Li Shimin stared at the confession, his fists clenched.
"I do not know what you're talking about!"
Hou Junji looked cold and said angrily,
"Zhao Yi is Zhao Yi, and I am me! What does it have to do with me that he embezzled money? Just because he was once my subordinate, you poured dirty water on me?"
"Xu Fenglei, your inference is too ridiculous!"
Now that he has broken up with each other, he doesn't need to call the other party "grand master", just call him by his name and have a passionate battle!
"That's ridiculous? Hou Junji, you really don't shed tears until you see the coffin!"
Xu Fenglei came here well prepared today, how could he be afraid of him messing around?
I saw him taking out another piece of paper from his sleeve and sneered,
"What's on this is your corruption in various places since the ninth year of Wude! The names of the subordinates who you used as tools to make money are all on this piece of paper. Do you want me to read them to you?"
Hou Junji's expression suddenly changed.
Before he could speak, Xu Fenglei had already read out:
"In the first year of Zhenguan, after your majesty came to the throne, you rewarded the guards of the capital. The right guard was given five thousand taels of silver as a reward. Your lieutenant Zhang Cong misappropriated half of it, of which he enjoyed 500 taels for himself, and the remaining two thousand taels were for his filial piety. I gave it to you!”
"After that, the capital army resisted the invasion of the Turkic Jieli Khan and won the battle to defend Chang'an! Your Majesty rewarded the three armies again in the second year of Zhenguan. The right guard contributed a lot this time and was allocated 8,000 taels! And you, under His Majesty's command, have Even though there was a huge reward, I still extended my black hand to the rewards of the soldiers, tsk tsk... I have to say, it is really miserable to be a soldier under you."
"Three years of Zhenguan! You were promoted to the Ministry of War. You are very happy, because there is really a lot of money to be made in the Ministry of War! In the Ministry of War, you vigorously cultivated cronies to act as your gloves, and made a lot of money, with various incomes reaching up to ten thousand taels! The country's assets You sold it off and put it into your own pocket!"
"Three years of Zhenguan..."
"..."
Xu Fenglei read one sentence after another, and with each sentence he read, Hou Junji's face became paler.
By the time he finished reading, his face was pale and his lips were trembling.
At this moment, he had a huge uneasy feeling of having his underwear seen through! This uneasiness quickly turned into fear!
At the same time, the officials around him looked at him with shock and contempt.
I was shocked that Hou Junji was so bold and committed so many serious illegal acts of corruption!
Contempt, of course, is contempt for such a treacherous official who squeezes his subordinates and sells off state assets!
As we all know, the Zhenguan Dynasty had a good atmosphere and the court was very clean from top to bottom, so they were even more disgusted with such corrupt officials!
"Hou Junji, have you really done these beastly things?"
Yuchi Gong stepped forward and asked angrily,
"You want to embezzle your brothers' military salary? Are you still a human being?"
"You are a beast! You are not as good as a pig or a dog!"
Hou Junji's face turned green and red, unable to respond at all.
And his attitude was more like confirming Xu Fenglei's impeachment - he really did those dirty things!
"You deserve to die, you deserve to die!"
Cheng Yaojin also stood up and shouted loudly,
"Thousands of taels of silver, but only a few cents are distributed to each soldier? You have to deduct this! If I were a soldier under your command, I would be the first to kill you!"
These two were the people who once dared to challenge and quarrel with the imperial household department in order to ask for military pay for the soldiers!
In their eyes, those who deduct military pay are the most abominable and deserve to die!
"What I'm talking about doesn't require any detailed investigation. You only need to ask a few soldiers on the right guard to find out."
Xu Fenglei stood with his hands behind his back and said in a deep voice,
"The Ministry of War's accounts only need to be checked and settled by the Hyogo Division to find out how much has been missing over the years."
"As for our Ministry of Industry, we have already done the verification. Yan Lide, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, has made an account. If necessary, you can hand it in at any time!"
"To sum up, the above is clear and concise, and the evidence is solid!"
"Hou Junji, do you still want to deny it?"
Hou Junji lowered his head. No matter how determined he was, he had already lost his mind under Xu Fenglei's indiscriminate bombardment!
"According to the "Zhenguan Law", the illegally stolen silk is worth a hundred sticks, one plus one, and fifteen cans of twists!"
Xu Fenglei turned to look at Li Shimin and said loudly,
"The crime committed by Hou Junji is a thousand times greater than that of 'fifteen bolts' of silk! He should be sentenced to death!"
"Your Majesty, please immediately imprison Hou Junji, find out all the facts of his crimes, and then give him a proper punishment!"
