I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 274 If he makes any mistake, the father-son relationship will be severed!
Xu Kun followed the steward and hurried to the study, where he saw his father Xu Jie had just finished writing a letter behind the desk and solemnly put it into an envelope.

"Father, do you have any instructions for me?" Xu Kun stepped forward and asked with a bow.

"Pack up tonight." Xu Jie ordered very seriously, "Go to Dongbianmen Wharf tomorrow morning, take this handwritten letter from your father, take the earliest centipede boat to Dagu, then take the Shunfeng Society's sea ship directly to Shanghai, and rush to the Huating old house without stopping. Give this letter to your eldest brother, and you two will read it together, and then you will supervise him to follow it.

Tell him in person in front of my eldest brother that if he dares not obey my orders, I will file a petition to accuse him of disobedience, sever the father-son relationship with him, and remove his name from the family tree!"

Xu Kun was shocked by Xu Jie's words.

What law did big brother break to deserve being treated like this?
But after changing his mind, Xu Kun began to feel a little excited again.

Brother, why don’t you just disobey me for once.

"Did you hear that?" Xu Jie asked after he finished explaining. Xu Kun quickly replied, "I heard it, my son. I'll keep it in mind. I'll ask the steward to book a boat right away."

"Okay, when you return to Huating, you must make sure that my eldest brother does what I said in the letter. If he dares to shirk his responsibility, you will do it for him, and then write to me and I will punish him!"

"Yes." Xu Kun just finished answering when he suddenly thought of something, "Father, I heard that my eldest brother has gone to hide in Suzhou City and is not in the old house in Huating."

"I will send a letter tomorrow morning, eight hundred miles away, to Suzhou, asking the governor to find my brother and send a constable to take him back to Huating immediately. When you return to Huating, he should have returned as well."

"Okay, son will prepare it right away." Xu Kun took the letter solemnly.

Xu Jie waved his hand and said, "Go ahead."

As soon as Xu Kun left, the steward hurried over to report, "Master, Mr. Huang from the Ministry of Justice is here to visit."

"Huang Mingju, what does he want?" Xu Jie was stunned, and immediately ordered, "Please come in quickly."

"Yes."

After a while, the Minister of Justice Huang Guangsheng walked in quickly.

"Shao Hu Gong."

Seeing Huang Guangsheng's serious face and anxious steps, Xu Jie asked, "Mingju, why are you in such a hurry?"

"My Ministry of Justice has just received approval from the Imperial Household Department."

"What's wrong?" Xu Jie asked calmly, stroking his beard.

"Wang Yi'e, the director of the grain transport department, and Pang Shangpeng, the salt transport commissioner of Lianghuai, jointly submitted a petition to impeach Ding Shimei, a scholar of the Imperial Academy. They said that when they were investigating the Lianghuai salt administration corruption case, they found evidence in Huai'an Prefecture that Ding Shimei had protected salt merchants, abused his power for personal gain, and made huge profits.

The Imperial Household Department approved the dismissal of Ding Shimei, and ordered the Jinyiwei Zhenfu Division to arrest him and put him in the imperial prison. Then the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate will jointly try him and report the results as soon as possible. "

Xu Jie's expression changed slightly, "Ding Shimei? It's not that simple to investigate the Lianghuai Salt Administration corruption case at this time."

Huang Guangsheng also nodded and replied: "Mr. Shaohu, I also think it is not that simple, so I hurried to ask you for advice. Ding Shimei, what happened to offend Xiyuan?"

Huang Guangsheng could certainly guess that Ding Shimei's dismissal and arrest, and the joint trial by the three judicial departments involving the Lianghuai Salt Administration case, were just the beginning.

Ding Shimei was from Huai'an, and Huai'an City was one of the two major gathering places for Lianghuai salt merchants.

He was the number one scholar in the 38th year of the Jiajing reign, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, and the most anticipated scholar in the world. How could those omnipresent salt merchants let him go?

Ding Shimei was definitely involved in the Lianghuai Salt Administration corruption case, but he might not have been deeply involved. In addition, he took refuge with Gao Gong through Wang Lin, and Gao Gong stepped in to mediate, so he naturally got away easily.

Now suddenly Wang Yi'e and Pang Shangpeng jointly impeached him, digging up the old case of Lianghuai Salt Administration, and maybe even "adding fuel to the fire" to it. It must be because of something that disgraced Xiyuan.

Although Wang Yi'e is Xu Jie's disciple, he is now the prince's trusted aide and obeys Xiyuan's orders.

After Pang Shangpeng was recommended by Ye Mengxiong, he was appreciated by the prince and boarded the big ship of Xiyuan without hesitation.

The two of them must have taken action with Xiyuan's instructions.

So what happened to Ding Shimei that made His Royal Highness the Crown Prince take action against him?

Xu Jie and Huang Guangsheng sat opposite each other, thinking hard.

Suddenly, Xu Jie had an idea and slapped the armrest of the chair with his right hand.

"I've thought of it."

"Shao Hu Gong, what is it?"

"Bao'en Temple!" Huang Guangsheng was stunned. "The case of the murderer in Bao'en Temple attacking the third prince?"

"Correct!"

