Why did the emperor rebel?

Chapter 1162 Little Ji Tong
Chen Xun's case aroused a lot of discussion among the government and the public, but it did not last long.

The reason is that after the Ministry of Criminal Affairs interrogated Chen Ying and Wang Xuan, they did not take any further action except confining them in the mansion.

Later, a censor asked about it, and the Ministry of Punishment replied that it took time to verify the testimony, and some key witnesses were not in the capital, so the officials in the court gradually died down.

The weather in August has gradually cooled down, and the severe heat has finally passed, and the breeze brings people a little bit of coolness.

Zhu Qiyu looked at the memorial in front of him, and looked a little worried. The military report was delivered, and Yu Qian's strategy of encircling and suppressing it finally worked. Since these days, there have been frequent success reports. According to the latest military report, At least the Japanese pirates around Zhangzhou have basically been wiped out.

In the next step, Yu Qian will take this as the starting point and move forward step by step. This should be a happy thing, but Zhu Qiyu is really not happy.

Now that the Daiwangfu is basically completed, and the Japanese pirates in Zhangzhou have been dealt with, but the merchant ships sent by Huangdian still have no signs of returning. question.

In addition, the household department has also been crying about being poor during this period. This is not because Shen Shangshu is making trouble, but because the treasury is out of money.

After this year, snowstorms, droughts, floods, and various disasters, the national treasury is basically in a state of more outflows and less inflows. In addition, the year of last year was not good. Was tossed away.

In fact, it is not easy to be able to survive until now.

The establishment of Huangzhuang has reduced a large number of refugees in various places, and the imperial court has been able to reduce most of its energy to resettle the refugees. The savings, but also provided a lot of support, which has supported until now.

However, this is approaching the limit. After all, tens of thousands of troops are out and exhausted. Although Yu Qian sealed up many local gentry's homes in the process of suppressing the Japanese, which greatly eased the pressure on military expenses, but, The imperial court still has to bear a large part.

So, at this point, if there is no way to raise money, then, in at most three months, the army will definitely be ready to return to the court.

But having said that, suppressing the Japanese is not a one-day achievement. The reason why Zhu Qiyu sent troops to suppress the Japanese at this time is to ensure that the merchant ships of Huangdian can return safely. What's more, it's a waste of money and people, and it's in vain.

So no matter what, the army cannot withdraw for the time being, at least before the end of the year. Of course, if there is still no sign of the merchant ship returning by the end of the year, Zhu Qiyu has to consider whether he has acted too hastily on the sea trade.

The immediate question, of course, is where will the next money come from?

At this point, Zhu Qiyu frowned and asked Wynn next to him.

"Send someone to ask Shu Liang, how is the investigation on the errand I assigned him?"

Because of the natural disasters throughout the year, the imperial court does not have much income, so there is definitely no way to get money from the national treasury. Although there are still some in the internal treasury, it is the last resort. There was a snowstorm, and the remaining money and food in the internal treasury are the last preparations made in case the merchant ship has something wrong and cannot return. No matter what, it cannot be moved.

Then, we can only use some extraordinary methods. In fact, when the army was sent out, Zhu Qiyu had considered the problem of insufficient funds, so he let the Ministry of punishment participate in the previous plan.

According to the clues found by the Ministry of Punishment, Zhu Qiyu's preliminary estimation by searching the family properties of those officials should be able to last until the end of the year, which is indeed the case.

However, the Ministry of Criminal Justice is now stumbling over Chen Ying's case.

The last time I questioned Chen Ying and Wang Xuan, I did not get much information. Wang Xuan tried his best to testify that Chen Ying accepted bribes in the name of Chen Xun, and also accused him of committing illegal activities in his hometown. Push two five six, do not recognize half a word.

In addition, Wang Xuan himself was involved in Ji Tong's case, and the court said he had everything. Some people scolded him for betraying his teacher's kindness and treachery, and some scolded him for deliberately framing and talking nonsense. In contrast, there were many Minister, the Shangzuo demanded that Wang Xuan be severely punished, and at the same time, plead for Chen Xun.

