Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 61 Investigation
Su Ze yawned loudly. He didn't get back to the Henan government office until late at night yesterday and was still very sleepy.

In order to facilitate the investigation, Li Daoyuan got Su Ze a patrol officer's badge, which made it easier for him to move at night.

In order to give Hou Gang more work, Su Ze once again organized a team and commissioned them to attack a Mahayana stronghold not far from Xuanfanfang.

This operation went even more smoothly than the last time. Although the Mahayana sect demons in the stronghold had increased their vigilance due to the Longhua Temple case, they were still no match for Su Ze's fully armed team.

After Su Ze successfully attacked the stronghold and swept away the money accumulated by the Mahayana Sect, he put away his armor and ordered his followers to retreat in batches, just like he did last time at Longhua Temple.

This time, Su Ze also deliberately left traces of armor and shield, and even deliberately made a big noise before retreating.

Because it was very close to the Henan government office, the news was received early in the morning.

Su Chao said with an expression of watching a good show: "Hou Youling is going to have a headache."

"What?" Su Ze asked, pretending to be ignorant.

Su Cho said, "Yesterday I heard from my brother that King Jiangyang wrote a letter asking Li Zuoling and Hou Youling to take charge of two cases. We were assigned the Siyi Pavilion case, and Hou Youling was assigned the Longhua Temple case."

"According to the old official in the government office, the traces left by the attack last night are exactly the same as those at Longhua Temple last time. It should be the same group of criminals who committed the crime."

Su Ze also smiled. According to the information Su Bai had obtained last time, there were more than a dozen Mahayana strongholds in Luoyang City. Each of them had accumulated a lot of money and food that the Mahayana sect had looted from believers in preparation for the uprising.

In such a small stronghold alone, Su Ze looted ten pieces of silk and a jar of Taihe five-zhu coins.

However, Su Ze did not search for other things. Henan Prefecture was already preparing to destroy the ghost market in Beimang Mountain, so it would be meaningless to let Su Dao sell the stolen goods.

Su Chuo urged Su Ze to go to the Siyi Pavilion while he kept on talking:

"But this attack was strange."

Su Ze was slightly startled, but on the surface he remained calm and said, "What's so strange about that?"

Su Cho said: "According to the information I received, this time the gang of criminals took away nothing except money, food and silk."

"The last time Longhua Temple was attacked, the monks guarding the temple and the soldiers guarding the yard were alarmed, but the group looted everything before leaving. Why did they only take away silk, money and grain, which did not need to be sold this time?"

Su Ze was about to break out in a cold sweat. How could this kid be so sharp?
Fortunately, it was Hou Gang who was investigating the Longhua Temple case.

Su Chao is still young after all. Although he has a good brain, his ability to read people's expressions is not good enough.

He did not notice Su Ze's abnormality, but asked: "Brother Su, what do you think? Why is this happening?"

Su Ze cursed inwardly, it was because Henan Prefecture was going to destroy the ghost market that he was unable to sell the stolen goods, so he could only take things that could be used directly, such as silk, money and grain.

But Su Ze still found an excuse and said, "Maybe the thief was afraid that he couldn't take the things away."

Su Chao gave up thinking and said, "That's right. How can we use common sense to guess what this thief is thinking?"

Su Chao looked at Su Ze and said eagerly, "Brother Su, shall we go to the Siyi Pavilion today?"

Su Ze shook his head and said, "We haven't made any progress in our investigation. If we go to the Four Barbarians Pavilion now, won't that give the Rourou King a chance to commit atrocities?"

Su Chao also nodded and said, "Is this the reason why Li Zuoling has been reluctant to go to the Four Barbarians Pavilion? Brother Su is really insightful!" "But if we don't go to the Four Barbarians Pavilion, how can we investigate?"

Su Ze packed up his armor, picked up his weapons and said, "Let's go to the Yongkang Floating Bridge."

In the next few days, Su Ze and Su Chao went out early in the morning and returned to Henan Prefecture in the afternoon to practice archery.

Li Daoyuan was not at all worried about the two men's "slacking off" behavior. In addition to handling official business in Henan Prefecture every day, he would write his own "Water Classic" in the Mingtang.

But Li Daoyuan just sat in Henan Prefecture like this, and the officials in the entire Henan Prefecture became more and more in awe of him.

This is naturally due to Li Daoyuan's ability.

Henan Prefecture was an important prefecture in the capital, involving many matters. In addition, the prefecture position had been vacant for a long time, so the twenty-six departments were overwhelmed with a large amount of official business that could not be handled.

After Li Daoyuan took office as the Left Prime Minister, all matters that the various departments could not handle and were sent to him would be resolved quickly. Moreover, Li Daoyuan could not only judge the problems, but also give specific methods to deal with the problems.

He was fair and never favored anyone, which allowed him to quickly gain reputation in Henan Prefecture.

Su Chao practiced archery with Su Ze for two days, but he had a weak constitution and soon could not continue.

After hearing this, Li Daoyuan asked Su Cho to come to the Mingtang where he handled government affairs to assist him in handling government affairs.

Su Cho's curiosity came and went quickly. After staying on Su Ze for a few days, it quickly shifted to following Li Daoyuan to handle government affairs.

Li Daoyuan also intentionally or unintentionally assigned some simpler government affairs to him. Every time, Su Cho would carefully write down his ideas on bamboo slips, and after Li Daoyuan's approval, he would compile and copy them in red and issue them as administrative orders.

With his help, Li Daoyuan handled government affairs faster and had more time to sit in the Mingtang to write his "Shui Jing Zhu".

Su Ze couldn't help but sigh that geniuses also need to go through a "leveling period". This is Li Daoyuan teaching Su Chao how to handle government affairs.

This is also why the courts were always filled with children from aristocratic families during the Wei and Jin Dynasties and even during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The aristocratic families monopolized not only the Confucian classics, but also the knowledge of how to handle government affairs. Moreover, this knowledge was more abstract and could not be passed down in books. It could only be passed down through word of mouth from generation to generation in the family.

Just like that, time came to two days before Prince Qinghe was to join the selection of forwards.

Su Cho usually did not go out and spent the whole day in the Mingtang assisting Li Daoyuan in handling government affairs.

Every day, Su Ze took people to visit and investigate near Yongkang Bridge, and wandered around Siyi Pavilion.

Sometimes Su Ze would leave the clerks and runners of Henan Prefecture and run around alone with his deaf and dumb follower, but he would return to Henan Prefecture on time every day to practice archery.

Seeing the three people like this, even the clerks and runners of Henan Prefecture started talking about it.

Finally, a reliable Zuo Lingyin came, who was neither greedy for money nor lustful, and was so adept at handling and coordinating government affairs that even those cunning clerks were reluctant to give up Li Daoyuan.

In the past few days, a Mahayana stronghold was destroyed every day, and the people in Luoyang City were in panic. Hou Gang led his men to run around Luoyang City every day and was much busier than Li Daoyuan's group.

How can these three people, who are so lazy in investigating the case, compete with Hou Gang, the right prime minister?

After finishing his archery practice today, Su Ze went to the public kitchen of Henan Prefecture to eat, and then returned to his room.

The system has been refreshed!
(End of this chapter)