The night is getting deeper and deeper, it is already the second watch, the foggy street is deserted, occasionally you can see a person rushing home, since the door of Chang'an Fang is not closed at night, there are pedestrians returning at night on the street, but there is something abnormal on the street tonight, there is a trace of tension hidden in the fog, it seems that something is going to happen?

A large group of black-clothed people suddenly appeared in front of Guangdefang, close to the West Market, there were as many as 100 people, they were vigorous and neat, and they rushed straight to the mansion of Li Kai, the king of Anyang County, not far from the fangmen, less than 100 steps away from the palace, the black-clothed people immediately scattered everywhere, blocking all the exits of the palace, and more than 20 people rushed up the steps under the leadership of an official, knocking on the door heavily, bang! Bang! Bang! The voice was hurried and fierce, shattering the quiet night.

"Who is it? It's so late. A very impatient voice came from inside the door.

"Open the door quickly, we are from the monitoring office, and we have been ordered to investigate!"

The side door creaked open, revealing a frightened face, and stammered, "You guys are from the monitoring room?" ”

The leading official held a silver medal in his hand and shook it in front of him, "On the order of Yu Shitai, please ask the king of Anyang County to cooperate with the investigation." After speaking, he waved his hand, and dozens of black shadows surged

The porter was frightened and ran to the inner house to report the news.

The special service of the monitoring room did not break in directly, but stood in the compound and waited quietly, and after a while, a rush of footsteps came from the direction of the inner house, and an elderly man was surrounded by more than a dozen family members in the dark. He is Li Kai, the king of Anyang County, an old idle king who never asks about state affairs, and the famous supervision office of Chang'an actually broke into his mansion at night. Li Kai was bluffed, and he hurriedly asked, "A few people came to visit late at night, what is the matter with this king?" ”

"Li Fangzhi is the son of the prince?" The official of the supervision room asked coldly.

"It's my fifth son." Li Kaidi's heart began to get nervous. This son of his is a son-in-law, and he has not learned well since he was a child. Mixed with a group of high-ranking officials and dignitaries all day long, he entrusted him with a seven-grade petty official by the shadow of the door the year before last, hoping that he would be able to change his mind, but today the supervision room came to the door, did he cause some monstrous disaster. Li Kai remembered that half a year ago when a hundred clans were slaughtered, his legs were a little frightened.

"He's here!" Li Kai suddenly turned around and yelled at his family. "Why don't you go and find the fifth child!"

"Master, the fifth prince drank too much today, I'm afraid it will be difficult to wake up."

A family member who didn't know the current affairs replied, but as soon as he finished speaking, Li Kai gave him a big mouth, gritted his teeth and said, "Go quickly, even if your leg is broken, you have to lift it for me." ”

Several family members ran away, and Li Kai asked tremblingly, "May I ask what kind of trouble did the dog cause?" ”

Seeing that he was quite cooperative, the officials of the supervision office comforted him and said: "I don't know what the specific matter is, but the higher authorities did not order us to arrest the family." So please rest assured. As long as the prince does not commit the crime, then the matter will not involve the prince. ”

Li Kai's heart fell slightly. He really didn't know what his son had done, and soon, several family members put Li Fang out, he hadn't woken up yet, he was still in a state of confusion, Li Kai saw his son come out, so he rushed up and slapped him hard, and scolded: "Little brute, what kind of trouble are you causing me again, even the monitoring room has come to the door." ”

After receiving a hot slap, Li Fangzhi's wine woke up a little, he saw that the courtyard was full of black and oppressive men, and he beat a spirit, he immediately understood in his heart that this must be the case of cheating in the exam, he was so frightened that his legs were cramped, and he hurriedly shouted: "This has nothing to do with me, I only spent two hundred taels of gold."

But the supervision room didn't give him a chance to distinguish his name, and as soon as the head official waved his hand, five or six black-clothed men immediately came up and tied him up, and the official immediately arched his hand and said: "There is an order from above, in order to prevent the news from leaking, please restrain the prince's family, and no one is allowed to go out." ”

Li Kai nodded in a panic, "Please rest assured, I will definitely do it." ”

"Good! Excuse me. The leading official waved his hand, "Let's go!" ”

Hundreds of blacks took Li Fangzhi and turned around and withdrew from the palace, and they walked away in an instant, and Li Kai stood in the courtyard in a daze, as if he had a dream.

