Why did the emperor rebel?

Chapter 1163
Looking at the memorial in front of him, Zhu Qiyu's complexion became more and more ugly, and the knuckles of his fingers turned white. He didn't expect that a little Ji Tong would be involved in such a series of incidents.

After tasting the sweetness of using money to open the way, Ji Tong wanted to repeat his old tricks and use money to make progress. According to what Shu Liang found, he had already bought the governor of the state capital. He also bought people.

It can be said that Ji Tong bought all the people he could meet, but this was not enough. In the end, the investigation of the Ministry of Officials not only had to refer to the report of the state capital, but also to refer to the local inspector censor conclusion given.

And these inspecting censors cannot be bought by Ji Tong, not to say that the censors cannot be bought, the point of this sentence is.

'Ji Tong' cannot be bought.

In order to prevent Ke Dao officials from engaging in malpractice for personal gain and colluding with local officials, the imperial court has strict jurisdiction over Ke Dao.

These inspecting censors basically rotate the areas they inspect every once in a while, and each of them is responsible for at least a few counties, and each county can only stay for a month or two at most. Therefore, if there is no long-standing friendship, then, in such a short period of time, it is difficult to establish a tacit understanding that can be trusted by the other party.

To put it bluntly, after only a month or two of acquaintance, he hurriedly gave money to others. Ji Tong dared to give it, but the other party did not dare to accept it. Who knows if there is some trap hidden behind it.

However, Wang Xuan is different. He has been in the capital since he became an official. Moreover, he was a censor before, and now he is also in the science and education. His network is much wider than that of Ji Tong.

Over the years, Ji Tong and Wang Xuan have been in contact, and Ji Tong often sends some 'gifts' to Wang Xuan during the festivals, so the relationship between the two has always been quite good.

After Ji Tong planned to borrow money to open the way, he took the opportunity of returning to Beijing to report on his work last time, and met with Wang Xuan. I don't know what they talked about, but after Ji Tong left, Wang Xuan began to move around to replace Ji Tong. Same as clearing up the relationship.

Relying on Wang Xuan's contacts in Beijing for many years, as expected, he soon found the censor in charge of patrolling Jiangxi. According to the results of the Dongchang investigation, over the past few years, through Wang Xuan, Ji Tonglu has been in charge of several Jiangxi provinces one after another. Nearly ten thousand taels of silver were stuffed into the censor.

Such a waste of money, the effect is naturally remarkable. In the past few years under Ji Tong's rule, although there have been many incidents, but with the protection of the government office and the fact that the inspector censor turned a blind eye, he was allowed to work in the official department. Evaluations have always been excellent.

Of course, the role of money is also indispensable in this. If there is no such disaster, then at the end of the year, with the excellent evaluation given to him by the government, coupled with the help of the official department, Ji Tong can be successfully promoted to Beijing. It is said that, He even chose the position, from Liupin Guanglu Temple Cheng.

It's a pity that the sky didn't fulfill people's wishes, and Jiangxi suddenly had such disasters. The victims rioted, local looting, and various incidents occurred frequently. He was a candidate who had just passed the pilot test in the first year of Jingtai, so Wang Xuan was not familiar with him, so this case was revealed...

After reading this memorandum, Zhu Qiyu's expression became even more ugly. From the current point of view, Wang Xuan is not the only one involved in Ji Tong, but also the local government officials, as well as those imperial officials in Beijing who were bribed by him. Shi, and even officials from the Ministry of Officials were also involved. All together, there were at least a dozen of them, which can be described as the largest corruption case in the Jingtai Dynasty.

but……

After reading the memorial, Zhu Qiyu's eyes fell on Shu Liang who was at the side, and asked.

"This case is indeed appalling. However, there are still two questions. First, why did Wang Xuan voluntarily surrender? Second, why did Xu Youzhen get involved in this matter?"

Although it is said that the Ministry of Criminal Justice has found Wang Xuan through Ji Tong, it still has not acted because the evidence at hand is not enough.

Under such circumstances, Wang Xuan actually still has a period of time to save himself. Now that he voluntarily surrendered, even if he dragged Chen Ying and even Chen Xun into the water, his own guilt could not be alleviated in the slightest.

