At the beginning, I became a county magistrate with greed of 500 million. The empress asked me to be

After Wei Chengmo spoke, Chen Ming carefully looked through the memorial of charges submitted by Wei Chengmo.

The details of Xia Yun's collusion with the Japanese pirates and the murder of soldiers on twelve grain transport ships were described very clearly in the memorial.

It also records the case of Xia Yun colluding with Japanese pirates to murder Zhong Mingren, the garrison commander of Jiangning Prefecture.

The general meaning is that Zhong Mingren, the garrison commander of Jiangning Prefecture, discovered the truth that Xia Yun was colluding with the Japanese pirates, but was captured by Xia Yun and thrown into the prefectural dungeon, and then secretly executed by Xia Yun.

Every incident made Chen Ming shudder with fear.

Before coming to Hangzhou, Chen Ming had no idea so many changes had happened.

"Xia Yun, I want to ask you, the twelve grain transport ships from Huguang and Hubei provinces were safe all the way, but they sank in the waters of Songshan Island near Hangzhou?!"

At this moment, Chen Hanzhi suddenly stood up.

The trial has reached this point and he has to step in personally.

"Master Chen, you are joking. I am not a god. How can I predict everything?"

"Besides, although I am the prefect of Hangzhou, I have been in office for less than a month. I believe that Lord Chen is more familiar with the case of the Songshan Island shipwreck."

Xia Yun smiled and didn't show any panic at all because of Chen Hanzhi's fate.

"Humph! You are clearly just quibbling!"

"As the prefect of Hangzhou, you are in charge of all military and political affairs in Hangzhou. If you hadn't colluded with the Japanese pirates and leaked the grain transportation route, how could the Japanese pirates have hijacked the grain transport ship so easily!"

Chen Hanzhi scolded harshly.

"Bring the witness to court!"

Without waiting for Chen Ming to speak, Chen Hanzhi took over the responsibility and waved his hand.

Soon after the words were spoken, two bailiffs brought a man who looked like an ordinary citizen to the court.

"Who is here? What do you want to say?"

Chen Ming looked at the visitor with a serious expression. The difficulty of the matter was more troublesome than he had expected.

Collaboration with the Japanese is a serious crime that will not be pardoned by all nine generations of the family.

Although he is an imperial censor, if he doesn't handle things properly, he could easily bring disaster upon himself.

"My name is Wang Dalei, I am from Hangzhou, and I live near the Hangzhou Canal Transport Port."

"On the 25th of this month, I saw with my own eyes at the Caoyun Wharf that the prefect was with a group of Japanese pirates. It was not until dawn that the prefect sent the pirates on board."

Wang Dalei spoke timidly, his behavior and demeanor really looked like that of an honest ordinary citizen.

However, in Xia Yun's eyes, this trick seemed too childish.

There is no doubt that this guy was arranged by Chen Hanzhi to give false testimony.

"Wang Dalei, do you know the consequences of framing an official appointed by the imperial court?"

At this time, Chen Ming spoke again.

His eyes looked at Wang Dalei, and a light of varying brightness flickered deep in his pupils.

"In reply to your words, I know, so everything I say is true, without a single word of falsehood."

Wang Dalei responded immediately.

"Xia Yun, you colluded with the Japanese pirates, robbed the relief grain, and killed the imperial officials without authorization. If you still have a trace of conscience in your heart, tell us everything immediately!"

At this moment, an angry rebuke came out of Chen Hanzhi's mouth again.

From the beginning of the trial until now, Xia Yun had a calm expression on his face, which made him very angry.

"Killing an official appointed by the imperial court without authorization? Sir Chen, do you have any evidence?"

Xia Yun still just smiled.

"Evidence? Humph! The death of General Zhong Mingren is the most powerful evidence!"

"Brother Yannian, in my opinion, if I don't torture him, Xia Yun will probably not confess the truth. It would be better to let the yamen runners beat him with a stick 100 times first, and then interrogate him!"

As Chen Hanzhi spoke, his gaze shifted to Chen Ming.

He had just witnessed Chen Ming's ruthless side with his own eyes, and he believed that the other party would not refuse his proposal.

However, as soon as Chen Hanzhi finished speaking, Chen Ming shook his head on the spot.

"Xia Yun has not been convicted, and as a fourth-rank official of the imperial court, he cannot be punished."

Chen Ming refused quite straightforwardly.

Frustrated, Chen Hanzhi had a gloomy look in his eyes. He turned around and wanted to continue venting his anger towards Xia Yun.

However, the next words that came out of Xia Yun's mouth were like a basin of cold water poured on his head.

"Master Chen, are you so sure... that Zhong Mingren is dead?"

Suddenly, Xia Yun looked at Chen Hanzhi with a teasing look in his eyes.

Hearing this, Chen Hanzhi was shocked at first.

After noticing Xia Yun's expression, Chen Hanzhi suddenly had a bad feeling.

The next moment, Xia Yun shouted in a low voice: "Bring the people up!"

After he finished speaking, Jiang Wenzhong appeared in the court for the third time.

This time, the person following Jiang Wen was not someone else, but Zhong Mingren, the fourth-rank commander of Jiangning Prefecture who had died as mentioned by Chen Hanzhi!

The appearance of Zhong Mingren was like a bombshell, instantly shocking all the officials present except Xia Yun.

"Isn't this person... already dead?"

"General Zhong, are you a human or a ghost?"

"..."

In the court, after the officials recovered from their shock, they began to discuss the matter.

The two most shocked people in the hall were naturally Zuo Anning and Chen Hanzhi.

After Zhong Mingren appeared, both of them looked at each other at the same time.

It's slightly different.

There was a raging rage in Chen Hanzhi's eyes.

The look on his face was clearly questioning Zuo Anning.

Why is Zhong Mingren still alive? !

Zuo Anning looked at a loss, and it was obvious that he couldn't answer this question either.

It can only be attributed to the lies told by those Japanese pirates.

At this time, Chen Ming noticed Chen Hanzhi's reaction, and a hint of clarity appeared in his eyes.

"Who is standing in the hall?"

Chen Ming spoke.

"In reply to your Excellency's words, the guilty general is Zhong Mingren, the fourth-rank guard of Jiangning Prefecture."

As Zhong Mingren spoke, he fell to his knees with a thud.

When everyone in the room heard Zhong Mingren personally confirm his identity, they all looked at Chen Hanzhi at the first moment.

It's obvious that Zhong Mingren is not dead.

Not only is he not dead, but he is alive and well!

"Since this is a court trial, why do you call yourself a criminal?"

Chen Ming raised his eyebrows and noticed something wrong in Zhong Mingren's words.

"I sincerely report to the imperial envoy that I have committed an unpardonable crime. On July 24, Zuo Anning, the governor of Zhejiang Province, secretly ordered me to purchase the poisonous Qili grass from Jiangyin County."

"Then he ordered the criminal general to depart from the port of Jiangning Prefecture, board twelve large grain-carrying ships from Huguang Province, and kill all the soldiers on the twelve grain-carrying ships with poison!"

The appearance of Zhong Mingren is itself a bombshell.

Then what Zhong Mingren said at this moment was no less powerful than dozens of thunderbolts, which landed on the governor's office on the spot.

Most of the officials, who had not yet recovered from the shock, showed expressions of extreme shock on the road.

Chen Hanzhi and Zuo Anning had extremely ugly expressions on their faces; the trial had completely gone out of their control at this point.