Ming Dynasty: Is a mere unruly commoner rebelling against heaven?

After Zhang Hai was taken away, Qin Lu looked at Yang Jizong and Wang Yan, whose faces were equally pale.

Before this, the two of them did not know that Qin Lu was just outside the door.

Wang Yan's back was instantly soaked with cold sweat, and he felt a burst of fear in his heart.

There was a kind of rejoicing like surviving a disaster.

Qin Lu's gaze swept across the faces of the two, and finally landed on Wang Yan's face.

"Fortunately, the two adults did not overstep the mark just now."

"Otherwise, one official in charge of land survey and one supervising censor would have been sent to the West Factory prison before even leaving Shuntian Prefecture for accepting bribes."

"It would be too embarrassing if this matter spread."

"It would also trouble His Majesty to send new officials and supervising censors again, which would be too outrageous."

Wang Yan shifted his gaze, not daring to meet Qin Lu's eyes.

Yang Jizong frowned, suppressing the anger in his heart.

"Eunuch Qin's words are wrong. As officials personally appointed by His Majesty, how can we betray His Majesty's trust?"

"Please, Eunuch Qin, do not compare us to those corrupt officials."

Wang Yan looked at the floor and nodded repeatedly.

"Censor Yang is right, we are not the kind of officials who would be corrupt and accept bribes."

Qin Lu nodded: "I hope that you can continue to uphold your original intentions and do your best for His Majesty in the future."

"I was suspicious of the two adults before, please forgive me."

"I still have cases to handle and people to interrogate, so I won't disturb the two adults any further. Farewell."

Qin Lu turned and left the room, while giving an order.

"Pick up the Baochao."

"Yes, Second Chief!"

The remaining two West Factory agents picked up every single Hongzhi Baochao that Zhang Hai had scattered on the ground before also exiting the room.

Only Yang Jizong with an ashen face and Wang Yan with a surprised expression were left.

After Qin Lu left, the first sentence Wang Yan said was: "It's really strange, to actually hear a soft word from the mouth of someone from the West Factory?"

"Did the sun rise from the west today?"

"In the past, from the mouths of people from the West Factory, one could only hear words like arrest and kill."

Compared to Wang Yan's incredulous face, Yang Jizong just snorted coldly.

"Since we have not done anything wrong, why should we be afraid of the West Factory agents knocking on our door?"

Wang Yan poured a cup of tea for Yang Jizong: "Censor Yang is truly a man of integrity, with great courage, able to remain unperturbed in front of the Second Chief of the West Factory."

"Don't laugh at me, Censor, but just now, Qin Lu's glance at me scared me into a cold sweat."

"Zhang Hai is a local official of the third rank, yet Qin Lu arrested him as he pleased. The West Factory's actions are truly reckless and extremely tyrannical."

Yang Jizong scoffed: "We are officials appointed by His Majesty. As long as we don't make mistakes, even if Wang Zhi, the Director of the West Factory, comes, I will have the same attitude."

After hearing Yang Jizong's words, Wang Yan felt a twinge of discomfort.

You are indeed upright, but who doesn't know that you, Censor Yang, are famous for not being greedy for a single penny?

Before Hai Rui in the Jiajing Dynasty, among the famous honest officials of the Ming Dynasty, Yang Jizong, who was not greedy for a single penny, was the most famous.

Like Hai Rui, Yang Jizong's political achievements may have been mediocre, but his integrity was genuine.

Wang Yan felt that having Yang Jizong supervising him, although the pressure was great, could at least ensure that he would not make mistakes.

… …

Qin Lu walked into the room and saw sixteen West Factory agents standing around the room, each with a large amount of blood on their bodies.

Some of the blood was their own, but more of it was from others.

In the center of the room, there were two temporary wooden stakes.

Each wooden stake had a person tied to it.

One was Zhang Hai, the Governor of Shuntian Prefecture who had just been brought in, and the other, a person dressed as a wealthy merchant, was Liu Zong, the wealthy man Zhang Hai mentioned.

