Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 570 Official and Private Channels
Qin Ji has been in contact with Zhang Luan quite a lot recently. Even the cabinet specially sent him, this good guy, to contact Zhang Luan.

The main reason is that Qin Ji, the "newcomer", does not have much say in the Imperial Household Department. If he is asked to do external liaison work, even if Zhang Luan asks him to do something, he can completely shirk his responsibility... Finding a guy who doesn't care about the matter to contact you, a powerful official, is just to make you unable to use your power.

The lobby of the Ministry of Justice.

On this day, Qin Ji and Zhang Luan came together and met with Cheng Zong, the right vice minister of the Ministry of Justice, to discuss the cases of Deng Changen, Liang Fang and others.

Tan Ji asked, "I wonder when the Ministry of Justice will be able to sort out the case files and officially close the case? So I can send the final result to the current emperor for review?"

Cheng Zong said with embarrassment: "The case is too complicated and the files are too many. I'm afraid we can only complete it after the new Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice officially takes office."

"what!?"

Tan Ji looked puzzled.

The case has obviously been finalized. Sending it here to you is just a formality. Is it necessary to make it so complicated?
Cheng Zong smiled and said, "I have been transferred to the Left. The Right Assistant Minister has been replaced by Peng Shao, the Right Deputy Censor of Shuntian Prefecture. When he takes office, he will take over all the cases... I will make arrangements with him by then."

Zhang Luan immediately questioned: "Why can't the case be completely settled before the job handover is completed? Why must it be dragged on?"

"Well..."

Cheng Zong remained polite and said with a smile, "When it comes to matters like the Ministry of Justice's adjudication, we should not rush into it, so it's best to take it step by step."

Qin Ji said helplessly: "If we delay any further, I'm afraid that by the twelfth lunar month, the Ministry of Justice will still not be able to close the case before the year-end holiday. After the New Year, before the Lantern Festival next year, there will be new cases sent to you, and I'm afraid the matter will be delayed again."

"No, no."

Cheng Zong was trying to evade the issue again.

Zhang Luan frowned upon hearing this, and asked, "Eunuch Qin, how about this, I take this case back and study it carefully, what do you think?"

"No."

Cheng Zong refused this time very straightforwardly, "Now that the case has been handed over from the Royal Guards, according to the rules it has to be handled by the judicial department...

"Minister Zhang, you are only the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. It is not appropriate for you to be involved in the trial of a criminal. No one in the court is willing to cause trouble for themselves."

Zhang Luan smiled faintly and shook his head, saying, "I am a person who cannot sit still, so it's okay to create some trouble for myself occasionally."

Tan Ji, who was standing by, seemed to understand something from the conversation between Cheng and Zhang. His smile faded. He glanced at Cheng Zong first, and then said to Zhang Luan in a serious tone, "The Jinyiwei should still have the case file. If the father-in-law really needs it, I will have someone make another copy at the Ministry of Justice and send it to your house. It's no problem! As long as it doesn't disturb the progress of the case in the Ministry of Justice."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Zong was surprised. What's the matter? You two want to arbitrarily decide this case that has attracted the attention of all the officials, and you don't even want to go through the procedures of the judicial office?

The cases leaked from the Jinyiwei had to be examined by the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple in accordance with the laws of the Ming Dynasty. This was not to prevent false cases and wrongful convictions, but mainly to follow a procedure to show that the Ming Dynasty was a place that adhered to the law.

But now...

Judging from what Qin Ji and Zhang Luan said, it seems that everything can be negotiated individually. Then what is the use of the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple?
Zhang Luan said, "In fact, I have read most of the case files and did not find any major problems... But after all, I am not the one who is in charge of the investigation and interrogation. I just took a few glances... Minister Cheng, please do not mind."

"No, no."

Cheng Zong still felt a little uncomfortable.

Faced with a relative who completely breaks the rules and does not play by the rules and meddles in the affairs of the court, anyone coming from the orthodox bureaucratic system would find it unacceptable.

Cheng Zong was naturally no exception.

……

……

When Qin Ji and Zhang Luan came out of the Ministry of Justice, Zhang Luan specially found a roadside teahouse to invite Qin Ji to have tea.

