Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 355 A Small Act of Willfulness by the Supreme Power

On the 29th day of the eighth month of the second year of the reign of Emperor Hanxing, the emperor's imperial carriage visited Jiwu County.

The mid-autumn sun still carried a hint of summer heat, and Bi Zhan, the magistrate of Jiwu County, had already led the heads of the county's prominent families to respectfully welcome the emperor's imperial carriage outside the city. (Note 1)

As the emperor's procession drew near, everyone lowered their heads, not daring to look directly at him.

Bi Zhan took a deep breath, stepped forward, bowed, and said in a slightly trembling voice, "Your subject, Bi Zhan, magistrate of Jiwu County, pays respects to the State!"

"No gift."

The emperor's voice came from horseback, calm yet carrying a hint of majesty in the ears of Bi Zhan and the others.

"Thank you, country!"

Bi Zhan thanked the emperor and stood up. Only then did he dare to secretly raise his eyes and quickly glance at the emperor sitting upright on a white horse.

This was his first audience with the emperor. The emperor was indeed as young as rumored, with a face that still retained some of the youthful handsomeness and naivety of a boy. However, the way the emperor looked at him made Bi Zhan's heart tighten, and he hurriedly lowered his head.

The people who came to greet the emperor appeared to be happy about his arrival, but in reality they were terrified.

For more than a month, the emperor has unleashed a bloody storm in Chenliu County.

Starting with Chenliu County, corrupt officials in the seventeen counties of Chenliu Prefecture, including Weishi, Fugou, Yongqiu, Xiangyi, Waihuang, and Kaocheng, were all uprooted. More than half of the counties were temporarily without anyone in charge, and all the officials, from county magistrates and assistant magistrates to county lieutenants, were brought to justice.

Also brought to justice were a number of lawless powerful families, especially the aristocratic families and merchants who supplied grain and metal to the rebels of Chen. Their homes were confiscated and they were beheaded. In a short time, heads rolled and blood flowed like rivers.

However, even if the emperor issues an edict to kill someone, there must be a legal basis for it.

Rebels who sell grain to the State of Chen can be directly prosecuted for treason and rebellion, and sentenced to death, with their families confiscated and enslaved, and their property confiscated by the government.

However, transporting metal to the State of Chen in the form of agricultural tools and other implements falls into a gray area outside the scope of the law.

Even if the law is revised immediately and the "sections" that supplement the main body of the law are updated, the previous events cannot be investigated by the revised law.

Therefore, Liu Bian did not intend to punish them for transporting metal, but instead sought to find a breakthrough in their other crimes to cover up the crime.

He didn't believe that someone who dared to supply metal to the rebels could honestly refrain from breaking any other laws.

This matter was then handed over to his soon-to-be brother-in-law, Du Xi.

Given Du Xi's background and his brother-in-law relationship with him, it was impossible for him to serve as a scribe by his side for his entire life. In the end, serving as the emperor's scribe was also for the purpose of training.

Investigating these powerful families and businessmen who profited in the gray area is not only a way to hone Du Xi's skills, but also a way to enrich his resume and accumulate political achievements.

But being a traditional Confucian scholar, Du Xichu seemed somewhat hesitant at first, unsure of where to begin.

Liu Bian retorted, "Even if you've never eaten pork, have you never seen Guo Tu run away?"
After receiving the emperor's "guidance," Du Xi immediately understood and began to take action.

Having served the emperor for so long and been exposed to so many things, even following the established rules wouldn't leave him at a loss. Du Xi was simply using this opportunity to clarify the issue of boundaries.

Du Xi then invited many powerful and influential families in Chenliu County, and like a sycophantic minister seeking favor, he openly and secretly solicited bribes from them. He also implied that these families should send out a few members from collateral branches to take the blame, shifting all the responsibility onto these members and the merchants in charge of the lower-level trade. He even pinned all the debts of bullying men and women, seizing land, hiding people, and evading taxes on them, settling all the accounts at once.

Compared to the capital offenses of treason and rebellion, these minor offenses, which are commonplace in aristocratic families, are just small matters, though they are also punishable by death. In the past, no one would delve into them, but if there is an opportunity to settle scores, they will naturally not miss it.

