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After hearing Zhao Junchen's inquiry, Bao Wenjie immediately stopped scolding and reprimanding, his eyes were fixed on Li Xun, and his expression was slightly nervous. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Bao Wenjie still remembers what Zhao Junchen said when he left Beijing -- Now is the time when the situation in the northwest is troubled by internal and external troubles, it is better to be still, and there is no replacement for the officials in a short period of time, so if the cases in the northwest provinces are too widely implicated, then Zhao Junchen can only be punished by the law and only punish the evildoers.

Of course, at that time, Zhao Junchen and Bao Wenjie thought that there was just a corruption case in the northwestern provinces, but only now did they realize that the matter was far more terrible and complicated than they imagined.

Therefore, Bao Wenjie very much hopes that this matter will only involve a small number of high-level officials, otherwise with Zhao Junchen's thinking, most of the criminal officials will become fish that have slipped through the net, which is something that Bao Wenjie absolutely does not want to see.

In addition, if the vast majority of officials in the northwestern provinces are involved in this matter, then once this matter is exposed, it will inevitably greatly damage the prestige and credibility of the imperial court, and the people will completely lose their trust in the imperial court officials, and this kind of blow is absolutely unacceptable to the Ming Dynasty.

Under Bao Wenjie's gaze, Li Xun was a little hesitant.

Li Xun was quickly considering the pros and cons in his heart, and he didn't know if he should tell the truth.

As an old man in the officialdom, Li Xun naturally understands the truth that the law does not hold the public accountable, so if he confesses to the comrades involved in this matter one after another, then Zhao Junchen is likely to throw a rat trap and dare not punish him harshly at will. But in this way, Zhao Junchen is likely to choose the means of "killing chickens and making an example of monkeys", and Li Xun himself will be the most suitable "chicken".

On the other hand, if Li Xun takes all this matter by himself, then Li Xun himself will no longer have the possibility of escaping the crime, but after Li Xun's comrades get rid of the crime, they will be grateful for Li Xun's kindness in taking the blame for them, and they are likely to take care of Li Xun's descendants in the future.

The two options have their own pros and cons, and Li Xun naturally has to seriously consider one or two.

As a result, whether it was Li Xun, who opened his mouth to defend himself, or Bao Wenjie, who was indignant and scolded loudly, they all fell silent for a while, and the lobby fell into silence.

Seeing the performance of Li Xun and Bao Wenjie, Zhao Junchen naturally guessed the change in their minds.

Therefore, Zhao Junchen slowly spoke: "Governor Li, you have to understand two things...... First, now that I have blocked the governor's yamen, you have no chance to collude with your fellow party members, if you still want to hide the truth at this time, you will soon be exposed, and it will only make your crime worse, and even harm future generations! Second, now that your plan has not yet begun, you have not yet sued for peace with the Mongols, and you have not yet given the Mongols the food and grass for disaster relief and the people fleeing the famine, so how big is your crime, how should it be punished, and do you have any chance to make meritorious contributions...... Even whether or not to report this matter to the imperial court is all up to Ben Chin Cha alone, so the most important thing for you at the moment is not to think about whether you want to protect your comrades, but how to get Ben Chin Cha's forgiveness! ”

Hearing Zhao Junchen's words, Bao Wenjie and Li Xun were stunned.

Could it be that Li Xun committed such a big crime, and there is still a chance to get away with it?

Bao Wenjie wanted to question Zhao Junchen on the spot, but was stopped by Zhao Junchen with his eyes.

On the other side, Li Xun saw that Zhao Junchen's tone was relaxed, and thought that Zhao Junchen himself was also a corrupt official and traitor who did not compromise his means, and felt that things seemed to have a turn for the better, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed in his heart, and the already desperate mood suddenly came alive.

Then, Li Xun no longer considered the same party, and immediately told everything he knew, and looked at Zhao Junchen with a lot of flattering eyes: "The old man didn't dare to hide Lord Qincha, this plan was co-chaired by Wang Zheng, the governor of Shaanxi, Zhang Shengde, the governor of Gansu, Wu Min, and the old man. Although Niu Lu, the chief soldier of Shanxi Town, was not involved in this matter, he also knew about it...... This is the situation in Shanxi, but what is the specific situation in Shaanxi and Gansu, the old man does not know, but according to the old man's conjecture, the three directors of Shaanxi and Gansu must also know, otherwise this plan must not be carried out smoothly, but it is impossible for too many people to know the news, otherwise there will be a risk of leakage, and the vast majority of state officials should just follow orders. ”

Because of the hope in his heart, Li Xun did not hide anything and betrayed all his comrades.

Zhao Junchen nodded lightly, his expression thoughtful, and then asked: "By the way, there is one more thing, what is the name of the staff member next to Wang Zhen, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, who proposed this plan?" What is the origin? ”

Li Xun still knew everything, and said: "That person's name is Wang Gong, but he is the brother of Wang Ming, a big businessman in Shaanxi and Gansu, it seems that Lord Wang Zheng became the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu before he joined the door of Lord Wang Zheng, but he soon gained the trust of Lord Wang Zheng, and now Lord Wang Zheng can be said to be obedient to him, especially after Lord Wang Zheng became seriously ill, this Wang Gong has been handling official affairs in Shaanxi and Gansu on behalf of Lord Wang Zheng, and some people even say that this Wang Gong is the real governor of Shaanxi and Gansu......

