I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 3 A real man has his own responsibilities

When he first heard Zhu Zhen's shameless words, the young and hot-tempered Murong Yan almost exploded with anger.

At that moment, he truly felt that even if it meant his death, he would wait for an opportunity to kill this corrupt official.

Fortunately, Zhao Zicheng was quick enough to cover his mouth.

"Calm down! It hasn't come to that yet! We still have a chance to get the things back! When the time comes, I will make that framed dog Duan pay the price first! As for Zhu Zhen, a gentleman's revenge is not overnight! He brought so many guards with him, don't let him die in vain!"

Murong Yan's mouth was covered, and he immediately started to struggle in panic. Zhao Zicheng also felt that the place he touched was too smooth, so he subconsciously let go. Fortunately, Murong Yan did not scream again.

He just took a few quick breaths and pleaded shamefully, "Then it all depends on Brother Zhao's methods."

Zhao Zicheng had just managed to calm Murong Yan down when Zhu Zhen, accompanied by a group of guards, came over. He looked them over and then asked arrogantly:
"It was you who violated the imperial court's flower and stone project?"

"I didn't hit anyone! We were just trying to save him!" Murong Yan made his final defense and didn't say anything more, just gritting his teeth.

Zhu Zhen snorted coldly and was about to order the other party to be tied up.

Things have come to this point. Zhao Zi said that even if he wanted to stay out of it, it would be impossible. The people from the Yingfeng Bureau would have no bottom line when it comes to biting people.

He took a responsible step forward and bowed to Zhu Jie. "Mr. Zhu, everything in the world is governed by reason. I was a passenger on that ship and witnessed it. Yang Zhishi's ship did indeed sink on its own."

If there had been a collision, both ships would have sustained damage. Furthermore, I personally witnessed Yang Zhishi's ship sinking, which suggests it likely leaked first and then tilted. Otherwise, according to common sense, it would have capsized, not sunk."

Zhu Jie heard this but didn't care at all. He was even too lazy to ask Zhao Zicheng to produce evidence.

Is evidence still needed to hold the Yingfeng Bureau accountable?

However, there were too many people on the dock, and Zhu Zhen had to consider the impact, so he arrogantly asked, "Who are you? Do you have the right to speak here?"

Zhao Zicheng wore a coarse hemp shirt and could not even afford silk. Seeing how poor he was, Zhu Jie was too lazy to confiscate his property, as there was no money to be made.

Zhao Zicheng remained neither humble nor arrogant: "I am Zhao Zicheng, a student studying at the Imperial College in Bianjing. I was lucky enough to get two A's in the spring examination this year. Now I have returned to my hometown to wait for a vacancy.

Furthermore, the student is the sixth-generation grandson of Emperor Taizu, and a descendant of the Prince of Qin (Zhao Defang) and the Duke of Ying (Zhao Weixian).”

Zhao Zi said that the Song clan was actually worthless because each generation of his family was not the eldest son of the royal family, and each generation had to reduce their nobility by one level.

But Zhu Zhen didn't know about these circumstances. He just thought he was a member of the royal family with status. His face changed slightly for a moment, and he didn't dare to do anything too outrageous.

Upon hearing this, his companions felt that they had been saved and looked at him in surprise.

I didn't expect that this low-key poor scholar is actually a descendant of Emperor Taizu, and his academic performance is so good. He really is a true man.

Zhu Jie hesitated for a moment and decided not to blindly use his power to pressure others. Instead, he tried to reason with Zhao Zicheng:

"Since Mr. Zhao wishes to bear witness, I will naturally handle the matter impartially! However, there is no evidence whatsoever. You claim that the ship sank. Do you have any other supporting evidence?"

Zhu Jie did not directly say "human evidence does not count", but Zhao Zicheng knew from his tone that the other party would definitely not accept human evidence.

So he didn't beat around the bush and directly suggested presenting physical evidence: "Mr. Zhu wants to know the truth, but it's not difficult. Murong Dalang has already sent people to raise ships and sailors, and they are waiting to return to help the court salvage the cargo from the sunken ship.

