I'm really not doing business

Chapter 739: The Immortal Wang Chonggu

Zhu Yijun decided to deal with him severely and sent him to the exhumation house.

Since the emperor has already made the decision, it means that the case has entered the process of the third review of the death penalty. The process is very fast and is obviously expedited.

"Go to Zhangzhou Prefecture and appease those desperate criminals in Tang's business before Tang Zhihan returns to Zhangzhou." Zhu Yijun made further instructions in a very solemn manner. Zhu Yijun even directly called them desperate criminals.

Because some of the people under Tang Zhihan were pirates.

This is related to the previous president of Yuegang Ocean Trading Company, the old peak master Li Ruiqi who Tang Zhihan repeatedly mentioned.

Li Ruiqi is a pirate from Penghu. He and Lin Afeng are from the same gang.

In their early years, both of them worshipped the sea outlaw Tai Lao Weng as their godfather. After Tai Lao Weng died, Lin A Feng inherited Tai Lao Weng's banner. Li Ruiqi was defeated in the competition for the top leader, but he did not break up with Lin A Feng. Things in the underworld are not all about fighting and killing.

Lin Afeng's main business is to Manila, Luzon, while Li Ruiqi's business is mainly to Japan. There is no conflict between them. On the contrary, they complement each other. As long as there is no fundamental conflict of interest, they will not meet each other at the risk of life and death.

At the end of the first year of the Wanli reign, Lin Afeng surrendered to Yin Zhengmao, the then Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, and then followed Yin Zhengmao, Zhang Yuanxun and Deng Zilong to the Miyan Port in Luzon in the spring of the following year. Lin Afeng led 5,500 troops and fought bravely against the enemy, and won the opportunity to go ashore, becoming an important armed force of the Luzon Governor-General's Office.

The Penghu pirates led by Li Ruiqi surrendered to Fujian General Hu Shouren after Lin Afeng successfully surrendered and went ashore. In the second year of Wanli, Li Ruiqi and his brothers also went ashore and became legal maritime merchants of the Ming Dynasty.

The titles of peak masters such as Tai Lao Weng, Lin Afeng, Li Ruiqi and others actually came from the conferment during the Ming and Song dynasties.

Ming Song is a relatively unfamiliar name to everyone. It was a regime established by the pirate Wang Zhi in Matsujinura, Kyushu Island, Japan. He usurped the title of Song and called himself King Hui, which is the same Hui as Emperor Huizong of Song. He also set up official offices to recruit pirates from all directions to surrender.

At that time, Old Man Tai became one of the Five Peaks, and Wang Zhi was also known as the owner of the Five Peaks.

The reason why Hu Zongxian wanted to recruit Wang Zhi was because Wang Zhi and his pirates were mainly engaged in smuggling business and had many conflicts with the Japanese pirates. In order to pacify the Japanese pirates and divide the pirates' power, he made the decision.

Of course, with Wang Zhi's arrest and subsequent execution by slow slicing, Hu Zongxian's strategy of divide and conquering him one by one was completely shattered.

Moreover, Hu Zongxian promised Wang Zhi to surrender and live, but failed to save Wang Zhi. Instead, Hu Zongxian's reputation plummeted and almost affected the major event of pacifying the Japanese pirates in the southeast.

The reason why Yin Zhengmao surrendered Lin Afeng and Hu Shouren surrendered Li Ruiqi was because these pirates were essentially poor laborers trying to make a living on the sea, and they clung together for warmth. This was probably what Yin Zhengmao said in his memorial: Seek profit in the business world, sell goods in Zhejiang and Fujian, share profit with others, defend the borders for the country, and never seduce gangs and invade the sea borders.

After the new emperor ascended the throne and completely opened the sea, these people finally obtained legal status.

Tang Zhihan is Li Ruiqi's heir. Yuegang Ocean Trading Company has a strong gang color. If Tang Zhihan is wrongly killed like Wang Zhi, something bad will definitely happen. Therefore, Zhangzhou must be appeased before Tang Zhihan returns to Zhangzhou.

