Prime Minister

Chapter 1066 Fisherman by the River (2 chapters in 1)

Chapter 1066 Fisherman by the River (Two Updates in One)

Cai Mansion in the capital.

The residence we are talking about is that of Cai Que, the current Chief Censor and Judge of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Nowadays, Cai Que's residence is full of guests.

Because news came from the capital that Cai Que would soon be promoted to the position of Chief Censor.

Because of the former Chief Censor Deng Runfu, and because the government appointed Wang Zhongzheng and Li Shunju to sign the documents of the Ministry of Military Affairs, a group of young officials went to stop Ma and oppose it.

As a result, these officials were transferred out of Beijing by Wang Gui on the pretext of something.

This matter stirred up a hornet's nest. Several censors under Deng Runfu, such as Peng Ruli, Cai Chengxi, and Zhou Yin, jointly submitted a memorial to oppose this matter.

The memorial said, 'Since the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, Yang Sixu, Yu Chaoen, Cheng Yuanzhen and Tuotu Chengcui have been appointed as generals.

If they have made achievements, they will take advantage of their status and become arrogant, bullying the nobles; if they have made no achievements, they will damage the prestige of the country and become a laughing stock for the other four countries.

Now, Your Majesty has sent officials to lead the army. Whether the success or failure is beyond our control. However, judging from past events, it is certain that there will be harm. Your Majesty is benevolent, holy, and powerful. You can control heroes. Even if you are a model for hundreds of generations, what can you do? Don't you think about it and plan for the future generations?

How can we allow the national history to record that Your Majesty was the first commoner to lead troops?

If future generations follow the old ways and take it for granted, and use their followers to control the military, the troubles in the world will be beyond description.'

After the memorial was submitted, the emperor was very angry and asked Deng Runfu whether he could take care of it himself and what he meant by that.

Deng Runfu said that I had the same idea.

Cai Que and Deng Runfu had been at odds for a long time, and he took the opportunity to say a few words in front of the king to add fuel to the fire.

So Deng Runfu became a nobody and stayed at home on sick leave, and was treated together with Zhang Yue.

Therefore, Cai Que was promoted to the position of Chief Censor and immediately became one of the top four.

Everyone in the officialdom heard the news and took action. Countless officials came to congratulate Cai Que in advance.

This time when Zhang Yue was ill, Cai Que actually visited him twice, and seeing him like this, he was also very angry. He didn't know why Zhang Yue was so stubborn with the government on the matter of attacking Xia.

After Cai Que returned home, the government sent a eunuch to Cai Que's house and gave him a note.

After Cai Que read it, his face became solemn.

After thinking for a moment, Cai Que sent someone to invite an official named Zhou Qing to visit his house.

Zhou Qing was an official in the Criminal Department of the Secretariat. He was surprised and delighted when he heard that Cai Que had summoned him.

Cai Que looked at Zhou Qing and said, "As far as I know, there was a murder case in Xiangzhou."

Zhou Qing was a smart man, and he immediately said tentatively: "Yes, this case involves Chen Anmin, Wu Anchi, Han Zhongyan and others."

Cai Que listened and stared at him, "Tell me in detail!"

This happened in the fourth year of Zhiping. A robber went to rob with two new brothers. On the way, he ordered that if anyone tried to stop them, he would be killed.

As a result, they robbed a family and captured someone at their home. They beat and kicked the person and interrogated him. A neighbor couldn't bear it and tried to persuade them, but the younger brother killed the person who had tried to persuade them verbally.

Then the three-man gang was caught, and according to the principle of life for life, all three of them were sentenced to death.

But there was a problem with sentencing. Originally, the principal offender was sentenced to death, but the accomplices could receive a lighter sentence. Although these two younger brothers had committed murder, they were accomplices.

Or maybe the person who killed the person who dissuaded him was an accomplice named Feng Yan, and the sentence of the other accomplice could be mitigated because he did not kill anyone.

