Three days later, Zhu Shiyang presided over a court meeting in the Qianqing Palace to thoroughly investigate the disaster in Shanxi. Chen Jincheng, the prefect of Taiyuan, has been escorted to Beijing, and the prefects of the surrounding prefectures have also come in response to the edict, and they have waited outside the palace to be summoned. The six Shangshu, Shilang, the left and right imperial history of the Imperial Procuratorate, the deputy imperial history, the imperial history of the capital, the Dali Temple, the Shaoqing of the Dali Temple, and the cabinet scholars were all present, and they were all present, and they were listed on the left and right. The atmosphere above the court was extremely solemn and solemn, and Zhu Shiyang sat on the dragon chair, his eyes gloomy, and he wandered among the ministers in the court.

Lu Wenyuan turned around, Fu Qian, Zhao Yongning, Shen Lun and others nodded to him secretly among the officials. In the past three days, several of them have been undressed, and they have already collected evidence of Fan Zhefu and Chen Jincheng's embezzlement of disaster relief and the intensification of the disaster in Shanxi. Lu Wenyuan looked at Fan Zhefu's shape again at this time, and only said that he was exhausted, and the blame could not be escaped.

Fan Zhefu's standing in the court ranked first among the hundred officials, and there was originally a Yan Yong standing in the same row, but he was also imprisoned for the edict, and now he can really be called under one person and above ten thousand people, but at this moment there is only sadness in his heart. Just because this Shanxi matter is now handled by the emperor, no matter how much he has his hands and eyes to the sky, he can't do anything from it, and he has almost been tied up in the past three days, and he has been caught. Now I just hope that I will not be sentenced to peel the skin and weed like the corrupt officials of the Tai/Zu time, so there is nothing else to ask for.

At one time, hundreds of officials in the court were in place, and the imperial eunuch announced the beginning of the court meeting. Zhu Shiyang sighed and said slowly: "A few days ago, someone pretended to be a guard and entered the palace to assassinate him, and all the secretaries heard about it. After the first trial by the Criminal Department, it was the perpetrators of the disaster victims who had been exiled to Beijing from Shanxi. I listened to what Lu Wenyuan and Zhao Yongning said and went to the trial, only to know the seriousness of the disaster. The people of Li were resentful of me, and exposed the prefect Chen Jiancheng's embezzlement of disaster relief funds, which led to the aggravation of the disaster. I have summoned you and others here today to investigate this corruption and bribery, and see who dares to defy the condemnation of the world and fall into an unrighteous place! ”

When it comes to the second half, it's already loud. The ministers had never seen the emperor like this, and they didn't dare to make a sound for a while, and Fan Zhefu was even more cold in his heart, only to feel that his waist and legs were weak, and he could barely stand. I heard Zhu Shiyang say again: "The Criminal Department, Dali Temple, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate are the three divisions of the DPRK and the Central People's Court, and they are in charge of the criminal prison case, can you send someone to preside over the trial this time?" ”

When the officials of the three divisions heard the words, they exchanged their heads and whispered, and they were panicking, and when they didn't have any plans, they saw Lu Wenyuan, the secretary of the ministry, come out and hug his fists and said: "Your Majesty, although the minister is not an official of the three divisions, I hope that Mao Sui will recommend himself, preside over this matter, and ask the emperor for permission." ”

Zhu Shiyang said: "Oh? Lu Qing wants to be tried? Glancing at the officials of the three divisions under the hall, he saw that they all shrunk their necks one by one, and they didn't even dare to look at themselves, so they knew that they couldn't count on it. Then he looked at Lu Wenyuan again and said: "Since this is the case, accurate." ”

Lu Wenyuan hugged his fists and said, "Thank you for the emperor's grace." But the minister also had a request, asking the emperor to give the minister the privilege to interrogate officials with higher official positions than the minister. ”

Zhu Shiyang said: "There is only one person in the court who has a higher official position than you, Fan Zhefu." I want you to be. ”

Lu Wenyuan said: "Thank you, Emperor." And so began the minister. Then he straightened his clothes, walked to the center of the hall and stood still, and said in a deep voice: "If you want to investigate the corruption of disaster relief money, you must start with the drought. Chen remembered that the first time he heard about the disaster in Shanxi was when he was discussing in the court a few months ago. Fan Zhefu, a member of the Cabinet University, presented a recital from the prefect Chen Jincheng, saying that the disaster situation in Henan could not be delayed, and asked the imperial court to allocate funds for disaster relief. All the adults and the emperor present at that time could witness this matter. ”

