Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 166 Bring More People Next Time
By the time he arrived at the yamen, the clerks from the Ministry of Justice were already crowded outside.

Leading the group was an official who was about forty years old, tall and had a dignified look on his face.

His name is Wang Lei, and he is from Shanxi.

But after Wang Dehan was arrested yesterday, Zhang Siwei's housekeeper Zhang Quan quickly received the news. He knew that the matter was of great importance, so he hurried to find his master and told him everything clearly.

After hearing this, Zhang Siwei became furious and yelled, "I just took the position of Prime Minister and you dared to cause trouble outside. Now that this man has been arrested, you can just wait to be punished."

Zhang Quan looked aggrieved.

This is not something you did after you took over as Prime Minister.

And most of the money he got was given to you. Now you pull up your pants and speak so confidently.

Although he felt wronged, Zhang Quan could only say respectfully, "Master, Wang Dehan is in charge of the warehouse of the Ministry of Revenue. He has always been respectful to you and has never neglected you."

"How much money did you take from him?" Zhang Siwei asked directly.

"I, I don't." Zhang Quan waved his hands repeatedly.

"Humph, you still dare to lie." Zhang Siwei waved his sleeves, glared at him fiercely, and said, "Don't think I don't know that you married a concubine last month and bought hundreds of acres of land in Wanping."

"Tell me, where did you get the money?"

Zhang Quan fell to his knees with a plop, his body shaking like a sieve: "I know I was wrong, I know I was wrong, I won't dare to do it again, I won't dare to do it again."

"Hmph, does our family need that little bit of money from you? You're still using my name to swindle people everywhere." Zhang Siwei waved his sleeves, stood up from his chair angrily, and kicked Zhang Quan who was lying on the ground.

His family has been doing business for generations and has long been rich in Shanxi. Does he need that little bit of money?

Zhang Siwei was well aware of the treacherous nature of officialdom. When Zhang Juzheng was in power, he was walking on thin ice and did not dare to allow anyone to catch him easily.

I didn't expect that no matter how careful I was, I could still not guard against a thief in my own home. Today, I fell into the hands of a servant.

While he was furious, Zhang Quan got up from the ground and cried bitterly, "Master, I am not the only one this time. Wang Dehan is able to stay in this position so firmly. Most of the people in the eighteen major government offices in the capital have received his favor."

"Then let the Royal Guards investigate and get to the bottom of it!"

"Master, this cannot be possible. The Jinyiwei is the back garden of the Zhang brothers. If they are allowed to investigate, they will definitely nitpick your students and turn a blind eye to the Zhang family's old friends."

Doesn’t Zhang Siwei have the same concern?
This was his first month as Prime Minister.

Officials have always followed the trend and taken advantage of it.

The best thing for officials in the capital is to "guess the situation". Once he loses face as soon as he takes office, it will be difficult for him as the prime minister to take any step forward.

"You can go down first. You don't need to worry about this matter anymore. I have made a decision."

"Yes."

Zhang Quan stood up and started to leave, but Zhang Siwei suddenly shouted again, "Wait."

"Master, do you have anything else to say?" Zhang Quan turned around and returned to his original position respectfully.

"Go to Minister Qiu's residence and call him over to me."

When Qiu Yu arrived, it was already four o'clock in the morning.

He was a Jinshi in the 29th year of Jiajing. He is over 60 years old this year, but because of his self-cultivation, he looks only in his 50s.

The two of them sat down in the study, and Zhang Siwei told them what he had said before.

After hearing this, Qiu Yu raised his two white eyebrows and frowned, asking: "What does the Prime Minister want me to do?"

"Investigate thoroughly and impartially. I just took over the position of Prime Minister and was about to find someone to kill. I didn't expect that the Jinyiwei got ahead of me and caught Wang Dehan, a small fly." Zhang Siwei answered loudly. "Prime Minister, although Wang Dehan is a small fly, there must be many big tigers behind him." Qiu Yu shook his head and said with some concern, "If it is a mosquito, we can kill them in groups."

"Tigers want to eat people. If we go to such great lengths to do this, the officialdom in the capital will surely be shaken."

"Then what do you think we should do?" Zhang Siwei asked.

"First, issue a transfer order to transfer the person from Jinyiwei to the Ministry of Justice, and then we can consider the rest later."

"Okay, I will issue the transfer order in the name of the cabinet tomorrow morning."

When Wang Lei saw Han San, he didn't waste any words and directly took out the transfer order from the Ministry of Justice.

Han San took it and looked at it, grinning and said with disdain: "I'm sorry, our Jinyiwei is under the jurisdiction of the emperor. If you want to arrest someone, you must get the emperor's imperial edict."

After saying that, he slapped the Ministry of Justice's transfer document back onto Wang Lei's chest.

"Captain Han, you really don't want to give me any face at all?" Wang Lei stared at him coldly and asked, "Let me ask you, if this is a letter from Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng, would you, the Jinyiwei, dare not obey the order?"

Han San didn't answer, just looked at him as if he was a fool.

If Prime Minister Zhang were still alive, he would naturally not dare to neglect him.

It’s a pity that this four-dimensional chair has not even sat firmly on the ground yet, but he has already started to have these evil thoughts. The people behind Han San’s chair are unhappy.

Then naturally he couldn't let Zhang Siwei have his fun.

Seeing him like this, Wang Lei raised the letter and shouted to the officer behind him: "The Prime Minister has ordered that Wang Dehan is guilty of corruption and abuse of power. This case is being handed over to the Ministry of Justice for investigation. If anyone dares to stop him, he will be killed without mercy."

Play this with me, right?
Han San's face turned cold, and he shouted to a flagman, "Go call people. Anyone who dares to break in will be beaten to death!"

After a while, a large group of fully armed guards rushed out of the gate of the Northern Pacification Office. As soon as they rushed out, they immediately surrounded Wang Lei and his men.

"What are you doing? Are you, the Jinyiwei, planning to rebel?" Wang Lei was so angry that his nose became crooked, and he cursed with his neck thick.

"It's not us who are rebelling, but you, Mr. Wang." Han San crossed his arms and answered with a smile.

"This is the transfer order from the Prime Minister." Wang Lei raised the transfer order in his hand, his face filled with indignation.

"Acting Prime Minister." Han San reminded.

The two groups faced each other, and neither dared to take action first.

The scene was extremely embarrassing for a while.

Everyone looked at each other, and finally shifted their gaze to the two leaders.

Wang Lei was in a dilemma and cursed inwardly: This Han San is such a stubborn guy. I thought he would surrender with the order from the Prime Minister, but now he has put me in this position.

I thought I could please the new Prime Minister, but ended up getting fed up like this.

Han San saw that he was embarrassed, but he was not in a hurry.

Anyway, he is not the one who is embarrassed, so why is he so anxious?
He looked relaxed, ordered someone to bring out a chair, and sat down on it. Because it was June, the sun was still frighteningly hot today.

After a while, the faces of people on both sides turned red and beads of sweat the size of beans ran down their cheeks.

"Hmph, this matter is not over yet!" Wiping the sweat off his face, Wang Lei said harshly, then turned and left.

"Bring more people with you next time!"

(End of this chapter)