In my dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, I snatched Wu Zetian from my lap.

"Have you heard?"

"Lord Sima committed suicide out of fear of punishment!"

"Not only that, Lord Liu, Lord Lu, and Lord Zhang were all implicated in the Dahong Temple embezzlement case and were executed in the marketplace."

"That Lord Zhang?"

"Anyway, they're all officials. This time, the Prince of Han is furious and wants a thorough investigation to seek justice for those who died as laborers!"

"The proclamation has been issued; the King of Han has sent word that he will compensate those who died."

"Is the King of Han really that kind-hearted?"

"..."

Two days later.

The men from Lu's Stone Manor gradually returned to Liangzhou City to report back.

On this day, the prisons in Liangzhou City were almost overflowing.

With Lu Xiangdong and Lu Congjun, the leaders, dead, the question remains: what to do with the remaining thousand-plus men? According to the law, they all must be killed.

But Li Yuanchang held a different opinion.

"never mind."

"Except for the thirty-three ringleaders who were executed, the rest were spared execution and were sentenced to two to five years of forced labor."

"Those under the age of twelve, those over the age of fifty, and women are exempt from labor service and are released directly."

These words caused an uproar in Liangzhou Prefecture.

Gao Shen immediately stepped forward, his old face serious: "Your Highness, this is inappropriate!"

"The Lu family's Shizhuang is an outright den of thieves. The crimes they have committed deserve death a hundred times over. Moreover, their audacity in pursuing and killing the Prince of Han is heinous and unforgivable!"

"They must all be executed as a warning to others!"

"Otherwise, anyone will dare to harm the King of Han's royal carriage!"

His words were forceful and his anger was palpable, winning the approval of everyone in Liangzhou Prefecture.

"That's right, that's right!"

For a moment, the crowd was filled with indignation, and even Wang Hongzhi and others fell silent.

Li Yuanchang sat at the highest point, looking at Gao Shen and the others with a cold smile in his heart.

Wang Hongzhi and the others genuinely felt that these people deserved to die.

But Gao Shen and the others are different.

These guys, under the guise of doing what's best for themselves, were actually digging a pit for themselves. They killed over a thousand people just one month after taking office.

Yes, these people are guilty!

But when the news reached Chang'an, how did the local officials view it? Li Shimin wanted stability!

What do the local people of Liangzhou think of him? Isn't he a butcher?

Sometimes, not killing is a kind of merciful folly.

Sometimes, killing is an impulsive act of folly.

"alright."

"My beloved ministers, my mind is made up, this is how it will be done."

"The ringleader deserves to be executed, but I, the king, out of pity for the elderly, weak, women and children, will not pursue the matter and will grant him a special pardon, allowing him to repent and start anew."

Upon hearing this, a hint of disappointment seemed to flash deep in the eyes of the old fox, Gao Shen.

"yes!"

"The King of Han is benevolent, and the people are blessed," Wang Hongzhi and others shouted.

"By the way, how's the situation in Shizhuang going?" Li Yuanchang asked again.

Upon hearing this, Wang Hongzhi glanced at Gao Shen and the others.

Li Yuanchang immediately understood and chose not to discuss it here.

He immediately changed the subject, saying, "Oh, right, I almost forgot something very important."

"After Liu Yishou died, there was no one in charge of the entire granary."

"I intend to appoint Wang Hongzhi as the temporary Military Advisor of the Granary, in charge of all finances in Liangzhou."

"Furthermore, the position of Sima is merely a nominal title, and given the tight finances of Liangzhou, I believe it should be abolished and no new positions should be created."

At this point, Gao Shen and a large group of officials all looked up, clearly expressing their dissatisfaction.

But the next second, Li Yuanchang said directly.

"After I finish speaking, who agrees and who disagrees?" As he spoke, he stood up, his tall and straight figure giving everyone an invisible sense of pressure.

This is not a consultation with you at all.

The words that Gao Shen and the others were about to say were stuck in their throats, and they swallowed them back down.

The Dahong Temple case is not completely over yet. If we oppose it now, a few more people might die.

"Your subordinate agrees!" Gao Shen said reluctantly.

"I agree!"

"This humble servant agrees."

One voice after another followed, and finally everyone passed.

Li Yuanchang was satisfied.

"That's settled then. Go back to your own business. I will handle the case at Dahong Temple and report it to Chang'an."

"yes!!"

After everyone else had left, Wang Hongzhi remained on the scene.

"Your Highness."

"So, how did it go?" Li Yuanchang toned down his oppressive demeanor and spoke to his own people in a friendly manner.

"Your Highness, after the search..."

"This humble servant seized a total of 9,300 strings of copper coins, three cartloads of gold, and seven cartloads of various jewels and paintings from the Lu family's stone estate."

"There are over a thousand property deeds and land deeds."

"More than seven hundred weapons and knives."

"Thousands of bolts of silk and satin!"

Upon hearing this, Li Yuanchang was startled.

This number exceeded his expectations, after all, eight thousand strings of cash were consumed by so many people, not just the Lu family.

However, the Lu family's assets directly exceeded all the losses from the Dahong Temple case, not even counting the homes of Chao Luqi and others.

If we take into account the confiscation of property in other places, Liangzhou Prefecture's financial predicament can be greatly alleviated for the time being!

"Good, very good!" he said with a smile.

"In that case, the compensation can begin. According to the list, those innocent people who died in the collapse of Dahong Temple and those who were imprisoned by the Lu family will be given a certain amount of compensation as travel expenses. Two strings of cash for the dead and one string of cash for the survivors."

This time, it was Wang Hong's turn to be shocked.

"Your Highness, is this much?"

"The murderer is dead, why should Liangzhou Prefecture foot the bill out of its own pocket?"

Li Yuanchang shook his head; what he saw was not a small amount of compensation, but the will of the people.

"This money should be given, and it must be given."

"I'm not staying in Liangzhou for just a day or two; I need to establish public trust in the government. Killing won't do the trick."

"In the future, my political views will require the help of the people to implement them."

"There's no need to break the trust of the people for such a small amount of money."

Upon hearing this, Wang Hongzhi said nothing more.

"yes!"

"Your Highness, there is one more thing."

"More than a thousand laborers imprisoned by Lu Shi were gradually rescued, and most of them were reunited with their families."

"But there are more than four hundred people who have nowhere to go."

"Among them, more than 320 were young and strong men. When asked to leave, they refused, saying they wanted to serve His Highness and would even be willing to become his servants."

Li Yuanchang was stunned for a moment.

"To pledge allegiance to me?"

"right."

Li Yuanchang's eyes lit up immediately. He did indeed need manpower; the Prince's mansion only had about a hundred people, which was far too few.

According to the etiquette system of the Tang Dynasty, it was not considered excessive for the Prince of Han to have a guard of six or seven hundred people. Generally speaking, the ceremonial guard alone had three or four hundred people.

Before, we had no money and no connections, but now that we're suddenly rich, it's time to think about it.

Where are they?

"Your Highness, Yang Zhuo has taken the person back to Liangzhou City and settled them in. They are currently staying outside the Prince of Han's residence and have not yet left."

"Yang Zhuo is also waiting for you," Wang Hongzhi said.

"Let's go!" Li Yuanchang strode forward.