My book friend Long Aotian

Chapter 130: We will bear the blame after suffering
As we all know, to survive the ups and downs of officialdom, one must have an important awareness.

That is... not taking responsibility.

If you choose "Fenglin Huoshan instigated Gao Bijin to murder Li Bailong", you will be forced by Governor Li to sign a petition, which will undoubtedly cause the wrath of Bafengtai and make an example of him, and your life's achievements may turn to dust.

Because signing a letter is a political statement and means taking responsibility.

Therefore, the answer to this multiple-choice question is actually very clear.

Judge Zhang Tong took only a few breaths to make the decision.

However, in official circles, it is a taboo to express one's views or positions too early.

He narrowed his eyes and pretended to search the ground. As he searched, he said, "Excuse me, Governor. I believe that Fenglin Huoshan is the pillar of the Great Qi and will never harm the pillars of the country at will..."

Li Bailong watched his performance quietly and asked, "But?"

"..."

Does this guy know anything about officialdom? You have to act with me! Act well!
Judge Zhang was a little annoyed, but he still reluctantly continued: "But, secretly communicating with Beining is a serious crime. If this is true, my colleagues and I will all bear the guilt of negligence."

"In my opinion, this matter may be a misunderstanding. Gao Bijin may have committed corruption and abuse of power. He may also have condoned his family's forced buying and selling. It is not surprising that he relied on his high position and power to do some dereliction of duty that betrayed the emperor's grace. I have heard of this before..."

What he meant was that the charges you made were too serious and I would be implicated too, so it would be better to charge him with a smaller crime and I can help you collect evidence.

"Bargaining with me, huh?"

Li Bailong didn't speak in official language and kicked the two petition papers in front of the magistrate.

"I asked you to do multiple-choice questions, not fill-in-the-blank questions!" He said in a grim tone, "You must choose! If you don't choose, you won't have a chance... Tell me, do you choose Beining, or do you want to die?"

Judge Zhang Tong's mentality had not yet adjusted. He saw that this lone commander of the Tongwen Bureau dared to speak loudly in front of him and threatened the court officials. He was so audacious!
His face flushed and he roared, "You are so uncivilized! You are unreasonable! I choose Beining!"

"??????"

I can’t do anything about it!

Li Bailong's threatening words fell into thin air and he looked stunned.

While he was in a daze, Judge Zhang straightened up slowly and sighed, "Since you are the king of Zhao, there must be a reason for sending you to the Tongwen Bureau, a deadly place. We have tacitly allowed the people below to fight for power and besiege you in the past few days, which may have hindered the king's plan. Thinking about it now, I shudder."

He had already picked up the two papers on the ground and shook off the dust. "Your evil scheme is one thing after another. You said you were forcing me to choose between the two options, but in fact you just wanted me to cooperate with you and frame Gao Bijin for having an affair with Beining."

"I just made a brief test and I know that you don't want to frame Gao Bijin for a serious crime and take the opportunity to get rid of him. You want to use the matter of 'Tongzhi Tongning' to turn the officialdom upside down and take control of the various government offices in Huazhou. Not only do you want to take back power, but you also want to make the officialdom in Huazhou be at your mercy from now on. So before, you made a big fuss in the Tongwen Bureau and drove those corrupt officials back to the various government offices. You wanted to throw the secretly burning fire into our homes..."

Seeing that he was speaking eloquently and wisely, Li Bailong thought that he had seen through his plan, found a loophole and wanted to fight back, so he couldn't help but show a solemn expression and prepare for battle.

The next moment, Judge Zhang bowed to the ground and said, "I am willing to serve you at your service!"

"..."

what?
Sliding to your knees so fast?
Before Li Bailong could react, he heard Judge Zhang say sincerely, "The governor was the first to summon me in. I believe he has expectations of me. Since I am involved in this matter, I feel that you are the mastermind and will definitely win. How can you allow me to get away easily? In this case, I might as well join you immediately and have a decent life!"

He had tried to test Li Bailong a few times before, and seeing that Li Bailong did not care about official documents and official rules, he immediately adjusted his way of speaking and made his request directly.

"The governor is about to win a great victory. Next, he will make great efforts in Huazhou to wipe out all evil. This is a piece of cake. I am willing to cooperate with you in every possible way."

"I know that you want to clean up the malpractices of the Tongwen Bureau and purge corrupt officials, but if it involves the Tongpan Hall, I will never defend you. I just hope you can be more considerate of me."

"Also, I have been an official in the political world for nearly fifty years, and have achieved nothing. My only ambition in life is to make progress and serve the country. I have heard that King Zhao is virtuous, and I would like to extend my ambitions to serve you. I only regret that our fate is shallow..."

