Qianqing Palace.
After night falls, the new wind howls louder and louder.
The fire in the Nuan Pavilion also illuminated the music on the eucalyptus more and more thickly.
Zhu Yijun did not rush to read this mountain of memorials. Instead, he went to the study, opened the drawer, and crossed out the slip of paper with the names of Zhang Sijiao and Qiu Li.
Because Zhu Yijun had received a secret report from Dongchang, these two people had been arrested.
When Zhu Yijun crossed out the names of these two people, he couldn't help but raise the corner of his mouth.
He kept asking Jin Yiwei to keep an eye on the people he focused on.
Therefore, even though Xu Jie became the final culprit behind the exhumation of Yuci's tomb, he did not let the Jin Yiwei dismantle it, but asked the special team to continue to investigate the people behind the scenes who instigated people to criticize Zhang Juzheng.
Zhu Yijun had no other ability than being willing to spend money and pursue him relentlessly. Relying on the rich wealth Zhang Juzheng had accumulated for him, he kept throwing money at Jin Yiwei to strengthen the investigation.
The arrest and return of Zhang Sijiao and Qiu Li also made Zhu Yijun feel that his money was indeed not in vain.
Zhang Sijiao was naturally targeted by Zhu Yijun because he was Zhang Siwei's younger brother, and he was also a big salt merchant in Yangzhou and a representative of Shanxi merchants. He had embezzled a lot of salt profits that were national patents.
If the Xu family and other smuggling lords just didn't want the imperial court to share the profits, then the big salt merchants like Zhang Sijiao were directly taking food from the imperial court and embezzling the interests that belonged to the imperial court.
It can be said that the nature of the crimes of Zhang Sijiao and others is much more serious than that of the Xu family.
As for Qiu Li.
Historically, he and Zhang Cheng were one of the imperial envoys who confiscated Zhang Juzheng's property, and were the culprits who forced Zhang Juzheng's eldest son Zhang Jingxiu to death.
As someone who knew a lot about the history of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yijun naturally had his eye on this person for a long time.
Even if Zhu Yijun hadn't asked Jin Yiwei to keep an eye on this person, the people from Zhang Si's sect who went to Huguang to criticize Zhang Juzheng would not have been found.
"Your Majesty! People have been brought here."
At this moment, Zhang Jing's voice came from outside.
"knew!"
Zhu Yijun responded, put on his big cloak, and walked out with a calm face.
When Zhu Yijun came out, Zhang Sijiao, Qiu Li, and Wang Guoguang were already kneeling in the hall.
"Give me a seat at Wang Qing's house!"
Zhu Yijun gave an order at this time, and then sat back.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Wang Guoguang's eyes showed a look of surprise, and then he thanked him, then sat on a table and looked at Zhang Sijiao and Qiu Li who were kneeling on the ground leisurely.
Zhu Yijun then asked Zhang Sijiao: "Zhang Sijiao, do you know why I want to personally interrogate you?"
"Know!"
Zhang Sijiao said something and said: "Your Majesty wants to personally interrogate Wansheng because of my brother."
Zhu Yijun said: "If you answer truthfully, I will spare your life and not deal with you as the main culprit."
"Your Majesty is as benevolent as heaven. How dare I not answer truthfully if I am born late?"
"To be honest, Your Majesty, my brother was the mastermind behind the criticism of Grand Master Zhang. He was the one who asked Wan Sheng to do this!"
Zhang Sijiao answered without hesitation the result Zhu Yijun wanted most.
Zhu Yijun said: "Why did he do this?"
"Your Majesty, my brother is actually very dissatisfied with the new policies implemented by the Grand Master!"
"And the reason why he has always chosen to remain silent, and even openly flattered the Grand Master, and even pretended to be a reformist, is so that he can be ranked first and second in the future, and then have the opportunity to abolish the New Deal!"
"And when my elder brother asked Wansheng to do this, it was when the Grand Master was about to implement the policy of officials and gentry all receiving food and serving as errands. My elder brother had reached the point where he couldn't tolerate this, and he hoped to force the Grand Master to stop by manipulating public opinion! "
"At that time, he asked Wansheng to secretly instigate the scholars to go everywhere to criticize the Grand Master, and exposed many scandals about the Grand Master, or people who were related to the Grand Master and could make a fuss about them were also made. Including Rumors were spread that the Grand Master wanted to rebel, that the Grand Master was so rich that he could rival the country, that the Grand Master framed the royal family, etc."
"Since ancient times, the eldest brother is like the father. The younger brother has to listen, so he did it."
"However, Wan Sheng did not expect that the people in Huguang would hate the Grand Master so much that they would dig up his ancestral graves."
"My brother was very happy about this and said that this was the result he wanted to see."
Zhang Sijiao started talking at this time and glanced at Zhu Yijun. Seeing that he did not show any anger, he felt quite regretful for speaking so hatefully of his brother.
