mynovelweb Chapter 856: Law, More Than Everything
Chapter 856: Law, More Than Everything
Lin Feng came out of Tianzhi Mansion and led his guards, running southwest along the official road.
His destination was Jingxi Prefecture City.
Some things cannot be avoided, and some people must be faced.
For example, Emperor Zhao Zhen of the Dazong clan lived in the city of Jingxi Prefecture.
Jingxi Prefecture is one of the eight prefectures in Zhenxi under Lin Feng’s jurisdiction. There are thousands of people in the imperial palace, plus nearly 20,000 troops in the royal guard camp.
With so many people, how much food would be wasted?
It has to be high-quality food.
Vegetables, pork, poultry, eggs, etc., are eaten by humans and chewed by horses, which is too much consumption.
Where should this money come from?
Without Lin Feng, no one would dare to allocate money indiscriminately.
The treasury was not rich to begin with, and the government could not take too much food from the people. This puzzled the prefect of Jingxi, Wu Ruolin.
He has written several official letters to Wen Cheng, asking for instructions on how to deal with the current difficulties.
Wen Cheng was at his wit's end and had to report to Lin Feng.
Lin Feng had been thinking about this for a long time, and he wanted to give them something to do so that they wouldn't be able to eat and drink for free.
Although the eight prefectures in Zhenxi are very wealthy, such unfair treatment will cause others to gossip.
Of course, as the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, few people gossip about him, and no one would compare with him.
Lin Feng's mind was a little confused. These princes and nobles only knew how to be officials and would never do anything else.
Wars cannot be fought and the land cannot be cultivated.
What can I do?
Tianzhi Prefecture is more than 700 miles away from Jingxi Prefecture. Lin Feng and others arrived at the foot of Jingxi Prefecture in the afternoon of the next day.
The garrison commander of Jingxi Prefecture was Xie Zhong, Lin Feng’s former captain of the guard. He was very familiar with Lin Feng and had met him ten miles outside the city early in the morning.
The two chatted and slowly walked towards the city gate.
The prefect Wu Ruolin also came to greet him outside the city gate and bowed.
The news of Lin Feng's arrival in Jingxi Prefecture only reached the two of them. No one else knew about it, so only the two highest officials of Jingxi Prefecture, one civil and one military, went out of the city to welcome him.
Lin Feng entered the government office and was not in a hurry to see Zhao Zhen.
When the group arrived at the gate of the government office, they saw many people kneeling at the gate. Many bailiffs and constables were trying to drive them away, but to no avail.
There were forty or fifty elderly, weak, women and children. It was difficult for the yamen runners and constables to take action, but they also refused to leave.
Seeing that Lin Feng's cavalry was already in front of them, they could only stand aside helplessly, bowing their heads and waiting for the decision.
Lin Feng frowned as he watched the scene.
Magistrate Wu hurriedly said, "General, we can enter through the side door."
Lin Feng glanced at him coldly: "Is this your prefect's attitude towards work?"
Magistrate Wu smiled bitterly and said, "General, I can't handle this. You should first understand the situation. There is something behind this matter."
Lin Feng nodded, knowing that this matter was not simple, and followed Magistrate Wu to the side door of the government office.
He really wanted to know about the latest situation and development trend of Jingxi Prefecture.
Everyone sat down in the government office. Wu Ruolin did not dare to delay and immediately began to explain the situation.
Zhao Gui's 18,000-strong personal guard camp was stationed outside the city, as the city was already overcrowded due to the relocation of Kyoto.
There is simply no room for more troops.
In order to make more space for the emperor, Magistrate Wu also transported some of the people who had moved from Kyoto City to Sanjiang Prefecture by boat.
Many indigenous people were also relocated to nearby counties, and the government provided them with a lot of subsidies.
Even so, people who were used to living in the palace were still very dissatisfied.
In Kyoto, people are used to the supreme power of the emperor. Anyone who comes out of the palace, whether it is a palace maid or a eunuch, or even a general guard or a servant doing odd jobs, is punished.
They all have a domineering attitude and demand privileges and special treatment wherever they go.
Right now, more than a thousand people coming out of the palace, including royal relatives, have caused great unrest in the entire Jingxi Prefecture.
The people complained bitterly and the government was extremely terrified.
Many clearly stated regulations were disrupted and the government was unable to enforce them.
Wu Ruolin was a Jinshi from a great clan, so he naturally regarded the royal power as the highest. Without Lin Feng, he would not be able to deal with the people around the emperor.
The people in front of the government office are an example.
Several eunuchs from the palace who lived outside got drunk in a restaurant and, relying on their status, wanted to eat and dine for free.
How could the restaurant owner agree? This was Jingxi Prefecture, a society ruled by law. How could he let them do whatever they wanted?
Unexpectedly, the restaurant owner and two waiters who stepped forward to stop them were beaten up by seven or eight eunuchs.
Originally, these eunuchs had a high status in the palace. They had good food and drink, lived in good houses, and were treated much better than other eunuchs and palace maids.
However, since evacuating the palace, the food and accommodation have been much worse, and there is no monthly rice or public funds, not to mention the additional silver.
He was already in a bad mood, and after drinking some wine, he became more and more excited after the fight, and even took possession of benches, bowls and plates.
As a result, the man was beaten to death.
One died and two were seriously injured.
The authorities also arrived at the scene in time and arrested the eight eunuchs.
Unexpectedly, the next day someone from the palace came to the government office and directly presented the emperor's handwritten order, demanding that the person be released.
The matter was reported to the prefect Wu Ruolin.
What could Magistrate Wu say in the face of the emperor's handwritten edict?
He had no choice but to order his release.
The people crying out for justice in front of the government office today are the family of the restaurant owner, the families of the two waiters, as well as relatives, neighbors and friends, about forty or fifty of them in total, who have been kneeling in front of the government office for several days.
This does not include the people who have already filed appeals.
They were all bullied in the palace. Either they didn't pay for things they bought, or they were beaten, and no one cared.
Lin Feng felt a bit overwhelmed after hearing this.
Magistrate Wu continued, "There are many outsiders in Jingxi Prefecture. They have never seen the world, so they lack respect for the people in the palace. This makes them even more angry. If someone is not served well, they will fly into a rage, or even hurt others. It has become commonplace."
Lin Feng frowned and asked, "What is Zhao Zhen busy with all day?"
Wu Ruolin didn't dare to answer. Since Lin Feng dared to call the emperor's name directly, he didn't dare to respond.
Xie Zhong was naturally not afraid of these and replied immediately.
"Boss, he lives a life of drunkenness and dreams every day. As long as the people around him ask for permission, he will issue an order at will. No one can do anything to these people in the palace."
"Damn, these guys are almost becoming slaves of a conquered nation, yet they're still so arrogant and domineering. Don't they know how to spell the word 'death'?"
Lin Feng was also angry.
"That's right. They dared to act so presumptuously in the eight prefectures of Zhenxi. If it weren't for Magistrate Wu stopping me, I would have sent people to chop off their heads long ago."
Xie Chong said angrily.
Wu Ruolin quickly advised, "Hey, General Xie, please stop fanning the flames. After all, we are all close to the Emperor, so it's reasonable for us to have some privileges. Just make the people pay more attention in the future."
"So how are you going to handle these cases?"
Lin Feng couldn't help but ask.
"Our government can appease them by paying them more silver, providing them with relief, and explaining the whole story clearly."
Wu Ruolin replied helplessly.
Lin Feng shook his head: "This kind of law enforcement is unacceptable. The law is above everything else. If someone is above the law, then what is the point of having the law?"