The academy was not on the busiest main street of Luoyang. There were not many passers-by at the entrance. After Wang Wu shouted a few times, the passers-by began to gather here.
Soon, even the people on the main street were attracted here. The entrance of Baichuan Academy was crowded with people.
The people who came late stood outside the crowd and tiptoed to look inside.
"What's going on inside?"
"What's going on? Why is there an extra table at the entrance of the academy?"
"Why is Constable Li here?"
"Is Constable Li here to cause trouble for the academy again?"
…
After the crowd asked around, they found out that Li Mu was not here to cause trouble for the academy. He was here to redress the grievances of the people and uphold justice.
To the people of Luoyang, the government was full of mystery and fear. There was a saying among the people, "The entrance of the government office faces the south. Those who are in the right but have no money should not enter." The government office was never a place to uphold justice for the people. Many innocent people who entered the government office felt even more wronged.
The procedure to report a case to the government office was cumbersome and there was a high chance that it would not end well.
Over time, the people no longer trusted the government office. They would rather be wronged than report a case to the government office.
However, Constable Li, who had upheld justice for the people many times, was sitting behind the table at the entrance of Baichuan Academy. The words "government office" and "report a case" seemed to have no distance with the people.
All of this originated from the serious environment of the government office. It became a familiar scene for the people on the streets. More importantly, they trusted Li Mu.
The people were afraid of the government officials. However, Constable Li patrolled the streets all day long. Most people had greeted and talked to him. Just seeing his face made them feel close to him.
For a moment, the people who passed by complained about their grievances. Those who were innocent also stood aside to watch the show.
A man bravely walked forward and said, "Constable Li, the shopkeeper of the butcher's shop in the west of the city owes me two taels of silver. He refuses to admit it. Can the government office help me collect the debt?"
Li Mu looked at Deputy Constable Sun and said, "Old Sun, go with him and have a look."
Deputy Constable Sun was in the State of Jushen. It was more than enough for him to deal with this kind of civil dispute.
Deputy Constable Sun saluted Li Mu and left with the man.
The crowd stood at the side and watched for a while. They realized that Constable Li really wanted to uphold justice for the people of Luoyang. Those who had been wronged stopped watching and boldly walked forward.
"Constable Li, my family's land has been invaded …"
"Constable Li, my chickens were stolen yesterday …"
"Constable Li, a student of Baichuan Academy once violated my daughter …"
"The students of the Baichuan Academy are still in my wine shop, refusing to return the wine on credit …"
…
Li Mu asked Wang Wu and the others to deal with the case of land embezzlement and chicken theft. He said to the last two people, "Come, the two of you, tell me your grievances in detail …"
A middle-aged man said angrily, "This commoner's daughter was once made drunk by a student of the academy and cheated of her virginity. Now, she can't even get married. She stays at home every day, washing her face with tears …"
The owner of the wine shop said, "I can testify that the students of the three academies often mingle with women and go in and out of inns and restaurants …"
In a few days, Li Mu's table was moved from the entrance of the Baichuan Academy to the street in front of the Qingyun Academy. It was in the teahouse opposite the Myriad Scroll Academy.
Through the reports of the people and his investigation, Li Mu found that Wei Bin, Jiang Zhe, and the others were definitely not special cases of the Baichuan Academy.
These students relied on their status as students of the academy. Although they did not bully the people, they were passionate about seducing women. It had even become a trend.
They would even compare themselves with each other.
They would compare who had obtained the most chastity from women in a month, and who had slept with a strange woman the fastest. The winner could even gain some benefits from the loser.
The academy was the cradle of cultivating officials for the imperial court. The status of the students of the academy naturally rose.
The students of the academy were the future pillars of the imperial court. They should be elegant, knowledgeable, and have a bright future. Such men were the best choices for women.
With their status as students of the academy, they could easily get to know all kinds of women.
In the beginning, a man and a woman would just talk about romance and ideals. Soon, they would talk about sex.
Among them, some of the women were willing.
They hoped to find a good son-in-law. When he entered the officialdom, they could become the wife of an official. From then on, they could live a life of luxury and live a carefree life.
However, they did not know that the students of the academy just wanted to cheat their feelings and bodies.
For this kind of scumbag men, they could only be condemned morally, but could not be punished legally.
Men and women were willing. If they wanted to blame someone, they could only blame those women for not seeing the true colors of the scumbag men. They had to bear the consequences of their own decisions.
If the girls were unwilling, students like Wei Bin and Jiang Zhe would resort to violence or force them to get drunk and knock them out to achieve their goals.
This kind of thing was not new to the students of the academy.
Not all women would have sex with them in a short period of time. Some impatient people would resort to raping or drugging women to take their bodies.
After the matter was exposed, many victims and their families did not dare to offend the academy and could only swallow their anger.
For example, Shopkeeper Xu did not succeed in reporting the students of the academy to the Ministry of Justice. Instead, they were threatened.
Li Mu had now gained the trust of the people of the Divine Capital. In just three days, he had received dozens of reports of the students of the academy raping women.
Considering that some of the women's families were afraid of the academy and did not dare to stand up, the number would only be higher.
This involved not only the Hundred Rivers Academy, but also the Azure Cloud Academy and the Myriad Scroll Academy.
Only the White Deer Academy did not have such a case because of its closed management and strict requirements for its students.
How was this an academy that nurtured talents for the imperial court? It was clearly a cradle for rapists.
Even if the number of students was less than one-tenth of the total number of students in the academy and could not represent the entire academy, it was still shocking that one out of every ten students had a record of raping women.
It was hard to imagine, if such a person became an official in the future, what would his governance be like?
Li Mu also did not know how many such "talents" the three academies had sent to the imperial court over the years.
No wonder there would be officials like the magistrate of Yang County. The three academies were so ridiculous. Perhaps there were more than one "Yang County" in the hundreds of counties in the Great Zhou Dynasty, and more than one "Yang County" in the hundreds of counties.
Crepe Myrtle Hall.
The morning assembly had just begun when a figure stood out from the corner and bowed. "Your Majesty, I have a memorial."
The Empress's voice came from behind the curtain. "What is it, Minister Li?"
Li Mu asked Shangguan Li to hand over a memorial and said in a deep voice, "I recently found out that dozens of students from the Hundred Rivers Academy, Azure Cloud Academy, and Myriad Scroll Academy have raped nearly a hundred women in half a year. It is shocking. I don't know if the existence of these academies is to nurture talents for the imperial court or to nurture criminals for the Great Zhou …"
After a while, the Empress asked the young female official to hand over the memorial and said, "Everyone, please take a look."
In the Ziwei Palace, Li Mu's memorial began to be read from the front to the back.
All the officials who had read the memorial were silent.
Behind the curtains, the Empress held a piece of paper that was sandwiched between the memorials. Her dignified voice was cold as it rang in the ears of the officials, "This is the pillar of the Imperial Court that the Academy mentioned, and this is the future official of the Great Zhou Dynasty. I finally understand that the problem of the Great Zhou Dynasty is not the Demon Race, nor the Ghost Region, but the Academy and the Imperial Court. The officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty are all from the Academy. If the Academy is rotten, the Great Zhou Dynasty will be rotten. If the Academy is rotten, the people of the 36 counties will no longer trust the Imperial Court.
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