Zhou Ying saw that the emperor had made up his mind, no matter whether the evidence was conclusive or not, he would ask Xu Jinian for the crime, and couldn't help but move in his heart, and asked the emperor for help jokingly, "Father, I have grown so big, and I haven't tried the prestige of using power to suppress people, why don't you let me try?" ”

The emperor glanced at Zhou Ying and laughed and applauded.

Zhou Ying gave such and such an order, and Ding Tang took the order and left.

Xu Jinian looks like a thirty-year-old, handsome appearance, white face and slight beard, slender figure, and a literati popularity.

was suddenly brought in by the commander of the Imperial Forest Army to meet the emperor, but Xu Jinian did not show any panic on his face. Even the ordinary action of greeting is a little more graceful than others when Xu Jinian does it. Zhou Ying, who is used to seeing the white-bearded old ministers around the emperor, can't help but light up. However, after thinking about what Xu Jinian had done, Zhou Ying was no longer in the mood to appreciate it.

Xu Jinian saw the ceremony, but was not called, Zhou Ying only said: "Xu Jinian, are you guilty?" ”

Xu Jinian was obviously not surprised by Zhou Ying's questioning, but his face was puzzled, "Please forgive the minister for being rude, I don't know what the minister's crime is?" ”

Zhou Ying said bluntly: "You colluded with foreign clans with the intention of rebellion, and now that the evidence is conclusive, do you still dare to quibble?" ”

The surprise on Xu Jinian's face this time was definitely genuine.

Xu Jinian quickly calmed down and said: "Your Highness, the minister can change from a poor boy with four walls to a prefect who is in charge of the rule of a state today, and they are all cultivated ministers by the imperial court. Even if the minister can't say that he will do his best and die, he is also loyal, and he never dares to forget his roots, how can he do such an ungrateful thing and intend to rebel? ”

Zhou Ying sneered: "If it weren't for that, what would you do if you smuggled criminals, set up a private salt farm, and earned a lot of money?" ”

Xu Jinian looked confused, "What salt field?" ”

Zhou Ying shook her head and said, "It's all come to this point, why are you stubborn?" You're a good housekeeper, but you've already recruited them all. ”

Xu Jinian was taken aback, "But Steward Tian ......" Xu Jinian slowly closed his mouth and said in his heart, but Steward Tian didn't know. This is the worst possible scenario. Xu Jinian's heart sank, obviously the emperor had made up his mind to condemn him.

Zhou Ying threw a few more letters on Xu Jinian's knees, "The letter you exchanged with the Turkic Western Khan said that you exchanged salt for Turkic iron horses. You secretly befriended foreign clans in exchange for baggage, such wolf ambitions, do you dare to say that you have no intention of rebellion? ”

Xu Jinian opened the letter and looked at it, and said in a deep voice: "This letter is not the handwriting of the minister, the minister was wronged." ”

Zhou Ying smiled, "This is something that Commander Ding specially invited a few elders to identify together, are you saying that they lied together?" ”

Xu Jinian's gaze moved away from Zhou Ying and fell on the emperor, how could he not know that Zhou Ying referred to the deer as a horse like this, and the emperor acquiesced, and suddenly his limbs and bones were chilled. Seeing that Xu Jinian finally lost his calmness, Zhou Ying said slowly, "The rebellion is not trivial, Lord Xu, you can think about it." ”

Now there are two paths in front of Xu Jinian.

The first is to refuse to admit guilt, but the matter involves rebellion, even if he does not admit guilt, he will not be able to escape the fate of being beheaded and leaving a stench for 10,000 years, and the second is to admit that he opened a salt farm privately, but it is for the sake of people's livelihood, even if he is still dead, but he can have a mixed reputation.

Xu Jinian slowly took off the black gauze hat on his head and placed it on the ground, his hat wings trembling slightly, "There are thirty-nine salt farms in Dachen, and the salt production in Tai'an Prefecture is among the best, but the people's livelihood is the bottom. It is nothing more than that the labor of decoction salt in Tai'an Prefecture is taken from the prison, and the profits are collected by the state treasury, but Tai'an Prefecture has asked for it, but it cannot be treated leniently, and the household department only allocates money and silver according to the state and county rich and poor. ”

Xu Jiqing said in a young voice: "The minister is thinking, the imperial court is far away in the capital, and he can't take care of a single Tai'an Prefecture, but the minister is here, why can't he think of a way to help these poor people who have suffered here for generations?" ”

Xu Jiqing flicked his long sleeves and kowtowed: "The minister privately set up a salt field to intercept the national interests, and his crime should be punished, but the minister will die without regret." ”