Li Ruiqi is still a little bit unclean, but Tang Zhihan is very innocent and has never done anything bad from beginning to end. This is the reason why Li Ruiqi handed over the banner to the young man Tang Zhihan. A clean merchant general manager will be beneficial to the development of Yuegang Ocean Trading Company.

"I have a memorial to impeach three crimes of Wang Chonggu, the Minister of Justice and Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion." Hai Rui stood up, took out a memorial, and said very solemnly.

Wang Chonggu had been sleeping, but when he heard Hai Rui say this, he was startled and jumped up from his chair. He said in a panic, "Your Majesty, I am terrified!"

Wang Chonggu was shocked!

If other censors from the Censorate impeached him, Wang Chonggu would not be afraid at all. He would use both defense and attack to tell these censors that his methods could not deal with Zhang Juzheng, but were more than enough to deal with other bureaucrats!
But the person who initiated the impeachment was Hai Rui, so this must be taken very seriously.

Officials like Hai Rui are the most annoying. Everyone sees them every day. If you want to impeach him, even if he is impartial, you can give him some space to breathe and deal with the situation. But Hai Rui doesn't give anyone any space.

"The first crime is cheating in the imperial examination. I have found out that Wang Qian, the second son of Wang Chonggu, asked someone to write for him in the provincial examination. There are witnesses, physical evidence and documentary evidence presented." Hai Rui talked about the first thing. There was a problem with Wang Qian's status as a juren, and it was a huge problem. Wang Qian did not take the exam at all, but his father helped him get the fame.

"I... accept the guilt." Upon hearing this, Wang Chonggu knelt down immediately without struggling and admitted it directly.

"This is not right. Wang Qian will take the palace examination. I have seen it all. He has brilliant writing skills, is extremely rigorous in his research, and is very good at mathematics. He almost got into the Royal Academy of Sciences. How can this be considered cheating in the imperial examination? Can he pass the Jinshi exam but not the Juren exam? This doesn't make sense." Zhu Yijun said immediately.

Tens of thousands of eyes in the Ming Dynasty were watching the imperial examination and the palace examination, and Wang Qian's performance was not bad at all.

Wang Chonggu bowed again and said helplessly: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. That was the fourth year of Longqing, when Wang Qian was still in Puzhou. I was confused at the time and was afraid that he would fail the exam, so I did such a wrong thing."

Zhu Yijun's eyes widened, and he said sternly, "You are confused because you care too much about your son. Wang Ci Fu, you are confused! Now I will forgive this matter, but after this matter is forgiven, how do you want Wang Qian to be promoted? Is he going to be a fourth-rank censor for the rest of his life?!"

The emperor let bygones be bygones for what happened in the fourth year of the Longqing reign. In addition, Wang Qian was a man of real ability and talent who passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, so it was reasonable not to punish him. The ministers in the court would not be overly fussy about it.

But this is Wang Qian’s stain. He will never be promoted in this life and can only watch his classmates become successful.

"I am guilty." Wang Chonggu bowed again. In the past, he had done some things that were even more excessive than this, such as harboring the enemy and granting his daughter a golden edict, etc. All of them were capital crimes. Cheating in the provincial examination was just a small matter among his many crimes.

Obviously, the official who did this for him was caught by Hai Rui's anti-corruption campaign.

"Is this the reason why Wang Qian disobeys you all day long?" Zhu Yijun frowned, thinking of the special way Wang Qian and Wang Chonggu got along as father and son. The father was too loving and the son was too filial. The old man chased Wang Qian through several streets with a knife, and Wang Qian always made the old man angry.

"Yes." Wang Chonggu nodded. This was part of the reason.

