The old east wind comes to dream

Without time delay, Gu Zizhan immediately followed Xing Kang and others to the Yamen of Jingzhao Mansion.

After seeing Jing Zhaoyin's fifth inscription, several people followed the yamen servant to meet Wei Duo, a member of the judicial army who was directly handling the case.

According to reports, the case took place in Fu'an County under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Prefecture.

The public security of the capital is under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Prefecture, but due to the large size of the city, for the convenience of governance, the capital is divided into Dongcheng and Xicheng from Xuanque Street in the center, also known as Dongcheng and Xicheng. The east is Shoukang County and the west is Fuan County .

In this case, someone bypassed the Fu'an County Yamen and stuffed the secret letter directly into the bronze bell in front of the Jingzhao Mansion Yamen.

That day was the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the first day of the opening of the Yamen. Fifth Ming went to the Jingzhao Mansion to go to the Yamen. The Yamen servants rang the bell as usual, and found the secret letter of denunciation that fell out of the bronze bell.

Listening to the introduction of Wei Duo, a judicial officer in Jingzhao Prefecture, Gu Zizhan took the secret letter and studied it carefully.The handwriting on the letter was very scribbled, but it stated in detail that someone in the East Palace privately minted official silver, and stated the amount and amount of privately minted official silver, as well as the location where the fake official silver was stored.The inscription is "loyalty", which is obviously a pseudonym.

The Jingzhao Mansion received the secret letter, since private casting of official silver is a major matter, naturally it should not be taken lightly, immediately, Fifth Ming arranged for Wei Duo to personally lead people to search according to the secret letter.It is inconvenient to publicize this search, and the address mentioned in the letter happened to be in Chengxiang, which is under the jurisdiction of Fu'an County in the outer city, which is a place where fish and dragons are mixed.Wei Duo had no choice but to ask his subordinates to surround the gate of the workshop first, and then search inside in the name of inspecting the hidden population.

I just went to the private house to search, but I didn't find any traces of private casting of official silver and storage of fake silver.

Seeing nothing, Wei Duo was about to take people away, when he noticed that one of the crowd outside was dressed as a scholar, standing among a group of three religions and nine streams was particularly eye-catching.Seeing that the officer had noticed him, this person ran out immediately.

But after all, a scholar, how can he outrun the Yamen police who specialize in arrests.After being caught, the scholar was so frightened that he cried for his father and mother, and it didn't take much effort to recognize him as Cao Yan, Si Zang Cheng of the East Palace Si Zang Department.

After hearing this, the people of Jingzhao Mansion immediately took Cao Yan back to the Yamen, and found 20 taels of fake official silver from Cao Yan's baggage.

Cao Yan immediately yelled that he was wronged, and only said that he was entrusted by others to spend the money, and he didn't know anything else.However, Wei Duo had been a judicial officer for many years and joined the army, so he was very experienced in interrogation. After some torture and interrogation, Cao Yan confessed that he had indeed participated in several smuggling of royal supplies.

According to Cao Yan, he tried for a long time but failed. The year before last, he was introduced by a fellow villager to work in the East Palace as an errand.It stands to reason that the scribes of the Eastern Palace should at least be a scholar, but his fellow countryman is so clever that he just arranged for him to come in for nothing.

After entering, Cao Yan was also winking, and soon got into a heated fight with the group of old scribes in Zhan Shifu in the East Palace.One of them, Cao Guangshou, not only has the same surname as Cao Yan, but also a fellow villager, so they are called brothers.

Cao Guangshou's uncle is Liu Chong, a member of Zhan Shifu's family in the East Palace. He has a lot of experience in the East Palace, and was soon promoted to be the sixth-rank secretary of Zhan Shifu.Cao Guangshou naturally rose with the tide, and became the Ninth Rank Secretary of the Department of Tibet.It happened that another Si Zangcheng retired from his old age and returned to his hometown, so he recommended Cao Yan.

After Cao Yan took office, he was in cahoots with Cao Guangshou.The Department of Tibet is in charge of the East Palace's money transfers and the preservation and management of the treasures in the warehouse. It also acts as an agent for the East Palace to purchase on weekdays, which is a big job.The original chief officer of the Department of Tibetan Affairs was an old man, but he resigned in the second year due to old age, and Cao Guangshou was promoted to Supervisor of Tibetan Affairs.From then on, the Si Zang Office completely became Er Cao's private treasury, and the two worked hand in hand, and embezzled a lot of money from it.

This year, Cao Guangshou's uncle Liu Chong was transferred to another place. Cao Guangshou was worried that no one would protect him, so he made an agreement with Cao Yan that after making a big deal, he would resign from the East Palace and go to join Liu Chong.

