Traitors of the Manchu dynasty, why do you make me an emperor through the ages Chapter 232: Those who take the initiative to take the blame, play in court
Chapter 232: Those who take the initiative to take the blame, play in court
"Your Excellency, someone outside Mr. Wei came to surrender and said that he knew the inside story of the test."
Surrender?
Li Yuan and Wei Zheng looked at each other, with a flash of doubt in their eyes.
At the moment, the two of them are investigating the case in Gongyuan, and according to the plan, the next step is to go to Cai Mansion.
Because Song Qiaonian went to the Cai Mansion again after sending the test questions back to Gongyuan, the Cai Mansion was also suspected of leaking the questions.
But at this critical moment, someone actually came to surrender. Is there really such a coincidence?
"Let's go out and take a look."
Li Yuan immediately stood up and walked out quickly, followed by Wei Zheng.
There were already people kneeling outside the Gongyuan, led by two gentlemen with tender skin and tender flesh, but they were wearing thin coarse clothes at the moment, with thorn sticks attached to their backs. They were shivering when the cold wind blew.
Behind him stood more than a dozen servants, escorting several miserable-looking people with disheveled hair.
"Your Excellency, Lord Wei, the ordinary people confess their guilt, and the ordinary people come to surrender..."
As soon as Li Yuan and Wei Zheng came out, the two young masters started crying with runny noses and tears.
Wei Zheng frowned and took a step forward, calmly saying: "When you surrender, you will go to Dali Temple and Jingzhao Mansion Yamen. Why did you come to the Gongyuan to act wild? Why don't you retreat quickly!"
The power of a first-rank official is no joke, not to mention the fact that there is a Duke next to him who looks at him coldly.
The few servants at the back almost ran away in fear, but in the end they held it back. The two young masters also turned pale, but they still trembled and said: "Sir, I'm just here to submit a test case.
!”
"Nonsense!"
Wei Zheng scolded angrily, his beard and hair standing out: "Ignorant boy! Do you know what this is?"
"The mastermind of the test will be revealed and the Yi people will confiscate their homes!"
He stared at these two tender-skinned gentlemen and said coldly: "You come to interfere with the court's investigation. Even if the crime is reduced to a lower level, it is not something you two can bear!"
"You guys should leave quickly today. I hope that God has the virtue of a good life, so I will expose this matter and not pursue it! Why don't you leave quickly? Don't bring trouble to your family!"
The two young masters were frightened when they were accused of confiscating the Yi clan's property. The censors who followed them also looked at them coldly.
If the crime of confiscating the homes of the Yi people was raised, a "sage" would jump out at any time and say that this punishment was too harsh.
But when this matter was brought up today, no one would react like this.
Probably because most of these people are civil servants, military generals who have experienced bloody battles on the battlefield cannot say such things.
This time, when the examination questions were released, it was to dig into the roots of the civil service group. Any civil service officer who had some foresight and did not participate in this matter was very resentful, so even the most old-fashioned academics were very angry about this matter.
He also remained silent and would not speak out to object.
The two young masters seemed to have predicted their fate. At this moment, they gritted their teeth and said with a pinched neck: "Sir, the common people are not talking nonsense, but they are really guilty."
"This matter is full of mistakes, and they are all the fault of a common man. Now I cannot bear to see that too many innocent people are implicated in this matter, so I came here to surrender."
Many people sneered. They couldn't bear to see innocent people being implicated in this matter, so they implicated themselves and their whole family. Are you lying?
Is there such a selfless person as you in the world? If that were the case, Bodhisattvas would have to hold incense sticks when they see you.
Regardless of whether others believe it or not, no one here believes it.
But Li Yuan suddenly said: "Master Wei, there is no need to worry. Let's listen to him first. What if this person has clues about the leak?"
Wei Zheng was startled, nodded and said no more.
"Thank you, Mr. Guogong, thank you, Mr. Wei!"
The two young masters were not very happy after hearing this. Their faces were full of sadness, and they began to introduce their origins: "Liu Fu, a grassroots man, a native of Linchuan, and my father, Liu Qingde, a fellow magistrate of Hengshan County."
Another one also followed up: "Chen Chengye, a grassroots man, a native of Chen country."
After hearing these two people announcing their family status, the surrounding officials were shocked. One was the son of a fifth-grade Tongzhi. If this was true, his father would never want to be an official. The only way to save his life would be the smoke rising from his ancestral grave.
