ebookland Chapter 596 The Blame Must Be Placed on Guan Xing
Chapter 596 The Blame Must Be Placed on Guan Xing
Magistrate Zhou Chang finally learned the purpose of Liu Shan's visit to Haihun: the dignified crown prince of the Han Dynasty had come to rob the tomb of the Marquis of Haihun.
Zhou Chang, having figured this out, felt terrible. "You're not Liu Shan, you're the Crown Prince of the Han Dynasty! The Marquis of Haihun is practically your ancestor! As the Crown Prince, is it appropriate for you to personally rob your own ancestor's tomb? What are you after?"
What are they after? What else could they be after besides money?
The constable said anxiously, "Magistrate, what should we do now? We can't just stand by and watch His Highness the Crown Prince rob the tomb. You know, the descendants of the Marquis of Haihun are still alive, and the current head of the Liu family is my uncle. If we don't stop him, how will I face my uncle in the future? Magistrate, you must think of a solution quickly. We can't let His Highness the Crown Prince do whatever he wants."
After Emperor Fei of Han, Liu He, was demoted to Marquis of Haihun, he was not mistreated. On the contrary, the title of Marquis of Haihun was passed down until Wang Mang usurped the throne. After Wang Mang usurped the throne, he abolished the title of Marquis of Haihun. It was not restored after the restoration of the Han Dynasty by Emperor Guangwu. Therefore, the descendants of Marquis of Haihun do not currently hold any title.
Although they lost their title, the foundation of the Marquis of Haihun's mansion remained. The Liu family was now the largest clan in Haihun County. Although their family strength was not as great as the four major clans of Wu County, they still held absolute power in Haihun. Their situation was much better than that of their kinsman Liu Bei, who used to weave mats and sell shoes.
The constable in front of me is named Li Lin. He comes from another family in Haihun County. His family has served as officials in the Haihun County government for generations and holds a high position in the county. They are related by marriage to the Liu family, to which the Marquis of Haihun belongs. Li Lin's maternal uncle is Liu Zhao, the current head of the Liu family.
Hearing Li Lin's words, Zhou Chang grinned in distress. He regretted letting Li Lin investigate Liu Shan's whereabouts. If he had known this would happen, he would have pretended not to know. Now, he was completely involved and there was no way to hide.
Zhou Chang paced back and forth anxiously, slapping his forehead as he racked his brains for a solution. He couldn't ignore this matter; otherwise, he would offend the local gentry, including Liu and Li, to the death.
You should know that he is now the magistrate of Haihun County, and the local gentry such as Liu and Li are his subordinates. If you don't care about what happens to your subordinates, then you can't expect your subordinates to cooperate in the future.
To put it simply, if your underlings get into trouble and you don't help them, do you think they'll still support you afterwards? If they don't support you, what kind of boss are you?
If morale is low, the team becomes unmanageable.
Therefore, this matter cannot be ignored.
However, he couldn't interfere recklessly. The tomb robber was none other than Crown Prince Liu Shan, who was accompanied by Marquis Shence Guan Xing, the eldest son of General of Chariots and Cavalry Zhang Bao, and the son-in-law of General Xia Tong. He couldn't afford to offend any of these gentlemen. If he really offended them, he might be immediately demoted to Jiaozhou to fight as a clerk.
We can't get involved, but we can't ignore it either. This is too technically challenging. After thinking it over, Zhou Chang gritted his teeth and said, "Go and invite Patriarch Liu over first. Tell him I need to discuss something with him, but don't mention the specific reason. We'll talk about it when he arrives."
Li Lin nodded in agreement and turned to leave, but Zhou Chang suddenly remembered something and quickly called him back, saying, "There's one more thing you need to remember. If this gets out of the bag or spreads, just say it was Marquis Guan Xing of Shence who did it. Don't drag His Highness the Crown Prince into this, understand?"
Li Lin asked in surprise, "Why?"
Zhou Chang cursed, "Are you stupid? His Highness the Crown Prince is the heir apparent. Would he do something like digging up graves? Besides, he dug up his own family's ancestral graves. If this gets out, do you think His Majesty will side with His Highness the Crown Prince or with your Liu family?"
"This matter can only be reported to His Majesty for handling, but His Majesty must not be involved. Only if His Majesty remains uninvolved can a fair judgment be made and justice be served for your Liu family. So remember, the tomb was dug by Marquis Guan Xing of Shence, and it has nothing to do with His Highness the Crown Prince. I repeat."
Li Lin nodded emphatically and said, "The tomb was dug by Marquis Guan Xing of Shence, and it has nothing to do with His Highness the Crown Prince."
Zhou Chang waved his hand with satisfaction and said, "Go."
Watching Li Lin leave, Zhou Chang was once again caught in a dilemma. He had only been in office for less than two months, how did he end up in this mess?
