I'm really not doing business

Chapter 681 If the opposition is too loud, let them go to dig coal

"The two people who took the lead in signing the blood letter to the palace this time are Dai Fengxiang and Shu Hua." After Feng Bao came back with the imperial edict, he pulled out the two people who took the lead.

In fact, it is very simple to find out who is making trouble. The Ming bureaucracy is a very complex group. There are many people who want to make progress. Feng Bao is the Prime Minister, and he doesn't even need any promises to learn the name of the person in the center from the officials.

"Dai Fengxiang was from Jiaxing, Hangzhou. He was a third-class Jinshi in the Jiwei imperial examination in the 38th year of Jiajing. In the first year of Longqing, he was promoted to the Censor of the Ministry of Personnel. In the third year of Longqing, he impeached Hai Rui and was scolded by the officials. He was forced to resign. In the fifth year of Longqing, he was reinstated and promoted to the Shaoqing of the Imperial Academy. In the sixth year of Longqing, he was dissatisfied with the harshness of the performance evaluation system, so he submitted a petition to retire. Later, he returned to Hangzhou and settled in Yingtian Prefecture the following year." Feng Bao introduced the first person, Dai Fengxiang.

This person had a grudge against Hai Rui and also had a grudge against Zhang Juzheng. Because he opposed Zhang Juzheng's performance evaluation system, he was forced to retire for the second time.

The first time he was forced to retire was because he lied with his eyes open, and everyone scolded him, so he had no choice but to retire. At that time, Dai Fengxiang was a villain who fawned on the powerful and curryed favor with Xu Jie, but he was soon promoted. The second time he was dissatisfied with the performance evaluation system, and he said, "There is a performance evaluation system, but I am not involved." After retiring for the second time, Dai Fengxiang became a "upright minister" who was not afraid of Zhang Juzheng, the powerful and influential.

Shilin's evaluation of a person is so trifling.

"Shu Hua, a native of Linchuan, Jiangxi Province, was a Jinshi in the 38th year of Jiajing. In the Shen Lian case, Shu Hua disagreed with Gao Gong and was demoted out of Beijing. He was appointed as a councilor in Shaanxi and did not retire. Your Majesty, Gao Gong disagreed with Shu Hua in the Shen Lian rehabilitation case. Shu Hua objected in his capacity as the Censor of the Criminal Department and said that these were all instructions from Emperor Shizong. If we want to pardon and rehabilitate him now, how can we explain to Emperor Shizong?" Feng Bao talked about the Shen Lian rehabilitation case in the fourth year of Longqing.

Shen Lian was a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He was sentenced to caning and exiled to the border for impeaching Yan Song. However, after arriving at the border, Shen Lian continued to impeach Yan Song and was eventually executed on charges fabricated by Yan Song.

Shen Lian was a Jinshi in the 17th year of Jiajing. As a civil servant, he was valued by the commander Lu Bing and was considered one of the mainstays of the Jinyiwei. This was also an attempt by Lu Bing. The Jinyiwei was becoming weaker and weaker. Lu Bing could only support it for a while with his status as his foster brother, but not for the rest of his life. Introducing Jinshi into the Jinyiwei yamen was Lu Bing's idea.

Jinshi were all the best of the best who had gone through layers of selection. In the turbulent political struggle, these talented people were able to prevent the power of the emperor's minions, the Jinyiwei, from declining after Lu Bing's death. However, Shen Lian still died at the hands of Yan Song.

In the fourth year of Longqing, Gao Gong rehabilitated Shen Lian, who was originally a false case fabricated by Yan Song. However, Shu Hua disagreed. It was not that he disagreed with rehabilitating Shen Lian, he could rehabilitate him, but there were some disagreements on the specific mastermind of the false accusation, so Shu Hua was demoted.

