Chengtianfu, as the ancestral tomb of the current emperor, is an out-and-out resource black hole in Huguang.

The current emperor carried forward the traditional performance appraisal method of officials in the Ming Dynasty, forcing the main officials of Huguang to transfer the political center and the main military power of a province to Chengtianfu, the land of Longxing.

The governor, the second station of the patrol and the general army of Huguang Yamen are all stationed in Zhongxiang County, the seat of Chengtian Mansion, and Wuchang City, the capital of Huguang, only has three divisions left. In the long run, the governor of Huguang was simply called the "Chengtian Governor" in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, and together with the governor of Biyuan and the governor of Yunyang, he was called the three governors of Huguang Province.

The governor of Huguang is resident in Chengtian, and the patrol yamen supporting the governor is naturally also in Chengtian. When an unprecedented big and important case needed to be tried and ascertained by Li Zhensheng in person, he did not even have a hall to try the case.

Li Zhensheng originally planned to borrow the town of Chu Gate of the Chu Wangfu on the spot, but was reprimanded by the eunuchs of the Chu Wangfu. As a result, Li Zhensheng, whose face was pale and blue, was warmly invited by Yang Ji, the minister of the feudal department who participated in politics and the king of Wuchang Dao, and Fu Shangrui, the governor of Wuchang, turned around the corner of Sanfu (Note 1) and came to the Yamen of Wuchang Dao, not far west of the palace of the king of Chu, and held a trial overnight.

The lanterns and stars fall, and the giant candles flicker.

With Li Zhensheng's order, a group of parties were summoned to court. I saw that these parties were all beautifully dressed and had extraordinary bearings. It turns out that they are all the leaders of Hankou merchants and the giants of Huguang and all industries!

The facts of the case are significant, but not complicated.

In mid-May, a young scholar, accompanied by several military generals, came to the eight chambers of commerce in Hankou with a letter written by Ding Qirui, the supervisor, to discuss the purchase of military rations.

The scholar was born from Yun's surname Wang Yanglu, and was a friend of Ding Qirui, the governor of the five provinces.

His appearance is dignified and upright; The conversation is extraordinary, especially the study of criminal names; The degree of food and clothing is clear from the family. It should be supplied with general affairs in the army, and it is all in the chest; The names, origins, hobbies and other interesting anecdotes of the supervisors, thieves and generals are even more eloquent.

Someone came to buy things on behalf of the Inspector, which made the Hankou Chamber of Commerce, which was looking forward to the order like a rain, overjoyed. The order was thrown, and the merchants in Hankou were even more ecstatic.

Why? Because the total amount of the scholar's order was not the 150,000 taels expected by the Hankou Chamber of Commerce before, but a full one million taels!

The orders involved grain, salt, cotton, cloth, hemp rope, medicinal materials, as well as pig iron, copper, lead and tin, almost all the industries operated by the eight major merchants in Hankou. With such a large purchase volume, the silver and goods were cleared, and the Hankou warehouse was set to be empty; When the goods leave the wharf, the Yangtze River will be extinct!

However, the merchants of Hankou have made a lot of money, so where will the two million silver bills newly borrowed by the Huguang government go?

The Huguang Official Mansion has no place to go shopping, and Zuo Liangyu's gang is going to bring a large group of soldiers and ruffians to the Huguang Official Mansion to work hard, so isn't this a big case?

You and other business seas are up and down, and you know countless people. This person can deceive you and others with a lot of nonsense? Could it be that you have never carefully checked his life history? Li Zhensheng slapped the shocked wood and shouted:

What are the disadvantages in it, and it is not from the truth!

My lord, wronged! The shopkeepers of the eight major chambers of commerce wailed:

This person claimed to be from Ba County, Chongqing, and was a member of the clan of Wang Yingxiong, a former university scholar, who was recommended to Ding Qirui by Wang Xingjian, the prefect of Chongqing......

My lord, Wang Yingxiong was once the second assistant of Zhou Yanru, the first assistant of the dynasty, and Wang Xingjian was also a party in Yixing. They recommended this person as a friend of the Overseer, and we all thought it was reasonable......

One can be the current dynasty to supervise the battle of Ding Qirui and Zuo Ping's thieves; Second, it can divide some profits for the current dynasty......

Then this person speaks, and the Sichuan voice is very strong; This person's diet is neither spicy nor happy. Therefore, there is no doubt that it must be a Sichuan person. This man is elegant in speech and gentle in manners; Ordinary appearance, all of which are not in his eyes...... All of these correspond to what the Inspector says in the Prophet's letters, and there is nothing wrong with them. Xiaomin and others were also deceived by thieves......

Syllable! There was another bang on the case.

As the saying goes: beautiful jade is flawed! Isn't there anything suspicious about this person's behavior?