"I don't know what to say to you. I pardoned you again because of the crime of shaving your head back then, but Wang Qian, ah." Zhu Yijun sighed. Since Hai Rui was going to submit a memorial, it would be copied in the Tongzhengsi. The Tongzhengsi was the loudspeaker under the old locust tree at the entrance of the village. If the Tongzhengsi knew, it meant that all the officials in the capital knew.

It was Hai Rui's duty and it was impossible not to impeach him.

"General Hai, what about the second thing?" Zhu Yijun looked at Hai Rui and asked about the three charges of impeachment.

"The second case is covering up a criminal." Hai Rui frowned and said, "In the fourth year of the Wanli reign, there was a murder case in the underground mine of the Xishan Coal Bureau."

As Hai Rui told the story, a tragic case underground that was suppressed by Wang Chonggu slowly unfolded. The matter was not complicated. Wherever there are people, there are underworld forces, and there are such evil things. There were evil bandits in the mine who lured fellow villagers to go down the mine on the pretext of high salaries. After they were hammered to death in the mine, they defrauded compensation from the mine in the name of their fellow villagers and relatives.

Hai Rui said loudly: "With only twelve silver coins as compensation for each person, so many bloody cases were committed, and Wang Ci Fu knew about it but did not report it, completely suppressing the matter. I impeach Wang Ci Fu for shielding the illegal activities, and I also want to ask why."

It would be fine if Wang Chonggu was shielding his own son's illegal behavior, Hai Rui could understand that, but it was extremely strange that Wang Chonggu actually shielded a group of brutal and rebellious bandits who disrupted production.

"Wang Ci Fu, do you want to defend yourself?" Zhu Yijun asked with a strange look on his face.

Wang Chonggu, a veteran official, actually made such a mistake. It was Wang Chonggu who personally suppressed the matter in the Ministry of Justice. In the fourth year of Wanli, we can no longer let bygones be bygones.

"Your Majesty, this is true, but I do not plead guilty." Wang Chonggu said hurriedly, "Your Majesty, all the criminals are dead. They encountered water seepage while they were underground, and they died. Your Majesty, these bandits chose mines where no one went in order to avoid being seen. These mines are often very dangerous."

"The people are dead, so the case can be closed naturally. They are dead, but their families are still alive. I have recovered all the debts and made all the compensations. In addition, the law has been added, and through various means, the possibility of fraudulent compensation has been avoided. The matter has been handled properly."

Zhu Yijun sat up straight and said calmly: "Wang Ci Fu, don't avoid the important issue. What I want to ask you is why you want to suppress this case."

The key to the case was naturally these criminals, but the charge for impeachment by Hai Rui was very clear: harboring illegality and Wang Chonggu actually knowingly failing to report it. This was a serious crime worthy of Hai Rui's personal impeachment.

"Your Majesty, there was a smog disaster in those years." Wang Chonggu took a deep breath and answered the question.

In those years, the capital city would be completely covered in coal smoke in autumn and winter. In recent years, with the restoration of vegetation near the capital and the government's decree to encourage tree planting, there has been some improvement. In addition, due to the transformation of the Xishan Coal Bureau, from coal mining and coking to coal-steel joint ventures and industrial upgrading, there is still haze in the capital, but it is not serious enough to be impeached by Lian Zhang.

There was no need for Wang Chonggu to explain in detail, as everyone in the Wenhua Hall immediately understood that this case would become a sharp weapon in the hands of the censors in the fourth year of the Wanli reign.

Public opinion on wind speed will affect the decision-making of the court, and the smog disaster was the most serious in those years. This case happened ten years ago.

"Does General Hai agree with Wang Ci Fu's statement?" Zhu Yijun looked at Hai Rui.

"I think there is nothing wrong with that." Hai Rui breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Your Majesty, between the haze disaster and the freezing of the people, I choose the haze disaster. In the fourth year of Wanli, coal production was approaching a critical moment of 600 million catties. At that time, there was no Shengzhou Coal Plant. Only with the supply of 600 million catties of coal could the people of Beijing live and work in peace and contentment."