So, according to what Cao Guangshou said, Cao Yan sold some of the old, inconspicuous but valuable small objects in the Department of Tibetan Affairs outside the palace for him, and transported the things for him several times, and stored them in the palace. In this courtyard that was being watched by the Jingzhao Mansion.

How to smuggle them out of the palace, what to transport, and how to contact the buyers were all arranged by Cao Guangshou, Cao Yan only knew that he didn't know anything.Cao Guangshou shared the stolen money with him eighty-two.

As for why he was here this time, it was Cao Guangshou who suddenly arranged for him to take 300 taels of silver out of the capital and told him to spend it all.The only condition is - stay away from Gyeonggi and Jingzhaofu.

Cao Yan spent most of the silver in the Hexi and Hedong prefectures adjacent to Jingzhao Mansion, leaving 50 taels for private hiding.But he didn't dare to hide it all in his own home, thinking that the yard had not been used for a long time, so he planned to hide it here.But he didn't expect that when he came across the Jingzhao Mansion to investigate the case, he was caught right away.But he insisted that he did not know that the money was fake official money.

Naturally, Wei Duo didn't believe it all, and immediately ordered his men to arrest Cao Guangshou, and led others to search Cao Yan's house.Thirty taels of fake official silver were found in the vegetable cellar of Cao Yan's home, and nearly a hundred taels of silver were found in bits and pieces from the kang and walls of his home. Silver accounts for about fifty-six out of ten.In addition, there are house deeds, land deeds, and many gold and silver jewels. After conversion, there are as many as 30 taels.

This is by no means something that can be earned with a few small deals as he said.

But the party that went to arrest Cao Guangshou encountered some troubles.

Just half a month ago, Cao Guangshou made an in-law relationship with Zhongyun Liu Shengwen of Zuochunfang in the East Palace. At this time, he heard that the Jingzhao Mansion came to arrest him, so he hid in Zhun Yue's mansion and did not go out.

Zhongyun was from the fifth rank, and the servants of the Jingzhao Mansion who went to arrest him couldn't open the door. When Wei Duo rushed there in person, Cao Guangshou had already run away from the dog hole in the backyard.It's a shame that Liu Shengwen is still relentless, saying that Wei Duo came to his house to arrest people without evidence, and made trouble in front of Jing Zhaoyin Fifth Ming.

At this time, Cao Yan was the only one who could identify Cao Guangshou. Wu Ming didn't want to have any grudges with the East Palace because of this matter, so he could only ask Wei Duo to step up the investigation and get more clues from Cao Yan.

Wei Duo checked the house deeds and land deeds found from Cao Yan's house one by one. After spending nearly half a month, he found impressions, iron buckets, beds Machines and other utensils that can be used to privately mint official silver, and at the same time, a map with illegible writing was also found.I took it back and compared it with the handwriting of Cao Yan and Cao Guangshou, and found that it was Cao Guangshou's handwriting.

Immediately, Wei Duo immediately took people to Liu Shengwen's residence to bring Cao Guangshou back.

But what people didn't expect was that that night, Cao Guangshou died in the prison of Jingzhao Mansion.

Liu Shengwen immediately reported the matter to the chief official of Zuochunfang in the East Palace—Zuo Shuzi Pei Wenqing, and Pei Wenqing immediately reported the incident to Xu Ruogu in the East Palace Zhan.Xu Ruogu had a half-teacher friendship with the crown prince, and was Taifu Chu's favorite student, so the crown prince and Taifu Chu naturally knew about this matter.

And here, Fifth Ming, as the Governor of Jingzhao, naturally wrote this matter into a memorial, and presented it to Emperor Tianshun in the court meeting on the second day.

So, above the court, I saw that both sides insisted on their own opinions.Pei Wenqing and Xu Ruogu reprimanded the Jingzhao government for handling the case poorly, arresting people without informing the East Palace, and abusing harsh tortures and involving lives.The fifth inscription blames Donggong Zuochunfang and Zhan Shifu for ignoring the criminal code, obstructing the case, and shielding the criminals, and the two sides quarreled.

Chu Taifu suddenly spoke out, but did not explain the case. He only said that Jingzhao Mansion did not know Fu'an County for trial, and he did not negotiate with Hedong Mansion when he visited Hedong Mansion.

As soon as he opened his mouth, Xu Ruogu also turned his voice, pleading guilty to Emperor Tianshun, saying that he was not good at imperial power, and begging for punishment.

