said that they were the "Eight Great Sages", but only two were sent to try the case. The remaining six, when the case is about to be decided, will come out and hold a meeting to "assemble".

The two presiding judges, one named Yan Shizhang, is the general office of the Autumn Review Office; One is called Fortitude, the youngest of the "Eight Great Sages", and his identity is only a "part-time".

Both of these are figures with considerable historical backgrounds.

In the original time and space, Ma Xinyi, the governor of Liangjiang, was assassinated, and the person sent by the Criminal Department to Jiangning to review this big case was Yan Shizhang; And the name of fortitude is even louder, and in later generations, he became a scholar and became a representative of the conservatives, advocating the deposition of Dezong, advocating the use of boxers, and was an important promoter of Cixi's declaration of war on all nations.

It should be noted that in terms of personal conduct, fortitude is really a person as his name suggests, that is, clear and rigid, and quite worthy of the word "Yi". Whether it is handling cases, caring for the people, governing rivers, or managing money, fortitude is regarded as a first-class good hand. If he does not deal with the big politics and always be a technocrat, the evaluation given to him by history will probably be similar to that of Yan Jingming. It is a pity that he is resolute and deeply involved in politics, but he is ignorant of the general trend, and finally stands in the opposite direction of history, and his desire to save the country has become a misguided move, and finally has become a typical example of "clean officials are more hateful than corrupt officials".

As for the rumor that "I would rather be a friend than a house slave", considering the life of Fortitude, the lion could not believe that this kind of remark came from the mouth of the most xenophobic Fortitude in the late Qing Dynasty, and there was no authoritative source to be found, so it could only be believed that this was a propaganda strategy of the revolutionary party.

Straight to the point.

The Autumn Trial Division sent these two to try this case, which is exquisite.

Yan Shizhang is known for his "pious and serious" reputation, that is. "Politics is highly sensitive". It will balance the interests of all parties. When handling cases, you can weigh the importance and not blindly do it. In the original time and space, Ma Xinyi was stabbed, which was about the most difficult and complicated case since the Qing Dynasty, and Yan Shizhang was selected to review the Ma case, which is enough to prove his skills in this regard.

As for Fortitude, he has just entered the Autumn Review Division. Among the "Eight Great Sages". The so-called "part-time handling" has the meaning of "probation", and it is always necessary to handle one or two cases before it can be "turned into a regular case" and become a "meeting officer". Although the two chief judges have no distinction between master and slave and have equal status, there is this factor of "seniority", even if they don't take Yan Shizhang as the leader, they will not play at will. The direction of the case is out of control.

Originally, when the presiding judge was selected. Lin Chang and Fang Dingrui asked Wu Tianle, "Do you want to do it?" Wu Tianle saw the opportunity very much, and said that he had several cases on hand, and he was too busy, so I won't be the chief judge of this case.

Everyone knows that Lao Wu is Guan Beile's descendant.

The shopkeeper of "Shun Rixiang" is called Pan Da, a native of Lu'an, Anhui. His "Shun Ri Xiang", the bulk of the business, is the exchange business between Anhui, Shandong and Beijing. Therefore, "Shun Rixiang" not only has close ties with Anhui and Shandong, but also has frequent contacts with Beijing officials of Anhui and Shandong, and also has "interaction" with the Shandong Department in charge of Anhui and Shandong. It is very reasonable for Anhui to reimburse military expenses, and the silver money will be handled by Pan Da, and even he will match the two sides of Anhui and the household department.

The shopkeeper of "Qiantongsheng" is called Yang Dingshi, a native of Pingyao, Shanxi, and his "Qiantongsheng" is an authentic Shanxi ticket number.

Pan Da and Yang Dingshi were still witnesses at this time, not suspects, so Yan Shizhang and Gangyi, the two officials, did not "ascend to the court", but only "passed on in plainclothes".

Passed on to Pan Da first.

Pan Da is a small middle-aged man, although he knows that he has "made a big deal", but his demeanor is still calm.

Yan Shizhang opened his mouth and asked: "Anhui's grain road Li Zongshou Li Daotai, has there been any remittance from Anqing to your 'Shun Rixiang'?" ”

Anqing was the provincial governance of Anhui at that time.

Pan Da lowered his eyebrows and said, "If you go back to the master, the villain doesn't know." The rule of the silver trumpet companion is to recognize the ticket but not the person, and the trumpet is also handled in accordance with this. ”

Yan Shizhang and Gangyi glanced at each other: This guy doesn't tell the truth as soon as he speaks.

The silver number does have the rule of "recognizing votes but not people", but that is on the table; Under the stage, a big customer like Li Zongshou has no reason to know who his ticket is.