But in the end, Chen Anmin and Pan Kai, who were in charge of the case, hastily sentenced all three to death.

After Wang Anshi's reform, he also attached great importance to criminal law.

Previously, he had a heated debate with Sima Guang on the Ayun case. Wang Anshi advocated a lenient sentence for Ayun, but Sima Guang opposed it and believed that Ayun must be sentenced to death.

This is related to a very important issue: 'the law of surrendering oneself when questioned'.

One surrendered himself before being arrested, and the other surrendered himself after being arrested.

Originally, in major criminal cases, confessions by the criminals after being caught would not be considered as a reference for sentence reduction (in the case of personal injury...it does not fall under the category of voluntary surrender), but Wang Anshi believed that this was allowed and that as long as the criminals confessed, they could be given leniency.

Why was Ayun sentenced to exile in the end? One reason was that the murder was attempted, another was that the marriage was not established and did not constitute a true husband-wife relationship, and the other was that Ayun took the initiative to admit the guilt after the crime.

The Ayun case was a very important event before the Xining Reforms, and the law of surrendering oneself upon questioning was widely implemented after the Xining Reforms.

However, in the Xiangzhou case, the accomplices voluntarily surrendered themselves after being arrested. According to the law of voluntary surrender upon questioning, they were all sentenced to death. This was obviously a serious sentencing error.

The case was then seen by Zhou Qing, an official in the Criminal Department of the Secretariat.

At that time, in order to reform the criminal law, Wang Anshi instructed Zhou Qing and others that if they found such unjust, false and wrong cases, they would be rewarded with a promotion, while the officials who failed to fulfill their duties would be "exiled 2,000 miles away".

Zhou Qing discovered the problem with the Xiangzhou case. This death penalty case was handled not only by local officials, but also by the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice, and finally the Secretariat.

Zhou Qing proposed a review of the case that year, but the Dali Temple found no problem after reviewing it.

Because the main culprit said that anyone who came to stop them on the road would be killed, the implication was that anyone who came to stop them with weapons would be killed, but he did not say that anyone who came to stop them with their mouths would be killed.

This murder was decided by the two accomplices themselves, so they are both considered the principal offenders.

This conclusion was also supported by Zhou Qing's superior, Liu Fengshi, the chief prosecutor of the Criminal Department of the Secretariat.

Zhou Qing later found out that Chen Anmin was Wen Yanbo's brother-in-law. In addition, Wu Anzhi and Wen Jifu were also involved in the case and had signed their names on the review of the case.

Therefore, Zhou Qing did not dare to pursue the matter further. If the law really was followed, Chen Anmin, Wen Jifu and Wu Anchi would all be exiled two thousand miles away.

Cai Que had already learned the details of the case from Zhou Qing. It was certain that there were problems with Zhou Qing's case, and there was also a serious problem of official protection behind it.

Cai Que immediately told Zhou Qing to go back first.

The news that Cai Que had just learned from the eunuchs further confirmed this matter. The Imperial City Bureau received news that Xiangzhou official Pan Kai followed Chen Anmin's instructions and took 3,000 strings of cash to Beijing for activities.

The case was finally decided according to Chen Anmin's wishes, and a series of unspeakable inside stories must have occurred.

The emperor ordered Cai Que and Kaifeng Prefecture to conduct a thorough investigation.

Cai Que looked at the case and found that Pan Kai took the bribe when Wu Chong was the prime minister. Chen Anmin, who was involved in the case, was a relative of Wen Yanbo, Wen Jifu was a relative of Wu Chong, and Wu Anchi was also a relative of Wu Chong.

So all of this undoubtedly points to one person...

Soon Liu Zuo, He Zhengchen, and Huang Yan arrived. Cai Que asked, "How is the investigation going?"

Liu Zuo said: "It was found that Xiangzhou official Pan Kai did take 3,000 strings of cash to Beijing for activities, and the money was also taken by Wu Anshi, the eldest son of the Wu family."

