At three o'clock that night, the sky was about to be dark, and near the fourth archway in the east of the capital, Xia Yunyi, the imperial historian of the city patrol, had just received a hundred Beijing camp guards from the Dongcheng Soldiers and Horses, and was preparing to patrol the city.

Unexpectedly, the team had just come out of the Terracotta Hutong, and before it was launched on the East Fourth Archway Street, there was a sudden exclamation from the front: "Ah, my silver, catch the thief!" ”

Xia Yunyi looked up and saw a black shadow running desperately south, and a boy who seemed to have a little money was standing there and shouting.

Patrolling the city and catching the thief, it seems that a bit of a dog is nosy with a mouse, but seeing that the thief is not caught, it seems a little unreasonable, Xia Yunyi just hesitated slightly, and then waved his hand and said: "Chase." ”

After that, he hit his horse and chased after him, and the Jingying guards behind him had to spread their feet and follow.

At this time, although there were not many people on the street, there were some, Xia Yunyi did not dare to beat the horse and gallop, so he could only control the speed of the horse and follow closely behind the thief, carefully avoiding pedestrians.

The thief seemed to know Xia Yunyi's scruples, so he picked a place with a lot of people to run, snatched the burden of people and threw them on the ground for a while, and hooked a few people to the ground for a while, trying to block the pursuers behind.

The two groups of people chased and fled for a few miles, from the East Fourth Pailou Street to the Dongdan Pailou Street, and from the Dongdan Pailou Street to the West Chang'an Avenue, and I don't know whether the thief was deliberately controlling the speed of escape or Xia Yunyi was deliberately controlling the speed of chasing people, anyway, the two waves of people kept a distance of dozens of steps, not leaving, as if there was a tacit understanding.

The sky is getting darker and darker, and the visibility is getting lower and lower, chasing and chasing, a horse-drawn flatbed truck full of goods is coming, the thief saw it, and immediately rushed up excitedly, pushed away the coachman who pulled the horse and the guard who was watching the goods, and pushed the goods wrapped in tarpaulin to the ground, and then smeared oil on the soles of his feet, and ran away with smoke.

"Bang", I don't know how the thief pushed it, more than ten boxes on the carriage all fell to the ground, and the round silver ingots were scattered all over the ground, this is the carriage that Xie Majesty secretly transported silver!

Xia Yunyi quickly chased to the carriage, he looked at the silver all over the ground, and then looked at the thief who gradually disappeared into the night, hesitated, but still reined in his mount, raised his hand and said loudly: "Don't chase, help people look at the silver on the ground, be careful not to be picked up by others." ”

There was a sound of footsteps, and hundreds of Beijing camp guards immediately spread out, surrounding the carriage and the silver that fell to the ground, as if they were afraid that passers-by would come up and grab the silver.

At this time, a strange thing happened, the coachman of Narama and the guards on both sides looked at the guards around them with nervous faces, and stood there in a daze, not picking up the silver on the ground, so frozen.

"Huh?" Xia Yunyi exclaimed, and then wondered: "What are you doing sneakily, this silver can't be stolen, right?" ”

The coachman hurriedly shook his head and said, "No, no, we didn't steal this silver." ”

When Xia Yunyi heard this, he turned his face and said sharply: "You didn't steal it, who stole it?" ”

What is this, the coachman hurriedly explained, "My lord, this silver is not stolen by us, but by our master." ”

Xia Yunyi was suspicious: "Who is your master, this official will ask to see if it is true." ”

When the coachman heard this, he seemed to have suddenly thought of something, and his face turned pale and he was speechless.

Seeing this, Xia Yunyi shouted: "Say, who is your master, is he a lawbreaker, is this silver not clean?" ”

At this time, the coachman didn't dare to speak, and even the faces of the two guards next to him turned pale with fright, and no one dared to say anything.

Xia Yunyi immediately shouted: "If you don't know if you ask three questions, will the official have nothing to do with you?" Someone came, tied them up, packed up the silver on the ground, and brought them back to the Dongcheng Terracotta Yamen for interrogation. ”

As a result, a farce of officers and soldiers catching thieves was upgraded to a big drama involving tens of thousands of taels of silver, and the people watching around were all amazed, this drama was really enjoyable to watch!

In a small alley not far away, Zhang Cha picked up the tattered clothes outside, wiped the dirt on his face indiscriminately, and then threw the rotten clothes, only then leaned against the wall and gasped, he couldn't help but complain in his heart: "What's the matter, next time let Xiao Pan play the thief, this guy, running a few miles in one breath, really wants to die!" ”

This is naturally a big drama directed by Zhang Bin, but this big drama has just begun, Zhang Cha's role is finished, but Xia Yunyi has to continue acting.

