The well railing is very large, made of granite, and the diameter of the well mouth is one meter and two meters, almost twice the diameter of a normal well.
Zhang Jing looked down at the thick well mouth and asked: "Master Li, do you think Ouyang Lun will throw silver into the water?"
"With that much money, if I had thrown it into the well, it would have been filled long ago." Li Qing shook his head, "He must have opened a secret passage in the wall of the well. I'll go down and have a look."
Li Qing took a deep breath and jumped in.
Zhang Jing was startled, and quickly asked someone to get the rope. He lay at the mouth of the well and said anxiously, "Master Li, be careful. The walls of the well are slippery. We will wait until the rope is tied before exploring."
"It's okay." Li Qing's voice came from the well: "The view down below is not good, are there any fire hazards?"
"Yes." The housekeeper was eager to show off and quickly ran to the kitchen to get the fire dumplings.
Zhang Jing took it and said, "Master Li, take it."
Li Qing caught the falling fire stick firmly, opened it and blew it, and the well immediately became bright.
After scanning for a week, no abnormality was found. Li Qing's legs relaxed slightly, and his body slid down freely for more than one meter, and then stopped smoothly.
Li Qing looked and touched, checking bit by bit, and his body went lower and lower.
After falling to less than two meters from the water surface of the well, he finally found clues. There were obvious traces of movement of stone bricks on the half-meter square of the well wall.
Using his true energy, Li Qing inserted his two fingers directly into the gap, then dug hard and pulled out a stone brick.
After taking off the first piece, the rest became much easier. After a while, all the stone bricks were pulled off.
"Dong dong dong..."
~
A quarter of an hour later, Li Qing used his hands and feet to jump out of the well.
"Zhang Qianhu, send someone to inform the commander and ask him to invite the emperor!" Li Qing clapped his hands, "We guys didn't bring enough, so bring more carriages."
"Okay, I'll let someone go there right now." Zhang Jing nodded, "Master Li, how much money is there?"
Li Qing rolled his eyes, "I'm only going in for a short while, how do you know?
However, according to my inference, it should be consistent with what is in the ledger."
"Ledger?"
Zhang Jing quickly picked up the account book on the floor, quickly turned to the rice and grain page, and began to summarize.
Soon, he came up with a shocking figure.
He murmured: "Yellow rice costs 178 shi, and white rice costs 1,980 shi. I'll be a bitch!"
One stone of rice weighs 150 kilograms, and one kilogram weighs 16 taels. This shows that Ouyang Lun made huge profits.
Zhang Jing finally understood why Li Qing asked the emperor to come. With such a large amount, how could the two thousand households of them check it on their own? Without a big shot watching, he felt uneasy.
…
In the afternoon, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao and Mao Xiang came together.
Zhu Yuanzhang came up and asked: "Li Qing, how much money has that bitch been greedy for?"
Li Qing didn't dare to let him see the account book directly. After all, the specific number would only be known after copying it.
"Back to the emperor, there is a secret passage under the wellhead, which is filled with countless gold and silver."
Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath, waved his hand and said: "Let's copy, don't miss a penny."
"According to the decree."
The emperor, the prince, and the commanders were all there, and the royal guards were full of energy. A family of a hundred stripped naked, tied up ropes, and went down the well.
Baskets of gold and silver were sent out one after another. When they got tired, they would be replaced, with Mao Xiang supervising.
The gold and silver that were copied were immediately recorded in a book, and then temporarily piled on the ground.
"Hulala..."
Seeing more and more gold and silver piled up, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression became strange. At first glance, he looked happy, but upon closer inspection, he felt angry, and when he looked again, he seemed happy again... In short, it was very complicated.
One hour later, two hours later...
Torches were lit and homes were ransacked.
Haishi, Zishi, Choushi, Yinshi, Maoshi...
It wasn't until about midnight the next morning that Ouyang Lun's old records were finally cleared.
A total of 472,800 taels of gold were confiscated.
Silver, 4.75 million, 2460 taels,
120 buckets of pearl agate..."
Including odds and ends, the total value is about 9.5 million taels.
Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned. He never expected that his favorite son-in-law would be so corrupt.
In the thirteenth year of Hongwu, he asked Ouyang Lun to go to Bashu and Shaanxi for training. In the fourteenth year of Hongwu, he betrothed his daughter to Ouyang Lun. In the fifteenth year of Hongwu...
Copied 9.5 million taels!
Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that his back molars were broken. After Yang Xian, he was fooled again.
Moreover, even more thoroughly, he even hooked up with his own daughter.
From the time Ouyang Lun went to Bashu and Shaanxi to now, it has only been two years. In just two years, he has been greedy for so much money, which shows how evil he is.
Last year, the weather was good and the crops were harvested well. The imperial court taxed 27.5 million and 2789 shi. One shi is equivalent to a banknote or one tael.
