There are quite a few officials who have gone out from the Shanghai Shipping Department, including a third-rank Zuo Shilang and a fifth-rank Shilang. These are only central officials. There are also five local officials from the third rank, the fourth rank, and the fifth rank in total.
The Shanghai Shipping Department was established relatively late, and the Guangzhou Shipping Department was established first. How many officials should go out to other shipping departments?
In the interrogation room, Cao Benshu knocked on the table twice and said, "Explain everything."
Du Xingxue said: "When the Shanghai Port was opened, Mr. Wu Ge (Wu Yingji) was in charge. At that time, the investigation was relatively strict. Mr. Wu Ge had just been re-employed by the emperor, and he was only thinking about meritorious service and promotion, and he did not rub sand in his eyes. Later,
Mr. Wu Ge was promoted, and the chief officer of the Shipping Department was replaced by Xiao Shufeng." Xiao Shufeng was a scholar in Yongyang Town. Zhao Han raised troops in Wuxing Town, and the second territory he expanded was Yongyang Town.
The memorial tablets of the first batch of martyrs who died in the Datong Army are placed in the Xiao family ancestral hall in Yongyang Town. This Xiao Qifeng can definitely be called a Conglong hero, a proper official of the imperial court.
Du Xingxue continued: "When Xiao Jifeng took office, he was relatively honest as an official. But his son Xiao Jingzhang was dragged into the water by the maritime merchant Wu Wengang. Xiao Jingzhang was a dandy. He didn't like to study or be an official. He was sixteen or seventeen years old.
He was hanging out in Shanghai and loved to compete with the young masters of wealthy businessmen. This guy got Wu Wengang's money and collaborated with several officials to evade taxes. After the incident was exposed, Xiao Qifeng was worried about his official status, so he helped his son to file the case.
Press it down."
"He suppresses the case whenever he wants," Cao Benshu asked.
Du Xingxue said with a smile: "The amount was not large at that time, and Xiao Qifeng knew many noble people, so the officials responsible for investigating the case turned a blind eye and ordered Wu Wengang to pay back the tax and quietly passed it. For a small matter
Case, why bother to offend Conglong Zhichen who came from Yongyang Town? Cao Benshu asked, "Xiao Qifeng was dragged into the water like this."
Du Xingxue said, "Not yet. His son Xiao Jingzhang was jealous and beat someone into a disability. Wu Wengang helped to spend money to settle the case and let the victim reverse the confession. Afterwards, Wu Wengang invited Xiao Qifeng to a banquet, and Xiao Qifeng had to go to the appointment out of affection.
"Wu Wengang entangled the Xiao family and his son, and gave away toys and women. Every time he went back and forth, he became agitated." "Wu Wengang didn't just evade taxes," Cao Benshu asked.
"Of course there are more," Du Xingxue said, "Wu Wengang opened a bank, and all the dirty money collected by corrupt officials in Shanghai was deposited in Wu Wengang's bank. Moreover, without access certificates, it was impossible for the court to detect the stolen money. Relying on this, Wu Wengang's
The bank grew rapidly, and many merchants came to Wu Wengang for loans. Wu Wengang also took the opportunity to invest in many businesses, including about a dozen maritime trading companies, in which Wu Wengang had shares. Cao Benshu asked again, "Why do you have all these criminal account books?"
What do you do here?"
Du Xingxue said: "I was originally from Beizhili, and my family fled to Shandong. Shandong was also in chaos, and we continued to flee south. My father and brother died of illness one after another on the way. My father had some friendship with Xuan Hugong (Xu Guangqi) in his early years, so I took him with me
My family came to Shanghai. At that time, the Xu family was ordered by the imperial court to separate and move. The descendants of Duke Xuanhu were busy dividing the family property. How could they care about those of us who defected? There was no one to make the decision. I almost felt hungry at that time.
Die on the street." "Continue talking." Cao Benshu said.
Du Xingxue said, "At that time, Shanghai County was expanding its recruitment of civil servants. I was planning to be a minor official, but I suddenly fell ill a few days before the exam. After recovering from the illness, because I knew European and American mathematics, Shanghai's primary schools had not been open for a few years, and many wealthy businessmen were there.
I was looking for a teacher to make up lessons for my children, so I applied for a job as a teacher from Wu Wengang’s family.”
Cao Benshu said: "Being a teacher was just a temporary move. Why didn't I take the official exam again?"
Du Xingxue explained, "Both my father and brother died of illness, and I was the only one who took care of my mother. I was too busy working as an official in the new dynasty, so I had no time to take care of my mother at home. In addition, as my mother got older, her illnesses became more frequent, and Zhuojing also died of illness within two years."
The house is in a mess. Sigh... I'm so bored anyway that I don't have time to do anything serious."
Cao Benshu asked, "How did you get involved with Xiao Qifeng?"
Du Xingxue said, "When I was teaching at Wu Wengang's house, I had a very good relationship with his son, and... I seduced his daughter. She was very happy and had a good meal, and she was pregnant. He didn't want to lose face, so he held his nose and admitted it.
Already."
"You are indeed a bad guy, you are capable of such things." Cao Benshu couldn't help but sigh.
Du Xingxue continued, "Later, I deliberately made friends with Xiao Jingzhang and acted as a lackey for Mr. Xiao. Through Xiao Jingzhang, I met Xiao Jifeng, and I worked hard to show off my talents and knowledge, and as expected, I was appreciated by Xiao Qifeng. I originally planned to use Xiao Qifeng
Feng, I left the Wu family to start my own business. Alas, I am really not a business person. The trading company I opened in partnership with Mr. Xiao only lasted for one year and then closed down." Cao Benshu said, "With the Xiao family as the front, how can the trading company lose money?
