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Brother Dev, where are you? You're the one who often goes to the academy, okay?
Why did I become the one who testified in court?
When we went to the club together, I didn't even touch it with my little hands. If I was caught, I would have to pay a fine.
In fact, although what Xu He experienced is related to this case, there is actually no direct connection.
Xu He first told how he went to Dong'anji.
But before Huang Lun could ask questions, Zhou Yi spoke first: "This Xu He met my family's business disciple at Dong'anji Wharf. If I knew about this in advance, why did I let my disciple die?"
Yes, if the other party has colluded with the thieves, why did they let their disciples go to Dong'anji?
Moreover, all members of the Zhou family were dead on the sandbank. Did Zhou Yi let these people appear in front of the crowd deliberately and use their deaths to clear Zhou Yi of suspicion?
So it would be too obvious to do this, right?
There is some suspicion that there is no three hundred taels of silver here.
Huang Lun didn't seem surprised by this incident. He snorted coldly: "This just shows that you, Zhou Yi, are ruthless. In order to remove suspicion, you would rather let your disciples go and die!"
Zhou Yi did not argue, but sneered and remained silent, looking at Huang Lun as if he were a fool, his eyes full of disdain.
Huang Lun had never been so angry. He was about to execute him, but when he thought that this guy was about to return to the capital, there would definitely be a three-division interrogation situation. If he was executed at this time, he would definitely be punished by the chief assistant. People seized on the excuse and said that he was beaten into submission.
Thinking of this section, Huang Lun said: "Inform the people who raided the Zhou Mansion!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a Jinyiwei Xiaoqi came into the lobby holding an account book.
Huang Lun looked expectant and asked: "You have been ransacking Zhou's house for so long, and you just came back. Tell me, how much has this thief been greedy for?"
Xu Hexin said that Huang Lun probably knew that Zhou Yi would not be able to speak for the time being, so he wanted to start with him for taking bribes and bending the law, so that Zhou Yi and others could be convicted of some crimes first.
But the little flag officer holding the account book looked embarrassed and muttered: "Since we were ordered to go to the Zhou Mansion to search the house, up to now, we have found a total of 370,000 taels of silver equivalent to cash."
Huang Lun was delighted: "So many?"
After saying that, he said to Zhou Yi with a proud look on his face: "How much money do you have per month's salary? How could you accumulate more than 300,000 taels of silver? It seems that you have been greedy a lot!"
The flag official said at this time: "I still found out the origin of these silver coins in the Zhou family. Zhou Yifan will register them one by one after accepting bribes."
Huang Lun was even more delighted: "Oh, that means this guy has spent a lot over the years?"
The little flag officer raised his eyes, quietly looked at Huang Lun, and then said: "I checked the accounts one by one in my humble position, and found, found... the prisoner Zhou Yi has been an official for many years. Although he has embezzled a lot, he barely has a tael of silver. After spending the money, all the antiques, calligraphy and paintings that were bribed were registered in the register, and there were quite a lot of them. The money was all stored under the floor tiles in the backyard, and there seemed to be no trace of misappropriation!"
Huang Lun was dumbfounded when he heard this. Is there something wrong with Zhou Yi?
Taking bribes but not using them? Then why did he take it?
Xu He was also stunned, what the hell is this? A mouthful of noodles and a mouthful of garlic, doesn't it cost Zhao Dehan a cent?
Suddenly, Zhou Yi laughed loudly, with bitterness in his voice: "Do you think I want to collect this money? I also wanted to be a good official when I first became an official, but Huang Lun, please ask yourself and tell the truth, in this officialdom, you If you don’t charge money, will people take it and play with it?”
"If you don't accept money, your subordinates will not dare to approach you. Without the support of your subordinates, people-friendly officials like us will achieve nothing."
"If you don't take money, your boss won't dare to promote you. If the water is clear, there will be no fish. Your boss will think you are an anomaly in the officialdom!"
"I had no choice but to not violate my conscience, so I had no choice but to accept these bribes."
"I feel dirty too. Every time I dream about it at midnight, my back feels cold when I think about the money, but I can't accept it."
"So I made an oath a long time ago. I can collect the money, but I won't spend any of it. When the day comes that I take office, I will use all the money to build bridges and pave roads to benefit the people. Anyway, these money are also from corrupt officials. For those who are greedy for ink, I can count it as taking it from the people and using it for the people!"
This passage made the people in the hall have different expressions.
Especially Huang Lun, his face turned red after hearing this, obviously taking Zhou Yi's situation into his own.
Some of the minor officials in the original government office believed Zhou Yi's statement deeply, with expressions of sympathy on their faces.
Including Xu He, he also felt a little sad. There were also such people among later generations of officials. They obviously behaved like corrupt officials, but turned around and turned over the bribes they received to the Discipline Inspection Commission. They did not want to become an outlier in the officialdom. This is all we can do.
In later generations, there would be Discipline Inspection Commissions and there would be such a solution, but there is no such thing these days.
Just when everyone was thinking about their own thoughts, Peng Ruyu, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said angrily: "You don't want to be an outlier in officialdom? Is this the reason why you accepted bribes? Besides, you said you would build bridges and pave roads after becoming an official, but you didn't become an official. !Who knows what you will do in the future? According to what you said, all corrupt officials can keep the stolen money and use it. After they become official, if they are not discovered, they can spend it with peace of mind. If they are discovered like you, then take it. Can you get away with your excuses? It's simply ridiculous. You are just greedy for ink. How can there be so many reasons?"
When Peng Ruyu spoke, Xu He was suddenly startled. Indeed, his idea just now was too naive. How can a corrupt official in this world say that he is a bad person? Rather than believing that Zhou Yi has plans to build bridges and pave roads after becoming an official, it is better to say that he is It was just a psychological massage for myself after taking the bribe.
Things in the world should not be judged by what the other person says, but by what the other person does.
Corruption is corruption, even if it means breaking the sky, it is still corruption.
According to what Xu He learned from Sun Qianshi, Peng Ruyu was a well-known upright official in Yangzhou Prefecture. During his tenure as the magistrate of Gaoyou Prefecture, he was as incorruptible as water. Not only was he not corrupt, he also ordered his subordinates to not accept even the slightest insult when they encountered the common people. For the benefit of a penny, his official reputation is very good in Yangzhou Prefecture and even in southern Zhili.
After Peng Ruyu finished speaking, Zhou Yi fell silent again, and Huang Lun coughed twice and said: "Master Peng is right, Zhou Yi, it is useless for you to make all kinds of sophistry. You ordered people to go to the academy to silence you. Twelve lives will be lost." Things can’t be undone, right?”
"Come here, bring the daughter of the people, Su!"
This was the second time Xu He saw Su Yaoguang. Unexpectedly, the beautiful female historian that day was now unkempt and haggard in the hall.
Huang Lun said: "Ms. Su, tell me in detail what happened that day when you were kidnapped!"
Su Yaoguang was kneeling on the ground in the hall, looking pitiful. She choked with sobs and pointed at Mr. Zhou next to her: "It's him. He asked people to kidnap me, lock me in a small courtyard, and torture me every day." , forcing me to tell what Mr. Xie said to the other two guests that day."
"Him? Are you talking about Zhou Tianxiong? How did he torture you?" Huang Lun continued to ask.
"He...he had people take off my clothes, hang me in the house, and have his men beat me with a whip dipped in salt water! If I couldn't answer the question, he even pulled out my nails!" After that, Su Yaoguang stretched out her slender hands. Sure enough, the nails were bloody and bloody.
Seeing this, Xu He closed his eyes slightly. He could not imagine what a weak woman had endured these days.