It's impossible, because Zhu Qiyu took into account Chen Xun, the Qi Qing, and even took him along to forgive, so from this point of view, Wang Xuan's actions are indeed suspicious.

The second is Xu Youzhen. At present, this case has nothing to do with Xu Youzhen. Even in Wang Xuan's list of bribes, Xu Youzhen's name is not there.

That being the case, why did he take the risk to get involved in this matter?

Shu Liang lowered his head, obviously expected that Zhu Qiyu would ask this question, he hesitated for a while, and he spoke.

"My lord clearly understands that this matter is of great importance, and my slaves have not verified it, so I dare not speak nonsense."

Hearing this, Zhu Qiyu frowned.

The meaning of these words is that some things have been found, but there is no definite evidence yet. Shu Liang's character has never been such a predictable person. From this point of view, the hidden things behind this matter are indeed not simple. .

When the matter came to this point, Zhu Qiyu actually didn't have time, so he said directly.

"Just say something, I forgive you for your innocence."

So, Shu Liang slowly raised his head and said.

"Your Majesty, the same case this season has a clear context, but behind this case, there are indeed other cases hidden."

"When the servant girl was investigating the relationship between Wang Xuan and Xu Youzhen, she found that although they had contacts, their friendship was not particularly deep. .”

Hearing this name, Zhu Qiyu was a little bit confused, and he can't be blamed for it. After all, there are too many officials in the imperial court. Even if he was a man in two lifetimes, the ones he can remember are all important figures. Not enough for him to take note.

Seeing this situation, Shu Liang explained.

"This person is the same as Xu Youzhen. He was a Jinshi in the eighth year of Xuande. He served successively as the Yushi of Shanxi and the county magistrate of Liuhe County.

Shu Liang had already researched this information in advance, so it was easy to get it out now. After saying this, Zhu Qiyu thought for a while, but barely remembered this person.

After all, the Ministry of Punishment has thirteen official clean-up departments, and the manpower is the most complicated. He doesn't have much impression of Liu Yi, but he still has some impression of the official of the Jiangxi official clean-up department.

If I remember correctly, this person's ability is not bad. Jin Lian once praised him, saying that he is familiar with the criminal law, handles affairs neatly, and is a talented person.

After thinking up to this point, Zhu Qiyu couldn't help asking.

"Is this Liu Yi involved in this matter?"

Shu Liang nodded solemnly and said.

"The Emperor Mingjian, Liu Yi, and Wang Xuan and Xu Youzhen are all good friends. Before that, Wang Xuan often sent some money to Liu Yi. However, there are many officials who have given money to Wang Xuan, and Liu Yi is not considered a The most collected of them."

"Moreover, many of Ji Tong's previous affairs were suppressed before reaching the Ministry of Criminal Justice. Therefore, although Liu Yi received some money, he did not help Ji Tong. Therefore, Ji Tong's case this time, Liu Yi was not involved."

"Since that's the case, why do you want to investigate him?"

Zhu Qiyu frowned, slightly puzzled.

It is true that giving and accepting bribes is not a light crime, but it is a felony if you add favoritism to the law. Otherwise, just accepting bribes will be punished, but it will not be too serious.

So, Shu Liang continued.

"My servant also felt the same way when I first investigated this case. However, because he, Xu Youzhen, and Wang Xuan are all good friends, this servant investigated more carefully. Only after such investigation did I find out a major matter."

While talking, Shu Liang took out another secret note from his sleeve, handed it up, and said.

"My lord, although this Liu Yi has never done anything for Ji Tong, he himself is not clean. He not only accepts money from Wang Xuan, but also accepts bribes many times. It doesn't wait, and it's basically related to the case in his hands."

"This memorandum was investigated by the servants. Among the cases handled by Liu Yi, there may be cases of accepting bribes, bending the law for personal gain, or even dereliction of duty. So far, there are a total of 26 cases, ranging from beating to life to minor. It is involved in everything from the rape of civilian women."

"As for the criminals involved, some are court officials, and some are the children of officials' families. However, most of them have a common feature, that is, they were either born in Suzhou, or they were Jinshi of the same discipline in the eighth year of Xuande..."

This time, Zhu Qiyu's brows were completely tightened, he picked up the melody in front of him, opened it, and looked carefully, his face became even more gloomy.

