When Chang Feng heard that Tang Nai's courtyard was on fire, his first reaction was: Did Liu Ji jump over the wall in a hurry? Did he send someone to set the fire?
Chang Feng quickly asked Shi Wenyi: "Isn't Tang Nai really burned by the fire?"
Shi Wenyi said: "Fortunately, Tang Nai, his wife and concubine escaped. The courtyard was burned to ashes, and the three of them were unscathed."
Chang Feng said: "Let's go to Tang Nai's house in Nancheng."
Chang Feng rode on the horse, thinking in his mind: Liu Ji shouldn't be so stupid, right? Set fire to the house of the gossip official?
If Liu Ji really did this, once the truth is revealed to the world, then his chief assistant will be done. Let alone the emperor, even Sakyamuni could not protect him.
Unknowingly, the two of them arrived in front of Tang Nai's courtyard.
I saw that the entire courtyard had been burned to ruins, with lingering smoke and sparks shining.
Tang Nai, with his wife and concubine, stood a hundred steps in front of the courtyard.
Chang Feng walked up to Tang Nai and said, "Tang Yushi. What's going on?"
Tang Nai said angrily: "What else could happen? I was just about to go to bed when I heard someone outside the window whisper, 'Liu Shoufu ordered me to greet you.'" Reading La
"Then a raging fire broke out in the courtyard."
"Fortunately, I was alert. I poured the water from the copper basin on the quilt and escaped with my wife and concubines."
Chang Feng smelled a strong smell of fire oil. He rubbed his nose and said, "The one who set the fire is an expert. He knows how to pour oil on it to help the fire."
Tang Nai said righteously: "I have said it before. In order to defeat mediocrity, I am willing to burn myself in fire!"
"Yu Shaobao said that he will not be afraid of being shattered into pieces, but his innocence will remain in the world."
"Liu Ji is capable of burning me to death. There are more than 80 conscientious censors in the Metropolitan Procuratorate! Justice cannot be burned!"
Chang Feng suddenly noticed that Tang Nai's arms were bulging.
He asked: "Tang Yushi, what are you carrying in your arms?"
Tang Nai took out the joint booklet from his arms: "This booklet is more important than my life. I snatched it out and it was not burned by the fire."
Chang Feng ordered Shi Wenyi: "Go back to the Qianhu Station and dispatch fifty capable night watchmen to inspect the fire scene, search for evidence, and find the arsonist."
Shi Wenyi took the order and left.
Tang Nai said: "Liu Mianmian sent people to set fire to my house, which shows that he is afraid! Huh, just right. He has added another crime, arson to murder the censor."
Tang Nai spoke conclusively, insisting that Liu Ji was responsible for setting the fire.
Chang Feng waved his hand: "I don't think so. Liu Ji can be the chief minister of the government, and he is not a fool. He is very slippery."
"How could he do such a despicable thing as sending someone to set a fire and give someone a handle on it?"
Tang Nai said: "Isn't this simple? What I just said, 'A dog jumps over the wall in a hurry,' already explains the reason."
The next day, the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, Yumen went to court early.
The seventh-rank censors and Ji Shizhong are eligible to participate in the imperial court.
There is an unwritten rule in the royal family. The cabinet ministers and the officials of the six departments will start the proceedings.
After they have finished talking, only the censor and the low-ranking officials in charge can take action.
But today, Tang Nai broke the rules and was the first to go out to make trouble.
He said loudly: "Your Majesty, I have a memorial to the censor Tang Nai!"
Emperor Hongzhi said: "Oh? Come on."
Tang Nai said: "Eighty-two imperial censors from the Imperial Academy, twenty-eight academic officials from the Hanlin Academy, and nineteen political scholars from this department jointly submit a petition to impeach Liu Ji, the chief assistant. I respectfully invite the emperor to visit!"
Emperor Hongzhi frowned: "According to the rules, if the seventh-rank censor has information, it should be given to the General Affairs Department first, and the General Affairs Department will forward it to me."
