Chapter 241: Capturing Zhu Gui
The next day, the chief officers of the ten major clans in Jiangjin knelt in a row outside the Chongqing government office.

Because after Lao Nian's Jinyiweiwa finished investigating Jiangjin County, he continued to investigate other prefectures and counties and discovered countless problems.

Chen Qi has personally taken elite detectives out to cooperate with the Jinyiwei to arrest people. After all, the Jinyiwei only has the power of investigation, not law enforcement. Arresting a Bian Shijie is already an overstepping of authority. After expanding the scope of the investigation, the law enforcement power will naturally be returned to Chen Qi.

Every day, a boatload of officials involved were sent to Chongqing. As time went on, the number of corrupt officials in the Huaxia Department became shocking.

After being scolded by Chen the Assassin, the ten major clans in Jiangjin County have returned to their respective departments to continue their work. As more and more people were arrested, they were not so worried.

Although given Chen the ruthless man, those arrested will not have a good end, but after all, they themselves did not participate in it, so it shouldn't be a big problem. Moreover, at this point, begging for mercy is useless. In the end, it all depends on what decision Chen the Executor makes.

The Legislative Assembly is urgently discussing the sentencing standards for corruption and treason, but it has been rejected by Chen Shuai twice for renegotiation, and the sentences are still too light.

Then the sentences will continue to be increased. This makes the representatives of ordinary people very excited, but makes the representatives of prefectures and counties all over the country feel like they have lost their parents, because sometimes they are discussing legislation, but they are arrested on the spot because they are involved in it.

In other words, these legislative representatives from the prefectures and counties are now increasing their own sentences.

In the entire Sichuan Province, there were nine states, twelve prefectures and more than one hundred counties, and in the end more than five thousand people were arrested.

Chen the Executor did not hold back and dealt with this group of people severely and swiftly. All those who had direct contact with Zhu Gui were charged with treason and sentenced to life imprisonment or a minimum of twenty years of labor reform. Life imprisonment would not be commuted, and only those sentenced to a maximum of fifty years in prison would be eligible for commutation. Those who could not bear it could commit suicide.

Those who had no direct contact with Zhu Gui received much lighter sentences and were charged with corruption and dereliction of duty.

Corruption is judged based on the amount and the consequences caused, with a maximum sentence of three years to fifty years of hard labor. Dereliction of duty is a lighter sentence, ranging from three months to three years of hard labor.

After all, dereliction of duty is simply a lack of ability or being taken advantage of by others. At most, it can be forgiven for being timid and cowardly and not daring to admit that one's mistakes have caused certain consequences.

Moreover, Chen Gu finally ruled that dereliction of duty would not affect the imperial examinations of future generations.

As for those who committed treason and corruption, their descendants were not allowed to take the imperial examinations.

As officials in various places were purged, it became increasingly difficult for Zhu Gui to hide. Finally, he had to hide in the mountains with his men, but he was still hunted down by Chen Qi.

Chen Qi was also very ruthless. He first ordered the joint defense teams in various places to carefully check all strangers in the territory, especially the tall old men with their entourage. This made it impossible for Zhu Gui to hide, so he had to hurriedly hide in the mountains with his guards.

But Chen Qi still pursued him relentlessly, because the Chen family was also implicated this time, and because the Chen family controlled three departments, the number of people implicated was even greater. If Chen Qi did not catch Zhu Gui, the culprit, Chen Qi would not dare to go back to see Chen Gu.

In fact, Zhu Gui had only been in Sichuan for more than a month. Although he had come into contact with many people, most of them were former officials and heads of large families. On the contrary, the number of people he had contact with was not large.

Among the thousands of people caught this time, most of them were just implicated by Zhu Gui. They were just corrupt or derelict in their duties. If it were normal times, it would be difficult to even find them, let alone catch them.

But this time, due to Zhu Gui's involvement, Chen Gu ordered a strict investigation. Lao Nian took the opportunity to expand his power, and Chen Qi needed to atone for his sins, so both of them took ruthless actions, which led to the discovery of so many people.

Chen Qi led fifty well-equipped elite constables to block Zhu Gui on a small hill outside Chengdu. Zhu Gui was in a state of disarray, with disheveled hair and heavy breathing. He had no strength to escape, and even the five palace guards looked exhausted. Chen Qi personally stepped forward and asked Zhu Gui, "Why are you doing this, old man?"

"It's just a matter of being loyal to the king and eating his salary!" Zhu Gui said with a wry smile.

"Because of your disturbance, thousands of my colleagues in the Huaxia Department have been brought down, and you have been stuck in a quagmire. I'm afraid there's no chance for you to leave Sichuan anymore!" Chen Qi couldn't help but sigh.

Zhu Gui could not help but frown and said, "I am the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince of the Qing Dynasty. How dare Chen the Assassin kill me?"

"There is nothing the leader dare not do, but I won't kill you. There is no death penalty in China anymore. The old gentleman and several guards will probably spend the rest of their lives in the mine. Of course, if the court still has a chance to turn the tables, you guys will be able to see the light of day again!" Chen Qi said.

"What a joke! Your Huaxia tribe only occupies a small corner of Sichuan, while our Qing Dynasty controls the entire world. How can you turn the tables?" Zhu Gui sneered, "It will only take a moment to wipe out your rebels."

"Then let's wait and see!" Chen Qi smiled and stopped arguing meaninglessly. He asked, "Do you want to continue to resist or surrender?"

Several palace guards couldn't help but look at each other, and finally looked at Zhu Gui, while Zhu Gui remained silent. Finally, he looked at Chen Qi, but Chen Qi had already raised his hand, and the elite constables behind him had raised their rifles and aimed at Zhu Gui and the others.

Seeing this, Zhu Gui couldn't help but sigh and said, "Whatever you want!"

Chen Qi smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Tie them all up!"

Chen Qi was only being polite in words, but he would definitely not be polite if he really took action. The five palace guards were all masters among masters, and they could kill someone at any time even with their bare hands. Even Zhu Gui was tall, so if he wanted to bring these people back to Chongqing, he naturally had to take them seriously.

If he gave them the opportunity, he would not be able to face the danger of returning to Chongqing to see Chen the Executor.

In the end, even Zhu Gui could not escape the fate of being tied up, which made the five palace guards furious.

Chen Qique smiled and said, "You guys better be honest. It's not worth it to lose your life at this point!"

"Why has it come to this?" Zhu Gui said with indignation. He initially thought that Chen Qi would treat him differently, but he didn't expect Chen Qi to not give him any face at all.

"There's nothing I can do. You're tall and maybe you know martial arts. I have to be on guard. Come on, let's go. We'll be fine once we get to Chongqing!" Chen Qi said.

Zhu Gui was stunned and asked, "Are you going to tie us up all the way to Chongqing?"

"What else?" Chen Qi asked unhappily, "Do you want me to prepare a prisoner car for you? Or put a wooden yoke on you?"

Zhu Gui couldn't help but remain silent. It was indeed a bad feeling to be a prisoner for the first time.

(End of this chapter)