Tongshi Shiren stood in the courtyard and did not come in. He just said in a sharp voice: "There is an order. Lu Junzhong, the Minister of Punishment, will accept the order!"
Lu Junzhong went out first. Fan Wenzheng did not dare to neglect and followed him to the courtyard.
"Lu Junzhong accepts the decree!"
Lu Junzhong knelt on the ground, Fan Wenzheng also knelt down, and the officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of War also knelt down in the courtyard.
"My disciples: I have read the article and asked Lu Junzhong of the Ministry of Punishment to conduct a thorough investigation. I appreciate this!"
The imperial edict was short and clear. After Tongshisheren read out the imperial edict, Lu Junzhong took it. Tongshisheren took another folder and handed it over and said: "The saint has read it and sent it back to you. Lu Butang
, the sage also said that this case must be investigated carefully, not to involve too much, just investigate the person responsible."
"I understand." Lu Junzhong took the note and said with unconcealable excitement in his voice: "I will investigate and deal with it carefully!"
Tongshi Shiren didn't say much and led the two dragon scale warriors back.
After Tongshi Sheren left, Lu Junzhong stood up, turned around, looked at Fan Wenzheng who was getting up, with a sinister smile on his lips, and handed over the coupon that Tongshi Sheren had just handed over.
Throwing it in front of Fan Wenzheng, he said calmly: "Fan Butang, don't get up in a hurry, take a look before talking."
Fan Wenzheng saw the folded book thrown on the ground, and his body became a little weak.
Of course, he had already seen that this document was exactly the one that Han Yunong had given to Zhu Dongshan before.
And this document was sent to the palace. It was after reading this document that the saint issued an edict to Lu Junzhong to investigate and deal with it. There is no doubt that this document was the basis for Lu Junzhong to break into the Ministry of War unscrupulously.
.
He hurriedly picked it up and opened it. It was dark, and he didn't bother to let someone hold a lamp for the moment. He could barely see what was written on it. Soon, his face turned pale, his body trembled, he raised his head suddenly, and said sternly:
"Lu Butang, this... this is slander. Han Yunong... Han Yunong is slandering others. He... he deceived the emperor and ignored his superiors. He deserves death!"
"Fan Butang, don't worry." Lu Junzhong walked up to Fan Wenzheng, looked down at Fan Wenzheng condescendingly, and said with a smile: "If he wronged you, the Ministry of Punishment will investigate and deal with it seriously. Slandering important officials of the imperial court is indeed a crime worthy of death. However,
.....If what is written above is true, Fan Butang’s guilt is not small.”
"He's talking nonsense." Fan Wenzheng's eyes twitched and his old, withered hands clenched into fists.
Lu Junzhong took the brochure from Fan Wenzheng, glanced at it, and said with a smile: "The brochure states that Fan Butang not only detained him in the Ministry of War, but also instigated him to testify, and wanted to imprison Xiling Capital for the loss of Xiling."
It also said that if the Duhufu and other officials of Xiling could not bear the responsibility, it would damage the reputation of General Black Feather. Yes, it also said that Fan Butang claimed that the most responsible person for the loss of Xiling was
It is best not to involve the Ministry of War, because the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs are responsible for mobilizing troops to counter the rebellion. If the Ministry of War takes the responsibility, then the dispatch of troops to counter the rebellion will be delayed. Fan Budang, didn't you say these things?"
"I...Of course I didn't say that." Fan Wenzheng gritted his teeth and said: "Lu Budang, as an official of the Ministry of War and responsible for military matters, how could I...how could I think of shirking responsibility?
Instead of thinking about countering the rebellion?"
Lu Junzhong sighed: "If Fan Butang didn't say these things, why would Han Yunong slander you? Does he have any grudge against Fan Butang?"
"I told him that as the captain of Zhenjun, he was monitoring the situation in Zhenjun for the imperial court. The rebels raided Turtle City, but he was not aware of it in advance and lost Turtle City. Although it was true that the troops were insufficient, he is still responsible for the crime.
Not lightly." Fan Wenzheng said solemnly: "Although he is affiliated with the Ministry of War, I will not cover it up. You must accept the responsibility you deserve. Perhaps because of his resentment towards me, he would slander people like this. Lu Butang, Han Yunong slandered the imperial court
Important minister, you cannot spare him."