"Firewood is the most important thing."

Between mining coal and smog disaster, Wang Chonggu chose to mine coal, and Hai Rui also chose to mine coal. Be it the emperor or the ministers, it is impossible for the meat eaters in the Ming Dynasty to freeze to death, but the poor coolies could really freeze to death on the roadside in the biting cold wind.

While the rich wine and meat smell, the road with frozen bone.

"What do you think, sir?" Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng and asked for his opinion.

Zhang Juzheng said confidently: "I think there is nothing wrong with this, Your Majesty. It has only been possible to burn coal in the past few years. Before that, the people relied on grass to survive the winter."

The grass was not burned, but spread under the body and used as a cover. The biggest problem with grass as a means of keeping warm is that if it is cloudy for consecutive days and is not dried in the sun, it will no longer keep people warm and freezing to death will become the norm.

"General Hai, what about the third thing?" Zhu Yijun agreed with the ministers' opinions. It was understandable. Wang Chonggu was not shielding those beasts. He was doing it for the Xishan Coal Bureau. People were dead, the case was closed, and there were remedial measures.

"The third crime is that Wang Ci Fu is suspected of using his power for personal gain." Hai Rui said solemnly, "Last month, a fire broke out at the Yongding Woolen Mill, and fine woolen cloth worth 340,000 silver coins was burned."

Wang Chonggu immediately became furious when he heard this, and shouted, "Mr. Hai, I don't recognize this!"

"Three hundred and forty thousand silver, is it worth it for me, Wang Chonggu, to invite the fire dragon to settle the account? That's just a tiny amount, General Hai, my family has 1.2 million silver in cash, and the Suiyuan Chidao ticket in my son Wang Qian's hand is worth 4.8 million silver. Is it worth it for three hundred and forty thousand silver? The dividends from the investment that His Majesty gave my family are more than 500,000 silver a year!"

"Three hundred and forty thousand silver coins, not worth it!"

Some people accused Wang Chonggu of being arrogant and abusing his power for personal gain, and he admitted it. Some people also accused him of knowing the truth but not reporting it, and it was true. In order to ensure production, Wang Chonggu really did it.

Call him poor, he won’t admit it!
Apart from the Ming Emperor, the Wang family is the richest in the world! Even Sun Kehong has to rank behind them!

"So I am just suspected that this fire happened in an odd way. Your Majesty, the woolen factory attaches great importance to fire prevention." Hai Rui hurriedly explained that this third impeachment was mainly to hold people accountable for the fire at the woolen factory on March 17.

This fire was so strange. Winter was the dryest season, but there was no fire. But it caught fire in summer. Moreover, the most valuable worsted wool was burned. Moreover, the fire spread so fast that it burned the entire Bingzi warehouse.

The woolen factory has paid special attention to fire prevention since its establishment. It cannot be said that there is a guard every three steps, but it also has very strict construction requirements. The warehouse is not a wooden house, but a structure of reinforced concrete. It does not even have a window, and all people entering the warehouse must be checked for fire threats. Most importantly, there are buckets of water hanging in the warehouse. Once there is a fire, the buckets will fall, the water will control the fire, and a copper bell will ring.

Of course it is not foolproof, but once the fire starts, it will definitely not burn the entire Bingzi library to ashes!

Wang Guoguang said, "Your Majesty, this 340,000 silver coins worth of fine woolen cloth is from the public treasury, that is, the profit that was handed over to the imperial treasury and the national treasury this year."

"I'm still investigating." Wang Chonggu said confidently, "Your Majesty, this must be someone who set the fire. I personally supervised the construction of the warehouse. The fire is over, but the warehouse is still there! If I don't find this person, I will be responsible for the 340,000 yuan of public funds."

"Your Majesty, I have been settling accounts for so many years. The most important thing in settling accounts is to do it in small quantities and multiple times. This fire was so strange and weird that it is obviously impossible to hide it. I can only take the risk and set a big fire to settle it. In this case, even if there are no clues at the fire scene, I can still find them."