Liu Zong's official position was an Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Works in charge of land reclamation, a fifth-rank official.

Assistant Secretary refers to a subordinate official outside the regular quota, equivalent to a public official without a formal position.

However, since the Song Dynasty, the imperial court had been selling official titles on a large scale, and anyone could give the court a sum of money to donate an Assistant Secretary title.

Assistant Secretary only had rank and position, but no real power or salary.

After the Ming Dynasty, Assistant Secretary became a nominal or idle position, no longer related to the imperial examination. Following the Song Dynasty, landlords and merchants could donate an Assistant Secretary position.

This Liu Zong was such a case.

He was a local tycoon in Jinmen Guard, with vast wealth and hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land.

But no one knew where his land came from.

Early this morning, Liu Zong invited Qin Lu to a banquet, and Qin Lu gladly went with sixteen West Factory agents.

After arriving at Liu Zong's house, after some pleasantries and probing, Liu Zong took out two thousand taels of silver.

He asked Qin Lu to turn a blind eye when surveying the land in Jinmen Guard.

Qin Lu immediately turned hostile and ordered the arrest of Liu Zong.

Who knew that Liu Zong's residence had dozens of hidden guards, who suddenly rose up and prevented the West Factory from taking Liu Zong away.

Qin Lu immediately drew his sword and, together with the sixteen West Factory agents, engaged in close combat with these dozens of hidden guards.

However, strangely, these hidden guards did not seem to care about Liu Zong's life or death when fighting with the West Factory.

Moreover, they even deliberately used their swords to slash at Liu Zong, wanting to kill him.

But with Qin Lu present, these dozens of hidden guards were not a threat at all and were immediately killed by Qin Lu and others.

Afterwards, Qin Lu did not rest for a moment and immediately took Liu Zong back to the post station.

Unexpectedly, during the time Qin Lu was away from the post station, Zhang Hai, the Governor of Shuntian Prefecture, would personally come to Jinghai Post Station to act as a go-between and openly offer bribes.

Qin Lu keenly sensed that this was unusual and there must be a hidden story!

Qin Lu walked up to Liu Zong and Zhang Hai and asked in a deep voice.

"Zhang Hai, you are at least the Governor of Shuntian Prefecture, a dignified third-rank official. Why did you personally come to Jinghai to bribe Wang Langzhong and Censor Yang?"

Zhang Hai was originally crying and begging for mercy, but after hearing this question, his expression suddenly froze, and then he immediately replied.

"Lord Qin, I was entrusted by Liu Yuanwai to greet the two adults."

"Isn't that right, Liu Yuanwai?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Liu Zong nodded quickly, and the fat on his face trembled along with him.

"I asked Lord Zhang for help."

A sneer appeared on Qin Lu's face: "Do you really think of my West Factory as idiots?"

"Can a Yuanwai Lang who bought his official position be able to ask the Governor of Shuntian Prefecture, a third-rank official, to be your go-between?"

"Speak, who is behind you!"

"Liu Zong is just an ordinary merchant and hasn't done any valuable business. Whose land are the hundreds of thousands of acres of land under his name?"

Zhang Hai and Liu Zong's faces slowly turned white, but they still stubbornly refused to let go.

Zhang Hai trembled: "Lord Qin, I was really entrusted by Liu Yuanwai!"

"He gave me five thousand strings of Hongzhi Baochao. I was confused for a moment and that's why I did such a wrong thing!"

Liu Zong stammered: "Lord Qin, the land under my name is naturally all mine."

"After all, who would give me land for no reason?"

"You're right, Lord Qin."

Qin Lu sneered: "Since you won't speak, then let's see if the punishments of my West Factory can pry open your mouths."

"Come, first pull out all their fingernails!"

"Yes, Second Chief!"

Two West Factory agents, holding torture instruments, walked expressionlessly towards Liu Zong and Zhang Hai.