Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 149 Ignition
On some yellowed bamboo paper, the four big characters are chic and elegant, and the stippling is elegant.

Li Longji put down the imperial brush casually, admired his calligraphy, and said with a smile: "General Gao thinks, what do you think of the word Zhen?"

Gao Lishi said with deep emotion: "The sage is really all-rounder. He can govern the country strategically, the six arts of civil and martial arts, piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. He is perfect in everything. I only hope that future generations can see the demeanor of the sage and admire the sage forever."

Even with this level of praise, Li Longji felt that it was commonplace, and he was more satisfied with himself.

"I ruled such a magnificent and prosperous world. Although it has never happened since ancient times, it is only the deeds of a generation of kings. And my achievements are not only here, destroying Tubo and Khitan, making the Tang Dynasty vast and boundless, and this..."

As Li Longji said, he tapped the calligraphy on the imperial case with his finger.

"The article is a matter of ages, and the Tang Dynasty is brilliant and prosperous, and it should benefit future generations. My achievements will last forever, so that the world and the years cannot be covered!"

He almost blurted out, but humbly didn't say that sentence in his mind about himself——

"I am the god of the mortal world!"

Gao Lishi was startled, and quickly knelt down to show his respect, and said loudly: "The saint's merit is eternal! He can compete with the heaven and the earth!"

The palace people also bowed down and praised.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Li Longji is in a good mood, this is not a matter of saving a little money, but a new height of imperial achievement.

It's not just a piece of bamboo paper that can make him feel this way, he has long been a sage.Bamboo paper is the icing on the cake, it is the auspiciousness that will naturally appear in the bright and prosperous age created by the Mingjun through the ages, and it is his achievement.

As for Xue Bai, who made paper, he also took part of the credit. Of course, it is also a great contribution in the world.

"General Gao, get up, we have to find out about this matter, whether the cost is really low."

"Old slave obeys the order."

Gao Lishi knew that Xue Bai would not cheat on this kind of matter, he got up and apologized and said with a smile: "In this way, this matter is really a great achievement."

"Otherwise, the general thinks that brother slave has spent a lot of trouble just to grab Xue Bai's money?"

"I see."

Gao Lishi suddenly realized.

With Li Linfu's family business, Xue Bai would not be involved in the big case for the benefit of the bamboo paper craft.It only makes sense that the purpose is to influence the great achievements of future generations, and it is indeed something that the narrow-minded Suo Fighting Chicken can do.

Greed for merit, worried about Xue Bai's meritorious deeds, and even more afraid of Yang Zhen behind Xue Bai coveting the position.

~~
"Look at the photo on the right."

A stack of bamboo paper was handed in front of Li Linfu, he was stunned, and reached out to take it.

The paper is yellowish, rough when rubbed, not smooth enough, but not as brittle as the original bamboo paper.After smelling it, there is indeed a fragrance of bamboo and wood.

Li Linfu knows how to do it, and he was amazed that the hard texture of bamboo and wood can become so tough.

He thought to himself, if he had known about this earlier, he would have dealt with Xue Bai severely, and even got rid of Yang Zhen.After all, Xue Bai's property is all under the name of the Yang family, and together with this matter, the threat to Xiangxiang is too great.

But, he really doesn't know.

Before he could react from the shock, Li Longji moved closer and asked with a smile, "Shiro, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty." Li Linfu was caught off guard and hurriedly said: "This is the first time I have seen bamboo paper today, and I have never heard of it before!"

"That's unheard of!"

Xue Bai's counterattack had only just begun, and he immediately said: "You encouraged Yuan Kang to come to my paper mill to make trouble, and forced me to sell the paper mill to him. Could it be that you have too many sons-in-law, and Yuan Kang is unheard of?"

"Sharp teeth and sharp mouths."

Li Linfu only responded to Xue Bai, quickly turned to the saint, and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, what I said is true. As the prime minister, I uphold the laws and regulations of the country. So I deliberately confuse the public, and I implore Your Majesty to investigate clearly."

Everything he said was true.

