Chapter 171: Knowing the crime and pleading guilty
"Sir, have you thought about it?" Yuan Ji suddenly asked before we set off.
"Well, I have decided. At present, our biggest enemy is Mongolia in the north. To fight against foreign aggression, we must first pacify the interior. Although I also want to bring these corrupt officials to justice, time does not allow it. Two or three years later, Song and Mongolia
The war is imminent, so the internal changes in our government need to be carried out gradually on a stable basis. However, if these corrupt officials cannot change their greed, they will be liquidated sooner or later."
Stability overrides everything, and development is the last word. Stability and development are both timely and indispensable, but only seeking development on a stable basis is in line with the current situation.
Yuan Ji sighed: "Yes, sir, let these corrupt officials live a few more years."
"Sir, get ready to go."
"Does the young master need to disguise himself?"
"No."
Since we have to make it clear, I think there is no need to let "Master Huyan" paraphrase it. In this era of inconvenient transportation, it is not that easy to go back and forth, so let's solve it straightforwardly.
Juying Tower is closed again tonight to thank guests. All diners in Fuzhou city know that whenever Juying Tower is closed, there must be another big party gathering here.
Accompanied by Ye Mengding, I arrived at Juying Building on time.
Chen Xinshu and Jiang Baoshan, dressed in casual clothes, had already greeted each other in front of the door. When they saw me standing next to Ye Mengding, both of them looked slightly surprised. After being stunned for a moment, Chen Xinshu said respectfully: "
Mr. Ye, please. This young master, please."
Ye Mengding lowered his head slightly and said to me first: "Sir, please." Then he clasped his fists in return, smiled at Chen Xinshu and said: "Master Chen, please."
Chen Xinshu said that she was inviting Ye Mengding to the banquet alone. Unexpectedly, Ye Mengding also accompanied a strange young master, and his attitude towards him was very respectful. You must know that Ye Mengding, as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, is a second-rank official in the court and has real power.
Being in control can make him so respectful
Who will be waiting for him? At least there is no such a number one person on Fujian Road, so there is only one possibility. This young master also comes from the capital city of Hidden Dragons and Crouching Tigers, Young Master Huyan? Both Chen Xinshu and Jiang Baoshan thought at the same time.
The name of my young master.
I don’t know Chen Xinshu, nor have I seen him. At the end of the fifth year of Jingding, officials from all walks of life came to Beijing to report on their work. The person representing Fujian Road was Shi Hongsheng, the envoy of the Zhizhi. Chen Xinshu did not enter Beijing, let alone a lot of people at that time. Even though he was among them
I wouldn't know him either.
I glanced at Chen Xinshu, ignored him, and walked straight forward. Jiang Baoshan gently touched Chen Xinshu, who was in a daze, and motioned for him to follow.
The guards brought by Ye Mengding quickly surrounded the door, and Yuan Ji and others followed me and entered the house together.
Juying Building was decorated generously and decently, with Fujian characteristics. I sat unceremoniously on the main seat, with Yuan Ji standing behind me, Wen Zhang guarding the door, and Lan Yu and Shen Mo looking around.
After Ye Mengding entered the room, he did not dare to sit down. He stood aside and said, "Sir, this is Mr. Chen Xinshu from Fujian Road."
When Chen Xinshu saw Ye Mengding come in, he didn't even dare to sit down. He was even more convinced of my relationship with the palace. He had a smaller official position, so he didn't dare to sit down. He had to stand next to Ye Mengding and bowed to me and said, "Chen has seen the young master."
.”
I glanced at Chen Xinshu sternly and said expressionlessly: "Are you Chen Xinshu?"
"Yes, young master, it is Chen." Chen Xinshu has been in the officialdom for a long time and has a good ability to recognize people. Although this is on his own territory, facing this young man who even the imperial envoy must be respectful to, he himself
How dare you be disrespectful in the slightest.
"Chen Xinshu, I heard that you asked Mr. Ye Mengding to tell the emperor that your Fujian Road official is willing to follow the emperor to revitalize our dynasty. Is this true?"
"Go back to the young master, something happened."
"Why do I think this sounds duplicitous?"
"Sir, what do you mean?"
"I have only been in Fuzhou for two or three days, and I heard that you and other Fujian Road officials were corrupt and perverted the law, and the bribes they received were huge. No wonder the tax revenue from the Song Dynasty's treasury is getting less and less. Has it all gone into your personal pockets? Is it possible?
