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Before leaving Beijing, Zhao Junchen left many plans in the capital.
Now, these plans have begun to be gradually implemented, some of them have produced effects, some have no effect at all, and some have even had counter-effects!
However, Zhao Junchen could no longer modify these plans.
Because Zhao Junchen was in Huai'an City at this time, more than 2,300 miles away from the capital.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen is not worried about the changes in the capital - even if he is worried, it is useless - for Zhao Junchen, the important thing is to deal with the matter at hand.
For example, the corruption case of Li Xin, the former prefect of Huai'an.
How to explain this matter to Emperor Deqing required a lot of thought.
On the second day after arriving in Huai'an City, Zhao Junchen, Huo Zhengyuan and Bao Wenjie went to the Huai'an government office to start reviewing Li Xin's corruption case.
After entering the Huai'an government office, Zhao Junchen and others quickly met Huai'an Magistrate He Hengze - just like the rumors, He Hengze was a "good gentleman" who was easy to communicate with. When Zhao Junchen, Huo Zhengyuan and Bao Wenjie revealed their identities and intentions, After that, he received his warm reception. He Hengze also responded to and actively cooperated with Zhao Junchen and others' various requests.
Facing He Hengze's hospitality and flattery, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but sigh once again - why are corrupt officials always the ones who are easy to get along with in the officialdom?
Or maybe it's because corrupt officials don't have many principles - as long as their fundamental interests are not violated, corrupt officials always understand the importance of "flexibility" and "tolerance."
However, Zhao Junchen did not sigh for too long. Soon I was busy.
Read through files, collect clues, find witnesses, and interrogate Li Xin again...
After two days of busy work, gradually. The truth of the case is becoming clearer and clearer, and Bao Wenjie's face is getting more and more ugly.
At first. The reason why Prince Zhu Heyu concluded that Li Xin was a corrupt official was, firstly, because after some corrupt officials in Huai'an were arrested and imprisoned by Prince Zhu Heyu, they all swore to prove that Li Xin was their mastermind; secondly, This is because the "intelligence" collected by Dongchang shows that Li Xin has been involved in corruption and bribery. Thirdly, it is also because a huge amount of money was confiscated from Li Xin's home.
Therefore, Prince Zhu Heyu easily concluded that Li Xin was a corrupt official based on "conclusive evidence" and dismissed Li Xin from office and arrested and imprisoned him.
However, after Zhao Junchen, Huo Zhengyuan, and Bao Wenjie carefully reviewed the case, the information they obtained was completely different.
According to the information found by these three people. Li Xin, the former prefect of Huai'an, was obviously an upright official. During his tenure as an official, there was no sign of corruption, bribery, or abuse of power for personal gain. Although the family was wealthy and tens of thousands of taels of silver were confiscated during the house raid, considering that Li Xin's ancestors were all famous merchants, the money was probably obtained by Li Xin inheriting the ancestral business, and it was all pure silver.
As for the "criminal evidence" collected by Dongchang and the evidence given by other corrupt officials, it is completely unbelievable.
All aspects of intelligence indicate that Dongchang once asked for benefits from Li Xin, but was flatly rejected by Li Xin, and Dongchang was out of revenge. It was only because of the information provided by Li Xin that most of the other corrupt officials in Huai'an were convicted by Prince Zhu Heyu. In order to retaliate against Li Xin, they also provided perjury under Dongchang's suggestion. .
so. Li Xin is an upright official, and he was wronged!
After confirming this, Bao Wenjie's expression kept changing. It seems to have been a great blow.
Because of this incident, Prince Zhu Heyu became a wise and wise figure. There was a crack in Bao Wenjie's heart.
Bao Wenjie never thought that a wise and wise person like Prince Zhu Heyu would make mistakes! And he made such a serious mistake. He actually framed a well-known honest official as a corrupt official and made this honest official suffer all kinds of torture in prison!