"go on."

Liu Zuo said: "Then Wu Anshi promised Pan Zheng to use the three thousand strings of cash to plead for the case at the Dali Temple, but Wu Anshi found out that the Dali Temple's verdict was not what Zhou Qing wanted, but was in favor of Chen Anmin and the three main culprits, so in the end the money went into his own pocket."

Cai Que laughed when he heard this: "I knew that Mr. Wu was greedy and stupid, but I didn't expect him to be so greedy and stupid."

"He has harmed Prime Minister Wu!"

Huang Yan said: "Zhi Za, this matter involves Duke Wenlu and Prime Minister Wu. Is your majesty going to deal with the old party?"

Cai Que said: "Your Majesty is going to attack Xia, but there is a lot of opposition in the court and the country. Deng Runfu's previous opposition to the eunuchs supervising the army was instigated by the old party."

"So we should do something before we attack Xia, to avoid any trouble later."

Huang Yan said, "Zhi Za, Wen Jifu, and Wu Anshi are also relatives of Zhang Xianggong."

Cai Que said: "This is none of his business. He was out leading troops at the time. Besides, he and his brother-in-law Wu Anshi have always been at odds with each other."

Huang Yan asked, "But Wen Jifu and Wu Anzhi have a close relationship with Mr. Zhang?"

Cai Que said, "Never mind all that. I have something to do now, and no one can intercede for me. When Zhang San was in the position of prime minister, I was still a little cautious. Now that he is sick at home, can I still let him do whatever he wants?"

"I impeached Duke Shu and Han Zhen, so what about Prime Minister Zhang?"

Wang Anshi and Han Jiang both recommended Cai Que, but after Cai Que became the Censor, they showed no mercy to him.

Cai Que said, "These are all members of the current aristocratic families, so Kaifeng Prefecture will definitely not be able to find out the truth. If they want to be prosecuted, we must come to the Censorate, so I plan to ask His Majesty to hand over this case to the Censorate."

"These young masters have always been proud of their noble status and thought that no one dared to deal with them. So what if they have been nobles for generations? It's bad luck for them to run into me, Cai Que!"

"Yes!" Everyone knew that the emperor liked Cai Que, who dared to commit crimes alone and did not avoid grudges.

After the others left, Liu Zuo stayed behind and said hesitantly, "Zhi Za, should we inform Zhang Xianggong first? Although he is no longer in office, what if in the future... I mean what if he recovers and comes back."

Cai Que said, "You are careful. It is true that others may think that Zhang San and His Majesty have a big disagreement this time, but I know that this person never does unreasonable things. Who knows, he might play some sinister tricks again."

"Don't worry, I will talk to him in person. Yes, Wu Anshi has a man named He Qi under his command. Go check him out. Regardless of whether he is involved in this matter or not, you must get evidence of his crime."

"how?"

Cai Que smiled and said, "This man had a grudge against Zhang San in the past. If I kill him, Zhang San will not blame me no matter what happens. Instead, he will thank me later."

Liu Zuo's eyes lit up and he said, "Leave it to me. I know this person He Qi."

……

"Sir, this is a copy of an important imperial edict issued by the Yintai Division, and this is the Shaanxi Military Report!"

Looking at Huang Haoyi holding these, Zhang Yue asked, "Why are you sending them to me when I said I wouldn't read them?"

Huang Haoyi nodded.

Although Zhang Yue was ill, all matters of the Secretariat and the confidential matters of the court were copied for Zhang Yue to review. In other words, although Zhang Yue was no longer involved in the decision-making of the Secretariat, he still had the right to know about the affairs of the court.

At the same time, I also use the method of looking at the copies to test whether my mind has changed.

Zhang Yue said: "Let's not look at these, just return them intact."

Huang Haoyi said yes, and then saw Zhang Yue go to the wall to pick up the fish basket.

Huang Haoyi was also convinced. Zhang Yue was now at home on sick leave, but he was not doing his job and had become addicted to fishing since some time ago.