Li Bailong is not qualified to be granted an official title and make a wish.

But he can still report truthfully and give a few compliments.

So he nodded and said, "If it succeeds, I will praise you generously and will speak well of you to the emperor's uncle. If the magistrate can help you with all his strength, I will also ensure your dignity."

Judge Zhang smiled.

That's enough.

The officials in Huazhou usurped the authority of the Tongwen Bureau, and every official took advantage of the officials below him. Since Li Bailong had seized the weakness of the officialdom, he not only wanted to take back the power, but also made all the government offices spit out everything they had taken in. It didn't matter to him whether others lived or died, he had to save some money for his retirement.

As for whether you can get in touch with King Zhao, that depends on fate.

Having ensured that he would not lose, he did not think about other things. Judge Zhang took two steps forward, raised the confession in his hand, and said loudly: "Your Excellency was wrong to ask me to make a choice before. In such an important matter, only Your Excellency can make the decision. I will make the choice as Your Excellency wants me to make. How dare I say no!"

Li Bailong immediately said: "I order you to choose Fenglin Volcano."

"..."

Judge Zhang suddenly looked up, showing a look of surprise.

Li Ju laughed and said, "I also know that the Tongpan is a talented person, so I was just joking with him!"

Upon hearing this, the other party also started laughing.

After laughing for a while, Li Bailong patted the other person on the shoulder and said in a friendly manner: "To express my apology, I will give you wealth. Didn't you say that you wished you could meet King Zhao? Then let's write a joint letter with me - to report to King Zhao about the activities of Fenglin Huoshan and Gao Bijin."

Judge Zhang's smile froze for a moment, then he immediately said, "That's exactly what I wish for!"

Writing a letter to the imperial court and writing a letter to King Zhao have two completely different logics.

But it’s all a political statement.

Everyone knows that King Zhao's promise is worth a thousand gold.

But on the other hand, everyone knows that King Zhao hates fickle people the most.

Judge Zhang Tong thought that he didn't need Li Bailong to threaten him and could directly and enthusiastically join him, which would at least make the other party relax their vigilance and guard a little. He didn't expect that this young man with a hearty smile would put the world's strongest hoop on him while chatting and laughing.

"Besides." Li Bailong's voice sounded faintly, "Gao Bijin's defense of his collusion with Ningguo is too exaggerated, lacks the breath of life, and is not very realistic. Since you are an official in the same city as him, why don't you help him recall carefully, in what specific aspects did this fifth-rank Tongzhi collude with the enemy country?" Even though he had been dragged into the pirate ship, Judge Zhang still felt a little annoyed.

You even need me to help you think of evidence to frame someone?
But the next moment, he met Li Bailong's gloomy gaze and suddenly felt horrified.

What can unite people, besides common interests and common ideals...

There is also joint crime.

As a result, the Tongpan also participated in the criminal process of framing his colleagues.

I can't go back anymore...

A collar with the name "King Zhao" was put around his neck, and he was accused of "joint crime". Judge Zhang Tong's already shaky (political) innocence was quickly tainted.

As we all know, one of the specific manifestations of evil is to actively drag former companions into the water.

Judge Zhang's full name was Zhang Chun. He was a simple and honest man. After submitting his surrender, he proposed to personally trick his colleagues waiting outside into coming in so that Governor Li could tame and educate them.

As soon as the martial arts instructor of this state came in, he found that Zhang Tongpan had closed the door behind him, and Li Ju, who was waiting inside, unfolded the confession filled with words: "Come, I'll show you a treasure!"

Huazhou magistrate Wei Chunfang was the last one to come in.

As soon as he came in, he realized something was wrong.

The wind was howling, and the judge had already grabbed his shoulders. He struggled hard, but on the other side, the instructor in charge of the martial arts education in the state had quietly approached him and grabbed his pulse with a ruthless iron finger.

The River Envoy and the Tax Envoy stood on each side and kicked him in the knees, causing him to kneel on the ground involuntarily.

Six officials from the six chambers were standing guard around.

They are not even qualified to participate in such high-level political struggles.

Wei Chunfang was shocked and angry, and asked sternly: "What are you doing? What crime have I committed?"

Governor Li walked up to him and said calmly, "The prefect has not returned, the co-prefect is colluding with the enemy, and the situation in Huazhou is unstable. After closed-door consultations among the high-ranking officials of this state, everyone unanimously nominated me to preside over the daily work of Huazhou."

