novelonline Chapter 1235: The spring water gushing out from the ground may not be a good thing
Chapter 1235: The spring water gushing out from the ground may not be a good thing
Chapter 1235: The spring water gushing out from the ground may not be a good thing
Zhou Xing, who was doing the finishing work in Chang'an, was strangely angry.
He believed that the 67 deaths were a challenge to the fairness of his law enforcement.
The guilty will be beheaded, the innocent will be released, and the property of the Ye Ting Palace will be confiscated from those implicated. This is the law of the Tang Dynasty. Zhou Xing not only tried his best to treat everyone equally, but also made relatively accurate judgments after repeated considerations.
He felt that he had already punished those people, and those people had accepted his punishment. After the thunder, it would be time for the rain and dew to fall. Those who died would die, and those who were alive would accept the punishment and live their punished lives in peace.
Now, some people think that he cast the spell unfairly and killed sixty-seven people who should not have died. This is a challenge to the majesty of the Tang Dynasty law and also a challenge to his own majesty.
Yun Chu knew that Zhou Xing was now a man who hated evil, so he informed him of the news.
Yun Chu believed that there were definitely innocent people in Zhou Xing’s first massacre, but there should be no innocent people this time.
The imperial city is a lawless place in Chang'an. Many bad industries in Chang'an are closely related to the imperial city. Xiu De Fang is the largest human trafficking base in the Tang Dynasty. Ordinary human traffickers can only buy and sell Silla maids, or fake Silla maids, some precious Bodhisattva barbarians, or fake Bodhisattva barbarians, and some fake Kunlun slaves.
Of course, if the buyer is wealthy, he can also purchase some Japanese slaves here in bulk and take them back to use as laborers. This is in line with the laws of the Tang Dynasty.
If these people buy and sell Tang people, they will be doomed. If they are caught, they will be killed. Yun Chu has been following this rule for twenty years, which has caused the price of Tang slaves to skyrocket.
Yun Chu wanted to use severe punishments to stop the vicious incident of buying and selling Tang people. Unfortunately, the more ruthless Yun Chu was, the more crazy people in the imperial city became in buying and selling Tang prisoners. For a while, they even dragged out the palace maids in the Ye Ting Palace to sell them.
Yun Chu had reported this matter to the emperor a long time ago. Unfortunately, no matter whether it was the emperor, the empress, or all the civil and military officials in the court, they all thought that this was a very normal thing and told Yun Chu not to get involved.
The Ye Ting Palace governs tens of thousands of eunuchs and palace maids... Most of the people here are criminals who were sent here after their families were confiscated and their families were exterminated. On normal days, the absence or death of a few of them is not a big deal at all.
The only reason why sixty-seven people died in one go this time was that someone was willing to pay a very high price for their deaths, a price that might have exceeded the selling price of these prisoners.
Yun Chu now really wants to know who those people are. They are unwilling to let go even those who have been humbled to the dust. Such people must be found out and they must be kept away from and beware of them in the future.
In the afternoon, Yun Chu was discussing with Wu Sansi how to deal with the springs that appeared in several markets in Chang'an County when he saw Chen Zheng, the Imperial Court Minister. This man was very fat and was out of breath after walking a few steps. He looked very weak. In the cold weather, he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief and complained to Yun Chu: "My Lord, you should at least take care of Zhou Xing. The imperial city has just suffered a disaster. If he enters the imperial city at this time, the people inside will be unstable."
Yun Chu smiled and said: "Old Chen, I have no objection to you making money, just like you have been making money from people for more than ten years, and I have never asked about it. But, can you consider human nature a little bit when making money?
If you make too much money like this, aren't you afraid of giving birth to a child without an anus?"
Chen Zheng laughed and said, "I have eleven sons and seven daughters, all of whom have vaginal canals, so you don't need to worry about it. The Ye Ting Palace has been buying and selling prisoners since the founding of the country.
The money obtained did not go into my pocket, Chen Zheng. Most of it went to the state. You should still remember the Da Ci'en Temple next to your home, right?"
Yun Chu said, "What does it have to do with Ci'en Temple? That national temple was built by people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs with donated old clothes and your Majesty's private property."
Chen Zheng looked at Yun Chu and said, "Do you believe it?"
Yun Chu nodded and said, "Your Majesty told me this in person, so of course I believe it."
Chen Zheng pointed at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda outside the window and said, "Just this Sutra-reserving pagoda, do you know how much it cost?"
Yun Chu glanced at the dilapidated Big Wild Goose Pagoda in the distance and said casually, "It only takes some bricks and a little labor. The cost in the third year of Yonghui would not be more than one thousand guan. I remember that when the Big Wild Goose Pagoda was built, the government conscripted civilians, so the cost would be even lower."