Therefore, he failed to get rid of Xue Bai in the previous frame-ups. He realized that the saint is not easy to be fooled. This time, he carefully and seriously found out the truth.

At this moment, he is very sincere, just like the way countless people said to him in the past, "I really didn't know the East Palace".

"I implore Your Majesty to investigate clearly." Xue Bai immediately added.

Li Linfu was finally irritated by this attitude of hiding evil intentions, and quickly glanced at Xiao Jiong, motioning for him to come forward.

Right now, the verbal dispute will only be led away by Xue Bai. The best way is to ignore the bamboo paper and take Xue Bai's crime seriously.

"Returning to Your Majesty, I don't know the bamboo paper." Xiao Jiong bite the bullet and said immediately, "I judged the case fairly and found a lot of supporting evidence before I dare to doubt Xue Bai. For example, Xue Bai and Pei Mian seem to have no relationship. In fact, according to the servants of Pei's mansion, Fengweilou often sends food boxes over..."

"You still dare to frame me." Xue Bai said, "If you investigate the case like this, let me tell you what evidence is there for the right minister to kill Pei Mian?"

Just now the argument with Xiao Jiong was to wash away the crime, but now it was Xue Bai's attack.

From the very beginning, Xue Bai was not worried that the Jingzhao Mansion would be able to find evidence of the crime. How could he not even hide this with just two people and two Mo Dao?The key point is that he saw that Lu Qi's clue was given by Donggong.

It's a pity that Lu Qi dared not come to testify in court, otherwise he would accuse Lu Qi of being connected between the East Palace and the right minister's house, pointing out that the prince and the right minister are cooperating.And who died when he saw it?
The only thing I didn't expect was that the kid couldn't stand the scare, and he really had a way to escape.

But it doesn't matter, this way, the fire can't burn Xue Bai even more, he can burn it recklessly.

"Pei Mian is a member of Wang Ji, and he has been in and out of the right minister's mansion many times. The right minister is jealous of Wang Yu's talent, and worried that he will replace the right minister if he becomes a royal censor. He intends to get rid of Wang Ji, so he kills Pei Mian first... ..."

"Nonsense!" Xiao Jiong interrupted hastily, "Zhuzi is so bold, he dares to scramble and bite in front of the imperial court?"

"Only Jingyin is allowed to testify, not to speak the truth?" Xue Bai said: "Besides, what does this matter have to do with me? I have no selfish intentions."

"The Right Prime Minister never kills." Xiao Jiong was so angry that he said something from his heart, put on an air of justice, and shouted: "You can't change the facts despite your rhetoric!"

"Facts or not, the evidence speaks for itself, and your accusations are groundless. As for whether I've 'confuse the public' or not, do you dare to look at my evidence?"

Xiao Jiong was startled.

He came without hesitation, thinking that even if Xue Bai could not be convicted, there would be no other troubles.

But the right minister may not know the details about some things about paper, but he is very clear.

Although Li Linfu didn't know the details, when he saw Xiao Jiong's astonishment, he immediately had a bad premonition in his heart. Although he had no selfish intentions, he couldn't stop his subordinates from getting angry.

What I have to consider right now is not how to deal with Xue Bai, I am afraid I have to put out the fire first...

~~
Imperial City, Shangshu Province, Ministry of Punishment.

The door of the class room was opened, Du Wulang looked up and asked, "The Ministry of Punishment puts out the meal so early? Has someone come to hand in our food?"

"What kind of food are you serving? It's time for interrogation."

Du Wulang was taken aback for a moment, then turned around and saw that a small official was about to take Daxi Yingying out, he was a little worried, and said: "Senior official, if you have anything to ask, just ask me, I was the one who beat Yuan Ji."

"Goro, don't panic, just ask questions separately."

The officials of the Ministry of Punishment even had a better attitude. They actually took Du Wulang aside for questioning and left Daxi Yingying behind.

"Say, why beat the magistrate?"

Daxi Yingying replied: "When I was fighting, I didn't know that the man was Cao Jingzhaohu. Seeing him bullying Wulang, I asked someone to help me without thinking much."