Yan Shizhang said: "Song Zunbang and Song Governor of Fengyang Mansion, have you ever taken a ticket to you to withdraw money?" ”

The reason why I asked this is because according to the existing information, Song Zunbang arrived in Beijing first; Li Zongshou later came to Beijing, and his stay in the capital was not too long. In and out of "Shun Tianxiang", most of them are Song Zunbang. Based on this, it can be roughly determined: Although Li Zongshou is the "main office" of Anhui's military reimbursement as a grain road, the "blending" in the early stage was basically entrusted to Song Zunbang.

More powerful evidence is that Song Zunbang and Mao Yingzhang originally had a deep friendship.

Pan Da said: "Back to the master, there is. ”

"Oh? How many times did you take it in total? What's the total? ”

"Back to the master's words, I took it a few times, and the villain couldn't remember it clearly. However, the trumpet account understands, it is easy to check every item, and I will go back and find out and then go back to the master. The total number of villains remembers refreshingly: it is just 100,000 taels of silver. ”

100,000 taels of silver? In Wang Yongtai's excerpt, the "ministry fee" for military reimbursement and the "transaction price" for Hubu and Anhui are 90,000 taels of silver.

It was Gangyi's turn to speak: "In addition, do you have any money dealings with Li Daotai and Song Governor's Mansion?" ”

"Back to the master's words, yes. Li Daotai borrowed 26,000 taels of silver from 'Shun Rixiang', and the guarantor was the Song prefect. ”

Yan Shizhang and Gangyi couldn't help but glance at each other again.

Gangyi said: "So, your friendship with Li Daotai is not bad." ”

Pandapi said with a smile: "Friendship can't be talked about. The villain is from Anhui, Li Daotai is an official of the province, and he is on the grain road, and the villain fights in the silver money, although he has never met, but Li Daotai's name has always been heard. Besides, 'lending Beijing debts' is a very common thing, this, please be clear. ”

"Twenty-six thousand taels is not a small number, aren't you afraid of falling into debt?"

"If you go back to the master, there is a guarantor. The prefect of Song is the current prefect, and the Fengyang Mansion is the big mansion, and such a guarantor is the most trustworthy to 'release debts'. ”

"Well, you have a point. So, what use did the Song Governor take the silver from you, and Li Daotai borrowed money from you? ”

"Back to the master, I don't know about this little one."

The silver horn in the capital has close contacts with the officialdom, especially the officials from other provinces who enter Beijing to bribe and confiscate, and they are not familiar with the place, and many matchmaking things are done by the silver horn; The payment must go through their hands. I don't know what "what use it is", and it is absolutely unreasonable.

But this is the same as "I don't know the name and surname of the remitter", and there is nothing wrong with the statement of the silver number. The silver horn has to pretend to be stupid, if the punishment is not moved, there is nothing to do with them for the time being. However, it is not without harvest today, at least I have figured out how much Li Zongshou and Song Zunbang's "contributions" are in "Shun Rixiang".

Then pass Yang Timing.

The situation is like, asking "has Li Daotai remitted money from Anqing to your 'Qiantongsheng'", and he also replied, "I don't know, the rules of peers, and I don't recognize people".

However, Yang said that after Li Zongshou arrived in Beijing, he went to "Qiantongsheng" to withdraw 24,000 taels of silver - this time it was Li Zongshou himself, not Song Zunbang, who came to withdraw the money.

In addition, "Qian Tongsheng" and Li and Song have no more money exchanges.

asked "do you know what Li Zongshou is using to withdraw money", and naturally he also answered "I don't know".

After the questioning, the two silver treasurers handed over the bail back, waiting for another questioning at any time.

Yan Shizhang and Gangyi discussed, believing that judging from the amount of money withdrawn, it is likely that Anhui has a public fund account in "Shun Rixiang", which specializes in military reimbursement and should be investigated; And the account of "Qiantongsheng" should be Li Zongshou's private item, which is relatively not so important. However, private items do not necessarily mean that they cannot do "official business", and they cannot be let go.

The crux of this case lies in the flow of the money taken out by Song Zunbang and Li Zongshou from "Shun Rixiang" and "Qian Tongsheng." If it can be proved that some of them did flow into the hands of Mao Yingzhang or a certain householder, then even if there is "a basis for bribery," there will be a breakthrough in the case.

In addition, Anhui, in order to reimburse military expenses, how much money was remitted to the capital is also very important in this case. Because once the "incoming" and "outgoing" are compared, many problems can be exposed.

For this reason, Li Zongshou and Song Zunbang must be brought to the case.

*(To be continued......)