The memorial was handed over. After a while, Zhu Qiyu finished reading it. After thinking for a while, he spoke.
"Before Jin Shangshu came, I and several gentlemen in the cabinet were also discussing this matter..."
As he spoke, Zhu Qiyu looked at Zhang Min aside, and the latter quickly spoke.
"Yes, we asked to see His Majesty because of Chen Shangshu's matter. Early this morning, the cabinet received a memorial from the Li Ke to Zhou Jian..."
Afterwards, Zhang Min briefly explained the contents of the memorial. After listening to it, Jin Lian's face also changed, his brows furrowed slightly, and he didn't know what he was thinking.
Seeing this situation, Zhu Qiyu asked.
"This matter originated from the Ministry of Punishment. Now the evidence provided by Wang Xuan is also retained in the Ministry of Punishment. How does Jin Shangshu think this case should be handled?"
This was not easy to answer, but since Jin Lian was here, he had already made plans. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke.
"Back to Your Majesty, Wang Xuan's confession is very detailed. Moreover, according to the investigation by the Ministry of Punishment, some officials did bribe officials in the capital and their families. However, the case is not clear and I dare not report it. Now that we have The evidence cannot be ignored."
"According to the clues that the Ministry of Punishment has found and Wang Xuan's confession, he himself is one of the people who accepted bribes. In addition, the case has now been rumored. If it is not dealt with, it may cause controversy among the court."
"Therefore, I would like to ask your Majesty to issue an order to temporarily imprison Wang Xuan in the palace. The things he confessed, including Chen Xun's son Chen Ying, will be summoned by the Ministry of Punishment for questioning and a detailed investigation of the case."
As the Minister of Punishment, it should be said that no one in the Manchu Dynasty holds more clues about this case than Jin Lian.
According to the information he currently has, Wang Xuan himself is not clean. He is deeply involved with another local official, Ji Tong. The latter's corruption charges have long been settled. However, after years of corruption, Most of the money received for bribes was sent to the capital for bribery purposes.
The person who helped Ji Tong bribe in Beijing was Wang Xuan. In fact, even if Wang Xuan himself did not come, Jin Lian would request an imperial edict to detain him for interrogation in at most three to five days.
However, what I didn't expect was that Wang Xuan actually struck first and made such a move.
When he heard the whole story, Jin Lian was already sure that there must be some connection between Wang Xuan's complaint to the Ministry of Justice and Zhou Jian's impeachment of Chen Xun.
Otherwise, how could Zhou Jianyuan know about Ji'an Mansion when he was in the capital? Either Wang Xuan told Zhou Jian about it in advance, or they had discussed it secretly.
Nowadays, Jin Lian is not sure which situation it is, but his intuition from many years of service as an official tells him that the latter is more likely.
Of the two of them, one went to the Ministry of Punishment to file a complaint, and the other went to the court to make a report. Their purpose was simply to make the matter bigger.
This is also the reason why Jin Lian hurriedly entered the palace. Wang Xuan went to the Ministry of Punishment to report it with such great fanfare. Many people saw and heard the matter. This matter will soon spread in the court. In addition, Zhou Jian's After the memorial, the eyes of both the government and the public will be fixed on the Punishment Department.
If, at this time, the Ministry of Punishment does not take any action, then the subsequent cases will not be tried. After all, no one has any connections behind him. Today, the Ministry of Punishment is sitting idly by because Chen Xun is involved, so tomorrow other cases will not be tried. How can the Ministry of Punishment be so impartial and impartial when important officials come to intercede?
Therefore, no matter what, the most important thing now is to make a show, at least on the surface, and not follow the truth.
Not only Jin Lian, but also everyone else present knew this. After all, if Wang Xuan made such a fuss, the matter would be no big deal.
"In that case, according to your wishes, I will order the Jinyi Guards to confine Wang Xuan in the palace and suspend him pending investigation. The case will still be handed over to the Ministry of Punishment for trial. Anyone involved in the case, who is third grade or below, can be summoned by the Ministry of Punishment in order to find out as soon as possible. case."
When things developed to this point, Zhu Qiyu did not hesitate too much and gave the order directly.
Just looking at this decree, it seems that it is straightforward and determined to investigate strictly.
"I accept the decree."
Jin Lian accepted the order with his hands raised, but as soon as he finished speaking, a servant came in to report.
"Your Majesty, Chen Xunfeng, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, is here to summon you outside the palace."
After the words fell, all the ministers in the palace looked a little embarrassed.