When Li Xin was interrogated, Li Xin was covered in scars, extremely weak, and looked like she might not be able to withstand it at any time. Obviously, Li Xin offended many people while serving as an official in Huai'an, so some people took the opportunity to take revenge after being imprisoned. , had been tortured a lot during this period. If Zhao Junchen and others had been a few days late, maybe Li Xin would have died unjustly in prison.
Therefore, while Bao Wenjie was in a conflicted mood, he also had some sympathy for Li Xin. After all, he was also an upright official himself, so when he saw Li Xin's appearance, he couldn't help but feel a little sad.
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After finding out the facts of the case, Zhao Junchen, Huo Zhengyuan, and Bao Wenjie gathered together that night to discuss how they should report the case to Emperor Deqing.
At the beginning, the three of them were silent, just waiting for others to express their attitude.
After all, the truth of the case is now obvious, but if it is reported truthfully, it will affect the reputation of Prince Zhu Heyu, and will have a series of chain reactions. No one can afford the "political responsibility" here, but If they did not report the facts and fabricated the facts, it would be the crime of deceiving the emperor, and no one could bear the crime.
As a result, the three of them were in a dilemma.
Among them, Bao Wenjie is particularly conflicted. On the one hand, he has his own conscience, and on the other hand, he wants to protect the reputation of Prince Zhu Heyu. One of the two must be given up. This situation makes Bao Wenjie extremely conflicted.
However, in the silence, it was Bao Wenjie who finally took the lead to express his attitude and said slowly: "Now, the facts of the case are obvious. Li Xin is a rare honest official and a loyal minister of our Ming Dynasty. Such a person should not be wronged. Therefore, we should report to His Majesty the truth and restore Li Xin’s innocence.”
In the end, Bao Wenjie made such a decision because of his honest nature, conscience, and some sympathy.
Although this decision will bring some troubles to Prince Zhu Heyu, Bao Wenjie believes that Prince Zhu Heyu will also support his choice.
Because the "princelings" are basically composed of upright officials and clean streamers, and this is related to the fundamental interests of the "princelings"!
However, after Zhao Junchen and Huo Zhengyuan looked at each other, they both shook their heads.
Zhao Junchen said first: "I do not agree with Mr. Bao's proposal. As important ministers of the court, we should put the overall situation first at all times! So at this time, we should give priority to the reputation of His Highness the Crown Prince, rather than a certain person." Whether the official has been wronged. Therefore, I suggest that the original sentence of His Royal Highness be upheld on the grounds of "the origin of the huge amount of property is unknown". However, considering that Li Xin did do a lot of practical things for the people during his tenure as an official, and His Highness the Prince also had some sentencing mistakes. If it's serious, we can ask His Majesty to commute Li Xin's crime and let Li Xin go home to take care of him and live out his life, which would be considered worthy of him."
Because they had communicated beforehand, Huo Zhengyuan agreed with Zhao Junchen's view and nodded: "I agree with Mr. Zhao. Compared with the reputation of His Highness the Crown Prince, whether Li Xin has been wronged is nothing, so Li Xin must be guilty! In order to In the overall situation, sacrificing some personal interests is also the duty of a minister... Of course, we will not let Li Xin suffer injustice in vain. After upholding the original sentence, it is also appropriate to commute Li Xin's sentence. I think this is also His Majesty's thoughts. Otherwise His Majesty will not allow us to review the case."
Bao Wenjie originally thought that Zhao Junchen and Huo Zhengyuan would support his point of view. After all, after the reputation of Prince Zhu Heyu was damaged, it would be beneficial to both of them.
At this time, after hearing Zhao Junchen and Huo Zhengyuan's proposals. Bao Wenjie couldn't help but be a little surprised - could Zhao Junchen and Huo Zhengyuan really consider the reputation of Prince Zhu Heyu? ——Bao Wenjie only felt that there was something wrong with his ears.
For a moment, I thought about Zhao Huo's proposal. Bao Wenjie was indeed moved and thought this was a good strategy to get the best of both worlds.
but. After putting himself in Li Xin's shoes, Bao Wenjie shook his head. Still insisting on his opinion, he said: "For an upright official like Li Xin, reputation is the most important thing in his life. If we still maintain his crime, it will be more uncomfortable for him than killing him! So Mr. Zhao's proposal No way.”