In this way, the direct descendants of these powerful families did not have to suffer, Du Xi was able to report to the emperor and also make some extra money. For a time, both host and guest were happy and a win-win cooperation was achieved.

Of course, Du Xi required them to coordinate their statements beforehand, so that if the emperor sent someone to review the case, someone's statement would not match the actual facts, thus implicating him, the "great philanthropist."

But after receiving this group of collateral relatives who were handed over to take the blame, Du Xi changed his tune. Instead of subjecting them to severe torture, he soothed these scapegoats with gentle words.

Du Xi offered lenient treatment on the condition that these members of the collateral branches of the clan actively strive to perform meritorious service.

Initially, these collateral branches of the tribe naturally refused to cooperate.

They are willing to take the blame either because they are being blackmailed by their families or because they have received a promise that would make them willing to die.

Du Xi, however, did not simply show leniency; instead, he explained the advantages and disadvantages to Du Xi.

First, the attitude was made clear: if dealt with according to the law, the lightest crime they would face would be the execution of their entire family, and their relatives would not even be qualified to be enslaved.

As for whether their families could be hidden and protected, Du Xi coldly pointed out the reality that these people's families could not protect their loved ones, cutting off their wishful thinking. He frankly stated that Xiu Yi had been watching their families closely, ensuring that their families had nowhere to escape.

Moreover, Du Xi stated that the emperor was paying close attention to this matter, which meant that they could not protect their families. Regardless of whether they actively sought merit or not, at most, their punishment would be delayed by one or two months.

Those direct descendants who made promises or threats to them at that time will definitely not escape death. Both the benefits and the threats will be gone, and no one will be able to fulfill them.

If he were to stand up and report the crime, he could plead with the emperor to spare him the death penalty or other forms of torture. Instead, his entire family would be relocated to Yangzhou or Jingzhou. This would serve two purposes: firstly, as a nominal exile to silence public opinion, and secondly, to protect them.

Under duress and enticement, some people finally wavered.

A small number of collateral relatives still stepped forward to report and expose wrongdoing, actively seeking to earn merit. Du Xi also intended to set an example, and obtained a decree from the emperor that had been stamped with his seal, granting lenient treatment.

People tend to conform. In the past, people were mindful of clan ties, feared the retaliation of the direct line, and coveted the promises made by the direct line. Even if they wanted to make a name for themselves, many people dared not stand up to report and expose their crimes.

As Du Xi fulfilled his promise, more and more people were tempted and applied to provide clues and evidence in hopes of receiving lenient treatment.

As for the clues they reported... if it wasn't planned this way from the beginning, why would Du Xi deliberately instruct the direct descendants of those aristocratic families to collude beforehand, so that these collateral descendants could match their testimonies with the actual facts of the case?

Meanwhile, those powerful and wealthy families, in order to settle accounts, revealed many crimes that even Du Xi was unaware of to these collateral relatives. The evidence they provided far exceeded Du Xi's expectations, allowing him to obtain a large amount of core evidence and saving him a great deal of trouble.

Du Xi then wrote everything down in a memorial to the emperor.

Liu Bian was satisfied with Du Xi's performance, but it was also within his expectations.

However, Liu Bian couldn't help but mutter to himself that his methods of handling affairs vaguely resembled those of Jia Xu.

He was willing to sacrifice his reputation to get involved, and with his meticulous planning, he blocked the path to survival for these collateral relatives, and then gave them their only way out... This kind of intricate and calculating approach is clearly Jia Xu's style of doing things. I wonder when Du Xi started to become so wicked.

However, Du Xi's performance was indeed outstanding and beyond reproach. Even if it were Jia Xu or Guo Tu, they wouldn't have been much better than Du Xi. They would have simply relied on their richer experience and more skillful methods, and they would have been more willing to tarnish their reputation in order to cast a long line and catch more big fish.

Moreover, Guo Tu is the kind of person who will never give up until he has thoroughly investigated the matter, while Du Xi is much easier to satisfy. As long as he has enough evidence to sentence the entire clan to death, he will stop investigating.

As more and more witnesses and physical evidence were brought to light, and the case was handed over to Du Xi, it was Shen Pei, who was in charge of the specific arrest and execution, who took charge.

