Wang Dun's sudden intervention further complicated the situation, but it indirectly demonstrated that this matter had little to do with Zhao Hanzhang; perhaps it really wasn't her instigation.
Wang Dun also submitted a memorial to the court, stating that in just half a year since Gou Chun took office, thousands of civilians had died, especially during the past winter.
Gou Chun actually conscripted labor in winter for major construction projects. For one estate, a water garden needed to be built, so they drove the laborers into the water to fill the earth during winter, with eighty-five workers either freezing or dying of frostbite.
Any laborer who failed to arrive on time for work was executed without question, comparable in severity to Yama.
Gou Chun's harshness extended not only to ordinary citizens but also to his subordinates and local prominent gentry; any mistakes, regardless of severity, resulted in punishment, ranging from whipping to execution.