Another person from the Chen Kingdom, whose surname is Chen, must be the royal family of the Chen Kingdom, or have some relationship with the royal family. Now that this has happened, the Chen Kingdom will definitely be punished by the imperial court, and there will be no way to get rid of it.
How could this person have such great ability and such ruthless means to directly buy the life of a fellow intellectual and even his entire family, and also cause Chen Guo to suffer such a big loss!
Just listen to the two people continue to say in pain: "Just because there are brothers in the family participating in the Jinke Examination, the common people were deceived by the lard, and found out the day when the Gongyuan Examination was held, and specially invited a few spies to spy on the secrets of the imperial court."
"Then I started to make money again and sold the test questions to candidates in the city to get money! The common people deserve to die and deserve it. Please don't implicate others..."
Wei Zheng snorted coldly: "It's not up to you to decide whether to implicate others or not!"
"Since you are willing to surrender, let me tell you one by one, where did this snitch come from? How much money did you spend to get him to work with you? When and from whom did they steal the test questions? What are the stolen test questions?
What was sold? Who was it sold to? How much was it sold for? Where is the money... explain all of this clearly!"
Li Yuan listened and sighed softly.
Wei Zheng heard this and understood what he meant. If Han Mulu's note had not been found, and Song Qiaonian's behavior in the Ministry of Rites had not been found out, these two young masters would have had a certain chance of overturning the matter.
But now that we have that evidence, no matter how many of these people come, they are just delivering food.
But if you understand, you must do what you should do.
"These people are the world-famous 'cloud explorers'. They come and go without a trace. It is said that they can even steal the stars in the clouds. These exam questions were stolen by them..."
"Since he came and went without a trace, how did he get caught by you two? Could it be that you were faster than them?" A censor asked coldly.
"The common people took advantage of these people's unpreparedness and drugged the tea they drank. Then they captured a few thieves and cut off all their hand tendons and leg muscles to prevent them from escaping..."
Their hand tendons and hamstrings were severed, and now there was nothing they could do to prove their kung fu.
The censors around them continued to criticize, but these two people seemed to be fully prepared and could deal with every problem, and they were stitched together tightly, with basically no mistakes or omissions, as if it really happened.
Until finally, all the censors had no more questions to ask and turned to look at Li Yuan and Wei Zheng in the middle.
Several young masters and servants also looked over with fear. Although they had dealt with all the censors, there was still no joy on their faces.
Because apart from the first two sentences, Li Yuan said nothing else from beginning to end, and Wei Zheng didn't ask any more questions.
"I'll take you to the Yushitai first and then interrogate!"
Wei Zheng said coldly: "Send an order to all places to imprison all the relatives of these two people, and no one can be spared."
It's hard to persuade a damned ghost with good words. If he talks too much, do you think he won't kill people?
In this case, it's not a bad idea to be an extra.
The two young men seemed to be quietly relieved, but then their faces turned pale again.
This is related to the life of the whole family, and it may just be lost...
This incident quickly caused an uproar in the capital.
It's just a minor crime, but this kind of crime of confiscating a house and being slapped with a stick is something that really doesn't happen once in a thousand years.
Could this be true? Could it be that these two people really had a conscience and came here to surrender and beg the court for leniency?
But don’t you know that if you confess, you will be given a lenient sentence and go to jail, but if you resist, you will be given a strict sentence and go home to celebrate the New Year?
No matter whether it is found out whether these two people did the thing or not, their fate will probably not be too good in the end...
Cai Mansion, study room.
Cai You walked around anxiously, but Deng Xunwu and Gao Xuan were not too anxious, but looked through the official letters in their hands.
"Uncles, what should we do about this matter?"
Cai You showed a rare panic on his face: "Now Liu Fu and Chen Chengye have been arrested, and even their brothers in Gongyuan have fallen into the prison of Yushitai. We don't have to
If we get angry with these two people in advance, if they betray us, wouldn't everything be lost?"
"Moreover, Tang Guogong and Wei Zheng still did not stop the search and interrogation, and they even intensified their search and interrogation. I heard that they will attack the Song Mansion if they come in!"
Han Mulu is his brother-in-law, and his mother has been worried all day long when something happens to him. Song Qiaonian is his father-in-law, and now his father-in-law's family is about to be raided. His wife is crying, making trouble, and hanging herself at home. Cai You can't even think about it or not.
Deng Xunwu looked a little gloomy: "This matter originally started because of those two fools. If Wei Zheng is allowed to continue investigating like this, sooner or later they will be found on their heads. It is impossible for them not to bear this crime."
