Song Yi

Chapter 452 Scholar

Ever since Chang Li was dismissed and returned home, he has always had a bad feeling, which is one of the reasons why he has been lying ill on the couch.Today, this premonition finally came true.

Li Chang said sternly: "My surname is Du, don't bully people too much, you have to point out what king's law the old man has violated, otherwise, let's go to the empress dowager for judgment!"

Du Wenhao sneered and said, "Of course I will, but it's not here, and I'm not here to tell you, but you are here to tell me. —Take it away!"

Several masked warriors stepped forward and dragged Li Chang out of the bed, and locked him with the iron chain.At the same time, several other people also locked up his son.bet out.

In the yard, Li Chang's wives, concubines and children were all gathered together, but, except for him and his son, no one else was chained.The wives and children were so frightened that they hugged each other and kept crying.

Li Chang has been the censor Zhongcheng for many years. He has always supervised others, and has never been supervised by others. After going through such a battle, he was a little frustrated, but he didn't dare to scold, for fear of offending these people and suffering immediate losses. .

The masked soldiers searched around the Li family's mansion, and piled up all the gold and silver treasures on the ground in the yard, and the piles got higher and higher. Moreover, these people seemed to have divided their duties, and some of them specialized in collecting gold and silver treasures. Others seemed to be looking for something.

Li Chang and his son Li Duan glanced at each other with worried expressions on their faces.

Du Wenhao stood in the field, as if he was waiting for something with a well-thought-out plan.

Finally, several masked black-clothed warriors dragged a middle-aged man out, came to the field, and slammed on the ground: "General, I found this fellow!"

Seeing this person, Li Chang and Li Duan turned pale.

Immediately afterwards, another soldier in black hurried over to report: "General, we found a hidden cellar filled with boxes of gold, silver and jewels.

Du Wenhao glanced at Li Chang and Li Duan and his son, and said coldly: "All of them are transported to the center of the courtyard!"

"Decree!" The man turned around and ran back, and soon, the black-clothed soldier pushed boxes of gold and silver ingots into the middle of the yard with a cart.Soon it piled up into a hill!
Du Wenhao pointed to the man on the ground, and said to Li Chang: "Master Li, who is this?"

"He...he is a cousin of the old man who came to the capital to do business."

"Really?" Du Wenhao looked sideways at the man, "Is that so?"

"Yes..., yes, I am their relative..." This man spoke with a big tongue, and he didn't seem to be from China, and his Chinese was awkward.

"Oh, since they are relatives, why are they hiding in the cellar?"

"This..., it's cool in the cellar, I..."

"It's cool in the cellar? How can you talk like that? Well, since you are a relative of the Li family, well, this yard is full of people from the Li family. If you tell them who they are, we will all be right."

Li Chang hurriedly laughed and said: "Du Zaizhi, he hasn't come to the humble house for many years, and he doesn't know him."

Du Wenhao withdrew his smile: "Okay, don't lie, we all know who he is. ——He is Xixia's secret agent, right?"

"You...you're talking nonsense!" Chang Li snapped.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Li, I sent people to monitor your house day and night, and also monitored the whereabouts of you and your family, so I found this strange person coming to your house, so, Our people spent money to buy your family’s servants, learned some inside information, and sent people to sneak into your house for investigation, and got first-hand information, if not, we would not have taken decisive action.”

Hearing this, Li Chang and his son suddenly fainted.

Du Wenhao pointed to the mountains of gold and silver ingots in the middle of the yard: "By the way, we found another cellar in your house, and there are mountains of gold and silver treasures in it. According to your income, my lord, it is impossible to With so much money, where did it come from?"

"You don't care where I come from! Anyway, it doesn't matter if it's stolen or robbed."

"Of course I want to take care of it. You are Yushi Zhongcheng, who is in charge of anti-corruption. However, the leader of the anti-corruption agency has such a huge wealth in his family, which far exceeds your income. I have secretly investigated, and your family has no business at all. Or engage in some profitable business, the money is probably from corruption and bribery?"

"You're spitting blood!" Li Chang said sternly, "The old censor Zhongcheng is in charge of suppressing corrupt officials. Naturally, he must lead by example. How could it be..."

"Then you must explain clearly the source of the money!" Du Wenhao said coldly, "You also said just now that you are in charge of anti-corruption, but no one is in charge of your own corruption and bribery. Hehe, If this is the case, the good thing is now at an end! Let me tell you, no matter what your organization is now, it is our National Security Bureau! Last time, the Empress Dowager authorized it very clearly. As long as our National Security Bureau thinks that it should be under our jurisdiction, we Therefore, we will also directly intervene in the cases of corruption and bribery in Yushitai, as well as cases of corruption, bribery and dereliction of duty that are unfavorable for you to suppress!"

Li Chang said in a cold voice somewhat complacently: "Even if the source of my money is unknown, you have no reason to arrest me and punish me! There is no such thing in the criminal law!"

