Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1486 A strange combination of circumstances!

Li Jian, who had just walked out of the Ministry of Justice last night and had not yet boarded the carriage home, received Ye Mingsheng's order!
When Li Jian received the order from the first-class attendant officer Zhang Yufeng, he was completely stunned!
He didn't know why Ye Mingsheng wanted to arrest Zhuang Shanhe so suddenly!

Although Li Jian didn't know what was going on at that time, under the gaze of Zhang Yufeng, he had no other choice but to immediately order Zhang Mang, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, to take the officers of the Ministry of Justice to arrest Zhuang Shanhe.

Li Jian, who originally wanted to go home after get off work, completely gave up the idea and returned to his cell in the Ministry of Justice.

Under the dim light in the classroom, Li Jian looked at the order in his hand and began to think quickly in his mind!
Li Jian noticed in this order that the reason for arresting Zhuang Shanhe was that he was corrupt and committed abuse of power!
Zhuang Shanhe is a close confidant promoted by Li Jian. Li Jian knows Zhuang Shanhe very well. Li Jian believes that Zhuang Shanhe is of the same type as himself, a person with political pursuits and lofty ambitions. This is also an important reason why Li Jian appreciates and promotes Zhuang Shanhe!
Because of this, even though they are currently in such an important position with enormous power in their hands and face numerous temptations in life and work, even if they have not completely maintained their original intentions and kept their minds on the beginning, they have maintained a certain degree of restraint from beginning to end and have not completely lost themselves in temptations!

So if you say that Zhuang Shanhe has absolutely nothing to do with corruption and abuse of power, even Li Jian, who promoted him, would be embarrassed to say it...
But Li Jian believed that Zhuang Shanhe was at least cleaner than more than half of the third-rank officials in Daqian. Combining his understanding of Ye Mingsheng over the years, Li Jian boldly guessed that Zhuang Shanhe was arrested by Ye Mingsheng because of the last two words of corruption and abuse of power.

So what will this thing be?

Li Jian was not clear about this problem at first, but he knew very well that Zhuang Shanhe must have committed something serious to make Ye Mingsheng make such a decision!
Thinking of this, Li Jian immediately thought of a case of gambling house violations that Youyan had discovered before!
About two months ago, on Li Jian’s birthday, one of his close confidants named Zhao Shuai gave Li Jian a hand-held ornament with a piece of mutton-fat white jade. The color of this hand-held ornament is warm and the quality is very good. The most rare thing is that it looks like a peach, and the whole thing looks like a peach that has fallen from the sky to the earth!
Because Daqian’s management was strict, Li Jian seldom accepted gifts, but this time he really liked Yutao, so he made an exception and accepted it, and praised Zhao Shuai for his ability!

Although Li Jian didn't know how much silver this jade peach was worth, he could tell that it was definitely not an ordinary item. Its market price was at least 1,800 taels of silver, or even a little more, 2,000 to 3,000 taels, or even 3,000 to 5,000 taels of silver!

At that time, Li Jian realized that Zhao Shuai gave him such an expensive gift most likely to ask him to do something for him. At that time, Zhao Shuai was a deputy minister of the Ministry of Justice. The doctor above him had a sudden stroke and could not work, so he retired. As a result, a doctor's position became vacant!
Therefore, when Li Jian received such a valuable gift from Zhao Shuai, he did not hesitate to assume that Zhao Shuai gave him the gift in order to seek the position of doctor...
This Zhao Shuai was a man promoted by Li Jian, and who would take up the position of Langzhong of the Ministry of Justice was a matter of a word from Li Jian, the Shangshu. Li Jian had always wanted his men to be promoted, so he made an exception and accepted the jade peach!
However, what Li Jian did not expect was that what Zhao Shuai wanted was not the position of Langzhong of the Ministry of Justice, but that Yang Yide, the owner of Youyan Yide Trading Company, wanted to meet Li Jian. This jade peach was given to Li Jian by Yang Yide through his hand!
Li Jian was also very surprised at this situation. He had heard a little about this Yide Company. It seemed to be one of the few licensed gambling dens in Youyan. In addition, it also had a brothel license. It was said that the business was very prosperous and profitable.

