After finishing speaking, Zhu Jingwen kowtowed three times.
A gust of wind blew through the hall, and only then did Zhu Jingwen realize that his whole body was soaked in cold sweat.
But when Qin Xiao heard this, he became even more angry. He looked up to the sky and sneered twice:
"You are still dedicated to the welfare of the people?! When you go to a brothel to live in a state of intoxication, are you doing it for the people too?!"
"I will let you take no chances now."
"Yang Da, bring out all the evidence. I want to see how he can still quibble!"
Yang Da, the commander of the Imperial City Department, immediately took out a pamphlet.
"Master Zhu, this is all your expenses in the brothel."
"Tasting delicious food and wine every day, keeping the beauty in my arms, and spending money like water."
"One day last month, you were in a good mood. You called five women to accompany you and danced every night. That night, you spent a thousand taels of silver."
"Less than a few days later, you said you were in a bad mood again and wanted to find a woman to accompany you to relieve your boredom. This time, you actually spent two thousand taels, set up three banquets, and called in seven prostitutes and singers. Another night The ground never stops.”
"There are still a lot of career expenses. Take a look for yourself. Have you been wronged?"
With that said, Yang Da threw the pamphlet at Zhu Jingwen's feet.
clang clang.
The Imperial City officials had their sabers half unsheathed, and they were all watching Zhu Jingwen's every move. If he dared to make any move, they would kill him mercilessly.
The emperor is here and cannot tolerate any mistakes.
There are too many things like taking desperate risks after being cornered.
Zhu Jingwen looked at the records above and gradually became desperate.
Qin Xiao hated corrupt officials the most in his life. The tens of thousands of taels of money he spent alone were enough to kill him several times.
Even if there was a reason, Qin Xiao concluded that Zhu Jingwen was a corrupt official.
The evidence is conclusive and cannot be denied by Zhu Jingwen.
Zhu Jingwen didn't want to deny it either.
His only thought now is not to involve his family.
Zhu Jingwen just kowtowed: "The guilty minister deserves to die, please deal with it, Your Majesty."
"I just beg your Majesty, I have served the Zhou Dynasty for so many years, please spare my family!"
Zhu Jingwen is willing to die.
As long as he does this, Qin Xiao can calm down and avoid harming his family.
Seeing this, Qin Xiao couldn't help but sneer: "It's easy to say if you want to die!"
"But you have to explain carefully how you got to this point."
"If the explanation is accurate, I can consider giving you a whole body."
Qin Xiao's voice was filled with anger.
His murderous intent has not diminished even a little bit. The reason why he came here in person is precisely to find out thoroughly!
Qin Xiao wanted to know how Zhu Jingwen slowly degenerated from an honest official to a corrupt one.
What methods did Xu Mo use? !
Hundreds of thousands of taels of silver!
In the Great Zhou Dynasty, everything is wasted and waiting for prosperity, and money is everywhere.
Build water conservancy projects, prepare border defenses, treat disaster victims, and eliminate banditry everywhere...
Everything costs money.
But he, Zhu Jingwen, took the lead and spent more than one hundred thousand taels on women from brothels.
After hearing Qin Xiao's words, Zhu Jingwen raised his head, looked at Qin Xiao and shouted:
"Your Majesty, I spent more than one hundred thousand taels, but, I am not greedy for money!"
"I have been an official for decades and have never been greedy for money."
"I didn't do it in the previous dynasty. Now that I'm highly respected by His Majesty, I won't do anything like this."
"If I want to be greedy, I can be greedy in the capital. Why come to the poor Fengzhou to start greedy for money."
In fact, this is also a puzzling knot in Qin Xiao's heart.
At the end of the previous dynasty, when people were in panic and war was in chaos, people were most likely to be greedy for money. But Zhu Jingwen was not greedy at that time, so Qin Xiao was convinced that he was an upright official.
You have passed the most challenging test of your will. How could you become greedy when you enter the peaceful years?
but.
The money was indeed spent in the brothel, this is not false!
After all, people’s hearts are unpredictable and the facts are before us.
Think of this.
Qin Xiao stood up in a whoosh, came to Zhu Jingwen in two steps, kicked him down hard, and said angrily to him with a frown.
"Are you still lying to me with your sweet words?"
"With all the physical evidence in front of you and the money spent in a brothel, you still have the nerve to say you're not greedy?"
"Tell me, where did these one hundred thousand taels of silver come from?"
"If you dare to deny it in every possible way, believe it or not, I will kill your whole family, and even implicate three clans!"
Qin Xiao said, feeling confused and kicked Zhu Jingwen again.
But Zhu Jingwen knew he was going to die, so he made up his mind. He lay on the ground and let Qin Xiao kick him, then endured the excruciating pain, got up and knelt down again.
He bowed his head to the ground and said firmly:
"Your Majesty, please check carefully. I went to a brothel and spent one hundred thousand taels of silver."
"But these money, the money are all funds given by Mr. Xu to Fengzhou officials. This money comes from the expenditure of Fengzhou government."
"I only drank some wine and handled money in the brothel, but I was never greedy!"
Zhu Jingwen finished speaking in one breath, and his whole body suddenly relaxed.
After figuring out the reason for Qin Xiao's anger, Zhu Jingwen suddenly had hope of survival.
It turned out that Qin Xiao thought that the huge amounts of money that Fengzhou officials spent in and out of brothels were obtained from corruption.
But in fact, these were all allocated by Fengzhou Prefecture and had to be reimbursed to Xu Mo.
It has nothing to do with corruption at all.
You can talk about Zhu Jingwen’s personal style issues, improper behavior, etc.
However, you can never say that I am corrupt.
However, the person in front of him was the emperor. Zhu Jingwen did not dare to refute him face to face. He could only tell the truth and let Qin Xiao make the decision.
If he contradicts the emperor, he will die.
Not to mention that it might implicate three tribes!
No joke.
Hearing Zhu Jingwen's loud argument, Qin Xiao, Yang Da and other imperial officials were all confused.
what did he say?
Government funds? Is it money for reimbursement and accounting?
Zhu Jingwen is not greedy at all?
Qin Xiao only felt a dull pain in his forehead. When did this world become so strange?
In all the dynasties, there has never been an official who openly reimbursed the money after visiting a brothel!
It's simply baffling.
Qin Xiao rubbed his forehead and asked, "Are you saying that the expenses you spent visiting brothels were all paid by the government and were reimbursed to you?"
"Isn't this corruption?! You spent the government money in a brothel, so you are justified in being greedy?!"
Zhu Jingwen explained:
"This is specially approved by Mr. Xu. He said it is called public relations expenses and is used for officials' entertainment."
"Master Xu told us that as long as it is a reasonable public relations expense, we can reimburse it."
"For the two thousand taels I just mentioned, Liu Yuanwai, a banker from other places, was present at that time just to discuss cooperation with him. Liu Yuanwai agreed on the spot that he would open a bank in Fengzhou."
The more Zhu Jingwen spoke, the smoother he became, and the more he felt that it was possible to save his life.
