Chapter 316: Strange Clouds Gathering |
In Bianjing, the capital city at the foot of the Son of Heaven, food safety had always been taken very seriously.
However, this didn’t mean that if a beggar ate a spoiled steamed bun and got diarrhea, he would receive a fair trial.
The authorities mainly concerned themselves with large-scale issues.
Since this matter had already reached the Deputy Police Commissioner, there must have been a large quantity of bad peaches involved.
Cao Dongdong, Ma Xiaoyi, and Zhang Fei immediately ended their training for the day and rushed together to the General Police Bureau.
Although Zhang Fei had completed his service, he had an employment contract with the police force.
When they arrived at the headquarters, they found Cao Ping already sitting inside.
“Father is here too?”
Cao Dongdong was slightly startled.
“Yes. I’ll go immediately.”
Cao Dongdong took Ma Xiaoyi with him and hurriedly left.
After they departed, Zhang Fei asked: “Commissioner, is it this serious?”
Cao Ping picked up a large peach from the table and tossed it to Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei caught it and looked it over. “This peach looks quite good!”
Cao Ping said: “Break it open and see.”
Zhang Fei did as instructed and applied force to split it. Juice immediately splattered everywhere. He held it to his nose and sniffed. “It seems to have gone bad.”
Cao Ping sighed: “That’s exactly where the problem lies. This peach looks very good and wasn’t sold cheaply either. Many wealthy families probably bought some.”
Speaking objectively, if poor people ate them and only got diarrhea, it would probably be overlooked. But if scholar-officials ate them and had problems, they would certainly hold the authorities accountable.
Zhang Fei nodded understandingly and asked: “No one has died, have they?”
Cao Ping shook his head: “Not yet. I also had people ask around earlier. These peaches are unlikely to be fatal – at most they’ll cause stomach upset. However…”
He examined the plate of peaches with his eyes.
Zhang Fei quickly asked: “However what?”
Cao Ping hesitated slightly, then shook his head: “Nothing.”
Zhang Fei didn’t press further and only said: “Is there anything I can help with?”
Cao Ping pondered for a moment: “Not at the moment, but if many people file lawsuits, we might need your assistance.”
Zhang Fei nodded: “I’ll go back and carefully study the relevant laws.”
Cao Ping nodded slightly, but his expression carried a trace of unease.
Zhang Fei suddenly seemed to remember something: “Oh! There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”
Cao Ping appeared to be contemplating other matters and was slightly startled: “What is it?”
Zhang Fei said: “Our charitable organization wants to donate a sum of money to the General Police Bureau.”
Cao Ping smiled: “That’s a good thing! Why would we need to discuss it?”
Zhang Fei said: “But our charitable organization has its own rules. Our thinking is this: police officers are different from the previous patrol guards, in the process of law enforcement, they must strictly follow regulations, understand restraint, and cannot act recklessly.
To ensure that police can protect themselves while not easily causing too much harm to the people, they must be equipped with weapons specifically designed for police law enforcement.
Therefore, we hope to donate this sum to the Three Financial Bureaus and have them establish a weapons research and development office specifically for Police Headquarters.”
Specialized research and development? Cao Ping was quite surprised: “Is it necessary to be so rigorous?”
Zhang Fei said: “In my view, it is necessary. After all, police face far greater supervision than the previous patrol guards and constables, and bear heavy responsibilities. They must be trained with the attitude of elite soldiers, without the slightest carelessness.”
In fact, the greatest supervision came from the Legal Aid Office and the Prosecution Office.
The slightest misstep could result in being sued.
Since those institutions were very professional, if you weren’t professional, it could cause many troubles.
Cao Ping nodded slightly: “That may be so, but if we’re to establish a special office to help police develop weapons, the funding…”
Zhang Fei smiled: “As long as they’re seriously helping police with research and development, we’ll provide funding every year.”
Cao Ping immediately said: “If you can continuously provide funding, then there probably won’t be much of a problem. However, I’ll still need to report this matter to His Majesty.”
Zhang Fei nodded and said, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave first.”
Cao Ping seemed to have no interest in discussing anything further with him and nodded, “You may go.”
As soon as Zhang Fei left the General Police Bureau, he “coincidentally” encountered Lu Huiqing.
Lu Huiqing asked, “What did Commissioner Cao say?”
Zhang Fei replied, “I suspect he’s already discovered that these peaches aren’t ordinary peaches, but peaches that were sent as tribute.”[1]
Lu Huiqing smiled, “Commissioner Cao is a member of the imperial relatives by marriage. He’s eaten plenty of tribute peaches, so he could identify them at a glance. How did he respond?”
Zhang Fei said, “He only ordered a ban on selling peaches but didn’t rush to investigate their source. I suspect he’ll conduct his own secret investigation.”
Lu Huiqing nodded, “These tribute peaches could involve the imperial family. Before investigating thoroughly, he’ll definitely be very cautious. Even if he discovers something, he’ll most likely conceal the source of these peaches.”
Zhang Fei asked, “But won’t your peaches cause any deaths?”
Lu Huiqing shook his head, “You can rest assured about that. I know my limits. Actually, these stockpiled tribute goods have often been sold before, just transported to surrounding counties, and there’s never been any incidents. But for this batch, transporting them to surrounding counties would be too late. Once the peaches’ appearance deteriorates, they won’t sell well.”