"Wei Chunfang, colleagues have reported that you are usually very close to Co-Director Gao, and your interests are deeply intertwined. When Gao Bijin was instructed by Bac Ninh to exclude and suppress me, you were always the first to rush in and persecute a loyal and honest person like me, and you were the most active, which makes people doubt your position and motives."

"After a discussion at an internal meeting of the state, it has been determined that you and Gao Bijin are suspected of collaborating with the enemy. You will be detained temporarily and told to report any problems you may have to the government office at a specified time and place."

Wei Chunfang was like hearing a foreign language, and shouted angrily: "Li Bailong, how dare you! What Beining!"

Li Bailong said calmly, "You are a talented person. You quickly figured out that Gao Bijin might be temporarily detained by me in the Tongwen Bureau. You also wanted to take advantage of the fact that I was in the government office and had a meeting with the other officials. You sent your hidden assassins to rush into the Tongwen Bureau to rescue him. Unfortunately, how could I not take precautions?"

The prosecutor was in charge of criminal cases and had a keen sense of smell. He immediately heard the warning of house confiscation in these words.

He said sternly: "What do you mean by hidden assassins? They are just extra-official servants hired by the Procuratorate at its own expense!"

"It was passed down that the Procuratorate seized the authority of the Tongwen Bureau, extorted money from the Merchant Theater, and used its power to cover up its tracks, secretly raising assassins in the Procuratorate in order to plot big things."

"…Bastard official! Traitor!"

"I left a move at leisure, but a fool took the bait." Li Bailong said calmly, "Let me tell you, the person responsible for monitoring Gao Bijin is Lingyu stationed in Huazhou. Gao Bijin was secretly communicating with Beining, and you were so eager to send assassins to rob the Tongwen Bureau to save him. People have personally experienced and witnessed it. What can you do?"

Wei Chunfang felt as if the sky was falling and the earth was collapsing. Why couldn’t I understand what this guy was saying?
He looked at his colleagues and asked: "Are you just going to let him do whatever he wants here?"

The Huazhou officials looked calm.

"Don't be so hasty to shout." Li Bailong unfolded his confession, "First, let me show you a treasure."

Sometimes, the backstabbing of a close subordinate is more convincing evidence. Wei Chunfang has already become a prisoner, and his colleagues will later explain the pros and cons to him and persuade him to report and gain merit.

Li Bailong looked around at the officials in the hall with a calm expression.

He transferred the prefect, arrested the co-magistrate, obtained evidence, and used Fenglin Huoshan's notoriety and the rules of the court officialdom to force the officials to temporarily board his ship.

He finally tore a hole in the iron-clad situation in which officials and businessmen in Huazhou were integrated.

Merchants have always been rooted in Huazhou, and officials have also worked in Huazhou for generations, but the current chief officials serve for several years and will be transferred when their term is over. Their interests are not completely consistent with those of the local officials and merchants.

In a good year, making money and getting rich together is naturally a good thing.

But now Li Bailong is using Gao Tongzhi's confession to force the officials to write a joint letter, which will lead to revenge from Fenglin Huoshan, and the thunder from Bafengtai will have to be borne by these chief officials themselves.

Alternatively, they can choose to believe another version and jointly identify Gao Bijin Tongning.

But the second option was that Governor Li mercifully gave them a way out, so that they did not have to take the responsibility of starting a group.

In exchange, they had to hand over the power and interests that originally belonged to the Tongwen Bureau and support Li Bailong's next political action.

In other words, the power to deal with corrupt officials who usurped the power of the Tongwen Bureau should be handed over, and the power to control the merchants in the literary and art circles of Huazhou should be handed over...

Should they shoulder all the responsibility as the chief officer, or let the entire department and even the Huazhou officialdom take the blame? They have already made their choice.

Now, it's time for reckoning.

Li Bailong's eyes were burning as he shouted, "My Lords, what do you say?"

Zhang Chun sighed: "Now that things have come to this, we can only endure the hardship and let us bear the blame."

Led by him, the other officials bowed and said, "Gao Bi Jin Tong Ning, his influence is endless, and he has many followers. The governor has not returned yet, please ask the governor to take charge of Huazhou, eliminate the influence, and take charge of the overall situation!"

"In times of crisis, people step up and take on important responsibilities, which always inspires poetry."

Li Bailong did not refuse, but walked up to him and shouted, "All the people in the Tongwen Bureau, listen to my orders! Arrest all the people who have committed corruption in this bureau! Shut down all the theaters, bookstores, and music circles related to Gao Bijin, and order them to conduct self-investigation!"

Late! Short! Soft!

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(End of this chapter)