The day is not yet dawn, the Ministry of Industry Shangshu Li Han and the same as before, board the carriage to prepare to go to the Daming Palace, from today will be changed to his ruling pen, this is what he has been looking forward to for a long time, the ruling pen also means that he is the right minister, he likes the feeling of power in the world, Li Han is more than fifty years old this year, and he is also a member of the Li clan, he has spent his life in the ordinary, there is no achievement, and all the official positions are also promoted step by step, but he is very fortunate that Li Mian, the highest official in the clan, was convicted and died, After the new emperor ascended the throne, in order to balance the status of the clan, he found him to be the representative of the clan, promoted him to the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, and then moved into the person of the Seven Phases, so that he had the feeling of ascending to the sky in one step, but he also knew that he was not confident enough, and there would be many people who hated him, so he tried to keep a low profile and not show his edge.

But Li Han was stunned as soon as he got out of the gate, only to see Du Mei standing not far away with his hands in the imperial history, with a strange smile on his face, Li Han suddenly had a feeling of uneasiness in his heart, the carriage stopped, he got out of the car and arched his hand and said: "Why is Du Zhongcheng standing in front of my mansion, but there is something to teach?" ”

Du Mei smiled faintly, took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, and said in a loud voice: "Pass on Your Majesty's handwritten message, Li Han, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, will take a three-day vacation." ”

Li Han was stunned, today is his ruling pen, but the emperor let him take a vacation, what does this mean? "Du Zhongcheng, what happened" Li Han asked with a burning heart.

Du Mei handed him the oracle unhurriedly, "Please Li Xiangguo confirm the oracle first." ”

Li Han took it and looked at it, it was indeed the emperor's own handwriting, and there was his private seal behind, strictly speaking, Zhang Huandi's edict did not have the seal of the Chinese book, Li Han could not implement it, and continue to go to the court, and Yuanzai handed over the ruling pen. But he knew that since the emperor had issued this edict, something big must have happened, and he didn't dare to be careless. He bowed deeply to Du Mei and said pleadingly: "Please tell me Du Zhongcheng, what happened?" ”

Du Mei saw that there was no one left and right. stepped forward and whispered to him: "This official examination, someone has exposed a serious fraud case, and Ling Lang Li Xuan is also involved in the case. ”

"Xuan'er!" Li Han was stunned. "How is this possible?"

"It was someone who confessed, and His Majesty didn't dare to draw conclusions easily, so I asked Li Xiangguo to ask Li Xuan in person, if the situation is true, I hope that Li Xiangguo can kill his relatives in righteousness."

Li Han hesitated. He nodded slowly and said, "Please tell Your Majesty if Li Xuan violates the law." The minister will not be tolerated. ”

Suddenly, Li Han suddenly remembered something, and couldn't help but change his face greatly, "Oh no! ”

Seeing his pale face, Du Mei couldn't help but ask anxiously, "What's wrong?" ”

"Li Xuan didn't return last night."

As soon as the day dawned, a large number of troops marched into the imperial city to blockade the Ministry of Rites, and all the officials of the Ministry of Rites were invited to the Imperial History Platform for interviews. Two phases were involved. All kinds of gossip came from all directions, and some said that Wei Qing, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites, committed suicide in fear of crime. Some say that Lu Qi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, submitted his resignation, and some say that Li Han, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, was involved in the case and had been secretly detained.

Zichen Pavilion, Zhang Huanzheng, who had not slept all night, looked at a pen in his hand with a gloomy face, this is the evidence of this fraud case, a specially modified pen, the end of the pen can be unscrewed, inside is a hollow pen holder, and the answer to the exam is hidden in this pen holder, a total of one hundred and two such pens were found, that is to say, at least one hundred people participated in this fraud.

Li Fangzhi has already confessed, he paid 200 taels of gold to buy this vocational examination passed, the gold was handed over to Li Han's son Li Xuan, and the three directors of the Ministry of Rites who were responsible for copying the answers also confessed, and they each accepted a bribe of 300 taels of gold from Li Xuan.

Now the focus is Li Xuan, he is the middleman who gives and accepts bribes, and he has all the information, but he is missing, and his disappearance means that all the clues are broken.

"Your Majesty, the minister has ordered all the special services under the supervision office to be dispatched, including the wine shop, the teaching workshop, the Qinglou and other places that Li Xuan often visits, and the minister has sent people to investigate, as long as he is still in Chang'an, he will definitely be able to find out." It was Du Mei who spoke, and he and Yan Jiudu were reporting the latest progress of the case to the emperor, and there was also Han and Hu Yong, the servant of the Ministry of Officials, who participated in the audit.