Tang Nai said: "Your Majesty, I dare not give it to the Secretary of General Affairs. In order to prevent me from handing over this joint letter, someone actually sent people to set fire to the humble house last night."
"Some people are willing to take risks in order to keep their official positions. I am afraid that if I hand over the information to the Secretary of General Affairs, he will make a desperate move and send people to burn down the Yamen of the Secretary of General Affairs.
. "
Tang Nai hinted both inside and outside that Liu Ji was the mastermind behind the arson.
This looks like lice on Aunt Taishan's butt, it's obvious. Just when Tang Nai was about to sign a joint article with Liu Ji, his house caught on fire?
If it wasn't Liu Ji who sent people to set the fire, who else could it be?
At this moment, the censor and the ministers gathered together to attack.
"Your Majesty, fortunately Yushi Tang was lucky. Otherwise, he would have died for his country because of his involvement in the impeachment of the mediocre prime minister!"
"He is not a mediocre prime minister, but a female gangster. A powerful female gangster, a female gangster who cheats!"
"The emperor must make the decision for Yushi Tang! Otherwise, who will dare to speak up in the future?"
"The Emperor should immediately remove Liu Ji from his post and have the Sanfa Division, Dongchang, and Jinyiwei Five Halls jointly interrogate him to hold him accountable for the crimes he has committed over the years!"
Liu Ji had an innocent expression on his face. In desperation, he shouted: "Everyone, I'm not a ***! I'm really not a ***! I'm not a robber who robs homes and sets fire to them at every turn!"
Tang Nai sneered: "If you don't want others to know, you have to do it yourself!"
Emperor Hongzhi said: "That's enough! I will look at your notes carefully."
"As for the arson case. Where is Chang Feng?"
Chang Feng came out of class: "I'm here."
Emperor Hongzhi said: "I have just decreed that the holiday will be changed from New Year's Eve to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. New Year's Eve is only three days away. You have only three days to find out the real culprit of the arson case."
Chang Feng cupped his hands and said, "I accept the decree."
Tang Nai frowned a little: "May I ask Your Majesty, when will Zhu Pi reply to the joint impeachment report?"
Emperor Hongzhi said: "I naturally have to carefully verify the impeachment case involving the current chief minister. We will talk about it after the year."
Tang Nai said: "Your Majesty, please reply within three days!"
Emperor Hongzhi was stunned: Why did another person come out to teach me how to do things?
A seventh-grade censor dared to ask the emperor to do things within a time limit. There is no Liang Jingru in Ming Dynasty. What gave Tang Nai courage were the more than 100 famous officials, academic officials, and new scholars behind him.
Today's emperor must be a wise king. Looking at the history books, which wise king would punish his ministers for their loyal words and outspoken advice? Besides, the law does not punish the public!
In a word, Tang Nai has the word "reason" on his head!
Emperor Hongzhi suppressed his anger: "First investigate the arson case, and then I will reply."
"If the arson case was really carried out by someone sent by Liu Ji, I would have to add the charge of instigating the gangsters to set the fire and murder the imperial censor Yanguan in my Zhu Pi reply."
Liu Ji held back his breath and shouted: "Your Majesty, I have been wronged!"
Emperor Hongzhi ignored Liu Ji. Instead, he told Chang Feng: "Remember, it's limited to three days."
Chang Feng said: "Yes, I accept the order."
After leaving the court. Chang Feng went directly to the burned courtyard.
Fatty Xu is leading the captain and the warriors to search for clues in the ruins.
Seeing Chang Feng coming, Fatty Xu came over and said, "Mr. Chang, this fire is really clean. If there are any clues, they will probably be burned away."
Chang Feng said: "The emperor has just issued a decree. He ordered us to find the arsonist within three days."
Fatty Xu said: "In my opinion, we shouldn't waste our time checking the ruins."
Chang Feng asked: "What do you mean? How should we check?"
