Jingshi, Qianqing Palace.

Outside the window, the rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the thunder was rumbling and rumbling.

But these voices couldn't suppress Zhou Xin's sonorous and powerful voice: "Your Majesty, Zhou Xin, the servant of the Ministry of Punishment, was ordered to thoroughly investigate the case of tax evasion by King Qin, and now it has come to light, and I am here to give the order!" ”

"Very good, bring it on!"

After receiving the folds handed over by Liu Zhen, Zhu Yunwen did not open them in a hurry, but first observed Zhou Xin's expression, from his point of view, Zhou Xin described himself as a little haggard, but his mood was very high, which couldn't help but make Zhu Yunwen have some expectations for these twists and turns.

Sure enough, Zhou Xin is Zhou Xin.

Zhou Xin's recital is very long, counting more than a dozen pages, but the conclusion is very simple: "Zhu Shangbing, the king of Qin, accused the tax department of corruption, and there was no evidence; However, the fact of tax evasion by Zhu Shangbing, the king of Qin, is clear, and the amount is very huge, and he should be severely punished. ”

"Smack!"

Seeing the end, Zhu Yunwen couldn't help but be furious, slapped the table fiercely, pointed at Zhou Xin with a fold, and said, "Is everything that the fold said conclusive?" ”

"Yes, what I said is true, and Weichen dares to vouch for it with his head!"

"Hmm!"

Zhu Yunwen gently pinched the tiger's mouth in his left hand, suppressed the anger in his heart, and said in a calm tone as much as possible: "Come on, give me a seat!" ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After Zhou Xin thanked him, he stood up and sat on the pier handed over by the eunuch.

Zhu Yunwen thought for a while, and then said angrily: "Liu Zhen, immediately pass on my will, summon Zhu Chun, the king of Zongzheng Shu of the Zongren Mansion, Tan Bo, the secretary of the Ministry of Taxation, Hu Zizhao, the secretary of the Criminal Department, and Hu Yan, the secretary of the Ministry of Law, to meet immediately, there must be no mistake!" ”

"Yes!"

.......

While waiting for everyone to come, Zhu Yunwen inquired in detail about the process of Zhou Xin's visit all the way, and strengthened the idea in his heart.

After a short time, Zhu Chun and others came one after another, and after bowing, they stood aside.

"It's raining heavily, and it's hard for you to come so fast?"

Listening to the emperor's question, Zhu Chun's body trembled, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he quickly turned over and knelt down, and said: "Back to Your Majesty, Weichen accidentally learned that Lord Zhou had returned to Beijing, and it was estimated that His Majesty would summon Weichen, so ......"

"What about you?"

"The same goes for motes!"

Zhu Yunwen knew what these people were thinking, so he just clicked and let them know what they wanted.

"Check it out! This is the result of the investigation of Zhu Shangbing, the king of Qin, you go over there, take a look at it together, and then talk back! ”

"Yes! Your Majesty! ”

It didn't take long, and the three of them finished reading the music and handed it to Liu Zhen.

"King Shu, you are a relative of the royal family, and you are Zongzheng, you say it first!"

These days, Zhu Chun has been thinking about the problem of Zhu Shangbing, the king of Qin, but after thinking about it for many days, he doesn't have any good ideas, he just hopes to get through the trick.

After the incident, Zhu Shangbing was tough on the surface, accusing the Shaanxi tax envoy Mu Benquan of bullying the prince, and the crime was not punishable. But in private, Zhu Shangbing was still scared, sent someone to Beijing for activities, and also sent gifts to his house, but although he met the other party's envoy, he did not accept any gifts.

As for the other vassal kings who heard the news, some people also sent envoys to their mansions to find out His Majesty's intentions, but he could only tell them to tie up the fence tightly......

Zhu Chun knew that these vassal kings who sent people to Beijing were somewhat similar to Zhu Shangbing's situation, and they all had cases of tax evasion, but they did not develop to the extent of rushing to the tax department and beating up the tax envoys.

Now hearing the emperor's question, Zhu Chun smiled bitterly in his heart, the treatment of two kings in one family is really not so easy to get! This emperor's nephew above is really cold-blooded and unfathomable!

"Back to Your Majesty, according to Lord Zhou's investigation, Weichen thinks that Zhu Shangbing, the king of Qin, as the head of the prince, has done such an ugly thing as making a big fuss about the tax department, which is really undignified by the royal family, and should be severely reprimanded to set an example."

"But," Zhu Chun hesitated for a moment, and then continued: "What Zhu Shangbing did, he did not have the idea of removing moths for the imperial court, the corruption situation in the Shaanxi Taxation Department is quite serious, Zhu Shangbing may just be based on a moment of righteous indignation!" ”

"Well, what else?" Zhu Yunwen tapped lightly on the table and asked.

"And ......"

This time, Zhu Chun hesitated for a longer time, his face was even a little pale, and Hu Zizhao, Tan Bo and others next to him couldn't help but glance sideways at him.

"The crimes committed by the Qin Wangfu are relatively serious, including private tax cards, smuggling tea and horses with the Qiang people, tax evasion in shops, etc., but these should have nothing to do with Zhu Shangbing. Zhu Shangbin is the bloodline of the first emperor, the royal family, and he will definitely not do anything that endangers the country and His Majesty. ”

"Therefore, Weichen thinks that His Majesty should seriously reprimand Zhu Shangbing, the king of Qin, and confiscate all illegal gains, and at the same time purge the officials of the Qin Palace, beheading, confiscating homes, and exile, and never be merciful."

Hearing Zhu Chun's words, Zhou Xin couldn't help but get angry, isn't this King of Shu illiterate? Isn't it clear enough to write your own memoirs? So many things, if there is no approval from King Qin, can the people below have such courage?

