In the yamen hall of the Criminal Department, the two rows of officials juxtaposed saw this strange scene, and they didn't dare to squeak.

Syllable!

A crisp sound broke the silence in the hall.

Huang Guangsheng, the secretary of the Criminal Department, is in the center, Zhang Yongming, the imperial historian of the left capital, and Zhang Shouzhi, the secretary of the Dali Temple, are on both sides, and a long case is placed in front of each person, and there is a shocking wood on the case.

It's just that it was not Huang Guangsheng, the secretary of the Criminal Department, who knocked on the shocking wood, but Zhang Shouzhi, the secretary of Dali Temple on the right, but saw that he was glaring at Yan Shifan standing in the hall.

"Wei ...... Military! ”

Twelve tall servants held long sticks of water and fire, and they smashed the green brick floor very cooperatively, shouting threats in unison, which made people's scalps tingle.

This voice echoed in the public hall, highlighting the majesty of the hall of the criminal department, exerting an invisible pressure on the prisoners in the hall.

If there were ordinary people standing in the hall, I am afraid that I would have already knelt on the ground with weak legs, but Yan Shifan was an official who once stood at the top of the officialdom, and his fat face was still full of disdain.

He does have the ability to be arrogant, when his father was still on the throne of Shoufu, the three people in front of him were all low-eyebrow and pleasing to him, and Huang Guangsheng even beat him in the Ministry of Industry.

It is based on this psychological advantage that he has no fear at all, and he faces these pounding sounds very calmly.

The sound of twelve long sticks of water and fire pounding on the green bricks slowly stopped, and the silence of the entire public hall returned, but everyone knew that this was the calm before the storm.

Zhang Shouzhi took the initiative and asked directly at Yan Shifan: "Who is in the hall, why don't you kneel when you see this official?" ”

Zhang Shouzhi was born in the family of the official eunuch of Shuntian Mansion, a jinshi of Jiajing for 23 years, successively served as the head of the Ministry of Officials, and served as the middle post of Gong Gong and Wen Xuanlang, and now he is the secretary of Dali Temple.

If Yan Shifan was still the old Xiaoge elder in the past, he naturally didn't dare to speak like this and make this request. It's just that Yan Shifan has already lost his official position, and his current identity is a fugitive, which is very different from him, the Dali Temple.

"Zhang Shiju, are you so ignorant of dignity and humility? The two adults haven't spoken yet, why are you in a hurry with a three-grade Dali Temple? Yan Shifan met Zhang Shouzhi's angry gaze, but he asked lightly.

Although this is the trial of the three law divisions, Dali Temple is equivalent to the modern Supreme Court, but its rank is only the three products. In terms of identity and status, Zhang Shouzhi is actually behind Huang Guangsheng, the secretary of the Criminal Department, and Zhang Yongming, the imperial history of the Zuodu.

In the Ming officialdom, the most important thing is the respect and humility between officials, and those like Hai Rui's "sea pen frame" can still be promoted, which is actually different.

A layer of cold sweat oozed from Zhang Shouzhi's forehead, and he suddenly realized that he had miscalculated, and in front of him was not an ordinary prisoner, but an old fritter in officialdom.

He took the lead in making trouble, although he wanted to be the first bird, but also to give Yan Shifan a dismount. It's just that if you really want to be more serious, he has broken the most important rule of respect and inferiority in officialdom, and he really can't speak in front of the two adults, the Ministry of Shangshu and the Zuodu Yushi.

Zhang Shouzhi was directly hit by Yan Shifan in the soft underbelly, and he was angry and hateful for a while.

Huang Guangsheng coughed lightly, first gave Zhang Shouzhi a reassuring look, then straightened his face and asked in a deep voice: "Yan Shifan, are you guilty?"

Although he is a high-ranking criminal department secretary, the other party is a fugitive suspected of rebellion, just thinking about Dong Fen, Zhu Heng and Wu Shan, who have appeared one after another these days, and then thinking of the old Shoufu who is far away in Jiangxi, he does not intend to force the other party to kneel.