When Chen Xun was called over just now, there was still some room for improvement, but as soon as Jin Lian came over like this, the matter could no longer be dealt with.
But the decree has been passed down, and everyone in Chen Xun has arrived outside the palace. It is impossible to let them go back without any reason...
"Let Chen Shangshu come in."
Not surprisingly, the emperor pondered for a moment and then spoke.
As a result, Chen Xun's figure soon appeared in the palace.
Seeing Chen Xun finish the ceremony, Zhu Qiyu hesitated for a moment and then spoke.
"I called Chen Shangshu here today because there is a case involving Chen Shangshu, so I want to ask him face to face."
The emperor's tone was quite gentle, and there was no look of surprise or panic on Chen Xun's face, he just bowed calmly.
"I'm afraid, please let your Majesty make it clear."
So Zhu Qiyu ordered someone to hand Chen Xun the memorial just sent by the Cabinet and the Ministry of Punishment, saying.
"This is a memorial submitted by the Cabinet and the Ministry of Punishment successively. Some officials impeached Chen Shangshu, saying that you allowed your son Chen Ying to accept bribes and committed many crimes such as bending the law for personal gain. Because the matter involved is complicated, I have just issued an order and ordered the Ministry of Punishment to have full jurisdiction over the trial. In this case, all officials below the third rank are allowed to be summoned."
"Now that Chen Shangshu is here, I would like to ask him face to face whether what is stated in these two memorials is true?"
When he said this, the emperor's tone became slightly serious, making the atmosphere in the palace a lot more tense.
However, Chen Xun still looked calm and handed the two memorials back to the chamberlain's hands and said.
"Your Majesty is aware that most of the things mentioned in this memorial are related to Chen Ying, the dog boy. He studied at the family clan school in his early years. He came to the capital five years ago to rush for the exam."
"At that time, the Supreme Emperor was preparing for his own expedition, and there was a civil engineering disaster later. I was in the cabinet, working hard and sleeping late at night. It was already late at night when I returned home every day. After the war stopped, I was ordered to be transferred to the Ministry of Works and rushed to Baimakou to build a large canal. , I haven’t returned home for more than a year, and I have no time to care about anything at home in the capital.”
"Therefore, I cannot guarantee whether this report is true or not, but please rest assured, Your Majesty, if Quanzi really does something illegal, I will definitely hand him over to the court and deal with him impartially. There will never be any favoritism."
Chen Xun said these words very sincerely, but everyone present, who was not a fox but a spirit, could naturally hear what these words meant.
In the final analysis, what he said was actually saying that he had no idea what his son did and it had nothing to do with him.
In addition, another purpose was to express his merits to the emperor and tell him how hard he had worked so hard that he didn't even have time to discipline his son.
However, at the same time, Chen Xun's words also revealed another important information.
That is, the impeachment content in these two memorials is most likely not groundless!
This reasoning is not difficult, because what Chen Xun said is simply telling lies. The ministers present were all important ministers of the court who were busy with official duties, and they had incompetent sons at home.
How can I not know what kind of virtue my son is?
Perhaps for them, it is true that they are usually busy and have no time to care about who their son hangs out with, but they are definitely not even aware of such a big matter.
Apart from anything else, wouldn't Chen Xun himself know how much income the Chen Mansion makes every year?
What does he use to eat on weekdays, how much money does it cost, and whether he can support it with the income he knows, he has no idea?
If his own income is not enough to support his huge expenses, then where does the extra money come from, will he not ask?
If you ask, do the people below still dare to deceive you?
Even if his son doesn't tell him the truth, don't forget that whether it's sending money or something else, people only look at his reputation as the Minister of Industry and the most important minister in the Qing Dynasty. The son of a scholar.
Everyone is involved in the officialdom, so there are twists and turns, and no one knows.
Just talking about giving gifts, it does not mean that if you are in a high position, someone will rush to give gifts. The most important thing about giving gifts is to let the recipient know that he has received the gift.
To put it bluntly, giving gifts is either to maintain a relationship or to ask someone to do something. Moreover, maintaining a relationship is actually to be able to do things at critical times, so in the end, there is actually no difference.
In this case, if the person receiving the gift does not know that he has received the gift, what will happen and how will the relationship be maintained?
Therefore, even if Chen Xun's son accepted the gift on his behalf, the people who gave the gift would change their ways to let Chen Xun know about it.
