The First Criminal Judge of the Zhenguan Era

Chapter 148 An Impossible Crime! A Mystery Case Comparable to the Case of the Prince of Xi's Remains!

"Please have a seat, Dr. Liu..."

"Please have some tea, Dr. Liu."

"How does Physician Liu find the tea? If he likes it, I will have some sent to Physician Liu's residence..."

In the backyard of the Ministry of Justice, inside Fu Wuwei's office.

After Fu Wuwei invited Liu Shuyi into his office, he showered Liu Shuyi with concern and warmth, acting as if a courtesan were facing a wealthy patron, making Du Gou's eyelids twitch.

Although Du Gou had never dealt with Fu Wuwei, he had heard his colleagues at the Dali Temple speak ill of him. According to them, Fu Wuwei was extremely arrogant and haughty. Every time they met Fu Wuwei, the most noticeable thing about him was his nostrils and thick nose hairs.

His colleagues even gave Fu Wuwei a nickname because of this – the Nostril Hermit.

If you want to ask Fu Wuwei for a favor, you'll inevitably have to be filled with resentment.

But the Fu Wuwei before him, facing Liu Shuyi, not only did not have his nose in the air, but his back had not been straight since Liu Shuyi entered the Ministry of Revenue. If his colleagues knew this, they would definitely be shocked.

Thinking of all this, Du Gou couldn't help but sigh again, realizing how formidable his future brother-in-law was. Even the most unruly person had to humble themselves before him.

With Fu Wuwei being so humble, the subsequent questioning became much easier.

Liu Shuyi took a sip of the tea that Fu Wuwei handed him, nodded slightly, and said, "The saltiness and sweetness are just right, and the aroma is rich and mellow. It is indeed a good tea."

The tea at that time was vastly different from the tea we are accustomed to in later generations.

At that time, there was no such thing as brewing tea; all tea was boiled. Moreover, when boiling tea, many seasonings were added, so the tea at that time was more like a soup.

"If Doctor Liu is pleased, that's good."

Fu Wuwei said, "I will have someone send some to the Liu residence shortly."

"That won't be necessary."

Liu Shuyi shook his head and declined: "To be honest, Doctor Fu, I am not good at drinking tea. I only pretend to be cultured when I am with you, tasting tea and reciting poetry. If I am at home, I will not drink tea even once a year, so I will not waste this fine tea."

Seeing that Liu Shuyi refused, Fu Wuwei did not press the matter and said, "Then if Doctor Liu wants to drink tea in the future, he can come to me anytime, and I will personally brew tea for him."

"Then it's settled. I hope Physician Fu won't find me bothering you."

Knowing that Fu Wuwei was afraid that he would make things difficult for him in front of Li Shimin, Liu Shuyi smiled and agreed, thus putting Fu Wuwei at ease.

He had no conflict with Fu Wuwei. He had just used Li Shimin to pressure Fu Wuwei, simply to investigate the case more efficiently. As long as Fu Wuwei cooperated, he would not continue to make things difficult for him.

In the imperial court, having one more friend is always better than having one more enemy.

Fu Wuwei breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Liu Shuyi had accepted his kindness.

Liu Shuyi put down his teacup and said, "Doctor Fu, shall we now discuss the matter of the pay?"

Upon hearing this, Fu Wuwei no longer dared to frown or show displeasure at Liu Shuyi. He nodded readily and said, "Doctor Liu, please ask whatever you want to know. As long as I know the answer, I will answer it without reservation."

Liu Shuyi nodded. Without further delay, he immediately asked, "I would like to know the entire process of collecting the military pay, from collection to delivery to the soldiers. How many people would have direct contact with the pay?"

Although the case file contained some records, the three judicial departments at the time considered it to be of little concern to the case, so the records were very brief and many details were missing.

Since Liu Shuyi suspected that the pay was lost before it was delivered to Feng Mu and others, he naturally wanted to know all the details clearly.

Fu Wuwei thought for a moment and said, "In the seventh year of Wude, the two Turkic Khans suddenly invaded, catching the court off guard. Therefore, the collection of military funds is different from the past."

"This time, the collection of funds was more sudden and urgent, and all procedures were carried out very quickly. It can be said that the whole process was completed in a very hurried manner."

Urgent and hurried?

Liu Shuyi and Du Gou exchanged a glance.

Many things are best done without rushing; the more rushed you are, the more likely you are to make mistakes.

If the process is sped up or even some steps are omitted, it becomes easy for unscrupulous thieves to find loopholes.

Was the loss of the pay related to this?
Liu Shuyi looked at Fu Wuwei again, his expression becoming even more serious.