"Shu Hua and Dai Fengxiang are in the same list." Zhu Yijun said with a frown. Dai Fengxiang and Shu Hua both impeached Hai Rui for bullying the gentry, and they were also successful candidates in the same list. There was no collusion behind this. It was just a lie to fool children.

"They are on the same list." Feng Bao said in a low voice, "and they are both Xu Jie's disciples."

"In the first year of the Wanli reign, Shu Hua was reinstated and appointed as a councillor in Shandong, but he refused to take up the post. He was then appointed as an inspector in Shanxi, but returned home due to illness. He was then appointed as an inspector in Henan. Soon after, he asked for leave and returned home. He was appointed as a minister of the Imperial Household Department, but he still refused to take up the post until the court gave him the post of minister of the Imperial Household Department in Nanjing. In the ninth year of the Wanli reign, he was promoted to the minister of the Nanjing Dali Temple, and he has been in this position ever since."

Feng Bao was a eunuch. Naturally, he would not say anything good about the civil officials in front of the emperor. Mainly because he had nothing good to say. This person was very picky about official positions. He only wanted to work in Nanjing and did not want to go to the capital. At that time, Zhang Juzheng had defeated Gao Gong and he urgently needed to make his position clear and cut ties with Gao Gong, so he was reinstated many times.

"Dai Fengxiang and Shu Hua were previously taken to the imperial prison by Chief Inspector Hai. It was found that the two of them had embezzled a total of more than 143,000 silver coins. They were resentful that Chief Inspector Hai was chasing them for the stolen money. Therefore, they took advantage of your majesty's visit to the Southern Court to stir up trouble among the officials of the Southern Court and ran to the Nanhu Villa to write a petition in blood." Feng Bao told his majesty the whole story.

The matter was not complicated. In the eyes of Dai Fengxiang and Shu Hua, Hai Rui had gained power overnight and took the opportunity to retaliate. He robbed them of the 140,000 silver coins they had earned with their own abilities. If they did not pay, they would have to stay in the imperial prison. What kind of place is the imperial prison for people? It was not to recover the stolen money, but to frame them!
But Hai Rui investigated thoroughly and had irrefutable evidence, all of which were from clues provided by Chen Wuyin, the former governor of Xuzhou. He followed the clues and caught the suspect.

Even Dai Fengxiang and Shu Hua, in their blood letters, did not dare to say that Hai Rui was making a false accusation. They could only say that he was oppressing the gentry. Because if the emperor really investigated the matter, they would be the ones to be embarrassed, just as Hai Rui asked Yuan Hongyu, the Chief Censor of the Southern Court: Is Chen Wuyin a corrupt official?
Dai Fengxiang and Shu Hua are corrupt officials. This is a fact that cannot be refuted by sophistry.

"Have you found out the truth about Hai Rui's assassination and a group of children of unknown origin who want to recognize Hai Rui as their father?" Zhu Yijun looked at Zhao Mengyou, the commander of the Northern Yamen, and asked.

Zhao Mengyou bowed his head and said, "This matter is under the jurisdiction of the Southern Pacification Office, so it is the job of Luo Tishuai to investigate. However, General Hai asked the Southern Pacification Office to focus on the pursuit of stolen money and unpaid taxes, so the Southern Yamen did not conduct an in-depth investigation."

Zhao Mengyou was the commander of the Northern Court, so he couldn't extend his hand too far, otherwise Luo Bingliang would feel uncomfortable and the emperor would also be worried. However, Hai Rui himself didn't care much about his own life and death, so he didn't investigate too much.

"The Southern Pacification Division is busy, but the Northern Pacification Division is idle. Commander Ti, you should investigate this matter. Chen Mo is an eyewitness, so just let him handle it." Zhu Yijun could understand that Hai Rui, the victim, had arranged more important work for the Southern Pacification Division, and there were also some issues involved, so it could only be handled by the Northern Pacification Division.

Zhao Mengyou and his minions took to the streets in a show of force, went straight into Nanjing city, and began to investigate the case.

