At this time, Cui Yishang was in the class room. When he saw Ye Yongjia coming in person, he hurriedly asked why. Ye Yongjia explained to him what had been discussed previously and asked for his opinion.
Cui Yi always respected him and did not want to offend Yan Zhijian. He just smiled and echoed: "My lord, this plan can have both worlds, why should you hesitate? As for Mr. Cai, he has not done anything wrong. He is just stable in his life. I just don’t dare to take risks.”
So Yongjia became more determined and immediately wrote a reply to the bookstore office and asked someone to bring it to him as soon as possible. Cai Xianqing was helpless.
Wan Yuzhi waited hard for two days and finally saw the letter. Although he was worried about his constant desire to break up, he agreed to his plan after all, which was considered a happy event, so he didn't think too much and concentrated on dealing with the matter in front of him.
What Wan Yuzhi cares most about is the more than 1,000 acres of school land donated by Zhu Yangrui. After he looked through the official books, he found that all these records were confirming his previous guesses, so he decided to use this as a breakthrough, hoping to follow the clues and catch them all.
He immediately thought of the two petty officials, and sent one of them who was more capable to go to Runing to spy on information. The clerk naturally worked hard for him, and within two days he came back with the news and reported it in detail.
It turns out that the scale of the free schools built by the Zhu family was not large. Not only were the buildings small and crude, but the scholars they hired were also half-informed and uncultivated. They were not worth maintaining a thousand acres of fertile land. As for the turnover and management of the free schools, they all fell into the "zhai" category. , there are three chiefs in the Zhai, all selected by Runing Confucianism, to jointly take charge of academic affairs.
Wan Yuzhi didn't feel the slightest surprise after hearing this, and asked calmly: "In that case, do you know where the money and food in the meal are going?"
The clerk kowtowed and replied: "Yi Xue is in charge of the government after all. How can we find out the inside story? Even if there is no evidence, we can figure out what is going on just by thinking."
"What do you mean, the government must have colluded with Mr. Zhu and helped him hide the thousands of acres of civilian land he had annexed?"
The clerk said: "It's almost the same. Otherwise, where would all the rent from the tenants on the Xuetian be received?"
"But this is not enough to convict." Wan Yuzhi reminded calmly.
The clerk smiled slyly: "That's simple. Aren't you the judge who reviews the case? Just say that you received an anonymous report and went to arrest the eyes and ears of the 'Blue Party', and took the opportunity to turn Runing upside down. I don't believe it." Can't find a piece of paper!"
Only then did a smile appear on Wan Yuzhi's face: "Your method is good, but it needs to be modified a little. After all, Runing is the prefect's territory. He has been in power for a long time, and his influence must be considerable. If he directly sends If people go there, it is very likely that their efforts will be in vain.”
"What should we do?" the clerk asked.
"I don't need to worry about you anymore," Wan Yuzhi waved his hand, "You go back and rest, I can handle it myself."
After seeing off the two minor officials, Yu Zhi came to the magistrate's office alone, bowed politely, and said to the magistrate: "When I came here, I passed by Runing and was warmly received by the magistrate there. I am still grateful." I also heard that He has done a lot of good governance and has benefited many places. I would like to see him again and give him a generous reward. I wonder if your Excellency can write to invite him?"
The prefect was obedient and immediately wrote a few lines of text under his gaze and sent someone to deliver it to Runing. When the prefect of Runing saw the letter and found out that it was the judge who had invited you, he was immediately overjoyed and thought to himself: "The banquet that was laid out that day can now be put to use!" 'So I chose a brand new official uniform, asked my servants to drive the carriage and horses, and set off proudly.
But at this moment, Wan Yuzhi had ordered his subordinates to pass down the order, instructing the accompanying imperial army to quietly proceed to Runing. On the day of arrival, the prefect had already left for a long time.
Without the interference of powerful forces, the Imperial Guards naturally had unimpeded access and had no scruples. They first controlled the yamen magistrate and others and blocked the news; then they looked through the field books, questioned important officials, and waited until all investigations were completed before heading to the village. Catch people.
They acted extremely quickly, and soon they surrounded several free schools, arrested the chief on the spot, forced him to confess his crime, collected all the documents in the prison, and handed them over to the confidant for sorting. Zhu Xiangshen's family was not spared from the disaster. The soldiers forced their way in, broke down the door, smashed the table, and threatened to capture Rui. All the family members were in shock and could not speak. Only an old servant was calm and told everyone It only matters that his master is not here.
Seeing that everyone was quiet, the clerk sat on the ground and checked the accounts in the Uprising. He found that all the money and grain collected had indeed flowed to the Zhu family, and there were also many loan records in black and white, which were enough to serve as ironclad evidence. He also learned from the Zhai Chief and others that the prefect of Runing had frequent contacts with the Zhu family and had similar interests, so he ordered them to help conceal the facts and avoid the eyes of the superiors.
The petty officials were shocked when they heard the news and rushed to report the news to Xinyang, leaving it to Wan Yu's decision. How could Yuzhi let go of such a good opportunity? He was immediately restless and wanted to issue an arrest order immediately, but he was still one step away from success - he asked Mr. Ye from the Ministry of War for instructions. He had no choice but to calm down, write a letter, give it to the envoy, and ride a horse to the capital.
Zhu Yangrui was out of town today, originally going to a friend's birthday banquet, and came back in the evening while enjoying the wine. He had just arrived at the outskirts of Runing and before he entered the village, he saw two people coming out from behind a mound, holding coal lamps in their hands. They looked around and then crept forward.
Zhu Yangrui hurriedly stopped his horse and saw that they were his servants. He was frightened and asked, "What happened to our family?"
Two servants grabbed his horse's bridle and kowtowed: "Sir, the government suddenly sent people, saying they wanted to investigate the turnover of Xuetian. They not only surrounded my Zhu family, but also arrested several academic officials... We followed the madam's orders and risked our lives to escape, just to wait for you to come back and report the news to you."
Zhu Yangrui gritted his teeth, slapped his thigh and said: "It's bad, if the government investigates, what happened will be exposed! Who came to search? I wonder if something happened to Master Futai?"
The servants said one by one: "It was the imperial troops around Master Wan who came to investigate. As for Mr. Futai, he is still enjoying himself in Xinyang and does not know about it."
After Zhu Yangrui heard this, he immediately sighed: "The Imperial Army will never dare to act without authorization. It must be the mastermind behind the plan who wants to put me to death! Now that I'm back home, it's like a sheep entering a tiger's mouth. If it's difficult to escape, why don't you follow me and go somewhere else?" .”
The servants all said: "Wan Yuzhi is an official of the imperial court. According to the imperial court's order, he has many soldiers. How can he ask the master to escape? Even if he can hide for a while, he cannot hide for a lifetime. If he is finally captured, he will inevitably end up dead." It's a capital crime. It's better to go back to the house and argue with others, maybe you can save your life!"
Zhu Yangrui took a deep breath, held the reins tightly, and fell into thought.