Although it is said that these days are not so intense, it does not mean that everyone's eyes have turned away. Now they are all staring at the Criminal Department, wanting to see what the outcome of the case will be.

But the problem is that, judging from the current situation, the matter of Chen Ying accepting bribes is probably true. Although there is no hard evidence yet, it is only a matter of time to find evidence.

There may be ministers in the court who were bewitched by others, but Zhu Qiyu believes that more people must have guessed the truth.

The reason why they made such noise was to make the Ministry of Criminal Justice bow its head. As long as Chen Ying could get out of this case, then it might not be impossible to repeat the same trick in other cases.

Zhu Qiyu has long been aware of this trend, but he has not taken any action, not because he just ignores it, but because he has also noticed that there may be a deeper secret hidden behind it.

Judging from the current situation, it is very likely that Chen Xun is behind these court discussions. After all, he has this motivation and even more strength.

However, judging from Chen Xun's performance that day, he himself knew that sooner or later he would not be able to hide what Chen Ying did. Therefore, he just wanted to pick himself out. He should be very smart, he should be very clear about the real purpose of the Ministry of Criminal Justice to investigate these cases. Even if it is for self-protection, it is not a wise choice to offend the emperor Zhu Qiyu by doing such a thing at this time.

What's more, Zhu Qiyu has not forgotten that when Zhou Jian and Wang Xuan acted together, there must be a secret hidden behind it.

He had a premonition that this was the source of everything, and only by finding out this could he clarify the current confusing situation.

Not long after, Wynn came back and said.

"My lord, Mr. Shu Liang, please see me."

Hearing this, Zhu Qiyu frowned slightly, a little surprised, said.

"So fast?"

You know, the person who was sent out didn't leave for long, and his verbal instructions were only to urge Shu Liang, not to call him to see him.

Saying so...

"Going back to the emperor, the eunuch sent by the servant girl reported that he did not meet Shu Gonggong in Dongchang, but on the way out of the palace."

Wynn explained something. Hearing this, Zhu Qiyu cheered up and said.

"Call him in."

"Yes."

Soon after, Shu Liang's figure appeared in the hall.

"Slave Shu Liang, please greet the emperor."

Different from his usual appearance, Shu Liang's expression today is unusually heavy, without his usual smile.

Zhu Qiyu wasn't in the mood to talk nonsense, and after asking him to get up, he asked directly.

"Since you took the initiative to ask for an interview, I guess it was an errand I assigned to you before. What did you find?"

"The emperor is holy!"

Shu Liang took two steps forward and spoke.

"The servant was ordered to investigate Zhou Jian, Wang Xuan and others. As the emperor expected, the two did collude. The content and many accusations of Zhou Jian's memorial were indeed disclosed to Wang Xuan. His, however, Wang Xuan is not the instigator."

"My servant found out that there are many officials involved behind Wang Xuan's back, and among these people, the most important person is also the one who helped Wang Xuan make up the whole plan. !"

When the name came out, Zhu Qiyu was also a little surprised. He didn't expect that this case would be related to Xu Youzhen.

You must know that although this person is scheming and ambitious, at least one thing is credible, that is, he is not a greedy person.

In other words, he is the kind of person who values ​​official career more than wealth, so he will not do such things that may affect his future.

At most, it means that he himself has given bribes to others. However, as long as he is not accepting bribes or perverting the law for personal gain, just offering bribes is not a big deal.

In today's officialdom, there are many such things. Why is Xu Youzhen involved in this matter?
More importantly, what did he want to do by doing this? You must know that this matter involves Chen Xun, and it may easily trigger discussions in the entire court. If Xu Youzhen played any role behind the scenes, Why didn't he tell Shu Liang in advance and report to Zhu Qiyu?
What is this Xu Youzhen thinking...

