Returning to Jixian Division, Rong Fei personally put Fan Li and the two household heads into cells. Wei Lin, who had tried hard to persuade her all the way but to no avail, had no choice but to do her part first and lead people to hang the plaque. A large group of officials from the Ministry of Revenue blocked the door, eagerly waiting to see how this matter would end.
The thirteen catchers could neither stay nor leave. They could only hide in the corner of the yard and pray secretly that the fire in the tower would not harm little fish like themselves.
Shan Zhongji, the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, got up a little late today. When he entered the Yamen of the Ministry of Finance, there was no bustling scene in the past and no bows of greetings to subordinates. It was so deserted that people couldn't get used to it.
Just as he was wondering, he heard the sound of running quickly behind him. It was the person who had rushed to Shan Zhongji's house to report the news.
It's just that the man took a shortcut and missed the path of Shan Zhongji's sedan.
"Sir...Sir, something bad has happened. Mr. Fan has been arrested, as well as Mr. Zhang and Mr. Li."
Shan Zhongji's heart suddenly pounded, and he quickly grabbed the person who reported the news and asked.
"Did the Criminal Department or Dali Temple arrest him?"
"It's Ji Xian Si."
"What did you say? I didn't hear clearly. Tell me again, who was arrested?"
"Sir, you heard correctly, he was captured by Ji Xian Si."
Shan Zhongji was stunned for a long time, but then he seemed to think of something, and hurriedly left the Hubu Yamen and rode a sedan towards the palace.
"Your Majesty, Mr. Hubu Shan wishes to see you."
There was no court meeting today, but Zhu Sheng still came to the imperial study very early to handle government affairs. After hearing the report from the chamberlain, Zhu Sheng put down his brush and said, taking the opportunity to take a rest.
"I am incompetent. Please forgive me. Please forgive me. Please forgive me."
Arriving at the Imperial Study Room, Shan Zhongji knelt down on the ground with a bang, kowtowed and confessed repeatedly as if pounding garlic.
Zhu Sheng blinked, not knowing what Shan Zhongji was up to. He was about to ask a question, but then he thought of the major adjustments and big plans for the court that he had been planning since last night, and he quickly stopped.
No matter what caused Shan Zhongji to be so panicked, it was still a good opportunity to hit him. Let's listen to what he said for a while.
Zhu Sheng remained calm, while Shan Zhongji became even more panicked.
How could Jixiansi go to the Ministry of Household Affairs to pick up someone for no reason?
The detectives who were hiding in the Yamen all day long didn't dare even if they had the courage to do so, so they could only follow Yu Qingzhi's order.
Yu Qingzhi had never cared about political affairs, and he didn't even bother to care about the affairs of the Immortal Division, so why did he become more diligent this time.
There seems to be only one answer. Yu Qingzhi followed His Majesty's orders.
Could it be that His Majesty was dissatisfied with his performance at the Tiantian Temple yesterday? Capturing Fan Li and the two principals was just the first step. If he didn't know it yet, the next step would be to take action against himself.
The more Shan Zhongji thought about it, the more he became afraid. Zhu Sheng on the throne didn't say anything, so he didn't dare to stop and kowtowed even harder.
Shan Zhongji didn't say what happened, but Zhu Sheng couldn't take the initiative to ask, so the monarch and his ministers were in a stalemate.
After a while, Shan Zhongji became more and more sad. Xin Dao said that he had already gone to such an extent, but His Majesty still didn't mean to comfort or admonish him. I'm afraid he really can't escape this time. For now, the only way to quell His Majesty's dissatisfaction is to resign.
Zhu Sheng was also very depressed. He kept kowtowing when he wanted to talk about something. Just as he was thinking about what excuse he should find to get Shan Zhongji to speak, he caught a glimpse of Wei Lin's figure appearing at the door.
Wei Lin came back for a business trip. Although she felt a little confused when she saw Shan Zhongji's ugly appearance, she also vaguely guessed that it was related to Rong Fei. Suppressing a smile, Wei Lin walked quietly to Zhu Sheng and told him about the grievances and grievances that happened between Ji Xian Si and Hu Bu this morning.
Wei Lin didn't understand why Shan Zhongji was so frightened, but Zhu Sheng immediately guessed what Shan Zhongji was thinking.
It turned out to be a misunderstanding. Shan Zhongji was overthinking and frightening himself. That fellow Rong Fei was indeed too bold, and he was arrested as soon as the third-grade minister said!
However, it can be considered a hit or miss. After the fall of the Yong Party, Zhu Sheng wanted to reorganize the imperial court, and the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Household Affairs were the top priorities. Shan Zhongji's loyalty is fair, but his talent is average, and he has controlled the household department for a long enough time. It's time to change positions.
Having made up his mind, Zhu Sheng knocked on the table and said.
"Okay, stop knocking. It's giving me a headache."
Shan Zhongji, like a great lord, shouted to thank His Majesty for his grace, and then he dared to raise his head.
It didn't matter that he raised his head, but it almost made Zhu Sheng's nose crooked with anger. Shan Zhongji's forehead was smooth and clean. Although there was a thin layer of sweat, there was no trace of purple or even dust.
Ganqing's kowtow was just for show, but how the thumping sound came out puzzled Zhu Sheng.
"The veteran is incompetent and failed to manage the household department well. He has betrayed the emperor's favor and deserves death."
"Okay, okay, Shan Qing is not young anymore. Don't talk about death all the time. You have worked so hard to stick to the household department for so many years. It's time to make a move. Now that Gao Taiji is in prison, the old chief assistant has not yet Wake up, there is a vacancy in the cabinet, Shan Qing will report to the cabinet tomorrow and take up the post of Second Assistant temporarily."
