The boy looked at him strangely and couldn't help but wonder who the people in the private room were and why the master looked so strange.
"Go quickly!"
"Yes." The boy accepted the order, "Young man, go right away."
"Wait a minute." Cheng Jingxuan stopped him, "I only want silver, not banknotes."
The official's expression changed and he turned to look at him: "Fifty thousand taels of silver?"
"That's right, I only need silver." Cheng Jingxuan nodded, "And only ten taels and one ingot of silver."
There was a look of embarrassment in the official's book: "Ten taels of silver per ingot, fifty thousand taels is five thousand ingots, this..."
"I can wait. I don't mind if Mr. Wang has someone put it in a box and send it over."
The Minister of the Ministry of Personnel looked at Sicang and saw that Sicang looked indifferent and had no intention of saying anything, so he could only nod: "I will try my best."
After saying that, he turned around and told the boy: "Tell the madam that I only need ten taels of silver. If the family can't afford it, let her find a way to borrow some."
The boy responded respectfully, but he couldn't help but wonder in his heart, how could the family not even be able to come up with 50,000 taels of silver? Your Excellency is too humble.
Seeing the young man turn around and leave, Wang Shangshu still felt a little uneasy. He didn't know if the young man understood what he meant. He just hoped that he could raise money slower and slower. It would be best if he could hold on until tomorrow morning.
.
The longer the time goes on, the better it will be for him.
Wang Shangshu was panic-stricken. He turned around and walked into the private room. When he caught a glimpse of the prince's cold and indifferent face, his heart sank and he knelt down again.
"Wang Shangshu looks very sad." Cheng Jingxuan smiled faintly, "But I discovered that Mr. Wang is very generous when spending money. He spends thousands of dollars on visiting brothels, not once or twice, right?"
Wang Shangshu smiled bitterly: "That traitor always tries to make a fool of himself by pretending to be fat. He often uses credit..."
"You have to pay back the credit." Cheng Jingxuan raised his eyebrows, "He has the ability to take credit, and Mr. Wang has the ability to repay, which is enough to prove that Mr. Wang has a rich family."
Wang Shangshu's expression changed slightly. He had to guess that the prince came tonight well prepared. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that the prince had been recovering in the mansion for so many days without incident, and Shuoer's bastard bumped into his hand as soon as he came?
Also, how come the Cheng family's legitimate son got together with the prince? Is he a member of the prince's family?
Sicang drank tea without saying a word, his eyes falling on Wang Shangshu's face, "Master Wang has gained a lot of money by secretly selling his official position over the years?"
Wang Shangshu's face turned pale, and a look of panic flashed across his eyes: "Your Highness, I am wronged! I have never done anything like this before -"
"I will not wrong anyone at will." Sicang said, raising his hand to the side.
Cheng Jingxuan took out a booklet from his arms and handed it to him.
Sicang opened the roster, and his deep voice contained a biting chill: "Does Mr. Wang know Han Liu, the vice-capital of Yuezhou? It is said that he does not know a few Chinese characters and has never read a military book, but he can do it in just two years."
Within a few years, I went from being an unknown person to the position of Vice-Capital, and I don’t know where the divine protection came from.”
Wang Shangshu's face turned pale.
"Is Fengdu Governor Zhang Teng one of yours?" Sicang glanced at him, his eyes as indifferent as looking at an ant, "He has made a lot of money in Fengdu over the years, and he has also promoted 'disciples' who use money to honor him.
Indirectly speaking, Fengdu is under the control of Lord Wang?"
Wang Shangshu shook his head repeatedly, obviously frightened: "I didn't know anything about it! Your Highness, I was wronged! I am really wronged!"
"Chang Qing, the right servant of the Baoquan Bureau of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, has come to supervise the coinage affairs. During the five years he has been in office, he has used coins to distribute military pay, and the coins he has given you have been exchanged for silver. The total is six hundred and four thousand and five thousand.
One hundred and forty-three taels of silver."
As the last set of numbers came out of Sicang's mouth, the private room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Sweat rolled down the face of the Minister of Civil Affairs, and his face turned frighteningly white.
Sicang did not continue reading, but just threw the account book in front of him: "There are also your people in the salt department in various places. I am not interested in reading them out one by one, but Mr. Wang is indeed good. All the 'disciples' he arranged are here
The fact that he is so fat and oily as a yamen servant shows that Mr. Wang has great skills and extraordinary courage."
The blood drained from Wang Shangshu's face, and a sense of despair came over him. He was paralyzed, and he didn't know how to defend himself.
If a moment ago he could grit his teeth and deny it, insisting not to plead guilty, but when that set of extremely precise figures came out of the prince's mouth, he already knew in his heart that the prince probably already had enough conclusive evidence.
Wang Shangshu was sweating on his forehead, his mind was spinning rapidly, and he kept thinking about how to get out of the predicament at hand. After a while, he lowered his head and said: "The dog is seriously injured. Madam may be worried. I want to go back to my house first.
I’ll send the money here early tomorrow morning, I don’t know——”
"I'm afraid that Lord Shangshu won't be able to leave tonight, so just stay here and wait for news." Cheng Jingxuan shook his head unhurriedly, then bowed to Sicang and said, "I'll send the things over first."
Sicang nodded.
Cheng Jingxuan then temporarily resigned.
Wang Shangshu was frightened. Send the things there? What to send? Where to send?
Sicang sat silently leaning against the window. Wang Shangshu knelt on the ground in panic. He wanted to escape but had nowhere to go. The prince appeared here tonight. There must be a lot of people outside. Moreover, the prince's martial arts is very strong. He is a year old.
There is no way that more than half a hundred civil servants would not be his opponents, and it would be as difficult as climbing to the sky to escape smoothly.
As time went by, Wang Shangshu's clothes had become wet several times, and he actually felt a cold feeling all over his body on this hot summer night. However, after all, he had been immersed in officialdom for so many years, even in such a panic and desperate moment,
My mind is still thinking about ways to save myself.
As long as the matter has not escalated into a big problem, and as long as these evidences have not been presented to the emperor, there is still room for change.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince." He knelt forward for two steps and bent down further. "I know my mistake. I am willing to hand over all my illegal gains. I beg the Prince to forgive my family. I... I am obsessed with ghosts. I beg the Prince to let me live."
, I will work as a cow or a horse for the prince, and I will not give up even if I die!"
"Master Wang's crimes are far more than what Gu just said." Sicang's posture was lazy. He could only sit back and relax and couldn't ignore the frightening sense of oppression around him. "In addition to military pay, you also had no shortage of money for disaster relief last year.
Move?"
Wang Shangshu was so frightened that he lost his mind and kowtowed repeatedly.
"I have obtained enough evidence for all the officials involved with you. Lord Wang does not have to worry about being alone when Queen Qiu is interrogated." Sicang's voice was cold, "While it is still early, Lord Wang might as well think about it.
, the things you have committed are enough to have your homes raided, and how many times to have your nine clans punished?"
Wang Shangshu froze, "His Royal Highness——"
"Quiet." Si Cang closed his eyes, "Don't let me hear your voice again."
Wang Shangshu was shivering all over, and he was about to collapse into a ball. The prince knew everything. The Wang family was finished, and he, the official minister, was finished. But why did the prince choose to tell him here?
Since he already had enough evidence, why didn't he directly confront the emperor?
Wang Shangshu thought that the prince wanted to negotiate with him and get benefits from it. However, the prince did not intend to continue talking to him at this time, which made him more and more confused about what the prince wanted to do.