"What's the crime?" Yan Shifan stood in the hall with his head held high, and deliberately asked in confusion.

Huang Guangsheng exchanged glances with Zhang Yongming, and said directly: "According to Lin Run, the imperial history of Nanjing, you colluded with Jiang thieves to loot people's property, and gathered 4,000 people with the intention of rebelling, can there be such a thing?" ”

Hearing this question, Zhang Yongming and Zhang Shouzhi looked at Yan Shifan nervously.

"Lin Ruoyu said that I colluded with the river thieves, but is there any witness? As for the gathering of 4,000 people, are you talking about the thousands of craftsmen he recruited to build the house? You ask yourself, the house you built in your hometown, could it be that you moved the bricks yourself? Yan Shifan was not surprised by this question, and responded with a statement.

Huang Guangsheng and the other three couldn't help but exchange glances, and found that this case was indeed more tricky than they imagined, and the scene where Yan Shifan pleaded down on the spot and confessed did not appear.

Huang Guangsheng and the other three naturally couldn't be completely unprepared, so they picked up Lin Run's impeachment of Yan Shifan and said: "Here is Lin Run's transcript, when he was patrolling the river, he knew that you were secretly colluding with the river thieves, and many river thieves fled into your home!" ”

"Did he see it with his own eyes, or was it hearsay? There is no big river in my Yuanzhou Mansion, and he said that the Jiang thieves fled all the way to my Yan house, why didn't he order the government to take people and get personal stolen goods? Yan Shifan asked disdainfully.

Huang Guangsheng heard Yan Shifan retort so confidently, and he also had a secret headache.

Although Lin Run was conclusive in his recital, not only did they have no witnesses in their hands, but they also did not even have physical evidence, so they could not prove that Yan Shifan colluded with the Jiang thieves, let alone that he gathered a crowd to rebel.

He naturally wanted to catch the evidence of Yan Shifan's rebellion, so as to curry favor with Xu Jie, the Yuanfu Lord in Xiyuan, but Yan Shifan now made it clear that there was no rebellion, and he couldn't falsify the evidence.

Zhang Yongming looked at Huang Guangsheng silently, and said to Yan Shifan: "Although there is no empirical evidence for this matter, what Lin Run played has been confirmed by Li Yinshi, the prefect of Yuanzhou!" ”

"Li Yinshi, the prefect of Yuanzhou? You flip through the list of Jinshi in Jiajing's thirty-two years, and then see who is the chief examiner! Yan Shifan dug out the earwax with his little thumb and said resentfully.

Huang Guangsheng and Zhang Yongming are both old men who are accustomed to seeing the situation of officialdom, how can they not know that the so-called rebellion is nonsense at all, and there is a strong political flavor here.

Zhang Yongming pretended not to hear it, and continued: "In addition to Li Yinshi, the prefect of Yuanzhou, confirming that you colluded with the Jiang thieves, Guo Jianchen, the governor of Yuanzhou, also proved Lin Run's statement, you have gathered a crowd to rebel!" ”

"Yuanzhou Mansion Governor Guo Jichen?" Yan Shifan's face showed a disdainful expression, and he said sarcastically: "I was in prison a few years ago, and an old subordinate came to visit the prison, and I heard that Guo Jichen's external inspection was excellent, and the Ministry of Officials intends to promote him to be the head of the Ministry of Officials' Examination Division, when will the director of the Ministry of Officials' Yamen be selected from among the magistrates?" It's rare that the talents of the six departments of the capital are so withered, but they want to transfer a pusher from Yuanzhou who likes to peep into other people's privacy? ”

This is undoubtedly a strong irony, although Guo Jichen and Xu Jie's relationship is only a fellow villager on the surface, but from this matter, I am afraid that there are also inextricable links.

Huang Guangsheng and Zhang Yongming exchanged glances, their eyes were full of worry, and they found that this case was really more tricky than they imagined.