Chen Tongpao said "yes" respectfully, took out a memorial from his pocket, and read from it: "I led all the officials in the Ministry of Civil Affairs to boldly submit a letter to impeach Zeng Liang, the Minister of Hubu, for deceiving the court and concealing money and food. , please issue an order for detailed investigation."
Ye Yongjia was listening. Although he only raised his eyebrows, he was extremely surprised: "Zeng Liang has always been close to Chen Dang, and he has never offended them. How can he be impeached?" Could it be a trick...'
"In addition, Chen Shangshu also submitted an account. Here," the emperor immediately turned to look at Zeng Liang, "it is said to be the expenses required by the merchant in Beitang to set up a factory, but the amount you wrote off is not the same as the amount you wrote off. No. I’m afraid the extra money was shared among you, right? Do you want to see it for yourself? "
Zeng Liang still lowered his head and replied with a choked voice: "Your Majesty, to be honest, I gave these accounts to Mr. Chen. I have already read them."
The emperor stared in surprise, but fortunately there was a curtain between them, so he could show his composure to everyone: "Oh. Then why did you impeach yourself?" As he said that, he moved the position of the incense burner as if nothing had happened.
Zeng Liang knelt down and said bitterly: "I know very well that Ye Yongjia, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, is secretly colluding with these people. I am afraid that the impeachment will not be believed by your Majesty, so I will not hesitate to destroy my reputation for a lifetime to expose the great evil of this person!"
"Is Ye Shangshu also involved?" the emperor asked hurriedly.
"That's right," Zeng Liang kowtowed heavily, "When we first negotiated an agreement with that group of people, Ye Yongjia wrote a secret letter to me, asking me to lure them for profit and allow him to commit corruption to facilitate the agreement. I was a little moved because of this. With evil intentions, he offered to help him conceal the accounts and share the stolen goods with him. The minister was indeed guilty of a serious crime. Even if he died, he would not be forgiven. He would be killed or demoted, but he obeyed the holy orders. But Ye Yongjia colluded with other people, his intentions are unpredictable, let alone stay! I hope your Majesty will understand clearly."
"Okay, okay," the emperor sneered faintly, "turns out there are people like this around me! You also said that there is peace outside with singing and dancing, but with you here, the country cannot be peaceful!"
"Your Majesty, calm down..." Everyone fell to their knees and shouted in unison.
"Ye Yongjia!" The emperor was already furious, "Thank you for trusting you so much! How can you repay me!"
Ye Yongjia was sweating profusely, his ears were buzzing, and he felt dizzy before his eyes, as if he couldn't hold on any longer. But he knew that he could not faint easily, so he forcibly tossed his confused head, thinking hard, and finally had to make up his mind and gritted his teeth and replied: "Your Majesty, I don't dare to quibble, I admit all these things. But I There is no ulterior motive, it is just to strengthen the military and prosper the country. Everyone knows that I am an honest official, so how can I act for personal gain? Mr. Zeng, on the other hand, has been extremely bold recently."
"What did he do again?" the emperor asked next.
"He secretly withdrew the capital of the salt farm, a total of one hundred thousand taels of silver, and planned to pass it off from the merchants and turn it into funds for setting up the factory, which would clear the suspicion. And he said that the person will be here soon."
"Where did you hear that?" The emperor's mood actually calmed down.
"It was accidentally heard by the two junior officials I sent to guide the factory."
After Zeng Liang heard this, he quickly glanced at Chen Tongpao. The latter understood it and came closer and said: "Now the matter is complicated and unclear, and it is useless to just listen to the two people arguing. It is better to retreat from the court first and send someone to summon the North." The merchants from Tangpan are here to be interrogated and then make a decision."
The emperor was very satisfied and immediately ordered the ministers to disperse and return to the palace to rest.
Ye Yongjia left the hall. The weather was as bright as yesterday. The warm sunshine shone on him and the gentle breeze blew his sleeves. All this could have made him relax, but the tension and panic in his heart did not change. It disperses. He had never felt as desperate as he did today, as if he was falling rapidly from the top of the mountain. There was no reliable force to hold him up. He could only wait for the fall to come and see whether he would live or die.
He walked slowly towards the corridor ahead, caught a glimpse of Tongpao Chen, and actually called him: "Master Chen."
Chen Tongpao stopped, turned around, smiled and bowed: "Ye Shangshu. What do you want?"
"Do you have the account with you? Can I... take a look."
Tongpao Chen immediately took out the account: "Here. But it's not the original. The original is with the emperor."
Ye Yongjia took it and looked at it for a while, then asked: "How much is the difference from the write-off number?"
"About one thousand to two thousand taels."
"There must be more than twenty factories that he was asked to run. After all, it's a lot of ink."
"Yes, this figure has put a lot of burden on the national treasury. Since last year, additional taxes have been allocated to the Jianghuai area, and the people have been suffering for a while."
"..."
Ye Yongjia took the account and walked back to the mansion. Seeing that it was still early, he invited Cai Xianqing to have tea and chat. Xianqing heard about the early court incident and was just thinking about how to deal with it. He had a lot to say. However, when he came to Ye Mansion, he saw Ye Yongjia sitting in the yard, making tea and waiting for him.
Cai Xianqing looked at the surrounding scenery, shook his head and said with a smile: "I am not as casual and elegant as you, and I still drink tea and chat. Let's talk about important issues."
Ye Yongjia took a sip of tea and sighed: "I have reported the matter of one hundred thousand taels of silver to the emperor... No matter what the outcome is, that bearded man will not be able to work in this dynasty anymore. Once he leaves, the New Deal will be criticized. They’re all the same, so why worry?”
"What's more," he continued, "is it really right for us to implement the New Deal by any means necessary? In order to please those businessmen, we let them take bribes in various ways. In the end, the lost money will still fall on the people..."
"You're here again," Cai Xianqing said with a smile, "Why do you change your appearance every day? You always start to think blindly when you encounter difficulties, and when you encounter a good situation, you take the world as your own responsibility. This is not good."
After hearing what he said, Ye Yongjia recalled the conversation with Mr. Cui a few days ago and couldn't help but laugh to himself: "Yes, since I formed a party in the court, the truths that I believed in so much now feel so good to me now." I'm in a daze, I don't understand..."
"At least one thing is certain: that corrupt merchant is leaving, isn't it? If, as you said, Party Chen will use this to make a big fuss about abandoning major military factories and stopping the production of guns, then I will Be the first to rush forward and fight them tooth and nail!" Cai Xianqing looked filled with indignation.
"Mr. Cai, aren't you afraid of death?" Ye Yongjia asked.
"Death?" Cai Xianqing laughed loudly, "I have been alone all my life and have no worries. It's just a click of a knife and my head falls to the ground. It's that simple."
Ye Yongjia couldn't help but smile: "You really have a simple idea... It's a pity that I miss you too much, otherwise I would die with you."
Cai Xianqing said: "No, if such a day comes, I would rather die in front of you and block their guns for you!"