"Yuan Mo was pinned down, why did Xue Bai go up and kick hard?"

"Lang Jun, he..."

"Be careful, don't think we don't know that you are Xue Bai's confidant."

Da Xi Yingying felt proud of hearing this sentence, she thought about it for a while, knowing that Xue Bai didn't order it to be kept secret, so she could say it, so she smiled slightly and uttered a word.

"Paper."

"Paper? What do you mean?"

"Yuan Chong seems to have come to grab the paving, but in fact he came to grab our papermaking technology." Daxi Yingying said, "I'm Lang Jun's confidant, so I know how good this technology is."

……

On the other hand, Du Wulang didn't care, and told the truth.

The official was already acquainted with him, and at the end he jokingly asked: "So, your papermaking craft can make a lot of money, Wulang can tell me a little bit?"

"Okay." Du Wulang smiled, and replied, "The secret is that you need to soak the bamboo in the urine of a boy to make it tough."

"Hahaha, so it turns out that Yuanhu Cao was beaten for stealing the boy's urine formula?"

"Isn't that so?"

Du Wulang saw the cheerful atmosphere and knew that Xue Bai had made another move. Since the Liu Ji case, he has gradually become accustomed to this kind of thing, and he no longer has the fear at that time, but it has become the talk of others who look at him with admiration.

After reporting the news, before evening, the door of the classroom was pushed open again.

"Dinner ready?"

"What's the meal, go out, you go to Dali Temple tomorrow."

Du Wulang was very surprised, and said: "It's just a case, how did it move around."

"Hey, what nonsense are you talking about? The case of assaulting an official was judged by the Jingzhao Mansion, reviewed by the Ministry of Criminal Justice, and the case has been closed. You are fine. Tomorrow Dali Temple will try the bamboo paper case."

"Move me to Dali Prison?"

"What kind of prison? Tomorrow you will be the plaintiff, and you have been in the past. Let's go home."

"I'm still the plaintiff."

Du Wulang glanced back at the Ministry of Punishment, and waved goodbye to the officials.

After leaving the Shangshu Province, Daxi Yingying said in a low voice: "Yuan Mao was beaten, and now we are out, he must be going in."

~~
Censorship Desk.

Wang Yu walked through the long corridor, and a small official came in front of him, saying: "The Zhongcheng is back, and the right minister sent someone to deliver a message yesterday, ordering to solve the false accusation of Yuanhu Cao as soon as possible."

"Where is the complainant?"

"In the chamber."

"Let's go."

Wang Yu wanted to wear a purple robe a long time ago, and he had been staring at the position of doctor censor for a long time, and it was impossible to give it up to Zahu.Miscellaneous Hu is a holy family, he is not bad, he can compete.

Therefore, when he learned that the Yan family brothers sued Yuan Kang, he avoided it and did not solve it for Li Linfu, but showed his importance in a small way.

But he didn't plan to turn against Li Linfu for the time being. Seeing that the fire was almost over, he came back to ease the situation.He was ready to suppress this little trouble for Yuan Chong.

There were a lot of people in the meeting hall, Pei Kuan, Yang Zhao and others were there, as well as several supervisory censors, they all stood up and saluted him.

"I met Wang Zhongcheng."

This means that Yushitai is still in the hands of Wang Yu.

He glanced at Yan Quanming and Yan Jiming brothers, and said, "You are the ones suing Jingzhao household Cao Yuanzhang."

"Exactly."

"Can you have an official body?"

"It will be a long history under the judge's curtain in Yingtian, Hebei." Yan Quanming replied.

Wang Ji raised his hand, showing his official authority, and was about to say that the officials in Hebei still can't control the affairs of Jingzhao Mansion.

Suddenly, a small official arrived in a hurry.

"Zhongcheng, the sage issued an edict ordering Yushitai, the Ministry of Criminal Justice, and Dali Temple to review the case of Yuan Chong."

Wang Ji's face remained unchanged, but he was stunned for a moment, and even forgot to put down the raised hand.