Fatty Xu said: "It's simple. Just check Liu Ji! Who can burn down the censor's house with nothing to do? It must be Liu Ji!"
"The person who contacted the prosecutor to impeach him was Tang Nai. The joint document was also in Tang Nai's hands."
"Liu Ji must be trying to get rid of it all!"
Chang Feng remained rational: "Fat man, the most taboo thing in investigating a case is to be preconceived. I still feel that Liu Ji is not stupid enough."
After saying that, Chang Feng walked into the fire scene. He found that the strong smell of fire oil had not dissipated.
Kerosene? Isn't this a clue?
Chang Feng told Fatty Xu: "Go to the Fifth Army Camp and ask Admiral Ye Guangye to come."
Fatty Xu said: "He is now the admiral of the military affairs department. I'm afraid I won't be able to invite him."
Chang Feng said: "It doesn't matter. Let's
I still have some friendship with Admiral Ye. Just say I invited him to drink. "
Half an hour later, Ye Guang and Fatty Xu arrived in front of the ruins on horseback.
Ye Guang dismounted and said to Chang Feng: "You said you wanted to treat me to a drink. But this is not a restaurant!"
Chang Feng held up his hand and said, "I have encountered a problem, my official. Please come and solve the problem."
Ye Guang glanced at the ruins: "What's the problem? Tell me."
Chang Feng said: "Admiral Ye is famous for setting fires in the army. Will you pour kerosene when setting fires?"
Ye Guang smiled and said: "When it comes to setting fire, you must be an expert! My fire is really good..."
"When I was working in the Plowing Garden in Chenghua, I would ask my brothers to carry dozens of barrels of fire oil wherever I went."
"Burn the Jurchens' tents and pour fire oil on them to ignite them. The fire will start quickly."
Chang Feng asked: "Fierce oil?"
Ye Guang nodded: "Yes. Fire oil is specially used by the military. It burns faster and lasts longer than the fire oil used to start fires in rich families' homes."
There was no gasoline or kerosene in ancient China. But oil has been used.
What Ye Guang said about fierce fire oil is oil. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, armies began to use fire oil when attacking cities.
By the Ming Dynasty, the army even had a weapon called the "Fierce Oil Tank," which could be called the Ming Dynasty version of the flamethrower.
The counterpart to the fierce fire oil is the sooty fire oil. Fire oil is not petroleum, but a vegetable oil. Used by rich families to start fires.
Chang Feng asked: "When you smell this place, is it the smell of burning oil or burning oil?"
Ye Guang laughed and scolded: "You think of me as your dog named Huzi, right?"
Chang Feng couldn't laugh or cry: "How dare I!"
Ye Guang rubbed his nose: "It smells like burning oil. It's unmistakable."
Chang Feng asked: "Where can I find fierce fire oil in the capital?"
Ye Guangdao: "The Ministry of War's arsenal is in the city. There are many outside the city. They are in the warehouses of several garrisons in Fengtai and Xishan."
Chang Feng raised his hand towards Ye Guangyi and said, "Admiral Ye, thank you."
Ye Guangdao: "Why, you didn't plan to treat me to a drink because of what you meant. You asked Prince Xu to trick me here, right?"
Chang Feng smiled and said: "Ashamed. I am handling an imperial case. I need some advice from you, Admiral Ye..."
Ye Guang said cheerfully: "It doesn't matter. I owe you the wine now. I'll make up for it when you're done."
After Ye Guang left, Fatty Xu said, "Could it be that Liu Ji ordered Qiu Ba from the army to set the fire?"
"There's no way to check that. Admiral Ye just said that several garrisons in the suburbs of Beijing have strong fire oil."
Chang Feng shook his head: "Think about it, Jiumen's interrogation is so strict. How is it possible for people from outside the city to bring fierce fire oil into the capital?"
"The fire oil that burned down this courtyard must have come from the Ministry of War's arsenal. Let's go to the Ministry of War's arsenal to check."
