I remember that at the beginning of the second half of last year, the Chu State envoys were attacked near Yongqiu. More than two hundred people, including the escort soldiers from Fenxing Fortress, were not spared, which led to the Chu State declaring war on Wei.
This incident caused a stir in Daliang. At that time, countless people in Daliang were afraid day and night that Chu's army would come to Daliang. Until Su Wang Zhao Hongrun led the dredging camp to defeat Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng. The army gradually faded away in Daliang.
But now, it is replaced by the hottest topic at present, such as whether Hongli, the prince of the East Palace, was really abandoned by God.
But I didn't expect that Zhao Hongrun would mention the matter again to Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment.
"What is Mr. Zhou trying to hide?"
When His Highness Prince Su said these words with a smile, Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, could not help but shrink his eyes.
After a long time, Zhou Yan asked with a smile: "Is it possible that Your Highness is suspicious of me?"
"Hey!" Zhao Hongrun smiled and curled his lips, and said calmly: "Zhou Shangshu, don't interrupt me with jokes, you should understand what I mean." After that, he put away the smile on his face and said seriously: "Please tell me Let me take a look at the facts of this case."
The so-called case file refers to the text or file that is recorded in detail during the investigation of a case. Take the attack on the Chu envoy as an example. Officials from the Ministry of Punishments will note in detail the identities and origins of the two hundred deceased people in the case file. , the place of murder and the dead body, the environment around the place of crime, including any nearby gossip, etc.
Therefore, the best way to understand the attack is to read the case files.
But the problem is that the case records in the case record storehouse of the Ministry of Punishment cannot be browsed casually. Even if Zhao Hongrun is the king of Su, if there is no consent from the emperor, Zhou Yan, as the minister of the Ministry of punishment, has the right to refuse.
"This... I'm afraid it's not appropriate." Zhou Yan declined politely and cryptically.
Seeing that the other party declined politely, Zhao Hongrun laughed instead, nodded and said: "It seems that Zhou Shangshu has indeed found out something." After that, he looked up at Zhou Yan and continued with a smile: "Father, this morning Zhou Shangshu should also know about the imperial decree... I was innocently implicated. I had to go to the Ministry of Industry to be on duty. Right now, there is an unknown fire in my heart, with no way to vent... Either Zhou Shangshu will hand over the case. Give me a look, or I will make a big fuss here and ask the imperial guards to search the warehouse, and Zhou Shangshu will choose one."
Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, suddenly changed his expression when he heard this, and he suddenly realized that the Prince Su in front of him was definitely the most troublesome among the princes at times.
Just when Zhou Yan was hesitant and unable to make a decision, he suddenly saw Zhao Hongrun laughing: "Okay, let's just make a joke with Zhou Shangshu." After saying that, he lowered his voice and asked: "Zhou Shangshu refused to hand over the case. I am watching this because the Ministry of Punishment has confirmed that the murderer is from Wei, right?"
…
Zhou Yan's expression changed again when he heard this. He stared at Zhao Hongrun deeply, and after a while he sighed helplessly, nodded and said, "His Royal Highness, Prince Su, please follow me to the secret room for a detailed discussion."
After that, Zhou Yan invited Zhao Hongrun into a secret room of the Ministry of Punishment.
It is said to be a secret room, but in fact, in Zhao Hongrun's opinion, it is just an ordinary room. If there is any difference, it is that the sound insulation effect of such secret rooms is generally very good, which can prevent the possibility of ears in the partition wall to the greatest extent. occur.
After inviting Zhao Hongrun and several clan guards to sit in a secret room for a while, Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, returned again, holding a roll of cloth-made case books in his hand. It was as thick as an adult man's thigh.
Isn't this too exaggerated?
Zhao Hongrun muttered secretly in his heart.
But when Zhou Yan spread the case file on the table in the secret room, and when Zhao Hongrun clearly saw that the file was filled with dense records, he couldn't help but sigh: Between the case last year and this year, the Ministry of Punishment was here
The manpower and material resources invested in this case are probably beyond imagination.
"Your Highness Prince Su, this matter is of great importance, so please don't make it public." Zhou Yan warned from the side.
"Don't worry, I have a sense of discretion."
Zhao Hongrun nodded in response. He naturally understood why Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, paid so much attention to it. After all, if it was really the Wei people who did it, then it would be difficult for the records in this case to reach the ears of the Chu people.