After speaking, Li Xun looked at Zhao Junchen with blank eyes, and his implied attitude was very obvious - he cooperated with Zhao Junchen like this and admitted his guilt so well, so he hoped that Zhao Junchen would give himself a chance to make meritorious contributions according to his promise.

After Zhao Junchen pondered for a moment, he turned his head and glanced at Bao Wenjie, who wanted to speak and stopped.

Then, Zhao Junchen said to the Jinyi guard next to him: "Take Governor Li to the side room and wait for a while, Ben Qincha and Master Bao have something to say." ”

After hearing Zhao Junchen's order, Jinyiwei immediately took Li Xun away.

And when Li Xun left the lobby, a hint of joy flashed in his eyes, and Zhao Junchen still called him "Governor Li", which means that things have really taken a turn for the better!

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After Li Xun left, Bao Wenjie couldn't bear it anymore and asked urgently: "Lord Zhao, is what you just said true or false?" Do you really want to let Li Xun go and let him make meritorious contributions? Li Xun intends to sacrifice the lives of 100,000 victims just so that he can return to his hometown safely, such an evil act, even if it is a thousand cuts, how can he easily let it go? …… Also, Lord Zhao, you said at the beginning that if the case in the northwest provinces is not widely implicated, all the officials who committed the crime should be severely punished, but now this case only involves the high-level governors and three directors of the northwest provinces, and it should be severely punished, Lord Zhao, you don't want to break your word, right? ”

Hearing Bao Wenjie's serial questioning, Zhao Junchen shook his head helplessly, and then said, "Lord Bao, don't be impatient, listen to me slowly." ”

Seeing Bao Wenjie looking at him with suspicion, Zhao Junchen sighed lightly and said: "First of all, I am as disgusted as you with these governors of the Northwest Provinces, they are not only selfish and vicious, but also short-sighted, even if they are cut by a thousand knives and divided into five horses, it is not too much!" In fact, I want someone to drag Zhang Xun out and behead him right now! In addition, I will not let them go easily, and I will report this plan to Your Majesty and the Imperial Court, so that Your Majesty and the Imperial Court can decide their punishment! …… However, in the current situation, I still want to give them a chance to make meritorious contributions! ”

Hearing Zhao Junchen's previous words, Bao Wenjie still nodded again and again, thinking that Zhao Junchen and his thoughts were exactly the same, but after hearing Zhao Junchen's last sentence, Bao Wenjie's face changed.

Zhao Junchen still stretched out his hand to stop Bao Wenjie's questioning, but continued: "Lord Bao, at this time and that time, I originally thought that the case in the northwest provinces was an ordinary corruption case, so I said that if the case is not widely implicated, all corrupt officials who have to commit crimes will be severely punished, the people are used to official corruption, and they will only applaud after seeing the court punish corrupt officials, but now the matter is not a simple corruption case, but the local governors are afraid of the strength of the Mongols, so they unite and plan to sacrifice 100,000 victims to seek peace, Lord Bao, you should know how serious this matter is, once it spreads, it will inevitably shake the morale of the army and the people! Now is the time of internal and external troubles, and this situation must not appear, so this matter must be concealed, but after concealing this matter, I will lose the reason to punish these local governors! ”

After a pause, Zhao Junchen continued: "In addition, Master Bao, you think that this matter is not widely implicated, but in my opinion, it is already widely implicated! The governors, governors, political envoys, envoys, and commanders of Shanxi and Shaanxi, as well as some military and town commanders and state officials, as well as many Jin merchants with intertwined forces, all participated in this matter! If I punish them all, the entire high-level officialdom in the northwest will be swept away, and there will inevitably be chaos again, but the current situation in the northwest can no longer withstand any chaos......

Of course, I can only punish a few leaders and let go of most of the officials involved in the case, but this matter is too serious, even if the fish that slipped through the net temporarily escaped the crime, they will still worry about the imperial court settling accounts after the autumn, so how can they maintain the situation in the northwest with their hearts? Take Shanxi as an example, if I only punished Li Xun, the governor of Shanxi, but let go of Yan Cheng and Xu Songhe, the political envoys of the left and right, Wu Zunzu, and Zhang Dacheng, the commander of the Du Commander, then after we left Shanxi and went to Shaanxi and Gansu, these people might have to abscond in fear of crime, and at that time, Shanxi officialdom would be even more chaotic, and how to resist the Mongols? How do we help the victims? ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Junchen sighed again and said: "Compared with these methods, it is better to temporarily stabilize them, give them a hope, and let them make meritorious contributions, so that they will inevitably take the initiative to do things, whether it is border defense or disaster relief, it will be smoother...... Since ancient times, those in power have liked to use those officials with handles, to a large extent for this reason, in order to eliminate their handles and prove their worth, officials with handles tend to be more active, harder, and more obedient than those innocent officials! It's the worst way, but it's also the best way! ”

Hearing Zhao Junchen's statement, Bao Wenjie was still a little unconvinced, but he couldn't find a reason to refute it for a while, and his expression was full of anger.

Seeing Bao Wenjie like this, Zhao Junchen knew that he couldn't keep Bao Wenjie by his side anymore, and it was time to send Bao Wenjie back to the capital.

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Well, the first update.

The second will still be late.

I've been in a bad state lately, so forgive me.

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