Zhou Yanhui looked at Zhou Bangning and suddenly said, "Bangning! Dad has been nice to you all these years!"

Zhou Bangning nodded, "Dad naturally loves his son!"

"It's good that you think so!" Zhou Yanhui said: "Now Dad needs your help."

"Dad! What do you want me to do?" Zhou Bangning asked.

"Come in!" Zhou Yanhui shouted to the outside, asked the butler and others to come in, then walked over and began to take off Zhou Bangning's clothes, revealing his white and fat body.

"Dad, what are you doing! I'm nervous!" Zhou Bangning said in fear.

At this time, Zhou Yanhui had someone tied him up, then inserted a rattan strip, and cried bitterly: "Son, it's not that my father won't protect you, it's because you've caused too much trouble this time. Maybe this time, our Zhou family will be searched and exterminated. Dad can only aggrieved you!"

Zhou Bangning became anxious after hearing this, but Zhou Yanhui asked the butler to follow him and take Zhou Bangning, who was tied up in a big way, to apologize for the crime.

Now Zhou Yanhui can only hope that Gao Huan doesn’t know much. If Gao Huan knew everything he did, not only Zhou Bangning and him would die, but even Zhou Yanru would be implicated and dismissed.

...

The county government office was still checking the accounts, and the county officials were slowing down. Gao Huan immediately asked Jiang Zhie to find a few people to help investigate together, and the efficiency immediately improved.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhaowen finally couldn't bear the pressure, knelt on the ground and cried bitterly, "Your Majesty, I am guilty, I want to expose it!"

Gao Huan put down the teacup when he heard the words and asked coldly: "Tell me! What are your sins and what are you going to expose?"

Zhou Zhaowen saw that Gao Huan was determined to find out clearly, and then he knew that he was finished and the Zhou family was finished.

If he continues to hold on, those big families will not save themselves and will still let him take the blame. Only by committing crimes and making meritorious service can he save his life.

Zhou Zhaowen cried bitterly and kowtowed, "Your Majesty, I have no choice! The former magistrate of Shanghai was demoted to Yunnan and Guizhou to be a county magistrate because he could not be with them. He would be a prefect in his life and his future was ruined. I studied hard for more than ten years and became a county magistrate. If I did not give them convenience, they would definitely use their relationship and demote me to Jiangnan until a county magistrate appeared!"

Although Shanghai is a county town, its economy and taxes are equivalent to one or two other provinces. Even poor provinces like Guizhou, Yunnan, and Guangxi, the taxes of one province cannot be compared with Shanghai.

Therefore, it is possible that Shanghai County Magistrate will be a good candidate and will be promoted directly to the province to become a provincial-level boss or to be transferred to the central government to serve as a ministerial-level senior official, and it is promising.

Zhou Zhaowen became the magistrate of Shanghai. For the sake of his future, he did not adhere to principles and opened the door to the great gentry and wealthy families in order to gain their support and pave the way for his future career.

Gao Huan was quite annoyed when he heard this. From Zhou Zhaowen's words, Gao Huan understood the gentry and merchants, and began to influence the court again, intending to turn the Qian Dynasty into their Qian Dynasty.

After the gentry and merchants became rich, they wanted to interfere in politics and gain power. This is a historical trend and they did not change with Gao Huan's will.

The same situation will be true in any dynasty and any country. Even if Gao Huan kills this group of people, the same will be true afterwards.

These gentry and merchants were the chaebols of the Qian Dynasty. They were indeed conducive to the development of the country in the early days, but later they became cancers that oppressed the people and curbed the country's breakthroughs.

From Zhou Zhaowen's words, Gao Huan knew that his guess was right. The Zhou family was just a relatively prominent representative. There must be other big families behind and around the Zhou family.

This time, Gao Huan did not take action directly, just to understand clearly and then formulate a strategy, instead of setting up a Zhou family, scaring others, and appearing again after a few years.

Gao Huan said in a deep voice: "You are the official of the court and the official of the people. The court and public power serve the people and the world, not for the powerful and wealthy. Don't you understand?"

