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Chapter 124 The Muddled County Magistrate and Gao Xiuwen

Chapter 125 The Muddled County Magistrate and Gao Xiuwen

Shen Yan arrived at Gao Xiuwen's cell.

He was somewhat surprised to see Shen Yan arrive, wondering why Shen Yan had come.

"Lord Gao, you may ask the jailer if you need anything."

"Have you suddenly had a change of heart?"

"Did your family send you money?"

Shen Yan rolled her eyes.

Enraged, Gao Xiuwen shouted, "The Great Zhou court is so corrupt because of you parasites, sucking the blood of the people and embezzling the national treasury!"

"It's not us who suck the blood of the people and embezzle the national treasury; it's you high-ranking officials who truly have that ability."

Shen Yan wasn't annoyed by his words, after all, he had heard them many times before.

All the officials in this Great Zhou Dynasty are inferior to the girls of Chunfeng Tower.

At least prostitutes are open about it, but these officials do a lot of illicit affairs in secret, yet they still have to maintain a reputation for high moral character on the surface.

They always claim to be upright and honest, but how many of them are truly as pure and incorruptible as water?

Before they were imprisoned, they were all honest officials; after they were imprisoned, an investigation revealed that they had embezzled more than others.

Shen Yan retorted sarcastically, "Take Lord Gao's own family for example. Do you know how much fertile land the Gao family owns? And from whom did they acquire those lands? If you don't know..."

Surely you, sir, know how the newly built dikes in Chun'an and Jiande counties of Jiangnan Prefecture breached.

Shen Yan's words were like daggers to the heart, and Gao Xiuwen's face turned deathly pale.

He sighed and said, "You're right, the Great Zhou Dynasty is utterly rotten."

Shen Yan laughed and said, "My lord, there's no need to be so pessimistic. The fact that everyone is rotten makes it seem like no one is rotten at all."

Gao Xiuwen looked at Shen Yan seriously and said, "I have been well-versed in poetry and literature since childhood, and I can recite the Four Books and Five Classics backwards. I consider myself to be highly talented and learned. But I am not as insightful as you, a prison warden."

He understood that what Shen Yan said was true; the officials and gentry of the Great Zhou were keen on annexing land.

The common people own less than half of the land, yet they have to support the entire nation. How can they possibly afford to do so?

As a result, taxes could only be increased continuously, making the people suffer more and more, the Great Zhou Dynasty became poorer and poorer, and the powerful families and gentry became richer and richer.

Shen Yan said calmly, "The books of sages are meant to be read by others; they are utterly useless for practical matters. How can you, sir, use the words of sages to govern the people?"

Gao Xiuwen nodded: "You're right. Mencius said: 'To believe everything in books is worse than having no books at all.' Now it seems I'm just a pedantic scholar, and I'm the one who has caused so much suffering to the people of Jiangnan Prefecture."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yan couldn't help but say, "Speaking of the books of the sages, there was once a county magistrate imprisoned in the imperial prison named Cui Jingzhai. He was quite interesting, as he made quite a few jokes because of his handling of cases."

"Oh?! What happened?"

"He was famously known for governing the country with only half of the Analects." Whenever there was a case, he would first consult the Analects, searching for relevant passages to make a judgment.

Gao Xiuwen couldn't help but feel curious.

"Such a thing actually happened?"

Shen Yan began to tell Gao Xiuwen that the county magistrate's actions were indeed outrageous.

One day, the yamen caught a thief who had stolen a chicken.

He was caught red-handed and handed over to the authorities.

Cui Jingzhai immediately opened the Analects and began to read it.

He was then sentenced directly: for stealing chickens in the early morning, he should be executed at dusk.

Not only was the thief terrified, but the victim was also quite frightened.

When asked why, Cui Jingzhai replied calmly, "The Analects says, 'If I hear the Way in the morning, I can die content in the evening.' If one steals in the morning, one can die at dusk."

What error has this judge made?

Of course, the thief wasn't executed, but instead imprisoned.

Even death row inmates need the approval of the Ministry of Justice before they can be executed, so it can be said that the thief saved his life.