After saying that, Zhang Yue carried the fish basket to the back door and got on the carriage with Peng Jingyi. Then they drove out of the prosperous city of Bianjing and finally arrived at a pond on the outskirts of Bianjing.

The weather is pretty good today.

When they arrived at the field, the carriage stopped. Peng Jingyi was carrying two buckets of fish food, while Zhang Yue was wearing a bamboo hat and carrying a fish basket. They found a place to sit down.

Several fishermen who were fishing nearby saw Zhang Yue arrive and laughed, "Mr. Zhang, are you here to feed the fish again today?"

Zhang Yue couldn't help but blush at these words.

Zhang Yue ignored these mountain people and pointed to a certain place in the river pond and said to Peng Jingyi: "Here is the nest!"

After hearing the instructions, Peng Jingyi opened the wooden barrel, scooped the bait with a wooden spoon, and poured it into the river one spoonful at a time.

Seeing so much fish food thrown into the river, an old fisherman laughed and said, "If it keeps piling up like this, the water level downstream will rise three feet!"

Hearing this, the fishermen nearby laughed again.

Zhang Yue smiled and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, as the saying goes, if you don't make a nest when fishing, you won't catch much. In the past, I couldn't catch any fish because I didn't make enough nests, not because I didn't have good fishing skills. Today, please wait and see."

As soon as he finished speaking, Peng Jingyi brought two buckets of fish food from the carriage, and the fishermen immediately stopped laughing.

"That's not the way to feed fish. This isn't a way to do good deeds!"

Cai Que drove over and saw Zhang Yue fishing in a thick coat with a hat covering his face.

Cai Que smiled when he saw this. It is well known in the world that Zhang Yue is now claiming illness, but he found me a place to fish by the river. He is not afraid that I will report him to the emperor.

Cai Que walked to Zhang Yue's side, and Peng Jingyi whispered, "Sir, Cai Zhiza is here."

Zhang Yue woke up and saw Cai Que, but he didn't panic. Instead, he immediately stood up and pulled Cai Que aside and said to Cai Que, "I found this fishing spot with great difficulty. Don't reveal my secrets to others."

Cai Que looked at the fisherman who was fishing nearby and couldn't help but sneer, "They are just a few fishermen, what's the big deal?"

The two of them walked to a vacant space nearby. When the fishermen saw Zhang Yue leaving, they all joked, "Why isn't Mr. Zhang fishing anymore? Isn't he feeding the fish for dinner?"

Upon hearing this, Cai Que glanced at Zhang Yue's empty fish basket, and the sneer on his face became even stronger.

Zhang Yue smiled and responded: "Don't rush, there is a long way to go."

Cai Que couldn't help laughing and said, "Jiang Taigong used a straight hook to fish, and those who were willing to take the bait took the bait, but you are obsessed with making nests. What on earth are you trying to do?"

Zhang Yue also laughed at himself: "At this age, people know that fishing is a lot of fun. Don't laugh at me. Why are you here?"

Cai Que said: "You sound so old-fashioned, but I do have something important to tell you..."

Cai Que immediately told the cases of Wu Anshi, Wen Jifu, and Chen Anmin.

Zhang Yue said solemnly, "Since the Imperial City Department got the news, did His Majesty instruct you to do it?"

Cai Que said: "That's true, but I can also cover it up for you."

Zhang Yue said: "If you wanted to hide it, you wouldn't have come to find me today."

Cai Que laughed and said, "Sanlang, I have understood one thing at this age. Best friends are not formed over time, but are met on the paths we each take."

"If you are willing to return to the court, I will suppress the case for you without your permission. But if you are unwilling, then there is nothing I can do. Don't blame me."

Zhang Yue said: "Then you also know why I don't want to return to the court. I am here today because of the Wu family's kindness. If anything happens to the Wu family, I will never stand idly by!"