The one who arrested Pan Sangui, a vegetable farmer from Caihuying, was Chen Mo, a captain from the Northern Yamen. Hai Rui had already guessed the next move of these despicable scholars, which was to force Pan Sangui to commit suicide and then accuse him of taking human life lightly, making it difficult for Hai Rui to take any action. Chen Mo was keeping an eye on Pan Sangui to prevent him from committing suicide.

If the Southern Pacification Office was involved in this case and Pan Sangui died, it would be a huge tragedy.

They are all from the Zhenfusi and the Tiqi, but there are differences between the north and the south. The Beiya Zhenfusi, which follows the emperor all year round, is more trusted by the emperor. Therefore, such a major case has to be handled by the Beiya Zhenfusi.

Soon, the Ti cavalry discovered something strange, that is, the mastermind behind Pan Sangui could not be found. It was not because the clues were lost due to a few days of delay, nor was it because Pan Sangui refused to confess even if he was beaten to death. Pan Sangui explained very clearly that his mastermind had died, and he hanged himself after Pan Sangui's conspiracy was exposed.

It was a clean suicide, with no possibility of someone else committing the crime.

"I thought about the case of the death of General Hai's wife and concubines. This time, Dai Fengxiang wrote a letter in blood to the emperor, so I asked General Hai indirectly why he was unwilling to investigate the case. General Hai said: There is no need to investigate, and nothing can be found." Chen Mo added a detail. Hai Rui was obviously very clear that even if he investigated, he would find nothing.

Pan Sangui's motive was very simple. He was a gambler who liked to gamble. He owed a lot of money to the gambling house. How much money did the vegetable farmers have? Later, he met a noble man, Mr. Shan, who opened a herbal medicine shop in the city. Mr. Shan often found some dirty and tiring work for Pan Sangui to do, sometimes to make things difficult for poor people, and sometimes to bury corpses. Later, the gambling became bigger and bigger, and Pan Sangui began to kill people under the pretext of delivering vegetables.

The Qianji poison was obtained from Yunnan by Mr. Dan, the owner of the herbal medicine shop. The imperial guards conducted a thorough investigation on this Mr. Dan but found nothing.

Mr. Shan, whose given name was Wen, was from Guizhou. He was a eunuch, which means he was born without a bell, so he had no wife or children. He also fled from Guizhou and went along the Yangtze River to Nanya. With his ruthlessness, he immediately made a name for himself in the city's gangs. But soon, he quit the gang and opened a herbal medicine shop.

All the dirty and tiring work that Shan Wen took on was done by himself, but as for where he got it from, only Shan Wen himself knew.

At this point, the Imperial Guards could no longer investigate further. This was an old trick used by the Southern Court, and Hai Rui had experienced it personally, so he was too lazy to investigate.

Another chief judge, Guo Xiang, spoke up, "As for those women who kowtowed in front of the government office, they are all prostitutes, but they are old and ugly and can't get customers. They also received money from Shan Yuanwai and adopted deformed children from the orphanage."

There has never been a shortage of such prostitutes in Yingtian Prefecture, whose ambitions are as high as the sky but whose lives are as fragile as paper.

Accustomed to the dissolute life in the world of fireworks, these prostitutes have to maintain their luxury at all costs, and maintaining luxury requires too much money.

There are many orphans in the orphanage. Among these orphans, the healthy ones, regardless of gender, will be adopted quickly. Some families even have to wait for several years to adopt a healthy child. But the deformed ones are not so lucky. Usually no one adopts them. Therefore, it is very easy for these women in the world of entertainment to adopt deformed children.

This is not the first time these women have done this. The orders from the herbal medicine shop have made these women look for their fathers everywhere more than once. Most of the prominent families would admit defeat and give them some money to send them away.

Once Shan Wen dies, who will deal with Hai Rui?

The case is stuck here.