But in Li Jian's impression, he and the other party did not have any communication, so Li Jian did not know why the other party came to him and gave him such an expensive gift to ask him to do something. However, Li Jian still had an idea in his mind and knew that what the other party asked for was probably not in compliance with the regulations!

Therefore, Li Jian had the idea of ​​returning the jade peach at that time, but Li Jian’s wife liked the jade peach very much. She would play with it every day and even hug it before sleeping. So when she heard that Li Jian wanted to return the jade peach, his wife was the first to be unhappy!
Li Jian’s wife is Li Jian’s first wife. She has followed Li Jian since they were penniless, so Li Jian also respects his wife very much...
Seeing that the gift could not be returned, Li Jian was a little worried. If it was an ordinary person, he could accept the gift without doing anything. However, Li Jian knew very well that since Yi De Company could own a legal license for a gambling den and brothel under the feet of an emperor like Yijing or Youyan, it must have a strong background and was not so easy to deal with!

But after thinking it over, Li Jian decided not to meet him. Li Jian felt that although you have a background, I am the Minister of Justice. Even if you take the peach but don't do the job, what can you do to me?

However, after a while, someone found Li Jian. This person was named Yun He, and he is currently the head of the Yun family in Liaoyang!

When they were in Liaoyang, although the Yun family was badly beaten by Ye Mingsheng, in order to unite the aristocratic families in Liaoyang to enter the pass together, Ye Mingsheng did not completely kill them all, which also allowed the Yun family to survive.

After the Fengwu Army became completely powerful, the Yun family also developed in a low-key manner and quietly accumulated strength. The Yide Trading Company nominally belonged to Yang Yide, but in fact Yang Yide was just a shopkeeper, and the Yun family was the real owner. The Yun family had several industries like the Yide Trading Company!
Although Yunhe controls a huge business empire, to Li Jian, who stands at the pinnacle of power in Daqian, no matter how much money Yunhe has, he is at best just a businessman. He, Li, can send you to jail with just one word, and make you cry and scream to the sky and the earth and no one will answer!
But unfortunately, although Yunhe is a businessman, he is more than just a businessman!

In the past, the Yun family, the Gongsun family, and the Cui family were known as the Three Clan of Liaoyang. With the rise of the Fengwu Army, the Cui family can now be said to be the only one that stands out, leaving the other two behind completely, making the two families its younger brothers...
As the Minister of Justice, Li Jian may not care about Yunhe, or even Gongsun Hao, the Vice Minister of Justice, but there are some people he must care about!
So after weighing the pros and cons, Li Jian finally met Yunhe!

After praising Li Jian for a while, Yunhe came straight to the point. The reason they were looking for Li Jian was because the gambling houses and brothels under the name of Yide Company were currently being investigated by the Youyan Censorate, and they heard that the Youyan Censorate Zhuang Shanhe was Li Jian's confidant, so they hoped that Li Jian could give Zhuang Shanhe a heads-up and ask him to spare the Dragon King Temple from the flood!

At that time, Yunhe did not say why they were investigated by the Youyan Censorate, but Li Jian remembered that Zhuang Shanhe had reported to him that some people used gambling dens as a cover to secretly lend money at high interest rates, and forced women of good families into prostitution in brothels!
So the moral instinct in his heart made Li Jian want to refuse, but feeling Yunhe's fearless attitude, Li Jian fell into silence!
After repeated consideration, Li Jian neither agreed nor said anything definite. He just said that he wanted to understand the situation and ended the conversation with Yunhe!
Afterwards, Li Jian learned through some channels that Yide Company had five licensed gambling houses and three licensed brothels, which brought nearly 70,000 taels of silver in revenue to Yide Company every year. However, after deducting 13,000 taels of silver in operating costs, only 57,000 taels of silver in profit remained! But of this 57,000 taels of silver in profit, 37,000 taels of silver had to be used to pay taxes, which was actually equivalent to Yide Company working for the government...

Yide Company was angry but dared not say anything about this. In order to increase profits, they violated the rules and arranged for their subordinates to lend high-interest bets to gamblers who had lost all their money and wanted to make up for their losses. At the same time, in order to increase profits, they also violated the laws of Daqian and used deception to force some decent women into brothels!
Yide Company has not been doing this for a long time, only half a year, but 130 gamblers and 31 women have been involved in the case, and the amount involved has directly exceeded 50,000 taels of silver!