Cai Que sighed, "There is no such thing as having the best of both worlds. How to deal with it depends on how Sanlang handles it. I will report this case to the emperor the day after tomorrow and transfer it from Kaifeng Prefecture to the Imperial Censorate."

"Hopefully things will turn around before then!"

The cold wind from the river blew, and in this withered reed bush, Bian Zhang looked at Cai Que and said, "Yes, if this case is handled successfully, you will be the Chief Censor, or even the Prime Minister, right, Mr. Cai?"

Cai Que said: "I have no such intention. If you want to stay, no one will let you go. But if you want to leave, even the emperor cannot stop you."

"But Sanlang, why do you have to fight with His Majesty? You should do whatever His Majesty wants. You said before that the attack on Xia is only 60% at most, but you know military affairs, with your assistance, 70% should be enough!"

"Even if that 30% is true, tens of thousands of lives will be lost. Given our current status, what's the point? Since ancient times, a general's success is built on the sacrifices of thousands of soldiers!"

……

Zhang Yue and Cai Que spoke so loudly that the fisherman nearby looked over.

An old fisherman shouted in a hoarse voice: "Two gentlemen, what are you arguing about? Is it about fishing? You scared the fish away!"

Zhang Yue and Cai Que were arguing with each other until their faces turned red, and they both laughed when they heard this.

Upon hearing this, Cai Que smiled and bowed, "Old man, it's my fault!"

The fisherman waved his hand when he heard this.

Zhang Yue said to Cai Que, "Brother, what do you mean by tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people? Do you know that they are not numbers, but the common people in the world, or they are the fisherman who just talked to you and me."

Cai Que said disapprovingly: "So what? Can we defeat the Xia Kingdom without losing hundreds of thousands of people? What is your majesty planning with us?"

Zhang Yue said: "Your words are very similar to those of Lu Huiqing back then."

"Lü Huiqing?" Cai Que said with a sneer, "Is this person going to be in mourning soon?"

"Dingyou?"

Cai Que nodded and said, "After all, I am always faster than you in the Censorate. Just a few days ago, His Majesty appointed Lü Huiqing as the governor of Fuyan Road and the chief commander of the attack on Xia. Now that he is gone, who will he entrust his power to?"

Cai Que paused and said, "Sanlang, remember that the emperor has you as his first choice for the campaign against Xia, but it doesn't necessarily mean you have to be the one to do it. If I had the talent to manage the country, this would definitely not be your turn."

After a pause, Cai Que said, "In the final analysis, you still cherish your reputation, so you can talk about benefiting the people and serving the people, just like Mencius's theory of benevolence and righteousness, which only sees the far and not the near."

"If that's the case, then you can't do it as the prime minister? You said the Wu family has been very kind to you, but you have avoided the position. Is that how you repay them? In the final analysis, you still value your reputation too much."

Zhang Yue listened to Cai Que's words and said, "Brother, I won't argue with you, but I am grateful for your coming here to give me advice. Whether you and I are on the same path in the future or not, I will never blame you for your heartfelt words today!"

Cai Que heard this and said, "If you are so stubborn, then go ahead!"

After saying that, Cai Que turned away. Zhang Yue's mouth twitched slightly, but he still let Cai Que leave.

Zhang Yue walked to the river and continued to pick up his fishing rod. Several fishermen nearby had made a good harvest today. One of them smiled and said, "Thanks to Mr. Zhang for making the nest, our trip today was not in vain!"

Zhang Yue smiled bitterly when he heard this.

Another person consoled him, "Since we are all friends, there is nothing to be unhappy about. If we have a quarrel, we can just meet up and drink a bowl of fresh fish soup, and forget about it."

"Yes, we have known each other for decades! Let us treat you and your friends to a bowl of fish soup before you leave!"

Zhang Yue shook his head and said, "Brother Cai and I are not on the same page."

Ps: The joke about fishing bait is taken from the Internet, just to make you laugh.

(End of this chapter)