The smile on Chen Zheng's greasy face gradually disappeared, and he said in a cold tone: "Whatever you say, it's what you say. I just hope you don't forget what you said today.
The government is one, and it is customary for officials to protect each other. Now, my family has not done anything excessive, but you have watched me die without helping me. Then, the next time you are in trouble, it will be difficult for you to get our help."
After hearing what Chen Zheng said, Wu Sansi immediately thought of a question: could this fat man who looked to weigh at least 300 pounds be kicked into the air by Yun Chu, and then break the window and fly out of the room.
After all, when the two brothers were kicked to this effect, Yun Chu used some clever strength, so doing this made it more strenuous.
Yun Chu did not kick Chen Zheng out of the window as Wu Sansi had thought, but helped the fat Chen Zheng to straighten his loose official uniform, looked him up and down and said, "Eight thousand one hundred people died in the imperial city... no, now more than eight thousand two hundred people, although these people were killed by Ruichun and Zhou Xing on the orders of the emperor, but, do you think that His Majesty, who is so noble, does not need to give an explanation to the people of the world after doing this?
It is not appropriate to take the chief steward Ruichun out to answer for the crime. Zhou Xing's head is not too big or too small and looks pretty good. Now, I suddenly realize that you, a fourth-rank Huangmen assistant minister, seem to be more suitable to be taken out to answer for the crime and calm the gossips."
Chen Zheng was about to get angry when he heard Wu Sansi standing beside him say quietly, "Your Excellency, Minister Chen's family will also be taken into the Ye Ting Palace. I just arrived in Chang'an, and my house is empty. I haven't prepared a few servants. Why not..."
Yun Chu waved his hand and said, "For such trivial matters, you can go to Zhou Xing."
Furious, Chen Zheng grabbed Yun Chu's arm and said, "Yun Chu, you are looking for death."
Yun Chu smiled calmly and said, "What does it have to do with me? Could it be that my subordinates want to buy a few prisoners as slaves, and you, the Yellow Gate Minister, are unwilling to give them even this little face?"
Chen Zheng was also a military general. He was famous for his brutal temperament in his past. Now he has not fought for many years. Others just have a temper, but he is covered with flesh all over his body. The courage of a military general had long been consumed in the gentle land of the Ye Ting Palace.
He would not even think about fighting with someone like Yun Chu. Grabbing Yun Chu's arm was just an instinctive reaction in his anger. He let go of Yun Chu's arm with hatred and walked away angrily. This time he walked very quickly.
"I thought you would beat him up." Wu Sansi said with some resentment.
Yun Chu put his hands in his sleeves and said, "I may not be able to kick a guy who weighs more than 300 pounds."
Wu Sansi said, "Are you afraid of being kicked to death? My chest muscles are strong. Even if you kick me, you can control the force and not hurt my bones. This guy is as fat as a pig. If you kick him hard, the force will go through the fat and reach the bones and internal organs..."
Yun Chu ignored Wu Sansi's nonsense and patted his shoulder and said, "Do you know why you brothers have been able to escape from the clutches of a certain family so many times?"
Wu Sansi quickly asked, "Because our brothers are still useful to you, Lord?"
Yun Chu smiled and said, "You are wrong. Although you brothers bully others by taking advantage of your power, you only bully nobles, officials, and wealthy people. As for ordinary people, you brothers not only do not bully them, but you tolerate them many times.
I like this kind of behavior very much. It is instinctive for officials to fight against each other. The higher you go, the fewer positions there are. How can you achieve your goals without fighting?
It is only natural to deal with those who are a threat to you, and no matter what means are used, everyone is now doing everything they can. To be honest, you brothers are actually on the right path. "
After being inexplicably praised by Yun Chu, Wu Sansi actually felt a sense of pride in his heart. Before this pride took over his mind, he immediately shook his head to get rid of this wrong thought.
He felt that he should talk more about work with Yun Chu and less about personal matters. He was worried that if he talked too much about personal matters with Yun Chu, sooner or later he would regard Yun Chu as the most important person in his life.
This is not a joke. He had long discovered that he no longer cared about the fact that Yun Chu had just beaten them severely. Generally, this situation would only occur with his parents or teachers. Even if his brother beat him so fiercely, he would not necessarily be able to completely not care.
"On a chilly winter day, eleven underground springs suddenly appeared in the market town of Chang'an County. This is obviously something very wrong. Have you checked the places where the underground springs appeared?"
"I have checked. I have checked the location of each spring and recorded the daily changes in water volume after the springs began to spray water. At first, I thought it was caused by the rupture of underground water veins and the change of course. However, I checked the water output of other existing springs and found that the water volume of other springs has also increased."
