Outside Xu Prefecture, Cao Zheng had personally come out of the city to welcome Cao Zhen's troops. It could be said that he had given him enough face.
Cao Zhen could see Cao Zheng from afar, so he went to see Cao Zheng alone. Behind him were the elites of the three most elite battalions of the Cao Group. In the middle was a prison cart, and in it was the enemy of the Cao Group, Zhang Kai.
"Elder brother, this little brother did not fail his mission and has now arrested the culprit.”Cao Zhen reported.
"Alright, brother, you've worked hard. This is a memorial I wrote to my father. I don't think you've worked too hard.”Cao Zheng looked at Cao Zhen and said.
"Big brother, I haven't slept for a few days to catch Zhang Kai. You can't use it like this, I can't take it.”
Cao Zhen begged.
Cao Zheng did not mind. He only whispered into Cao Zhen's ear,"If Zhang Kai didn't surrender himself, would you still be able to catch him? Also, you can open this memorial and take a look before you decide whether to do it.”
Cao Zhen had no choice but to open the memorial.
The memorial said that Cao Zhen, Cao Tai, and Xiahou Ba had made great contributions in the battle against Xuzhou and requested to be conferred the title of Marquis.
Cao Zhen looked at Cao Zheng in surprise after reading the report. He could not calm down for a long time.
"Elder brother, this, you are…" Cao Zhen said in disbelief.
"You're right. I've divided the credit among the three of you, so it's up to you whether you go or not.”
After Cao Zheng finished speaking, he turned around and walked towards Tancheng.
Cao Zhen saw that Cao Zheng's back was becoming more and more blurry, so he quickly shouted,"Brother, I'll go."
Cao Zhen did not care whether Cao Zheng could hear him or not. He immediately got a horse and hurried to Guandu's camp.
After Zhang Kai was taken over by Cao Zheng's guards, the soldiers returned to their respective barracks to wait for the reward.
A few days later, Cao Zheng put on his official robe and tried a case in the Provincial Governor's Office. The main criminal was Zhang Kai, who had fled for many years to avoid punishment.
"Zhang Kai, let me ask you, who was the one who ordered you to ambush Old Master Cao? At that time, you were just a lieutenant. You definitely didn't have that much ability.”
"Tell me the truth. If you can satisfy me, I can consider sparing your life.”
Cao Zheng asked.
At this moment, Zhang Kai seemed to have changed into a different person. He said directly,"Sir, I am willing to confess. I am willing to redeem myself.”
Then, Zhang Kai listed out the names of more than a dozen prestigious families, including Tao Qian and his family.
Cao Zheng looked at the evidence recorded by the chief historian, and his expression became darker and darker. He was burning with anger.
Cao Zheng really did not expect that the prestigious families of the six counties of Xu Prefecture would actually do so many evil things behind their backs.
" Encircling land, murdering people for money, forcing good women into prostitution, and kidnapping women…" Cao Zheng could not continue reading.
Cao Zheng looked at Zhang Kai and said,"Well done. I promise I won't kill you."”
Then, Zhang Kai was taken away by two people.
That night, more than a thousand elites gathered in the Provincial Governor's Office. The leaders were Li Wei and Zhang Liao.
"General, the Shadow Guards have gathered.”Li Wei reported.
"Alright, soldiers, tonight is the night for you to make a name for yourself. According to these evidence, capture all of them.”
Cao Zheng instructed.
"As you wish, General."
The thousand men were then divided into ten groups and began to arrest people according to the evidence.
In the Tao Manor, the Tao family members were sleeping. Unexpectedly, a scream suddenly rang out, waking the sleeping Tao Shang.
The merchant opened his eyes and saw that there was no one around, but he still felt uneasy.
Just as the merchant was feeling terrified, a black cloth suddenly covered his face. After being knocked unconscious, he was dragged away.
That night, not only the Tao family, but the Zhao family, Li family, and Huang family also encountered the same thing. These people were all very skilled in martial arts, and they could fight against ten people at once. When they found the people they wanted to capture, they didn't say anything. They knocked them unconscious and dragged them away.
The next day, a large number of notices appeared in Tan City. Following that, a large number of wealthy and noble members were blindfolded and escorted to the execution ground.
The execution ground was surrounded by heavy troops and was airtight.