Zhao Mengyou and Luo Bingliang had a leisurely conversation. Although the case of Hai Rui's assassination was to be investigated by the Northern Court, they would naturally have to work together on the case in the Southern Court. Luo Bingliang would provide support. His son Luo Sigong dared to hit the emperor, and had been doing so since he was a child. Luo Bingliang was the most thorough party of the emperor, and there was no possibility of him turning back.

Luo Bingliang said, "In that case, let's try another approach. Your Majesty said: One gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, three gives birth to all things, and endless life is recursion. Yin gives birth to yang, and yang gives birth to yin. The world has a cycle that never ends, which is recursion. Since we can't find out the reason from the existing clues, let's reverse the cause and investigate the enemy of the general Hai."

"For example, Dai Fengxiang and Shu Hua."

This is the tyranny of the Tiqi department. They can assume that someone is guilty and start investigating the case based on the inference of guilt. This kind of spy department is disgusting because this method of confusing cause and effect will definitely create false and wrongful cases. This double-edged sword will hurt others and oneself once the person holding the sword does not use it properly.

But if the person holding the sword is highly skilled in martial arts, the double-edged sword will have unexpected effects against the enemy.

Luo Bingliang assumed that Dai Fengxiang and Shu Hua were guilty because they were mortal enemies of Hai Rui, and it would be easiest to find a breakthrough from them.

Luo Bingliang brought people to investigate Shu Hua, because Shu Hua himself was an official of the Southern Court, and Zhao Mengyou went to find trouble with Dai Fengxiang. Although Dai Fengxiang is now a free and easy person and no longer an official in the court, he was able to embezzle huge amounts of money and was obviously one of Shu Hua's agents.

Chen Mo continued to track down the employee of the herbal medicine shop, Dan Wendan. Although the clue was broken, if he traced it carefully, he might find the clues he had missed.

After the division of labor was clear, the Ti riders took action.

On the third day of April in the thirteenth year of the Wanli reign, the Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun stared at the door in a daze. He suddenly asked, "I have been resting for two whole days. Before, I could say that I was tired from traveling and Hai Zongxian didn't want to disturb me. Now, why doesn't Hai Zongxian come to see me? Doesn't he need my help?"

"Your Majesty, General Hai is very powerful. In fact, if the court had not suddenly promoted him, Xu Jie would have been investigated by General Hai. Your Majesty, officials who are hunted down cannot survive in this officialdom if they do not have some ability. Therefore, honest officials are generally virtuous ministers and law-abiding officials." Feng Bao reminded His Majesty that General Hai was not a delicate beauty who needed Your Majesty's help in everything.

If you want to be an official, you either follow the crowd and become corrupt. If you want to be unique, you must have the ability to be unique. You cannot make any mistakes in the job you do, otherwise you will be attacked by everyone. Some key positions that cannot afford any mistakes need such people at critical times.

Hai Rui didn't need the emperor's help. What he needed more was that the emperor didn't make trouble.

"Indeed, that will only cause more trouble for General Hai." Zhu Yijun said with a hint of disappointment.

Most wise ministers are like this. If you give them the resources they need for their position, they will be able to do their job well. Zhang Juzheng, Qi Jiguang, Yu Dayou, Yin Zhengmao, Ling Yunyi, and even Wang Jiaping are all like this. In the complex political struggle, they have to rely on you, the emperor, for everything, otherwise their chances of success will be wasted.

Moreover, many times the emperor cannot be relied upon at all, and the greatest help you, the emperor, can provide if you don't cause more trouble.

"Your Majesty, General Hai and Yingtian Governor Li Le are outside asking for a meeting!" A eunuch walked in and handed over a memorial.

"You're just in time, Xuan!" Zhu Yijun immediately perked up from his lethargy. He said to Feng Bao, "Go and call the lord and General Qi." "Your Majesty, your servants greet you. Long live Your Majesty." Hai Rui and Li Le greeted him.

Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "No need to be polite, no need to be polite. If you two have any difficulties, just tell us!"

