The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 060 Man-made Disasters

The night was pitch black, and only the sound of the wind rustling and the pattering rain could be heard in the posthouse. 

Su Wenyun had a secret meeting with Tang Shen that night. He was dressed in black, as this was an unofficial visit. Suddenly, a sound of porcelain shattering came from outside. Startled, Su Wenyun quietly moved to the window and opened a small gap. He saw that an official in the opposite room had accidentally knocked over some bowls and plates.

Closing the window, Su Wenyun returned inside and asked, "Does Tang daren truly believe this is a natural disaster?"

Tang Shen was quite surprised. After thinking for a moment, he said earnestly, "To be honest, if this were merely a natural disaster, His Majesty would not have sent a special team of inspectors to Cizhou. Our mission here is to determine whether, apart from natural causes, there might also be human factors involved. But I don't understand, Su daren… what is your purpose for visiting me tonight?"

"The Chamberlain is responsible for documenting His Majesty’s daily life and normally wouldn't leave the palace."

Tang Shen remained silent.

Su Wenyun looked at him intently and smiled, "So, why has Tang daren come to Cizhou this time?"

Tang Shen was unable to answer.

Not only had Zhao Fu not clearly told him why he was sent to Cizhou, but even if Zhao Fu had told him privately, there was no way he could reveal it to Su Wenyun.

Tang Shen's silent response said it all to Su Wenyun.

Su Wenyun sneered coldly, "Could it be that His Majesty actually also suspects me?"

Tang Shen immediately replied, "I don't understand what Su daren is implying."

Su Wenyun gazed seriously at Tang Shen and suddenly left, leaving behind only one sentence, which hit the floor tiles of the guest room like a hammer: "Tang Shen, the collapse of the Jing River Bridge was not a natural disaster, but a man-made catastrophe! Whether you believe it or not, I had nothing to do with it. But like you, I want to uncover the truth."

"Su daren..."

Su Wenyun had already walked far away.

Tang Shen took a silver token from his inner pocket, squinted his eyes, and then put the token back into his pocket.

Four days later, the imperial inspector Ji Zhi arrived back at Cizhou City with the officials. He entered the office of the governor, where the other officials were already gathered. Ji Zhi swept his gaze over the group of officials and said, "Gentlemen, I am only a sixth-rank censor, the lowest-ranking official among all of you here. However, I must say that before coming to Cizhou, I was appointed by His Majesty as the imperial inspector of Cizhou. Should I overstep, I ask for your forgiveness and not to take it to heart."

The censors of the Censorate were always arrogant and paid little attention to official ranks, but they never explicitly pointed it out.

Ji Zhi's sudden remark caused a rustling sound in the room, and even Tang Shen looked up at him.

Ji Zhi continued, "I will take that as silent approval. Bring it up."

As his voice fell, two yamen runners carried in a bamboo basket. The basket was about the size of a water jar and seemed unremarkable, containing only a few broken pieces of large stone. (TN: yamen=government)

The officials were puzzled and whispered among themselves, asking Ji Zhi what the purpose of this was.

Ji Zhi’s next words struck like a blow to the head, causing dead silence in the office: "These are the culprits responsible for the collapse of the Jing River Bridge!"

The Jing River was the largest and most turbulent river in the northern territory of the Song Dynasty. While there were few rivers in the north, the Jing River was the most significant among them, despite its relative mediocrity. Building a bridge over it was challenging, but not impossible. The craftsmen of the Song Dynasty were capable of such a feat.

This summer, the weather was abnormal, and the north saw heavy rainfall, causing the river to swell even more fiercely. The heavy rain destroyed the unfinished bridge. But Zhao Fu was skeptical—was it really just the rain? The court officials in Shengjing also doubted that a mere storm could have claimed nearly a hundred lives.

Thus, Ji Zhi was sent, and he did not disappoint. He found these pieces of stone at the remains of the nearly destroyed bridge.

Ji Zhi walked over to the bamboo basket and pointed at the stones, saying, "Xie daren, as a Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, you should know what these are. That’s right, these are the foundation stones for the bridge. The Jing River Bridge spans over 512 zhang from south to north (TN: In ancient Chinese measurements, one zhang is approximately 3.33 meters or 10.9 feet. Therefore, 512 zhang is roughly 1,706.56 meters or 5,600 feet). The river isn't particularly turbulent in ordinary years, and the Ministry of Works had set the depth for the foundation stones at ten zhang below ground. Is that correct?"

Xie Cheng’s face grew darker and darker, clearly understanding what Ji Zhi was getting at.

Ji Zhi continued, "Xie daren, do these foundation stones appear to be ten zhang tall?"