Seeing the change in the emperor's face, Shu Liang lowered his head and said.

"Your Majesty, this matter is very complicated. When I came, I had already written a report with detailed information and asked Your Majesty to read it."

While talking, Shu Liang took out a memorial from his sleeve and handed it over.

Zhu Qiyu didn't hesitate much, he raised his hand and opened it to look, but the more he looked down, the more his brows furrowed.

Shu Liang is still very capable in handling affairs, not to mention that he has been busy for so long this time, so he must have put in a lot of effort.

The results are indeed very rich. The ins and outs of the whole matter have been basically sketched out under Dongchang's investigation.

Judging from this report, the cause of this incident is the county magistrate named Ji Tong who is still being detained by the Ministry of Criminal Justice. He was found to be reselling Changping warehouse grain without permission.

What's more terrible is that the county where he is located was one of the worst-hit counties in the Jiangxi drought last year. Because of Ji Tong's corruption, it directly led to six local disasters before the imperial court's disaster relief food arrived. Looting, two civil uprisings, hundreds of people starved to death, and finally there was even an attack on the county government.

However, even if the disturbance became like this, the magistrate at that time still wanted to suppress the matter. In the end, it was the people who stopped the sedan chair of the inspecting censor, and the big case was revealed.

This case has already been concluded by the Ministry of Punishment. When the memorial was submitted, Zhu Qiyu was really angry and almost wanted to kill him, but Jin Lian persuaded him, saying that he had evidence in prison. , it can be regarded as meritorious service, and in the end, it was changed to exile.

But I didn't expect him to be so deeply involved in this matter. Well, it's not accurate to say that. It should be said that he is the cause of this disaster.

This season, Ji Tong himself doesn't have much ability, and his talent is not very good. When he took the test, he was lucky enough to pass the test with the last place in his hand.

Logically speaking, the most normal place for a person like him to go to the county is to be an official in charge of prisons, and there is a high probability that he will be an official in a remote place. A magistrate.

The reason behind this is naturally that Ji Tong used money. Unlike many officials who come from a scholarly family, Ji Tong's family ancestors were all businessmen. In his generation, he finally managed to get a seed of education. In order for him to study hard, his father even specially paid for him to set up an academy and invited great Confucian scholars to teach him.

It was at this time that Ji Tong and Wang Xuan met. Unlike Ji Tong, Wang Xuan came from a poor family but was very talented. The two of them quickly became friends.

Later, when the two were in the same pilot test, Wang Xuan ranked at the top of the top two and was left in Beijing to become the censor, while Ji Tong did some activities and found a vacancy for a county magistrate.

It should be said that things are still normal so far, but it will be different in the future. Ji Tong has inherited his family's merchant habits. He put his mind on the construction of the canal, but then the flood broke out and the embankment was washed away, so he was demoted and became an ordinary county magistrate.

However, within two years, he moved around again and was promoted. Moreover, this time, he also recruited a county magistrate in Wenhua, Jiangxi.

Two years after he took office, he turned his attention to Chang Pingcang.

After all, Changping warehouses are generally not used. Although the government will check regularly, it is not strict. The grain in it is resold according to the fluctuation of grain prices, which can make a lot of profit. Most importantly, it is not easy to be discovered. If there is a disaster, if it is a major disaster, it is not his turn to worry about it. If it is a small disaster, he can borrow it from a neighboring prefecture and county, and nothing major will happen.

More importantly, with the lessons learned from last time, classmate Ji is smart this time. He knows that doing so is very risky, so since he took office, he has been stuffing money everywhere, from the state capital to the governor's office, basically He has received money from him.

Because of this, the state government turned a blind eye to what he did. After tasting the sweetness, Ji Tong seemed to have grasped the essence of being an official, not only giving money to the state government , and even intend to rely on this method to continue to climb up.

So, he approached Wang Xuan, and only then did the following things happen...

(End of this chapter)