The two came to the Ministry of War. Chang Feng also has some friendship with Ma Wensheng, the Minister of War. He went directly to the lobby of the Ministry of War, found Ma Wensheng and explained his purpose.
Ma Wensheng said: "I have to meet several generals who are returning to Beijing to report on their duties. I can't accompany you to the arsenal. Dr. Sun, you accompany Chang Qianhu to the arsenal."
The Ministry of War consists of four departments, namely the Staff Department, the Vehicle and Driving Department, the Military Selection Department, and the Arsenal Department. The most senior member of each department is the doctor.
There is a proverb that says, "With arsenals and arsenals, you can be both idle and wealthy."
Dr. Sun's job was a first-rate job.
He led Chang Feng and Fatty Xu to the arsenal.
The military arsenal is eight hundred feet from north to south and six hundred feet from east to west. There are eighty large warehouses and two hundred small warehouses. The ordnance stored in the warehouse is enough to arm 100,000 troops.
Chang Feng asked: "Where is the warehouse where the fierce fire oil is stored?"
Dr. Sun said, "Please come with me."
The three of them arrived at the Menghuo Oil Depot.
Dr. Sun introduced: "There are more than 500 barrels of fire oil here."
Chang Feng asked: "How many people are guarding the oil depot?"
Dr. Sun replied: "A soldier from the General Flag Team."
A general flag corps has a strength of fifty personnel.
Chang Feng nodded: "Can we gather them together?"
Dr. Sun's expression changed: "This..."
Chang Feng smiled and said: "I know that a flag team has to take up more than twenty people's vacancies. It doesn't matter. We are not here to check the vacancies."
"Some of the soldiers guarding the oil depot may be involved in the imperial case."
Dr. Sun breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, as long as it was not a check for vacancies.
He ordered the soldiers to assemble.
Chang Feng roughly counted the number of Ku soldiers, there were twenty in total. He thought to himself: Dr. Sun is quite dark. Of the fifty posts, he took up thirty of them.
Twenty Ku soldiers stood in front of Chang Feng.
Chang Feng walked past them one after another, and then shouted: "Don't think I don't know!"
Regardless of whether it is the Jin Yiwei or the Criminal Department, the words "Don't think I don't know" when questioning a case are a panacea for false confessions.
The thief will feel guilty when he hears this sentence.
Chang Feng has three sticks, whether there are jujubes or not. What if the arsonist is among the soldiers?
After shouting this sentence, he carefully observed the expressions of the Ku soldiers.
One of the Ku soldiers was in his forties. After hearing this, his eyes flashed and a trace of panic flashed across his face.
Chang Feng noticed it immediately.
He walked up to Na Ku Bing and almost put his face on Na Ku Bing's face.
Chang Feng roared at the man again: "Don't think I don't know!"
Na Kubing asked tremblingly: "Sir, what do you know?"
Chang Feng pointed to the oil depot: "What do you think?"
After speaking, Chang Feng glanced at Fatty Xu beside him.
Fatty Xu understood: "Oh, I haven't punished a criminal with my own hands for more than a month. My hands are itchy!"
"Last time, I took a red-hot iron and pressed it directly on the criminal's lower body to make a red-hot human whip! Hey, I still remember the painful expression on the criminal's face when he was being tortured."
Chang Feng smiled slightly: "Today you are able to play music again. Do you think this man would make a painful expression if he asked you to make a braised human whip?"
Fatty Xu said: "If you drag me back to the imperial prison, you will know if you are sentenced? Brother, let's go. Let's go to Fusi Imperial Prison in Beizhen."
The Ku soldier knelt down in front of Chang Feng and Fatty Xu: "You two adults, have mercy on me! All the servants in the capital know that if you enter the Fusi Prison in Beizhen, you will have to shed your skin even if you don't die."
"I didn't do anything extraordinary. I just stole two barrels of fire oil and sold them."