Wang Chonggu supervised the construction of many large-scale projects, including the Woolen Official Factory, Xishan Coal Bureau, the Central Axis of the Imperial Palace, the City of Ten Kings, the Royal Institute of Technology, and the Chonggu Highway. As long as he was doing a project, he inevitably had to settle accounts. Wang Chonggu called himself an immortal who could settle accounts, and no one dared to question him.

Even the accountants employed by the Ministry of Revenue who were responsible for the year-end audit recognized Wang Chonggu's ability to balance accounts.

The first priority in settling accounts is to settle accounts in small amounts and multiple times. However, if accounts are settled in small amounts and multiple times, Wang Chonggu will notice it.

If this job was given to Wang Chonggu, he would definitely not do it so roughly!
"I heard about this matter last month, and have been waiting for Wang Ci Fu to give me an answer." Zhu Yijun did not think that Hai Rui was making a false accusation. Moreover, a month had passed, and Wang Chonggu had not given the emperor a preliminary result. He should indeed be questioned.

"Your Majesty, I already have a clue. I will give you an answer before the end of the month." Wang Chonggu issued a military order in front of everyone, requiring the internal review to be completed before the end of the month.

"Let the censors from the Ministry of Revenue and the Censorate get involved. Let Wang Ci Fu supervise it, and focus on internal audits." Zhu Yijun considered it for a while and made specific arrangements.

Wang Chonggu has a serious problem. Although he looks energetic and motivated, he is old.

Birth, aging, sickness and death are common to all human beings. No one can stay young forever. Wang Chonggu’s energy is not as good as before. He can no longer carry the Seven-Star Ring-Handed Sword and run across several streets to hunt down his son.

As he got older, some people no longer took him seriously. Yan Song was extremely powerful, but when he got old, even his sons stabbed him.

Zhu Yijun sent auditors from the Ministry of Revenue and censors from the Censorate to the scene. On the one hand, to provide assistance to Wang Chonggu, and on the other hand, to jointly investigate the case and check and balance each other so as to get to the bottom of the matter sooner and prevent Wang Chonggu from being questioned by the censors.

"I obey your order." Wang Chonggu, Hai Rui and Wang Guoguang accepted the order.

Zhang Juzheng saw that Hai Rui's questioning and impeachment had ended, so he took out the memorial and said, "Your Majesty, regarding the Korean war, do you want to send an imperial censor to Kaesong?"

"Their military achievements are outside the Great Wall, so it is easy to cover up. The battlefield is not in the hinterland, so it is difficult to monitor. If the enemy enters our territory, they will use the excuse of fortifying the city and clearing the fields to wait and see. They may even cover up their defeat and kill innocent people to gain a rank. The cabinet is afraid that they have been deceived. I think it is better to send another censor to Kaesong to investigate."

Zhang Juzheng asked the censor to go and personally check the results of the battle. If Kaesong and Linqing were really recovered, then rewards would be given without a doubt. But if it was a concealment, then the court should be prepared.

Liang Menglong was Zhang Juzheng's direct disciple, the Minister of Personnel and a cabinet candidate. If Liang Menglong had not gone to Korea as the governor on military affairs, he would have been considered for joining the cabinet at this time. Qi Jiguang naturally needed no explanation, the three words "Duke of Fengguo" were enough.

"Your Majesty, it's not that I'm suspicious. The army is fighting outside, so I sent the censor to shut up some lowly scholars." Zhang Juzheng gave his reasons.

First, he said he was not suspicious, but in fact he was suspicious. He did not trust Yin Zhengmao, Ling Yunyi, Pan Jixun, his own student Liang Menglong, and Qi Jiguang. This was an instinct resulting from years of cruel political struggles. Trust was an extremely luxurious thing in the officialdom.