Zhou Zhaowen said: "I understand that when I was studying in the imperial government, I knew that the public power in the hands of the court and the ministers was for the world and the people, and was fair and fair. However, the officials who held the public power had selfish intentions. The ministers also had selfish intentions, so they used it to let them use public power to make profits! Since I took office, I have approved twelve pieces of land for the Zhou family, Xu family and other large families, and also covered their illegal acts."

The state’s public power is fair, fair and just, but officials who hold power have selfish intentions.

This left behind the powerful and the rich, leaving behind a secret door that influenced public power.

If these powerful and wealthy people in the Gan Dynasty were not restricted, they would likely become clans and become cancers like Korean chaebols.

Gao Huan knew about collusion between officials and businessmen. This phenomenon is relatively common and can be said to be the unspoken rule of the politics of the dynasty.

Most of the officials of the imperial court came from Jiangnan, and the gentry and merchants in Jiangnan had money and were prone to collusion with each other.

Gao Huan asked in a deep voice: "Is it just the matter of land approval? What's going on in the tobacco restaurants in Shanghai?"

Zhou Zhaowen was sweating profusely. He was originally betting that Gao Huan did not understand the harm of opium, but now Gao Huan took the initiative to ask, and then he knew that Gao Huan knew everything.

This opium is harmful to the law, so Zhou Zhaowen naturally knew that many people in Shanghai were destroyed because of opium.

During his time as the magistrate of Shanghai, almost every once in a while, people came to the yamen to complain, saying that the Zhou family opened a tobacco shop, which caused their family to be destroyed.

Zhou Zhaowen was also disgusted with the Zhou family opening a tobacco shop, but the other party had a great influence and did not listen to his persuasion.

Now that the emperor knows about this, it really hurts him.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty of being indifferent to the matter of this tobacco shop." Zhou Zhaowen wiped his sweat. "The longevity cream provided by this tobacco shop is a tribute from the Ming Dynasty. I have no laws and regulations prohibit the sale of longevity cream. In addition, the people are voluntarily taking it. I do not understand the situation, so I neglected the harm of longevity cream."

After hearing this, Gao Huan picked up the teacup and smashed it at Zhou Zhaowen, "You don't cry until you see the coffin. Why did the former county magistrate Wu Junyi die? Do you want me to remind you?"

Zhou Zhaowen's face was pale and suddenly burst into tears. "Your Majesty, the county has reported to the superiors about Fushou Paste, but the superiors replied that Fushou Paste is a tribute from the previous dynasty, not a prohibited item, and the people also voluntarily suck it, so the county is not a suck. The county magistrate Wu believed in his case and refused to listen to his advice. He insisted on complaining to the superiors again and again. In the end, the Zhou family, who was annoyed, was beaten to death in the middle of the night and threw it into the pond."

"Okay!" Gao Huan clenched his fists, "They even dared to kill officials in the court. This is to rebel!"

In the tobacco shop, selling opium was a death sentence, and it violated Gao Huan's bottom line. Now there was another incident of killing officials of the court. Then Zhou Papi's family was not the only one who wanted to kill, but the forces behind him were all going to be dug out.

Just when Gao Huan was angry, Yang Yan suddenly came in, "Your Majesty, Zhou Bapi brought Zhou Bangning to take the thorns and apologize. Do you want me to arrest them immediately and then throw them into the death row?"

Gao Huan had a gloomy face, was silent for a while, and waved his hand and said, "If I took it down now, his protective umbrella and accomplices would be scared by me and would not dare to plead for the Zhou family. I would cut them immediately and it would be difficult to expose them. I would not easily catch them all in one place. I would better let them in."

As he said that, Gao Huan looked at Zhou Zhaowen who was kneeling and said coldly: "Do you know what to do?"

Zhou Zhaowen kowtowed quickly, "I know, I don't say anything, and Your Majesty knows nothing."

Gao Huan nodded with satisfaction and waved with a dark face, "The account checkers have all been dispersed, everyone is in control, don't leave to reveal the news. In addition, let Zhou Papi wait for my summons."
Chapter completed!