We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

After saying that, Li Che ignored Wang Zhen who was standing there in a daze, looked at the people in front of him, and said seriously:

"Today, right here, in front of thousands of the people of Fuzhou City, I, King Li Che, will publicly judge these two beasts!"

"Let their crimes be exposed to the world, and let the people of this city hear it with their own ears and see it with their own eyes..."

"How did this piece of sky above their heads get eaten away by these termites?"

After he finished speaking, there was thunderous applause outside the government office:

"Follow the wise king!!!"

"Public trial of the dog official!"

"Kill the traitor!"

"Revenge for the dead folks!"

The roars were like a tsunami, reaching the sky and shocking Wang Zhen and the soldiers behind him to retreat.

"Your Highness, this is an act that exceeds your authority and is inappropriate..."

Wang Zhen still wanted to struggle.

"Shut up!" Li Lin, who had been unable to contain himself, shouted sternly, "Wang Zhen, if you dare to make noise again and interfere with Old Six's investigation, don't blame me for arresting you too!"

"go away!"

He was as powerful as a tiger, and he pressed the dagger in his hand against Chen Wenrui's neck intentionally or unintentionally, scaring Chen Wenrui so much that he shook like a sieve again.

Li Lin is also well-known and one of the only two powerful vassal kings in Daqing. In the eyes of the outside world, he is also a ruthless killer.

Wang Zhen didn't dare to retort. If he said another word, not only would Chen Ruiwen be in danger, but he himself would also die here.

He could only grit his teeth with a gloomy face, reluctantly took a few steps back, shielding the crowd in front of him, not daring to say another word.

Li Che no longer paid attention to Wang Zhen. His eyes were like two cold swords, piercing Yang Ling and Chen Wenrui.

"Yang Ling, tell the whole story in front of the people of Fuzhou about how Chen Wenrui instructed you to impersonate Japanese pirates and how you plundered and divided the spoils."

"If you tell me even a single lie, I will make sure you live in agony, and die in vain!"

Yang Ling shuddered at the sight of Li Che's gaze. Surrounded by angry people who wished they could eat him alive, he knew that he would surely die today.

Since you are going to die, then drag that crooked official Chen Wenrui to hell with you!

"Your Highness, please bear witness to this, fellow citizens of Fuzhou City. I, Yang Ling, deserve death, but I was forced into this!"

Yang Ling pointed at Chen Wenrui who was not far away and said through gritted teeth, "The one who forced me to do this was this bastard official Chen Wenrui!"

Chen Wenrui's eyes widened in disbelief, "Yang Ling, you're talking nonsense!"

Yang Ling ignored him, struggled to sit up, pointed at Chen Wenrui's nose, and began to accuse him tearfully:

"When I first got into trouble and had nowhere else to go, he found me and promised me money, land, women, and asked me to do those shameful and dirty jobs for him!"

"He asked me to recruit people to impersonate Japanese pirates and rob fishermen going out to sea, stealing their boats and catches, and sometimes... even killing them to silence them!"

"Where are the stolen things?" Li Che asked coldly.

"The looted items?" Yang Ling laughed bitterly. "Most of them have to be handed over to this bastard official. The valuable items will go to him. We can only take a small portion."

"He also set a rule that only poor fishermen and small vendors were allowed to be robbed, and large merchant ships and government vessels were not allowed to be attacked. Because those people were either people he couldn't afford to offend, or people he had to protect so that he could collect so-called peace money!"

"You bastard, you are slandering me!"

Chen Wenrui struggled to refute, but was held down by Li Lin. The sharp edge of the dagger made him dare not move.

"Slander?" Yang Ling glared at Chen Wenrui with resentment. "Fellow villagers, do you remember last spring when the government said they were raising funds to suppress the Japanese invaders?"

"It was this bastard official who encouraged the city's gentry to donate money and supplies, saying he wanted to form militia to protect the country and the people."

"How much silver and grain were donated at that time? Do you know where all that money and grain went?!"

The crowd suddenly became excited.

Many people still remember the massive fundraising event last year.

At that time, Chen Wenrui was in tears, denouncing the brutality of the Japanese pirates and calling on the whole city to unite to fight the enemy. Many people saved money and donated money.

"Where's the money? You crooked official, where's our hard-earned money?!" Angry roars erupted from the crowd.

Yang Ling looked at Chen Wenrui's face, which turned pale instantly, and said happily:

"The money and grain donated by those wealthy merchants were returned intact by this corrupt official within a few days using various excuses."

"And the money and food donated by you ordinary people... hehe, all went into Chen Wenrui's private treasury, and some was distributed to us 'Japanese pirates'!"

"Hahahaha! Isn't that ridiculous? The Japanese pirates you donated money to suppress are actually the ones you raised!"

Yang Ling's words tore off Chen Wenrui's last fig leaf.

The truth is so dirty and outrageous!

The people's anger was like a flood that broke through a dam, completely destroying the last bit of rationality.

"brute!!!"

"You bastard official, give me back my hard-earned money!!"

"Kill him! This official should be cut into pieces!"

"My son, you died so unjustly!"

……

Countless people rushed forward desperately with their eyes bloodshot. The defense line formed by the palace soldiers was shaken by the impact. Rotten eggs and rotten vegetable leaves passed through the crowd like raindrops and hit Chen Wenrui hard.

