Shi Yao didn't know it first, but a dragnet had already been thrown over his head. At this time, he was still drinking and exchanging drinks with a group of wealthy businessmen at the "Zhenhai Tower", the largest gold selling cave beside the canal.
The servants came to report that an adult from the Ministry of Punishment came and took away Zhao Jin who was waiting to be hanged in prison. Shi Yaoxian suddenly woke up. He had always been meticulous in doing things, but suddenly he felt that something was wrong.
Shuoshui City is close to Shangjing and close to the canal. Its prosperity is no less than that of Shangjing. It is just that there are many noble officials in Shangjing, while Shuoshui has many wealthy businessmen. Shi Yaoxian has been the prefect of Shuoshui for seventeen years. No matter how the situation of the dynasty changes,
, he is as free and steady as Mount Tai.
Every year, a large amount of gold and silver treasures are skillfully seized from the canal docks. In addition to lining their own pockets, most of them are sent to Liu Yun, the head of the Liu family, known as the largest family in Hexi.
Liu Yun was responsible for secretly giving most of the money to her sister in the palace, Chen Guifei Liu Jingxian, so that she would have enough money to win over people's hearts and pave the way for Prince Rui and Prince Qing to seize the throne.
Concubine Chen, mother and son, would provide him with the hobbies and weaknesses of various figures in the DPRK and China, so that Shi Yaoxian could curry favor with him in the right way, so that his position as the governor of Shuoshui City would become more secure and he could continue to seize property.
Shi Yaoxian was extremely skilled in ink-cutting. He only used large knives on wealthy businessmen, and his level of skill was comparable to that of a butcher cutting an ox. He knew exactly where to cut and how much meat to cut. Each noble family had clever names, such as
, if you want to ship the ship quickly, then it is natural to collect more tax money and give it to the treasury, right? As for the various cases in Shuoshui City and surrounding towns, basically there will be no major mistakes, and everything will be fine.
So far, Shi Yaoxian has received good reviews almost every year for the past seventeen years and has been praised by the Holy Lord every year. At this time, he himself did not expect that he would be involved in a case that was not even a big deal.
When Shi Yaoxian rushed back to the yamen, his most trusted staff member You Xu came to report: Zheng Peiming, one of the yamen servants who collected the prisoners' relatives, and his family were planning to escape with the money, but they were blocked and robbed by bandits in the Hulushan area outside the city.
The six members of the family, four adults and two children, were all hacked to death, and no one survived.
Shi Yaoxian's forehead was confused and he couldn't figure it out for a moment. A group of people in the yamen looked at him eagerly. He sat down and drank two cups of strong tea before he said: "Master Xia, please tell me the whole story of this matter first."
I'll tell you in detail."
Xia Zhengjun, the chief clerk who sentenced Qiao Ying to Jiao Li Jue, stammered and told Shi Yaoxian the facts of the case, and then complained aggrievedly: "Sir, I thought this case would have both witnesses and physical evidence, so Zhao Jin's
She was not fully clothed, was hanging out with the villagers, and had her uncle as a witness. Who would have thought that Zhao Jin's husband and mother-in-law would actually go to Beijing to report to the Ministry of Punishments."
The cell leader Jiang Guang also said with a bitter face: "Sir, the young men were thinking, if this is a lady from a serious family, how could a group of cousins come to stand up for her? That's why we accepted those 180 cousins.
It’s only ten taels of silver, but we helped deliver everything to Zhao Jinshi.”
"Then how did Zhao Jinshi get injured?" Shi Yaoxian asked expressionlessly: "Now that it has happened, you still want to hide it, is it okay?"
"Zheng Peiming, it was Zheng Peiming who set the scene." The prison head was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "I thought that those cousins gave me a lot of money, so I didn't touch Zhao Jin. But.
Zheng Peiming endured it for two days and couldn't help it! It was snowing that day and it was very cold. Zheng Peiming drank a few more drinks, relying on the strength of the wine, to, to pull Zhao Jinshi, then, then what. No one expected
, then Zhao Jinshi refused to obey, and slammed his head against the wall, unable to hold him back."