Second, to shut up the censors and prevent them from talking nonsense, he directly sent a few imperial censors to see the real situation.

There were already such voices in the court, because the battle report given by Qi Jiguang was so brilliant. Up to now, only eighteen people from the Beijing camp had been killed in the Korean battlefield, and including the wounded, there were no more than fifty.

"Then let's do as you say, sir." Zhu Yijun agreed to Zhang Juzheng's proposal.

At the end of April in the 14th year of the Wanli reign, Zhu Yijun received a memorial from Wang Chonggu, reporting the specific circumstances of the fire at the woolen factory. The matter was not complicated. A co-ordinator, three ambassadors in charge of the Bing warehouse, and twenty-seven fine woolen craftsmen handled the fire dragon settlement.

There was also a great craftsman involved.

In fact, Wang Chonggu had almost finished his investigation. He was just supplementing the evidence at the last minute and recovering the losses. This was silver paid into the imperial treasury and the national treasury. If there was a penny missing, Wang Chonggu would have to make up for it himself. Owing money to the emperor was really a bit scary.

The money isn't much, it's just disgusting.

"Master craftsman Wangguti." Zhu Yijun sighed when he saw the name. There were only twenty-four master craftsmen in the official woolen cloth factory, and because of the arson case, one was missing.

Wangguti was a northern barbarian, not a Han Chinese. Because he was good at distinguishing the quality of wool and cleaning wool, he was also a top figure in Bansheng City. He was rescued from captivity by Wang Chonggu and was entrusted with important tasks in the official factory.

Wangguti improved the equipment for cleaning wool in Daming. The quality of worsted wool mainly depends on the fiber length, and the improvement of the cleaning process increased the output of worsted wool by 20%.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Justice wants to sentence him to death." Feng Bao reminded His Majesty in a low voice of the result of the Ministry of Justice's deliberation.

Wangguti was a traitor. He, the co-director and three ambassadors in charge of the treasury, replaced worsted woolen cloth with coarse woolen cloth for several years and made huge profits by selling worsted woolen cloth. Everyone has selfish desires and corruption is inevitable, especially in government-owned factories. It is more or less, and this is not a problem.

The problem is that Wangguti gave all the dirty silver he obtained from corruption, totaling 150,000 silver coins, to the diehards on the grassland to support the anti-Ming and restoration of the Yuan Dynasty. This is not surprising, as Altan Khan has only been dead for five years and there are many stubborn people on the grassland.

Wangguti provided silver to these people and launched more than a dozen extremely evil actions, including assassination, inciting civil unrest, gathering people to flee, looting, etc.

For example, some time ago, the Tartar officials in Guihua City made up various excuses and weakened the emperor's prestige, which was also part of the anti-Ming and restoration of Yuan Dynasty. It was precisely because the court vigorously investigated the matter of Guihua City making up various excuses that this fire dragon settlement was triggered.

Some people who were arrested in Guihua City did not give out Wangguti because they had no idea who Wangguti was, but they had a large sum of money of unknown origin.

Wang Chonggu was too shrewd, so shrewd that if he did it in small amounts and many times, he would definitely be discovered, so he had no choice but to take the risk.

Zhu Yijun pointed at the name list and asked with some doubt: "The assistant judge Wu Yingkui, ranked 91st in the third class of the imperial examination in the second year of the Wanli reign, is from Puzhou and a fellow villager of Wang Ci Fu. Is he also going to be executed? He doesn't know who Wang Guti gave the silver to, and Wang Ci Fu is really willing to do so."

Wu Yingkui was a rising star in the Labor Party and was extremely capable. Moreover, because he was from the same hometown as Wang Chonggu, he was considered Wang Chonggu's direct descendant. This time, the Labor Party also suffered extremely heavy losses, no less than when Fan Yingqi was imprisoned.

Feng Bao sighed and said, "Wu Yingkui can't find evidence to prove that he didn't know about it before. He is not the same as Wang Guti."