Xie Cheng turned angrily, shouting, "Who was responsible for building the foundation? Bring forth the officials and craftsmen responsible for the bridge’s construction!"

With his command, the yamen runners hurried out of the office to bring people from the Cizhou prison. After a quarter of an hour, two runners rushed back in, and one fell to his knees, pale-faced, shouting, "Please forgive me, daren! Since the arrival of the inspection team five days ago, several officials and craftsmen have committed suicide out of guilt!"

The room was in an uproar.

Su Wenyun stepped forward, "Suicide out of guilt?"

The runner, still kneeling, replied, "Yes. Only three officials and about a dozen craftsmen took their own lives. So I... I didn’t report it."

"Bang—"

Su Wenyun kicked the runner three meters across the room.

The runner coughed up blood but did not dare delay. He hurriedly crawled back and kept kowtowing, "I know I was wrong. I know I was wrong. I consulted the governor, and he said it was no big deal, so I didn't report it."

Su Wenyun immediately turned to the governor of Cizhou, "Zhang daren, is this true?"

Su Wenyun, as a fourth-rank Junior Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, was of equal rank to the governor, and he oversaw the imprisonment of officials. Faced with his question, the governor felt a chill down his spine and hurriedly replied, "Yes, it is true. But Inspector, Su daren, I have checked them. They died from starvation, not foul play. After the Jing River Bridge incident, there were too many officials and craftsmen imprisoned, and I couldn’t monitor them all. By the time I learned of their starvation, they were already dead."

Ji Zhi said, "Bring in their bodies."

Half an hour later, the bodies of three officials and twelve craftsmen were carried into the office from the morgue.

It was August, and the weather was hot. Some had been dead for three days, others for one or two, but all of them emitted a foul stench. Some pampered officials couldn’t help but vomit, and even Tang Shen felt queasy. However, seeing Ji Zhi, Xie Cheng, and Su Wenyun all examining the bodies, he gritted his teeth and joined them.

After inspecting the bodies, Ji Zhi said, "They did indeed starve to death. Which of these were responsible for building the foundation?"

Xie Cheng pointed to an official and four craftsmen.

Of course, more than just five people had worked on the bridge foundation. But coincidentally, when the bridge collapsed, the others who had been working on the foundation were swept away by the flood, leaving no bodies behind.

Ji Zhi found himself at a loss for what to do.

After removing the bodies, Ji Zhi gathered the officials of the inspection team for a secret meeting.

Ji Zhi said, "Gentlemen, in this city of Cizhou, the only people we can trust are each other. The only ones who dare claim they had nothing to do with the collapse of the Jing River Bridge are those present. Initially, I thought this was a combination of natural disaster and minor human error, but now it seems that the situation in Cizhou is far more complex than I imagined. Gentlemen, we are walking into hell alone."

An official said, "How could it be such a coincidence? Starving to death, committing suicide out of guilt, and all of them dying without exception!"

"There is certainly a conspiracy."

"Knowing there's a conspiracy, what can we do? Now there's no proof left."

Ji Zhi said, "There are two options. First, I will report what has happened in Cizhou to His Majesty and await his decision. Meanwhile, we will continue our private investigation. What do you all think?"

"Everything depends on Ji daren."

That night, Ji Zhi wrote a report and sent it to Shengjing under cover of darkness.

The next day, Ji Zhi gathered all the censors of the Censorate from the inspection team. As they were about to leave, Ji Zhi stopped and said, "Tang daren, you should come too."

Tang Shen was momentarily surprised but quickly followed the group of censors into the room.

As soon as he entered, he heard Ji Zhi’s heavy voice: "Gentlemen, the officials and craftsmen directly involved in building the foundation are all dead, and we are left with no witnesses. That is now a fact. However, I have just received word that, aside from them, there were eight other officials who had the opportunity to come into contact with the procurement and construction of the bridge materials.”

"Who are these eight?"

Ji Zhi remained silent, and another Censorate official answered in his stead: “These eight individuals are all of higher rank, with the lowest among them being of fifth-rank. They are: Zeng Fei, the Director of the Ministry of Revenue’s Gold Division; Yue Ziguang, the Director of the Ministry of Personnel’s Department of Merits and Honors… Gao Wei, the Director of the Ministry of Works, who reported to Shengjing half a month ago; Zhang Feng, the Governor of Cizhou; Su Wenyun, the Junior Minister of the Court of Judicial Review; Xie Cheng, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works; and Xu Linghou, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue!”

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The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 061 Being Scolded

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The Kingdom That Never Sleeps CH 059 Officialdom