Bai Yaodong hugged his fists and said: "Your Highness, everyone knows that Jing Min is His Highness's person, Lu Lin did not hesitate at all when he sentenced Jing Min, and the minister did not suspect that Lu Lin was actually coming down at His Highness, is there no command from the King of Shu in this?" Why are they doing this? Naturally, it is to weaken His Highness's strength and hit His Highness's prestige! ”

Through this incident, Zhao Dong was unable to keep Jing Min, which would give other ministers and officials who wanted to join the crown prince the impression that the prince was incompetent and could not shelter his subordinates, which was not impossible.

Zhao Dong thought for a while, and said to everyone in the hall: "You should pay more attention to this matter, and if there is further news, please report it quickly!" ”

"No!"

The Palace Racecourse, similar to a 400-meter track, can be used for polo, archery and other activities in the middle.

A row of arrow targets was placed on one side, and Zhao Junsheng stood on the other side a hundred paces away practicing archery, and sometimes when the mood came, he could shoot 3,000 arrows at a time, and open the bow left and right.

While practicing, a little eunuch came to report: "Your Majesty, Ye Jun, the left attendant of the Criminal Department, has something to ask for an audience!" ”

Zhao Junsheng shot a sharp arrow out of his hand, and the arrow hit the bull's-eye a hundred steps away, "Xuan!" ”

"No!"

After Zhao Junsheng shot three more arrows, the bowstring was broken, and Ye Jun was also led to him by the eunuch.

"Ye Jun, the left attendant of the Ministry of Punishment, see Your Majesty!"

Zhao Junsheng put down the broken bow, turned his head to look at Ye Jun, picked up another bow and an arrow and aimed at the target and asked, "What does Ye Qing have to report when he enters the palace to see me this time?" ”

Ye Jun replied: "Back to Your Majesty, before the Imperial City Division arrested a group of officials who were in collusion with the Sogdian merchants of the Bada State, after interrogation, all the files and prisoners were handed over to the Dali Temple, and the Dali Temple sentenced these officials after the interrogation records of the Imperial City Division, and through the relevant investigations, the relevant judgments and files have been transferred to our Criminal Department for careful review, and the ministers immediately sent people to verify and verify the judgments and files, and found that the Tianshui Taishou Jing Min involved in the case seemed to have reservations when confessing his crimes. There is a suspicion of deliberately concealing certain facts, the judgment of Dali Temple is still to be discussed, according to the relevant regulations, the case of Dali Temple judgment cannot be passed after being handed over to the Criminal Department for review, and must be handed over to His Majesty for judgment! ”

If it is a case of a small official and a small official, Zhao Junsheng will not pay special attention to it, there are too many officials in the Great Qian Empire, and every day there are officials who are investigated and dealt with, and every day there are officials who are appointed to take office.

Although the grade of the Taishou of a county is not very high, after all, he is the chief official of a county, and there are more than 100,000 people in the jurisdiction of Tianshui County.

"Did you bring the dossier?"

"Brought!" Ye Jun hurriedly presented the file.

Zhao Junsheng put down the longbow, took the file and opened it.

After thinking for a long time, Zhao Junsheng closed the file and said, "This case is re-investigated by the Criminal Department!" ”

"Yes!"

East Palace.

The crown prince led Lu Xie to walk into the lobby quickly and reported to Zhao Dongyu, who was handling official business: "Your Highness, in the past two days, the minister has found an acquaintance to enter the prison and met with Jing Min!" ”

Zhao Dong put down his pen and asked, "What did he say?" ”

"Your Highness, as soon as Jing Min saw the minister, he said that he had been wronged, that he had been beaten into a confession in the interrogation room of the Imperial City Division, and that he had indeed accepted bribes from the Sogdian merchant Shi Dayou, but he did not provide shelter for Shi Dayou at all, let alone hide his whereabouts for this person!"

Even in the case of the gradual improvement of the laws of the Great Qian Empire and the gradual implementation of the supervision mechanism, although the officials have somewhat restrained themselves in making money, the situation of secretly accepting bribes and abusing power for personal gain still exists and is widespread, but the question of whether it has been found out, if it is not found out, he is still living a happy life, and if it is found out, then he should be unlucky.

Although the official income of the Great Cadres is much higher than that of the Northern Wei Dynasty and the Southern Dynasties in the past, if they do not make money, it will not be enough for some officials who are accustomed to spending lavishly to squander it.

The punishment for accepting bribes and colluding with Sogdian merchants is very different, and no matter how much bribes are received, the heaviest punishment is only life imprisonment, but if it involves colluding with the enemy country, this is the crime of punishing the three clans, not to mention a Taishou, even if it is a minister of the imperial court, a relative of the emperor, or even a member of the royal family, once he violates this article, then no matter how prominent his status is, he will be able to protect his thoughtfulness.

Two days later, Chen Fang, the prince who was sent by Zhao Dong to investigate Jing Min's case, returned.

"Your Highness, the minister is back!"

"How's Jing Min's case going?" Zhao Dong asked.

Chen Fang clenched his fists and replied: "Your Highness, the minister found Jing Min's housekeeper Zhang Quan, this person disappeared after Jing Min was arrested, the minister heard that the Imperial City Division had been looking for him for a long time and there was no trace of him, this time the minister found this person in Jing Min's courtyard outside Tianshui City!" ”

Zhao Dong frowned and said, "That place should have been searched many times by the Imperial City Division, where did he go?" ”

"Jing Min buried a batch of property in the ground of the courtyard, Zhang Quan plans to take advantage of the dead of night to take the treasure away, and then escape, a few days ago, the Imperial City Division and the local government people were watching, he was not easy to start, he only dared to come out after the Imperial City Division and the people of the official government withdrew!"