Hai Rui and Li Le looked at each other without saying much to each other. After sitting down, they began to report their work. Hai Rui mainly reported his achievements in combating corruption to His Majesty, while Li Le mainly divided the Thirteen Prefectures of the Southern Court into three parts and summarized them.

"The initial plan is to have Xuzhou Prefecture, Huai'an Prefecture, Yangzhou Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture, Changzhou Prefecture, and Zhenjiang Prefecture as one province. A Jiangyou Provincial Government will be established with its capital in Suzhou. The other six prefectures and three states, except Yingtian Prefecture, will be one province. A Jiangzuo Provincial Government will be established with its capital in Luzhou Prefecture. Yingtian Prefecture will remain the capital." Li Le told His Majesty his division method.

Splitting the entire Southern Court into three parts was the main purpose of the emperor's southern tour. So how to divide the Southern Court became a problem. Moreover, this was not a new problem. It was also an issue that the court had been discussing since Yongle. Just like reopening the Western Regions, the Ming Dynasty had already been clear about the problems of the Southern Court, but no one had been able to do it.

The reason why this problem has reached the point where it must be solved, and even the emperor has come in person, is because under the Ming Dynasty's open sea policy, a large amount of silver flowed in, and the fourteen prefectures and three counties of Nanzhili were really too rich.

Even if Songjiang Prefecture was separated and a decision was made to keep it as the capital, it would still be of no avail. The economic belt surrounding the Yangtze River Delta made the emperor unable to sleep.

The many problems in Xuzhou are largely due to its relative poverty, coupled with the fact that none of the four prefects were capable of doing their job.

Yangzhou is rich, so it can cover up countless problems.

The Ming Dynasty's maritime ban policy did originate from Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, but with Zheng He's voyages to the West, the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban policy was completely relaxed. The reason why there were no more official ships or official trade in the Ming Dynasty was that Zhu Di moved the capital to Beiya, and it accounted for a very important proportion.

How could the emperor in the north be at ease with the unbridled opening of the sea in the south? With money, food, and people, it would be difficult to get rid of it.

Therefore, as long as the sea is fully opened, the splitting of Nan Ya is inevitable.

Demolition was the consensus of the Ming Dynasty court. Even the officials of the Southern Court could not say no. They could only make a few sarcastic remarks about the emperor's lack of tolerance. The emperor did not care about this level of sarcasm.

So how to dismantle it becomes a very acute problem.

According to the opinions of most officials in the Southern Court, it should be divided into Jiangnan and Jiangbei, with the Yangtze River as the natural geographical boundary. This seems to be the most reasonable, but the rich brothers in the fourteen prefectures in Jiangnan are gathered together, and the poor brothers are gathered together. The emperor cannot accept this division.

Li Le’s plan was a very strange one. Jiangzuo and Jiangyou were not divided according to geographical location, but an artificially created loose sand.

Li Le did it on purpose.

This kind of disunity is a complete disunity in terms of economy, politics, military, and culture. For example, in culture, students from Jiangzuo who were living south of the Yangtze River needed to cross the river to Luzhou to take part in the provincial examination, while students from Jiangyou who were living on the north bank of the Yangtze River needed to cross the river to Suzhou to take part in the provincial examination.

Zhu Yijun nodded in approval and said, "Good."

This kind of scattered division is the one that makes the emperor sleep well. Li Le does not have to be responsible to his subordinates, but he has to be responsible to the emperor. The emperor is a little disappointed that he is no longer so aggressive, and this time, Li Le came up with an extremely radical dismantling method. The more scattered the better.

"Your Majesty, wouldn't it be more appropriate to place the Jiangyou Provincial Administration in Xuzhou? In this way, the successful candidates would not have to travel by boat or carriage and could go directly from Xuzhou to the capital to take part in the metropolitan and palace examinations." Hai Rui thought for a moment and felt that Li Le was not radical enough.

