Bai Wenxuan was stunned for a moment, and then immediately looked at Feng Xianzhang with bloodshot eyes.
Feng Xianzhang said: "Master Bai, I have no choice but to do this. Your mouth is too tough. Otherwise, I might not be able to pry your mouth open!"
"You'd better confess honestly. As long as you recruit him now, I will never embarrass your two sons. But if you still don't confess, I can't guarantee it."
"Okay, let my son go. Whatever you ask, I will answer." Bai Wenxuan said word by word.
"I released your son, what should you do if you don't recruit him again?" Feng Xianzhang asked.
"You can catch them back at any time, how dare I not do it?" Bai Wenxuan said.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't think of it just now." After Feng Xianzhang said this very falsely, he said to the person next to him: "You, send the two young masters back to the county government." The man agreed and took them with him.
The two children, trembling and speechless, walked out.
After they walked out of the interrogation room, Feng Xianzhang turned back to Bai Wenxuan and said, "Now Mr. Bai can recruit."
"I'm recruiting. The reason why I deliberately talked too much to prevent the Li family and the Shang family from cooperating with the government is because I despise merchants from the bottom of my heart and also opposed His Majesty's policy towards merchants a while ago. I..."
Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Feng Xianzhang: "Master Bai, you'd better tell the truth. If you really despise businessmen from the bottom of your heart, you could have refused when His Majesty ordered you, and His Majesty will never do it because of you
If you refuse, I will depose you, Mr. Bai. There is no need to say this kind of lie which is a lie at first sight."
Although Bai Wenxuan saw that this reason could not fool him, he still persisted for a few more words. It was not until Feng Xianzhang threatened his son again that he changed his mind and said, "What I just said was indeed a lie. The real reason is this."
"The Li family has offended me before. One time I summoned the head of his family, and the man's attitude was not very respectful. I am a high-ranking official after all, and no matter how rich and powerful the Li family is, they are just businessmen at the bottom of the four peoples.
How could I not care if you are disrespectful? What's more, the Li family has been evading taxes, which has resulted in the commercial tax revenue being insufficient in the two years since I took over as magistrate of Wu County. I can only increase the taxes of other merchants. Of course I am dissatisfied with the Li family."
"As for the Shang family, since I have said unnecessary things to the Li family, I can only make the same mistake again and again. Who would have thought that His Majesty would suddenly send two merchants to inquire again."
Bai Wenxuan's reason is at least quite reasonable, and he has indeed been causing trouble for the Li family in the past year. From time to time, he sent officials to the Li family's shop to check the accounts, causing the Li family to suffer considerable losses.
However, "I also know that the head of the Li family offended you, but later the Li family went to the county government many times to apologize and was willing to make up for the taxes, but you never accepted the Li family's apology. According to your own words, explain
It doesn’t make sense.” Feng Xianzhang said.
"To be honest, I really don't understand why you have to have trouble with the Li family, but it's definitely not because the Li family is disrespectful to you."
Bai Wenxuan used this excuse for a long time, and then sighed and said: "Then let me tell the truth. I have fallen in love with the second daughter of the head of the Li family and wanted to take her as my concubine, but the head of the Li family has always refused.
Agree, that’s why I deliberately punished their Li family.”
"Because this reason is harmful to my reputation, I keep making up excuses and don't want to say them out."
"You, Bai Wenxuan, are also a womanizer? You don't look like it at ordinary times?" Feng Xianzhang said with some surprise.
"Who said that a womanizer will definitely show up on the surface? Besides, I am not a womanizer in ordinary people's words." Bai Wenxuan said.
Feng Xianzhang was hesitant. His intuition felt that this was not the real reason, but he could not refute this reason.
Feng Xianzhang hesitated for a while and said: "I can't find any loopholes. It seems to be the real reason." As he said that, he asked the clerk who was recording on the side to bring over the notebook with this reason and said to him:
"Do you dare to sign and pledge it?"
"Why don't you dare?" He picked up the pen and wrote his name on it, then dipped his right thumb in ink and made his fingerprints.
"You take him to the prison, and I'll go see the Holy One." With that, Feng Xianzhang left the interrogation room. Several guards in royal robes took him to the prison.
The prison was full of dust, and it looked like it had not been used for several years. The guard guarding Bai Wenxuan was very talkative and said: "This prison has been closed since His Majesty announced in the 23rd year of Hongwu that he would stop pursuing Hu Weiyong for rebelling against the party.
It has not been used for ten years, and you are the first person to be locked up here in the past ten years..."
Bai Wenxuan did not speak. The battle of wits and courage with Feng Xianzhang just now made him physically and mentally exhausted. In addition, although the previous injury had been treated, it would not be cured so quickly. He was very tired and just wanted to find a place.
Get some sleep.
So even though a few guards threw him into a cell where there was dust everywhere, a few thin rats running rampant, and the corners were covered with spider webs, he quickly fell asleep.
He doesn't know how long it took, but he seemed to hear a voice in his ear: "Brother Bai, His Majesty accepted the reason you gave last. You have hidden the real reason."
Bai Wenxuan said unconsciously: "Great. I kept it secret. Yan Shangshu, although I failed to destroy His Majesty's plan this time, it was not exposed at last."
The voice said a few more words, and he also said a few more.
Suddenly, he felt water being poured on his face and woke up completely. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Feng Xianzhang's face with a playful expression.
Feng Xianzhang said: "Yan Shangshu, probably refers to the former Minister of Industry, one of the masterminds of the counter-insurgency case, Yan Zhenzhi from Hangzhou. I can't believe that you are an accomplice of the person in charge of the counter-insurgency case."
Bai Wenxuan's hands and feet suddenly became cold, as if he were on the top of the Himalayan snow-capped mountains for an instant, and even his face showed no color at all.
After a while, he asked Feng Xianzhang: "What method did you use just now?"
In fact, this is a kind of hypnosis, which allows Bai Wenxuan to have a hallucination and lose his consciousness, so as to reveal what is on his mind. It’s just that the person recruited by Feng Xianzhang is not very capable and cannot control Bai Wenxuan when he is conscious.
To capture his spirit, I chose to cast the spell when he was sleeping.
Naturally, Feng Xianzhang would not tell him. There were many people talking, and it would not be a good thing for him to hear so many people present. People who knew this kind of magic were always prohibited from being recruited by officials and common people.
Feng Xianzhang ignored him and said, "I have written down the words you just said. I will tell your Majesty right away. Just wait for His Majesty's decision."
After Feng Xianzhang finished speaking, he gave some instructions to the other Jinyi guards and turned around to leave the prison.
