Daming: I, Yang Xian, really govern Yang!

Liu Bowen's expression was particularly solemn after he came out of the Criminal Department.

After contacting Dao Tong, he became more and more sure of one thing, that is, Dao Tong was probably wronged.

There must be a major secret behind this case.

But it was precisely because of this that Liu Bowen had this expression.

You must know that Ouyang Lun's wife, Princess Anqing, is Empress Ma's favorite little daughter.

Liu Bowen knew that if he did something wrong this time, he might even offend Queen Ma.

Since she took refuge with Zhu Yuanzhang in the 18th year of Zhizheng, Queen Ma has been extremely kind to Liu Bowen over the years.

This night.

Liu Bowen walked into the palace with the results of these days' investigations with a heavy heart.

Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the Metropolitan Procuratorate report submitted by Liu Bowen, raised his head and looked at Liu Bowen, and asked in a deep voice: "Do you believe this conclusion?"

"I don't believe it." Liu Bowen shook his head, sighed, and said. "But I am incompetent. The Inspectorate has been investigating for half a month and can't find anything suspicious, so I have to believe it even if I don't believe it."

"There is no rush to close the case." Zhu Yuanzhang picked up the tea cup and put it on the Metropolitan Procuratorate report and said. "First tell me why you don't believe it."

"My intuition." Liu Bowen replied truthfully.

Without any actual evidence, this is the only thing we can rely on.

Liu Bowen paused, and then said: "A few days ago, I went to the prison to see Dao Tong, the head of the Guangzhou Shipping Department. There was light in Dao Tong's eyes. He was completely different from the corrupt officials I had tried over the years. .I got a completely different story out of him."

But as long as there is no evidence.

Then stories can always just be stories.

The monarch and his ministers present knew this very well.

"Another point is that I have some prejudices against the nobles of Huaixi. In my heart, no matter what these nobles do, I will not be surprised."

This is Liu Bowen's innermost thoughts.

Because he has seen too many such things, too many.

Let alone after the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang had just captured Jinling City and finally became a prince (the Three Giants of Jiangnan).

Some of these nobles began to oppress the people. The most typical example is Zhu Yong, one of Zhu Yuanzhang's adopted sons.

Zhu Yong raped an old father's daughter in front of his father. When the old man resisted, he beat him to death on the spot.

In the end, Zhu Yuanzhang started with his adopted son and executed him on the top of Jinling City. Only then did he kill the evil wind at that time. You must know that Zhu Yong is not only Zhu Yuanzhang's adopted son, but also followed Zhu Yuanzhang in the north and south over the years and made countless military exploits. But even so, he should be killed anyway.

How many of those nobles thought they had greater merit than Zhu Yong, and how many of those who had greater merit than Zhu Yong were related to Zhu Yuanzhang?
But after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it was obvious that this unhealthy trend emerged again.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhu Yuanzhang began to focus on development, because years of war and the misdeeds of the old Yuan Dynasty had left the land of China devastated and riddled with bones, and people's lives were in urgent need of improvement. Zhu Yuanzhang came from the bottom and was most aware of the difficulties faced by the common people. At the same time, he also deeply hated corrupt officials. He himself had often been oppressed by officials in the past, so he would never tolerate such a situation again.

The Huaixi Group believes that its hard work has made great achievements, so it should enjoy more and gain more benefits for future generations. Of course, these so-called enjoyments and benefits are based on the exploitation of ordinary people.

Some of them even believed that it was their contribution to conquering the world. Now that Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon throne, he forgot about them, thinking that Zhu Yuanzhang was unjust to his brothers.

Their understanding of righteousness is similar to that of the scumbag bandits in Liangshanbo, and is completely different from that of Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang's righteousness.

It is the righteousness of benevolence and righteousness!
Back then, when Zhu Yuanzhang stood at the top of Jinling City and personally supervised the execution of his adopted son, he said these words to the people in the city in front of the emperor, empress, sun, moon, and earth.

"Zhu Yuanzhang's rebel army is the most benevolent and righteous army in the world."

"The common people are the destiny of our rebel army."

"Whoever wants to harm the people will not be tolerated by heaven. Whoever wants to be a rebel is not worthy of being a rebel, let alone a human being. Come on, kill!"

Zhu Yuanzhang, who was sitting in the Hall of Supreme Harmony at this moment, obviously thought of this matter after listening to Liu Bowen's words, and his expression began to become more solemn.