Wow!
As soon as he finished speaking, he bowed his head to the emperor with a long bow!
At this moment, the entire Liangyi Palace was eerily quiet. Everyone's eyes were focused on Li Shimin. Even Hou Junji suddenly raised his head and looked at the emperor.
That look was like a drowning man looking for a life-saving straw!
Plop!
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, Your Majesty!"
Hou Junji knelt on the ground and said with a trembling voice,
"I haven't done it, I haven't done it!"
"Your Majesty, please believe me, please be clear about it!"
He knew that he couldn't stand the investigation!
As long as the emperor files a case for investigation, all the dirty and scandalous things he has done secretly over the years will be revealed. And when the time comes, not only will he die, but his family and old subordinates will also be implicated!
Therefore, he could only hope that the emperor would remember their old relationship and get along with each other without delving into the matter.
Li Shimin was sitting on the dragon throne, with veins popping out on his forehead.
"…Needless to say."
Li Shimin waved his hand and said indifferently,
"Come here, put Hou Junji into the prison of the Ministry of Punishment."
Thumb thump!
The two imperial guards entered the palace in response and set up Hou Junji.
"Your Majesty! I have never done this! It was Xu Fenglei who sprayed people with blood! It was him who slandered!"
"Your Majesty! I have shed blood for the Tang Dynasty, and I have made meritorious service for the Tang Dynasty! You can't believe his words. You can't treat a meritorious official like this, Your Majesty!"
Hou Junji struggled hard and yelled at the top of his lungs.
Li Shimin's fingers tightly grasped the handle of the dragon chair.
"……take away!"
Under the dragging of the imperial guards, the hysterical Hou Junji was taken out of the Liangyi Palace.
His shouts also gradually weakened.
The whole hall fell into dead silence again.
The low pressure released by the emperor made all the ministers afraid to speak or even move.
Even Wei Zheng lowered his head and said nothing.
Because they know that the emperor is now a volcano, already on the verge of erupting!
At this moment, someone wanted to throw a bomb into the crater.
"Your Majesty, Holy Ming!"
Xu Fenglei saluted again, bowed and shouted,
"Hou Junji is really a moth in the imperial court, endangering the country! If we don't get rid of this rotten beast, our entire Tang Dynasty will not be able to live a clean and upright life!"
"Only by putting him to death on the spot can we deter the treacherous villains in the world and make all the cunning villains dare not be greedy and corrupt!"
His voice echoed in the hall, lingering for a long time.
Li Shimin's gaze also fell on him, and the coldness in his eyes did not diminish at all.
"Xu Aiqing, you have worked so hard to give me such a great gift. If it weren't for you, I would still have been kept in the dark."
He said calmly,
"Return to the ranks."
Although the words contained some praise, the tone did not have the slightest hint of praise.
"Yes." Xu Fenglei didn't take it seriously, walked back into the queue with his head held high.
"Dai Zhou, Li Jing."
Li Shimin shouted.
"I'm here."
Two people came out.
"Dai Zhou, you are responsible for the investigation and trial of Hou Junji's case, and Yu Shitai of the Ministry of Punishment will handle the case together."
Li Shimin ordered.
"According to the order."
Dai Zhou accepted the order and couldn't help but glance at Xu Fenglei.
Good guy!
It turns out that the Grand Master is really playing a big game of chess! The retrial of Zhao Yi's case turned out to be for the mastermind Hou Junji!
Convinced, now he was completely convinced!
"Li Jing, you are in charge of the Ministry of War. If something like this happens, you cannot escape the blame."
Li Shimin looked at Li Jing who lowered his head and said calmly,
"Check the accounts of the Ministry of War thoroughly, and make sure all the omissions are smuggled out. After sorting them out, send them to Dali Temple without any mistakes."
"I know the crime, and I accept the decree." Li Jing responded dully.
Wow.
Li Shimin slowly stood up and walked down the golden steps, glanced at the ministers, and uttered a few words:
"Tired."
"Retreat from the court."
After that, he walked away, leaving only the ministers standing there, staring with big eyes.
"Your Majesty, this is..."
"Alas! Your Majesty will definitely feel uncomfortable if something like this happens. The Grand Master has dug a big hole this time!"
"Hmph! Well done! Moths like Hou Junji should be cleared out of the queue! We can't let this rat excrement spoil our pot of good porridge!"
"That's right..."
"..."
The ministers left one after another, talking in groups of twos and threes.
This matter is definitely big news and cannot be ignored! It is estimated that in less than two days, everyone in Chang'an will know about this shocking corruption case!