Wouldn't it be clear at a glance if we could just dive and inspect the scene? And, with all due respect to my students, the most important thing right now is to find that rockery and not delay Your Majesty's garden renovations. We can always hold them accountable later."

Zhao Zicheng's last sentence finally moved Zhu Jie.

It is true that Zhu Zhen was addicted to plundering, but all his power came from the tasks assigned by Zhao Ji, and he could still distinguish between what was unimportant and what was not.

"In that case, do you know where the ship sank? If you can find it, lead the way and let the Taihu Lake Navy cooperate in the salvage operation!

Your name is Zhao Zicheng, right? To have passed the Imperial College exam, you must have some real talent. As long as you do well, are you worried that the Ministry of Personnel won't fill your vacancy?"

Zhao Zicheng felt disgusted, but for now he could only pretend to be nice to this corrupt official. He forced a smile and pretended to accept Zhu Jiepao's goodwill.

……

Seeing that Zhao Zicheng had stabilized Zhu Jie, the officials and soldiers from the Yingfeng Bureau nearby were all disappointed.

They were all ready to raid the house, but now they can only wait for the results of the salvage operation.

But where some are sad, others are happy.

The Suzhou people who were watching all looked at Zhao Zicheng with admiration and whispered to each other:

"This young man is truly courageous! He may look poorly dressed, but he's able to argue his case without fear. He's truly a true man!"

"Yes, if he hadn't spoken out for justice, who knows how much more people would have been affected by this incident today."

Most of the people in Suzhou are simple and honest. When they saw Zhao Zicheng stand up and temporarily delay the looting, they felt grateful in their hearts.

Everyone knew that if Zhu Zhen took the opportunity to attack, it would not be enough to just raid the Murong family, but would definitely implicate a large number of people.

The people were all afraid of Zhu Zhen, and everyone spoke in a very low voice, but the whispers of thousands of people gathered together were very loud.

But the sounds were mixed, so it was hard to hear who was saying what.

Zhu Zhen was quite shameless. He knew that he had a bad reputation, so he didn't bother to deal with it since the law did not hold everyone responsible.

However, there were also some spectators in the crowd who claimed to be scholars and knowledgeable. They wanted to argue to show that they were different from others, so they talked a lot to please Zhu Zhen:
"That man is a member of the Zhao family after all, so he has nothing to fear. If he were an ordinary citizen, who would dare to be the first to speak out?"

But someone nearby immediately retorted, "Oh, there are at least eight hundred members of the Song royal family. How many of them have you seen who dare to speak up for justice? Moreover, he is a descendant of Taizu. Even though he has fallen on hard times, he still remembers his loyalty. He is truly a hero!"

Zhao Zicheng listened to it and was secretly glad about his decision. He didn't expect that arguing with Zhu Jie in public would bring him such an unexpected gain.

It seems that when we are approaching a chaotic era, we cannot just seek stability and protect ourselves.

It is also necessary to moderately display one's heroic spirit.

Just like in the late Han Dynasty, if Liu Bei had been obsessed with climbing the ladder of power and becoming a high official, and had not dared to whip the inspector or take action against his superiors, would he still be Liu Bei? Would he still be able to unite so many heroes?
Now I have won some popular support and reputation, which will be more or less beneficial for dealing with the Fang La Rebellion in the future.

It was worthwhile to confront Zhu Jie this time.

……

On the other hand, with Zhu Jie's personal supervision, the preparations for salvage were naturally very quick.

In just a quarter of an hour, all the necessary sailors, ships and equipment were ready.

While doing these things, Zhu Zhen also ordered his men in an orderly manner and in a low voice:

"Dong Chao, please send some people to invite County Magistrate Li so that he can be a witness later.

Then send people to monitor those wealthy families to prevent them from getting wind of the news and running away with their property.

