When Wang Dehua heard this, of course he did not dare to tell the truth.
However, Wang Chengen obviously didn't care, and just said to Wang Dehua: "Logically speaking, I, the nobles of the Ming Dynasty, are the same as us, servants of the royal family, and the most loyal to the emperor. But have you noticed that I
What contribution did the nobles inherited from the Ming Dynasty make in the troubled times of the Ming Dynasty?"
What he said is a common understanding. It is also true that the Emperor Jiajing at that time found the descendants of the founding heroes who had their titles revoked for various reasons and re-titled them.
As a result, not to mention other dynasties, the Chongzhen dynasty alone almost seemed to be in ruins in the past few years. However, when the nobles should eat and drink, how much effort did they have to do?
Even Duke Cheng Guo had the idea of the royal family for the sake of the nobles' selfish interests. This was an important factor that made Emperor Chongzhen hate the nobles even more.
As the first confidant of Emperor Chongzhen, Wang Chengen certainly knew Emperor Chongzhen best. Therefore, even if the issue he dealt with this time was related to a distinguished person, even if his ancestor was a very famous founding hero, he had nothing to be afraid of.
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As for Wang Dehua, no matter what, he is a eunuch and belongs to the palace. When he is in a good mood, giving him advice can be regarded as helping himself.
After all, if Wang Dehua knew what was appropriate, the current matter might not need him to go south and be handled directly by Dongchang.
No matter which eunuch he is, the last thing he wants is to leave the emperor's side, because then he will easily be replaced by another eunuch. Even Wang Cheng'en is the same, it is best to stay with Emperor Chongzhen every day.
At this time, amid the howls of ghosts and wolves coming from all around, Wang Chengen gave Wang Dehua a little reminder. He believed that Wang Dehua was not stupid, and just a little reminder was enough.
At this time, someone from Xichang came back from the surrounding area to report the results of the interrogation to Wang Chengen.
Most of the people in the Linhuai Marquis Mansion are accustomed to being pampered and pampered. Those who can withstand the methods of the factory guards can be scared to death for half their lives just by thinking about it.
Therefore, after the interrogation lasted for a while, some people began to confess one after another.
In this way, these people in the Marquis of Linhuai's Mansion revealed everything they knew about the Marquis of Linhuai or others who committed crimes, hoping to reduce their guilt or escape punishment.
As a result, things like house fights in the Marquis Mansion, executions of scary people, external persecution, seizure of people's grain fields, shops, etc. were all placed in front of Wang Chengen.
To be honest, almost every wealthy family may have these things. For people of this level, it is basically impossible to use this kind of reason to punish them.
Not only do they have a gold medal to avoid death, but also because this kind of crime is not punishable by the law for people of their status.
However, at this time, Wang Chengen was not discouraged at all. He asked his capable stall owners to investigate these crimes, large and small, and sort out the connections. As a result, new discoveries were made.
Several pieces of information caught Wang Chengen's attention.
First, in the Marquis of Linhuai's Mansion, the matter of expelling the children of that family was actually not an isolated case, but something like this happened every few years. However, some servants discovered that those children of the expelled family and the Marquis' Mansion were still secretly communicating with each other.
connect.
Secondly, in the past, these expelled family sons were responsible for their own affairs and were responsible for certain aspects of contact, including those with pirates, and those with disciples of princes in various places, etc.
Third, Linhuai Marquis Mansion spends money like water and lives a very luxurious life. Although this cannot be seen from the outside, it can actually be seen when they directly break into the Marquis Mansion like this, especially in the backyard.
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When Wang Chengen asked about the details of these questions, Wang Dehua suddenly noticed something and immediately started to interject with a serious face, asking for relevant details.
Of course, Wang Chengen would not say anything about this. He also hoped that Wang Dehua would make more discoveries!
Under their questioning, and with the subsequent confessions from other servants, some things became clear on Wang Dehua's side.
I heard him say to Wang Chengen: "This Marquis of Linhuai, the timing of expelling his family and having children several times with excuses seems to be related to several major events in Nanjing. Our family suspects that he is afraid that if something goes wrong, he can use this to
He used an excuse to deny it and said it had nothing to do with the Hou Mansion. Just like this time with the steam engine blueprint incident!"
This steam engine blueprint incident was investigated step by step from the place where the blueprints were sold, and finally they were traced to the house of the Marquis of Linhuai. As a result, the Marquis of Linhuai refused to acknowledge the incident, saying that he had already expelled the son of this family.
At least on the surface, it seemed that there was nothing that could be done against the Marquis of Linhuai. Fortunately, Wang Chengen didn't care about his noble status and directly sentenced the entire government to him. Only then did more things begin to be connected.
There is a saying that goes well, if you don’t want others to know, you have to do nothing yourself!
