The ministers were already wary of this tour, but now they saw that they had internally agreed on a method of "treating cliques first, and corruption second". They even suspected that Liu Zhennian wanted to use his reputation as a "clique" to come. Eliminate dissidents to consolidate your lost authority. Coupled with Niu Yuan's comeback, everyone in them is in danger, fearing that they will suddenly be framed as party members, which will affect their reputation for the rest of their lives.
Therefore, Niu Yuan became cautious in his actions. In order not to offend these courtiers, he tried not to take radical measures, such as searches and interrogations; but he felt that the threat from the old party was imminent and had to deal with it as soon as possible. In desperation, he had no choice but to send his confidants to inform everyone that the investigation of the case was hindered and that they needed to go to the Yamen to verify the files and ask a few questions. He had no other intention.
This is already a huge concession in Niu Yuan's view, but the officials who have been extremely nervous recently are frightened and frightened. They are afraid that it is the Hongmen Banquet set up for them by the Liu Party. No one dares to openly disobey an official document.
As an anti-Liu Yi faction, Gao Jizhi knew that this was a good opportunity to win over people's hearts, so he relied on his own power and wrote a letter to express his grievances, accusing Niu Yuan of "involving an innocent minister in a major case. I don't know what his intentions are?" If you don't understand, you can check the evidence carefully. Why do you need to make all the ministers of the dynasty wait for questioning one by one like criminals? This method disturbs people's hearts and creates trouble for no reason, hoping to get their lives back."
Niu Yuandeshu was furious, but he still had no arrogance. He only cursed Gao Jizhi's name a few times, but he didn't have the confidence to pass on the order. Now he was in a state of fear, and he didn't dare to take a step away. He racked his brains and couldn't think of a way, which only made his head hurt even more. So he slammed the table and gritted his teeth, thinking: 'In that case, why don't I summon the Liubu Hall officials and interrogate the prisoners in the prison again? They clearly looked at it. If I couldn't find any new evidence, I would just take the blame and resign. At the worst, I would die to apologize, which would be quite comfortable! ’ Then he stood up, kicked the chair, and shouted to the people outside: “Go and tell the men of the Sixth Department that I don’t intend to order them anymore. I just want the six of them to come here and interrogate the criminals with the truth!” "
At this time, Lu Zhixian had just rushed to Gao Jizhi's residence and was sobbing and begging for his protection. Before he could talk about the actual situation, he suddenly saw a follower walking towards him. He immediately wiped away his tears and asked sternly: "Do you have anything?" Why bother, Sir Gao?"
The attendant explained Niu Yuan's instructions in detail. Mr. Lu listened very carefully, but his face turned pale and he couldn't help but turn his head to look at Gao Jizhi.
"Oh, prepare your horse, I'll go immediately." Gao Jizhi waved his hand, and his entourage bowed and retreated wisely.
"Sir, that Niu Yuan has ulterior motives and we really can't go!"
"Why can't you go?" Gao Jizhi glanced at his panicked look and smiled calmly, "He was originally planning to please the courtiers and isolate the party, but the memorial from my official has pushed him to the bottom of everything. The opposite of an official, no matter what he does, it seems like he is conspiring to frame him. This person is a man with no skills. Wouldn't it be wonderful for you and me to go there and watch him play the show of being at the end of his rope?"
Lu Zhixian was immediately overjoyed, and quickly raised his hands and complimented him: "What you are protecting today is not only Su Shenzheng, but also thousands of officials, big and small! When you return to Beijing and flatten the Liu Party, you will be promoted to the position of Prime Minister of Zhongshu Province." I want you to sit down!"
When he mentioned Zhongshu Province, Gao Jizhi couldn't help but think of the conversation with Chen Tongpao. Faced with such exaggerated praise, he didn't dare to show his face. He just replied coldly: "I want to save the country and the people. As for fame and fortune, I have never cared about it. The Liu Party is still very powerful. We should not be careless because of this. We should go to his meeting first and observe the situation. There is one more thing to remind your lord, the other four departments Officials probably don't know what happened to the gang members. After arriving at the Yamen, they must not let the news leak out and ruin Gao's plans." Lu Zhixian naturally obeyed his words and said yes frequently.
The chief officials of the six departments arrived at the Kaifeng government office one after another. No matter which one they were, Niu Yuan came out to greet them personally and took them to the quiet second hall. Each of them made a pot of good tea and ordered someone to bring a few plates of tea. After having snacks and watching them eat and drink, they rolled up their robes and climbed up the steps, sat in front of the public case, and asked the clerk to summon the criminals to come up.
The first person to be pushed forward was the prefect of Kaifeng. Wearing tattered prison uniforms and wooden shackles on his hands, he knelt in the hall and kowtowed to plead guilty. Niu Yuan pressed the file with his hand and asked, "How much property did you embezzle? What kind of protection did you get?" etc. What he said was exactly the same as his confession, except that he did not mention Su Zongshan's name, but instead called him a senior official in the capital.
"So, apart from this high-ranking official in the capital, has anyone else interacted with you?" Niu Yuan tried to find out some new content, but did not hold out much hope.
"I'm telling you, the adults, this is the only way for a villain, and no one in the court knows him."
"Okay... let's go."
Niu Yuan summoned five or six more criminals one after another, and just listened to them repeat their previous confessions, nothing new. Until he saw the last prisoner, looking at his face, he couldn't even figure it out. What are you doing here?
"Are you the magistrate of Qixian County?" Niu Yuan looked at the boring words on the confession and yawned.
"Yes."
"I won't ask you any nonsense." He simply closed the file tightly and was about to move his buttocks away. "I can't ask you anything anyway. After I asked you the last sentence, I went back to rest: except for the great master of the capital. Officer, have you found anyone else?"
The county magistrate looked ashamed and answered hesitantly: "Hey, I'm sorry... I'm a low-key man, so I can't get to know that senior official in the capital..."
"What?"
Niu Yuan frowned tightly, and his eyes were filled with surprise; the adults in the six departments were even more puzzled, and they could not sit or stand still.
"But your confession says..." Niu Yuan hurriedly reopened the file, rummaged through it, and found his confession. "Is it possible that 'colluding with a certain capital official' is false?"
The prisoner shook his head: "It's not false. The villain did collude with him, but it was not him who came forward."
"Keep talking!" Niu Yuan became excited and gradually raised his voice.
"There is an official named Hu Chonglian in the imperial court. I am from the same clan as him. He asked me to do things several times and used the name of that gentleman to threaten me. I did my job honestly, but I didn't get much money in return. But I just remembered something yesterday. Later, I sent someone to ask me, there is a big business that I want to share the spoils with you. Do you want to do it? I didn’t know what kind of business it was. I happily agreed at the time, but then there was no news. , and soon forgotten.”
Niu Yuan snorted coldly and said with a smile: "Thankfully you didn't succeed in this business!"