Li Che glanced at Chen Wenrui with disdain and silently moved away from him.

Li Lin reacted a little slowly, and by the time he realized something was wrong, he had already been hit on the head by a rotten egg.

"Fuck you..."

Li Lin glared at them, but seeing that it was civilians who were throwing eggs, he could only swallow his curse words and quickly moved out of the attack range.

He muttered, "You old man, why didn't you remind me?"

Chen Wenrui's face was covered with filth, his spirit completely collapsed, and he collapsed to the ground like mud.

The crotch of my pants instantly became wet and gave off a foul smell.

He murmured unconsciously: "Mercy...Mercy, I was wrong...I was wrong..."

"You don't know you're wrong." Li Che's voice sounded beside him, like a judgment from the sky above, "You just know you're going to die."

Chen Wenrui suddenly froze, and regret finally appeared in his eyes.

Li Che ignored him and turned to look at the angry people.

After the people's emotions gradually calmed down, he said loudly:

"Fuzhou Governor Chen Wenrui colluded with Japanese pirates and murdered the people!"

"Raising private soldiers, plundering and dividing the spoils! Deceiving superiors and subordinates, and embezzling the people's wealth!"

"He even secretly colluded with the Japanese and sold Daqing agricultural, industrial, and medical books, aiding the enemy and committing treason!"

"The evidence of his crimes is irrefutable and innumerable. He deserves death!"

"Bandit leader Yang Ling! Aiding the tyrant in his evil deeds, acting as an accomplice to the evil, plundering and killing, his crimes are equally unforgivable!"

Li Che's gaze swept across Chen and Yang, finally settling on the thousands of people:

"But the country has its own laws,"

“Long live the King—!!”

"kill--!!"

"Kill the dog official——!!"

……

Deafening shouts echoed in front of the government office like a tsunami. The people's anger reached its peak, and they were just waiting for the king's order to tear the two men into pieces.

However, when the crowd was most angry, Li Che slowly raised his hand.

Like boiling water poured on snow, the shouting quickly subsided.

Li Che's eyes swept across the faces filled with blood and tears, and he slowly said:

"My fellow Fuzhou elders, I know the pain in your hearts and the hatred in your chests!"

"The crimes committed by these two thieves, Chen and Yang, are so heinous that they are condemned by both humans and gods. I, the king, wish I could cut them into pieces immediately to appease their souls!"

He paused, his voice adding a hint of dignity, and bowed towards the north:

"Of course!"

"A country has its own laws, and a family has its own rules."

"Chen Wenrui is the Imperial Governor of Fuzhou, a fourth-rank official. His crimes should be tried by the three judicial departments of the Imperial Court and judged by our father, the Emperor."

"Although I am a vassal king, I have no right to execute a high-ranking official in the street."

"This is the law, the court's rules and regulations must not be abolished."

These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over my head.

Suddenly, suppressed sighs and whispers were heard in the crowd, and the light in many people's eyes quickly dimmed.

Yes, no matter how powerful the King is, he is not greater than the laws of the imperial court.

After all, the dog officials are still officials of the court...

Li Che glanced at everyone, then took a deep breath and said in a resounding voice:

"but!"

"Today, in front of the thousands of elders and fellow citizens of Fuzhou City, I swear in the name of the King Feng and the name of General Tiance!"

He suddenly drew the sword from his waist, pointing the tip of the sword straight to the sky, reflecting a dazzling cold light in the sunlight.

"The crimes committed by Chen, Yang, and their followers are proven beyond doubt!"

"I will escort him to the capital and present him before the Emperor!"

"The court will enforce the law severely and punish severely!"

"All those implicated in this case, regardless of their rank or how deeply they hid, will be caught! The imperial court will bring them to justice, restore justice to Fuzhou, and restore justice to the world!"

Feeling that the crowd had completely quieted down, Li Che's tone slowed down slightly, and he continued earnestly:

"The court will select a new governor who is honest, capable, and concerned about the people to replace Chen Wenrui and reorganize Fuzhou's administration."

"I will also petition the court to reduce Fuzhou's taxes this year, provide relief to the victims, and rebuild the burned-down homes."

After saying that, Li Che took two steps back and bowed sincerely: "I ask all the elders to give me some time."

Li Che knew the importance of appeasing the people.

Punishing the culprit is one thing, but what is more important is to quickly restore people's livelihood, the sooner the better.

As I said, the people of Daqing are the best people in the world. As long as there is a way to survive, they will live peacefully.

After a brief silence, an old man with white hair and beard walked out of the crowd tremblingly and bowed deeply to Li Che.

This old man must be a very prestigious elder among the people. At this moment, he was already in tears:

"Your Highness, I, this old man... on behalf of the folks in Fuzhou who died in vain, thank you for your great kindness!"

"We common people... don't trust the new governor... but we trust His Highness!"

"His Royal Highness said the court would deal with this severely, so it will definitely deal with it severely. His Royal Highness said he would make the decision for us, so he will definitely make the decision."

"The people of Fuzhou are willing to obey His Highness's orders! May His Highness live a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand thousand years!"

The people shouted in unison:

"Long live His Majesty the King, a thousand years, a thousand thousand years!"