Initially, the officials of the Ministry of Justice did not investigate further, assuming that the memorial had been delivered to the wrong person.

Cui Jingzhai's way of judging cases was bound to cause trouble sooner or later, and sure enough, he soon found himself in big trouble.

A murder occurred in his jurisdiction; a dispute between neighbors led to one man killing the neighbor's man with a knife.

Only an orphan, a widow, and an elderly father remained.

The Great Zhou Dynasty ruled the world with filial piety. When a man died, the elderly had no one to rely on and the young had no one to care for them.

Cui Jingzhai directly impersonated the murderer and made him the son of the victim.

The murderer was overjoyed; not only was he spared death, but he also gained a wife.

As for the child and the old man, he killed them both not long after.

The matter reached the prefectural city and came to the attention of the prefect, who then began a thorough investigation.

This muddle-headed official was then sent to the imperial prison.

Unfortunately, that family suffered this calamity for no reason.

Cui Jingzhai used his connections to get himself released from prison.

Upon hearing this, Gao Xiuwen's face turned furious, and he exclaimed, "I never imagined that the Great Zhou would have such a muddle-headed official!"

"These kinds of things happen all the time in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and we can't possibly manage them all."

Shen Yan looked at him and said calmly:

Gao Xiuwen sighed, then said self-deprecatingly, "That Cui Jingzhai used half of the Analects to judge the case, which is absurd and laughable. As for me, I pride myself on being well-versed in the classics and history, taking the words of the sages in the books as my guiding principles, and always taking the ancients as my role models and ancient methods as my standards."

"I laugh at him for being old-fashioned, but aren't I the same?"

"Lord Gao, there's no need to blame yourself. If you hadn't done it, someone else would have. Perhaps your involvement has actually saved some people."

Hearing the pessimism in his words, Shen Yan dared not say anything more to provoke him.

After all, he had received a considerable amount of money. If Gao Xiuwen were to have a change of heart, he would become a sinner.

Gao Xiuwen knew that Shen Yan's words made sense; the reason why a national policy is a national policy is because the emperor has given his approval.

No one could stop Emperor Xuanwu from doing what he wanted, but ultimately, the matter was brought about by him.

This imprisonment is less of a punishment and more of a way to protect him.

No sooner had the Imperial Guards left Bianjing than he was taken from Jiangnan Prefecture to the Imperial Prison.

After leaving Jiangnan Prefecture, Gao Xiuwen was no longer involved in the events that followed.

He understood this principle and knew that the situation in Jiangnan Prefecture was about to change drastically.

This time they've really gone too far; they even dared to embezzle the imperial court's tax revenue.

The people suffered terribly, and there were frequent civil unrest. If it weren't for timely suppression, a rebellion might have actually broken out.

After talking with Shen Yan for a long time, Gao Xiuwen's opinion of him changed significantly.

He spoke to him, saying, "I observe that you, sir, are a man of great learning and talent, truly capable of governing the world. Why are you imprisoned in the imperial jail? Have you been framed by a villain?"

"Lord Gao, you misunderstand. It is I who am unwilling to leave the prison. The officialdom is full of deceit and intrigue, and it is exhausting."

Gao Xiuwen shook his head and sighed softly.

Looking at Gao Xiuwen in front of him, Shen Yan thought that he was more like a scholar than an official, and should stay in the Hanlin Academy to compile books.

They've clearly been sold out, and they're still paying the seller for it.

Gao Xiuwen gained nothing from his trip to Jiangnan Prefecture, while the Qingliu faction and Yan Party made a fortune.

They ate with their mouths dripping with oil, but in the end, all the blame fell on the dead Liu Chuan and the Gao Xiuwen standing before them.

If Gao Xiuwen hadn't had a powerful background, his fate wouldn't have been much better than Liu Chuan's.

Yan Fan's faction has been wiped out, so only the Qingliu faction is the winner this time.

They not only acquired large tracts of land for silkworm rearing and silk production, but also made a fortune.

The court also absorbed the power of the Yan faction, making them the only dominant force.

Right now, we have both money and manpower.

The situation in the imperial court is gradually spiraling out of control.