"Mr. Liu, I order you to continue to pursue Ouyang Lun and be sure to find out the truth." Zhu Yuanzhang said solemnly.

But at this moment, Liu Bowen poured cold water on Zhu Yuanzhang. It was clear that he had aroused the fire in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart.

"Your Majesty, if Rong Chen is willing to be honest, please stop investigating this matter." Liu Bowen said.

"Because such an investigation is tantamount to investigating yourself. If you find out something that even His Majesty doesn't want to see, wouldn't it be even more difficult?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of thunder suddenly sounded outside the palace.

The wind is howling, and the wind and moon are about to come.

"What's the matter?" Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Liu Bowen and asked. "explain!"

Liu Bowen did not answer directly, but talked about other things.

"I remember when I was a child, I went to catch crickets. The cricket jumped into the hole, and I stretched out my hand to dig out. Finally, I took out a silver krait snake and bit me on my arm. I almost died at that time. From that day on , I also learned a lesson: if you don’t know what’s in the hole, don’t dig it out at all.”

Liu Bowen raised his head, looked at Zhu Yuanzhang, and said: "For the same reason, if you don't know what kind of things you will find out, don't investigate at all."

Zhu Yuanzhang heard the meaning of Liu Bowen's words, closed his eyes and frowned.

"We understand what you mean. You don't want to go against Zhongshu Province, right?"

"Your Majesty's holy meeting." Liu Bowen replied.

"Do you know what we hate the most? As an emperor, the most hated thing is for the subordinates to bully the emperor. The most hated thing is to be kept in the dark. In that case, who is the emperor?" Zhu Yuanzhang opened his eyes and stared hard. Looking at Liu Bowen, he said angrily.

This tug-of-war between the monarch and his ministers.

One thing is to know the other person's determination, the other is to tell him how much of this determination you want, how much you have!

Liu Bowen got the answer he wanted. He stood up, bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "I understand."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Liu Bowen, and his voice seemed particularly cold and oppressive at this time.

"Mr. Liu, just do your best to investigate. No matter what you find, we will support you, but if you participate in the cover-up and do it perfunctorily, then it won't be a bungara snake waiting for you, it will be us."

"It's our Emperor's Sword!"

"Okay." This is what Liu Bowen was waiting for.

"I have received the order and requested to leave Beijing for a close investigation. The first stop is Guangzhou, Guangdong, where the incident occurred."

"allow!"

"I also request to transfer a group of cadres to accompany me on my trip."

"Up and down the court, inside and outside the capital, you can transfer whomever you like." Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said directly. "I have taken a liking to your majesty's royal guards. With them, I will be able to find out the truth." Liu Bowen said.

At this time, Jin Yiwei's power has not really been revealed, and most of the things he did were just doing secret things for Zhu Yuanzhang.

However, Liu Bowen could see the power and terror of Jin Yiwei at a glance, and in Liu Bowen's heart, this team would only become more powerful and terrifying in the future.

"Mao Xiang!"

"My subordinate is here." Mao Xiang slowly walked out from a corner of the hall, as if he had been there all along.

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Take Mr. Liu to select someone."

"I obey my orders!"

Even the Jin Yiwei can be handed over to Liu Bowen, which shows Zhu Yuanzhang's trust in Liu Bowen.

After Liu Bowen came out of the palace, he returned to his original residence.

But he found that there was light in the house.

"Father!"

"Didn't I say you don't want to come with me?! Now you don't even listen to your father's words?" Liu Bowen looked at the visitor, his face darkened, and he said.

The person who came was none other than Liu Bowen's son, now Mingji Breeding Department Minister Liu Lian.

Liu Lian skillfully took Liu Bowen's coat and handed him a cup of Kuding tea that had already been brewed.

"Father, Duke Yang Guo has told me everything about you." Liu Lian said.

"You went to find Xiwu?!" Liu Bowen's face turned ugly and he asked.

In this matter, Liu Bowen did not want to involve his son, let alone Yang Xian.

He is old, and he was an official before, so there is nothing wrong with him.

But if Yang Xian is involved, the meaning will be completely different.

We must know that in the imperial court today, those young officials who entered the officialdom through the new imperial examination and were promoted from political servants can be said to have learned from Yang Xian.

Although these young officials are still relatively inexperienced, they basically do not hold any high-level positions.

But that's not the case at all in His Majesty's eyes.

