"Yes." Xu Jing said: "Cao Chong was in charge of the Hebei project, among which the canal was the largest, which consumed a lot of manpower and material resources. However, Cao Chong did not want to be considerate of the country's initial decision, and did not repay the emperor's favor for getting a high position, so he took over the canal foreman.
bribe.
Not long after the emperor ascended the throne, this matter was no less serious than Huang Lan. Please punish Cao Chong severely, so as to demonstrate the justice of our officials and win the hearts of all people."
"Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly." A large group of civil servants immediately seconded the proposal.
At this time, Cao Chong realized something was wrong, but before he could figure it out, Liu Xun, who was on the upper left, suddenly remembered and immediately came out: "Father, I know this, and the contractor who came to give the gift was also accepted by me.
"
Ignoring the comments of the ministers, Liu Xun continued: "But it is just a pot of ice wisteria. I checked it and found that the market price is at most a few hundred cents. I knew that Cao Chong's sister missed her hometown, so I accepted the ice wisteria.
.
But I paid the foreman the money according to the market price and reported it to the department at the same time, asking my father for his clear opinion."
After Liu Xun finished speaking, ministers immediately came out: "Your Majesty, this matter is excusable, and it is not a serious crime for officials to accept some ordinary items. Besides, Your Highness has already paid the money and reported it. I believe that Lord Cao is not guilty."
"I second the proposal."
Cao Chong looked at this scene with a frown, feeling grateful that Liu Xun thought about him and immediately came out to clarify for himself when someone reported him. However, Cao Chong had a vague feeling that the matter could not be that simple.
Liu Zhang, who was on the throne, also frowned. He knew better than Cao Chong that this matter would not be so unusual. Not to mention that Xu Jing, a minister of the Ministry of Etiquette, brought up the matter in the court. It was the time for Xu Jing to speak. He was just about to discuss the title, and
The target is Cao Chong, the leading bird.
Liu Zhang felt that this was by no means as simple as ice wisteria.
"Your Majesty." Sure enough, Xu Jing spoke again: "If it's just a few hundred cents worth of Ice Wisteria, Wei Chen will never mention it, but as far as I know, Ice Wisteria is just a cover, and the contractor actually wants to give it to
Master Cao’s is Qingshan Jade.”
"Qingshan Jade? How big is it?" The officials immediately shouted. Qingshan Jade is a kind of Lantian Jade, but it is much more precious than Lantian Jade, and its color and texture are many times better than ordinary Lantian Jade.
The last time Qingshan Jade was collected that could be processed was in the Zhou Dynasty. After that, there were only finished Qingshan Jade products. However, the original embryo of Qingshan Jade could no longer be collected, so Qingshan Jade became more and more valuable.
A piece of green mountain jade as big as a fingernail is also extremely valuable.
"This green mountain jade, made into a jade green sheep, is an ancestral item of the contractor's family. It has a long history, and I don't know which generation separated the sheep's head from the sheep's head. This time, the contractor separated the sheep's head.
He gave the head to Cao Chong in order to thank Cao Chong for giving him the project and to get a bigger project."
The civil and military officials were once again surprised. If it were a green mountain jade carved into the shape of a sheep's head, the price would be several times higher. If it was really an item like bribery, the crime would definitely be the same as Huang Lan's.
Zhe Lanying frowned. Cao Chong also listened quietly. Although he didn't know what was going on, he knew that the first wave of attacks against him had already appeared.
Cao Chong had already made such preparations and was not afraid. If the frame-up was successful, the worst he could do would be death.
Liu Xun, who was listening to the side, felt that something was wrong, and was about to speak when Xu Jing said again: "According to the investigation by Yousi, the contractor listened to Cao Chong's words and put the sheep's head in the flower pot of ice wisteria, trying to
Concealing the truth and crossing the sea.
As the general manager of the Hebei project, Cao Chong openly asked for bribes, which had a bad impact. Please take a closer look at it, Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty, please take a closer look." The voices of the ministers shook the hall.
"Master Xu, what proof do you have for saying this?" Zhe Lanying asked coldly.
Xu Jing smiled and said: "General Zhelan, the contractor bribed the sheep's head and left the sheep's body. As long as the sheep's head is found in Cao Chong's residence and matches the sheep's body, wouldn't it be clear?"
Zhe Lanying was immediately speechless, and Zhou Buyi, who had been silent, sneered: What a perfect strategy.
Liu Zhang personally led his people to Liu Xun's palace and asked the soldiers to inspect Cao Chong's residence. Xu Jing stood aside calmly, and the foreman stood beside him tremblingly, holding a brocade box containing a sheep's body.
Liu Zhang said to Huang Yueying: "Yueying, what do you think?"
"Typical frame-up, but even if it is a conspiracy, as long as you find the sheep's head, it will be difficult to clear Cao Chong's guilt. Alas." Huang Yueying sighed. In fact, Huang Yueying had expected this the moment Cao Chong stood up to reduce the title.
It's been a day, but I didn't expect those civil servants to react so quickly.
"Report, I found a pot of ice wisteria."
"Dig out the dirt."
"It's... a report, nothing."
The soldier broke the flower pot and found nothing inside. Xu Jing was dumbfounded when he saw it, and his face suddenly turned pale. Not to mention Xu Jing, Liu Zhang, Huang Yueying, Cao Chong, Zhou Buyi, Liu Xun and others.
It's inexplicable.
They were all thinking about what would happen after they found the sheep's head, but they didn't expect that the frame-up was so bad that they didn't find it.