Because of this, the Youyan Censorate also kept their eyes on them. In order to catch Yide Company in one fell swoop and dig out the mastermind behind the scenes, Zhuang Shanhe, the Censor, did not take action immediately, but chose to play the long game and catch a big fish!
But the news leaked out, allowing Yunhe, the boss behind the scenes, to find Li Jian!

After understanding this matter, he felt very complicated. To be fair, he has always supported the serious handling of these illegal businesses, especially organizations like Yide Business that have caused very bad effects and destroyed hundreds of people's families.

If possible, Li Jian really wanted to arrest Yunhe personally!
But Yunhe was most likely just an agent. Li Jian had also secretly investigated Yunhe. He found that Yunhe had a lot of dealings with Gongsun Hao, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice under him. Even the reason why Yide Company was able to obtain the license was due to Gongsun Hao's presence.

So even though Li Jian was very suspicious that Yunhe knew about Zhuang Shanhe's investigation of Yide Company from Gongsun Hao...
Thinking about who Gongsun Hao had a close relationship with, Li Jian had to compromise. He knew that if he stuck to his principles on this matter, he could certainly send Yunhe and even Gongsun Hao in, but he would also be laying a big mine for himself and Zhuang Shanhe!
So in the end Li Jian found Yunhe and said that he could ask Zhuang Shanhe to let them go, but Yide Company must stop its criminal activities and compensate some of the previous victims. Yunhe initially thought that Li Jian was crazy and talking nonsense.

But in the end, under Li Jian's request, Yunhe had to agree to Li Jian's conditions, and Li Jian also greeted Zhuang Shanhe as agreed!

Although Zhuang Shanhe was very disappointed with Li Jian's decision, he gave up the investigation of Yide Trading Company under Li Jian's persuasion!

Originally, Li Jian thought that the matter had just passed, but Li Jian never expected that Ye Mingsheng would know about it so quickly!

Li Jian was also very helpless about this. He wanted to go to the palace to meet Ye Mingsheng to explain and take responsibility, but it was already late at night. Considering not wanting to disturb Ye Mingsheng's rest, Li Jian decided to go today.

But Li Jian never expected that before he had the chance to meet Ye Mingsheng, the arrested Zhuang Shanhe committed suicide by taking poison in prison...

Li Jian was also very shocked by this. He really didn't expect that Zhuang Shanhe would go to extremes because of this incident!
After being surprised, Li Jian was very regretful. When he greeted Zhuang Shanhe and asked him to let Yide Trading Company go, he was thinking about avoiding trouble, but this did not happen and ended up hurting Zhuang Shanhe!

Thinking of this, Li Jian felt very guilty, so he took the initiative to come to the imperial study and wanted to explain everything to Ye Mingsheng!
At this moment in the imperial study, facing Ye Mingsheng's icy gaze, thinking back on all this, Li Jian said with great self-blame:

"Your Majesty! This is all my fault. It was me who asked Censor Zhuang to let Yide Company go!"

Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but frown when he heard this, and Li Jian thought that Ye Mingsheng was dissatisfied with his reaction, so he said more specifically:

"Your Majesty, Yunhe found me at that time, and I asked him to stop the criminal activities of Yide Company and compensate the victims. After Yunhe agreed, I informed Zhuang Anchashi. This is my fault and I am guilty!"

Listening to Li Jian's words, although Ye Mingsheng looked extremely serious, he was a little confused in his heart. He didn't understand what Li Jian was talking about, what was Yide Trading Company, and who was this Yunhe?
Before meeting Li Jian, Ye Mingsheng knew that with Li Jian's personality, if he was the one who instructed Zhuang Shanhe to plan the murder of Wang Xuecheng, Li Jian would never admit it. Even if he put a knife on his neck, Li Jian would grit his teeth and continue to cry out for injustice, and would tell him that the matter had nothing to do with him and that he was completely unaware of it!
Ye Mingsheng had expected Li Jian to refuse to admit his mistakes, but he did not expect Li Jian to talk nonsense in front of him, saying things that were not related at all, as if he was trying to get away with it...