The examination room was quiet again. Prefect Shi frowned, trying not to panic, and carefully recalled everything he had done. "Sir, I am waiting for your evidence."
Not long after, Ding Jue came back again, this time he brought two people with him, a man and a woman. The man was dressed in rags like a beggar, while the woman was the owner of a tavern in the city.
When Governor Shi saw the two men, his pupils constricted.
Chang Zhi asked, "You are careful and cautious. I was troubled and even suspected that I had made a mistake. However, no matter how careful you are, some traces cannot be erased. For example, you only drink the wine in this wine shop, but this beggar is interesting. Every time you buy wine from this wine shop, this beggar will appear in front of the wine shop to beg."
Prefect Shi calmed himself down and said, "These two people want to convict me. I don't know them."
Chang Zhi took the account book from Ding Jue and said, "Oh, it's a pity that they confessed everything. This is the account book they handed over. It really opened my eyes."
This person has done a lot of things, including accepting bribes, changing cases, and taking the imperial examination. It is difficult to list them all.
Prefect Shi's head was buzzing. He was so careful, yet Lord Zhou still discovered the pattern. He stared at the account book, then looked at the two people who were kneeling with their heads on the ground. A mouthful of blood rushed to his throat, his cheeks turned pale, and he fell backwards.
Chang Zhi signaled the guards to help, as he still had to try the case. Prefect Shi couldn't just go like this, as it would be too easy for him to die like this.
After a while, the soldiers who were controlling the city came to report one after another. Chang Zhi confirmed that Chuanzhou City had been controlled. Then he stood up and said to the candidates: "The autumn examination will continue. This year's autumn examination questions are all set by me alone."
The test questions have been changed, so those who bought the test questions luckily were not caught by him are useless now.
The deputy examiner widened his eyes. He didn’t know when Zhou Changzhi asked the questions!
Changzhi didn't explain. Could he say that he had given half of the questions before he revealed his identity? Later, he would dictate a question from time to time, and Ding Jue would write it down.
The examinees in the examination room waited for Lord Zhou and his party to leave. Even though they were afraid of the guarding officers and soldiers, they still couldn't help whispering to their neighbors. Today was too shocking for them. It looked like the entire Chuanzhou officialdom was destroyed!
Chang Zhi left the examination room and took a carriage to the government office. He said to Deputy General Guan, "Since we have taken control of the city, we can confiscate the property."
Deputy General Guan asked, "Are we going to confiscate the property now?"
"Well, I need the account books they hid."
Deputy General Guan obeyed and said, "Yes."
Changzhi and his entourage returned to the prefecture. They were so leisurely before, but now they were so busy that they wished they could be split in half.
Prefect Shi lived in the back house of the government office. His female relatives and others had been taken under control. Chang Zhi did not go to see them. Instead, he signaled Ding Jue to take people to dig out the murder records and check the silver and money transactions in the account books one by one. These were all crimes committed by Prefect Shi.
At first, Chang Zhi didn't expect such a big commotion, but when the evidence was delivered to him one by one, he felt a chill on his back. He had to stop making trouble on his own. It was a perfect network of officials protecting each other. It was easy for him to break a hole but difficult to catch them all in one fell swoop.
Finally he plucked up his courage. The evidence was conclusive. As long as he used force quickly and accurately to control the city, even if there were fish that slipped through the net, they would only be small fish. After reviewing the situation in his mind again, Chang Zhi's brows relaxed.
Ding Jue came back quickly, "Sir, please take a rest first."
Chang Zhi waved his hand, "There are still many things waiting for me. I want to sort out everything I can in the first three days."
Ding Jue looked at the soldiers carrying the boxes and felt a little tired.
Chang Zhi stood up and patted Ding Jue on the shoulder, "Go and meet Qian Jiang, he is here to help."
Chang Zhi did not trust the officials in Chuanzhou. He thought the soldiers were trustworthy, but not many of them were literate, so Chang Zhi went to the Qian family.
Qian Jiang had been waiting outside for a long time, and Qian's father had also come. Both father and son looked a little pale. They knew that Lord Zhou would do something big, but they never expected such a big commotion. Now the streets were empty, and they felt scared when a gust of wind blew.
The first round of the Autumn Examination ended, and the candidates were still very excited, not because the questions were easy, but because they wanted to know what would happen next after Lord Zhou took control of the city.
Chang Zhi watched the examinees leave one after another in silence. When he left Beijing, he wanted to come up with some unusual questions. Unfortunately, he had investigated too many questions and he had no energy to make trouble for the test questions. He could only make the questions more difficult.
Ding Jue noticed the adults' emotions, "My lord."
Chang Zhi said dimly, "I'm not willing to accept this."
Ding Jue: "Hmm?"
"I really don't have the energy. I want to ask the questions carefully."
Ding Jue thought it was something, and consoled him, "Your Excellency can just take the exam again in the future."
Chang-Chi, “You don’t understand.”
Don't even think about getting out this time he returns to the capital. The emperor won't let him out, and his father will also restrain him. The noise this time was too loud, and he really needs to stay away from the crowd and behave himself.
Changzhi got on the carriage and said, "Let's go back to the government office."
Now the prison is not big enough to hold enough people. The former prisoners have been moved to other places for custody. The back house of the government office is also filled with boxes. There are five large boxes of account books and bills alone, which is terrifying to see.
Ding Jue said, "Sir, the An family is secretly lending money at interest, and there are bills that have not been checked."
Chang Zhi knew that Ding Jue was filled with hatred. Now that Ding Jue knew that he had passed the imperial examination, he felt sad. When Ding Jue saw the complete list, he vomited blood, which scared him. He sent people to watch over him, but he didn't expect that Ding Jue, who had fainted all night, would get up the next day to continue his work. He knew that hatred was supporting Ding Jue.
"A cunning rabbit has three burrows. I have already sent an urgent letter back to the capital. Lord An from the Ministry of Industry should be in custody by now."
Ding Jue asked, "Do you mean that the An family boss took away some of the bills?"
"Um."
It was just as Chang Zhi had guessed. After the first round of the Autumn Examination, Lord An from the Ministry of Works was arrested, all the male members of his family were imprisoned, and the An family’s house was guarded by soldiers.
In the palace, Zhou Shuren held the memorial sent back by his son, his heart pounding, "He, he is so brave."
"Yeah, it's big enough."
The emperor was satisfied. That was good. But Zhou Shuren, the old fox, was also restless. Tsk tsk, the most daring person in the Zhou family was probably Zhou Changzhi.
Zhou Shuren thought that when he came back, he would definitely teach Changzhi the rules. Controlling the city looked simple, but it would be a mess if he was not careful. "I have no way of educating my son."
The emperor waved his hand, "The children you teach are all excellent."
It's just that Zhou Changzhi is too tough, and anyone hit with the stick will break their bones.
Zhou Shuren was feeling proud and said, "My fourth son is better at studying and cultivating his character."
The emperor was silent for a moment, "Well, let him specialize in editing the book when he comes back."
It’s better to keep this kind of special force under control!
The emperor and his ministers agreed that Changzhi would come back to revise the book.
Zhou Shuren had a headache when he left the palace. Those who were well-informed probably knew the situation in Chuanzhou by now, and those who disliked him would definitely make trouble for him.
Why was Lord An imprisoned? The news spread quickly and the charges were clear. Lord An in the capital was imprisoned, let alone his relatives in Sichuan Province.
The next morning at court, Zhou Shuren felt the gazes on him as he got off the carriage, and he didn't know whether he should take a step forward or not!