The officials in the palace nodded yes one after another, and then heard Lu Wenyuan say again: "At that time, Yan Yong argued with Lord Fan, saying that the disaster situation was unknown, and it was necessary to send someone to investigate before it could be dealt with. However, Master Fan tried his best to explain the seriousness of the disaster, and there was no time to send someone to investigate, so the sooner he allocated the relief money, the better. ”

However, the minister later asked a few displaced people from Shanxi to Beijing, and they said that the disaster at that time was not as good as Cheng Dù, who would starve to death in a few moments and a half, but that the harvest was lower than in previous years, and only a few people who had meager land and locust plague could not survive and went to other provinces to become refugees. Fan and the victims of the disaster do not agree on the statement, I don't know why? ”

Fan Zhefu said: "Lu Da's statement has no basis. How do I know if you really asked the victims in Shanxi, and how do you know if the victims said that? ”

Lu Wenyuan said: "What Master Fan said is true. In this case, we called the prefects and prefects of several counties in Shanxi Province to ask. Although they are not victims of the disaster, they are not located in Shanxi, so they must not misinterpret the disaster situation. After that, he hugged his fist to Zhu Shiyang and said, "Please ask the emperor to send them into the palace." ”

Zhu Shiyang said: "Biography." The imperial eunuch shouted all the way. Suddenly, the door of the palace was opened, and a column of local officials dressed in various official uniforms rushed in, and the first person led everyone to kneel down and said: "Weichen Pingyang Zhixian Lin Huai'an knocks to see the emperor, long live my emperor, long live long live." ”

Zhu Shiyang sent them to stand up and speak. Lu Wenyuan then walked up to the magistrate and said, "Lin Zhixian, as far as you know, what is the specific development process of the disaster in Shanxi?" ”

Lin Zhixian lowered his head and thought cautiously, and said: "Lord Hui, the drought has begun to show signs since this spring, in the spring season, there were only a few rains, and in the late spring and early summer, many places have failed to harvest crops, and suffered from locust plagues, which is not the same as in previous years. ”

Lu Wenyuan interrupted him and said, "At that time, did it reach the point where people would starve to death in a moment? ”

Lin Zhixian said: "That's not it. At that time, although the disaster began to appear, most of the people still pinned their hopes on the autumn harvest, and only a few fields had few crops and suffered from locust plagues, but they heard that the imperial court had allocated disaster relief funds, and they also settled down temporarily. The disaster was really severe in late summer, because there was no rain in Shanxi in the last summer, all the land in the territory was cracked by the sun, and the crops were not harvested, and only then did they reach the point where people would starve to death in a moment. ”

Lu Wenyuan said: "Your Majesty, the time of the court deliberations was the late spring and early summer, and the disaster was not so strict at that time, and Lord Fan still brought it to the court for public discussion, but at the end of summer, when the disaster situation was really severe, Lord Fan suppressed it and concealed it and did not report it, isn't it strange that such a contradictory act?" ”

Zhu Shiyang nodded. Everyone in the hall also whispered for a while, but they heard Lu Wenyuan say again: "Let's press this side and don't mention it, and then talk about the interrogation of the assassin in the Criminal Department a few days ago." The two assassins said that although the two pieces of relief money allocated by the imperial court this summer had been distributed, they were only 14 yuan per person, and they could only buy a few steamed buns, which the emperor and the adults of the criminal department had heard. ”

Shangshu and others of the Criminal Department nodded one after another, and Lu Wenyuan continued: "The minister has calculated an account for the emperor, and the current registered population in Shanxi is about one million, and if each person gets fourteen yuan, it is equivalent to about 30,000 taels of silver. Where did the rest of the money go? ”

Chen Jin Cheng said: "The account is not based on the algorithm of adults. Not all of the disaster relief silver was distributed to the people, and some of them were to be used to buy autumn seeds, build water conservancy, etc., and how credible are the assassin's words? Adults are inevitably biased. ”

Lu Wenyuan said: "Okay, even if you buy autumn seeds as you said, it will cost you to repair water conservancy, but why spend so much?" Everyone knows that at least half of the disaster relief taels should be distributed to the victims, but now less than 30,000 taels have been distributed, so where will the rest of the money go? As for the two assassins, they originally came to the capital with the intention of death to assassinate the current saint, as the saying goes, people are about to die, and their words are good, what good is it for them to lie? Is it possible to trap you as a ghost? ”