Yes, sir!

Eight major merchants

The representative of the association, the director of the Hankou Grain Merchant Association and the chief treasurer of Yutaifeng, the largest grain merchant in Hankou, Zeng Kelian said: This person is lustful and greedy!

How and greedy? Recruit from the truth!

My lord! This person does not live in the hall, and lives in the flower building; There are several kiln sisters every night, and they prostitute all night long! Any order, will get a rebate of one into five, claiming to collect money for the superintendent! We have been blackmailed by them......

Shut up! Shut up! Patrol Li Zhensheng grabbed the startling wood and smashed it hard, smashing a piece of fine thousand-year-old ebony into cracks in his teeth:

Although Ding Qirui was greedy for life and afraid of death, he abandoned the army and fled. But he is a minister of the court, and he will be punished by His Majesty's holy judgment! How many people do you and other profiteers dare to slander wantonly! Come on, slap your mouth and mouth thirty!

My lord, how dare the people slander the minister! Every time food goes in and out, there is an account book number to check!

Hit hard!

When the inspector saw that the people in the hall still dared to talk back, he was even more furious. In the blink of an eye, a patrol attaché stepped forward, grabbed Zeng Kelian's placket and waved away the ear scraper made of hardwood.

My lord, I can't beat it! I can't beat it!

Seeing that the situation was not good, Fu Shangrui, the Wuchang pusher, hurriedly jumped to the front desk and whispered: I beat the shopkeeper Zeng, offended the merchants of Hankou, Wuchang and Hanyang, I am afraid that no one else will buy food for the army of thieves!

Oh! The upright but not honest Inspector immediately had an epiphany. Zeng Kelian called himself a small people, but in fact he was a big man who the government couldn't afford to offend! Otherwise, who will exchange those two million silver for military funds?

Palm mouth for the time being! If there is any more slander and disrespect, the punishment for both crimes will be combined! The Inspector said hatefully.

Thank you, sir! Zeng Kelian scolded Li Zhensheng in the hall in his heart, wiped the sweat on his head, and pretended to kowtow to thank him. With his head touching the ground and his face down, Zeng Kelian forced down the sinister smile on his face:

Xiaomin still has a report!

Don't you come back soon!

The thieves pretended to be the staff of the superintendent, and the small people misheard and misbelieved, and hastily traded with them, which is indeed the crime of not investigating......

But according to the eyes of the people, the thief is by no means an ordinary person!

The deposit of 20% is a full 200,000 taels, and people pay it without frowning! Is this an ordinary thief?

It should be known that the silver tickets held by him are all cashier's notes of the money bank that are paid at the sight of the Hankou branch of Huitong Qianzhuang! According to the rules of Huitong Bank: the bank must issue a cashier's note, which must be exchanged with silver banknotes or pledged in kind. One or the other......

Have you cashed this cashier's check?

Naturally, I redeemed it! Redeem the deposit and then ship the goods, that is the old rule of the guild! I waited for 200,000 taels of silver bills, two large boxes! 100 turns per box, 1,000 taels per turn!

When the inspector heard this, he squinted his eyes and thought for a long time before he asked:

How to cash out the remaining eighty percent of the money?

The cheque of the bank, which was cashed in three months, was still issued by the Hankow branch...... Xiao Min once sent someone to confirm with the guy of the Hankou branch in Tiantong Lane that this ticket was indeed issued by the Hankou branch......

Oh? The eyes of the patrol adults became brighter and brighter the more they listened. Perhaps it was the recurrence of frozen shoulder caused by holding a heavy check high in the morning, he rubbed his shoulders, stretched his muscles, and then resolutely threw the order sign:

Zhu Zhihan, the lieutenant of the auxiliary state of the Shu Domain and the treasurer of Huitong Qianzhuang, came to the hall to listen to the interrogation!

Yang Ji, the feudal division and the king of Wuchang Dao, made a color, and the statue of Fu Shangrui, who was small and capable, was pressed the switch, immediately bounced, and stepped forward again:

Zhu Fuguo was not there. I heard that as soon as the signing ceremony was over in the morning, the Lieutenant of the Auxiliary Kingdom was invited to the palace by the county lord of Chu Mansion, with Jiang Yonghuai's lyrical ambition!

Well! This official knows! Master Li's face became more and more gloomy.

Since Zhu Fuguo is not here, who is in charge of Huitong Qianzhuang now, there is a question!

Xiaomin Wu Qianyi, Xi for Huitong Qianzhuang Huguang General Account will be organized! If the adults ask, the small people will answer!

A thin middle-aged man quickly came in from outside the hall and respectfully knelt on the tattered and potholed floor tiles in the hall of the government and kowtowed to Li Zhensheng.