Even if the affairs of the Linhuai Marquis' Mansion can be hidden from outsiders, it is impossible to hide them from everyone in the Marquis' Mansion.
Just when Wang Dehua was about to continue discussing the major events with Wang Chengen in detail, someone from Xichang finally came over to report that the Marquis of Linhuai's wife had confessed where the gold was hidden in the Marquis's mansion.
No matter what, Wang Chengen wouldn't have any worries. He had done this kind of thing like confiscating homes many times. Even Wang Dehua was an expert at confiscating homes.
So, they immediately ordered the police to search the secret rooms of the Marquis Mansion.
Later, Wang Dehua and Wang Chengen entered the secret room together to inspect the treasure house of the Hou Mansion.
"Tsk, tsk, this Marquis of Linhuai is really rich!" Wang Chengen just glanced at the boxes with lids opened before he exclaimed in admiration.
"No, the nobles of our Ming Dynasty are all from wealthy families!" Wang Dehua said a bit sourly when he saw them.
I think back then, when he was the first person in the palace, he colluded with the civil servants of the outer court, not just to make some money and use the filial piety of the civil servants to support his elder brother. In the end, he didn't make much money. If he hadn't been more sensible, he would have done harm to the emperor.
He almost lost his life.
Seeing these nobles and the money of those big salt merchants in Yangzhou, this is called rich!
When both of them were sighing, suddenly, they heard a reporter reporting to them: "Manufacturer, the money the Dutch paid for the blueprints was discovered!"
Wang Cheng'en was overjoyed after hearing this. He walked over and took a look, and sure enough he saw neat silver in a box next to the fanzi. It was obviously not the style of the Ming Dynasty.
Although he didn't know if this was the Dutch way of storing silver, but his subordinates said so, so it was definitely not wrong.
One million taels of silver, he couldn't even afford to eat so much money!
Thinking of this, Wang Chengen laughed. With this money, the Marquis of Linhuai would not be able to deny it no matter what.
After a while, Wang Chengen and others returned to sit under the eaves of the inner courtyard, and then had Marquis Linhuai brought up again.
After all, he was the Marquis of Linhuai. At this time, the emperor had not yet abolished his title. Therefore, Xichang Fanzi's interrogation of Li Zushu did not leave any superficial scars on him, which was somewhat decent.
In this way, Li Zushu knew that the matter was of great importance, and that he was holding on to those dirty tricks of Xichang, not to mention that he actually stood up to them without confessing anything.
No, when he was pulled back by Xichang Fanzi, he even protested forcefully: "I am the Marquis of Linhuai of the Ming Dynasty, not a cat or a dog. How dare you treat the nobles of the Ming Dynasty like this? I will definitely issue an impeachment memorial..."
Li Zushu protested strongly there. When he saw Wang Chengen and Wang Dehua, they were drinking tea leisurely and did not look worried at all because the interrogation could not produce anything. Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat, and he felt that something was wrong.
Something bad happened.
Then, Li Zushu looked down and saw several large boxes with open lids placed in the hall, in front of the two factory owners. The silver inside suddenly became very dazzling.
Wang Chengen and Wang Dehua didn't need to say anything. Li Zushu fell to the ground as if he had no bones.
Under normal circumstances, Li Zushu's method can really deal with all situations, but this time the factory guards did not act according to common sense.
These gangsters actually broke into the majestic prince's mansion and tortured everyone, and then found this property.
Li Zushu didn't expect that the Dutch's silver was different from the Ming's silver, which was a hidden danger. But one million taels was too much, so he remelted it outside in private. He was worried that someone would find out or embezzle.
I had some money, so I hid it in a secret room in my house so that no one would know about it. I would just find a suitable opportunity and deal with the money later.
As a result, because of the Portuguese's informant, before Li Zushu had time to deal with the money, the factory guards came to his door, again so recklessly.
At this time, Wang Chengen and Wang Dehua had evidence to prove that Li Zushu secretly sold the steam engine blueprints to Xiyi. However, at the moment, the two of them did not pay attention to this detail and did not interrogate how Li Zushu obtained the steam engine blueprints.
of.
Because of Li Zushu's title and power, and the fact that steam engines were slowly becoming popular in the Ming Dynasty, it was not difficult to obtain steam engine blueprints.
The most important thing is that according to Wang Dehua's guess, he has other more important things to ask.
No, while Wang Chengen was still enjoying tea leisurely, Wang Dehua stared at Li Zushu who collapsed on the ground and asked: "Let me ask you, do you want to kill the whole family, or do you want to leave a root for your Li family?"
When Li Zushu heard this, he looked up at him a little puzzled.
But who would have thought that at this time, Wang Chengen said calmly: "The Dutch deceived my imperial army of 5,000 troops in Annan. Your secret sale of the steam engine blueprints can be considered as treason."
, the serious crime of treason is dealt with, and it is right to punish the nine tribes!"