"Now that I have come out to take this crime, it will not harm my family. They must know what to do!"
"On the contrary, it's Wei Zheng's side..."
Speaking of this, Deng Xunwu also hesitated.
Duke Tang Guogong was originally their ally, but this time the ally's face was not so easy to use.
Of course, Party Cai also understands Tang Guogong's concerns, but as an ally, you have to reveal some information, right?
But after asking for so many days, they only got some vague hints that the matter was very serious and that they were ready to cut off their own arms. As for the real details... they didn't know anything about it. How could this make people feel uncomfortable?
Prepare?
"What exactly does Mr. Tang Guo want to do?"
Cai You was so angry that he hammered the table hard, with a bit of anger on his face: "When we cooperated before, our mouths were full of oil. Now something happened to my Cai family. He fell next to him and added insult to injury. He really thought that I
Can’t the Cai family cure him?”
“The rabbit bites people when it’s anxious!”
Deng Xunwu and Gao Xun looked at each other with solemn expressions. The former said in a deep voice: "Young Master, please don't say this."
Cai You suddenly raised his head and couldn't help but said: "Li Yuan did it in the first year of junior high school, why doesn't he let us do it in the fifteenth year?"
"Of course I know he has difficulties. He took people with him that day. It was a helpless move to seal up the Gongyuan. But uncles, see what he did after that."
Cai You's face turned red with excitement: "First, he went to his uncle's house to conduct a massive search, and now he has entangled Lord Taishan, and asked him to continue searching like this. Wouldn't everyone in Cai's party be in danger?"
Deng Xunwu and Gao Xun sighed together. The eldest son really had extraordinary eyesight and discovered the crux of the matter at once.
But his Qi-nurturing skills are still far behind Master Cai.
"The Duke has already given me a hint, which is much better than not knowing anything at all."
Gao Xun said in a deep voice: "Although I don't know the specific details, I probably found something from Minister Song and Minister Han."
"And no matter what happens, if you can avoid offending the Duke, don't offend him."
After this incident, Cai Dang was greatly weakened. If he loses his mind and falls out with Tang Guogong again, it will really be like the sun is setting on the west mountain.
Cai You seemed to understand this truth, as he seemed to be deflated and slumped on the chair.
"Where are the memorials from the past few days? How are the memorials we delivered?" His voice was weak.
Deng Xunwu said nothing, and Gao Xun shook his head with a stern face: "Everything was lost in the sea."
At this time, the Cai Party also gathered many officials to write a letter about leaking the test questions. Some said that this was a scandal and should not be handled and publicized in a big way. It was better to investigate secretly. Some said that it was the work of barbarian spies on the grassland.
, don’t be fooled by them...
But no matter how you say it, these various memorials are all in vain. They are either left unpublished by His Majesty the Emperor, or they are just "read", "got it", "um" and the like, which means that I am perfunctorily writing it down on paper.
.
Usually when encountering this kind of thing, civil servants usually become more and more aggressive the more they are perfunctory. The more you ignore me, the more I write to you, go on the floor, gather colleagues, go on strike, and even go on strike...
But this method is not very effective at this time, because the current situation is already very urgent. The longer it is delayed, the more likely it is that Li Yuan and Wei Zheng will find out something.
"In that case, let's proceed as planned."
Cai You forced himself to straighten up and forced out a smile: "Please, uncles."
The two looked at each other and said in unison: "Don't worry, Mr. Cai."
After saying that, he turned around and left.
Cai You looked at the backs of the two of them and rubbed his face fiercely.
Until now, he doesn't know whether his choice was right or wrong, but he can't look back now...
The next day, there will be a court meeting.
In the Qianyang Hall, red candles wrapped with golden dragon patterns were burning quietly. Some officials were closing their eyes and concentrating, while others were whispering to each other.
There was a sound of footsteps coming from far away, and Li Qian, wearing a red and yellow dragon robe, appeared in the hall.
Before he reached the dragon chair, Li Qian looked at the old eunuch.
"If you have something to do, start to act, if nothing happens, leave the court!"
The shrill eunuch's voice spread throughout the Qianyang Palace, jolting many drowsy officials, and many of them felt angry to get out of bed. This injected them with vitality for the day.
"See my emperor."
As if he was infected by them, Li Qian also yawned. After waiting for a while and seeing no one spoke, he turned around and left.
"Your Majesty, I have something to report to you, General Zhao Ye."
An official standing at the end suddenly raised his wat tablet.
Li Qian opened his mouth, then sat on the dragon chair and said helplessly: "Go ahead."