In the county government hall, Fang Yun slammed the gavel and said, "Bring Zhao Yong and Manager Zhao to the court!"
The power of officials is like the sea, forming invisible waves that spread in all directions.
All the officers immediately became alert. Fang Yun had just called Zhao Yong for a talk, but problems had been discovered before and constituted evidence, so it was not a talk but a trial.
Zhao Yong had lost his spirit and energy, and was timidly escorted to the hall by the officers. The steward Zhao, dressed in a light blue student's robe, held his head high and bowed to Fang Yun, neither arrogant nor humble, saying, "Student greets the county magistrate."
Fang Yun nodded and said, "Manager Zhao, do you know this person?"
Manager Zhao glanced at Zhao Yong arrogantly, his eyes lingering on him for only a blink of an eye, and said, "I know this person. Due to the relationship of the older generation, we still have some contact. But this person has shifty eyes and evil intentions, and I don't like him very much."
Zhao Yong looked at Manager Zhao in disbelief. Just seven days ago, the two men were drinking and chatting happily, calling each other brothers, but now their attitudes suddenly changed.
Fang Yun asked Zhao Yong again, "Do you know this person?"
Zhao Yong suppressed all his anger and said, "I know this person. He is an old acquaintance of the Qingyang Palace."
"Do you two have any business dealings?" Fang Yun asked.
"No!" Manager Zhao suddenly answered.
"Your Excellency, no." Zhao Yong's tone was extremely low.
Ao Huanglong's eyes turned and he instantly understood that although Zhao Yong was helping the young prince Zhao Yu to make money, it was impossible for him to leave any evidence. The young prince must have contacted Zhao Yong through Manager Zhao. As long as Manager Zhao insisted that he had no close relationship with Zhao Yong, Zhao Yong would not be able to produce sufficient evidence, after all, Manager Zhao could not have written a receipt when he received the money.
Fang Yun said, "Zhao Yong, you only got one or two tenths of the money. Where did the rest go?"
"I don't know." Zhao Yong said slowly.
Fang Yun sneered and said, "You have been the owner of the Royal Workshop for five years, and you have embezzled nearly 20,000 silver coins, causing the actual loss of the workshop to exceed 50,000 silver coins. According to the law, such a huge loss can already sentence you to exile! Not only that, your descendants and grandchildren will not be allowed to serve in the court or the Holy Academy!"
Zhao Yong's body trembled. He turned his head to look at Manager Zhao, with a pleading look in his eyes.
Manager Zhao snorted coldly, flicked his sleeves and didn't look at Zhao Yong.
Fang Yun sighed and said, "Your four sons are not outstanding. But your grandsons are really good. One of them ranks among the top in the academy, and another one is only nine years old, but he ranked 107th in last year's Tongsheng exam, just a little short of entering the top 100 and becoming a Tongsheng. March is coming soon, and he will definitely pass the Tongsheng exam this year. However, if the whole family is raided before the Tongsheng exam, what do you think will happen to him?"
Zhao Yong's eyes turned red, and he almost knelt down, looking at Fang Yun in despair. He said, "Fang Xusheng, I beg you to spare my grandson! All the blame lies with me, no matter how you punish me, I will never resist."
Fang Yun said: "But, Master Zhao is so tight-lipped. He doesn't want to cooperate with me at all. I can only judge the case impartially. Make the judgment before the Tongsheng exam!"
Zhao Yong hurriedly said, "Sir, who doesn't have children and grandchildren? Who doesn't have a heart made of flesh and blood? I have already pleaded guilty, why do you want to ruin my grandson's imperial examination? Sir, I heard that you govern the county with benevolence and justice, please show mercy."
After hearing this, Ao Huang felt compassion. For the sake of Zhao Yong's grandson's imperial examination, it seemed better to postpone the trial.
The officials and servants inside and outside the hall also looked at Fang Yun, thinking that Fang Yun should change the verdict time.