At this moment, Zhou Xin felt that his clothes were being pulled, and when he looked back, it turned out to be his top boss, Hu Zizhao, the secretary of the Criminal Department.

......

Silent!

All the people did not speak, including the emperor.

Zhu Chun lowered his head, feeling that he was about to suffocate, his forehead seemed to be dripping with beads of sweat, and his hands and feet couldn't help but tremble, and he couldn't stand steadily!

After a long time, Zhu Yunwen finally spoke up: "Well, I know, what do other people think?" ”

Zhu Chun let out a long breath and gently raised his hand to wipe the beads of sweat on his forehead.

Hu Zizhao and Hu Yan glanced at each other, and then Hu Zizhao came out first and said, "Your Majesty, what the King of Shu said has a certain amount of truth. Because in Lord Zhou's recital, King Qin did deny knowing about it, and only admitted that it was his subordinates who acted recklessly! ”

"Well, what about Lord Hu?"

"Back to Your Majesty," Hu Yan seemed to have already been confident, and arched his hand: "Weichen thinks that King Qin is a royal family member and has a valuable status, so he should not only pay attention to confessions, but also pay attention to physical evidence. According to Lord Zhou's recital, King Qin seems to be really unaware! ”

"Well, Tan Bo, what about you?"

"Wei Chen believes in Lord Zhou's ability to handle the case, so he ......" Tan Bo paused for a moment and said, "There is no direct evidence of King Qin's involvement in the case at present!" ”

"Direct evidence? Hehe," Zhu Yunwen smiled, patted the fold in his hand, looked over everyone, looked at the heavy rain outside the hall for a while, and said to himself: "Then this Zhu Shangbing, it's really stupid!" ”

Unconscious?

Zhu Chun couldn't help but shudder, but he didn't dare to raise his head, lest he see the emperor's eyes.

Zhu Yunwen looked at everyone with a smile: "Do you all agree with the opinion of the King of Shu?" What about Zhou Xin? You are the Qincha who was ordered to investigate, what do you think? ”

"I ......"

Zhou Xin gritted his teeth, ignored the anxious eyes of Hu Zizhao beside him, and said: "Back to Your Majesty, according to common sense, it is impossible for King Qin to stay out of the matter, and it is impossible for the subordinate officials of King Qin's Mansion to have such courage and ability. ”

"At the same time, most of the stolen money flowed into the inner treasury of the palace, so the so-called ignorance of King Qin, the ministers thought it was not true."

"And,"

Zhou Xin paused and knelt on the ground: "The minister thinks that it is not difficult to get the evidence, and he will definitely gain something by escorting the subordinate officials of the Qin Wangfu into Beijing and handing them over to the three law divisions for trial." ”

Looking at Zhou Xin who was kneeling on the ground, Zhu Yunwen felt a little emotion in his heart, and was about to speak, but saw Zhu Chun come out and say: "Your Majesty, what Zhou Xin said is inappropriate, in order to get rid of his crimes, the subordinate officials of the palace will inevitably bite indiscriminately, involving the innocent King Qin." ”

"Your Majesty, Zhu Shangbing is the bloodline of the first emperor, and he will rest with the country, and he will never do such an illegal thing, and I hope Your Majesty will see it!"

Zhu Yunwen's heart moved, and when he saw that Zhou Xin was still going to speak, he hurriedly raised his hand and said, "There is no need for the two of you to argue, what is going on, there are three laws to decide." ”

"Spread my will, immediately lock up all the officials of the Qin Palace's palace into Beijing, and be tried by the Criminal Department, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Law, there must be no mistakes!"

"In addition, I ordered to reprimand Zhu Shangbing, fine him for one year, confine the Zongren Mansion for three months, study in peace, and not go out!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Alright, let's all go down!"

"Yes!"

......

Looking at the backs of everyone, Zhu Yunwen stroked the short beard under his chin, thought for a while, and said: "Fate Zhuojing, Lian Zining, Qi Tai, and Huang Zicheng to enter the palace to see them, there must be no mistake!" ”

"Yes!"

......

After returning to the Criminal Department, Hu Zizhao sighed, sat on the chair, looked at Zhou Xin, who was a little indignant, and said in a deep voice: "Lord Zhou, you are too Meng Lang today!" ”

"Why do you say that?"

"King Qin is a prince, and it is impossible for Your Majesty to severely punish him for such a trivial matter of tax evasion! Now that the King of Qin has denied knowing about it, if you get the evidence, then the King of Qin has committed the crime of defrauding the king, and at that time, what should you do with Your Majesty? ”

"But," Zhou Xin hesitated for a moment, and said, "Before going to Shaanxi, His Majesty also emphasized to the lower officials: 'The prince is guilty of the same crime as the people, and he must get evidence of King Qin's lawlessness!'" ’”

"You!" Hu Zizhao was stunned for a moment, and then sighed: "Lord Zhou, this time and that time!" ”

"The lower officials are puzzled, and I hope that the adults will solve their doubts!"

Looking at Zhou Xin's somewhat tough face, Hu Zizhao smiled bitterly twice, and said: "The specific situation, the old man can't say it clearly for a while, but just now in the Qianqing Palace, didn't you find that Your Majesty didn't want you to continue?" ”

"But ......" Zhou Xin thought about it and was a little frustrated: "Xia Guan doesn't understand why?" ”

"Alas!" Hu Zizhao looked up and thought for a while, but changed the topic: "This matter is a long story, your trip to Shaanxi is more difficult, Your Majesty has granted you a three-day vacation, you better go home and rest!" ”

"Okay," Zhou Xin found that the other party had no intention of speaking, so he could only give up his hand and retreat: "Then thank you, my lord, the next official will retire!" ”

"Master Zhou, go slowly!"

Hu Zizhao stood up and said goodbye to Zhou Xin.