"Impossible, this is impossible, how could it not be possible?" Xu Jing murmured.
Liu Zhang sent soldiers to search Cao Chong's residence thoroughly, but still could not find any sheep heads.
Upon seeing this, Wang Lei, the Minister of Censorship, immediately said to the contractor: "Do you know the sin of falsely accusing a minister of the imperial court?"
The contractor was immediately frightened and almost fell to the ground. Wang Lei looked at Xu Jing: "Sir Xu, this unruly man doesn't know the seriousness, don't you? Don't you also know? What crime do you deserve for working for His Majesty?"
"Huang, Mr. Huang." Xu Jing looked at Huang Quan as if asking for help, but Huang Quan didn't look at him. Xu Jing knew that he was completely finished. He didn't know what had happened, but if he couldn't find evidence, his official fortune would be lost.
It's over.
I have been following the Sichuan Army for ten years, which is not easy.
Xu Jing was unwilling to give in. He suddenly hardened his body and risked his life. Xu Jing said to Liu Zhang: "Your Majesty, Cao Chong may have transferred the stolen goods. I request that the entire palace be investigated."
"What a shame, Xu Jing, do you know whose palace this is? This is the eldest prince's palace, why do you want to search it if you want?" Wang Lei shouted loudly.
But Xu Jing had already risked his life. If he didn't fight to the death, he would be doomed. It would be better to win a bigger victory. "Cao Chong lives in the palace of the eldest prince, so why must he put the stolen goods in his room? Your Majesty, I am requesting a search," he said.
If I can't find it... I'm willing to die."
Liu Zhang frowned and thought for a moment, then Liu Xundao said, "Father, let them search. I assure you, Cao Chong definitely didn't take any jade."
Liu Zhang listened to Liu Xun's words, sighed, waved his hand, and asked the soldiers to search the residences of Liu Xun and Zhou Buyi. Others didn't know what Liu Zhang was sighing about, but Huang Yueying knew it.
Liu Zhang was not sighing because of this bribery case, but he was sighing for Liu Xun. From accepting the ice wisteria out of kindness and defending Cao Chong in court, to now, he is really too careless.
Huang Yueying glanced at Xu Jing, then at the contractor, and finally her eyes fell on Huang Quan. She frowned slightly and gave Huzi a few instructions, and Huzi immediately followed the soldiers in.
"Report, we found a sheep head in the eldest prince's room."
Then, everyone saw Huzi walking out with a sheep's head. Everyone was surprised. They didn't know how they found the sheep's head in Liu Xun's room. Liu Xun was also dumbfounded. How could this thing be in his room?
Cao Chong frowned and looked at the sheep head he found in the eldest prince's room. Was this really aimed at him?
Xu Jing originally had no hope and was just about to fight back, but then he saw the sheep's head and couldn't help but be overjoyed.
"Isn't it for Cao Chong? Why is it in the eldest prince's room?"
"Could it be that Cao Chong bribed the eldest prince to borrow flowers to offer to Buddha?"
"How can this be?"
When the last sentence fell, no one picked it up. In fact, many people thought that maybe Cao Chong really wanted something from the contractor and dedicated it to Liu Xun.
But no matter what, Liu Xun couldn't escape his involvement if something was found in Liu Xun's room.
"Your Majesty, I know this person." A civil servant came out and pointed at the foreman and said to Liu Zhang: "This person is a relative of the eldest prince who was the captain of the Sichuan Guards before. He seems to be a cousin or cousin."
In one sentence, disaster immediately poured on Liu Xun.
"Father, I..." Liu Xun looked at the sheep's head, full of doubts, and turned to Liu Zhang.
Xu Jing regained some of his sense at this time. Seeing that things were developing completely wrong, he suddenly looked at Huang Quan and suddenly realized that he was being used.
"Capture Liu Xun and put him in prison for now." Liu Zhang frowned and said in a deep voice.
"yes."
"Father."
"His Majesty."
"Your Majesty, no." Xiao Furong came over at once.
Liu Zhang did not say anything, he was extremely angry. This was clearly a frame-up, but the blame was placed on his own son. Moreover, if he could not be cleared of this crime, the Sichuan Army would insist on the New Deal.
Liu Xun will definitely bear the stain for the rest of his life. Liu Zhang is fully aware of the impact of that.
"Hey, foreman, your sheep's head, let's see if it belongs to you." Huzi carefully carried the sheep's head with a white handkerchief and walked straight to the foreman without paying attention to the others.
The foreman hurriedly took the sheep's head, and suddenly saw Huzi's eyes filled with surprise, and suddenly became a little panicked. Huzi said, "Why don't you use a camphor wood handkerchief to hold it up? Don't you know the basic maintenance of Qingshan Jade?"
He said and handed the veil to the contractor.
"I forgot." The contractor quickly took the veil, wrapped the head of the sheep and put it on the body of the sheep.
The moment the foreman took over the handkerchief, Xu Jing opened his mouth wide, and Huang Quan also changed his color obviously. He stared blankly at the foreman who wrapped the sheep's head with the handkerchief, and Xu Jing's face slowly turned gray.
Huzi looked at the foreman with a smile. The foreman felt something was wrong. Then he saw the looks around him, but he was still confused. Huzi smiled and said: "You are worthy of Qingshan Jade, country bumpkin?"
Huang Yueying was not as stupid as others. When the sheep's head was not found in the flower pot, Huang Yueying did not feel relaxed, but solemn. Since Xu Jing wanted to frame Cao Chong, how could he make such a low-level mistake?