The reason why he shouted loudly was not to scare those few Xie Majesty's cronies, but to tell the people around him that these guys were sneakily pulling a cart of silver, and if they didn't open their mouths, there must be a problem, and he had to take them back for interrogation.

The people around didn't know why, and some people even praised there: "Tsk, this adult is really powerful, I can see at a glance that these people are abnormal, and I went around to ask, and sure enough, there is a problem, if it were me, I would go over directly, and I couldn't see it at all." ”

The play here is almost done, Xia Yunyi commanded the guards of the Beijing camp to clean up the silver scattered on the ground, and then took people and cars and escorted them back to the Yamen of the Dongcheng Soldiers and Horses.

Xie Majesty was still in the dark at this time, he couldn't have imagined that at the foot of the Son of Heaven, on East Chang'an Street near the imperial city, his carriage transporting silver would be "robbed"!

He didn't think about how far to hide the silver, that is, he wanted to transport it to a hidden mansion in Mingshifang in the southeast corner of the inner city to hide, this road is basically a street, who would have thought that the silver would be robbed, so he sent three cronies to supervise each other, and the others did not send anyone, because the more people who know, the greater the possibility of him being exposed.

Now he was pitted, after Xia Yunyi escorted people to the Yamen of the Dongcheng Soldiers and Horses, he found a small room, set up a table, and interrogated these three people in turn, in fact, he didn't ask anything, that is, who is your master, and whether your silver is dirty silver.

These three people are His Majesty's cronies, so they naturally know that they can't confess, they didn't confess, they didn't say anything, they just pretended to be dumb there.

However, after about a quarter of an hour, after a person dressed as a guard whispered a few words beside Xia Yunyi, Xia Yunyi's question changed, and he asked directly: "Say, is your lord the secretary of the Ministry of Industry Xie Majesty, is this silver his corruption gains, are you ordered to transfer these dirty silver to Mingshifang Suzhou Hutong to hide?" ”

When the three of them heard this, they were all dumbfounded, Nima, you know everything and ask a fart, you eat too much, right?

Xia Yunyi saw that none of the three of them were angry, and they were very stubborn, so he simply ordered someone to put the torture instrument up.

The torture instrument was very simple, just a small hammer and a strange-shaped knife.

The small hammer is an ordinary hammer, but when Xia Yunyi introduced it, he called it a "tooth hammer", in short, this hammer is used to knock teeth, you don't move, a mouth full of teeth will knock you all!

The strange-shaped knife is terrifying, called the "tongue cutting knife", you don't want to speak, right, a knife down, the tongue will be cut for you, you will never have to speak from now on!

At this time, the three of them were all frightened, they were not dead soldiers, just ordinary people, who could bear this punishment, so, Xia Yunyi asked what they said, in less than half an hour, the evidence signed and detained was ready, and at this time, Huang Chenghao, the imperial history of the left capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, had already received the news and rushed to the Yamen of the Dongcheng Soldiers and Horses.

With such an important news, he naturally didn't dare to slack off, and rushed to the left gate of Chang'an with the fold, at this time most of the courtiers were naturally asleep, but he knew that Chongzhen definitely didn't sleep, because Zhang Bin told him that it was no problem to go to the emperor before the time, and the emperor would rest for two hours at most every day!

In fact, it is useless for others to go to Chongzhen at this time, even if Chongzhen does not sleep, Cao Huachun will not pass it on to people, but the officials of Zhang Bin's family have no problem going to Chongzhen at this time, especially Huang Chenghao, Cao Huachun has specially explained to the eunuch guarding the door, and Huang Chenghao, the left capital of the Imperial Palace, came to see the emperor, and he must be notified as soon as possible.

Therefore, less than a quarter of an hour after Huang Chenghao arrived at the left gate of Chang'an, Cao Huachun's voice sounded outside the imperial study: "Your Majesty, Huang Chenghao, the left capital of the Imperial Palace, is asking to see you outside the imperial city." ”

When Chongzhen heard this, he couldn't help but put down the fold in his hand, and said loudly: "Open the door and order someone to bring him over." ”

If it were someone else, it is estimated that Chongzhen would not care, but this Huang Chenghao is an exception, in Chongzhen's eyes, he has become the most trustworthy person among the courtiers, such a loyal minister looks for him, he will see him even if he sleeps!