Fang Yun flashed a sarcastic smile on his face, and said: "When you sold cotton that can't keep you warm to the government troops, why didn't you think about them being someone else's children and grandchildren? Why didn't you think about the fact that they would have children and grandchildren in the future! Oh, maybe they would freeze to death and die without any descendants, so there would be no children and grandchildren! Why don't you think about how much you earn in a year, which is earned by the blood and sweat of so many workers and farmers. Aren't they children and grandchildren? Don't they have children and grandchildren?"
Everyone present was stunned.
Ao Huang looked at Fang Yun in surprise, feeling that Fang Yun seemed to have pointed out something. Many people always felt sorry for the criminals, and even sympathized with them because of their life experiences, but no one cared about the victims and their families.
Ao Huang suddenly realized that those who wanted to make criminals look pitiful were twisted, and that their behavior was also twisted, and Fang Yun's view was correct!
As a local magistrate, Fang Yun's words in court carry a special kind of power, including the people's will.
Zhao Yong was just a student, and under the influence of Fang Yun's power, his will became weaker and weaker.
"Why don't you just tell the truth?" Fang Yun said in a low voice, his official authority soaring.
Zhao Yong's body trembled, and he looked at Manager Zhao hurriedly, begging, "Manager Zhao, please help me. After all, my last name is Zhao too, and we are from the same family!"
But Manager Zhao was like a wild cat on fire, shouting: "How can you be called Zhao? Our Zhao family is the royal family of Jing State. How can you be called Zhao if you are a slave with a sharp head?"
Zhao Yong stood there in a daze, his face full of humiliation.
Manager Zhao clasped his fists towards Fang Yun and said, "Your Excellency, this person is a liar and a liar. I'm afraid he has gone insane. We in the Qingyang Palace are to blame for having such a person. We are willing to compensate a portion of the money as an apology for our manager's misjudgment of the person."
“You guys…” Zhao Yong suddenly realized what was going on after hearing the last part. The young prince was afraid of getting into trouble, so he decisively cut off all ties with Zhao Yong.
"Mr. Zhao, don't talk nonsense, or you will make mistakes!" Manager Zhao said coldly to Zhao Yong.
Zhao Yong's eyes instantly turned red. He was proud to be given the surname Zhao and worked like a slave for the young prince. He usually did everything he could to protect the Qingyang Palace and took all the blame on himself. He just hoped that the young prince would stand up at this time and help him delay for a few days. However, he was treated as an abandoned pawn by the young prince and thrown away.
Manager Zhao looked Zhao Yong in the eye calmly, not hiding the threat in his eyes.
If Zhao Yong pleads guilty now, he will at most not be able to hold an official position within three generations. He can still participate in the imperial examinations, but if he offends the Qingyang Palace, the consequences will be a hundred times more serious.
Zhao Yong suddenly smiled sadly and said, "You are right. I am just a dog of the Zhao family. How can I have the surname Zhao? How can I be worthy of the surname Zhao? I will bear this crime alone, but from now on, our family will no longer be named Zhao, but Mu! The criminal Mu Yong pleads guilty!"
After saying this, Mu Yong knelt down in front of Fang Yun, lowered his head and said nothing.
Fang Yun said: "Mu Yong, have you thought it through?"
"I have thought it through. Please show me mercy, sir!"
Fang Yun did not speak immediately. This "leniency" did not mean that he hoped to postpone the trial, but that he hoped Fang Yun would make a judgment immediately and let him take the responsibility to avoid dragging his family into retaliation by the Qingyang Palace.
"Then confess!" Fang Yun said.
Afterwards, Mu Yong confessed how he had used his position as the workshop owner to benefit himself and embezzle the public. The various ways were too numerous to mention and shocking, and even Ao Huang was very annoyed when he heard it. The large workshop where Mu Yong worked could earn 6,000 to 7,000 taels of silver every year, but after Mu Yong took over, it lost 2,000 to 3,000 taels every year, which actually meant that the workshop lost tens of thousands of taels of silver, but Mu Yong and the young prince only earned 2,000 to 3,000 taels of silver a year.
For every ounce of silver that Mu Yong and the young prince gained, Jing State lost four ounces of silver. The magnitude of the disaster was incalculable. (To be continued)