Countless rumors suddenly appeared in Jinan prefecture. Ever since Chai Xiu
Ever since Chai Chai was arrested, the rumors began to spread like wildfire.
The rumors were directed at the Imperial Bodyguard. The content was simple: the Imperial Bodyguard was going to purge the gentry of Shandong.
Of course, the reason was simple: it was to hide the land.
This rumor was ridiculous at first, but as it spread, it became an uproar and all sorts of explanations began to appear.
In just half a day, this rumor had spread throughout Jinan. Everyone in Jinan was in a state of panic.
"Sir, it's bad!"
In the imperial envoy's yamen, an attendant ran in from outside. Panting, he said, "Milord, rumors are spreading everywhere in the city. Many aristocrats are afraid and have all packed their things to leave the city to avoid disaster. Right now, there are already many carriages on the streets."
Hearing this, Wang Yongji's face turned pale and he smiled bitterly.
Wang Zongmu's expression was also ugly. However, he was the governor of Shandong, so he couldn't escape responsibility for this matter.
Glancing at Commander Feng Kai beside him, Wang Zongmu directly said, "Commander Feng, pass down my order, seal the city!
Martial law! "
"Governor Wang, you can't!" Wang Yongji said loudly.
"Governor Wang, if the city is sealed, what will happen outside of Jinan?
If worse news spreads, all of Shandong will be in chaos. "Wang Yongji was on the verge of tears." Someone is clearly pushing this! "
Wang Zongmu was silent. At this point, he could obviously see that someone was up to no good.
"But if the gentry of Jinan leave the city on a large scale, Shandong will also be in chaos. The government and gentry will all be finished."
Wang Zongmu looked at Wang Yongji and said in a low voice, "Once Shandong is in chaos, it will definitely affect Henan and Hebei. When that happens, we will all die!"
Wang Yongji shook his head and said in a low voice, "If that's the case, then I will go to the emperor and ask for forgiveness. Things won't get to that point.
The only ones involved are the Chai family. If we don't continue to pursue other people, this matter will quickly pass. "
"Release Chai?
Quell the rumors? "Wang Zongmu said with an ugly expression.
"It's too late!"
Wang Yongji shook his head. Once a rumor started, how could it be so easy to suppress it? Now that the aristocrats wanted to leave, would they listen to his explanation?
Most people's opinion was that no matter what happened, they should run out first and talk about it later.
It's best if nothing happens. We'll come back. If something happens, we'll run. That's right, our lives are more important.
"Xing Shangzhi misled me!" Wang Yongji slumped on the chair and said after a long while.
Wang Zongmu, who was at the side, also had a gloomy expression. This time, he was afraid that he was going to lose.
After a while, Wang Yongji sat up straight again and said to Wang Zongmu, "Lord Wang, send someone to maintain order to prevent people from taking the opportunity to cause trouble!"
Just as Wang Zongmu was about to agree, a voice suddenly came from the door. "It's useless to just do this. The most important thing is to find out who the mastermind is. Otherwise, everything else will be in vain."
Along with this sentence, a eunuch walked into the room with a fly-whisk in his hand. He looked at the two of them with a smile and said, "From now on, this matter will be decided by me!" As he said this, the eunuch took out a yellow scroll from his sleeve.
"A secret edict from the Imperial Majesty. Lords, receive the edict!" As he said this, Xu De looked around and said, "Where's Xing Shangzhi?
Call Xing Shangzhi here too! "
Not long after, Xing Shangzhi came in from outside. He was writing a secret memorial in his room. When he heard that there was an imperial edict, he hurried over.
Seeing Xu De, Xing Shangzhi was stunned, and his expression instantly became ugly.
He was in Jinan, but now Xu De from the inner factory was here. This meant that he couldn't take over Jinan's affairs.
Regardless of the reason, it was obvious that his performance had dissatisfied the Emperor.
After the three of them arrived, they knelt on the ground together to listen to the edict. Xu De quickly read out the edict.
The content was actually very simple. It was to hand over the case of Pi Gan's assassination in Jinan to Xu De to handle.
Zhu Yijun didn't know what the situation in Shandong was, and he didn't know that the case in Jinan would cause such a big stir.
However, Pi Gan's assassination made Zhu Yijun think of a very bad thing. It was the mining supervisor and tax supervisor sent by the Wanli Emperor.
Those people had all gone to various places to collect taxes, which were represented by the mining tax.
Not only had these people been strongly opposed by the local authorities, but they had also been beaten to death.
After the mining supervisor incident, the Emperor could be said to have completely lost control of the local authorities.
The local gentry and officials had also seen that killing the mining supervisor would be fine. It wasn't a big deal, so they naturally became bolder.
For Zhu Yijun, this was absolutely not allowed. No matter what the reason was, whoever did the assassination of a tax official had to be severely punished.
If this time the officials were involved, Zhu Yijun was prepared to issue the first imperial edict to execute their entire family.
This was the reason why Zhu Yijun had asked Xu De to come. In this matter, other than Wang Yongji, he didn't trust a single official in Shandong.
After the imperial edict was read out, the three of them stood up. Xu De smiled and said, "Sirs, I won't disturb you any longer."