Fu Wuwei, unaware of the change in the two, continued, "Due to years of war, coupled with natural disasters and man-made calamities, the national treasury is not full. Therefore, the Emperor Emeritus directly ordered all prefectures to collect money and grain as quickly as possible. However, at that time, the autumn harvest had not yet begun, and many poor prefectures could not collect the money at all. Fortunately, wealthy prefectures such as Yangzhou quickly sent the money over."

"That's barely enough to raise 200,000 strings of cash."

"Due to the tight schedule and in order to simplify the process, the Ministry of Revenue was not involved in the deposit and withdrawal of the military pay this time. The Ministry of Revenue was directly responsible for all matters, and the military pay was deposited into the Ministry of Revenue’s treasury, rather than the national treasury managed by the Ministry of Revenue."

"After the Ministry of Revenue received the money sent from the various states, it began to count it. Two hundred thousand strings of cash was not a small amount. Even though the Ministry of Revenue mobilized many people, it took a whole day to finish counting it."

"After confirming that the funds were sufficient, our Ministry of Revenue summoned the Ministry of War and General Feng Mu, who was in charge of escorting the funds, and asked them to count the money again to avoid any discrepancies when it was delivered to the army, which could cause unnecessary trouble."

Liu Shuyi nodded. What Fu Wuwei said was different from what was recorded in the dossier.

The file only contained the Ministry of Revenue's inventory count; it did not mention that Feng Mu and the Ministry of War also conducted their own counts.

It's unclear whether Deng Shen omitted it when writing, or whether he deliberately omitted it for some reason...

"The Ministry of War and Feng Mu were slower in counting the money. They were afraid that the amount of pay would be wrong and they would be held responsible, so they counted it very carefully. By the time they finished counting, it was already late at night the next day."

"It was inconvenient to travel at night, so after they finished counting, my Ministry of Revenue locked all the boxes and affixed seals in their presence, and ordered people to guard the warehouse continuously."

"The next morning, when Feng Mu came with his men to collect the pay, we weighed each box of pay and assigned them to different carriages based on the horses' strength to ensure that the horses were the fastest."

"The transport of the pay was also done by Feng Mu's men. In other words, from the moment the pay was locked and sealed, it had nothing to do with my Ministry of Revenue and was always handled by Feng Mu's men."

After listening carefully to Fu Wuwei's account, Liu Shuyi said, "You said that from the moment the seal was put on, it was Feng Mu's people who were in charge... So the people guarding the warehouse were also Feng Mu's people?"

“There is a person named Feng Mu.”

Fu Wuwei said, "There are also people from my Ministry of Revenue. The matter of the salary is of great importance and must not be lost. Therefore, according to custom, the Ministry of Revenue and the soldiers escorting the salary are jointly responsible for guarding it."

"However, once the salary left the Ministry of Revenue's treasury, everything else was handled by Feng Mu's people."

Liu Shuyi nodded knowingly.

According to Fu Wuwei's account, although the requisition of military pay was done in a hurry, they did not slack off or neglect anything in the crucial areas.

On the contrary, both the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, along with Feng Mu, were extremely cautious.

Even when time was tight, they carefully counted the amount of pay.

The items were not immediately locked and transported away because it was already late at night when the inventory was completed, which was not suitable for long-distance travel. Therefore, they were loaded onto the truck and set off the next morning.

Even so, there were always two groups of people guarding the warehouse.

This will prevent one side from harboring malicious intentions...

From Liu Shuyi's perspective, the security measures taken were already at the highest level, given that he was unaware that thieves intended to steal the pay.

But... the paycheck was still lost!
If my deduction is correct, the money was lost before it was delivered to Feng Mu. How did the thief manage to do it?
How did the thieves solve the problem of the seal?
How were so many stones transported into the heavily guarded warehouse?

When did the thieves make their move?
No wonder the officials of the Three Departments did not consider the possibility that the silver was lost before it was delivered to Feng Mu... Think about the situation at the time. There were two groups of people guarding the warehouse, with hundreds of guards. What the thief was going to do was not only steal 200,000 strings of silver, but also replace stones of the same weight. With one going in and one going out, were those hundreds of people blind and deaf, unable to see or hear anything?

Therefore, no matter how you look at it, it is an impossible thing to do.

Therefore, the officials of the three departments at the time immediately ruled out this possibility.

"Something impossible..."

Liu Shuyi gently stroked the jade pendant at his waist with his fingertips. After a moment of contemplation, he asked Fu Wuwei, "I wonder what time it was when the seal was affixed, the boxes were locked, and everyone left the storeroom?"

Fu Wuwei frowned and thought for a moment, then stood up and said, "I don't remember such specific details. Doctor Liu, please wait a moment while I go and find the records from that time."

Liu Shuyi cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you for your trouble."