Zhang Huan put down the pen in his hand, walked a few steps behind his back, and suddenly turned around and asked, "Has Li Han's mansion been thoroughly searched?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, I have searched thoroughly, and even found a secret passage hidden in the rockery in Li Han's mansion, but there is no trace of Li Xuan, and the minister also plans to search Li Xuan's mother's maiden house."

Zhang Huan shook his head, "This case hasn't broken out last night, he can't deliberately hide, generally there are only two possibilities for him to disappear, either he is killed by someone, or he hides in his own home, if he doesn't have it at home, I think it is very likely to be wiped out." ”

Although he said this, Zhang Huan was still unwilling, and he ordered Du Mei again: "We must send more people to search the whole city, and if we can't do it, we will use the army, and we must see people in life and corpses in death." ”

"Obey the order!" Du Mei said yes and hurriedly left.

Zhang Huan asked Yan Jiudu again: "Is there any new progress on the side of the Ministry of Rites?" ”

Yan Jiudu, who had been silent, sighed, "Your Majesty, Wei Qing is also involved in the case, he has admitted that his family received one thousand taels of gold from Li Xuan without his knowledge, but he denies participating in cheating. ”

"What about the rest of the Ministry?" Zhang Huan asked according to the anger that was gradually rising in his heart.

"Back to Your Majesty, except for Wei Qing and the three principals, no one else admits that it has anything to do with this case."

"In such a big case, how can it be that only the squire and the chief are involved, and they refuse to admit it, it seems that they think I am too easy to deceive. =^UC e-book^First Release=="

Zhang Huan could no longer restrain the anger in his heart, and he categorically ordered Han and Hu Yong: "The Ministry of Rites from the waiter to the chief will be dismissed and investigated, and this case will be transferred to Dali Temple, and I will be tortured to extract a confession, I don't believe that I can't pry their mouths!" ”

Han and Hu Yong glanced at each other. The two knelt down at the same time, and Han bitterly persuaded: "Your Majesty, those who take bribes and pervert the law are hateful. But it is impossible for the entire Ministry of Rites officials to be involved in the case, and if a country is like a country, if all the officials of the Ministry of Rites are involved. Doesn't that mean that there are no more innocent people in the court, Your Majesty? This time the official examination is a heavy task, and the ministers see that most of the officials of the Ministry of Rites are conscientious and hardworking, how can Your Majesty defeat them all without asking questions, this will hurt the hearts of the court officials! Your Majesty. ”

At the end, Han Sheng burst into tears. Kowtowed again and again, and Hu Yong also persuaded bitterly: "Your Majesty still remembers the Chen Ping case in Longyou back then?" Chen Pinke withheld the refugees' food rations. But His Majesty did not expand the blow, but only beheaded Chen Ping to show the public, precisely because he was His Majesty's henchman, killed him, but returned a clear sky to Longyou, how rational and restrained His Majesty was back then, and now, His Majesty wants to destroy a case, has Your Majesty ever thought about it, if this is the disaster. Where will the officialdom of Datang go head? ”

Then. Yan Jiudu also knelt down, "Your Majesty." Han Xiangguo and Hu Shilang are both reasonable, there are many hidden facts in this, such as Wei Qing's involvement in the case, he did not know that his family had accepted bribes after the exam, he could only be regarded as knowing that he did not report it, and he took the initiative to confess, if he did not confess, the minister had no evidence to accuse him, His Majesty should indeed be screened and treated, and he could not be beaten to death with a stick. ”

The hard persuasion of the three finally calmed Zhang Huan down, the pain of losing his son and the fact that he had not eaten water and rice for a day and a night, and a night of sleeplessness, he already felt that he was exhausted, he sat down weakly, waved his hand to the three people: "This case is in charge of Han Xiangguo, the Criminal Department, the Ministry of Officials, Dali Temple, and the Yushitai will be interrogated by the four divisions, starting from the leakage of the exam questions, every detail of the place where it happened the afternoon before the exam must be repeated, and there are those who usually have a poor reputation in the evaluation, but this time they got high scores, Their files must also be reviewed in full, in short, this case must be investigated! ”

At noon, the Cao River in Dongshi was crowded with people watching the excitement, in the river, three officials of Wannian County were diving into the water to search, dozens of officials were on the boat with a long penny to explore in the water, in the morning there were people living by the river who came to the county government to report, in the middle of last night he saw someone throw a heavy sack into the river, the shape was very suspicious. ^^ first release of ^UC e-book ^^^

"Get out of the way! Move! "A group of soldiers came running and pushed away the crowd, followed by a carriage, which stopped by the river, and Dume got out of it, and as soon as he got the news, he hurried in.