Chen Jincheng bowed his head for a while, and Lu Wenyuan said again: "So it seems that the whereabouts of some of the two disaster relief silver must be unknown, and the minister inferred from the above situation that it was embezzled by Lord Fan and Chen Jincheng." The two lied about the disaster in the late spring and early summer, and took out the imperial court's silver and two income in their private pockets, and they thought that although Shanxi was dry in spring, it would rain in summer, and they could expect the autumn harvest to alleviate the disaster, but they did not expect that the summer drought was stricter than the spring drought, and the disaster was not only not alleviated, but greatly intensified. The two were afraid that the corruption would be discovered, so Fan Zhefu suppressed the disaster and did not report it. In this way, every qiē abnormality can be explained. ”

Chen Jincheng was shocked when he heard this. Fan Zhefu said angrily: "Lu Wenyuan, you speculate without evidence and want to frame me, do you think the emperor will listen to your slander?" ”

Chen Jincheng also said: "Yes, the emperor, Lu Wenyuan is really a bloody spewing person, the emperor must not be gullible." ”

Lu Wenyuan said: "Is it, Lord Chen?" What is the explanation for the 200,000 taels of silver that were found in your treasury a few days ago? I'm afraid a local prefect won't be able to earn so much money in his life, right? ”

Chen Jincheng said: "That is the tax income that the government has saved for many years, and the ministers have not touched a penny, and it has been piled up in the government treasury. ”

Lu Wenyuan said: "Then why is the word 'relief' on the bottom of some of the silver?" ”

Chen Jincheng was puzzled: "Relief words? What is the word for relief? Fan Zhefu has lost his color. Lu Wenyuan looked at it in his eyes, hugged his fists and played to the emperor: "Your Majesty, some of the two disaster relief silver issued by the imperial court this time are engraved with the word 'relief' at the bottom, which is a mark specially made by Yan Yong, a former cabinet scholar, to prevent corruption, to distinguish the disaster relief silver two. The emperor can pass Yan Yong to the palace and confront him face to face. ”

Zhu Shiyang said: "Oh? Is there such a thing? Quick pass. ”

Immediately outside the hall, a guard took the order and left. After the tea time, only to hear the sound of chains jingling, Yan Yong has already appeared at the door of the main hall, removed the shackles, entered the hall and knelt down and said: "Yan Yong, the grass people, knock on the emperor, long live the emperor, long live, long live, long live." ”

Because he didn't have an official title, Zhu Shiyang didn't let him get up, and asked: "What's going on with the word 'relief' engraved on the disaster relief silver?" ”

Yan Yong was still wearing the bloodstained prison uniform, but his spirit was strong, and his sideburns and face had been sorted out a little, so he still looked extraordinary, and he hugged his fists at the moment and said: "That's evidence that the grass people expected that there would be official corruption, and they did it in advance." The night before the relief silver was sent out from the state treasury, the grass people secretly gathered a group of silversmiths overnight and scalded the word 'relief' on the bottom of the silver taels, but because of the rush of time, only one batch was burned. But it's enough to be identified. ”

Lu Wenyuan added: "The group of silversmiths that Yan Yong said, the ministers found a few, and now they are waiting outside the palace, if the emperor is not at ease, he can summon them to ask carefully." ”

Zhu Shiyang signaled that it was not necessary. Lu Wenyuan said again: "Among the 200,000 taels of silver found in the treasury of Chen Jincheng's mansion, many of them are engraved with the word 'relief' at the bottom, which shows that it is not as Chen Jincheng said that it is a tax saved over the years, but a disaster silver for disaster relief. Chen Jincheng, what do you do about this?

Interpretation? ”

Chen Jincheng didn't expect this move, he was completely panicked, he didn't have time to think about it, and argued in a trembling voice: "That's ...... It was unspent disaster silver, temporarily piled up in the treasury. ”

Lu Wenyuan said: "Really? Now that the disaster in Shanxi is so serious, people are starving to death all the time, Lord Chen does not use the 200,000 taels for disaster relief, but piles them up in the treasury to accumulate dust, I don't know what his intentions are? ”

Chen Jincheng was covered with cold sweat when asked, speechless, and said in a panic: "This ......"