The next morning, it happened to be a three-day court meeting, and after Emperor Ningzong sat down on the dragon chair, the chief eunuch Wang Gonggong stepped forward and said: "Ministers, if you have something to do, you will play early, and you will leave the court if you have nothing to do." ”

As soon as Wang Gonggong's words fell, he saw Li Zhixiao walk out, knelt on the ground, and said, "Your Majesty, Weichen has something to do." ”

Emperor Ningzong said: "Li Aiqing, flat body, what's the matter, play." ”

"As far as Wei Chen knows, Chen Wenduan, the secretary of the Criminal Department, accepted bribes privately during his visit to Huaixi to investigate the case. Li Zhixiao played.

Emperor Ningzong asked, "Do you have any evidence, Li Aiqing?"

"This, not at the moment, it's just that Weichen, as the right counselor, can hear about it. Li Zhixiao said.

At this time, Shi Miyuan also stood up from the class, knelt on the ground, and said, "Your Majesty, Weichen has something to say." ”

"Prime Minister, let's be even, what's the matter with you?" Emperor Ningzong asked.

Shi Miyuan said: "Weichen also heard from the officials below that when Lord Chen was investigating the case in Huaixi, he was very close to Yue Zhongyong, the commander of the Loyal Army, and said that when Lord Chen was leaving, Marshal Yue also gave a lot of gifts to Lord Chen, and the commanders and courtiers of the garrison were mixed with each other, but it violated the ancestral system of our Great Song Dynasty. ”

When Emperor Ningzong heard this, he thought: "This Chen Wenduan is an important minister in the court, and the other is a commander stationed at the border pass and holding a heavy army, and the parents of the two were very famous in the court during their lifetimes, and their protégés and old departments are all over the world, in case these two people really collude together as Shi Miyuan said, it will be very bad." ”

Thinking of this, Emperor Ningzong asked, "Lord Chen, what do you say about what Li Aiqing and Shi Aiqing said just now?"

Chen Wenduan stood in the middle of the class, and heard Li Zhixiao and Shi Miyuan attacking him in a song and harmony, and he was already very angry, so when he heard Emperor Ningzong ask about him, he immediately left the class, knelt on the ground, and said: "Qi Shengshang, what Prime Minister Shi and the right counselor Master Li said just now are all unfounded slander, Wechen asked the Holy Lord to investigate in detail, in addition, Wechen is about to tell the Holy Lord the details of this trip to Huaixi to investigate the case." ”

"Then today you will play this matter in front of the Manchu Dynasty civil and military. Emperor Ningzong said.

So Chen Wenduan told Emperor Ningzong in detail about his trip back and forth to Huaixi to investigate the case during this time.

As soon as Chen Wenduan finished speaking, Shi Miyuan immediately said to Emperor Ningzong: "Holy Lord, Lord Chen is completely framed, how dare I detain the excerpts played by the commander of the Tun army below, as for the deduction of military salaries, it is even more impossible, the military salaries of the Huaixi Tun army have always been paid in full, and they have never been in arrears." ”

Emperor Ningzong said: "Prime Minister, don't worry, I will make decisions for you." ”

Then Emperor Ningzong said to Chen Wenduan: "Chen Aiqing, you said that the commander of the Huaixi Tun Army had a report on the famine, and was detained by the prime minister and did not submit it to me, but the prime minister said that there is no such thing at all, and now you have your own words, what do you say?"

At this time, the crown prince stood up and said: "Father, the twists and turns sent to Lin'an are first sent to the Tongjin Division to be sorted out and then presented to your father, and the twists and turns played in various places are recorded and checked. ”

Before Emperor Ningzong could reply to the prince's words, Li Yuanyi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, stepped forward and said: "Holy Lord, for the sake of fairness, I think that Lord Chen of the Criminal Department should send officials from the Criminal Department to the Tongjin Division to supervise and inquire. ”

"Well, the suggestion of the prince and Li Aiqing is very good, just do it, let Master Chen of the Criminal Department send someone to go, I and you Aiqing are waiting for the results here. Emperor Zong said.

After Chen Wenduan heard Emperor Ningzong's decree, he immediately sent two servants of the Criminal Department and four heads of the Criminal Department to Tongjin Division to investigate the matter.

After about two hours, I saw four directors of the Criminal Department and two servants of the Criminal Department returning to the Golden Palace.

Emperor Ningzong asked what the result was, and one of the servants of the criminal department stepped forward and said: "Shengshang, it is true that there is a report on the famine in the Huaixi Tun army, but the three officials in charge of the management of this tribute have committed suicide by taking poison, and left a last word that it was because of their own negligence and forgot to play this tribute to the imperial court, afterwards, because of the fear of being punished, the three of them established an offensive and defensive alliance, trying to cover up the matter, today I saw the officials of the criminal department came to inquire about the matter, and knew that the secret had been revealed, so they committed suicide together to thank the saint." ”

"It's really audacious, the officials of the Tongjin Division dare to take the concert into custody without permission, this is a major crime of rebellion, and the nine clans should be punished. After listening to this, Emperor Ningzong slapped the table and shouted loudly.

Seeing Emperor Ningzong's Long Yan furious, Shi Miyuan hurriedly stepped forward and knelt on the ground, and said: "Holy Lord, this Tongjin Division is the place where the old minister is responsible, and there is such a major mistake today, the old minister is guilty, and the old minister is guilty............ ”

When the prince saw Shi Miyuan, he fell to his knees in fright, and seemed to be a little gloating, and said: "Prime Minister Shi Cheng, don't avoid the important and light, your guilt is not just a dereliction of duty, without your instigation, just by virtue of the petty officials under the Tongjin Division, he would dare to privately detain the saint's recital, even if a three-year-old child will not believe it." ”

Shi Miyuan thought to himself: "Anyway, several officials who did this have already committed suicide by taking poison, and without a witness, they will die and not admit it, and there is no way for anyone to take it." ”

Thinking of this, he turned his heart sideways, and said to Emperor Ningzong with a crying voice: "Shengshang, you know, the old minister has absolutely no second heart for you, this thing is indeed not done by the old minister to let the subordinate officials do it, or to borrow ten guts from the old minister, the old minister does not dare, and I hope that the saint will see it." ”

"What don't you dare, don't pretend to be innocent here. The prince said to Shi Miyuan.

Emperor Ningzong saw that it was fried into a pot of porridge below, and his face was very ugly, so he said: "I see that you are not fuel-efficient lamps, prime minister, I see the Huaixi Tun army's twists and turns, no matter what, as the prime minister, it is difficult to escape the blame, now I will punish you for one year, remove you from the post of prime minister, but you will still act as the prime minister, if you have merit in the future, then I will restore your position as prime minister, as for the four officials involved, they have already been convicted of their crimes and have died, so they will no longer be held accountable for their families." ”