Xu Fenglei raised his foot and crossed the threshold, but was blocked by someone.
"Grand Master..."
Changsun Wuji looked at him and said helplessly,
"You are making too much noise! There is no need for you to shout out this kind of scandal at the court meeting!"
"His Majesty's face just now... he couldn't hold back. He must be very angry, but it's not just because of Hou Junji's corruption. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Your behavior is almost as good as forcing you to have sex!"
Xu Fenglei shrugged.
"This is what I want! If I don't expose it at the court meeting and force the emperor to do something, then I will definitely not get the result I want in this matter."
He kept saying meaninglessly,
"I didn't do anything wrong. It's his fault that the emperor is unhappy. Even if he is angry with me, I don't care."
"At worst, I'll resign and go into seclusion. Anyway, I'm a free man now."
Changsun Wuji was right, he was forcing Li Shimin!
In full view of the public, there is yet another mountain of ironclad evidence!
Li Shimin had no other way to go. No matter how reluctant he was and no longer wanted to be accused of "prisoning a hero", he could only issue the order! Otherwise, he is a ridiculous fool!
Anyone who was Li Shimin would be unhappy.
But Xu Fenglei didn't care.
Anyway, he was alone and had the skills to make a living anywhere. At worst, he would be left out by the emperor and return to the mountains.
But no matter what, he must defeat Hou Junji!
This is the price of touching his bottom line!
"You, you, you...you are so cruel, ugh!"
Changsun Wuji smiled bitterly and said,
"To be honest, I'm a little afraid of you now. If I accidentally offend you one day, I'm afraid it will be a disaster."
He had seen Xu Fenglei's methods.
After gathering momentum, Thunder takes action, killing with one blow!
No one can stop it, not even the emperor!
It's chilling...
"Hey."
Xu Fenglei grinned and said,
"I don't have time to be a defender of justice. In fact, I have always been kind to others, and I only uphold a very simple concept——"
"I won't offend anyone unless they offend me."
"If anyone offends me, I'll give him a shot in return!"
"If you offend me again, I will eradicate it!"
"Hou Junji put his dirty hands into my pocket, and I just gave him a shot. He didn't even get to the point of eradicating the roots. How can I call him cruel?"
Changsun Wuji: "..."
This shot can kill someone!
A poisonous wasp has a needle in its tail, right?
"I know you won't touch my bottom line, because relatively speaking, my bottom line is really low."
Xu Fenglei patted Changsun Wuji on the shoulder and said with a smile,
"gone."
After that, he drifted away.
"This is really...ah!"
Changsun Wuji stared at Xu Fenglei's retreating figure and couldn't help but shook his head and sighed,
"I'd better be careful and don't mess with him in this life..."
…
Chang'an, Duke Xu's Mansion.
Seven maids stood in front of Xu Fenglei, listening to the lecture.
"From today on, we will close our doors and reduce all outings."
Xu Fenglei ordered,
"Whoever comes, they're gone."
"If anyone asks, tell me that I am sick and am lying on my bed at home and cannot see guests."
"Do you understand everything?"
The seven maids were all shocked when they heard this.
"Sir, what...what's going on?"
Zi Mai couldn't help but ask,
"What happened?"
The other six people also looked concerned.
This posture... seems to be trying to avoid disaster!
But the question is, who in the entire Tang Dynasty can let her husband avoid it?
"nothing."
Xu Fenglei smiled, waved his hand and said,
"I've been feeling something in my heart recently, and I feel that I may be in trouble these days. I can't go out or see guests, so I can only stay at home."
"The only way to avoid disaster is to study behind closed doors, so from today on, I will study behind closed doors to cultivate my sentiments."
After hearing this answer, the maids breathed a sigh of relief.
"So that's it."
Qing Maid smiled and said,
"It turns out that reading can help you avoid disasters. No wonder I had a rough life in the past. It was because I didn't read enough!"
"Sir, during this time behind closed doors, shall we study with you?"
The other women all said in succession:
"Yes, yes, we also need to read more books and cultivate our sentiments!"
Xu Fenglei couldn't help but smile when he saw them shouting.
"Okay, okay, girls should read more, it can improve your temperament."
He nodded and said,
"It is said that you have poetry and literature in your heart. Once you are full of knowledge, no matter who comes, they will not dare to look down on you!"
Reading can change your destiny!
This is not an empty talk, but a wise saying recognized by the "Book of Changes"!
…
Bang bang bang!
Under Xu Fenglei's instruction, the door of Xu Guogong's mansion was tightly closed, and the concierge also withdrew from the mansion.
From today on, thank you behind closed doors!
(End of chapter)