Shan Zhongji looked up in shock.
What does your majesty mean? Instead of blaming yourself, you actually joined the cabinet as a deputy?
Although he is only a second minister in the cabinet, everything must be decided by the old chief minister, and he is not as powerful as the minister of household affairs. But now the old chief minister Liu Chuanfang is still seriously ill and has not woken up. As long as he does not wake up for a day, he will be the second minister. Can be regarded as the first assistant.
Shan Zhongji came to his senses after the disaster was turned into good fortune, and quickly kowtowed to express his gratitude. He was moved to tears, but he forgot about the arrest of Fan Li and the two principals.
"Okay, Shan Qing should take the time to go back to the Household Department to make the handover. The Household Department will be in charge of the right servant Zhang Mian for the time being. By the way, tell Zhang Mian not to provoke Rong Fei if you have nothing to do. Go down."
Shan Zhongji, who was kicked out of the royal study, returned to the household department in a silly mood and called Zhang Mian, the right servant, to start the handover work.
After the handover was completed, he remembered that Fan Li was still in Jixian Division.
At the same time, I remembered another very important thing.
Who is Rong Fei?
Shan Zhongji conveyed Zhu Sheng's original words to Zhang Mian, the right servant. When Rong Fei arrested people this morning, Zhang Mian hid in the duty room and took a peek. Naturally, he knew that Rong Fei was the arrester of the Ji Xian Division who arrested Fan Li and the two principals.
He found four other bosses who worked under Fan Li and asked them about the reason. It turned out that it was just because they were owed half a year's salary. Zhang Mian was so frightened that he quickly ordered someone to pay the money according to the amount on the account book and send it to Jixian Division.
Good guy, you dare to arrest the minister and put him in jail for just half a year's salary arrears. If you haven't owed it for a year, you don't have to overthrow the entire household department.
Watching the two principals leave with their salaries, Zhang Mian, the new head of the household department, couldn't help but have deep doubts on his face.
Who is this Rong Fei who deserves to be so valued by the Holy One?
In the courtyard of the Jixian Division, Rong Fei put on the golden and jade Xie Zhi crown costume given by the emperor, pulled a chair and placed it in front of the Immortal Suppressing Stone. He held the Book of Catching Gods that Yu Qingzhi threw to him this morning, in full view of everyone. , sitting on a chair, basking in the sun and reading with great interest.
Was Rong Fei always impulsive when he arrested Fan Li and the two principals?
The answer is of course no.
The reason why this was done with so much fanfare was for two purposes.
The first, of course, is to demand the arrears of wages and prevent them from arrears in the future.
Second, it is necessary to send out a very important signal. Jixian Division is no longer what it used to be, and it is no longer a soft persimmon that anyone can pinch.
As for whether he might accidentally lose it, Rong Fei wasn't worried at all.
It had been more than 800 years since the founding of Dayan, and corruption was prevalent in the officialdom, with the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works being the hardest hit areas.
There was a saying that if all the officials of the Ministry of Revenue were executed for corruption, there might be one or two who were unjustly accused. But if you cut every other one, there will be some fish that slip through the net.
From what Li Jun said, Rong Fei judged that Fan Li and the two principals must be unclean. Even if the Ministry of Revenue really wanted hard steel, Rong Fei was not afraid at all.
The worst case scenario would be to put some effort into checking the accounts of these three people. With Rong Fei's ability, it would be very easy to check them all and exterminate their families.
Another point is that Rong Fei had just helped Yan Emperor Zhu Sheng a lot, and the relationship between the two was still in the honeymoon period. Rong Fei believed that as long as he didn't kill Fan Li directly, Zhu Sheng would not do anything to him.
If that still doesn't work, Rong Fei still has Yu Qingzhi's trump card. As the chief arrester of the Ji Xian Division, it's time to do something for the Division.
Based on the above two points and three guarantees, Rong Fei created the current situation in such an arrogant and domineering manner.
But Rong Fei had a clear idea in his mind, but others didn't think so.
First of all, there were the thirteen arrests from the Ji Xian Division. Looking at the blocked door and seeing that it was almost noon, all the arrests were really crying.
Then there were the officials from the Ministry of Revenue blocking the door, and in addition there were people from other yamen who came to join in the fun.
The saint who just released the Qiankun Temple yesterday, and today he arrested the minister of the Ministry of Finance. Is this Jixian Division going crazy?
Everyone is eagerly looking forward to seeing how Ji Xian Si will end.
It was almost noon, and these officials estimated that the news had reached the ears of the upper-level bosses, and a counterattack against the Jixian Division should not be far away.
Sure enough, not long after, someone with sharp eyes shouted.
"Look, it's Chief Xu and Chief Zhou from the Qing Officials Department."
"Servant Fan has been arrested, what use can two principals do?"
"We can't let Lord Shangshu end up personally. I guess he came with a big weapon. I didn't see that Mr. Xu was carrying a package in his hand."
With everyone looking expectantly, the two principals, Xu and Zhou, separated from the crowd and squeezed into the Jixiansi compound.
Both of them had met Rong Fei in the morning, and at this time they were almost blinded by the golden Xie Zhi crown uniform.
"I have seen Mr. Rong arresting the head. Here is half a year's salary for twenty-one people in Jixian Division, totaling one thousand one hundred and seventy-two taels. Please take a look."
All the onlookers' jaws dropped when they saw Chief Xu open the package he brought, revealing the banknotes and broken silver inside, and respectfully present it to Rong Fei.
Tobe – I’m giving in!
