grandfather married

Chapter 370 Two in One
Ji Fushou raised his eyebrows, "You're right. After they mined the copper mine, they had to cast copper coins. Otherwise, wouldn't the copper mine be mined for nothing? It's just that everyone in the court is being mined by the Xu family. It got involved, but I haven't delved further. I immediately summoned Nighthawk and asked them to track down the place where the copper coins were minted."

Ji Fushou left in a hurry, and Chi Qiguang sat on a chair and thought about it. If Duke Lu knew that the ledger had been stolen, what would be the first thing he would do?

After thinking for a while, Chi Qiguang frowned. If he was the Duke of Lu, the first thing he would do would be to have people destroy the land where the money was minted. It is impossible to convict the Duke of Lu with the stolen account books. Besides, the only thing left to convict the Duke of Lu is the casting of money.

Destroy the place where the coins were minted. In this way, Duke Lu's relationship with the copper mine is innocent.

Ah Shou sent people to investigate the place where the money was minted, fearing that they would return in vain.

But they caught Lu Guogong by surprise. Although Lu Guogong destroyed the place where the money was minted, the mother's money might not have time to sneak back to the general prisoner.

Chi Qiguang raised his eyelids, and just in time to see Ji Fushou coming back, he told her his guess, and Ji Fushou immediately reacted, "I asked Yeying to look at the Hubu Shangshu and Jiang Zuojian. movement."

Chi Qiguang smiled slightly, "The sergeants who patrol and serve as prisons belong to my father. I will let them patrol day and night, and I will not let them have the opportunity to secretly put back their mother's money."

After they finished talking, they split up.

Half a month later, Ye Ying came back in a hurry and told Ji Fushou: "My lord, my subordinates have failed to find out the place where the money was cast."

Ji Fushou had already expected it, and was not disappointed. He let them go down after a good word of condolences.

Turning her head, she looked at Chi Qiguang and asked, "The Ministry of Household Affairs has already settled the accounts. Sure enough, there is nothing about the eldest prince and Lu Guogong here. It is estimated that the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment and the Minister of Dali Temple can only find out about Xu's family." body."

As far as she knew, the First Prince hadn't been flustered these days. On the contrary, when the Household Department reported to Emperor Qi Cheng in the court hall, seeing that the First Prince and Lu Guogong were not involved, the Third Prince Li Chong almost couldn't hold back and jumped out to criticize The household department sheltered the two of them.

I learned from Mr. Jing that Li Chong has become more and more irritable these days, and often has to change teacups and teapots.

"Duke Lu has never had the opportunity to secretly put his mother's money back. When Dali Siqing comes back, he can give them a fatal blow." Chi Qiguang said with a smile.

A few days later, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice and the Minister of Dali Temple finally returned to the capital from Wuyang with people. At the court meeting the next day, everyone was concerned about their thorough investigation.

The Secretary of the Ministry of Justice issued a respectful reply, "My Majesty, I and Mr. Fu went to Wuyang Mansion and found a copper mine, and [-]% of that copper mine has been mined.

Weichen asked and visited the nearby villagers, and learned that the young and middle-aged people in the village had been mining stones in the mine for two years. They were ignorant and did not know that the stones were copper ore.

As for the employer who hired them, they all said it was a family called the Xu family, and their accent was not from their Wuyang mansion.

Weichen went to interrogate the prefect of Wuyang Prefecture again. The prefect only said that the second master of the Xu family did come to the door two years ago, saying that he wanted to buy a few mountains. , so I bought it for the second master of the Xu family.

Because they thought they were all stones, the magistrate didn't go into it too deeply, so he didn't know about the Xu family's private mining of copper mines. "

Another ignorant!When Li Chong heard this, he felt aggrieved in his heart.

The Secretary of the Ministry of Justice breathed a sigh of relief, and continued, "I have questioned the villagers, and from their descriptions, I have drawn a picture of how they usually manage their affairs. This officer has confirmed with Dali Temple Secretary that it is indeed the Xu family's officer. "

Having said that, Minister of the Ministry of Justice looked at Dali Siqing. He and Dali Siqing originally acted separately. He went to Wuyang Mansion to investigate copper mines, and Dali Siqing went to Yuyang Mansion to interrogate the Xu family.

The Minister of Dali Temple followed and went out, "Returning to the Holy Lord, I went to the Xu family in Yuyang Prefecture, and found the Xu family's local principal, the second master Xu. The second master confessed to the private mining of copper mines.