Yun Chu hadn't seen it himself, so he naturally couldn't draw any conclusions. He said to Wu Sansi, "It's really strange that something like this happened in a year of severe drought. What did the Water Conservancy Bureau say?"
Wu Sansi said, "The people at the Water Conservancy Bureau thought there was something wrong with the Qujiang Pond. They started monitoring the water level changes at the Qujiang Pond. It will take some time, but their words cannot be relied upon. The Qujiang Pond is closer to Wannian County than Chang'an County. There has been no change in Wannian County, so I think this incident is probably not related to the water seepage at the Qujiang Pond."
Yun Chu glanced at Wu Sansi and said, "Go check it yourself. I really want to know the answer."
Wu Sansi nodded and prepared to leave with the document in his arms. When he reached the door, he turned around and asked, "Your Excellency, do you really not want to kick that disgusting guy?"
Yun Chu said without even looking up: "To kill people like this, I usually use a knife."
Hearing this, Wu Sansi left Yun Chu's official residence with satisfaction.
After Wu Sansi left, Yun Chu began to check the topographic map of Chang'an.
Chang'an City itself is located on a huge gentle slope, with Longshouyuan in the north being the highest and Qujiang Lake in the south being the lowest. Zhuque Street splits Chang'an City into Chang'an County and Wannian County. The terrain of Chang'an County is obviously higher than that of Wannian County. If the groundwater in Chang'an County changes, then the problem must be with Longshouyuan and the imperial city built on Longshouyuan.
Yun Chu tried to draw a line on the map to connect the location of the new underground spring reported by Wu Sansi. As a result, the line did not have a complete direction. The line was messy and had no pattern to follow.
Chang'an City has a very good drainage system. The appearance of underground springs may cause harm to some houses. As long as a water diversion channel is built, the spring water can be brought into the ditch, and finally flow into the moat, and finally into the Yellow River along with the Wei River.
Disasters should be controllable, it's just that things are too abnormal.
Yun Chu pondered for a long time but could not get any inspiration, so he prepared to go to the imperial city to meet with the supervisor of the Dushuijian and talk about this matter.
The Du Shui Jian was originally an agency under the Ministry of Works, mainly responsible for water conservancy affairs across the country.
The former head of the Du Shui Jian was the Du Shui Shi Shi, who was of the fifth rank.
In the first year of Linde, the position of the Du Shui Jian was changed. The Jian was changed to Ling, and the official rank was promoted to the third rank; the Shao Jian was changed to Shao Ling, the fourth rank. The Du Shui Jian had jurisdiction over the two departments of boats and canals and various ferry ports, becoming an important department independent of the Ministry of Works.
Although Yun Chu's current official position and rank are also from the third grade, the lord is much higher than the Du Shui Ling of the Du Shui Jian, but he is still prepared to give the Du Shui Ling enough face and pay him a personal visit.
Yun Chu rode into the imperial city on horseback, and a faint stench lingered in his mouth and nose. Yun Chu was familiar with this smell. Back then, his official residence in Daxing City had always had this smell, and it lingered all year round.
Because of the cold winter, the houses that had suffered from the fire had not yet begun to be renovated. Only some broken bricks and rotten wood inside had been transported out. The once prosperous Tianjie was now empty, with only a few officials walking on it in a hurry.
When the imperial city was in trouble, how could the Capital Water Conservancy Bureau be an exception?
Yun Chu met Li Chunfeng, the director of the Du Shui Jian, in a side hall of the Du Shui Jian.
In Yun Chu's memory, this guy should have been dead, but now he was standing at the door of the side hall with a cheerful face to greet him. Looking at his white hair and beard and his immortal appearance, Yun Chu felt that he could still live another 10 or 20 years.
"I haven't seen you for a long time. I am glad to see you are still as handsome as ever."
Yun Chu raised his hand and clasped his fists in return, saying, "The Louguantai Scripture Debate Conference is right before our eyes, and you, the Taoist priest, are not busy running around for the Taoist sect, but have been promoted to the third rank without anyone noticing. It seems that the Taoist priest is going to give up Taoism and join politics?"
Yun Chu's words were sharp, but Li Chunfeng smiled calmly and said, "I consider myself the best in the world in the art of Yin and Yang, but it is this art that has made me so embarrassed that I have been wrong so many times that my reputation has been ruined. I can no longer face the Taoist sages, so I have no choice but to take off my Taoist robe and return to the mortal world."
Yun Chu looked at Li Chunfeng and said, "A few days ago, a spring suddenly gushed out in Chang'an County. Is it a good omen or bad news?"
(End of this chapter)