Including industrial and commercial taxes, cotton and linen taxes and other taxes, the imperial court had a total income of nearly 35 million taels, which made him so happy that he could not sleep all night.
But Ouyang Lun, in just two years, embezzled nearly 30% of the Ming Dynasty's annual taxes. How could he endure it?
"Li Qing."
"I'm here."
"Change the punishment of beheading to Lingchi." Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were cold, "We can't let him die so happily. Also, the Zuixian Tower should be searched as soon as possible, as well as his relatives. Don't let any of them go. They are just for us.
Clean.”
"Mao Xiang."
"I'm here."
"Ouyang Lun is definitely not just selling private tea, and he is definitely not the only one. Follow this line and check it carefully for us. Remember, no matter who is involved, we will find him.
Go and take a look for yourself, and be sure to plow out all the ground rot rats for us."
"The humble minister obeys the decree."
After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, he waved his hand feebly, "Load the accounts into the truck and return to the palace."
~
Noon morning.
Zhu Yuanzhang announced Ouyang Lun's crime, and then issued a lenient sentence. He also convicted Anqing, erased her from the family tree of the royal family, deprived her of her status as a princess, and demoted her to a commoner.
In the Fengtian Palace, everyone in the court was shocked.
Before they could express their opinions, Zhu Yuanzhang issued another edict.
[Jinyiwei has expanded its recruitment by 3,000 people, and Li Qing has been appointed as the new town governor. In two months, an official inspection will be carried out. Once corruption is discovered, no matter whether it is a relative of the emperor or a noble prince, he will be dealt with strictly and will not be tolerated! 】
In the main hall, the officials were in an uproar again!
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the ministers of the court coldly and said calmly: "Don't say that we are disrespectful. I'll give you two months. If anyone has shit on his butt, please wipe it clean for us."
We give you a chance, but you must cherish it. If you are found out again, you will kill those who deserve to be killed, your apprentices who deserve to be punished, and those who deserve to be exiled."
After a pause, he said solemnly: "The clan that deserves to be exterminated is exterminated!"
All civil and military officials in the dynasty were filled with fear. It would be better if some things were left unchecked. But if we really want to put them on the line, how many of them would be clean?
Jinyiwei,
These three big words shrouded their hearts and lingered, like a sharp sword hanging above their heads, making them inexplicably frightened.
Princess Anqing, the royal daughter-in-law, and Ouyang Lun, the consort, were both pulled down by the royal guards. Is there anything else they dare not do?
Moreover, the holy will is so obvious, Jin Yiwei is naturally more confident!
Li Qing, the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty remembered this name deeply, and paid tribute to his ancestors for eight generations in their hearts.
He cursed secretly: "This bitch, last time he proposed a strategy of converting taxes into money that was not easy to save, which cut off our financial path. This time the emperor wants officials to conduct an investigation, it must be his fault.
.”
He cursed in his heart, but the ministers did not show any signs of it on their faces. They knelt down and shouted: "The emperor is wise!"
Caishikou.
Ouyang Lun finally faced his trial.
After the crime was read out, Li Qing threw out the fire sign in the bamboo tube, and two executioners stepped forward, one on the left and the other on the right, to begin the execution.
At this moment, Ouyang Lun was finally afraid, but it was too late.
He howled in fear, but soon his mouth was blocked by a rag, which was stuffed directly into his throat.
The slight pull of the shiny black knife caused his whole body to twist in pain, but he was fixed on the wooden frame and could not move at all.
Countless people were watching the excitement in the audience. The emperor had killed many people, but this was his first time killing his son-in-law, and it was still Ling Chi. However, after hearing about Ouyang Lun's crimes, they felt that the prince-in-law's death was more than justified.
One sword, two swords, three swords...
Ouyang Lun soon became a bloody man, and the people's curiosity gradually faded away. They couldn't bear to watch this cruel scene anymore and left one after another.
Li Qing couldn't stand the bloody scene anymore, so he chatted with Zhang Jing beside him to divert his attention.
"What's going on over there at Zuixian Tower?"
"Don't worry, Mr. Li, more than two hundred brothers have secretly surrounded him and are watching him closely." Zhang Jing chuckled, "No one can transfer the stolen money."
Li Qing nodded, "Go and see these and ask the brothers not to disturb the people. Also, find the madam and ask her to continue operating at night."
"good."
"Also, if the job is done well, the Emperor will be rewarded. But if anyone wants to mess around at this juncture, don't blame me, the imperial envoy handling the case, for being ruthless and asking my brothers to keep their belts in check."
"Yes." Zhang Jing clasped his fists and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Li, brothers know what's going on. I'll be there right away."
Li Qing nodded and looked at the execution platform again...
Ling Chi continued until the end of the day, and Ouyang Lun was cut 689 times in total, and finally died, ending his sinful and short life.
Li Qing sighed, went home, changed out of his dirty Feiyu clothes, took a comfortable bath, and felt much better.