After being manipulated by He Gujin, Xue Pan put down his accusation and left.
As soon as he left, Chen Xuanyi appeared in the garden, standing in front of He Gujin with a serious expression.
"My lord, you kept the complaint because you want to take over this case?"
Sighing, He Gujin said helplessly: "I'm afraid I can't accept it!"
"Who else can force you, sir?"
"What do you think?" He Gujin asked back.
Chen Xuanyi was stunned for a moment. He thought of a lot in an instant and had a rough idea of the situation.
The two were silent for a while, but Chen Xuanyi spoke first: "Now is the time for the government treasury to be inspected, and the government offices at all levels are focused on making up for the shortfall. If Hu Jinan is singled out for blackmailing wealthy households, do you know what the consequences will be!"
The natural consequence is that he will be regarded as an enemy by Jinling officials, and he will no longer be an official.
He Gujin understood the truth, but his previous conversation with Zheng Xianlin made him give up the idea of escape.
It was a good thing for He Gujin that he took the case forward and was dismissed from office when things got serious.
What's wrong with leaving the whirlpool of Jinling and going back to your hometown to spend your remaining years in peace?
"Let me think about this matter again!"
Putting away the complaint, He Gujin walked outside the hospital. He planned to discuss it with Zheng Xianlin before making a decision.
However, he did not know that Xue Pan's lawsuit against Hu Jinan had gradually spread to Jinling official circles under the promotion of thoughtful people.
It was evening, and there was a large farm thirty miles southwest of Yingtianfu City.
The manor is full of pavilions and pavilions, making it a good place to relax and recuperate.
In one of the attics, an old man in green robes was standing on the railing, looking deeply at the bright moon in the sky.
This person is Qian Ruiming, the Chief Secretary of Jinling and the Taoist priest in charge of Changzhen. He is one of the few high-ranking officials in Jinling.
Although he was a fourth-rank official, Qian Ruiming's face was full of sadness because he had encountered difficulties recently.
As an official supervising the money and food of the two prefectures of Zhenjiang and Changzhou, these two prefectures had a deficit in money and food, part of which was related to Qian Ruiming. How could this not make him anxious.
The shortfall will certainly not be replenished in a short period of time, so can we really report the true situation? If he really did that, the laws of the country would not be able to spare him.
The two local governors pretended to be deaf and dumb, and a group of censors ignored everything. If Qian Ruiming didn't want to sit back and wait for death, he had to do something.
"Master, the guests are here..."
"please!"
After a while, an old man wearing a blue round-neck robe and a dongpo scarf appeared under the attic.
"Master Qian, you are so leisurely, I really admire you!"
"Master Liu, please stop teasing me, we are both ants on a hot pot now!"
"Ants on a hot pot, if this continues... I'm afraid we will really be burned to death by the fire!"
Qian Ruiming sighed and waved to the people downstairs: "Okay, come up and talk!"
This was an extremely private conversation, so there were no servants in the attic, so the two old men could only pour the wine and pick up the food themselves.
"Master Liu, what's going on over there?"
After taking a swig, Liu Deyan put down his glass and said: "It's almost the same, what else can happen!"
"Can you think of a way to let the Japanese pirates burn some treasury, so we..."
Upon hearing Qian Ruiming's bold decision, Liu Deyan immediately interrupted him: "Old Qian, are you crazy?"
"The treasury is in short supply and we are greedy for money. We will only be dismissed from office or exiled, or at worst beheaded..."
"If you collude with Japanese pirates, you will be punished as treason and will be punished by the nine tribes!"
As a prosecutor, Liu Deyan supervised the punishment of the two prefectures in Songjiang, Suzhou, and he naturally understood the laws of the Ming Dynasty.
Hearing this, Qian Ruiming sneered and said, "As long as you have a thorough plan, it may not be known by others!"
Unexpectedly, Liu Deyan stood up directly and said with a gloomy face: "If you asked me to talk about this, then let's end it here!"
Seeing that Liu Deyan was about to leave, Qian Ruiming quickly said: "It's not that there is no other way. Why don't you sit down and listen!"
After glaring at Qian Ruiming, Liu Deyan sat back again, looking a little impatient.
"It is said that when one unites the will, there is also a saying that the law does not blame everyone. How many officials are there like us in Jinling? How many are there in the entire Ming Dynasty?"
"If the Thirteenth Master investigates like this, everyone inside and outside the court will be in danger!"
"So?" Liu Deyan asked coldly.
"We have no control over other places. As long as we gather people in Jinling and go directly to the palace to petition for the abolition of the bad government, the great momentum will surely make the prince compromise!"
"Why did the prince compromise?"
"Let's just say that forced investigation will definitely lead to public dissatisfaction and the local area will be in danger of change. When the time comes, if one or two counties are arranged to cause trouble for the people, the prince will definitely retreat!"
Hearing this, Liu Deyan felt that it was possible. He looked calm and asked: "But what we have done, the people in the court are not blind, and His Majesty is a saint. Inciting the people to chaos... is a capital crime!"
"Don't worry about the court, someone will speak for us!"
"Who?" Liu Deyan looked at him carefully.
While pouring the wine, Qian Ruiming smiled and replied, "Who else can it be?"
Nodding, the answer was self-evident, and Liu Deyan did not continue to ask.
After clinking glasses with Liu Deyan, Qian Ruiming continued: "In fact, it's not just Prince Rui. There are many people in the court who don't want to cause trouble in the country, and they will also speak for us!"
"Yeah?"
"If the money and food don't match up, what's the problem? In addition to official corruption, do we need to check the land? Do we need to check the population?"
Pointing to the sky, Qian Ruiming said with a solemn expression: "Now that Xie Ge is old, the battles in the cabinet are becoming more and more intense..."
"Old Zhao Ge is determined to innovate, and these things may be used as excuses..."
Combining the big accounts of the imperial court with the small local accounts is the performance of an outstanding local official, and Qian Ruiming is undoubtedly particularly outstanding.
"In that case, why don't you go and talk to Master Zheng and Master He?" Liu Deyan said in a deep voice.
"I've been to Mr. Zheng's place, but I was blocked back before I could even speak!" At this point, Qian Ruiming was extremely unhappy and drank another glass of wine.
Nodding, Liu Deyan said helplessly: "I also went to see Mr. He the day before yesterday, but he had a business-like attitude. I really don't know what they were thinking!"
Qian Ruiming said: "They have their own concerns, they can only say different things!"
Only relatively clean people can choose to keep things official, otherwise they would have been like the two of them.
Speaking of the Inspector General, Liu Deyan suddenly remembered something.
"Today, the prosecutor's office encountered a case. The eldest son of the Xue family sued Hu Jinan, the official of Yingtian, saying that he oppressed Liangshan and extorted money!"
Such a strange thing happened at this juncture, which immediately aroused Qian Ruiming's thoughts.
Of course he was a smart man, and he realized that things were not simple without Liu Deyan's reminder.
The two chatted for a while and finally reached an agreement. The next step was to recruit people to join the team.
"We will bring in all the eleven prefectures and seventy-two counties in Jinling that can be brought in. The more people there are, the safer we will be!"
Standing up, Liu Deyan cupped his hands and said, "In this case, you go south and I go north, let each go his own way!"
"This is very good, when will you petition?" Qian Ruiming said solemnly.
Liu Deyan thought for a while and then said: "We will gather in Jinling in three days and we will act accordingly!"
"That's it!" Qian Ruiming said solemnly.