Fu Wuwei quickly waved his hand, extremely enthusiastic: "Cooperating with Physician Liu is to relieve His Majesty's worries. This is my duty. Physician Liu, please don't be so polite."

After saying that, he didn't linger and quickly walked out of the office.

After Fu Wuwei disappeared, Du Gou finally spoke, "How was it?"

Du Ying's beautiful eyes also turned to Liu Shuyi.

Liu Shuyi shook his head and said, "I never imagined the thieves would use such a method to steal the military pay." "Two hundred thousand strings of cash could be piled up into a small mountain, and stones of the same weight would also be very large."

"Whether it's transporting the silver out or moving the stones into the warehouse, it's definitely a special matter that will attract attention."

"Not to mention that there are hundreds of people guarding outside the warehouse at this time, even if there were no guards, carrying so many things around would attract attention."

"Therefore, it is hard to imagine how the thieves could steal the silver without alerting anyone, even with so many people watching closely."

Du Gou frowned deeply. If their suspicions about the warehouse weren't supported by sufficient clues and information, rather than just a rash guess, he might have already ruled out that possibility.

No matter how you look at it, it seems like something beyond human capability.

Seeing the two men's furrowed brows, Du Ying spoke in a clear, cold voice, like a gentle spring flowing into their ears: "What's the rush? We've only just found the direction and haven't really gone into a deep investigation yet. It's surprising how normal the thieves' methods are."

She looked at Liu Shuyi: "When the case of the disappearance of the remains of Prince Xi occurred, didn't many people also believe that it was a miracle, that it was the work of Prince Xi in the form of a ghost? But in the end, it was you who found out the truth."

"Although this case seems impossible, it is much more normal compared to the case of the remains of the Prince of Xi, so I believe that this case will not be difficult for you either."

Liu Shuyi never expected that Du Ying, with her aloof personality, would worry about his setbacks and take the initiative to encourage him.

Is this still the same aloof and cold coroner who, upon first meeting, seemed as unapproachable as an iceberg or snow lotus?

Du Gou looked at his sister with some surprise. In his memory, his sister was either cold and aloof like a block of ice, or she was sharp-tongued and always causing him trouble. She had never been so gentle and encouraging to anyone.
His gaze lingered between the two of them, a complex mix of emotions welling up inside him.

He felt that their affair was about to come to fruition.

“Miss Du is right.”

Liu Shuyi nodded: "The investigation has only just begun. If we start sighing and complaining now, the case will really be impossible to investigate."

Just then, hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

The group exchanged glances and immediately stopped talking.

Soon, Fu Wuwei walked in carrying a book.

"I've kept you waiting, Physician Liu."

As soon as Fu Wuwei entered the office, he said to Liu Shuyi, "I have found the records from that time."

As he spoke, he opened the book directly, pointed to a certain page, placed it in front of Liu Shuyi's table, and said, "Please take a look, Doctor Liu. According to the records in the book, the time when the seal was affixed and the box was locked was at 11:55 on the 15th day of the 8th month of the 7th year of Wude."

It was 11:45 AM on the 15th of August... The time was indeed quite late.

Liu Shuyi continued looking down and then he discovered that Feng Mu led his soldiers to move the silver at 4:45 a.m. that day.

In other words, less than three hours passed between the time everyone left the warehouse and the time it was reopened.

This time interval is not long. If the thieves want to complete the replacement of the 200,000 taels of silver within this time period, they will definitely need the cooperation of many people.

Therefore, it can be seen that the thieves were not one or two people, but a group.

At least a dozen people.

How did so many people manage to slip past the guards and enter the warehouse? And how did they manage to leave with so much money?
Liu Shuyi thought for a moment and said, "Doctor Fu, could you take me to the warehouse where the military pay was stored back then?"

Judging from the records and Fu Wuwei's account, the thieves could not possibly have succeeded in stealing the silver. Therefore, the only way to find a breakthrough was to go to the scene and take a look.

Upon hearing this, Fu Wuwei was not as quick to agree as before, and asked with some difficulty, "Now?"

Liu Shuyi's eyes flashed, and he stared at Fu Wuwei: "Difficult?"

Fu Wuwei explained, "The Ministry of Revenue's treasury contains a great deal of the imperial court's wealth, so there are many rules governing its operation. It's not something you can just open or look at as you please..."

"To be honest, even I, a mere official in the Ministry of Revenue, am not authorized to open even the lowest-ranking storehouse without Minister Tang's permission. Moreover, the key to the storehouse is in Minister Tang's hands. If he doesn't give it to us, even if we go there, we won't be able to open the door."

"And this is just the treasury of my Ministry of Revenue. If it were the national treasury under the jurisdiction of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, such as the Treasury of Gold or the Treasury of Expenditure, even Minister Tang would not have the authority to open it directly. It would require the approval of the Minister of Imperial Sacrifices."