Is this how you came to revitalize our Song Dynasty?
You still claim to follow the emperor, do you still have the emperor in your eyes? Last month, many places in my country were hit by heavy rains. The court was providing disaster relief, but you, Fujian, had a good job. You sold the relief grain to the Pu family in Quanzhou at a low price, and then the Pu family resold it.
Is there such a thing as making huge profits overseas?"
Chen Xinshu's heart trembled and he hurriedly said: "Young Master..."
I didn't give him a chance to speak at all, and continued: "You appointed Chen Huainan and Chen Yunnan, members of your own family, to serve as ship supervisors at the two major ports of Fuzhou and Quanzhou respectively. They secretly formulated various taxes and plundered money in the name of the government.
People's fat and people's anointing, these plundered money
The wealth has also fallen into your own pockets, is this a thing? Also, taking advantage of the opportunity of land surveying, you have invaded fertile land, made false reports, and taken official land as your own. This is also a thing. Things like this
You have a lot of roads in Fujian, right? I won’t tell you one by one.”
My series of questions made Chen Xinshu dumbfounded and at a loss.
Chen Xinshu looked at Ye Mengding and said hesitantly: "Sir, who are you and how do you know this?"
"Chen Xinshu, do you know your crime?" I suddenly stood up and said, "While you are talking about following the emperor, you are embezzling money from the treasury. Do you really think that no one in the world can cure you? Who am I? I am what you keep saying you are.
The emperor who said he would be loyal to him is the current emperor of the Song Dynasty."
After hearing this, Chen Xinshu's heart trembled, his legs became weak, and he knelt down on the ground with a thud. Ye Mengding, the Minister of Civil Affairs of the imperial court, was present, so he would not doubt my authenticity. Chen Xinshu hurriedly kowtowed: "I know that I am guilty.
I am aware of my guilt, and please have mercy on me, Your Majesty."
I let Chen Xinshu kowtow. After a while, I saw traces of blood oozing out from his forehead, so I sat down and said, "Get up."
"I, Chen Xinshu, would like to thank the Emperor for his kindness."
"Ye Aiqing, please sit down first."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Chen Xinshu, you have been an official for many years. You should know that according to the laws of our dynasty, such a huge amount of stolen money should be punished."
"Your Majesty, according to the law, the death penalty should be imposed."
"You still know it's a capital crime. If you know it, why do you commit it repeatedly?"
"Your Majesty, I am confused because I am greedy for a moment."
Ye Mengding enlightened: "Mr. Chen, just tell the truth and don't use official language to prevaricate."
"Your Majesty, I was a Jinshi during the late emperor's time. I was once passionate and intended to serve the country. After entering the officialdom, I found that officialdom was contrary to my ideals. If I couldn't adapt, I would be eliminated by the officialdom. So, I just drifted with the trend.
, and gradually became more courageous, which led to the situation getting out of hand."
"Aren't you afraid that the incident will come to light and you will be punished by the law?"
"Your Majesty, at the beginning, I was also very scared, but seeing that everyone around me was like this, I took a chance, and over time, I became a little numb."
The officialdom is a big dark dye vat. It is true that very few people who enter can clean themselves and continue to survive in the vat. To fundamentally change this situation, we must completely change the color of the dye vat so that it can change from
Darkness becomes light.
"Humph, what a lucky move." I sneered, "Today, northern Mongolia is eyeing our country. The Mongols have always been good at using force. Our country can only rely on thick city walls and sophisticated weapons to maintain its capabilities. And these
They all need to spend a lot of money, but our country
Treasury income tax revenue is becoming increasingly scarce. If this is the case everywhere, the imperial court will be unable to meet the armament needs of the soldiers at the front. What do you want me to use to repel the enemy? Send you? Or is it possible that you and others have colluded with the Mongols and are sincerely willing to let them go?
Will the Mongol cavalry trample me and bring me to power?"
"Your Majesty, I am loyal to your Majesty and to our dynasty. The sun and the moon can tell you how you would have anything to do with the Mongols. Now that things have happened, I plead guilty. I plead guilty and am willing to accept the punishment from the emperor."
"Punishment? To punish you, I only need an imperial edict. Do I need to come in person?"
"Yes, yes, I am stupid, please let the emperor make it clear." Chen Xinshu didn't know whether he was happy or worried.