But before the housekeeper had time to answer him, Qianhu, the leader, had already walked in with Xue Erzhang's head.
He threw the head directly in front of the old man. The white-haired old man Dingqing saw that it was his son. He almost couldn't breathe and burped on the spot.
The rest of the people present saw that the person who was still alive just now had his body and head separated in the blink of an eye. It was a lie that they were not afraid.
Especially the soldiers who came in, the long swords in their hands were still dripping with blood, which was really shocking to them.
Some mentally weak and timid people only felt their legs become weak for a while, and suddenly they sat on the ground breathing heavily.
"You...you...do you want to rebel?"
After a long while, the old man clutched his chest and roared in his heart, pointing at his son's head on the ground and said.
But the soldiers in front of him who had just "committed murder" remained silent, staring at each of them with fierce eyes, and no one answered his questions.
Not long after, Li Zhicai walked into the inner hall surrounded by soldiers. He glanced at the people present and said with a smile:
"I was ordered to run an errand, but unexpectedly I encountered a rogue and unruly person who blocked my way. I had no choice but to deal with him in accordance with the laws of the Ming Dynasty. Is there anything wrong with that?"
Many people present knew Li Zhicai. This man was not an easy talker. If he dared to act like this today, he must be relying on someone for such a big move.
The old man took a look at the fierce-looking soldiers standing behind him and knew that if he wanted to do anything about today's matter, he would have to use soft weapons.
"An order? Then I would like to ask the general what order you have!"
Li Zhicai sneered, stood the sword on his waist straight in front of him and said:
"Is there any need to ask? Of course, it is under the orders of His Majesty. Your Majesty hereby orders me to preside over the recovery of the taxes and money owed by each household, covering the entire Yingtian Mansion!"
"During the recovery and verification process, if anyone disobeys the order, blocks the recovery process, causes trouble innocently or resists, this general will punish him on his own!"
Then he gestured to his own soldiers, who immediately came forward carrying a tray and a sword inlaid with a royal jade pendant.
Li Zhicai pointed at these two items proudly and said:
"This is the sword of Shangfang given to me by Your Majesty. It gives me the right to act expediently. During the period of collecting taxes, money and food, I have the right to kill anyone and anything before I report it!"
"Xue Yongheng, you have been an official for nearly thirty years, and you have even reached the position of minister of the Ministry of War. You must be familiar with these things!"
The old man known as Xue Yongheng shrank his pupils. Unexpectedly, he was recognized by Li Zhicai.
Since he became an official, he has always lived in seclusion and kept a low profile. He has never been involved in family matters and left all matters to his son.
He didn't expect that this person who had never met him before could recognize him at a glance, which still surprised him slightly.
From this point of view, what happened today was no accident, but had been prepared for a long time. The investigation in advance was probably very in-depth and meticulous.
"It is indeed His Majesty's imperial edict, Master Fang Baojian, but since the general has an errand ordered by His Majesty and doesn't go to handle it, why did he come to me for it?"
"I have accumulated a lot of money and food due to the taxes owed to the imperial court. I wonder where to begin with the matter of collecting the money?"
"To kill my son so recklessly, doesn't it mean that you have no regard for the king's laws and regard the laws of the Ming Dynasty made by Your Majesty and Taizu as nothing?"
"Don't you know, general, that it is clearly stated in Ming Dynasty law that anyone who dares to kill officials will be regarded as rebelling?"
Xue Yongheng gritted his teeth and said, obviously wanting to use his strengths and avoid weaknesses and suppress Li Zhicai with what he was good at.
Although Li Zhicai was a military commander, his verbal skills were naturally weaker than his, but he still took over the topic and said righteously:
"I know this, general, so I won't bother you to worry about it. What you should worry about is how to make up for the shortfall!"
With strong support behind him, Li Zhicai's confidence in speaking was three points stronger than usual.
"If you don't want others to be ignorant, you have to do nothing yourself. You just said that you have never accumulated any tax money or food owed to the court. You may be able to deceive a three-year-old child, but in front of this general, you don't have to put on such a hard act!"
"I have read your resume. You have served as the head of the household department for six years. You are very knowledgeable about the country's finances and accounts!"
"If you want to do something in it, wouldn't it be easy? And even if someone is investigating, but they are not familiar with the routine, they will probably be confused!"
Li Zhicai exposed in one sentence the behavior of forging false accounts in the officialdom to conceal the emperor's behavior, which made Xue Yongheng, who had always been calm and composed, furious:
"You are slandering others, and you want to accuse me of this groundless crime?"
"I think you are just pretending to pass the imperial edict and planning to cause trouble, right? Liu Yilong's mansion must be guarded by your people."
Li Zhicai did not continue to talk nonsense with him, and directly took out the information compiled by the investigation. It was written clearly how he colluded with the officials and gentry, deceived the court, and forged false accounts.
As for the tax money and grain owed in previous years, Tian Ergeng's Nanzhen Fusi did not have the ability to dig out all of it, but the amount in the first year of Tianqi was clearly verified.
According to what Nanzhen Fusi has learned, Xue Yongheng's family only paid 30% of the original amount, and the grains were all old grains from previous years, and the quality was worrying.
Xue Yongcheng's eyes were almost as big as eggs. He always did things secretly. How could these people investigate these matters in such detail in such a short period of time?
Although Li Zhicai has exposed him, scholars are very thick-skinned and will never recognize him until they are in desperate situations.
"That's nonsense. The traitor actually dares to falsely convey His Majesty's will, forge charges, and murder Zhongliang. He will definitely die a good death. I want to write a petition and go to Beijing to get your copy in person!"
After saying that, with the support of the two maids, he angrily retreated to the back hall. How could Li Zhicai not know this little thought of his.
He immediately asked his soldiers to rush forward, surrounded him, and said:
"The tax money and food arrears have not been counted yet. Where do you want to go? Once you have paid all that is due, I, the general, can do whatever you want and file a complaint wherever you want."
"But for now, let me, General, stay here honestly. I would like to advise you not to follow in the footsteps of your ignorant and arrogant son!"
Bringing up the hatred in his heart again, Xue Yongheng, no matter how strong his heart was, his defenses were broken under such humiliation.
He immediately took the crutch in his hand and threw it at the surrounding soldiers to vent his anger.
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PS: I made a mistake in the previous chapter. Sorry, Chapter 40 is repeated. It should be 366 now!