Finally, let's find out the details of this Zhao and see which lineage of the Duke of Yingguo he is from."

"Don't worry, sir. I won't have to do that." A military officer nearby immediately responded and started to make arrangements. It was obvious that he was an experienced hand at this.

This person is the deputy commander of the militia in this state, and should not be under the jurisdiction of the Yingfeng Bureau.

However, Zhu Jie was powerful and could often reach the emperor. Therefore, some people in the Suzhou militia and local official system secretly joined him and became his followers for a long time.

When Zhu Jie heard that Zhao Zicheng was a member of the royal family, he made a temporary decision to handle the case more thoroughly.

As long as Zhao Zi claims that he cannot obtain decisive evidence, he will let Gusu County handle the matter impartially, and outsiders will not be able to accuse him of bullying others by taking advantage of his power.

After all preparations were complete, the salvage fleet finally set sail. Zhu Zhen, accompanied by Li Xiancheng and Dong Tuanlian, personally boarded the largest ship.

Zhao Zicheng is still on the same boat with Murong Yan, Deng Yue, Yang Zhi and others.

Duan Ming had already broken off relations with them, so naturally he had to stay with his master Zhu Jie.

……

On the way back, the atmosphere was much more depressing.

After Murong Yan recovered from his initial shock and anger, he felt extremely aggrieved, but didn't want to lose face, so he just bit his lip and didn't say anything.

His men were all indignant, and Yang Zhi seemed very embarrassed, feeling unpopular with both sides.

"Master Zhao, Master Murong, I really didn't know Duan Ming would be so critical. Otherwise, I would have killed this unjust man with a single blow and fled! He actually attacked his lifesaver. He's simply not a human being!"

Yang Zhi couldn't stand this silent oppression, and finally took the initiative to swear an oath to express his determination.

Murong Yan didn't know what to say, and was just stunned and speechless. Finally, Zhao Zicheng spoke to comfort him: "Okay, Yang Zhishi, don't worry, we know that you and he are not the same kind of people.

Besides, isn't the matter almost resolved? Once we take Zhu Jie to the location of the shipwreck and have his men dive down to see for themselves, the truth will be revealed."

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhi was so grateful that he actually shed tears.

Murong Yan also felt a little better, but he was still a little frightened and asked:

"The average depth of Taihu Lake is only about ten feet, and the place just now was only two feet at most. Duan knew that we could recover the sunken ship, but he still insisted on being a villain. What is his intention?

"He just wants to help Zhu Jie extort the rich? Is he sure Zhu Jie won't give us a chance to participate in the salvage? That's really shameless, isn't it?"

The others thought about it further and suddenly felt that this matter might not be that simple.

Fortunately, Zhao Zicheng obviously reacted faster than them and had thought of this a long time ago.

He snorted solemnly, "I don't know exactly how or when he'll do it, but I'm sure he'll do it. If a wicked person dares to do evil, he must have something to rely on.

But you don't have to worry too much. When the time comes, just follow my orders and adapt to the situation, and you will definitely be able to break through."

Zhao Zicheng was not worried, as he had a backup plan. However, he didn't know what Duan Ming's conspiracy was, so he couldn't explain it in detail.

Seeing Zhao Zicheng so calm and composed, everyone was infected and their morale was slightly boosted.

……

Half an hour later, it was the early afternoon.

The fleet finally returned to the waters where the accident was suspected to have occurred early in the morning.

And the situation that everyone was worried about actually happened.

The lake was completely empty, with no red lacquered wooden barrel floating on it.

Everyone looked around for several times but couldn't see anything suspicious.

"How could there be nothing left? We clearly pushed down so many buckets!" Murong Yan suddenly became anxious.

"Yes, I tied the rope with my own hands. I tied at least a dozen circles and seven or eight knots for each bucket!" Yang Zhi was also anxious. He was worried about the disappearance of the floating bucket and was afraid of being blamed.

Is this Duan Ming’s conspiracy?