It turns out that this inconspicuous little person is the God of Wealth of the Huguang Mansion!

Even if his current identity is a person on trial, Li Zhensheng does not want to make trouble for Song Yihe and himself.

So Li Zhensheng hurriedly and politely called, gave a seat, served tea, and served tea in front of the Eighth Congress

The face of the shopkeepers of the Chamber of Commerce gave Wu Qianyi an unequal treatment.

The 200,000 promissory note was indeed issued by the bank!

After listening to the questioning of the inspector, Wu Qianyi was very humble and sincere, but he also reported it very firmly, but the money bank that the shopkeeper said about the check that was cashed in March was never issued!

Shocked!

The reaction was particularly strong among the feudal princes, Lord Yang Gi. He was so agitated that he almost dropped the teacup in his hand.

The shopkeeper said it well, and the huge check of 800,000 taels that the shopkeeper saw with his own eyes was actually denied by Huitong Bank!

You! You! Zeng Kelian, the person in charge, suddenly turned pale: Shopkeeper Wu, you have a red mouth and white teeth, and you dare to repay the account in front of the Qingtian master?

Once in charge, you have to have a credential to speak! I remit money to the village, and it is also an industry in which the kings of Shu, Chu, Rong and Liao have a stake! Are you saying that several royal governments have partnered to repay their debts, just to blackmail your money?

Behind a language trap, there may be an endless abyss.

Zeng Kelian, who already understood that he had been enlightened, was unwilling to make mistakes again and again. He rose up and impassionedly demonstrated the importance of the word "faithfulness" and the legitimacy of the word "faithfulness" as a criterion for adjudicating cases.

Zeng shopkeeper, what you say is true! It's just that......

Wu Qianyi took a sip of fragrant tea and said: Can you take out the check for 800,000 yuan and show it in front of all the adults in the hall today?

Right, right! Master Li, Lord Wang, and Master Fu spoke in unison.

Take it out! Check the authenticity in public!

……

The short-term check, which had been cashed for three months, was the size of a silver bill of ten taels, black on a white background, lying quietly on a red satin in a small black sandalwood box. Perhaps it will never understand that its background will determine the life and death of many families!

The patrol adult, the political adult, the magistrate, and so on read it one by one. The patrol press said: Take it and ask the shopkeeper Wu to take a look!

It's a fake check without a snap! Shopkeeper Wu glanced at it for a moment and immediately came to a conclusion.

With this conclusion, Zeng Kelian pounced and sat on the ground. The rest of the shopkeepers either hid their faces and sighed, or their faces were like gold paper, or their eyes were distracted, in short, they all had a situation.

Master Li sat upright in the hall, his face sinking like water: Shopkeeper Wu, is there any evidence for this true or false statement?

Of course! Wu Yiqian slowly took out a blank ticket paper from his sleeve, with flat ends of his hands, dedicated to the patrol:

Please see: The real cheques of Wisdom Bank are printed on special paper for silver banknotes, and the front and back are printed with security patterns. He Ye, it is to prevent traitors from falsifying!

Wu Yiqian said, and then took out a white, shiny and ivory handle from his sleeve and handed it to Li Zhensheng:

My lord, this is a magnifying glass, and it is the style set by His Royal Highness the Prince.

The mirror surface is polished with the finest flawless crystal, the bezel is made of silver, and the handle is made of ivory......

Any serk forgery is hidden under such treasures!

My lord, look here: there is a miniature Shu character in the bat shou pattern in the upper left corner of the real ticket......

Your Excellency, look there: there is a canopy marshal hidden in the gluttonous pattern in the lower right corner. Look, this is a nine-tooth nail rake. You count, a lot of teeth......

My lord, you can compare this fake ticket again, and there is nothing! Also, there is a watermark in the real banknote. As long as you look at the light, you can see the true face of Taizu!

That's right! The ticket I collected also has a watermark! As if he had eaten the Soul Rejuvenation Pill, the shopkeeper suddenly got up from the ground and pounced on Master Li, who was holding a magnifying glass to study the pattern on the face of the ticket.

The watermark on your fake ticket is clearly carved by the thief with a lead strip......

Lord Li, you see, as long as you dip it in saliva and wipe it vigorously, the watermark on the fake ticket will be spent......

In addition, the seals, secrets, etc., on the fake tickets, are all fake......

Master Li, you can take a look with a magnifying glass, and the traces of forgery are vivid!

Note 1: A famous landmark in Wuchang, now Wuchang Sanfu Pavilion (Three Buddha Pavilion). Sanfujiao refers to the area where the southwest corner of the Chu Wangfu in the Ming Dynasty intersects with the Eunuch's Mansion and Longhua Temple (changed to Guandi Temple in the Qing Dynasty).

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