Tang Dynasty Prison Administration

040: The Strange Case of Youzhou

Li Xingguo's moves were simple and straightforward, without any fancy or complicated techniques. He used only broad, sweeping movements, and his Mo Dao was almost entirely about chopping, slashing, and swinging.

Almost no one could stop him. Under the influence of the Mo Dao, he was either cleaved in two on the spot or cut into two pieces. He was practically a superman.

Physical advantage, relying purely on strength to kill.

After a fierce battle, Li Xingguo gripped his Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword), and the monks dared not step forward. They had never been on a battlefield before and had never witnessed such a terrifying fight. Naturally, they were terrified. Moreover, they had no battle formation and were simply competing in individual strength and numbers.

Compared to Li Xingguo, the Left General of the Golden Guard, it was like Tyson beating a kindergarten—there was simply no comparison.

Some monks were so frightened by the scene that they retreated repeatedly, not daring to step forward.

Xue Huaiyi was also shocked by this scene. Little did he know that Li Xingguo was a formidable man who had fought in real battles, earned military merits by killing people, and rose step by step to the position of General of the Left Jinwu Guard.

The Golden Guard is part of the Imperial Guard, which is selected from among the best of the best, even the best of the best. To become a Grand General, one must have an exceptionally high level of martial prowess.

Even Su Wen was shocked by this scene. He thought that ancient generals were not very powerful, but now it seems that they are simply superhuman.

If it were a weakling like Su Wen, Li Xingguo could easily kill hundreds of Su Wens by himself, as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.

Li Xingguo did not catch his breath, but took a few deep breaths. Just then, a monk appeared out of nowhere, riding a horse and charging straight at Li Xingguo.

Li Xingguo wielded his knife and slashed, cleaving the man in two from the upper body to half of the horse's forebody with a single blow.

The monks who witnessed this scene were all frightened and looked around in shock. Even Su Wen was quite frightened by what he saw.

Wasn't it agreed that cavalry would beat infantry like dogs?

How the hell did that slash the man and horse in two with a single blow?

At this moment, Li Xingguo shouted at the top of his lungs, "Those who do not lay down their weapons will be annihilated, man and horse!"

Upon hearing this, some monks began to throw their weapons on the ground. Once someone threw away their weapon, the others naturally followed suit.

Upon seeing this, Xue Huaiyi seemed to go mad, pulling out a knife and rushing down the stairs towards Li Xingguo.

Suddenly, Li Xingguo raised his Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) and cleaved it in two with a single blow, cutting Xue Huaiyi in half. This scene shocked Su Wen as much as the first atomic bomb explosion!

When the monks saw Xue Huaiyi being killed, they were all too frightened to move. Even the monks who had been holding Su Wen released their grip and dared not resist in any way.

About fifteen minutes later, Xue Song arrived hastily with a large number of soldiers. Upon seeing the scene before him, Xue Song immediately asked, "Chief Commander, what happened? Why were so many people killed?"

At this moment, Li Xingguo had also recovered from his earlier exhaustion.

Su Wen stood up and said, "We'll report the details to the Grand Commander when we get back!" He then took out a register from his hand and said, "However, Xue Huaiyi is involved with many officials, not only from Youzhou, but also from other places!"

Xue Song frowned and said, "Xue Huaiyi? Wasn't he burned to death many years ago?"

Su Wen took a deep breath and said, "Send troops to search the temple and see if there are any secret passages. There should be many datura flowers in the secret passages!"

......

Su Wen told Xue Ne everything about this, and Xue Ne wrote a memorial and a list of names, sending them back to Chang'an by express courier.

Afterwards, the sage was furious and ordered that all the people on the list be cut in half at the waist and their three families be exterminated. The ruthlessness of his methods even frightened Su Wen.

In Youzhou alone, more than two thousand people were implicated and executed because of this matter. Su Wen was completely unaware of the number of people in other places, but it was definitely not small.

Because Su Wen knew that Li Longji was terrified of Wu Zetian. If it were Princess Taiping, Li Longji would probably just laugh it off. After all, if Li Longji could kill Princess Taiping when she was alive, then he could do the same if he were alive again.

But Wu Zetian was different. Li Longji was genuinely afraid, otherwise this case would not have prompted Li Longji to unleash a massacre that implicated a wide range of people!

"Su Wen's contribution to this case is indispensable. He is hereby appointed as the magistrate of Luoyang County. Report this to the authorities immediately. Li Xingguo has been commended for his meritorious service in suppressing the rebels and has been awarded the rank of General, but Su Wen will continue to be protected!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Su Wen and Li Xingguo received the imperial decree together!

Luoyang is a county in the capital region, and a seventh-rank official is required. Although Su Wen is currently the Director of the Department of Criminal Justice, he is also a seventh-rank official, but there are still differences even among officials of the same rank!

The promotion system in the Tang Dynasty was quite different from that of other dynasties. The official system in the Tang Dynasty consisted of nine ranks and thirty grades, with ranks four and above divided into "正" (zheng) and "从" (cong).

Ranks below the fourth grade are first divided into senior and junior ranks, then into upper and lower ranks!

In the Tang Dynasty, the first and second ranks were honorary positions with no real power or actual duties. Therefore, the third rank was considered the highest rank, hence the saying that there were twenty-six levels of the third rank.

The lowest rank in the Tang Dynasty was the ninth grade, which was the position of county lieutenant. However, not all county lieutenants held this rank.

The Tang Dynasty had a total of more than 1,500 counties, which were also divided into three, six, and nine grades, with a total of ten grades.

However, after summarizing, there are six grades: red, low, upper, middle, lower middle, and lower.

In remote areas like Youzhou, which is also a strategically important border region, Lu County in Youzhou City is several counties!

In some remote areas, which are not important and have a small population, they are considered lower or lower-middle counties. Serving as a county lieutenant in such a place means that one can see the end of one's career path and it is very difficult to get promoted in one's entire life.

However, those who are promoted often serve as county lieutenants, county assistants, or county magistrates in several counties.

If one can serve as a county lieutenant, county assistant, or county magistrate in a county, then one will have a greater chance of being promoted to a higher official position.

Of course, the Red County only included the six counties of Chang'an, so anyone who could become an official in the Red County was guaranteed a chance to be promoted to a high-ranking position, which was the standard in the Tang Dynasty.

Su Wen's position as the Chief of the Criminal Justice Department, in reality, was only a lower seventh-rank official. But this time, he jumped three ranks and became the magistrate of Luoyang, which is a high-ranking official of the seventh rank.

Of course, the most important point is that this time, the emperor rewarded Su Wen and Li Xingguo with 30,000 coins each.

For Su Wen, a poor man who now had less than twenty coins left, it was like a windfall.

It should be noted that almost half a month has passed since the Youzhou mystery case ended.

Before, he could use Zhao Qing's money, but recently, Su Wen has been eating and drinking for free all day long, and frantically sponging off Cui Wuyi and Li Xingguo's money.

Li Xingguo, this general in his thirties, for some unknown reason, did not get married and spent his days playing with his weapons and horses.

Anyway, Li Xingguo was a single guy, so Su Wen ate and drank for free without any burden at first. But after a while, Su Wen himself started to feel embarrassed about it!

When Su Wen received the reward money, he was overjoyed!

The next day, Su Wen and Li Xingguo set off for Luoyang in Luozhou. Su Wen bowed to Xue Song and Cui Wuyi, who had come to see them off, and said, "Gentlemen, until we meet again!"