Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 147: Imperial Envoy Inquiries, Nanjing Burns Paper

Now that a big hat has been put on him, how can Geng Dingli respond?

If one does not cry until he sees the coffin, then if there is solid evidence or a loophole is found in the middle of the conversation, he will be charged with the crime of deceiving the emperor.

Xiao Daheng took on the role of Grand Sikou.

"It all started when Shuntian Prefecture interrogated Cheng Zhongzhang and found out that he spread the rumors at your behest. Do you admit it?"

"The revolutionary officer and Cheng Zhongzhang had correspondence, and it was true that there was a lot of rain in the south of the Yangtze River this year. But Cheng Zhongzhang falsely accused the revolutionary officer of instructing him to spread rumors and drive up grain prices. How dare the revolutionary officer be so bold?" Geng Dingli gritted his teeth and said, "The Imperial Envoy, please understand, Your Majesty, please understand! We had an old friendship with him in the past, but I didn't know he was so greedy! After the incident, he even made false accusations, which made Your Majesty doubt the loyalty of the civil and military officials in the south of the Yangtze River to the country!"

Xiao Daheng did not comment and continued to ask: "Cheng Bosong said that the Japanese ship was privately built by the Cheng family, but Cheng Shaolin, the head of the Cheng family, could not say which shipyard it was built in. Geng Dingli, do you know where the Japanese ship came from?"

"The dismissed official doesn't know."

Of course, the two plank boats could not appear out of nowhere.

"Cheng Bosong set out from Nanjing after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. The Japanese ship could not be hidden in the fleet at that time. At that time, the grain ships were heading north, and the civilian ships were not sailing. No Cheng family fleet was seen outside Yangzhou. Cheng Bosong confessed that he first went to Changzhou, passed through Jingjiang in the middle of the Yangtze River, and then went to Tongzhou County and Haimen County in Yangzhou Prefecture, and then went north via the salt transport river. He said that the private salt was purchased from Jinshachang in Haimen County. What is your relationship with Cai Kaihong, the salt tax collector of Jinshachang?"

The salt tax at the salt field sounds very important, but in reality it is not very important.

There were a total of six Salt Transport Commissioners in the Ming Dynasty. There was a third-rank Salt Transport Commissioner, a fourth-rank Salt Transport Associate Director, a fifth-rank Salt Transport Deputy Director, and then there were several sixth-rank judges of varying ranks, plus a seventh-rank officer, an eighth-rank governor, and then the entire Salt Transport Commissioner's Treasury Director and Deputy Director.

Under his jurisdiction, all the ambassadors and deputy envoys of the Salt Tax Bureau, Salt Warehouse, and Salt Inspection Office were low-ranking officials, or at most the ninth rank.

Even if Geng Dingli didn't tell anyone, he would eventually be able to find out who the salt tax collector of a specific salt field was.

What’s more, Niu Yingyuan had already mentioned Jinshachang?

"…He is the nephew-in-law of a revolutionary official."

Xiao Daheng smiled and said, "Cheng Bosong confessed again. He heard what your nephew-in-law told you at Jinshachang. Although it was not written down, I want to ask you now: Did you ask Cheng Bosong to rob the grain from the five prefectures of Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou?"

"Of course not!" Geng Dingli denied again, "Your Excellency the Imperial Envoy, I was the Imperial Censor of Jiang at the time, and I was entrusted with the Emperor's favor to patrol the Jiang River. I was able to come this far, and I was a high-ranking official at the time. How could I disregard my future and do such a treasonous thing?"

"That makes sense. This imperial envoy also doesn't understand why you would do such a treasonous thing."

"I have already said that. That was not my order. Cheng Bosong bought private salt from the Jinsha Field. Cai Kaihong ignored the law and framed me after the incident. Your Excellency, the Imperial Envoy, please understand!"

"The Cheng family doesn't accuse others, but they accuse you. Cai Kaihong is your nephew's son-in-law, and he also accuses you." Xiao Daheng nodded, "I will take a look to see who else is accusing you. Eunuch Cheng, Governor Luo, the people should have been brought here, right?"

Geng Dingli suddenly felt nervous. What did it mean?
"I gonna go see."

Luo Sigong went out for a while, and when he came back he said, "I've brought it."

"Then bring it in."

Xiao Daheng looked at Geng Dingli looking back with amusement.

Geng Dingli's face changed drastically: those were his housekeeper and two trusted servants in his home.

"Do you think you can argue your way out of the crime just because I'm asking you questions?" Xiao Daheng looked at Geng Dingli, whose face had turned a little pale. "You are a senior official dismissed by the emperor. Do you think no one in Nanjing is paying attention to you when I'm questioning the Cheng family and summoning officials? After Eunuch Cheng and you left the city and came here together, the Jinyi Captain of the Northern Pacification Division has surrounded your house with his men and is searching it."

"…Why did the court treat me like this!" Geng Dingli's face was filled with grief and indignation. "In broad daylight, is it His Majesty's will to search and confiscate the homes of officials who have not yet been convicted? My Lord Imperial Envoy, are you trying to stir up chaos in Jiangnan by handling this case?"

