Then Zhen Dexiu immediately ordered people to search the two of their mansions, and found many Jiaozi who should have been burned. This was more conclusive and irrefutable evidence.
Faced with irrefutable evidence, Zhen Dexiu's interrogation of the two men naturally went smoothly. In order to be treated leniently and not to harm their families, the two could only confess truthfully.
It turns out that when Li Qin experienced the destruction of Jiaozi for the first time, he came up with the idea of secretly replacing Jiaozi.
You must know that these exchanges are all money, you can use them when you take them out, and each one has a huge face value. If you stuff it into your arms, no one will know.
He thought that his participation in the destruction of Jiaozi was a God-given opportunity. It was God who wanted him to make this windfall. If God doesn't take it, he will suffer the consequences. When the time comes, he will suffer the consequences. Li Qin became more determined.
.
But it was very difficult for him to act alone, so he persuaded He Mengcai to conspire with him. One of them was in the Sansi Yamen and the other was in the Household Department. The two colluded with each other, so the difficulty was greatly reduced.
He Mengcai couldn't stand the temptation of money and finally agreed.
Because the two of them were the last people involved in the destruction and review, they were familiar with the process. After the final inventory and verification of Jiaozi, they took the opportunity to cooperate and switched the Jiaozi when it was finally burned. Even if some people were suspicious, Jiaozi was still burned.
It's ashes and there's no way to check it.
Then they brought Jiaozi out, found the shopkeeper Zhao Siyou, Qian Chu and others outside, and asked them to help them exchange Jiaozi into gold, silver and copper coins.
However, they are not fools. They can accept the exchange at a low price and let Zhao Siyou and others earn benefits, but there is one requirement, that is, Jiaozi must be used in other places, and the farther away from Lin'an, the better.
In this way, after colluding, in a short period of time, they secretly traded the Jiaozi with a face value of 90,000 guan. After the successful sale, they made a profit of more than 50,000 guan without any mistakes.
Everything was going perfectly, but the problem was with the shopkeeper Zhao Siyou. This time, Li Kuan handed over the jiaozi to Zhao Siyou and asked him to send him to another place to exchange for gold and silver.
Not wanting to coincide with Zhao Siyou's father-in-law's birthday and in need of gifts, Zhao Siyou happened to have a problem at hand, so he secretly left a few hundred strings of money and gave it to his father-in-law as a congratulatory gift.
However, he did not expect that his father-in-law would turn around and deposit Jiaozi into the bank where Zhao Siyou lived. Because it was his son-in-law's bank, he could safely deposit it.
But it happened that just after his father-in-law left, Zhen Dexiu's son Zhen Zhidao came to exchange the jiaozi. Zhao Siyou was not around at that time, so 280 of these jiaozi passed into Zhen Zhidao's hands, and the matter was revealed.
This is really a fateful decision. Zhao Siyou died in the hands of Li Kuan in the end, and his death was not unjust.
The truth of the case came to light, and Zhao Yun specifically asked Zhen Dexiu to submit the dossier at the court meeting to show that he attached great importance to the case.
On March 5, the second year of Hengsheng, there was a court meeting in the Chui Gong Hall, and hundreds of officials went to the hall to pay homage to the king. Zhen Dexiu handed Zhao Yun the file on the Jiaozi case.
Gao Shi took the file and handed it to Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun read it carefully. He was naturally angry with Li Qin and He Mengcai who were involved in the case and showed no mercy.
Zhao Yun said: "If you dare to reach out for coins and don't chop off his head, how can you frighten the world and kill him? Li Qin will be killed, He Mengcai will be killed, and the shopkeepers who sold the stolen goods to him will also be killed. None of them will be spared."
At this time, the Right Prime Minister Qiao Xingjian came out to persuade, saying: "Your Majesty, Li Qin, and He Mengcai have pleaded guilty and are willing to pay double the gold and silver to atone for their sins. It is rare for them to be willing to commit suicide and to show serious repentance.
Moreover, they are civil servants and officials. We, the Song Dynasty, have never killed scholar-officials, so why not spare their lives and exile them to Qiongzhou. This will not only punish them, but also enhance your majesty's reputation for benevolence."
The third envoy Cheng Ju also stood up to plead for mercy. He raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the amount of money they involved in the case is not very large, and it has not caused serious consequences. It is better to keep their lives for the time being to show our court's tolerant attitude towards ministers and encourage them to be treated favorably.
If more scholars serve the imperial court, wouldn't it be more beautiful? Maybe it will create a good story in the future."
Later, several ministers came out to plead for Li Qin and He Mengcai, hoping that Zhao Yun would follow the tradition of the Song Dynasty and not kill the scholar-bureaucrats, but spare the lives of Li Qin and He Mengcai.
Zhao Yun looked at them coldly and said leisurely: "If it is as you said, then what do you think you should do with the shopkeepers who sold the stolen goods?"
Qiao Xingjian said: "They have no official status and no fame, so they should be questioned and killed in order to rectify the country's laws."
Cheng Ju also nodded and said: "According to the laws of the Song Dynasty, those shopkeepers must be killed. If they are not killed, the people will not be angry."
"It's very true, it's impossible not to kill those people."
Zhao Yun's eyes revealed murderous intent, and as if he felt Zhao Yun's anger, His Highness's officials also consciously closed their mouths one by one.
Some people even regretted in their hearts, saying that the officials seemed unhappy, hey, it's not their own business, why bother to provoke the officials, carelessness, carelessness.
"Hahaha,,,"
Zhao Yun glanced at them and then laughed.
After laughing, Zhao Yun said: "In the same case, the principal criminal can avoid death and redeem his crime with gold and silver, but the accomplice must die. In this case, you high-ranking officials who call themselves gentlemen can actually say it with confidence,
Very good, very good, your saints’ classics are really well read.”
Qiao Xingjian, Cheng Jue and others all felt aggrieved after hearing this. Qiao Xingjian spoke earnestly and raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the rule of the world should be dominated by scholar-officials. Treat them well, advocate culture and education, and fully absorb the hearts of the scholar-officials and prosper the country."
Chao, this is the national policy set by Emperor Taizu, we do not hesitate to offend Long Yan, for the sake of our country and the country of the Song Dynasty."
"Yes, yes, Your Majesty, we are also doing it for the sake of the country and the country."
Some officials agreed with Qiao Xingjian.
It is true that, just like Li Qin and He Mengcai's case, if it were placed in the past, they would not have been sentenced to death, but only exiled.
But that was before. Can Zhao Yun still bear to not kill him now?
Zhao Yun said resolutely: "When I executed Shi Miyuan, I said that the era of not killing scholar-bureaucrats in the Song Dynasty has passed. From now on, no matter who violates the national law, they will be dismissed from office and exiled."
"If you should kill, you must kill. You can take whatever you want. A grain of rat excrement spoils a pot of soup. What use do I have with such a rat excrement heart?"
When all the officials saw that Zhao Yun was angry, they all shut up and did not dare to say anything more.
In this way, the fate of Li Qin and He Mengcai was destined.
Then Zhao Yun looked at Zhen Dexiu and said: "Zhen Dexiu's family, although this matter has been dealt with, there are still huge loopholes in the destruction of Jiaozi. Your family must learn a lesson and never let similar things happen again."