Soon, Huang Chenghao hurried to the imperial study under the guidance of a little eunuch, and after the monarch and ministers greeted him, Chongzhen couldn't help but ask: "Bingzhong, you haven't rested so late, and you will have to go to court early tomorrow." ”

Huang Chenghao immediately arched his hand and said: "The emperor forgets to sleep and eat for the country and the people, Wechen dare not compare with the emperor, but he also admonishes himself to be diligent and try to share the emperor's worries, if you can let the emperor rest for a quarter of an hour, Weichen is willing even if he doesn't sleep every day." “

These words were sensational, Chongzhen's eyes were moist, and it was difficult to find a bosom friend, he wiped his eyes and said movingly: "Okay, Bingzhong, if the court officials can be as loyal and patriotic as you, there will be hope for the Ming Dynasty." ”

Huang Chenghao did not forget to show his credit for Zhang Bin at this time, he pretended to be admiring, and said with reverence: "Wechen doesn't dare to be the emperor so praised, the crown prince and the prince Zhang Da are truly loyal and patriotic, and Wechen can't help but be enthusiastic every time he hears about his deeds." In the second year of Chongzhen, he fought with Jiannu in the ice and snow to protect the safety of the capital; In the seventh year of Chongzhen, he chased and suppressed the thieves in the biting cold wind to protect my Ming safety; There is also the New Year Festival of the first year of Chongzhen, and it is rumored that he is preparing for a life-and-death battle with pirates; On the third year of Chongzhen, he was preparing to die with Hongmaofan; In the fourth year of Chongzhen, he had just fought with Dongying; On the fifth year of Chongzhen, he was going to the capital to prepare for a fierce battle with the anti-thieves who invaded Beizhili; Since the first year of Chongzhen, Lord Zhang has spent most of his time fighting for the country, and he is always ready to sacrifice his life for the country. “

When Chongzhen heard this, he said with relief: "Okay, I know that you and Shuangquan are truly loyal and patriotic loyal ministers, by the way, you came to ask for a meeting so late, what's the matter?" “

Huang Chenghao hurriedly took out three confessions from his arms and held them in front of Chongzhen with both hands, and said respectfully: "Weichen also just received a report from Xia Yunyi, the imperial historian of the city patrol, he said that he met three suspicious people on East Chang'an Street, pulling more than 10,000 taels of silver to run on the street, Weichen rushed to the Dongcheng Soldiers and Horses Division to understand the situation, but I didn't expect that these three people turned out to be the cronies of Xie Majesty, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, and they were ordered to transfer dirty silver for Xie Majesty." ”

"Oh!" When Chongzhen heard this, he took the confession with a surprised face, and sure enough, the confessions of the three people were similar, they all confessed to transfer the silver from Xie Majesty's mansion to Ming Shifang under the order of His Majesty Xie.

Chongzhen couldn't help but snort coldly when he saw it: "This Majesty Xie, the corruption is really serious, there are more than 30,000 taels of silver transferred alone, how much silver is there in his mansion?" ”

When Huang Chenghao heard this, he couldn't help but say embarrassedly: "Your Majesty, if you don't send someone to copy it tonight, I'm afraid you won't find anything, Xia Yunyi accidentally broke his transfer of silver, he will definitely transfer all the dirty silver out of the mansion overnight, and if you copy it after tonight, it is estimated that there will be nothing." ”

Chongzhen hesitated for a moment, and then asked seriously, "You mean to send someone to copy it now?" ”

Huang Chenghao nodded solemnly and said: "Yes, the money he corrupted is all the money of the imperial court, if he transfers it without a trace, it will be the loss of the imperial court!" ”

Chongzhen still hesitated a little and said: "What if I don't find it, after all, he is an important minister of the court of Zheng Erpin, if I don't find anything, I will lose my face." ”

Huang Chenghao did not hesitate to arch his hand and said: "The emperor does not need to make an order, as long as the emperor nods, Weichen will immediately take the Jingying guards patrolling the city to search, if it is not found, it is all Weichen's own opinion, and it has nothing to do with the emperor, and then the emperor will dismiss Weichen and investigate it." ”

When Chongzhen heard this, he was moved again and said: "Bingzhong, how can I let you be wronged in vain!" “

Huang Chenghao said anxiously: "Your Majesty, it's too late to hesitate, it's more than 100,000 taels or even hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, which is enough to make tens of thousands of border soldiers worry about food and clothing within a year, you just let Weichen go, how is Weichen's life and death honor and disgrace more important than these silver." ”

When Chongzhen heard this, he suddenly stood up and said loudly: "Bingzhong, don't say it, I still lost this person, I can't let you take this risk, come here." ”

Cao Huachun entered in response, bowed his hand and said, "Weichen again." ”

Chongzhen said without hesitation: "Spread my will, and ordered Luo Yangxing to immediately lead the Jinyi Guard to copy the home of Xie Majesty, the secretary of the Ministry of Works." ”

When Huang Chenghao heard this, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, the emperor is really good, he has to be flickered hard to move!

This night, for most of the officials in the capital was another sleepless night, the commander of the Jinyi guard suddenly gathered thousands of people, went straight to the mansion of the Ministry of Industry Shangshu Xie Majesty near East Chang'an Street, the "hammer brigade" smashed it violently, and smashed out a secret room, which contained nearly 200,000 taels of silver, and another important minister of the court was planted due to corruption.