He seemed to have foreseen his fate: bankruptcy, complete dismissal from the military, imprisonment...

Seeing that there was no progress here, Zhu Jie on the big ship also came over and sent people to question.

This inexplicable feeling of oppression made everyone more anxious, and they all looked at Zhao Zicheng helplessly.

Zhao Zicheng calmly scanned the lake one last time, confirming that the floating barrel was indeed missing, and then cut to the chase:

"Don't worry, I still have a way, but you all have to follow my orders and don't ask any more questions."

At this point, everyone had no choice. Murong Yan immediately said, "Brother Zhao, please give us your instructions! We will follow your lead!"

Zhao Zicheng spoke faster, "After we got ashore just now, Duan Ming disappeared for a while. Later, when Zhu Zhen came to find him, he made the excuse that he had a stomachache because he caught a cold after falling into the water.

Now that I think about it, he might have taken advantage of that moment to arrange for his accomplices to rush back to the scene early and destroy the float.

But no matter what tricks he used, this situation can still be saved. You just need to row the boat to the location I indicate, and then send the sailors to search the water with reed pipes in their mouths."

As Zhao Zicheng spoke, he took out a blueprint like a magic trick, and took out a ruler from the bookcase behind him.

Then he gestured in front of the public while referring to the drawings and giving orders.

"First row east another 100 feet, then north 40 feet, then send someone into the water to try. If you can't find it, I'll adjust it."

Everyone quickly followed suit. Although they were curious about the diagram Zhao Zicheng had suddenly produced and couldn't understand it, no one had the time to dwell on the details in this situation.

On the other side, Zhu Jie's boat had already approached. Dong Chao stood by the side of the boat and shouted arrogantly, "Didn't you say you had placed buoys at the shipwreck? Why haven't you found it yet?"

Zhao Zicheng tried to calm the other party down: "Please give us a few more hours, Mr. Zhu. We will find it. It's not far away."

"Give him another quarter of an hour, so that outsiders won't say that we should punish the officials without giving them a lesson." After hearing the report, Zhu Zhen made the decision with a sinister look on his face, playing with two golden gallbladders in his hands.

Five steps behind Zhu Jie, Duan Ming stood humbly, looking down at the deck, a hint of relief flashed in his eyes, but no one saw it.

But even so, Zhu Zhen still turned his head vigilantly and glanced coldly at Duan Ming. When he didn't see any flaws, he withdrew his gaze.

……

On the other hand, the process of finding the coordinates of the shipwreck was indeed a bit bumpy.

The picture Zhao Zicheng drew is not yet accurate enough and needs to be fine-tuned.

When the sailors first went into the water, they were not able to find the shipwreck immediately.

The underwater vision is too poor and you can't see far at all.

The average water depth of Taihu Lake in later generations was only more than two meters, but there was less siltation in the Northern Song Dynasty and the depth was deeper than in later generations.

Moreover, this place is at least five or six miles away from the shore and is located in the deep water area near Dongshan of Taihu Lake. It is actually two or three feet deep.

Fortunately, it is late spring now, and the sun has been shining brightly these past few days. The pollution in the Song Dynasty was much lower than in later times, so the lake water is not too turbid.

A skilled sailor could open his eyes naturally at a depth of two meters underwater and see the surrounding terrain within a maximum of seventy to eighty meters. Beyond that, he could only slowly swim underwater to search, or change location and then re-enter the water.

After not finding it once and twice, everyone became more and more anxious.

The time limit promised by Zhu Jie was getting closer and closer. Finally, Deng Yue, a loyal servant of the Murong family, ignored the fact that he was already a wealthy man and asked for permission to go into the water himself and dived twice more.

The last time, he stayed underwater for a full cup of tea. When he surfaced again, he finally brought back good news:

"Master! We found it! The shipwreck is here! The anchor stones we lost are all there, but the hemp ropes that tied them to the anchor stones were cut by a sharp weapon. No wonder the buckets drifted away."

(End of this chapter)