The legend of the king of crossing

Chapter 170 It's Time

In the dead of night, most people who are used to going to bed early fell asleep.

This is an era without electricity, and there are no entertainment programs such as computers and TVs. Sleeping naturally becomes the best choice for ordinary people at night.

In the Chen family compound, Chen Xinshu still didn't feel sleepy.

"My lord, since you suspect Mr. Huyan, why don't you send someone to follow him, since there are many masters in your lord's house."

"Brother Baoshan, you don't know anything about martial arts. The martial arts of Mr. Huyan's entourage are still higher than those of the Lin family. You have to keep an eye on them. I'm afraid these masters in the mansion will be self-defeating. You must know that the Lin family is one of the three great families of martial arts, and the master's martial arts skills , in my memory, there is only Xie Daolin, who was born in the Lin family's imperial family, and Xie Daolin, the former emperor of the Lin family, is above him, and Mr. Huyan has a good relationship with the Lin family, and he is from the imperial city, but I don't know if it has anything to do with the palace?"

"My lord is suspicious?"

"Well, I have a feeling that Huyan may be a bridge between the old man and the emperor, and this time he came for the old man. As for the imperial envoy Ye Mengding, it's just a cover-up."

"My lord, if Mr. Ye continues to interrogate, sooner or later the trial will find out the problem."

"It depends on how long it can be delayed." Chen Xinshu sighed, "Which one of my officials is okay? Corruption, dereliction of duty? According to the law, the light ones will go to prison, and the severe ones will be sentenced to death. It just depends on the meaning of the higher authorities." , The higher ups want to touch me, and these problems cannot be concealed."

"Then your lord's intention is to meet Mr. Huyan as soon as possible?"

"Yes, but we have to wait for this matter. I think he is also waiting for the opportunity."

"Perhaps so, my lord, tomorrow we will visit Lord Xiaye again, and find out what he has to say."

"Well, it's doable."

Since getting up in the morning, Chen Huainan's right eye has been twitching non-stop, which is not a good sign.Chen Huainan walked into the courtroom of the government office with a feeling of uneasiness, only then did he realize that today's courtroom is a bit strange.As the plaintiff, the people from Lin's firm were not there, nor were the people from the Pu family, and even Mr. Zhang Song, the magistrate of Fuzhou, was not there.

The imperial envoy Ye Mengding, who was sitting in the middle, had very cold eyes. When he saw Chen Huainan entering, he went straight to the point and said, "Master Chen, Lin Zhixiong's case will not be tried today."

Chen Huainan's heart sank: "My lord, this?"

"Chen Huainan, I have received another complaint, which is to sue your shipping company for charging illegal fees, such as docking fees, offshore fees, etc. Is there such a thing?"

Chen Huainan thought for a while and said, "My lord, there are such fees in all the ports I go to."

"Is there any tax stipulated by the imperial court?"

"This, this, no, no."

Ye Mengding said: "Master Chen, does this count as a private fee? Where did the money go? It shouldn't all end up in your pocket."

"My lord, all of them are used for port construction."

"Really? Master Chen, do you know why the Japanese officials didn't let others participate in the trial today?"

Chen Huainan wiped the cold sweat off his brow: "My lord, I don't know."

"Okay, I will tell you slowly."

"My lord, please clarify."

"Because the magistrate also has a share of the money, right?"

"My lord, what does this mean?"

"Chen Huainan, not only Zhang Song, but also Chen Xinshu, right?"

"My lord, this is a false accusation, and I am willing to confront him in court."

"Chen Huainan, I have a second and a third indictment here, all of which accuse your shipping company of corruption and perverting the law. Do you want me to read them out one by one?"

"My lord, I have been wronged by the lower officials, please make the decision for the lower officials."

"Injustice? Is it?"

"Exactly, please be the master."