"Fan Butang, don't worry. Who is guilty and who is not guilty will definitely be clear to you when you enter the Xingbu Yamen." He stood up straight and said, "Fan Butang, please!"
"Where...where are we going?" "Where else can we go?" Lu Junzhong showed a playful smile: "Of course I'll invite you to the Ministry of Justice for a cup of tea!"
Of course Fan Wenzheng knew the consequences of entering the Penal Department Yamen.
He never expected that things would develop to this point.
Of course he knew that Han Yunong's excerpt did not contain any falsehoods. Instead, he wrote down exactly what he had experienced since he entered the Ministry of War. What was terrible was that Han Yunong had an excellent memory for what he had said to him last night.
Everything is written down.
From the beginning, Fan Wenzheng never thought about letting Han Yunong walk out of the Ministry of War alive, and naturally he never thought that what he said to Han Yunong alone would be leaked.
What made him even more desperate was that this document, which did not include a single lie, was actually delivered to Zhu Dongshan in front of him, and then sent to the palace.
Xiling was occupied by the rebels, and the moment Han Yunong entered the Ministry of War, Fan Wenzheng knew that if he reported everything that happened in Xiling truthfully, the Ministry of War's failure to mobilize the Changsheng Army in time would be a fatal negligence on his part.
After losing Xiling, the saint certainly needed to throw out a scapegoat to give an explanation to the army and people of the empire. If the Ministry of War failed in its duties, his position as Minister of War would definitely not be preserved.
In order to keep his position, the only way is to confuse the situation and involve more people, so that the saint will have to deal with it lightly in the end.
But his plan this time was obviously in vain.
If the hound of the Ministry of Justice, Lu Junzhong, bites him, he will definitely not be able to keep his official position, and more importantly, his life may also be ruined.
In order to preserve his official position, he may even have to risk his own life in the end.
Lu Junzhong had the emperor's imperial decree in his hands, and Fan Wenzheng was of course unable to resist. Surrounded by a group of officials from the Ministry of Justice, he left the Ministry of War and was taken directly to the Ministry of Justice.
The officials of the Ministry of War, big and small, looked at each other.
What Fan Wenzheng did in the past few days was of course done in secret. Except for a few of his most loyal confidants, most people in the Ministry of War had no idea what was going on.
Although a few officials saw Han Yunong when he entered the Ministry of War, not many people knew Han Yunong's identity, let alone why he came to the Ministry of War.
At this time, the Tang official was taken away by the Ministry of Punishment, and the Ministry of Punishment still got the saint's will. The King of Blood Hell of the Punishment Bureau personally invited Fan Wenzheng from the Ministry of War. This is enough to prove that Fan Butang has caused a huge disaster.
So the officials of the Ministry of War immediately remembered the cases that the Ministry of Punishment had handled. Several major cases handled by Lu Junzhong personally, all resulted in rivers of blood and hundreds of people implicated.
Fan Wenzheng was the Minister of the Ministry of War, and his official position was quite high. However, compared with the cases that Lu Junzhong had handled, being a Minister of the Ministry of War was actually nothing.
The case of bachelor Zhao Yankuo directly involved more than 20 important officials of the imperial court. Since then, there have been hundreds of officials involved, and their family members number in the thousands.
The purge of the Li Tang clan involved countless princes and nobles. Lu Junzhong used his knife to directly attack the princes of the Li family. Compared with those people, Fan Wenzheng was nothing to mention.
Fan Wenzheng was nothing in Lu Junzhong's eyes, and these officials from the Ministry of War were nothing.
For a time, the officials of the Ministry of War were panicked.
Lu Junzhong attacked the Ministry of War and took away Fan Wenzheng. Will he implicate the entire Ministry of War and lead to another bloody prison?
Some officials have lost their minds and their livers and gallbladders are splitting at the thought of the imminent disaster.
Qin Xiao actually didn't expect Han Yunong's piece of information to be Fan Wenzheng's talisman.
He approached the Ministry of Punishment from the very beginning simply because he got guidance from Gu Baiyi and knew that using the Ministry of Punishment to rescue Han Yunong was the only way. As for how things would develop from now on, he could not predict, but now it seems that the development of things has exceeded his expectations.