Suzhou is an economic and cultural center, and Xuzhou is a military center due to its special geographical location. The Jiangyou Provincial Government is placed in Suzhou, which means it is an economic, cultural, and political center. In this way, everyone has to submit to Suzhou, the big brother.

"General Hai, this is not right." Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said, "Xuzhou is still too poor to be suppressed. If Xuzhou were a little richer, it would be fine."

Even a group of scattered sand must have a little bit of cohesion. It cannot be that they cannot be held together. Otherwise, they would not be the Chief Secretary.

If there is too much flour, add water; if there is too much water, add flour. The flour will be too loose and not conducive to governance. The court's policies also need a backbone to push forward. Hai Rui's suggestions are good, but just like him, he pursues perfection too much.

"I understand what General Hai is worried about, so I have prepared a solution." Li Le knew Hai Rui's worries very well. He smiled and said, "The finances and taxes of the six prefectures in Jiangyou will be directly managed by the Ministry of Revenue of the Northern Yamen, and will not be under the control of the Jiangyou Provincial Administration. Students who are taking the imperial examinations can go to Suzhou or Yingtian Prefecture to take part in the provincial examinations."

Hai Rui's eyes suddenly widened, and he stared at Li Le for a long time before he said, "You are indeed worthy of being Mr. Yuan Fu's disciple."

The students under Zhang Juzheng, including the emperor, all had one major characteristic, which was that they were vindictive and ruthless. In order to prevent Suzhou, the backbone, from becoming too strong, they actually came up with the idea of ​​having the finances of the six prefectures in Jiangyou directly managed by the court!
That is to say, the taxes paid by the six prefectures in Jiangyou were directly submitted to the imperial court instead of to the provincial government. The province had no power of redistribution. Everyone was responsible for their own affairs and could even choose where to take the provincial examinations. The imperial court recognized the test results.

This is equivalent to bulk cakes, with a little bit of sweet and salty of each kind put together, what is this? Complete bulk Jiangyou!
It would be strange if there could be any synergy given the complete division in geography, culture, politics and even climate.

We were all scholars, and no one knew what kind of books Zhang Juzheng's disciples had read, but they were so vicious. When the scholars in Jiangnan, especially the students and bureaucrats in the six prefectures of Jiangyou, saw this, they wanted to curse.

"Hey, Master is kindhearted and teaches kindness. As for how the disciples behave, Master cannot control them." Zhu Yijun looked around and asked in confusion, "Master and Qi Shuai haven't arrived yet?"

Of course Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang had to get involved in such a big event as splitting up the Southern Court.

"Sir, you and General Qi went fishing, and you also went to Lion Rock to see the Dingjian of Yuejiang Tower. They won't be back for a while." Feng Bao hurriedly reported the whereabouts of Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang.

Li Chengliang went to the Qinhuai River to visit the brothels. He went there as soon as he got off the boat and has not returned yet. However, Li Chengliang is safe and is under the protection of the Imperial Guards, so he will be fine.

"Then the split has been decided. Let's try it first. If the opposition is too loud, let them go to mine coal. The Jianghuai Coal Plant has started production." Zhu Yijun made the final decision.

Generally speaking, if the opposition is too loud, policy adjustments must be made. However, Zhu Yijun was not like that. He refused to give in on the issue of the split of the Southern Yamen. Anyone who opposed would go and dig coal. After working for a few days, they would understand what the feudal iron fist is.

As the emperor, Zhu Yijun had no way of making concessions on this matter. It involved the stability of his throne and whether he could sleep well.

"Your Majesty, the Langzhong of the Ministry of Revenue, the Governor of Songjiang and concurrently the Governor of Zhejiang, Shen Shixing, has reported to me that, like in Jiangyou, can the finances and taxes of the prefectures in Zhejiang be directly managed by the Ministry of Revenue?" Feng Bao immediately took out a memorial, in which Shen Shixing was in charge of Zhejiang affairs.