"Zhang Erxiong was sentenced to death for committing murder and high treason; Zhang Daxiong was sentenced to death for false accusation; the abbot and the receptionist of Baoen Temple were sentenced to death for accomplices and hanged immediately; Yang Sizhi was sentenced to dereliction of duty, dismissed from office and stripped of his rank, and sent to his hometown for investigation; the remaining 21 officials involved were all punished.
The case was closed as an unsolved case, but the government and the public are talking about the mastermind behind it."

Huang Guangsheng suddenly understood, "Mr. Shaohu, are you saying that Ding Shimei is the mastermind behind the Baoen Temple case?"

"Correct!"

"Is there any evidence?"

Xu Jie glanced at him and said, "This matter must have been investigated by the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. All clues point to Ding Shimei. Mingju, is it important whether there is evidence or not?"

Huang Guangsheng was silent for a while. "If it was a joint investigation by the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, there might only be clues but no hard evidence; or the evidence might be too private to be brought out.

Ding Shimei is a very smart person, he will definitely do things without leaving any holes, and will not leave any handles. But what Shao Hu said is right, for Xiyuan, knowing that it was Ding Shimei who did it, it doesn't matter whether there is evidence or not. "

Xu Jie sighed slightly, "Yes. The court has issued a decree to the world to officially close the Baoen Temple case. This case involves Gao Xinzheng, Chen Songgu, and the virtuous concubine in the palace. It is complicated and difficult to unravel. Closing the case like this is the best result.

Mingju, have you heard? Concubine Xian's two sisters-in-law were exiled to Yunnan along with her two brothers because they secretly brought prohibited items into the palace. Her mother was stripped of her palace badge and was suspended for a year.

Huang Guangsheng nodded. "As expected, Concubine Xian played a significant role in the Baoen Temple case. If she hadn't passed the message through my sister-in-law, Ding Shimei wouldn't have been able to arrange it so well."

"Mingju, it's good that you understand. It's best to deal with Ding Shimei with the legacy of the Lianghuai Salt Administration Case, which saves face for Gao Xinzheng. The Baoen Temple case has now been completely solved."

"Yes, Lord Shaohu. Ding Shimei had just joined Gao Xinzheng's school and was eager to show off, so he designed this. In name, it was aimed at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, but in fact it was to throw dirty water on Chen Songgu so as to kick him out of the cabinet and let Gao Xinzheng join the cabinet.

It must be said that Ding Shimei is a very smart man. This scheme is a mixture of truth and falsehood, and an ordinary person would have been fooled.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was very observant and saw through the mystery at a glance. He promptly stopped Yang Sizhi's impeachment at the morning court, thus preventing the situation from getting out of control and foiling Ding Shimei's plan.

I am just a little confused, why did the prince attack Ding Shimei at this time? "

Xu Jie said slowly: "I guess that the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard should have found out about Ding Shimei a long time ago.

His Royal Highness originally wanted to wait until some time had passed and everyone had forgotten the Baoen Temple case before dealing with Ding Shimei, but unexpectedly, another incident occurred, forcing His Royal Highness to act early, thus killing two birds with one stone. "

Huang Guangsheng understood a little, but he didn't fully understand it. "Please give me some advice, Mr. Shaohu."

"Mingju, it's all because of my unpromising elder brother. He was cheated by someone."

"The incident in which Cai Chuntai knelt down to pay homage to Mr. Shaohu's hometown?" Huang Guangsheng understood everything at once.

"Yes. The meeting of civil and military officials of the Imperial Academy has ended, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to put an end to this matter, so he took action."

"The warning and education meeting for all officials in the Imperial Academy is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince warning Lord Shaohu to let you handle the matter properly on your own. At the same time, dealing with Ding Shimei is to completely resolve the Baoen Temple case, and secondly, to warn Gao Xinzheng."

Huang Guangsheng sighed, "The students have only just now understood the twists and turns of Xiyuan."

"Yes," Xu Jie also sighed, "The twists and turns of Xiyuan are more difficult to figure out than those of the previous emperor. Now the prince has suppressed Gao Xinzheng's party by dealing with Ding Shimei, so that they dare not act rashly and wait for my response.

If Xiyuan is not satisfied with my response, haha." Xu Jie smiled bitterly.

Ever since the crown prince became a good and holy grandson, he and his ministers had to smile bitterly more and more often.

"Mr. Shaohu, what about Huating?" Huang Guangsheng asked carefully.

"I'll ask my second son to take the letter I wrote to him and take a ship to Shanghai tomorrow morning. He'll rush to Huating day and night and tell that rebellious son to follow my instructions and handle this matter properly."

"That's good, that's good. Hai Gangfeng has not acted rashly, and he knows the importance of the situation. He is waiting for your attitude, Lord Shaohu."

"Yes, Lord Gangfeng is upright and honest, but he is not reckless or pedantic. He is waiting for my attitude, and also waiting for Xiyuan's attitude."

Huang Guangsheng breathed a sigh of relief, but was still a little worried. "This matter has a huge impact. If we deal with it this way, I'm afraid it will be difficult to appease public opinion."

Xu Jie raised his head and said, "Mingju, just wait and see. Xiyuan still has a trick up its sleeve. If Xiyuan is satisfied with my handling of the matter, we will see the trick soon."

At this point, Xu Jie sighed, "Mingju, I am getting more and more tired now. I am tired in my heart."

Huang Guangsheng looked empathetic, but he didn't say anything.

(End of this chapter)