"Eunuch Qin, you are senior and experienced. What do you mean by the Ministry of Justice deliberately dragging the case out? Weren't the main interrogations completed in the Northern Pacification Office? Do they still need to re-examine the prisoner to see if it is a false case or a wrongful conviction? Does that show their ability?"

Zhang Luan was not happy. As long as the matter was not resolved, this important case would weigh on his shoulders.

He really hopes to settle the case as soon as possible.

Of course, there are other reasons that cannot be told to others, and that is related to Li Zisheng.

Qin Ji held the teacup in his hand, but his eyes were fixed on the puddle of water on the table. He shook his head absentmindedly when he heard the words: "The case is too big, and there are too many people involved. Everyone wants to do it perfectly!"

Zhang Luan became more and more annoyed and embarrassed: "You mean, they are afraid that I have made mistakes in this case, so they deliberately do not close the case, so that they can talk about it when someone else is implicated? These guys even dare to disobey your majesty's intention to 'raise the high and let it go' and 'give a lenient sentence'?"

Qin Ji looked up at Zhang Luan and asked, "Zhang Guozhang, do you know how many officials visited Liang Fang's house every day when he was in control of everything?"

"This one……"

Zhang Luan was dumbfounded, his eyes full of confusion.

Qin Ji said, "Let me put it this way. Most of the gold, silver and jewelry seized from Liang Fang's mansion were gifts from others, and the rest were embezzled from the treasury by him when he was purchasing tributes. The rest... were the ones he robbed from the people, but the amount was relatively limited."

Zhang Luan asked, "Doesn't that mean that the Ministry of Justice should close the case sooner so that this matter can be settled sooner? Why are they dragging it out?"

Qin Ji smiled and said, "Do you think these people in the Ministry of Justice have nothing to do with Liang Fang? Otherwise, if Zhang Guozhang has time, ask someone to see which people in the Ministry of Justice are available and which are not available?"

"Why?"

Zhang Luan frowned.

Qin Ji continued to smile without saying anything.

Zhang Luan suddenly understood.

This is to ask me to ask Li Zisheng in my personal capacity to see who has given him gifts... After all, most of those who have given gifts to Liang Fang have also given money to Li Zisheng.

……

……

Zhang Luan often met with Li Zisheng.

So that day he invited Li Zisheng to his villa under the pretext of having a get-together. Zhang Luan did not invite Li Zisheng to his home for a drink, but simply wanted to "learn from" Li Zisheng.

After listening to Zhang Luan's story, Li Zisheng nodded and said, "Eunuch Tan is very insightful. There is no one in the Ministry of Justice who has not given me a gift."

"what!?"

Zhang Luan was shocked and could hardly believe his ears: "You...you...what do you mean by that? Could it be that..."

"Yes, it's what you think!"

Li Zisheng said confidently: "From the Shangshu to the Shilang, and then to the lower officials, except for those newly-appointed Jinshi, all of them have given me gifts, but some people gave gifts together, using the name of the Ministry of Justice. Even Cheng Zong, the Shilang of the Ministry of Justice you mentioned, once gave me a large jade token, which I passed on to Bingkun."

"How could it be so?"

Zhang Luan seemed extremely shocked.

It turns out that the loyal and upright minister I thought of was not as simple as it seemed?
Li Zisheng waved his hand and said, "It is very common for the court to give gifts to each other. It is because of your special status. If you were as prosperous as you are today during the time of the previous emperor, I dare say that you would be overwhelmed with gifts. Lai Zhan, let's not talk about this for now... Zhang Shanji's case has been resolved."

"How is this possible? I just went to the Ministry of Justice with Eunuch Tan Ji Tan today!"

Zhang Luan asked in surprise, "Didn't Minister Cheng say that the Ministry of Justice was still sorting out the case files? It doesn't look like they have any intention of concluding the case quickly."

"It's just a special case."

Li Zisheng said with a smile, "You and Eunuch Qin went to supervise, and you were very high-sounding. You will definitely be met with all kinds of official rhetoric and clichés. But I asked Bingkun to go and negotiate privately, and what we got was real progress!
"Don't be angry. Sometimes you have to use your personal connections to put pressure on others. Don't always think about going through the normal channels. Otherwise, you will be greeted with only one word: tired!"

(End of this chapter)