Obviously, Li Le came up with this idea and asked Shen Shixing. Shen Shixing not only thought it was feasible, but even wanted to include Zhejiang in it.

"It seems that you brothers have discussed it. Zhejiang will not be used for the time being." Zhu Yijun reviewed Shen Shixing's memorial and rejected Shen Shixing's proposal. In fact, it is very simple. After the 9th Battalion in Zhejiang made a fuss, there will be no problem in Zhejiang in a short period of time. Some policies, when being piloted, should not be rolled out so widely, as it is easy to cause trouble.

"Your Majesty, General Ti is here." Feng Bao whispered beside the emperor.

"Xuan."

"Greetings to Your Majesty, Your Majesty is in good health. There is some progress in the case of the assassination of General Hai with a poisonous machine." The two generals Zhao Mengyou and Luo Bingliang walked in together and said with their heads bowed.

"It was Chen Mo who investigated the case." Luo Bingliang first praised Chen Mo. The two Ti Shuai did not take the credit for themselves. Their presumption of innocence was invalid. To be precise, no direct connection was found. Instead, it was Chen Mo who found a breakthrough in the process of investigating the orders of the herbal medicine shop.

Zhu Yijun took the file from Zhao Mengyou and read it carefully. After reading it, he glanced at Hai Rui.

"General Hai, the incident from that year has come to a conclusion." Zhu Yijun handed the file to Hai Rui with a heavy expression.

The breakthrough in the case was not the poison, but the death of Hai Rui's wife Wang and concubine Han in the third year of Longqing. Hai Rui himself said that the two committed suicide, while the people believed that Hai Rui was too strict with his family, and Wang and Han could not stand his overly strict requirements and were forced to commit suicide.

The truth of the matter is that the two were killed in an assassination, which was done by the owner of the herbal medicine shop, Shan Wen, himself. The method he used was poisoning, and the poison was also strychnine from Yunnan and Guizhou.

The means are exactly the same.

Chen Mo's investigation into the assassination case did not make any progress, but when investigating the herbal medicine shop, he accidentally discovered a single account book with a record of withdrawals of poison in the third year of Longqing. After an extremely careful and detailed investigation, he finally found out that the mastermind behind the murder was Xu Jie's disciple, Dai Fengxiang.

"On March 13, Dai Fengxiang held a banquet at Qingchun Tower on the pretext of his child's 100th day celebration. On that day, Dai Fengxiang's doorman and the owner of the herbal medicine shop, Shan Wen, met at Qingchun Tower. Afterwards, the incident occurred in which Pan Sangui, a vegetable farmer from Caihuying, brought poison into the government office." Zhu Yijun said in a very calm tone.

Feng Bao, who was familiar with the emperor, knew very well that His Majesty was very angry now.

The gatekeeper had been tricked by Chen Mo, and he confessed everything before he was even sentenced to the Five Poisons. The gatekeeper's surname was also Dai, and he was Dai Fengxiang's adopted son. People who did bad things were not that hard-mouthed, and he did not expect Dai Fengxiang to rescue him, because Chen Mo had a northern accent, and he was the emperor's direct guard, and Dai Fengxiang would not and could not save him.

The earth tortures of burying the person in the soil, cutting open the scalp, and pouring honey to attract ants were all useless. Even the torture instruments were not used. The gatekeeper just left it alone.

In fact, the case was much more complicated than what Zhu Yijun described. There was another criminal involved, named Dai Fengnian, who was Dai Fengxiang's younger brother. Judging from the evidence, Dai Fengnian did everything. However, it was normal for the Ming Emperor to implicate others when investigating a case.

Dai Fengnian has taken all the blame, so Dai Fengxiang will die no matter how clean he is!
"General Ti, lead two hundred Ti cavalrymen to capture Dai Fengxiang's entire family." Zhu Yijun gave a cruel order very calmly.

(End of this chapter)