"Don't tell me this!"
Moreover, Zhu Yijun suddenly shouted at Zhang Sijiao and continued to ask: "What else did you do?"
"yes!"
Zhang Sijiao couldn't help but be more cautious and said hurriedly: "My brother asked Wansheng to collect 300,000 taels of silver from Qiu Li, the former Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, and promised that he would be reinstated as a minister in the future and be responsible for copying the Taishi's property."
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun looked at Qiu Li and said with a smile: "It turns out you had already planned it."
Qiu Li hurriedly kowtowed to the ground: "Your Majesty, spare your life!"
"Why are you so sure that I will raid your husband's home?"
Zhu Yijun asked.
Qiu Li cried: "The guilty minister Hu Tu! I forgot that your majesty is a benevolent emperor!"
"Do you hate my husband that much?"
"Didn't I say that you are incorruptible? How come you have so much money to give to Zhang Siwei?"
Zhu Yijun asked again.
Qiu Li said: "Your Majesty, I also borrowed money from the dignitaries in the capital, and I just want to repay it by stealing the Grand Master's property."
"Behind this dare, there is also a debt that has been incurred, which is waiting to be written off by confiscating the husband's house."
Zhu Yijun pretended to be surprised and said with a smile: "You are good at doing business. I haven't even shown my intention to seize my husband's property. Even when he was still alive, you had already planned to seize his property and debentured it in advance. , saying that you don’t understand money laws, it’s obvious that I underestimated you! You are all waiting for my husband to be liquidated, so you can divide the money easily, right? But I didn’t expect that what I copied was not my husband, but Xu Huating. Let you It’s all a waste of time, right?”
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
"I am also a Hutu. Because I resented the Grand Master for deposing me and treated the officials harshly, I agreed to the current Yuan Fu and those young people behind him."
"Please, Your Majesty, be merciful and give me another chance. I will never join in with them again."
Qiu Li cried and said.
"Where is the loan deed?"
Zhu Yijun asked.
Qiu Li said: "Hidden in Longkong Temple, under the watch of the local abbot."
Here, Zhang Jing hurriedly glanced at Bai Yiqing, the official of Jinyiweitang who was waiting outside.
Bai Yiqing understood and hurriedly retreated.
Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Sijiao again: "What other shameful things have you done?"
"My brother forced me to collude with Li Rubin, deputy commander-in-chief of Ningxia, and others to sell illegal salt to the Beilu. This ruined the DPRK's plan to control the Beilu through border trade. In addition to the prescribed quota of official salt that could be sold to the Beilu, we gave more to the Beilu every year. Thousands of salts are used to lure soldiers, so that they can gather troops to threaten the safety of this dynasty."
】
Zhang Sijiao did not expect that the emperor would not stop there, so he continued to confess, but said that his brother Zhang Siwei was the mastermind behind everything he did.
Because he knew that the emperor's arrest of him was definitely not for him, a small official, he spoke in a way that the emperor liked to hear.
Zhu Yijun nodded after hearing this.
Wang Guoguang stood up at this time: "Your Majesty, these giant beetles that are causing harm to the country should be punished!"
Zhu Yijun ordered Zhang Jing: "Take Zhang Sijiao and Qiu Li down first!"
Then, Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Guoguang: "Did you hear it? They have already set the table, waiting for me to liquidate Mr. So that they can enjoy this feast of eating my husband's family."
Zhu Yijun said, "Let Zhang Jingxiu, Zhang Maoxiu, and Zhang Yunxiu come in too!"
Not long after, Zhang Jingxiu, Zhang Maoxiu, and Zhang Yunxiu also walked in and greeted Zhu Yijun.
Zhu Yijun also looked at them and asked, "Did you all hear it too?"
All three of them nodded.
Zhu Yijun continued: "So, now that I have saved my husband, I have undoubtedly cut off the financial resources of many people. I don't know if there are any relatives of the emperor. But I think there must be some. After all, there has been no shortage since ancient times." Greedy people.”
"But now I don't know how big their appetite is?"
"Are you just going to eat Mr. Wang's family, or are you going to eat your whole family, including Wang Guoguang and even Fang Fengshi, Zhang Xueyan, Pan Jixun, Zeng Xingwu, and Wang Zuan?"
Zhu Yijun then spoke again.
"His Majesty!"
Zhang Jingxiu knelt down first, clenched his fists, and said solemnly: "I am willing to die to protect my country and my family!"
Zhang Maoxiu and Zhang Yunxiu also knelt down when they saw this: "The same goes for my ministers!"
Wang Guoguang glanced at the three brothers, thinking that they were younger after all, and couldn't help the emperor's excitement. Then, he had to kneel down:
"Your Majesty is right! Right now, I have no way out, and I cannot let Your Majesty alone protect the Grand Master clan!"