Liu County, who was organizing fishing by the river, hurriedly stepped forward to salute, "Wannian County Commander Liu Mingliang saw Du Zhongcheng." ”

Du Mei waved his hand, "Liu County's order doesn't need to be polite, the things in the river can be salvaged." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the lively people on the shore suddenly let out a burst of exclamation, and a government official shouted loudly: "The county order, I found it!" ”

Du Mei and Liu Xianling hurriedly ran to the river, only to see three officials dragging a black hemp bag towards the river, and the officials dragged the sack up together.

"Turn it on!" Du Mei said in a deep voice.

A servant picked open the sack with a knife, and stood up in fright, and in the sack was a man's naked corpse, Liu Xianling suddenly recognized it, "This, isn't this Li Xuan, the director of Dali Temple?" ”

Du Mei's heart sank suddenly, Li Xuan was really killed, he was the most critical witness, and he was killed, which means that the clues of the fraud case were completely broken.

It's so fast! Du Mei suddenly had an intuition that the mastermind behind this imperial examination case may not be so simple.

Du Mei squatted down to carefully inspect Li Xuan's injuries, his vest was stabbed five times, his throat was cut, it is conceivable that he was attacked from behind, strangled his neck, and killed him, the murderer was very cunning, in order not to leave a clue, there was not a trace of him on his body, and a boulder was tied to his legs, if he was not found when he threw the body, he didn't know when it would surface.

"Since Li Sizhi was dumped near Dongshi, then I guess he may have actually been killed in Xishi, and the murderer deliberately confused us." Liu County Ling is experienced, he immediately deduced the murderer's intentions, there is a question of jurisdiction, if he is killed in Xishi, it will be under the jurisdiction of Chang'an County, he Wannian County can not investigate, of course, it is a more important reason to clear his own responsibility.

Du Mei nodded, Liu Xianling was reasonable, this Li Xuan was a well-known prodigal, and many people in the Qinglou of the wine shop knew him. Although he knew that it was unlikely, the dead horse could only be used as a live horse doctor, so he immediately stood up and ordered his two subordinates to say, "You should go to the West Market and inquire from house to house." Let's see if Li Xuan appeared last night. ”

The two subordinates agreed and rode away, and Du Mei bowed his hand to Liu County's order: "Please ask Liu County's order for the investigation of Dongshi's land." ”

Liu Xianling smiled and said that he was duty-bound to do so.

No clues could be found on Li Xuan's body. Du Mei returned to the prison in Sinong Temple, which is currently holding three officials of the Ministry of Rites, including Li Fangzhi and Wei Qing. And none of the candidates who participated in the cheating were willing to turn themselves in, this is the caution of the arrangers behind the scenes, everyone contacted Li Xuan in a single line, and all the gold was sent by Li Xuan alone, and neither knew about each other.

But Du Mei still thought of a breakthrough. That is the official of the Ministry of Rites, although the three directors of the Ministry of Rites who have confessed so far are all involved in the case alone. But it is impossible for all of the more than 100 officials of the Ministry of Rites to be like this, even if it is a one-line connection, one of them must know who is behind the scenes, otherwise they will not be able to act together, so as long as they pry open a person's mouth, they can follow the vine.

Du Mei returned from Dongshi and hurriedly walked into the imperial city, and as soon as he entered the Suzaku Gate, he saw a man galloping on horseback, and shouted to him from afar: "Du Zhongcheng." ”

"Stop!" Du Mei shouted. The curtain was drawn. I saw that the person who came was an official of the Imperial History Tower, and his face was a little frightened. Ran to Du Mei's carriage and panted: "Yan Zhongcheng asked Du Zhongcheng to go to the Yushitai immediately, something happened?" ”

"What's going on?" Du Mei faintly felt that something was wrong.

"The Ministry of Rites Shirou Zhong Han Fu committed suicide by poisoning."

Du Mei was stunned for a moment, who is behind this scene? Always one step ahead of him, how can you be so powerful!

