Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

Many carriages were already parked outside the Six Ministries.

After some polite exchanges, the ministers naturally boarded the carriages first, as they usually rode together according to their work units.

Chapter 3900 Another Big Case

Free shuttle buses from the imperial city transported officials from the six ministries to Dongkuo City.

Along the way, we would encounter other vehicles coming from other government offices, and they would all eventually stop inside the East City.

Officials of all ranks, who usually work in the imperial city, are likely to run into each other here when they leave work.

The officials greeted each other with bows and walked out of the Donghua Gate, where their private carriages were waiting.

Some people also chose to ride horses, especially the military officers.

Bai Chongyan had already spotted his own carriage. He turned around, bowed to the other officials, and then took about ten steps to board the carriage.

Qin Hui also got on the bus.

Suddenly, a large number of officials were seen walking back against the flow of traffic, blocking the road outside Donghua Gate.

Bai Chongyan lifted the carriage curtain to look out curiously, only to find that they were all officials from the Censorate.

A sudden chill ran down his spine, and he thought to himself, "What major case has this time?"

The headquarters of the Inspectorate is located in Dongkuo City, making it the most convenient place for them to leave work; they can quickly walk out of Donghua Gate without having to take a car.

The current situation is that the inspectors have already finished their workday, but are recalled to handle matters on the way home or at home.

The road is still not clear, and there are other unexpected situations.

Squads of imperial guards ran from the northern city, and some soldiers even rode horses.

Then, Wei Liangchen, the Left Censor-in-Chief, appeared, accompanied by several officials from the Censorate, and strode to the outside of Donghua Gate: "Where is Qin Hui, the Minister of Revenue?"

Qin Hui, sitting in the carriage, changed his expression drastically upon hearing this.

He quickly got out of the car and said, "Here."

Wei Liangchen said, "You don't need to go home. Go to the Dali Temple and have a cup of tea."

Qin Hui was terrified, but he remained calm and said, "My wife is waiting at home. I will send a servant back to inform her."

Wei Liangchen said, "No need. Your wives and concubines will all go to the Dali Temple for tea tonight."

The cabinet officials waiting to go home all looked horrified.

The entire family of the Minister of Revenue was invited to the Dali Temple for tea, and it was the Left Censor-in-Chief who personally came to invite them.

Qin Hui committed a major crime!

"Let's go, Minister Qin," Wei Liangchen urged.

Qin Hui felt as if his legs were made of lead, and every step was extremely difficult. He was practically dragged onto the carriage by two imperial censors.

The carriage curtain was drawn, leaving only Qin Hui and Wei Liangchen inside.

Qin Hui still wanted to play the emotional card, so he probed, "Daobi, you and I are old friends from our youth. Back in Jiankang County School, we were classmates and roommates, and today..."

Wei Liangchen interrupted, "Don't mention the past."

"May I ask if I may? Who is falsely accusing me?" Qin Hui asked.

Wei Liangchen had already entered interrogation mode and also probed, "Do you know Yang Yuan?"

Qin Hui suddenly realized: "So it is this person. I don't have much personal relationship with him. When I was the head of the Imperial Academy, he happened to be a student there."

"This person has no real ability, yet he claims to be my student, going around using his position to bully and swindle people. Has he committed a crime?"

Wei Liangchen said, "He colluded with civil and military officials of Xuanzhou to embezzle money and grain, incite tribes to rebel, and even burned down the official granary to frame the rebels."

"Burn...burn down the official granary?" Qin Hui asked incredulously.

He really couldn't understand why Yang Yuan, whose family was so rich, had always been so timid.

Having served as an official for over a decade, he had only engaged in petty corruption, failing to even recoup the costs of bribery. How dare he commit a capital offense this time?

Qin Hui had always trusted Yang Yuan completely; he hadn't even paid attention to news from Xuanzhou.

Chapter 3901 Qin Hui, You've Committed a Crime

Because the trouble in Xuanzhou was minor, the rebels were defeated in a day and the remnants were wiped out in half a month.

The attention of the court's key officials was all focused on Linzhou.

After all, the bandits who fled from there directly swept through the three northern prefectures of Ningxia.

Apart from the emperor himself, no central official paid any attention to Xuanzhou!

Wei Liangchen smiled and said, "Yang Yuan was afraid of death, so he confessed to many corrupt officials. One of them was Minister Qin."

"His Majesty said that even the small residence you secretly acquired has been exposed."

"What 'little house'? He's spouting nonsense!"

Qin Hui vehemently denied it, but he was completely panicked and could no longer maintain his composure.

He had thought that his misdeeds would be exposed, but he never expected that he would be brought down by Yang Yuan.

Yang Yuan was timid and his family was wealthy, so he didn't embezzle on a large scale. He was just eager to climb the ranks and loved to boast.

Such a guy should be very safe, so how dare he burn down the government granary?

Moreover, his own little house was extremely secluded; how could Yang Yuan possibly know about it?

Wei Liangchen warned, "When you arrive at the Dali Temple, officials from the three judicial departments will all come."

"We were classmates, after all. I advise you to confess honestly."

"Without solid evidence, His Majesty would not have gone to such lengths."

"You can't deny it. Even if it's a capital offense, you'd better die with some dignity."

Qin Hui continued to deny it: "I am innocent... but not entirely innocent. I only accepted some calligraphy and paintings as gifts, and I would never dare to have committed any other wrongdoing."

"Let's talk about it when we get to Dali Temple," Wei Liangchen said, too lazy to say more.