Not only is Wei untenable in theory, it will also make the people in the country uneasy.
"Xiong Fen..."
Zhao Hongrun looked at the first name on the list of the deceased, then turned to look at Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, and finally realized why the Minister was so cautious.
At that time, he did not pay too much attention to this matter, so he only found out today that among the list of Chu envoys who were attacked, there was actually a noble Xiong from Chu State.
Xiong Fen, the younger brother of Di Yangjun Xiong Li, was twenty-eight years old, a scholar-bureaucrat...
Looking at the information about Xiong Fen in the case report, Zhao Hongrun frowned and asked, "Is this verified by the Ministry of Punishment itself, or was it given by the Chu State?"
"It is recorded on the list of envoys." Zhou Yan explained: "Before sending this envoy, the King of Chu submitted an additional list of envoys to Daliang, and Xiong Fen recorded it. It was at that time
The chief envoy of the envoy team.”
As he spoke, he pointed to the names after Xiong Fen in the case sect and added: "These people are the deputy envoys who assisted Xiong Fen, but the identities of the other twenty people have not yet been found by the Criminal Department, and Chu
There has been no response from the Chinese side.”
He didn't say any more, but Zhao Hongrun understood what he meant: At that time, Chu State was eager to send troops to fight, so there was no time to discuss the murderer with Wei Dynasty.
"There were a total of sixty-three Chu people who were attacked. Judging from their clothing and belongings, the number of the chief envoy, deputy envoy, and entourage was about thirty-three, and the remaining fifty were the guards of this team."
"How many soldiers did Fenxing Fortress send to protect them?"
"One hundred soldiers, led by Zhu You, a hundred-man general."
Hundreds of soldiers from Fenxing fortress...
Zhao Hongrun stretched out his hand and scratched his forehead, frowning and thinking.
Although he had not personally witnessed what the soldiers of Fenxing Fortress looked like on the battlefield, no matter how conservative he estimated, they would not be much worse than Junshui Camp.
After all, Fenxing Fortress is one of the six dignified garrison battalions, and it is the elite army of the Wei Dynasty on an equal footing with the Junshui Camp and the Dangshan Camp.
Therefore, Zhao Hongrun simply regarded the one hundred Fenxing soldiers as the one hundred Junshui camp soldiers.
But when you think about it this way, it’s outrageous.
We must know that one hundred dredging battalions can definitely defeat three hundred Shang Shuijun or Yan Shuijun. Could it be that the number of murderers who attacked this Chu envoy team was actually three to five hundred?
"Are there scattered people living near Yongqiu?" Zhao Hongrun asked.
As if he had guessed what Zhao Hongrun was thinking, Zhou Yan, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, shook his head and said: "My Ministry of Punishment asked the villagers in several villages near Yongqiu, and they said that they did not hear anyone fighting nearby in those nights."
…
Zhao Hongrun frowned when he heard this, and after thinking deeply for a moment, he asked: "The post house, the post house near Yongqiu, have you checked it?"
…
Zhou Yan, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, took a deep look at Zhao Hongrun, and then said in an incomprehensible tone: "His Highness asked to get to the bottom of things... When someone from the Ministry of Punishment went to check the post house near Yongqiu, they found that there was no one in the post house.
." As he said that, he didn't wait for Zhao Hong to
Run asked. He lowered his voice and added: "At that time, I realized that something was wrong and asked me to do an autopsy on the abdomen of the corpse. Although no poison was found, judging from the residue and smell in the abdomen, those people were dying.
I ate a lot of food and wine beforehand."
"Can you still smell alcohol when you're dissecting a dead body?"
"yes!"
"..." Zhao Hongrun understood immediately and frowned and said: "Master Zhou means that these people ate and drank a lot at the post house near Yongqiu, and drank until they were extremely drunk. They were killed.
Transported to the wilderness and killed, to fake the appearance of being attacked?"
"Yes!" Zhou Yan stared into Zhao Hongrun's eyes and affirmed again.
"Well..." Zhao Hongrun nodded and thought for a moment, suddenly feeling something was wrong, and said strangely: "No, even if the wine was drugged and the Chu people were stunned, the one hundred Fenxing soldiers... they
How is it possible..."
Having said this, Zhao Hongrun suddenly raised his head and happened to meet the eyes of Zhou Yan, Minister of the Ministry of Justice, who were staring at him intently.