.
He used the Ministry of Justice to save Han Yunong, but the Ministry of Justice also used him to attack the Ministry of War.
He suddenly remembered something Gu Baiyi said at that time.
Gu Baiyi made it very clear that if Han Yunong could be rescued by using the Ministry of Punishment, many people would be offended and the situation would be extremely dangerous.
He finally understood what Gu Baiyi meant.
Gu Baiyi believed that the Sentencing Department would either not take action. If it took action, it would not just be as simple as rescuing Han Yunong, but would also use the situation to bring down Fan Wenzheng.
Fan Wen is the official of the Ministry of War. For this person to be able to sit in the position of Minister of the Ministry of War for so many years, he naturally has a huge power behind him.
Lu Junzhong, the evil dog, brought down Fan Wenzheng. The power behind Fan Wenzheng was afraid of Lu Junzhong and did not dare to attack Lu Junzhong. However, if the matter was traced to the source, it would be the Ministry of Punishment that he approached the Ministry of Punishment to get involved in this matter.
In the eyes of the group of people behind Fan Wenzheng, they had nothing to do with Fan Wenzheng falling into the hands of the Ministry of Punishment.
In this way, those people will naturally regard themselves as a thorn in their side.
Qin Xiao secretly sighed. He knew that the water in Kyoto was very deep, but he did not expect that as soon as he entered the capital, he would be involved in the fights among the adults in Kyoto.
Each of these people eats people without spitting out their bones, and no one of them can be dealt with by himself.
If it weren't for Han Yunong, he really wouldn't want to stay in this treacherous Kyoto for even one day.
Now that you are involved, it may not be that easy to escape unscathed.
Being in the Ministry of Punishment, one should settle down as soon as he comes. Qin Xiao is very calm.
But of course Lu Junzhong couldn't calm down.
The gloomy main hall of the Ministry of Justice was already lit. Fortunately, he was also a court official. Lu Junzhong did not immediately start a trial for Fan Wenzheng. In the spacious main hall, the two sat across from each other. Lu Junzhong even sent someone to serve tea.
He looked at Fan Wenzheng with a smile and said: "Fan Budang, the saint has ordered me to investigate this case. Naturally, I will go all out and not slack off at all. You and I are officials in the same dynasty, although we don't move around much.
But after all, we are all old acquaintances, so it’s better not to beat around the bush when talking to others, but to get straight to the point.”
Fan Wenzheng had cold sweat on his forehead and forced a smile and said: "That's very good."
"You have read the excerpt written by Han Yunong, the saint has read it, and naturally I have also read it." Lu Junzhong said: "If you now admit that what is written in that excerpt is absolutely true, we can finalize the case tonight and send it to you.
Go to the cleanest cell and stay there. I will prepare a memorial to the saint all night long. Whatever the saint decides, I will just follow the saint's will. I can guarantee that I will not treat you badly before the saint's will comes down.
If you neglect at all, you will have wine and meat for three meals a day, and no punishment will be used against you."
Fan Wenzheng's face sank and he said: "How can I plead guilty if I haven't said anything? Lu Butang, I was also a soldier back then. As long as I can find out the truth and clear my name, it doesn't matter even if I get a stick."
"Okay!" Lu Junzhong said with a smile: "Since Fan Butang said so, let's take it slow. Once we enter the Criminal Department, there will be no lies." He clapped his hands and said, "Bring the people here!"
There were footsteps outside the door. Fan Wenzheng turned his head and looked over, only to see Han Yunong, who was upright, striding in from the door.
Seeing Han Yunong, Fan Wenzheng had a cold look in his eyes. Suddenly, he saw a person coming in behind Han Yunong. He was wearing a gray robe. He was not an official from the Ministry of Justice, but his confidant Dou Wei.
People who enter the Xingbu Yamen often find it difficult to laugh.
Han Yunong did not smile, his expression was serious.
However, the expression on Dou Fan's face was relaxed, and the corners of his lips even curved. After entering the main hall, Dou Fan didn't even look at his superior, the official. He walked straight to Lu Junzhong, cupped his hands and said, "I've seen you before."