"Are they all crazy?" Li Qing asked in surprise, "Are they all crazy?"
"Yes!" Liu Qiang smiled bitterly, "The other party's move was really shameless. It directly cut off the network of connections. Now we can no longer investigate from Wang Wenlu."
"Hmm... Shameless is shameless, but it is also useful." Li Qing nodded.
Liu Qiang thought for a while and said: "Sir, do you want to report it to the emperor? They are crazy now and there is no way to deal with official affairs. We can't do errands with our salary. Although we are not officials, we can still report it."
"No need." Li Qing thought for a while, "The emperor asked us to investigate the case. Our purpose is to investigate the case. The more we do, the more likely we are to make mistakes. Let these matters be left to the staff to handle, right?"
"Then what should we do now?"
Li Qing leaned back in his chair, chuckled and said, "I won't check anymore."
"ah?"
Liu Qiang was surprised. Seeing that Li Qing didn't seem to be joking, he advised, "Sir, if we let them go like this, the reputation of our Jin Yiwei will be ruined..."
"Is Wang Wenlu still warming up by the fire in the afternoon?" Li Qing asked.
Liu Qiang smacked his lips, sighed, and said: "Wang Wenlu must be really crazy."
"Oh?" Li Qing said in surprise, "How do you say that?"
"He not only warms the fire, he also..."
"What else?" Li Qing frowned and said, "Don't worry, mother-in-law, tell me quickly."
Liu Qiang said with a strange expression, "He also ate shit. He ate a big lump. According to his subordinates, he probably didn't weigh a pound."
"...My day." Li Qing was so nauseated that he couldn't even vomit out his lunch, "Is it true?"
"The people who monitored Wang Wenlu were all old people, and they all saw it and ate at the door."
Li Qing rolled his eyes, "I mean, is shit real?"
"Ah? This..." Liu Qiang smiled dryly, "It's not clear. We can't let our brothers try it again, right?"
"That's true." Li Qing nodded and stopped talking about real shit and fake shit. "Ignore him, and there is no need to investigate the case."
After a pause, he said, "Starting from tomorrow, I will bring all the newcomers with me and wander around the Liubu Yamen, the Hanlin Academy, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and other places. We will not investigate the case, but we will give them the feeling that we are investigating the case.
Also, by the way, we will ‘accidentally’ reveal some information we have, let them hear it, remember, it must be ‘accidentally’.”
Liu Qiang was startled and then said happily, "This is a great move, sir!"
But...we don’t have the information, and if we say something wrong, the secret will be revealed.”
Li Qing thought for a while, "What is certain at present is that Wang Wenlu is definitely not clean. He is not clean, and the people above him are not clean either, such as... Guo Huan, the Minister of Household Affairs."
As a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Revenue, Li Qing knew Guo Huan, so this shit basin could only be pinned on him.
"Sir, what if I make a mistake?"
Li Qing smiled and said, "They are cheating, and we can cheat too. If we really make a mistake, we just don't admit it.
Anyway, they can’t prove what we said.”
"Okay." Liu Qiang nodded, "I'll make arrangements right away and find two confidants to spread the word."
Li Qing warned, "Be sure to reveal it inadvertently. It will be useless if you are too deliberate. In addition, in order to improve credibility, more people should go to the door of the Hubu Yamen and the frequency should be higher."
"The humble duty has been recorded."
Liu Qiang clasped his fists and said with a smile, "My lord, this move is really clever. Not investigating the case is better than investigating the case. It will probably take less than two days for someone to lose their composure. If Guo Huan is really guilty of corruption, he will definitely be punished."
Report."
Li Qing smiled slightly, "I hope it's as you said."
——
In the evening, Li Qing had a few drinks, took a shower, changed clothes, and went to the Jiaofang Division.
Even though I have it at home, it’s provided, and the posture is sufficient, but it’s not a bad idea to go to a ‘restaurant’ once in a while.
Jiaofang Division.
As soon as Li Qing arrived, he met two acquaintances, one was King Qin and the other was Li Jinglong.
The two of them covered their faces with small gold-painted fans in their hands, hiding among the crowd, and competed with everyone for the top spot, and the price once soared to two hundred taels.
After watching the excitement for a while, he went straight to the second floor. He was not too curious about the leader and so on. After all, the leader was also an oiran, but he was more famous, and the quality difference was not big.
One is twenty taels, the other is two hundred taels, which one is more cost-effective is self-evident.
He doesn't have an emperor, he is a Duke-level man, so he has to plan his life carefully.