After a pause, thinking about Zhao Junchen's proposal, Bao Wenjie felt a little funny again and said: "Uphold the original verdict on the grounds of 'unknown origin of huge amounts of property'? I don't remember that there is such a crime in our court!"
Zhao Junchen said slowly: "It is true that our court does not have this crime, but the emperor is eloquent and follows the law. As long as His Majesty approves it, then this crime will naturally be committed. After all, Li Xin's family property is as high as nearly one hundred thousand taels of silver. , but he couldn’t explain all the origins of the money, and there might be money involved in corruption and bribery, so this crime is not wrong.”
Bao Wenjie sneered: "Who among the officials in the world can clearly explain the origin of every tael of silver in his family property? Once this crime is convicted, wouldn't it mean that every official in the world is guilty? What's more, although the amount of Li Xin's family property is It’s huge, but compared to Master Zhao, it’s just a drop in the bucket. By raising this charge, Master Zhao, aren’t you afraid of digging your own grave in the future?”
Zhao Junchen said with a smile: "The so-called 'upright official' means 'incorruptible', not 'upright' in 'poverty'. I understand this, but now for the sake of the reputation of His Highness the Crown Prince, I can only look for Such a reason, after all, we really can't catch anything else about Li Xin. As for Mr. Bao saying that I am digging my own grave... I also thank Mr. Bao for his concern, but since I dare to make this suggestion, I won't worry Someone will use this trick against me in the future, please don’t worry, Mr. Bao.”
In fact, Zhao Junchen's proposal was not just to "maintain" the reputation of Prince Zhu Heyu, but also had longer-term considerations, but Zhao Junchen would not explain it to Bao Wenjie in detail.
As for Bao Wenjie saying that Zhao Junchen's proposal was "digging his own grave," Zhao Junchen was not worried at all.
For a powerful official like Zhao Junchen, the so-called "crime" is simply the most insignificant thing. If Zhao Junchen falls, his political opponents can weave seventy or eighty crimes against Zhao Junchen at any time if they are willing. It is necessary to look for the reason of "the source of the huge amount of property is unknown": If Zhao Junchen had not fallen, the so-called reason of "the source of the huge amount of property is unknown" would not have any impact on Zhao Junchen at all.
In fact, once Li Xin is convicted for "unclear origin of a huge amount of property", the most vulnerable will be the middle and lower-level officials of the court, and this is the real reason why Zhao Junchen made this suggestion!
In the end, after repeated debates, Bao Wenjie, Huo Zhengyuan and Zhao Junchen still insisted on their own opinions. Bao Wenjie insisted on overturning Li Xin's case, while Huo Zhengyuan and Zhao Junchen also insisted on upholding the original verdict.
Things in this world are so strange. Bao Wenjie is obviously a die-hard confidant of Prince Zhu Heyu, but he insists on overturning the verdict of Prince Zhu Heyu. Zhao Junchen and Huo Zhengyuan are obviously hostile to Prince Zhu Heyu, but at this time However, the primary goal is to protect the reputation of Prince Zhu Heyu!
In the final analysis, in the officialdom, the so-called "stand" is often the most unreliable thing. Everyone has his own starting point of interests. With different starting points of interests, the so-called "stand" will often change!
Huo Zhengyuan wanted to uphold the original verdict in order to please Emperor Deqing. Zhao Junchen had other considerations besides wanting to please Emperor Deqing, so he also insisted on upholding the original verdict. As for Bao Wenjie, the reason why he insisted on overturning the case for Li Xin , isn't it because he himself is also an upright official, so he feels sad for it?
In the end, because no one could convince anyone, Zhao Junchen, Huo Zhengyuan, and Bao Wenjie stopped arguing. They just waited for Emperor Deqing to arrive in Huai'an before explaining their respective opinions to Emperor Deqing.
Moreover, according to the news, Emperor Deqing will visit Huai'an soon!
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ps: I don’t know why, but weekends are very busy, and there are always a lot of things to do.
...(To be continued...)