Different from the previous description of Ji Tong's case, this memorandum covers a wider range of officials. There are dozens of officials, ranging from seventh to eighth rank. There are officials up to the fourth rank.

In addition, as Shu Liang said, many of these cases have not been verified, firstly because the time is too short and too many officials are involved, and secondly because some of these cases have passed for several years Even longer time, it is very complicated to check.

Seeing that Zhu Qiyu had basically finished reading, Shu Liang continued to speak.

"My lord, there are still many things that my slaves have not investigated clearly, but it is conceivable that this Liu Yi is just the beginning. Among these cases, Liu Yi did not collect the money, but he still helped. Going down, the slaves found that although they did not accept bribes, these officials helped Liu Yi in other places."

"Some of them used their power to give convenience to a few business relatives of Liu Yi's family, some of them bent the law for personal gain and helped Liu Yi and his relatives cover up their illegal activities, and some of them spoke good words for Liu Yi in court..."

At this point, Shu Liang paused for a while, then cautiously opened his mouth and said.

"Among them, there are also some things that are worth studying..."

These words were not very clear, but after reading the memorial, Zhu Qiyu already knew what Shu Liang meant.

Wang Xuan is not important, and Liu Yi is not important, but starting with them, a huge network of interests can be tangled up step by step.

These people, relying on the friendship of the same year, fellow countrymen, classmates, and money to open the way, help each other, use the power in the hands of each other, embezzle and accept bribes, protect relatives, annex land, and commit all kinds of illegal things.

Then, relying on the formed interest chain, they cover each other and shelter each other, and finally achieve the result of getting away with it, and even getting promoted step by step.

In this way, the actions of Wang Xuan and Xu Youzhen can all be explained.

The reason why Wang Xuan surrendered to the case was because, if the Ministry of Criminal Justice was allowed to investigate, it would definitely find Liu Yi, and then follow the clues to find out everything.

For Wang Xuan, the matter has come to this point, and he can no longer escape the punishment of the court. However, if there are still these "colleagues", then he may still recover. On the contrary, if all these people are delayed because of him If he goes into the water, then not only will he have no hope of getting back up, but he will also offend a large number of people in the court. At that time, whether he will survive or not is even a matter of opinion.

Therefore, he can only choose to surrender, and then involve Chen Ying. In this way, all the people in the court will focus on Chen Xun, and will not care about other people who Wang Xuan has bribed. , even if you know how to investigate, at most it will stop at Liu Yi's level, and you will not continue to investigate further.

As for Xu Youzhen, although he and Wang Xuan had friendship, they were not directly involved. However, Wang Xuan to Liu Yi and the chain of interests behind them were closely related to Xu Youzhen.

As Shu Liang just said, these people have one thing in common, that is, either they were born in Suzhou, or they were Jinshi in the eighth year of Xuande.

Xu Youzhen is from Wu County, Suzhou. Moreover, he was also a Jinshi in the eighth year of Xuande. He has always been above the officialdom. His fellow villagers and the same year are the most powerful and reliable help.

What's more, Xu Youzhen herself is also a link in this benefit network. According to the situation that Shu Liang found out, when the canal was built, Xu Youzhen used to use her power to buy a lot of wood and stone at high prices. The relatives of the officials with friendship, after the completion of the construction of the Daqu, when they reported their merits to the court, some people also used his connections to get mixed up in the list of meritorious deeds.

Although he has now belonged to the emperor Zhu Qiyu, there are official rules in the officialdom, and many things cannot be solved with the emperor as the backer. What's more, Xu Youzhen's identity obviously cannot be revealed. If this case is uncovered and the officials involved are punished according to the law, regardless of whether Xu Youzhen himself will be punished or not, at least the contacts he has accumulated over the years will be destroyed immediately.

Without contacts and connections, it can be said that it is difficult to move an inch in today's officialdom, not to mention, if Xu Youzhen is such an ambitious person who wants to continue to go up, if he loses these contacts, even if he reaches a high position in the future, it will be difficult. Stand your ground.

Therefore, he must protect these people, but the problem is that he does not have such power himself, and he cannot report this matter to Zhu Qiyu. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand using Wang Xuan to make some fuss ...

(End of this chapter)