Ye Mengding suddenly laughed, and his face became gentle: "Master Chen, I am asking the case alone, but I don't want to publicize this matter, and I also know that you are only following orders. I am following the orders of the emperor. Come to investigate the current situation of our court officials. This time, we will not investigate anyone. Don’t worry about this. Even Chen Xinshu, the emperor will not punish him this time. The emperor just wants to know the truth so that he can find out the problems of our local officials. where, do you understand?"

When Ye Mengding was trying the case in the state hall, I was also interrogating that Pu Wenfeng.

In the secret room of the Tongle Building, I looked at Pu Wenfeng who had just woken up.

Pu Wenfeng left Fuzhou early in the morning, but encountered robbers in the suburbs, and lost consciousness before he had time to react.

"You can disregard your own life and death, but will you care about the life and death of your Pu family?" I asked such a thoughtless question, which made Pu Wenfeng confused and even more at a loss.

"Where am I? Who are you? How do you say it is related to the life and death of my Pu family?"

"In the first year of Kaiqing (1259), your Pu family has been to the capital, right?"

"I've been there."

"At that time, the Song-Mongol war broke out, and your Pu family donated 163 million silver to the country for this. Is there such a thing?"

"Ah, how do you know?"

"It seems that you know it too, so let me ask you again, do you know why it is 163 million taels? Not an integer, 160 million taels or 170 million taels?"

"You, who are you? This matter, only the late emperor knew about it. How could you know?"

Six years ago, Pu Shougeng, the patriarch of the Pu family, offended Ding Daquan, the prime minister at that time, for some reason. The Yushufang called Pu Shougeng alone, and said, your Pu family has evaded taxes totaling 326 million taels. This time the war broke out, and the country needs to invest in armaments, so you can donate half of it. In this way, the Pu family donated 163 million taels of silver , and the first emperor did not pursue the crime of tax evasion any more.Apart from Song Lizong, only Pu Shougeng, the person involved, knew the reason.

Pu Shougeng told the two sons about this matter afterwards, and solemnly said, the emperor promised to end this matter, no one will tell, and you must remember not to spread it to outsiders, not even your uncle Pu Shoucheng.

"Father told me about this, so who will the late emperor tell about this? The son of the late emperor? Could it be..." Pu Wenfeng thought about it for a moment, and his father told his son that the current person would be, But, this is too incredible.

"You are the emperor, the emperor...?"

I interrupted him, and said lightly: "It doesn't matter who I am, you just need to know that I can easily let your Pu family live, and I can easily let your Pu family die."

Pu Wenfeng himself is not afraid of death, but he has to worry about the life and death of the Pu family: "I, I..."

"You have no choice, and you don't have to guess who I am."

Although Pu Wenfeng has an impatient temper, he is not a reckless person. Maybe he saw the aura exuded from me, or maybe Pu Wenfeng believed his guess, nodded and said: "You, what do you want to know?"

"The details of the contacts between your Pu family and the Fujian Road officials."

"What should I call you?"

I smiled and said, "Just call me son."

"Yes, son, I'll tell you everything I know, but there are many things that are handled by Pu Wenyong."

Although Pu Wenfeng knew many things, but not in detail, Pu Shougeng, the Patriarch of the Pu family, naturally knew the nature of this son, so most of the things were left to Pu Wenyong, the son of Pu Shousheng.

I don't need too many details, just enough.

"Go ahead."

Pu Wenfeng was a little incoherent, and told about the Pu family's bribery of officials one by one.

"My lord, Master Ye is here." Yuan Ji whispered in my ear.

"Well, sir, arrange someone to take care of Pu Wenfeng, and release him after the matter is over."

"Yes, don't worry, my lord."

Ye Mengding came in and said: "My lord, Chen Huainan has admitted to the fraudulent business, including Chen Xinshu, Zhang Song, etc., but I don't know if Shi Hongsheng is involved."

"Okay, maybe it's time to meet Chen Xinshu."

"My lord, Chen Xinshu said that he would visit me alone tonight."

"Hehe, that's just right. It's time. Let's settle the Fujian Road issue tonight."