……

Bai Chongyan and the other three ministers waited until the streets were clear before taking a carriage home—the Minister of Justice was not there; he had been called back to work overtime.

The residences of the six ministers were adjacent to each other.

When the group returned to their lodgings, they found that there were also guards there.

So instead of going home, they curiously walked towards the crowds and discovered that Qin Hui's official residence had been completely surrounded.

Some time ago, Li Gang succeeded Qin Hui in his position and was promoted to Minister of Works.

According to the original timeline, Li Gang should have died in despair by now, but he is alive and well in this timeline.

"Minister Qin has committed a shocking crime!" Li Gang exclaimed in horror. "Does Minister Bai know the inside story?"

Bai Chongyan shook his head and said, "I haven't received any news."

Hu Anguo, the Minister of Rites, said, "The officials of the Censorate and the Ministry of Justice have all been recalled to their offices."

"If Qin Hui had committed the crime alone, there would have been no need for such a large-scale investigation; I'm afraid his protégés and former officials would also have been investigated."

Li Gang guessed, "The Ming Dynasty has just been established, and everything needs to be rebuilt."

“In recent years, the whole country has been engaged in large-scale construction projects, especially the repair of official roads and water conservancy projects, all of which are related to the Ministry of Works and are very profitable.”

"It's likely an official from Qin Hui's faction who embezzled a lot of project funds. Now that their crimes have been exposed, a thorough investigation has been ordered."

Bai Chongyan and Hu Anguo nodded in agreement, agreeing that Li Gang's guess made sense.

The three watched from afar as more and more officials arrived.

In particular, the vice ministers of various ministries had their official residences near the minister's residence.

Upon learning that many palace guards had arrived, they all rushed to see what was happening, and at that moment, they began to discuss it amongst themselves.

Some people glanced at it secretly and were so frightened that they wanted to hide at home, but they were afraid of revealing their guilty conscience, so they could only continue to stand there pretending that nothing had happened.

For example, Wan Qixie.

Chapter 3902 Husband and wife are birds of the same forest

When Qin Hui served as the Director of the Imperial Academy, Wan Qixie served as the Registrar of the Imperial Academy. The two were in a direct superior-subordinate relationship.

Qin Hui initially wanted to break free from the Wang family and cultivate a power entirely of his own.

Wan Qixie also wanted to get on Qin Hui's good side, and thanks to their connection in the former Song Dynasty, the two hit it off immediately.

Unlike the ignorant and incompetent Yang Yuan, Wan Qixie was extremely capable, which is why Qin Hui regarded him as one of his most trusted confidants.

The relationship between Qin Hui and Wan Qixie is well-known.

The officials who had come to watch the spectacle immediately distanced themselves from Wan Qixie.

This resulted in a gap of several meters around Wan Qixie, making him an eyesore in the bustling streets.

Wan Qixie quickly replied, "My relationship with Qin... Qin Hui is merely superficial."

"He was the Imperial Academy Director in the former Song Dynasty, and I was the Imperial Academy Registrar in the former Song Dynasty. It was inevitable that we would become closer in the new Ming Dynasty."

"But I have absolutely no idea what corrupt or illegal things he did."

"I swear to God, I am absolutely not an accomplice of Qin Hui!"

No one, not even a fool, would believe such nonsense.

“I really have nothing to do with him,”

Unable to bear the strange looks, Wan Qixie pretended to be furious and stomped his foot, saying...

"If you don't believe me, I have nothing more to say."

"I'll go home and wait. With the Holy Emperor in power, he will certainly not wrong a good official!"

After saying that, the man turned and went home.

He also has a set of account books, which he needs to go back and burn quickly.

He converted all the money he embezzled into Ming Dynasty banknotes and regularly sent his trusted confidants back to Yangwu (Yuanyang, Henan).

That area was under the direct jurisdiction of Kaifeng Prefecture and was very close to Luoyang, making it very convenient to send someone there to hide.

As for Luoyang, there are still some precious notes that haven't been sent away. Let's burn them along with the account books!

Due to its authority and convenience, the Ming Dynasty's official paper money became an excellent tool for officials to embezzle and commit crimes.

They dared not exchange their money at the official exchange bureaus, and instead often sent trusted confidants.

It didn't matter if they charged higher fees when exchanging paper money at private silver shops.

When officials left office or retired, a small box could contain hundreds of thousands of strings of cash.

Unlike before, when we had to transport gold, silver, and copper coins by the cartload.

The Ming Dynasty Treasury Notes: A powerful tool for corruption!

……

Lady Wang had long since separated from Qin Hui.

Qin Hui lived in the official residence of the Minister, while Lady Wang lived in the private residence bestowed upon Qin Hui by the imperial court.

The area was surrounded by Gu San's troops, all exits were sealed off, and no one was allowed to enter or leave at will.

Upon hearing the commotion, Lady Wang, who had initially been aggressive, immediately deflated upon learning that it was a palace guard.

When Gu San led his troops into the inner courtyard to search, Wang Shi knelt down and wailed, "My life is so miserable... I knew that Qin Hui must have done something illegal, but I didn't have any real evidence to report him."

"He hasn't been home for many years, he only lives in the official residence, and he won't even let me step into the residence..."

"I, a descendant of the former prime minister of the Song Dynasty, married a down-on-his-luck scholar, thinking I had met my ideal husband... but I never expected that Qin Hui was such an ingrate."

"With the change of dynasties, my Wang family lost its power, and Qin Hui turned his back on us."

“He took concubines every year and no longer shared a room with me, or even a house with me.”