In the Imperial Historical Observatory, the body of Han Fu in the Ministry of Rites was placed on a wooden board, his face was dark, and more than a hundred officials of the Ministry of Rites who explained their problems in the Imperial Historical Observatory were gathered in the lobby, and they silently watched Han Fu's corpse, and no one spoke.

"You have all seen that Han Langzhong is dead, but I want to tell you, he did not commit suicide, he could not have poison on him, he was poisoned in the food, who poisoned the ground, we can't find out for a while, but it doesn't matter, the important thing is that it is Han Fu who died today, and it may be you who will die tomorrow."

Yan Jiudu's speed of speech was very slow, he tried his best to let the people present understand what he meant, he glanced at everyone, and said slowly: "The reason why the emperor has not sent you to Dali Temple for trial until now is actually to give you a chance, the emperor has already said that if someone confesses before dark, then the emperor will regard it as a voluntary surrender, and will deal with it as appropriate, or demote and dismiss, but he will definitely not be imprisoned, exiled, and will not die, but he missed this opportunity, once he is found out, it is not as simple as demotion, The lightest will also be exiled to Anxi to serve in the army, everyone understands people, and I don't need to say more about the powerful relationship in this. ”

"How? Is anyone willing to confess? Yan Jiudu suddenly raised his voice.

There was still silence in the lobby, suddenly, someone cried, everyone turned their heads together, only to see the host and guest clerk Wang Min sitting on the ground, he desperately grabbed his hair, his face was full of tears of remorse, "I'm really damned, I'm confused!" ”

"I—I confess too!" One of the principals raised his hand.

"I'm also confused!"

With the suicide of Han Fu in the Ministry of Rites, the people involved in the Ministry of Rites finally began to confess one after another, more than 100 people in the Ministry of Rites, a total of 12 people involved in the case, including the waiter Wei Qing, two Lang Zhong, two staff members and seven principals, a total of 3,000 taels of gold bribes, and the general coordinator of the local government is the Ministry of Rites Lang Zhong Han Fu who has committed suicide.

According to the confession of the personnel involved in the Ministry of Rites, all ninety-nine people involved in cheating surfaced, and the Tang Emperor issued a severe sanction on the same day, and the twelve people involved in the Ministry of Rites, the waiter Wei Qing did not report it, and should be held responsible, but he took the initiative to confess, and advocated that the family return the bribe, which can be dealt with lightly, and the major demerit is recorded once, and it is demoted to the county order of Xunyang County, Jiangzhou; Although Han Fu and Li Xuan died, they were still dismissed from all official positions, and their sons were banned from entering the government for life; The remaining ten people involved in the case read that they all belonged to their own confessions, but they were not held accountable, and they were all reduced to the people; The 99 people who participated in the cheating were all dismissed from their posts and all of them were sent to the Anxi Army.

The officialdom earthquake did not end, and the next day, Zhang Huan issued a second decree: Li Han, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, was not strict with his son, and he was deposed from the qualification of Pingzhang under the Zhongshu Sect and demoted to the right of Shangshu; Lu Qi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, as the chief examiner of the official examination, bears unshirkable responsibility for major fraud incidents, deposed the qualifications of the Pingzhang under the Zhongshu Men, and demoted him to the Fuzhou Thorn History, and promoted the Hongzhou Thorn Shi Chu Xingshui to the Ministry of Industry Shangshu and the Tongzhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi; The salt and iron supervisor ordered Yang Yan to be the secretary of the Ministry of Rites and the secretary of the same Zhongshu, and the two were able to squeeze into each other.

On 20 September, the Ministry of Officials officially issued the first layoff order, except for 240 people who were qualified to take the make-up examination, the rest of the more than 600 people who failed the examination were all dismissed from their posts and the people, and the imperial court will pay a one-time compensation for dismissal; in addition, the number of officials in Beijing will be cut by half to the localities, and this large-scale layoff will continue until April of the following year, and the Ministry of Officials will issue a total of four layoff orders, reducing more than 3,000 officials at all levels.

As the file of the fraud case gradually became dusty, it slowly disappeared from people's memory, and the mastermind behind it eventually became a historical mystery.

(Please see the lower part: The collision of empires, the crisis caused by the southward migration of the Qarluqs in Volume 1, Chapter 1 Broken Leaves and Silver Cuts, Lao Gao Asks for a Monthly Pass at the Same Time)