"
Du Xingxue smiled bitterly, "Master Xiao has too many bad friends, and he smuggles people into the trading company from time to time. He is also very face-saving, and many goods are sold to our trading company at high prices because of his friendship. In the end, it is the friends that Mr. Xiao has inserted into the trading company.
The money fled overseas, and two ships of cargo were also missing." Cao Benshu sighed, "This Mr. Xiao is really hard to describe."
Du Xingxue said: "I stopped doing business after that. Xiao Qifeng and Wu Wengang also had a quarrel, so I took the opportunity to become their middleman. I handled all the stolen money coming and going from the shipping company, and part of it was deposited into Wu Wengang's bank account."
Some of the banks were distributed from Chen Xianchun's hands to fellow officials. Chen Xianchun only did this for five years. Before him, there was a man named Zhai Shirang. I heard that he died of illness after being transferred to Shaanxi." Cao Benshu asked, "Is that Zhai Shirang real?
Die from illness or be murdered."
Du Xingxue shook his head: "I don't know, but he probably died of illness. He left the Shibo Department long ago and went to Shaanxi to be a local official. There is no need for Xiao Jifeng to send someone to kill him."
Cao Benshu asked again, "After Xiao Qifeng was transferred from Shanghai, did he continue to take the stolen money from the shipping company?"
"He keeps taking it," Du Xingxue said. "This kind of thing can't be stopped. Even if he wants to stop, the maritime merchants who are too involved in the case will continue to send him money. Moreover, the shipping companies in other ports also have
I guess most of the confidants he promoted also gave money. Over the years, he has embezzled, if not one million, then probably three to five million."
Cao Benshu asked again, "You killed Chen Xianchun and his son?"
"No," Du Xingxue explained, "Zhai Shirang, who has died of illness, and Chen Xianchun, what they did, must die once the case is discovered. This has been agreed a long time ago, if they die, the case will be closed. But this
Chen Xianchun is afraid of death and has been reluctant to commit suicide. I can only persuade him personally." Cao Benshu asked, "If you persuade them, they will be willing to die."
Du Xingxue said: "Of course we have to state our interests. If they don't commit suicide, they will definitely die if the case is found out. And even if they are beheaded, there are too many officials involved, and their families will be worse off than dead. If they commit suicide,
, Xiao Qifeng and other officials will take care of their families afterwards. Even if the whole family is exiled, they can still send money quietly, and when the news is over, they can slowly move back from the place of exile.
Cao Benshu still didn't understand something: "Those account books are so important, why are they all placed in the study? If you are afraid of hiding them in Datong Bank and being found, you can dig a big hole and bury them. And after I brought people to the door, you actually He immediately confessed."
Du Xingxue sighed: "Oh, I'm tired. More and more officials and merchants are involved. As a middleman, I can't sleep all night. Moreover, Chen Xianchun's silly son always drives a big carriage through the market, for fear that People don't know that his father is a corrupt official, and he will be investigated by the court sooner or later. Also, if Xiao Qifeng can escape this disaster, I think he will be silenced when the news passes." "You can escape overseas. ." Cao Benshu said.
Du Xingxue said, "My mother, wife and children were all targeted by Wu Wengang. He also asked his daughter to take her grandson back to her parents' home to visit relatives. Now my wife and children are under the custody of the Wu family. My mother is almost seventy. Years old, and suffering from ailments, how could he withstand the bumps of the waves? Cao Benshu stared at Du Xingxue for a while, always feeling that it would not be so simple. Du Xingxue must have something to hide. "Fan Hongjing, the manager of the Shibo Department, it was you who sent someone "Killed?" Cao Benshu asked.
Du Xingxue shook his head: "It wasn't me, nor was I an official. The person who hired the murderer was my father-in-law Wu Wengang. Fan was very smart, and through clues, he suspected that Wu Wengang was deeply involved in the case. He pretended to accept bribes and deliberately flirted with Wu Wengang. He often made insinuations to find out some inside stories. Wu Wengang killed someone in anger. Wang Cai and Chen Xianchun took care of the aftermath and cremated the body according to normal death, for fear that the government would send an autopsy." Cao Benshu asked again, "In addition to Fan Qingcheng being killed, Wu Wengang Are there any other murder cases?"
"Yes," Du Xingxue said, "Six years ago, there was an official in the Shipping Department who was unwilling to accept dirty money and did not trust Shanghai officials. He quietly took a boat to Nanjing to report. He fell into the water and drowned on the way."
"This is a loyal minister, write down his name." Cao Benshu said to the interrogation recorder. Du Xingxue said, "I forgot the name of this official. He is a small official and I really can't remember it." The official is not a small official, but a small official. It is an official position, a junior official of the ninth rank in the Municipal Shipping Department.
Cao Benshu was furious, "It's a major murder case, and it was also the killing of an official. Isn't his name worthy of you remembering?" Du Xingxue remained silent. He was far away in Luzon.
A few years ago, a rich man came here named Du Xingmin. He claimed to be the son of a wealthy businessman from Shandong. He had a falling out with his brother over the division of family property, so he took his wife and children overseas.
Du Xingmin did not develop in Manila and chose a small village to settle. He also spent money to purchase land, raised several Japanese ronin, and bought indigenous captives from the government to serve as tenants.
Now he has hundreds of acres of land, and he pays taxes according to regulations. The excess land is willing to pay the stepped tax. What's even weirder is that the tablets his family enshrines are all white boards, without the names of the deceased written on them.
He had one wife, two concubines, four sons and two daughters. There was one concubine who lived alone in another courtyard with one son. This concubine and Du Xingmin seemed to be close, but in fact they kept a distance. They seemed to have an uncle-sister-in-law relationship.