He also said that because Xu Wenbin, as the censor, has been restraining them, forbidding them to compete with the people for profit, and not allowing them to use Xu Wenbin's name and head pocket to obtain various conveniences. He didn't have enough money, and he didn't dare to tell Xu Wenbin. When he got the news of the copper mine by chance, he became thinking and secretly took people to mine without Xu Wenbin's knowledge.Weichen has now escorted Master Xu Er back to Beijing, and put him in the sky prison, waiting for the holy order. "

Hearing this, many courtiers sighed regretfully for Xu Wenbin, no wonder Second Master Xu wanted to mine copper mines privately, Xu Wenbin never let his clansmen go to heaven with chickens and dogs.

Emperor Qi Cheng didn't look too angry, at least Xu Wenbin didn't live up to his emperor's favor and didn't deceive the emperor, so his anger wasn't too vigorous.

Seeing that the matter had been thoroughly investigated, Emperor Qi Cheng was about to make an imperial order on the Xu family and Xu Wenbin, but the Dali Temple Secretary continued, "Your Majesty, I still have a performance."

Emperor Qi Cheng paused for a while, then turned to say, "Quite."

Dali Siqing said solemnly, "My lord, the Xu family mines copper mines privately. If he can't cast copper ore into copper coins, why should he mine copper mines? He has been mining copper mines for two years. If Huang Yushi If there is no report, I am afraid that mining will continue.”

After the Minister of Dali Temple finished speaking, Emperor Qi Cheng's face darkened, and when he realized something, he saw the Minister of Dali Temple followed closely and said, "I beg you to thoroughly investigate the mother's money collected in the general prison."

Hearing Dali Siqing's words, the third prince Li Chong's eyes lit up, he couldn't help but look at the first prince, his eyes were sharp, and he saw Li Yang's pupils shrank all of a sudden, and his heart became more and more certain that they were here. The above made tricks.

Immediately afterwards, Emperor Qi Cheng's majestic voice sounded, "Fu Aiqing, Ling Aiqing, let the two of you go to the general supervisor to check the mother's money, and Gan Aiqing and the general supervisor will open the warehouse door."

Hubu Zuo Shilang walked behind the Minister of the Ministry of Justice and the Minister of Dali Si, feeling overwhelmed, with a layer of cold sweat on his back, but looking at this moment, even if he wanted to find someone to inform Lu Guogong The letter is also impossible, the closer to the storehouse where the general will serve as the prison, the footsteps of the left servant of the household department become heavier.

The general and the chief supervisor came in a hurry, and the young prisoner came with them, but I don't know whether they came in a hurry or something, their foreheads were covered with beads of sweat.

Zhengjian was still holding a copy of the Huang Lin book. He first handed the Huang Lin book to the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment.

"Unlock it."

After the lock was unlocked, the guards prevented others from entering, and the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment and the Minister of Dali Temple walked in. After about a cup of tea, the two came out, and they both looked at the general and the prisoner with sharp eyes. , "Mother's money is missing one piece, say, where is the mother's money?"

The supervisor's face was pale, and he trembled, "Did the two adults make a mistake in counting? There is no copper coin recently, how can the mother's money be less?"

Dali Siqing smiled coldly, "You mean, Mr. Ling and I framed you together?"

The supervisor shook his head vigorously, "I don't mean that to be an official."

The Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs looked angry, "Mother's money is a total of a hundred pieces, and now there are only 99 pieces. In order to avoid counting mistakes, we both counted twice. Or do you mean that Mr. Fu and I deliberately hid the mother's money, To frame you?"

His eyes swept over the faces of the principal prisoner, the young prisoner, and the left servant of the household department, and he flicked his sleeves, "You guys should follow me to see the Holy Majesty."

The supervisor is still saying, "You can really swear that you never stole your mother's money, and you need three keys to open the lock of the storeroom. You don't have such great skills to find the other two keys!"

Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment said with a cold face, "Save your explanation and discuss it with the Holy Majesty."

There were more and more beads of sweat on the young prison's forehead, and his calves were shivering all the time.

The left servant of the household department also echoed, insisting that he didn't know about the lack of one piece of mother's money.

The Minister of Dali Temple looked at Su Wei, and said in a deep voice, "Please invite the three of them to the Taiji Hall to face the saint."

Su Wei took the order and went all the way back to Tai Chi Hall like a prisoner.

The Secretary of the Ministry of Punishments saluted Emperor Qi Cheng, and said back: "My lord, my minister and Mr. Fu have gone to check the treasury of the general prison, and one piece of money is missing from the mother."

The gazes of Emperor Qi Cheng and many courtiers fell on the three chief supervisors at once.

The prison guard knelt down with a 'plop', "Your Majesty, I really haven't opened the lock of the storeroom. Your Majesty has learned from you."

The young supervisor also kowtowed and said: "Your Majesty, this officer has never opened the lock of the warehouse."

The Zuo Shilang of the Household Department said, "My lord, there are three locks in the storeroom. I have no personal relationship with the general supervisor. How could I help them unlock the locks?"