He was thinking, if the son-in-law of the right minister was investigated, would there be a crack in the relationship with the right minister?

But the sage Long ordered that it would be impossible not to check.

~~
"Search for me!"

Yuan Ji is assigning the yamen servants to search Fengweilou.

According to the clues given by Lu Qi, the two murderers who killed with Mo Dao were hiding in it.

I heard that these two people are very fierce, for this reason, he specially brought many people here, for fear of hurting himself.

Stepping into the lobby, he looked up and saw hanging the "Ma Shuo" signed "Han Yu". The last time his father-in-law dealt with Xue Bai was because of this matter.

This time it was a little different, after all, he made a move.

Suddenly, someone patted him on the shoulder.

Yuan Ji was taken aback, and while shrinking back, he shouted, "Protect me!"

Looking back, I saw only a few government officials in Dali Temple.

"Are you here to arrest someone?" Yuan Kang frowned, a little arrogantly, and said: "The murderer has not been found yet, we need to wait."

The officials of Dali Temple looked at each other.

"Yuanhu Cao, the prisoner that the villains want to take has been found."

"what for?"

Yuan Kang was still asking questions, but they suddenly rushed forward and pinned him tightly.

"take away."

"What are you waiting for?" Yuan Kang couldn't react for a while, and scolded endlessly, "Do you know who I am?!"

"People from Jingzhao Mansion stop! You dare to search if you know whose property it is? Go all the way to Xuanyangfang to make amends!"

"I'll ask you something!" Yuan Mo was furious, and scolded: "If you dare to touch me, I will remember your faces, so don't even try to run away."

At this time, the officials of the Dali Temple were still very polite, and someone saluted and said: "Cao Yuanhu, forgive me, the little people follow orders."

Seeing this gesture, Yuan Kang became more and more arrogant, and shouted: "I am the son-in-law of the right minister, I know who ordered you, just wait for me!"

……

In Dali Temple Prison, the execution room was dark and filled with a stench.

It was the first time Yuan Kang was imprisoned, so he was inevitably terrified and became more and more panicked.

He could only keep shouting his only reliance.

"Let me out! I'm the right-hand man's son-in-law!"

Shouting is useful. After a while, several officials did enter the execution room and stood still according to the color of their official robes.

Yuan Chong was well-informed, and he knew many of them.

Dali Temple Shaoqing Yang Shaoxuan, Yushi Zhongcheng Wang Yu, Xingbu Langzhong Xu Hao, and several other small officials, Dali judge Deng Jingshan, Yushi Luo Xixi...

"Wang Zhongcheng, it's me." Yuan Kang apologized with a flattering smile, "Is there a misunderstanding?"

Wang Ji ignored him, with a gloomy face, and slowly sat down in the darkness, only the red official robe looming.

Seeing this, Xu Hao, the doctor of the Ministry of Punishment, stood up without hesitation.

Xu Hao is Zhang Jiuling's nephew, and was involved in Zheng Qian's case because of Zhang Jiuling's Shinto inscription.Now that the competent officer has returned to his post and is in charge of the case of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs again, the direction of the case is self-evident.

"Yuan Mo, are you the right-hand man's son-in-law?"

"Since you know, why don't you let me go?"

Xu Hao put on a straight face, and scolded: "Third Division trial, your crime is not small, be honest! You want to rob Chengxin Bookshop, the evidence is solid, do you confess?!"

This way of questioning made Yuan Ji dare not quibble, so he simply refused to answer.

"You have learned that the price of paper is more expensive, and the cost of official paper for the court is very high. Do you admit it to using this matter for personal gain?"

"..."

Suddenly, Xu Hao whispered in Yuan Kang's ear: "Did you see that? Wang Zhongcheng can't protect you. In just half a day, you have been found out. The sage is furious and dares to resist. Aren't you afraid of catastrophe?"

Yuan Ji was taken aback, seeing that Wang Ji had already walked out of the execution room.

His eyes finally became frightened.

In fact, Wang Hao saw a confidant official looking outside the execution room, so he got up and walked out, turned around the corridor and went to a place where there was no one.