Proving one's innocence is the hardest thing.

But being suspected of treason is like being covered in mud, and it is impossible to explain. Although from his confession and various evidence, Wu Yingkui really did not know what Wangguti had done, but in the case of treason, the suspect is always presumed guilty, and it is better to kill the wrong person than to let him go.

For example, Xuanzong's clan killed the entire family of his uncle, the Prince of Han's Mansion, including the staff of the Prince of Han's Mansion.

Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen had a son, Zhu Wengui, who lived to the Tianshun period. Some of his descendants changed their surname to Jian, and their family line never died out. However, although Prince Han Zhu Gaoxu made great contributions in the Jingnan Campaign, he still could not escape the fate of having his entire family wiped out, and even his staff were all killed.

Treason is the unforgivable crime.

"I will first make a decision and then investigate to see if there is any evidence that can prove that Wu Yingkui was unaware of the incident." Zhu Yijun made the decision.

The death penalty must be reviewed three times. Zhu Yijun had to use the three reasons that God is merciful, the earth will not record innocent souls, and a wise and benevolent ruler will not kill people indiscriminately. He would then send the case to the court for review three times. Generally, three reviews would not change the result.

This time, the triple repetition actually worked! It actually gave Wu Yingkui a glimmer of hope.

There was another reason why Wangguti launched the Fire Dragon to settle the accounts this time, and that was internal strife.

Wu Yingkui said that he noticed something strange about Wangguti. This guy had embezzled so much money, but he couldn't see where the money was spent.

Wu Yingkui said that he had written a memorial and was ready to report the crime before the fire dragon burned the warehouse.

Wu Yingkui wanted to run to Wang Chonggu to surrender. As a direct descendant of Wang Chonggu, he would not lose his life if he was greedy for money. Wu Yingkui guessed that there was something wrong with the motive of the Tartar Wangguti.

Wangguti realized that Wu Yingkui was planning to surrender himself, so he had to use the Fire Dragon to settle the accounts and make Wu Yingkui and him become people in the same boat.

But Wu Yingkui couldn't find the memorial.

He insisted that the memorial must have fallen into Wangguti's hands, but Wangguti said he had never seen it.

If this memorial is found, Wu Yingkui can survive, proving that he had indeed broken with Wangguti, suspected his motives for corruption, and was even prepared to surrender himself.

This memorial was found by the Imperial Guards.

Wu Yingkui's wife passed away before he passed the imperial examination. After he passed the imperial examination, he never married a second wife. He kept a mistress in a brothel. Once, Wu Yingkui got drunk and stayed overnight. He took out the memorial and showed it to his mistress, saying some disjointed words.

The girl in the brothel didn't understand these things and only thought about serving the master well. She didn't notice that the memorial was left under the bed in the brothel, and the maid who was cleaning swept it into the woodshed.

After repeated inspections by the Imperial Guards, Wu Yingkui's whereabouts were confirmed again and again, and his handwriting was checked, it was confirmed that the memorial was indeed written by Wu Yingkui in advance.

The content of the memorial stated why he had voluntarily surrendered himself. The worst punishment for corruption was exile, and treason would result in the execution of the entire family. The more Wu Yingkui thought about it, the more frightened he became, which was why he talked about the matter with his lover after drinking.

"Since you are not an accomplice, exile you to Womagang and wake up." Zhu Yijun made another decision and asked the imperial guards to investigate the case carefully. A wise ruler will not kill people in vain, but that does not mean he will let the bad guys go.

Zhu Yijun did not doubt that this was evidence fabricated by Wang Chonggu in order to rescue Wu Yingkui, because it was not worth it.

If you don't want people to know, then you must not do it yourself. There is no such thing as a perfect plan. If you fabricate evidence, the all-pervasive Imperial Guards will most likely find something unusual, and Wang Chonggu himself will be in great danger.

The case has reached this point and it is too late to hide. No one will help Wu Yingkui.

(End of this chapter)