The two of them sang together, and Wu Ming didn't say a word, and he was already confirmed in Emperor Tianshun's heart for exceeding his authority and dereliction of duty.Fifth Ming was well aware of this, but he couldn't say anything more.

Emperor Tianshun ordered that the case be transferred to Dali Temple, and the source and flow of these privately minted official silver must be ascertained. As for Cao Yan's private sale of the East Palace collection with Cao Guangshou and other issues that may be involved in the East Palace, Then leave it to the prince to check.One case is divided into two cases, which shows Emperor Tianshun's heart to protect the prince.

However, Emperor Tianshun's behavior not only chilled the hearts of Jingzhao Mansion, but also caused a lot of discussion in the court.There is a problem with the officials of the East Palace. Although Emperor Tianshun ordered the prince to investigate, it is impossible for the prince to investigate the case himself, and he has to arrange Zhan Shifu to do it.In this way, wouldn't it be self-checking, and how can we ensure impartiality?

**********

When Wei Duo and others talked about this matter in Jingzhao Mansion, they were also indignant.

From their point of view, Cao Guangshou was already a serious suspect. If Zhongyun Liu Shengwen of Zuochunfang in the East Palace hadn't shielded him from the beginning, he had been arrested and interrogated.Moreover, the Jingzhao Mansion is half a level higher than the Hedong Mansion. Even cross-district investigations are common. In the past, those officials and lords did not say that they exceeded their powers. Now they are involved in themselves. Wrong place.

Hearing this, Gu Zizhan also had some doubts, and couldn't help asking: "Then what is the cause of Cao Guangshou's death?"

As soon as she opened her mouth, she felt a slip of the tongue, and sure enough, she saw Xing Kang looking at her.Take a step back and don't say more.

Xing Kang glanced at Gu Zizhan, then looked at Wei Duo, nodded and said, "Indeed, why did this Cao Guangshou die?"

Wei Duo didn't care about Gu Zizhan's interruption, and replied casually: "It's definitely not death by action, and I, Jingzhao Manor, have a clear conscience. That kid was probably exhausted by drinking and lust, and passed out as soon as he brought him back. He started foaming at the mouth without saying a word, and called the medical officer to see that he was already dead."

Xing Kang frowned slightly, and said to the two Sicheng beside him: "I'm so sorry that Li Sicheng took Fu Sizhi to hand over the case file and related evidence to the adults of Jingzhao Mansion, Wang Sicheng and Wang Sizhi Take someone to bring Cao Guangshou's body and belongings back to Dali Temple." After finishing speaking, seeing the two temple ministers taking the people away, he turned to look at Wei Duo and said, "Please also invite Wei Canjun to lead the way. Then go and take that Cao Yan away." Then he said to Gu Zizhan, "Gu Sicheng, come with me."

Wei Duo and Xing Kang were waiting outside, and Gu Zizhan followed the yamen servants into the cell of Jingzhao Mansion.

The prison cell in Jingzhao Mansion is inside the high wall. First, there are two rows of low bungalows facing each other. Each room is about three square meters, and there are seven or eight people crowded inside.The doors and windows are small and unshielded, only fine cast iron stands upright, the walls are one meter thick, the iron railings are two fingers wide, and the gap between them is about an inch. The inside is filthy and stinky.I heard from the yamen servant that only those with minor crimes can live here.

Going further in, it was still a short house, but the doors and windows were much smaller. Gu Zizhan knew that the prisoners held here must have had heavier punishments than those he had seen before.

When I walked to the other houses, there were no doors or windows, and there was only a ventilation hole the size of half a palm under the eaves. This was a death row.

As the yamen servants opened the cell door, the stench and bloody smell mixed with it, almost knocking Gu Zizhan down.

When the door was wide open, Gu Zizhan saw a person lying on the ground inside, his hands, feet and limbs were all entangled with iron chains. The iron chains were very long and firmly nailed to the wall behind.

A yamen servant stepped forward, grabbed the man's messy hair, lifted his head and took a look, then said to the outside world: "Put on the shackles and take him away!"

Several yamen servants stepped forward and dragged the man up from the ground, put on shackles from top to bottom, and dragged the man out.

Standing in the sun, Gu Zizhan looked at Cao Yan who was covered in blood and filth like a puddle of mud in front of him, and felt that the warm sun in early spring was so thin compared to the dark prison cell, and it was impossible to dispel the long-term dampness with the cold.

Cao Yan had a face of defeat, his body was limp and unable to stand up, but he forced his head up and looked at Gu Zizhan.

He stared at Gu Zizhan with empty and cloudy eyes for a long time, then he grinned and murmured, "You are finally here."