Therefore, if he provides perjury, not only will he not be able to move to Liu Hao's house, he is afraid that he will be involved in it! And more importantly, he himself is a person who stays out of the matter. As long as he speaks truthfully and has the protection of the Zhang family, there won't be any big problems. So he had already planned clearly before going to the palace. No matter what Emperor Wanli asked, he would answer honestly!
After he finished paying homage to Emperor Wanli, he recalled it and then said, "You are the magistrate of Shuntian Prefecture. Why are you called Wei?"
Magistrate Wei, who was kneeling down, felt bitter in his heart. He could only blame himself for being a junior official. The emperor didn't even know his name! But he could only say loudly: "Your Majesty, I, Wei Sining, wish your Majesty...!"
As soon as he said this, Emperor Wanli waved his hand impatiently and said, "Okay, don't talk about those useless things! I'm here to ask you, when did you arrive at Gu Ninghou Mansion yesterday, and who told you to go?"
County Magistrate Wei immediately said: "Because I went in a hurry, I don't know the specific time. But I had had dinner at that time. As for the person who notified me, it was Wu Ninghou's servant. He told me that some scholars gathered to make trouble. Du Wuninghou asked me to go over and deal with it quickly! I was worried that Wuninghou was a warrior and had a tough temper, and it would be bad if he accidentally hurt a scholar, so I hurried away."
Emperor Wanli leaned forward slightly and said loudly: "Then what did you see when you arrived at the Marquis' Mansion? What happened to those scholars?"
Emperor Wanli's words revealed what the officials were thinking, and the officials focused their attention on Magistrate Wei. It made him feel weak all over! However, he still gritted his teeth and said loudly: "When I was on the road, I thought that Wu Ninghou was a warrior, and I was afraid that he would conflict with the scholars! But when I rushed to the Hou Mansion, I found that Wu Ninghou and many scholars We set up a table in the courtyard with tea and snacks on it, and the two parties were chatting happily. It didn't look like there was a conflict, but more like a poetry party!"
Before Magistrate Wei finished his words, all the officials were already in an uproar! The nobles felt that Liu Haojia was almost completely cleared of all charges now! The neutral officials looked confused. They couldn't believe that those arrogant scholars would have a happy conversation with a warrior!
As for those who impeached Liu Haojia, they were either trembling all over or turning pale, and they were all frightened! They all knew that their hard work was not only in vain. I'm afraid there's still some trouble ahead! Especially Peng Jianbin was so angry that his beard almost stood up!
He quickly walked out of work, pointed at Magistrate Wei and said loudly: "Mr. Wei, you have to think clearly before you speak! Why do you favor Wu Ninghou so much? Are you being coerced or bribed? If you are coerced, don't I’m afraid, Your Majesty and Mr. Ge will make the decision for you!”
Peng Jianbin was a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Personnel and was in charge of the future prospects of many petty officials. How could he not be afraid when he accuses County Magistrate Wei like this? But he still mustered up the courage to say loudly: "Your Majesty, everything I said is true and there is nothing false! Moreover, after I arrived at the Hou Mansion, I met Wu Ninghou for a moment and then left. There was not much at all. More communication, let alone coercion and bribery!”
Peng Jianbin was even furious when he heard this! He almost squeezed out his voice through his teeth and said, "How dare you talk nonsense? If you didn't have any dealings with Wu Ning Hou, how could you have been in the Hou Mansion all night?"
Emperor Wanli also nodded and said, "Yes, since those scholars are fine, why don't you go back home?"
Wei County Magistrate said with a bitter face: "When I arrived at the Hou Mansion, Wu Ninghou told me that he called me here just to be a witness to prevent anyone from falsely accusing him! So he directly detained me at the Hou Mansion. It’s impossible to get out from inside!”
When the officials heard this, there was another burst of noise! Now everyone knew that things between him and Liu Hao's family were completely over. Now they don't need those scholars to go to the temple to testify to be sure. I'm afraid they will return without success today! They can all think of it. The confessions of the scholars must be similar to those of Magistrate Wei!
At this time, Emperor Wanli, who was relieved, asked with interest: "So, you and those scholars stayed in the Marquis' Mansion all night? Then what did you do? You didn't really hold a poetry party all night. Bar?"
Magistrate Wei said: "Your Majesty, the Marquis Mansion not only provides sumptuous meals, but also provides well-arranged rooms for rest. As for..."
The rest of the words were stuck in Magistrate Wei's throat, because he hesitated a little when he said this! Because he knew that if what he said was told truthfully, it would probably have a certain impact on the direction of the entire government!
But at this time, his hesitant behavior aroused Emperor Wanli's curiosity! He patted the armrest of the dragon chair and said loudly: "What do I want to ask you?"
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Wei suddenly said: "Actually, we hardly slept that night. We only took a short nap in the early morning! We were all busy discussing the salt field that night!"
Emperor Wanli said in surprise: "What does the salt field have to do with you? Why do you want to discuss it so late?"
County Magistrate Wei glanced at Liu Haojia, who was standing silently beside him, and then said loudly: "Last night Wu Ninghou and the scholars said that they would continue to expand the salt fields in Tianjin and raise the price of salt north of the Yangtze River to Under forty cents, let all the people eat salt! So he asked these scholars to help him make suggestions, so all night, everyone was busy coming up with ideas, drawing paper, and earthwork calculations. They were very busy! "
Magistrate Wei's words caused another commotion among the officials! Not to mention since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, or since there were people north of the Yangtze River, except for a few places, the price of salt has never dropped to forty cents per pound! Even in the capital, because of special water transportation, the price of salt fluctuates between sixty and eighty cents! If Liu Haojia's plan is to lower the price of salt north of the Yangtze River to less than 40 cents, this will be a great blessing for the people, and it will be an unprecedented good governance for the country!
Especially when Emperor Wanli thought that if this thing really came true during his reign, he was afraid that it would be heavily recorded in the history books! So he said excitedly: "Is that really true?"
County Magistrate Wei swore, "It's absolutely true, Your Majesty! Moreover, Eunuch Zhang from the palace was here yesterday. He provided the map around Tianjin and the design of the salt field, so I and the scholars were also very busy. I only made a rough calculation in the middle of the night, and there are still many things to be solved!"