Liu Bowen was worried that if Yang Xian got involved, in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, the nature of the matter would change and turn into a different kind of party struggle.

Moreover, this matter involved Princess Anqing, who was deeply favored by Queen Ma and Prince Zhu Biao. Liu Bowen did not want Yang Xian to have any quarrel with them because of this matter.

At his current age, he no longer cares about anything.

This is also the real reason why Liu Bowen did not choose to stop in Yangzhou on the way from Qingtian to Beijing.

Liu Lian nodded and said, "I'm also worried about you, father."

"Confused! You are harming yourself and Xiwu!" Liu Bowen cursed.

"Prince Yang Guogong asked my father and I to say two things before I came to the capital. The first is to reassure my father that he will not interfere in the case of the consort Ouyang Lun." Liu Lian said.

After listening to Liu Lian's words, Liu Bowen's expression softened slightly.

"The second sentence, Yang Guogong said, corrupt officials are more likely to commit adultery, and honest officials are even more likely to commit adultery."

As he spoke, Liu Lian took out a piece of information from his arms.

"Yang Guogong said that since Guangzhou cannot break through, then go to Ningbo Port, go to Zhangzhou Yuegang in Fujian, and if the other party is involved in smuggling, it will definitely not be limited to one place, only for a while."

After Liu Bowen reached out and took the information from Liu Lian's hand, he read it once and burned it directly in front of the candlelight.

Sure enough, it was still the Yang Xian he knew. He said he didn't care, but he had already done everything.

Yang Xian's words also completely opened up Liu Bowen's thinking.

"Corrupt officials want to be raped, honest officials want to be raped even more." Liu Bowen kept chewing this sentence in his mouth, and the more he tasted, the more meaningful it became.

The words Yang Xian sent to Liu Bowen came from a tragic movie he saw in later generations, The Nine-Rank Sesame Official.

In the movie, Bao Longxing will use his courage to help the weak Qi Qin family. He struggles so much and looks so annoying, but he can say such confident words as "I believe there is justice in this world" and he becomes a beggar. Still refused to give in and take food and money. Perhaps "I want to be a good official" guided him.

But Bao Longxing was able to win the lawsuit in the end and defend the Qi Qin family, relying on his nepotism and the emperor's prostitution, as well as his unscrupulous methods in court, and his ability to bring the dead back to life. A sharp tongue, not the so-called justice. After going through all kinds of hardships, Bao Longxing may have already understood that in this world, it is useless to have the compassionate heart of a Bodhisattva with low eyebrows. You must have the thunderous means of King Kong to subjugate demons. Otherwise, even if you are passionate, it will only be tiring for others and yourself.

After all, it is not easy to be a good person; it is difficult to be a good person who sacrifices his life for righteousness; and it is even more difficult to be a good person who can do practical things. A person with a good heart cannot be clever, and a clever person is often deceitful. Who can be cunning and yet have a straight heart? There are many Qi and Qin families in the world, but what does Bao Longxing want?

If Dao Tong, the head of the Guangzhou Shipping Department, had heard these words earlier, I am afraid he would not have ended up like this.

He could have done better.

"What's the last sentence left?" Liu Bowen raised his head, looked at Liu Lian and asked.

"Yang Guogong said, I wish the teacher a safe journey and immediate success!" Liu Lian said with a smile.

Liu Bowen looked at Liu Lian, raised the corners of his mouth slightly, and also smiled.

Since ancient times, only when apprentices and students travel far away, teachers and teachers give farewell words.

But now it's completely the other way around.

But Liu Bowen was very happy about this, sincerely happy.

Because this proves that his student has gone a long way, much further than he has.

A disciple does not have to be inferior to a teacher.

That's it.

Here in Yangzhou.

Worried about Liu Bowen's safety, Yang Xian still made some back-up preparations.

After all, there is no guarantee that some people will jump over the wall in a hurry. Some Huaixi military generals have such a fearless character that they can do anything if they are really pushed into a hurry.

Yang Xian used a pencil to write a string of Arabic numerals on a piece of white paper, and then placed it by the window.

Suddenly a hand stretched out from the window and took the paper.

Then there was only a "whoosh" sound, and then disappeared without a trace, as if everything that had just happened was just an illusion.

The entire Ming Dynasty was under turbulence.

At this time, a small fishing boat fishing near Xiaoliuqiu suddenly had an accident.

The fishing boat capsized. (End of chapter)