Your Highness, why do you have to come to my territory to rob tombs of all places?
Although Zhou Chang was filled with grief and indignation, he knew that once something like this happened, he had to accept it and there was no way to escape it. Zhou Chang quickly composed himself, returned to his seat, and patiently waited for Liu Zhao, the head of the Liu family, to arrive.
Liu Zhao lived in the city, just one street away from the county government office. It was just a turn away from his door. Zhou Chang waited for less than a quarter of an hour before Li Lin brought the over-fifty-year-old Liu Zhao inside.
As soon as he stepped across the threshold, Liu Zhao laughed loudly and said, "Magistrate Zhou, what brings you here at midday?"
Zhou Chang invited him to sit down, and then ordered Li Lin to stand guard at the door to prevent unauthorized personnel from approaching. Only then did he look at Liu Zhao and sigh, "The matter is like this..."
"What?!" Liu Zhao exploded on the spot after hearing this, and roared angrily, "His Highness the Crown Prince actually came to rob my ancestral graves! No way, I have to go and confront him! That damned Liu Adou, you've gone too far!"
Desecrating someone's ancestral grave is a blood feud. If Liu Zhao doesn't fight Liu Shan to the death today, he won't have the face to face his ancestors.
Seeing Liu Zhao about to leave in a huff, Zhou Chang quickly jumped over the table and ran in front of Liu Zhao to stop him, saying, "Old Liu, calm down and don't be impulsive. Being impulsive will not only not solve the problem, but may also get you into trouble. Do you want the lineage of the Marquis of Haihun to end here?"
Thinking of his family and descendants, Liu Zhao couldn't help but feel deflated, pounding his chest and wailing, "Why is Liu Shan doing this? Our Liu family has no enmity with him. In fact, we share the same ancestor. Why is he doing this?"
Zhou Chang said, "What else could it be for besides money? Everyone in the world knows that the Marquis of Haihun is wealthy. To put it bluntly, the Marquis of Haihun's tomb is only in Jiangnan. If it were in the Central Plains, it would have been looted by Cao Cao long ago. Would it have survived until now?"
Cao Cao is considered the patriarch of the tomb raiding world. Before Cao Cao, although people knew that tomb raiding could make money, they were limited by their moral bottom line and could not do it. After Cao Cao, tomb raiding was developed into a profession.
Liu Zhao slapped his thigh in anger and said, "It's true what they say, it's not the thief you should be afraid of, but the one who has his eye on you! What should we do now? Magistrate, you must help me! We absolutely cannot let His Highness the Crown Prince really dig up my family's ancestral graves! If he does, how will I face my ancestors in the Marquis of Haihun's mansion a hundred years from now!"
Zhou Chang rolled his eyes. This was pointless. Cao Cao had robbed so many tombs. Didn't the descendants of those tomb owners live on?
Zhou Chang calmly advised, "The gold and silver in the tomb are definitely not going to be saved. His Highness the Crown Prince led thousands of people to rob the tomb, so it's impossible for him to leave empty-handed. The only thing we can do right now is to advise His Highness not to disturb the main tomb. Just take the money, and don't mess with the corpse, right?"
Liu Zhao resolutely refused, saying, "No, I cannot bear this humiliation. I must go and stop it immediately. Otherwise, if I stand by and watch others rob my ancestral graves without doing anything, how can I face the world in the future?"
He had to step forward on this matter, even if he couldn't change the outcome, he had to make a gesture so that the world wouldn't think he was weak and easily bullied.
If he really just stands by and does nothing, what will people think of him?
They'll definitely say, "Look, this is Liu Zhao, that good-for-nothing. His ancestral grave was dug up, but he didn't dare utter a single word."
If this gets out, not only will Liu Zhao be disgraced, but the entire Liu clan of Haihun will never be able to hold their heads high again.
Liu Zhao was clamoring to leave, but Zhou Chang grabbed his clothes and said, "Old Liu, calm down. I'm not saying you can't go, but we can't just go rashly like this. We need to be strategic. Can you let me finish speaking first?"
Liu Zhao, still filled with resentment, said, "Speak, I'm listening."
Zhou Chang repeated what he had said to Li Lin earlier, saying, "Whether you agree or not, we must exclude His Highness the Crown Prince from this matter. I will find a pretext to invite His Highness back to the county office later. After His Highness returns, you can go and reason with Guan Xing. If Guan Xing stops digging the grave, everything will be fine. If he insists on digging the grave, you should immediately go to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor. I will stay and negotiate with Guan Xing to minimize the damage to the mausoleum."
Liu Zhao wasn't stupid; he knew that involving Liu Shan in this matter would be pointless, so he reluctantly said, "Do as the magistrate says. That damned Guan Anguo, how dare you dig up my ancestral grave! I'll never forgive you!"