Xu De didn't have the slightest intention of mingling with them. Glancing at Xing Shangzhi, Xu De smiled and said, "Lord Xing, come with me!
From now on, the Imperial Bodyguard is under my command. "
"Yes, Eunuch Xu!" Xing Shangzhi hurriedly bowed respectfully.
Seeing the two of them leave, Wang Zongmu hesitantly asked Wang Yongji, "Who is this Eunuch Xu?
Why is Xing Shangzhi so respectful to him? "
"The Department of Rites is a eunuch in charge of internal affairs. He is the Emperor's trusted inner attendant. Compared to Dongchang's Zhang Jing, this Eunuch Xu is even more favored by the Emperor.
Although this Eunuch Xu rarely appears in front of people, his strength cannot be underestimated. I didn't think that His Majesty would put him in charge of the Jinan case. "
Wang Zongmu was startled and said with some disbelief, "Internal affairs?"
At the mention of the Internal Affairs, the first thing that came to Wang Zongmu's mind was the internal affairs department. This was something that frightened civil officials!
When he thought of the internal affairs department, he couldn't help but think of Liu Jin. He was simply too famous.
Apart from Dongchang, there was also the West and Internal Affairs Department, Wang Zhi, and Liu Jin. Just mentioning them made people feel uncomfortable.
Wang Yongji smiled and shook his head. "Imperial Inspector Wang, it's not what you think. You'll know in two days!
However, I'm hungry. I didn't notice it earlier. Imperial Inspector Wang, let's go have a few drinks! "
Seeing Wang Yongji's relaxed expression, Wang Zongmu didn't dare believe it. Was this still the same Wang Yongji from before?
Thinking for a moment, Wang Zongmu smiled. "It seems that Official Wang is very confident in this Eunuch Xu. Then I'll wait and see. Speaking of which, I'm also a bit hungry. Since Official Wang has invited me, then I'll respectfully decline."
"Imperial Inspector Wang, just wait and see!
Someone in Shandong is going to be out of luck. "
Wang Yongji laughed heartily.
After exiting the door, Xu De glanced at Xing Shangzhi and said indifferently, "Take your men and follow me!"
As he said this, Xu De strode out. Xing Shangzhi hurriedly chased after him and said, "Official, what are we going to do?"
"Arrest them!" Xu De only said these two words and didn't say anything else.
Xing Shangzhi didn't dare ask any more questions. He took his men and followed Xu De out of the imperial envoy's residence.
South Jinan Prefecture's Proud Moon Brothel.
Xu De stood at the entrance of the Proud Moon Brothel. He glanced at Qi Da, who was bowing beside him, and said indifferently, "Is the person here?"
"Reporting to Eunuch, here he is!"
Qi Da nodded and said, "The target is called Bai Laosan. He's a famous person in Jinan Prefecture. He runs a casino and a brothel. He has many friends and has some connections in the yamen."
Xu De nodded and nodded at Xing Shangzhi. "Arrest them. I want them alive!"
Xing Shangzhi looked at the brothel in front of him and nodded. Facing Wang Yongji, Xing Shangzhi had the guts to resist, but facing Xu De, Xing Shangzhi really didn't have the guts.
Not to mention the imperial edict in Xu De's hands, Xu De's status as the Minister of the Inner Factory was something he couldn't afford to offend.
The Imperial Bodyguard and the eunuchs both relied on the sacred beasts to survive. In comparison, he and Xu De were far too lacking.
After receiving Xing Shangzhi's order, the Imperial Bodyguard charged into the Proud Moon Brothel like a pack of wolves and tigers. The entire Proud Moon Brothel was instantly thrown into chaos.
The screams and curses were very loud, but Xu De turned a deaf ear to them. He sat on a chair that his subordinates had brought over and yawned indifferently.
In fact, Xu De wasn't interested in arresting people like this. The technical content was too low.
However, the feeling he gave others was different. This Eunuch Xu really had the bearing of a superior.
He was surrounded by a lot of people. He just sat there casually, fully showing his arrogance and disdain. He was the epitome of a high-ranking eunuch. If he was in the future, he would definitely be the villain in the movies.
"Sir, we've caught them!" The Imperial Bodyguard's Qian Hu walked over and said respectfully.
Xing Shangzhi quickly turned his head and said to Xu De, "Eunuch, we've caught them!"
Although he had heard it just now, he pretended not to hear it. It wasn't until Xing Shangzhi spoke that Xu De raised his eyelids and said, "Press them down. I want to question them."
It didn't take long before five or six people were pressed down. All of them were scared to death.
Xu De said calmly, "Which one is Old Bai?"
A man in his thirties quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed, "I am, I am Old Bai!"
"Who are they to you?" Xu De reached out and pointed at the people kneeling on the ground.
"They are my subordinates!" Old Bai said quickly.
Xu De made a gesture, then pointed at one of them and said, "Pull him away and behead him!"
Not to mention the others, even Xing Shangzhi thought that he had heard wrong. Pull him away and behead him?
However, looking at Xu De's serious expression, he knew that he had not heard wrong. He quickly waved his hand at the Imperial Bodyguard and said, "Pull him away and behead him. Pull him away."
Not long after, there were sounds of begging and screams coming from the other side. Then, a bloody head was brought out.