Shi Yao waved his hand first: "Jiang Guang, tell the jailers how much silver you have collected these days and hand them over. Take the initiative to admit your mistake, and I will give you a light punishment if I think of it. This matter will be over."
Jiang Guang was so happy that he kowtowed on the ground several times: "Thank you, sir, thank you, sir. The little one will go immediately."
"Master Xia, as the New Year is approaching, there are many complicated matters on the canal. Since this month, you have been representing the cases in the government office. Please go through all the cases again, especially those where prisoners are admitted. If there are any mistakes,
If the judgment is wrong, correct it immediately. If you really can't change it, list it for me and I will report the crime to the Holy Lord."
"Sir, my subordinates will take care of it immediately."
"The time is urgent, Mr. Gao, please take this time to stay with Master Xia to help." Shi Yaoxian's two most capable aides, Gao Baixian and You Xu, were both called "sir" by Shi Yaoxian to show respect.
Shi Yaoxian, who had arranged everything properly, was still restless, vaguely feeling that something was wrong, but he had no clue.
You Xu saw that everyone was doing their own work, so he approached Shi Yaoxian and lowered his voice and said: "Sir, now several princes are staying in Shangjing, each in charge of one department. I have carefully considered that this year's money must not be as good as the previous ones."
Last year, for the sake of convenience, I shipped half of it directly to the empress. I helped you arrange it and divided it into three batches to be shipped to Hexi. The first batch has been loaded on the ship. It borrowed the name of Shengtong Liangmi Store.
This year's silver and hundreds of exquisite gifts will be sent to Mr. Liu. The next two batches, one million taels of silver notes, are easy to carry and can be taken by land, while the other batch will still be taken by water."
Shi Yaoxian only felt a ray of sunshine illuminating the earth: "Mr. You has thought carefully. It seems that someone wants to start from my side, and his plan is very big!"
"Your Excellency, your eyes are as bright as a torch. King Qi's biological mother, Concubine Xie Shun, was born in a humble family. No matter how smart King Qi is, his foundation is too shallow to worry about. We must be careful in everything. Over at Zhaojiaji, I personally went to stabilize King Qi and took the initiative to admit it.
Wrong, re-examine the case. When the time comes, your Excellency will bring out the jailer to scare the monkeys, and then issue an apology letter."
"Having said that, Xiao Bo has always been impartial since he took up the post of Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Why is he involved in this matter now?"
"Xiao Bo's eldest daughter married King Jin and became his concubine. However, the Holy Lord has always disliked King Jin the most. Xiao Bo considers himself a true minister. I guess it was just his duty, so he sent someone to investigate the case and happened to catch up with her."
"I always feel uneasy!" Shi Yaoxian pinched the center of his eyebrows with his hands: "That's all, the night is long and the dreams are many. I will go to the dock in person tomorrow and send the cargo out immediately to avoid any complications."
Shi Yaoxian never expected that he wouldn't even be able to wait until dawn.
Li Wei and Zhao Baoshan ordered 600 city guards and rushed to Shuoshui overnight. Li Wei's troops were divided into three groups with extremely clear goals. Li Wei led them all the way and went directly to Shi Yaoxian's private house, taking Shi Yaoxian's private treasury and a pile of account books.
, all the items were counted in detail at the first time, and the account books were sealed separately and prepared to be presented directly to the Holy Lord.
Li Wei's personal entourage led a second group of people and intercepted the boat moored at the pier carrying the flag of Longsheng Grain Company. As expected, the boat was filled with all kinds of rare and valuable things, plus one million taels of silver.
, one hundred thousand taels of gold.
Zhao Baoshan led the last group of people to seal the entire yamen, cleared out all the files and documents, and checked them carefully.
Then additional troops were sent to "invite" all the Yamen personnel back one by one to assist in the investigation.