"Zhongcheng, Li Shilang from the right minister's mansion has sent you a message. If Yuan Ying cannot be saved, please convict him as soon as possible, so that the fire does not spread to others."

"You reply to Shiro, I will do my best." Wang Hao asked, "Why didn't the right minister tell you?"

"The Right Prime Minister has not returned to the residence, it seems that he went to Taiwan Province after leaving the palace, and has not given any orders."

Wang Ji's expression changed, and he had a guess. The sage wanted to see the truth and prevent the right minister from manipulating the case.

He asked someone to call Luo Xishi over, and gave instructions in a low voice.

"It will be up to you to torture in a while, grasp the measure of punishment, and let the case end in Yuangang."

"I can use torture, Zhong Cheng can rest assured."

Luo Xishi thought that Yuan Kang would not explain it right away, and when Xu Hao was unable to ask questions, he would take over immediately, and Yuan Kang would definitely be killed.

Then, when he stepped into the Ministry of Punishment, he heard Yuan Kang's voice confessing.

"I, I know that the imperial court is going to buy official document paper, and bought all the rattan materials in Chang'an with the lease of the Jingzhao Mansion. The rattan materials have been reduced, and the paper merchants have no time to supply the rattan paper. They are guilty. I took the opportunity to ask them for money. ; There was a shortage of rattan paper, the government had to issue official documents, and the price of paper soared, so I tripled the profit, but I returned the tax from the Jingzhao government..."

"Does Jing Zhaoyin and Xiao Jiong know about this?"

"Jing Yin, he..."

"Say! Can he not know?!"

"He he he he he knows, I will give him [-]% of the profit..."

Luo Xishi was furious, and was about to go forward, when suddenly someone stood in front of him, but it was Deng Jingshan, the judge of Dali, who was close to the East Palace, with an expression of watching the show on his face.

~~
It's night, Jingzhao Mansion.

One of Li Xiu's entourages hurried over with a token from Nan Ya, and found several confidantes of Yuan Kang's subordinates.

"Quickly, go and burn Hucao's accounts."

"This way..."

In the darkness, a group of people hurried to Hu Cao.

Suddenly, the light of the torch came to the front and there were several people standing there, the leader was Jing Zhaocang Cao Peizhen.

"What's the point of visiting Jingzhao Mansion late at night?" Pei Qiao asked.

"This……"

"Take it!"

In the darkness, the Yamen officials rushed out.

After that, the torches were lit one by one, illuminating the entire Jingzhao Mansion.

Someone kicked the door into the public house of Jingzhao Yin and Xiao Jiong, found books of accounts, and moved them to Dali Temple.

……

In the prison of Dali Temple, the sweat on Yuan Kang's face had already started to drip down, and he didn't know how to answer all kinds of questions.

"Do you know bamboo paper?"

"I...I don't know."

"Since I don't know, why did the Jingzhao Mansion dare to imprison Xue Bai when he beat you? I wonder if he is the righteous brother of the noble concubine?"

"I don't know, I don't know why Xiao Jiong dared to do this. I kept telling him to forget it, really." Yuan Mo said, "Believe me, I didn't want to offend Xue Bai. I said calm down, but they refused. Those It's what they say, I really don't know."

"Do they know about the bamboo paper?"

Yuan Mo was stunned for a while, looked at the dazed people in the execution room, and faintly, he seemed to have heard Xiao Jiong's voice from the next door.

He finally spoke and said, "I think they should know that I'm being used! Yes, they know!"

Xu Hao asked: "Does this 'they' include the right minister?"

Yuan Ji was taken aback, and said in surprise, "I, I..."

The whole night passed in a busy way.

At dawn, an official from the Dali Temple came and escorted Yuan Kang to the hall.

At this time, Yuan Kang no longer had the original arrogance, but those government officials who had killed many high-ranking officials with sticks under the orders of the right minister showed their vicious side.

Some people even pinched Yuan Kang's face, and said with a smile: "You look really good, a whore with a skirt and a high position..."

(End of this chapter)