"I am the imperial envoy in charge of criminal cases. I don't need a revolutionary like you to teach me how to handle cases." Xiao Daheng looked at him coldly. "If you think you have done everything perfectly and it is difficult to find evidence, you are wrong. Everyone in Nanjing knows that your house has been searched. You keep saying Jiangnan civil and military affairs on the left and Jiangnan is in chaos on the right. Geng Dingli, you might as well wait here and see how many letters you receive."

After that, he ordered: "Bring a stool for Geng Geyuan. Now, this imperial envoy will interrogate Geng Geyuan's servant."

Before, he was quite polite to Geng Dingli, just asking some questions and listening to his answers.

Now when he asked the servant of Geng family, he showed the experience of the Minister of Justice.

The questions asked were extremely detailed, including the specific day and time, where the person was, who he met, what he said, and what he did.

How can they compare with Geng Dingli in terms of psychological quality?

What's more, after Geng Dingli left home with Cheng Jing early in the morning, they watched helplessly as the Jinyiwei came to their house to search and confiscate their property.

Now the imperial envoy only asked about their whereabouts in the past few days, and did not mention the Cheng family or the salt field at all.

The more this happened, the more Geng Dingli broke into cold sweats.

This was what was causing their defenses to gradually collapse, because Mr. Xiao said that someone in Nanjing had been keeping an eye on the Geng family for a long time.

Xiao Daheng kept asking questions but still couldn't get to the point. Geng Dingli remembered something else. Naturally, there were no letters directly related to the case left in the study, and they were all burned.

But if the house was searched... Before this, Mr. Xiao only questioned the Cheng family and summoned some low-ranking civil and military officials, and everyone really thought he was here to make a big deal out of a small matter.

How could Geng Dingli simply fix all the other things in the past that had nothing to do with this matter?
The news has now spread throughout the city of Nanjing.

Early in the morning, the new eunuch guarding Nanjing and the Censor-in-Chief of Jiang left the city together.

Afterwards, the Geng family was surrounded by the Jinyiwei. Even if someone wanted to leave the city to inform the police, Cheng Jing was always there. Could it be that he was going to confess to him?

No one is that stupid.

Now it is Yao Erhu who is raiding houses again, he is very familiar with the process.

"I am only here to do my duty. You don't have to cry foul before me. I am just telling you clearly that you are all the criminals' families. Please wait in the yard. Captain Qin, please send these things by express horse. Eunuch Lu, please count the valuables at home together."

First, they just blocked the gate of the courtyard and sent a few people to guard it to prevent anyone from leaving.

Then he simply took the three servants and rushed to the Yongwei Camp.

Then he went straight to the study and packed up the important things.

Now, let’s take a look at the property that Geng Dingli has collected at home, and these will be witnessed by Cheng Jing’s “godson” who was brought from Beijing.

"When I was in Leping, I had asked a lot of questions when I was bored." Yao Erhu shook his head. "According to Cheng Shaolin's family and servants, they have been very filial over the years. Eunuch Lu, it doesn't make sense. Anyway, they are all criminals dismissed by the emperor's decree. Do you want me to interrogate them on the spot?"

"...Isn't that necessary? Let's leave the investigation to the Three Judicial Departments. There are so many people watching this place in Nanjing City. After all, he was a fourth-rank official..."

Yao Erhu was eager to try: "Wouldn't it be possible to rob more companies that way?"

The middle-aged eunuch named Lu did not argue with this "rough man". He secretly prayed that Duke Wei's visit to Xiaolingwei to worship his ancestors and Marquis Pingyi's visit to the river would make some people in Nanjing city nervous.

Of course, officials of all ranks in Nanjing were very nervous.

And they don't dare to communicate with each other privately.

Some people in the government office can only exchange glances and don’t know whether to speak up or not.

Some people walk around at home, picking up their pens and putting them down again.

The Jinyiwei suddenly appeared and surrounded the Geng family, which was terrifying.

Who knows how many Jinyiwei from the Northern Pacification Division went south? Who dares to think that they are the ones who led the Yongwei Camp?
It was very hot weather and by noon, thick smoke was rising from many lavish houses in Nanjing.

Yao Erhu exclaimed in amazement: "There are so many things to burn, don't let any of them leak water by accident."

At noon in midsummer, many families were burning firewood in their stoves and cooking in jars in the yard.

Most of them are letters and account books, all paper.

Hence the smoke.

"…Master, is this useful?"

"Burn yours! Don't be afraid. If someone asks you about the true teachings, you must keep your mouth shut!"

The owner of the house looked east with worry: "After the Geng family was raided, there was nothing unusual in the city. This tells us that what needs to be burned will soon be burned..."

This is his understanding.

The worst thing when handling a case is that it turns into a group case, involving more and more people.

After all, Jiangnan is a major tax-collecting area, and the officials in Jiangnan have already thought a lot about it over such a long period of time.

The three judicial officials who came from Beijing would either directly arrest important officials and surround the city with a large army and close all the gates, which meant they wanted to end the war quickly; or they would interrogate slowly and only ask about the case of the Japanese pirates robbing grain, which meant they wanted to let the matter go easily.

But the situation is different now. At the beginning, only the prisoners of the Cheng family were interrogated, and later only the minor civil and military officials of the relevant yamen were summoned for questioning.

As a result, Geng's family was suddenly surrounded. The gates of Nanjing were not closed and there was no sign of the army.

Is it enough to capture Cao Jiangdu Yushi? No one is sure.

But it’s better to put all the blame on him!
(End of this chapter)