The third prince, Li Chong, couldn't bear it anymore, a sneering smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "The three of you all said that it had nothing to do with you, could it be that a mouse made a hole and stole your mother's money?"

Emperor Qi Cheng also looked at the three of them coldly, and suddenly said, "I have a good word, give you a chance, if you are willing to confess frankly, I can exempt you from the death penalty. If you don't confess frankly, you will be interrogated by the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple If you come out, you will be executed everywhere."

The Tai Chi Hall fell silent all of a sudden, waiting for the statement of the three of them.

After waiting for about a cup of tea, Emperor Qi Cheng got bored and ordered, "Come on, come."

The young supervisor suddenly interrupted Qi Chengdi's words, and said hastily, "Your Majesty, I've recruited you! I accepted Lu Guogong's 1 taels of silver, and promised that if Lu Guogong can get the other two keys, he will help you." He opened the treasury and stole a piece of mother money out."

Hearing Duke Lu's name, third prince Li Chong's eyes lit up, his fists were tucked into his sleeves and he clenched tightly, trying his best to suppress the joy in his heart.

The eldest prince Li Yang's face turned pale, and the anxious look in his eyes was very conspicuous.

The other courtiers listened and made small movements.

Emperor Qi Cheng's face was already full of storms.

The chief prisoner suddenly raised his head, and looked at the young prisoner in disbelief, "Impossible, Duke Lu has never looked for me, and even if he did, I would never agree to give him the key. Without my key, how did you do it?" Can you open the lock?"

The young supervisor was full of bitterness, "I revealed to Duke Lu that you dote on Aunt Yue in the room very much. I will ask Duke Lu to find a way through Aunt Yue. Maybe Aunt Yue stole your key while you were asleep. I will open it." The warehouse door is at night, maybe Duke Lu's people returned the key to Aunt Yue at dawn, so you don't know anything about it."

The prison guard was so angry that he spat out a mouthful of blood, "The bitch hurt me!"

He kowtowed to Emperor Qi Cheng again, tears streaming down his face, "Your Majesty, the lower officials didn't notice for a while, please forgive me."

Among the three, the origin of the two keys was clear, and everyone's eyes were on the left servant of the household department.

The Zuo Shilang of the Household Department looked dejected, and he confessed honestly, "The lower official also accepted the 1 taels from Duke Lu, and lent the key out for one night."

Actually not, he was originally a member of Duke Lu, and Duke Lu ordered him to, so how could he refuse?Just acknowledging that they are contacts of Duke Lu, it is better to learn from the young supervisor and say that he took money to do things.

Emperor Qi Cheng smiled angrily, stood up and nodded to everyone in the hall, "Okay, very good, these courtiers of mine, look, as long as you have money, you can buy it. Is it true that one of you will take the money one day and say you want it?" Assassinate me, you will do it too?"

All the courtiers and the four princes knelt down together, "I don't dare to wait, please appease your anger."

Emperor Qi Cheng suddenly suppressed the anger on his face, and said in a cold voice, "Duke Lu secretly stole his mother's money to cast money. This is an unforgivable crime. Considering the merits of expelling Xiliang and regaining lost land in the past, the death penalty can be avoided, and the living crime cannot escape. Take back the Danqing iron scroll, and get rid of the duke and duke of the state of Lu.

Put Xu Wenbin in the sky prison, beheaded after autumn, the Xu family's property was confiscated, and the three generations were not allowed to take scientific examinations.

There are also three people like you, who are equally capital crimes and living crimes are inevitable. They were all dismissed from their official posts and imprisoned in Tianlao for ten years. "

The three young prisoners escaped the crime of beheading, and they kowtowed gratefully to Emperor Qi Cheng, "The emperor's kindness is great."

Emperor Qi Cheng decided to put away the key of the warehouse that would be used as a prison, because he did not believe that anyone could steal the key from him.

Before stepping back from the imperial court, Emperor Qi Cheng cast a cold glance at Li Yang, making Li Yang feel terrified.

Li Yang wanted to get up from the ground, but was suddenly slapped heavily on the shoulder, staggered, and knelt down again with a 'plop', his knees hurt, but he heard Li Chong's gloating voice, "Oh, brother, why are you still kowtowing to my younger brother? How can my younger brother bear it? Get up, get up."

He said he was getting up quickly, but he didn't see any support from Li Chong. Li Yang looked at Li Chong angrily. After he got up from the ground, he saw that there were only two people left in the Tai Chi Hall, and then he realized that he would do this for Li Chong.

Li Chong suddenly leaned close to Li Yang's ear, and sneered maliciously, "Brother, your father-in-law has become white, and your biggest backer is gone. Guess whether your father will make money from copper mines? Guess here Is it your handwriting? Big brother, don’t worry, the position of crown prince is no longer for you.”

Before Li Yang could speak, Li Chong laughed and left.

(End of this chapter)