However, the dignified vassal king actually came to Jiaofangsi to look for flowers and willows, which really surprised him.
It seemed that the King of Qin was not a good guy, so Li Qing sneered, paid the money, picked a promising oiran, and carried him into the side room.
…
After playing for half a night, Li Qing got up when he was exhausted. Jiaofangsi was only a few hundred meters away from home, so there was no need to stay overnight.
Unexpectedly, the three girls were still awake. They were chatting in the living room and peeling pomegranates to eat. When they saw him coming back, they stood up and timidly called out, "Sir." The tone was full of resentment.
Somehow, Li Qing felt like he had been caught cheating, so he laughed dryly and said, "Are you still awake at this late hour?"
"Waiting for you, sir." Lianxiang muttered with a bottle of oil hanging from her lips, "My family doesn't need money."
"..." Li Qing didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He acted like a gentleman and knocked her on the white forehead, "Go back to sleep."
"oh."
Li Qing returned to the room and began to think about handling the case.
Judging from the performance of the officials at the birthday banquet, there are many officials with guilty consciences. If we really want to deal with them all strictly, at least half of these Beijing officials can be cut off.
Although Lao Zhu said that he should be strict, he didn't know how strict he should be. He couldn't grasp the standards well. No matter how well the errand was done, it would not help.
After much thought, he decided to ask Lao Zhu what he meant.
It's not that he doesn't want to take the blame, it's that the blame is too big for him to bear.
Although Ouyang Lun has a high status, he is of no importance. The court can still function without him, but these officials in the capital are different. Most of them are doing practical things. If they take them all away, the country's government affairs will stagnate.
Just like a patient has an abscess, if it is removed directly, it will be fatal, but if it is ignored, it will continue to spread.
He is not a doctor, he is just a scalpel in the doctor's hand. Zhu Yuanzhang is the doctor. It is up to the latter whether he wants to gouge out and how much he wants to gouge out.
…
The next day, Qianqing Palace.
Li Qing was busy with acupuncture and playing the piano for nearly an hour before he got out of Qianqing Palace.
Then, go straight to the imperial study room.
While Zhu Yuanzhang was reviewing the memorial, he asked, "What's the matter?"
"Your Majesty, I have something that I don't understand. Please make it clear to me."
"Say." Zhu Yuanzhang continued to multitask.
Li Qing took a breath, "Are you going to strictly investigate the officials in Beijing and crack down on anything that violates the law and never tolerate it?"
"Isn't this nonsense?" Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head dissatisfied, "Li Qing, what we like is that you dare to do something and fight hard."
"I understand." Li Qing nodded, "But... I was brave enough to say something stuck in my throat. I hope your Majesty will forgive me."
Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily, "If you fart, let it go."
"..." Li Qing cupped his hands and said, "I think it is more appropriate to deal with it as appropriate. The emperor also saw it during the birthday banquet. So many officials were ostracizing the Jin Yiwei. There must be something wrong in their minds. If they were all dealt with, government affairs would be greatly affected.
.
Punishing corruption is for the sake of clean governance and is a good thing that benefits the country and the people. However, if it delays national affairs because of corruption, it will not be worth the gain."
Zhu Yuanzhang said quietly, "You mean, let us tolerate and support adultery?"
"I didn't mean that." Li Qing shook his head, "I just think the overall situation is more important."
"What? Are you scared?"
Li Qing smiled and said, "Your Majesty, if I were afraid, I would not have taken advantage of Ouyang Lun. If I was afraid, I would not have said those words at the birthday banquet."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, his expression softened a lot, "How could we not think of what you are worried about?
Don’t think that you are the only one who is smart, we can think of what you can think of, and we can think of what you can’t think of, just do as you are told and we will never tolerate it!”
Li Qing hurriedly pretended to be beaten, "I understand, I am afraid, your Majesty is wise."
"Well." A smile appeared on Zhu Yuanzhang's face. He was really satisfied with Li Qing. "I originally wanted to wait for you to find out the clues before making arrangements, but since you came to ask, I will give you an explanation.
"
He put down the memorial in his hand and waved his hand. The eunuchs and maids serving around him bowed silently and left.
"If you want to investigate, you must investigate strictly; if you want to deal with it, you must deal with it strictly." Zhu Yuanzhang was murderous and his attitude was extremely clear.
After a pause, he added, "However, no harsh punishments are allowed, and don't cripple people. They will die, but not immediately. They still have to work before the next official takes over."
Li Qing was stunned. This operation... the capitalist shed tears when he saw it, and Zhou Papi called him an expert.