"You...Mr. Zhou, do you suspect Fenxing Sai?!"
Zhao Hongrun opened his mouth, suppressed the horror in his heart, and asked in disbelief.
"Only in this way can we explain why the one hundred elite soldiers from Fenxing fortress died so easily...According to the inference of our Criminal Department, the number of people who attacked the Chu envoy was not very large. Logically speaking, there were not many of them at all.
It would not give those nearly two hundred people a chance to call for help or send a message."
How could it be Fenxing fortress?
Recalling the rough and bold appearance of Fenxing General Xu Yin in his mind, Zhao Hongrun shook his head and threw this speculation away.
Perhaps seeing that Zhao Hongrun had guessed what he was thinking, Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, simply stopped hiding anything and lowered his voice and said: "He is just one of the suspects."
"Impossible!" Zhao Hongrun shook his head and objected: "General Xu Yin was once the imperial guard of my father, how could he do such a thing?"
Zhou Yan shook his head and said calmly: "Zhou was just analyzing the case matter-of-factly. The soldiers who escorted the Chu envoy that time were soldiers from Fenxing fortress. If they were really killed without defense, then the biggest suspicion is
The general at Fenxing Fortress cannot be ruled out as even General Xu Yin."
"..."
"Of course, Zhou also considered General Xu Yin's loyalty to His Majesty, but what about the soldiers and generals under his command? The area near Fenxing Fortress has been attacked by the Chu army many times, and those who live nearby are all
They are the family members of the soldiers and generals in Fenxing Fortress..."
"It won't be the soldiers of Fenxing Fortress." Zhao Hongrun shook his head and said seriously: "Zhou Shangshu only considered that the soldiers of Fenxing Fortress would be full of hatred for the Chu people, but he did not take into account... the situation at that time.
Say, we, the great Wei Dynasty, are at war with Chu State
, which side has a better chance of winning? I believe that the soldiers and generals at Fenxing Fortress know who is strong and weak among each other. Therefore, it is too far-fetched to say that they want to take the opportunity to retaliate against the Chu people and start a war with them...
Hey, why are you in Yongqiu?"
The Chu envoy once stayed in Yongqiu, submitted his credentials to Daliang, and waited for my reply from Daliang to allow him to enter the city...
Zhou Yan thought for a while and said strangely: "An official from the Ministry of Rites pretending to welcome an envoy?"
As he said that, he touched his beard and murmured: "In this case, it is the driving department under the Ministry of War, which is more suspicious." Note: The driving department is responsible for the post houses in the country, and it is easy to control the envoys of Chu. Specific whereabouts.
But thinking about it carefully, Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, couldn't help but have a headache.
You must know that no matter who the murderer is, as long as the fact that he is a Wei person is established, it is not beneficial to the Wei Dynasty to trace the murderer clearly and expose it to the world.
It is precisely because of this that after Zhou Yan found out, he didn't really want to pursue it any further.
"Your Highness, do you really want to find out the truth?... Zhou thought it might be more appropriate to close the case here."
He persuaded Zhao Hongrun.
Zhao Hongrun understood what Zhou Yan meant. If you want to know the current situation, the Chu people insisted that it was the Wei people who did it, while the Wei court insisted that it was Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng.
But suddenly one day, the Wei court discovered the murderer, and it was confirmed that the murderer was from Wei. How will this end? How will he face Chu's accusation?
"Throwing the charge to Yangcheng Lord Xiong Tuo? Ha!" Zhao Hongrun smiled and shook his head, then looked at Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, and said solemnly: "Shang Shu, Zhou Yan, they are a group of guys who are trying to overthrow me, the Wei Dynasty. !...The Ministry of Punishment can cover up the truth, but how to ensure that those guys who are lurking in the dark and trying to do harm to me, Wei, will not plot against me, Wei again?"
"..." Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, had a stern look in his eyes.
As Zhao Hongrun said, Zhou Yan lost his enthusiasm to track down the murderer because he discovered that the murderer was most likely to be from Wei. He really ignored that those who attacked the Chu envoys were probably just to make Wei fall into conflict with Chu. The flames of war killed those Chu people.
It's not a good thing to have a group of guys like this lurking in the country.
Thinking of this, Zhou Yan, the Minister of Punishment, nodded heavily: "Your Highness, don't worry, Zhou will definitely find out the truth!"
"Thank you, Minister Zhou." Zhao Hongrun stood up and said goodbye.