"After interrogation by the minister, Zhang Quan confessed that Jing Min had indeed sheltered the Sogdian merchant Shi Dayou, and that the treasure was given to Jing Min by Shi Dayou in order to survive, and he also issued a special customs clearance document for Shi Dayou, and sent troops to escort Shi Dayou to the Western Regions!"

Zhao Dong was furious: "Jing Min dared to deceive Gu, if he was just greedy for money, he even dared to do this kind of thing, it was really innocent!" ”

At this time, the prince washed the horse Liu Xian hurriedly walked in from the outside and saluted: "Your Royal Highness, the minister has an old acquaintance in the criminal department, Fang Caichen met this person when he went out to do business, the two of us drank a few glasses in the restaurant, and when we were eating, this person told the minister a news, saying that Ye Jun, the left attendant of the criminal department, submitted Jing Min's case to the imperial court, and His Majesty ordered the criminal department to send someone to re-investigate, and the person in charge of the investigation was Huang Dezhong, the director of the criminal department, it is said that he interrogated Jing Min again, and asked Jing Min if there were other people involved in this matter during the interrogation, and deliberately alluded to His Royal Highness when asking! ”

The faces of everyone present changed, and the crown prince Chen Fang immediately stood up and said: "Your Highness, Huang Dezhong is deliberately targeting His Highness, if Jing Min can't withstand the torture and torture into a trick, and confesses that His Highness is also implicated, then it will be a big deal!" ”

Zhao Dong frowned deeply, this matter seems to be developing in an uncontrollable direction, is it due to human reasons, or is it caused by the current situation?

He thought for a while, and ordered Zhan Shi Ningren: "Go and ask the young master to come over!" ”

"No!"

Soon, the young master of the crown prince, Zhang Wei, came to the council hall.

"Minister Zhang Wei has seen His Royal Highness the Prince!"

Zhao Dong hurriedly saluted: "I've seen the young master, please take a seat!" Come on, serve tea! ”

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

After Zhang Wei sat down, Zhao Dong told Jing Min about it.

After hearing this, Zhang Wei said: "Tianshui is too guarded by Jing Min, and the old minister has also heard about it, His Royal Highness invited the old minister to come over?" ”

Zhao Dong said: "Young Master, judging from the current situation, how should Lone deal with it, and please give me some advice!" ”

Zhang Wei touched his beard, thought for a moment and said, "Your Highness, the old minister thinks that His Highness should respond to all changes with the same at this time, remember not to act rashly!" It must be known that the crown prince is the prince of the country, and the court and even the whole world are paying attention to His Royal Highness's every move. Even if someone wants to target and frame His Highness, he has to come up with real evidence, even if His Highness is implicated in Jing Min's confession, so what? Can someone convict His Highness based on his words alone? ”

Liu Xian, the crown prince next to him, said: "Young master, what if you add the confession of the Sogdian merchant Shi Dayou? The Imperial City Division is under the control of His Royal Highness the King of Shu, and there are also people from the King of Shu in the Criminal Department, and now anyone who has the power to meddle in this case is the King of Shu's people, and His Royal Highness can't intervene at all, they can completely confirm the evidence! ”

Zhang Wei got up and said to Zhao Dong: "Your Highness, we all know what is the purpose of His Majesty's order to expel Sogdian merchants, and it is too arbitrary to say that an official has a relationship with Sogdian merchants to assume that this person collaborated with the enemy, and we have to admit that many Sogdian merchants have made friends with ministers and officials in order to obtain a certain amount of political support, which is normal, even if His Highness has some relationship with Sogdian merchants, so what?" Isn't it ridiculous to be able to conclude that His Highness is suspected of collaborating with the enemy? It must be known that His Highness is the prince, if there is no accident, he will inherit the throne in the future, is it necessary for His Highness to get more support through contact with the enemy country? ”

"Also, even if Jing Min confessed that His Highness had disobeyed the Holy Order and sheltered a Sogdian merchant, and even if the Sogdian merchant Shi Dayou also confessed that His Highness had sheltered him, could their confessions prove that His Highness had really done it? Unless they get real evidence from His Highness, such as the letter written by His Highness to Jing Min mentioning that he should help Sogdian merchants, only such solid evidence can pose a threat to His Highness, and any other people's confessions are false! ”

"Your Highness, you are the prince of the country, as long as you do not commit the crimes of rebellion, usurpation of the throne, and disobedience, no one can really threaten your crown princehood, even Your Majesty must not easily depose your crown prince, otherwise the Manchu civil and military will never agree! Therefore, you don't have to be anxious at all, and see how the situation develops, and then see the move, at this time, the action will show that you are weak-minded, and it may also provoke Your Majesty to suspect that you are really involved in this case! ”

After listening to this, Zhao Dong felt that his heart suddenly brightened, and he got up and said to Zhang Wei: "The young master's words really made Gu Mao sudden, and I also asked the young master to have dinner here, and Gu Ye asked a lot of advice!" Come on, go and tell the kitchen to prepare a banquet, and you want to drink with the young master! ”

Zhang Wei hurriedly said: "Your Highness has tormented the old minister, and it is the duty of the old minister to solve your highness's doubts!" ”

At this time, in the heavenly prison, Jing Min, the former Taishou of Tianshui County, was tied to a cross wooden frame, and his body had been beaten to a blur of flesh and blood.

Huang Dezhong, the director of the Criminal Department, said to the torturer next to him: "Wake him up with cold water!" ”

"No!"

A basin of cold water poured down, Jing Min, who had already passed out, slowly opened his eyes again, at this moment his face was blue and purple, one eye was swollen and tall, and his hair was draped like a weed.

Huang Dezhong walked up to Jing Min and said coldly: "This official asks you again, who instructed you to disobey the holy order to protect the Sogdian merchant Shi Dayou?" ”

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