With Du Xi paving the way, Shen Pei's task became much easier, and the arrest and execution went incredibly smoothly.

The biggest obstacle he encountered was probably having to drag his tired body out of his beloved warm bed every morning.

It wasn't that there weren't any powerful and influential families who were unwilling to give up and tried to cause trouble.

But the soldiers of the Left Guard Battalion, who had no battles to fight, were overjoyed. Apart from Dian Wei, who was accompanying the emperor, and Wang Yue's Dianjun Xiaowei unit, the other four units were all sent to quell the rebellion.

Unfortunately, these rebellions caused too little commotion, and most of them were reported by collateral relatives who did not want to be accomplices in the rebellion before they even started.

That's ridiculous. They didn't get much of the profits anyway; they were just acting as front men. At most, their crimes would only result in exile or beheading, and their wives, children, and elderly parents wouldn't be implicated.

Even if their wives, children, and elderly parents are implicated... they have no say in the shared prosperity, but this time they have to risk their entire family's lives to share the hardship?
Therefore, these collateral clansmen scrambled to perform meritorious service, reported the rebellious intentions of the direct clansmen, and, before they could gain momentum, cooperated with the soldiers of the Left Guard Camp to quickly quell the rebellion. Thus, these sporadic rebellions did not cause much of a stir.

In order to salvage his image and status in the emperor's heart, Shen Pei also revealed his sharp fangs, showing no mercy whatsoever.

In this world, one must keep one's word. He had promised the emperor to "properly" deal with these powerful and influential families, so naturally he had to keep his word.

I said I'd make sure your whole family dies, and I mean it!

As long as the evidence is conclusive, arrests and executions are carried out as appropriate. In Yu County, more than ten members of Cai Yong's clan who had committed crimes were even killed, and the entire families of these more than ten households were exterminated.

Even the families of the emperor's relatives were severely punished, to the point that Chenliu County was terrified of the emperor's entourage.

Therefore, even though Bi Zhan believes he has not embezzled a single penny, he has still given these powerful families preferential treatment in some matters in order to achieve political success, and is therefore worried about being implicated.

Liu Bian's gaze swept over Bi Zhan from his horse, but did not linger there for long.

The situation in Jiwu County had been investigated beforehand. Magistrate Bi Zhan was indeed very clean, extremely filial, and fairly conscientious in his official duties, which was also thanks to the strict discipline of his mother.

Having lost his father at a young age, Bi Zhan was exceptionally filial to his mother, who raised him single-handedly. He was a well-known filial son and naturally did not want to disobey his mother, much less disappoint her expectations.

Bi Zhan's mother always taught him to be law-abiding and obedient, so Bi Zhan never actually broke the law.

His trip to Jiwu County was mainly due to receiving an interesting secret letter.

The matter in Chenliu County was largely resolved, and Xu You had prepared two more "grand gifts" for him, which he naturally had to personally accept at the front lines.

It's unclear how Xu You managed to deceive Liu Chong, or how he came to believe there was still a glimmer of hope in a field battle with the central army.

As for why Liu Bian was preparing to go to the front line, why he didn't go directly south from Yu County to join forces with Huangfu Song in Yangxia, but instead went the long way south from Jiwu County to join forces with Wang Yun in Wuping... In fact, there wasn't much consideration involved, it was simply because Dian Wei was from Jiwu County.

Without affecting the overall situation, this is nothing more than a trivial act of capriciousness by supreme power.

Wealth and honor do not return to their hometown, just like walking in fine clothes at night.

Without affecting the overall situation, this is nothing more than a trivial little act of capriciousness by the supreme power.

(3573 words)
Note 1: Initially, when the Duke was the governor of Yanzhou, he appointed Bi Chen as his chief advisor. When Zhang Miao rebelled, Miao kidnapped Chen's mother, younger brother, wife, and children; the Duke apologized and sent them away, saying, "Your elderly mother is there; you may leave."

Chen bowed his head, showing no disloyalty. The Duke praised him and wept for him. After leaving, he fled back home. When Bu was defeated, Chen was captured alive. Everyone was afraid for Chen, but the Duke said, "A person who is filial to his parents is surely also loyal to his ruler! This is what I seek." He then appointed him as the Chancellor of Lu.

(End of this chapter)