Seeing Liu Shuyi frown, Fu Wuwei was afraid that Liu Shuyi would misunderstand him and think that he was deliberately making things difficult for Liu Shuyi. He said, "This rule is not something I made up. If you don't believe me, Liu Langzhong, just go out and ask any of your colleagues in the Ministry of Revenue."

Liu Shuyi could naturally tell that Fu Wuwei was not deliberately making things difficult for him. He shook his head and said, "Doctor Fu is overthinking it. How could I not believe you? It's just that the investigation into the silver treasury case requires comprehensive clues, and I must see this warehouse."

Fu Wuwei suggested, "Then I shall send someone to consult Minister Tang?"

Liu Shuyi and Du Gou exchanged a glance, and Du Gou nodded slightly.

Liu Shuyi then understood that Tang Jian, the Minister of Revenue, and Du Ruhui had a good relationship, and at least would not make things difficult for him.

He nodded and said, "Then I'll have to trouble Doctor Fu."

"I don't deserve it, it's all what I should do."

Fu Wuwei immediately said, "I will send someone to find Minister Tang right away."

"Wait a moment."

Du Gou stopped Fu Wuwei, who was about to leave. He took out a jade pendant from his pocket, handed it to Fu Wuwei, and said, "Physician Fu, please have someone take this jade pendant to see Minister Tang."

Fu Wuwei took the jade pendant and saw that it was very smooth and warm. The back was engraved with auspicious cloud patterns, and the front had an ancient seal script character "Du". He was startled and realized that this jade pendant represented the will of the Du family.

He was initially worried about whether Minister Tang would give Liu Shuyi face, but now that he had Du Gou's jade pendant, there was no problem.

Minister Tang may not give Liu Shuyi face, but he must give Du Ruhui face.

He quickly and carefully put the jade pendant away, saying, "Please wait a moment, gentlemen. I will be right back."

With that, he quickly left.

Watching Fu Wuwei's hurried departure, Du Gou said to Liu Shuyi, "Tang Jian, the Minister of Revenue, is a scholar, but he is also unruly and does not follow the rules. My father praises his talent but also laments that he is too unruly, does not pay attention to his duties while in office, and is too fond of drinking and having fun. I'm afraid he will suffer the consequences in the future."

"Although you have gained some fame, you are probably not enough to attract the attention of Minister Tang. In addition, given his habits, he is probably drunk by now. If he suddenly finds out that you are questioning the Ministry of Revenue while he is drunk, he will probably be displeased with you. So I gave him the Du family jade pendant to let Minister Tang know that my father also had his intentions. He can refuse you, but even if he is drunk, he will never refuse my father."

You can't refuse?

I'm afraid they wouldn't dare refuse.

Liu Shuyi understood. Tang Jian was too fond of drinking and having fun, and was probably drunk by now. In this state, it was impossible for him to think rationally.

Many reactions are subconscious actions.

Therefore, upon hearing that a mere fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Justice dared to investigate the Ministry, Tang Jian, with his magnanimous nature, would probably want to slap him to death.

But knowing that Du Ruhui was behind this, Tang Jian would probably be sobered up immediately.

This is the difference between status and rank.

Of course, all of this is on the premise that Liu Shuyi did not produce Li Shimin's edict. If he did, he estimated that Tang Jian would be so frightened that he would not dare to drink any more wine.

But it's not worth it to use Li Shimin's edict to intimidate the Minister of Revenue just for a key to open the door.

It would be even more pointless to offend Tang Jian because of this.

Therefore, he preferred to resolve the issue amicably rather than easily use Li Shimin to pressure others.

Liu Shuyi cupped his hands to Du Gou and said, "It's all thanks to Vice Minister Du that I was here. If it weren't for you, I might have run into a wall today."

Du Gou waved his hand casually and said, "Don't say such things to me, as if I don't know you have His Majesty's edict..."

Liu Shuyi laughed heartily. It turned out that Du Gou had thought of everything, but he still stepped in for him. Liu Shuyi couldn't help but sigh in his heart that he was fortunate to meet the Du siblings in this life. He probably smashed up the Dayun Factory in his past life.

And so, Liu Shuyi, Du Gou, and Du Ying waited patiently in Fu Wuwei's office.

Fortunately, Tang Jian's residence was not far from the Ministry of Revenue, and the roads were clear at night, so Fu Wuwei returned quickly in less than 45 minutes.

As he walked, he said happily, "Physician Liu, Vice Minister Du, and Minister Tang have all given their approval. The keys have been delivered, and we can go to the storeroom now."

…………

P.S.: One million words!!! It's been over four months since I started writing this. Thank you all for your support and understanding; it's been so tough!

(End of this chapter)