Zhang Fei nodded. Honestly speaking, when it came to execution capability, he trusted Lu Huiqing more than Wang Anshi.
Lu Huiqing asked again, “You’ve always had a good relationship with the Cao family. Aren’t you afraid the Cao family will be displeased with you for exposing this matter?”
Zhang Fei chuckled, “The problem is that Commissioner Cao never explained this to me. I was unaware of it. My exposing this matter is actually helping the police office, so it won’t cause me any trouble.”
“Then I’m relieved.” Lu Huiqing nodded, then continued, “Actually, I didn’t seek you out today to gather information about the police office.”
Zhang Fei asked, “What matter brings you here, Lord Lu?”
Lu Huiqing said in a low voice, “According to what I know, the Prosecution Office is preparing to sue our Reform Planning Commission for violating ancestral laws regarding the Balanced Delivery Policy.”
Sima Guang had already informed him about this matter, but Zhang Fei feigned ignorance and said with surprise, “The new laws haven’t even been promulgated yet.”
Lu Huiqing said, “They’ll definitely wait until after promulgation before filing suit.”
“Right after promulgation, or after implementation?” Zhang Fei asked.
Lu Huiqing replied, “From the looks of it, they’ll formally file suit right after promulgation.”
Zhang Fei smiled, “Then they’re just asking for trouble. I’ll definitely take this case and guarantee we won’t lose.”
Lu Huiqing said, “But we’ve decided not to fight this lawsuit with them.”
Zhang Fei asked in surprise, “Not fight it?”
Lu Huiqing explained, “If every time we issue a law, they sue us in the name of ancestral laws, and once sued, the new laws can’t be implemented before trial, they can drag it out indefinitely. What’s the point of talking about enriching the country and strengthening the military? We might as well spend all our time in court with them.”
“That’s true.”
Zhang Fei nodded slightly, then asked, “If you won’t take the case, how do you plan to respond?”
Lu Huiqing said, “If they don’t know what’s good for them, we naturally won’t be polite with them either. We’ll use other methods to resolve this.”
Zhang Fei frowned, “Other methods?”
Lu Huiqing smiled, “Before you came to Bianjing, court matters were never resolved through lawsuits.”
“That’s true.”
Zhang Fei nodded, then said, “In that case, there’s nothing I can help with.”
Lu Huiqing said, “I hope you’ll time your publicity campaign for after they file their lawsuit.”
Zhang Fei pondered for a moment, “Actually, doing it beforehand might make them wary and perhaps they won’t file suit at all.”
Lu Huiqing smiled.
Zhang Fei nodded, “I know what to do.”
Lu Huiqing nodded and cupped his hands, “Then I’ll trouble you with this.”
Zhang Fei returned the gesture, “Academician Wang has shown me tremendous kindness. Such a small matter is hardly worth mentioning.”
“Our mentor truly didn’t misjudge you.”
Lu Huiqing smiled and nodded, thinking to himself that if this young man truly went all out to help them deal with the Prosecution Office, it would prove he was on their side. He continued, “I still have matters to handle, so I’ll take my leave first.”
Zhang Fei nodded, “Take care, Lord Lu.”
Watching Lu Huiqing’s departing figure, Zhang Fei’s expression changed as he furrowed his brow in contemplation. Actually, he didn’t need to tell me so much. It seems he wanted to use this matter to test me. He’s always maintained his guard against me – I’ll need to be wary of this man in the future.
For Gu Ji, this year had truly been one of misfortune. First the carriage permits and street encroachment issues had made his life unbearable, and now Wang Anshi’s new policies were taking their first shot at the Imperial Treasury.
Since the Imperial Treasury’s warehouses managed numerous tribute items, according to Wang Anshi’s New Policies, all these vaults would have to be handed over, or the Imperial Treasury would undergo restructuring. Regardless of which plan was chosen, Wang Anshi would never allow him to continue managing the Imperial Treasury.
What a cursed fate!
In recent days, he had been desperately opposing these measures at court.
While this matter remained undecided, Cao Ping suddenly came calling.
Gu Ji’s heart was filled with panic, though he forced himself to appear calm. “How does Commissioner Cao have time to visit me here?”
Cao Ping took out a peach and handed it to Gu Ji. “Director Gu, do you recognize this item?”
Gu Ji took it and looked, then said, “This is a plump peach from Qianfeng County.”
Cao Ping said, “Today many of these plump peaches appeared in the market.”
Gu Ji paused, then said, “This year there was a great harvest of tribute peaches from various regions. It’s common for merchants to transport these peaches to the capital for sale.”
Cao Ping said, “But the season for eating peaches has long since passed.”
Gu Ji frowned slightly. “Are you saying this is from the treasury warehouses?”
Cao Ping said, “I’m only speculating, but the key issue is that these peaches have gone bad, causing people to file complaints at the police station.”
“What?”
Gu Ji suddenly stood up. “Have there been any deaths?”
Cao Ping shook his head. “If there had been deaths, I wouldn’t dare come here. There were just some stomach upsets, but Director Gu should quickly go investigate.”
“Yes, yes, yes!”
Gu Ji nodded repeatedly. “I’ll immediately send people to investigate. Thank you, Commissioner, for informing me.”
[1] Under the tribute system, certain localities were required to pay their taxes-in-kind in the form of special goods, rather than grain.