Soon, the people began to gather.
Those who were about to be beheaded were also taken off their headgear. However, when they realized that they were tied up and there was an axe-wielder standing beside them, some of them were so scared that they peed their pants.
They didn't even know how they got here.
When it was close to 15:45 pm, Cao Zheng arrived at the execution ground, clad in armor and wielding the Azure Rainbow Sword.
Following that was a coffin that had just been unearthed.
No one understood this, but Tao Shang could tell that this coffin was the one that buried Tao Qian.
"Cao Zheng, what crime have we committed that you want to kill us?”Tao Shang roared at Cao Zheng.
Cao Zheng sneered. Well said! Your father sent someone to kill my grandfather. Just this alone is enough to kill your entire family.”
"But I didn't kill you today for personal revenge.”As Cao Zheng spoke, a few strong men carried a few large boxes up.
"It has been ten years since Tao Qian became the governor of Xu Prefecture. In the past ten years, the Tao family allowed Zuo Rong to occupy the people's wealth and build Buddhist temples. They also took the opportunity to sell their children and forced them into prostitution.”
"These are all crimes committed by the Tao family and other families in the past ten years. The evidence is conclusive. Cao Tai…"
Cao Zheng threw a bamboo scroll to Cao Tai and said coldly,""Read it out loud for everyone to hear.”
"Yes."
Cao Tai opened the bamboo slip and read aloud,""On the 18th day of the tenth month of the fifth year of Zhongping, Tao Ying colluded with Zhao Xing, the chief of Shanghe Village, and framed Li Erniu, a villager, for stealing. He threw Li Erniu's family into prison and tortured them to death.”
"In the seventh month of the first year of Chuping, the pottery merchant opened the Drunken Spring House and colluded with the peddlers to abduct more than 800 girls from Langya, Donghai, Guangling, and other places. They forced them to become prostitutes. Those who refused were tortured and maimed to death.”
"In the eighth month of the first year of Chuping, Zheng Qian from Gaoyou County, Guangling Prefecture, went to the Drunken Spring Restaurant to look for his fiancée. He was beaten to death by a pottery merchant, and the couple's bodies were chopped into minced meat and fed to dogs.”
" In the third month of the second year of Chuping, Liu Chenshi, a villager from Hewan, Pi County, Xiapi Prefecture, went to the Buddha Temple to offer incense. She was tricked by Zheng Yuan into a side hall at the back of the mountain and lost her virginity. After that, she was forced to become a prostitute at the Drunken Spring Brothel. Liu Chenshi refused and was strangled to death by Zheng Yuan with Buddhist beads.”
"Chuping 2nd year, April…"
"Chuping 2nd year, August…"
Cao Tai's voice was loud and clear, trying to make every word clear.
After reading volume after volume of bamboo slips and case after case, not to mention the audience, even Cao Tai, who was previously a spoilt child, couldn't help but feel shocked. The hand holding the bamboo slips kept trembling.
Tao Shang, Tao Ying, and the other families. In any case, none of the people kneeling on the stage had clean hands. Each of them had taken at least three lives.
All of them were after money and sex, and it was hard to imagine that a group of monks in kasaya could be so evil.
Below the stage, hundreds of thousands of people were silent. Only Cao Tai's voice echoed in the world, deafening the deaf.
With this, the reputation that Tao Qian had painstakingly built up over the years would be completely destroyed. The Tao family and this group of people would be like He Jin and the Ten Attendants of the Eternal, forever nailed to the pillar of shame.
It will be notorious for ten thousand years!
"Tao Shang, you have so many evidence of your crimes. If I were to read them all out, it would probably take a long time. I won't read them all out. When I go down, tell your father that good and evil will eventually be avenged.”
Cao Zheng said coldly.
"Slash."
Following Cao Zheng's order, hundreds of heads fell to the ground. More than ten powerful families were almost wiped out by Cao Zheng.
Soon after, Tao Qian's corpse was ordered by Cao Zheng to be burned to ashes in front of Cao Song's memorial tablet.
A large group of vermin had been disposed of. Cao Zheng had confiscated ten billion yuan of property, millions of catties of grain, land, gold, silver, jewelry, and books.
This huge harvest had greatly expanded Cao Zheng's treasury and granary.
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