"Haha, you are so naive! The criminal law was written by people. Do you think that with my current means, I can't add a crime that applies to your situation? For example, the crime of illegal acquisition? Even if the criminal law is not amended , can't I suggest that the Empress Dowager issue an imperial edict to strike at your ill-gotten gains?"

Edict is an important source of law in the Song Dynasty. After the Song Dynasty’s criminal system was enacted, it cannot be changed. However, as time goes by, many places that do not conform to reality will inevitably appear, and many new situations and crimes need to be regulated. , it was promulgated by the emperor in the form of imperial decree, and issued by Zhongshu.There are many such edicts, and since they are all made for specific matters, they are not applicable when encountering the same situation later, so a special detailed edict office is used to compile the edicts.Especially in the late Northern Song Dynasty, the role of edicts often surpassed that of Song Xingtong, and became the main legal basis for judging cases. The phenomenon of "breaking the law with edicts" is becoming more and more frequent.

After all, Du Wenhao studied forensic medicine and majored in law. In addition, he has been here for more than a year, and he still understands the legal system of the Song Dynasty.

Li Chang's forehead was sweating. He found that this young man was very difficult to deal with, but he was unwilling to admit defeat. He smiled slightly and said, "Even if you can do this, what can you do to me?——Don't forget, Taizu's legacy, I, Da Song, will not kill scholar-bureaucrats!"

Du Wenhao has noticed this problem since he became the prime minister, and he also specially asked the scholars to ask about it. Hearing that Li often used it as a shield, he couldn't help laughing up to the sky, and said: "Master Li, you are the censor Zhongcheng!" The time is not short, don't you know how Zhao Chengsi, Emperor Taizong's censor, died?"

Li Chang's complexion suddenly changed. During the Emperor Taizong's reign, Zhao Chengsi, the censor, was in charge of the city to collect money from officials, and was executed by Emperor Taizong and abandoned the market.How could I forget this stubble.

When Du Wenhao saw that he had hit his vital point, he withdrew his smile and said with a sneer, "When the empress dowager gave me the Shangfang sword, she had already authorized me. Officials below the third rank can be beheaded first and then played! Do you understand what this means? First, you This imperial censor Zhongcheng is only from the third grade, which belongs to my list of killing first and then playing! Second, the rule of "not killing scholar-bureaucrats" can be modified. Not only the emperor can make a special case to kill those scholar-bureaucrats who are corrupt officials, but also the security bureau of our country! You It's better to think about it, if I cooperate with you, I might be able to save your life, otherwise, Zhao Chengsi will be your role model!"

Li Chang bowed his head with a pale face and remained silent.

Du Wenhao didn't bother to talk nonsense with him, so he ordered Li Chang, his son and his family to be escorted back to Sanya.After all the gold and silver treasures were registered and recorded, they were also transported back to the Sanya treasury for safekeeping.

Because the office building of the National Security Bureau has not been repaired, it temporarily works in Sanyali.There are detention rooms and interrogation rooms here.

Du Wenhao didn't want to interrogate himself, he had a particular aversion to extorting confessions by torture, and even though it was legal in the Song Dynasty, he still didn't want to participate.So the matter of the interrogation was handed over to Lu Sheng, Director of the Interrogation Division of the Internal Intelligence and Special Affairs Department.

When they ransacked Li Chang's house, they also copied out many notebooks, which aroused Du Wenhao's interest.Taking advantage of this time, Du Wenhao read the books carefully and found many interesting clues.

Du Wenhao was watching with enthusiasm, and Lu Shengxing, who was in charge of the interrogation, rushed to report, saying that both Li Chang and his son and the arrested Xixia spy expressed their willingness to confess.

Du Wenhao was overjoyed and said: "Your kid still has some skills, you didn't beat him to death, did you?"

"It's all adults who attacked the heart and mind well in front of us, and we didn't dare to use the punishment." Lu Sheng chuckled: "This old boy has old arms and legs, and he doesn't know how to beat him, so he started with his wife and concubine. After touching his wife and concubine's fingers, and threatening to have sex with his wife and concubine, the old boy bowed his head."

"His grandma, you guys are really bad!" Du Wenhao spat.

"General, if you want to pry your mouth open, you don't need some tricks."

"Forget it, I won't ask you what methods you use in the future, as long as you can pry your mouth and don't kill people. The people I decide to attack have iron evidence. I can't blame them, let them suffer It’s possible, but don’t hurt innocent people in the future.”

"Yes! General, please rest assured, we will definitely satisfy you."

When Du Wenhao rushed to the interrogation room, he saw Li Chang sitting listlessly on a stool in the corner, and there was no trace of torture on his body.

Du Wenhao sat behind the table, and said coldly: "Li Chang, come on, what happened to the Western Xia spies?"

Li Chang looked up at Du Wenhao: "Lord Du, this old man can tell you everything you want to know, but I only hope you can promise one thing, don't hurt my family anymore, they are innocent."

(End of this chapter)