Liangzhou area were difficult to manage, they were actually quite simple-minded.

They don't have much of a sense of right and wrong, nor do they understand loyalty; they basically submit to whoever is powerful.

As long as the Tang Dynasty remains strong, they will be loyal to it.

For now, as long as the Tang Dynasty remains strong, that's fine.

As for education, that's not something Lin Chuan can worry about, nor is it something that can be accomplished overnight.

Compared to these Hu people, it was the local powerful clans that truly plunged Liangzhou into chaos.

Unlike the impoverished Hu tribes, these large clans were accustomed to a life of luxury.

They are not satisfied with the current situation; they want more land, more pastures, more people to graze and farm for them, and greater influence.

Furthermore, officials serving in such places often resort to any means necessary for political achievements and wealth.

As for the lives and deaths of the common people and those barbarians, they were never within their consideration.

Moreover, they understood the court's intentions and rules better than the leaders of the Hu people.

So when Lin Chuan finished interrogating those Hu tribes and had people bring the local big clans into the room, he saw people who were either calm or looked aggrieved.

Lin Chuan actually preferred to deal with the Hu people.

But the powerful local clans are what the court values ​​most right now, so he has to be on high alert dealing with them.

Holding the case file, Lin Chuan looked at the middle-aged man dressed in plain clothes in front of him and asked with a smile:

"Kang Chengli, do you have anything to say about the bandits in the Mabozi Mountain area?"

"My lord, I am a law-abiding citizen and have no knowledge of bandits or anything like that. Is there some misunderstanding?" the middle-aged man asked humbly.

"Kang Chengli, it's okay if you don't say anything."

To tell you the truth, you are the first person to enter this room.

The general has already spoken; he doesn't have time to waste here with you.

Those who confess honestly will have their punishment reduced by one degree; those who report others may even be able to redeem themselves through meritorious service!

If no one confesses, I will report to the imperial court based on the evidence I have gathered so far!

You can take a gamble: if there's no evidence against you in this, I'll let you go!

Go down and think it over carefully!

Once you've thought it through and want to explain, tell the person guarding outside, and someone will bring you paper and pen so you can write down what you want to say.

If you don't want to explain or don't have anything to explain, then just stay inside.

Don't worry, I am an official of the imperial court. The officials next to me are the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. Even if you don't confess, I won't wrong you!

If you do anything good, I'll remember it!

Lin Chuan waved the list in his hand at the middle-aged man, smiled, and then waved to Xu Laosan, giving a deep order:

"Take him away and put him in solitary confinement. If he shows any signs of collusion with others, kill him without exception!"

Amid the middle-aged man's bewildered gaze, Old Xu and his men dragged the man away.

One by one, members of prominent local families were brought in and then taken out.

Lin Chuan's words were almost always the same: he told them that those who confessed honestly would have their crimes reduced by one degree, and those who reported and exposed their accomplices would be able to atone for their crimes by performing meritorious service. The more they reported, the more merit they would earn.

After interrogating the local powerful families, they then interrogated the officials.

When dealing with officials, Lin Chuan used the same tactics he used on powerful local families.

Those powerful local families and officials didn't even last half a day.

By noon, most of them had confessed, and those who did speak were all incredibly talkative.

As for those who hadn't confessed, Lin Chuan kept his promise and punished them even more severely.

After that, no matter how much they begged, Lin Chuan ignored them.

The trials started in the morning, and there was even a break at noon. Nearly a hundred people were tried before the sun had just set, which was incredibly fast.

When more than a dozen officials from the capital followed Lin Chuan to Cheng Yaojin's tent to report, even the previously sarcastic Vice Minister of War was embarrassed to look at Lin Chuan.

The others, who had previously cursed Cheng Yaojin for being autocratic, now admired him wholeheartedly.

If it were them, they would never have been able to get the results in such a short time.

Especially for those from powerful families and officials, getting them to speak without solid evidence is harder than climbing to heaven.

They still can't understand why those people, who must have colluded before being arrested, would ultimately betray their own accomplice so cruelly...

Cheng Yaojin naturally praised Lin Chuan's interrogation highly, and after giving Lin Chuan a long speech, he ordered his men to arrest the person according to the interrogation results.

Since arriving in Liangzhou, Lin Chuan hadn't had a proper chance to explore the city. After finishing his business, he told Cheng Yaojin, changed his clothes, and led Lao Xu and the others out of the camp towards Liangzhou.

Although Liangzhou City was under lockdown, it was still quite lively inside. Even as night fell, the dilapidated streets were still bustling with people, and the few taverns and brothels were especially crowded.

The city was too small and dilapidated, and Lin Chuan lost interest after wandering around for a while.

Lin Chuan had no interest in those brothels. He found a restaurant, ate a meal of mutton with Lao Xu and the others, and then prepared to return to the camp.

Just as he stepped out of the food stall, a sharp arrow suddenly emerged silently from a corner of the street, heading straight for Lin Chuan's face.

Such a vicious arrow failed to achieve its purpose; the arrow was knocked away by Xu Laosan's scabbard less than two feet from Lin Chuan.

As Xu Laosan swatted away the arrow, another old soldier shouted loudly:

"Twenty steps to the left! Window!"