"The people here in the arsenal rely on the arsenal to eat..."
Dr. Sun scolded at the side: "What nonsense are you talking about? Your hands and feet are not clean, and you are falsely accusing everyone in the arsenal of being like you."
Chang Feng smiled and said, "Just admit it! What's your name?"
Ku Bing replied: "My name is Hu Siqi."
Chang Feng said: "Hu Siqi. It's best not to lie in front of Jin Yiwei. Whatever I ask, you answer."
Hu Siqi nodded: "Yes, yes."
Chang Feng asked: "You said you stole two barrels of fire oil? When did you steal it? What did you steal it for?"
Hu Siqi replied: "I stole it two months ago. I stole it and sold it for five taels of silver."
Chang Feng asked: "Who did you sell it to?"
Hu Siqi's answer made Chang Feng frown: "I sold it to Miss Jiu from Xiangxi Lane."
Fatty Xu said from the side: "Why is that little Lang Hoo involved again?"
Chang Feng began to feel lucky that he had restrained his desires and was right not to sleep with Miss Ninth. She always has something to do with the Qin case.
Chang Feng asked another question: "Hu Siqi, where were you last night? What did you do?"
Hu Siqi said: "I was playing dice at home with seven or eight brothers from the same library. They can all testify for me."
Chang Feng nodded. He said to Dr. Sun, "This man is yours to deal with. Let's go first."
Chang Feng and Fatty Xu rushed to Xiangxi Lane without stopping. After checking for a day, it was already dusk.
See you nine girls
The two of them still had the same frivolous tone: "Oh, my good brother. Do you miss my sister again?"
Fatty Xu smiled dryly at the side: "Yes, yes. Fat brother misses you."
Miss Ninth rolled her eyes at Fatty Xu: "I'm talking about my brother Chang. What does it have to do with you?"
Fatty Xu said: "I know you want to hook up with someone from Jinyiwei to be your backer. Now I am also a dignified member of a thousand households, and I am also the heir apparent of a Duke!"
"Why are you always thinking about Master Chang? Why don't you try to hook up with me?"
Miss Jiu rolled her eyes at Fatty Xu: "I don't like fat people with three chins."
Fatty Xu scolded: "What's wrong, Fatty? Fatty didn't eat your rice!"
Chang Feng waved his hand: "Fat man, stop talking nonsense. Miss Jiu, you are involved in the imperial case."
Miss Ninth was stunned: "Qin case?"
Chang Feng said: "Two months ago, did you collect two barrels of fierce fire oil stolen by a soldier named Hu Siqi from the Ministry of War arsenal?"
Miss Ninth said: "I have to check the account books. I have collected so many high-end goods that I can't remember them all. But I am the only one in the capital who dares to collect the things that leak out from the arsenal."
Miss Ninth entered the main room. After a while, he took out the account book. She rummaged through it carefully: "I found it. I did collect two barrels of fire oil two months ago, which cost me five taels of silver."
"The seller is Kubing from the Arsenal Department. I think about it. Is that man in his forties? Does he have a sinister look?"
"Hmph, just sell things. Just stare at me with a pair of rogue eyes, and look at me with your eyes. I don't even urinate to look at myself."
Chang Feng asked: "What happened after you collected the fierce fire oil? Who did you sell it to?"
Miss Ninth looked at the account book again: "Sold to Yu Ji Tan Pu."
The charcoal shops in the capital not only sell charcoal, but also firewood and cooking oil for igniting the charcoal.
It is better to use strong fire oil to draw charcoal than boiling oil. Naturally, there is no need to worry about selling.
Chang Feng asked: "Where is this Yu Ji Tan Shop?"
Miss Jiu replied: "I remember it was on Deyue Street."
Chang Feng turned around and left after hearing this.
Miss Ninth shouted from behind: "Oh, brother Chang, can't you chat with me for a little longer? Why don't you have a cup of tea before leaving!"