To take a step back, even if these people are far away and too stupid to write a tactful letter of inquiry, in the final analysis, giving gifts is to ask someone to do something.
Only Chen Xun can do this, so if you want to know whether his son is using his name to deceive others, or whether it is really Chen Xun who is behind it, it is not difficult, as long as...
"This case will be heard by the Ministry of Justice, Jin Shangshu, what do you think?"
Regarding Chen Xun's statement, Zhu Qiyu did not comment, but turned to Jin Lian and asked.
Seeing this situation, Jin Lian hesitated for a moment and then stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, according to Wang Xuan's confession, this matter is not only related to Chen Ying, but also to Chen Shangshu. Therefore, I would like to request an order, ask Chen Shangshu a few words, and ask for your majesty's permission."
Chen Xun's expression was as usual, and Zhu Qiyu didn't have any unusual expression either. He nodded and said.
"That's right!"
So, Jin Lian turned around, came to Chen Xun, and asked.
"Chen Shangshu, according to what Wang Xuan said, Lu Dingzhong, the current magistrate of Ji'an, was previously the magistrate of Taihe County. In order to advance, he bribed you in the twelfth and fourteenth years of Zhengtong respectively, with a total of eight thousand taels of silver. When we arrived at your old house in Taihe County, did this happen?"
"No……"
Faced with such an accusation, Chen Xun shook his head neatly and said.
"I do know Lu Dingzhong, but he has never offered me any bribe. I wonder if there is any evidence for what Jin Shangshu said?"
This denial was not unexpected, Jin Lian thought for a moment and then said.
"This Lu Dingzhong was in the same year as Wang Xuan, who had just surrendered to the Ministry of Punishment. They often exchanged letters. When Wang Xuan surrendered, he provided the correspondence between him and Lu Dingzhong. The letter mentioned that he and your son Chen Ying are good friends, because Chen Ying Ying was short of money, so Lu Dingzhong often 'helped' Chen Ying, and the contents of many letters added up to more than 8,000 taels of silver."
"One of the letters mentioned that he has agreed with Chen Ying that he will tell you about the matter when Chen Ying arrives in Beijing. Doesn't Chen Shangshu know about this?"
Although this was not stated explicitly, there was actually no way to say it, because what Jin Lian said was based on the evidence he had at hand, and it was actually impossible to write down this kind of correspondence, so Jin Lian could only rely on the content of the letter. explain.
However, it is not stated clearly, but in fact it is the same. Then Chen Ying, as the eldest son of Chen Xun, how could he be short of money? And as the parent official of a county, why would Lu Dingzhong have nothing to do with Chen Ying, a scholar? He also spent money to support him, which amounted to seven or eight thousand taels.
This makes it clear that Chen Ying is borrowing money to send money to Chen Xun, and the last letter, saying that Chen Ying will tell Chen Xun about the matter, actually means that Chen Ying will let Chen Xun do things for him.
So, now that things have happened, it's not that Jin Lian insists on making a big fuss, but that the evidence is here and he has to ask.
However, even in the face of such evidence, Chen Xun still shook his head and said.
"I don't know, Quanzi has never mentioned this to me..."
Seeing this situation, Jin Lian was silent for a moment and asked again.
"But, according to Wang Xuan, not long after Chen Ying arrived in the capital, Chen Shangshu recommended Lu Dingzhong as the prefect of Ji'an. Is this true?"
This time, Chen Xun did not deny it, because it could not be denied. The memorial he submitted is probably still in the General Affairs Department.
but……
"Lü Dingzhong was indeed recommended by me, but it has nothing to do with the bribery matter that Jin Shangshu just mentioned."
"At that time, the war was over, and your Majesty issued a decree, ordering the ministers to recommend talented people. In compliance with your Majesty's order, I recommended many people, and Lu Dingzhong was just one of them."
"Moreover, I did not recommend him to be the prefect of Ji'an, but to recommend him to go to Beijing to be the censor. As for his promotion to the prefect, it is the will of the Ministry of Personnel and has nothing to do with me..."
It's so clean...
The ministers below grinned and felt speechless for a while. Sure enough, they had been in the officialdom for a long time, and they could tell lies with confidence and without changing their expressions.
Facing Chen Xun's excuse, Jin Lian thought for a moment and said.
"Chen Shangshu, with all due respect, what you just said is just one side of the story. However, what Wang Xuan said is evidenced by correspondence. Therefore, if you want to prove your innocence, you may have to provide evidence to prove what you said. It’s true…”
(End of chapter)
