The New Year is approaching, all the departments of the court are very busy, and the officials are of course no exception, but no matter how busy they are, Zhang Tingyu, the boss of the ministry, said that he was going to have a meeting, and no one dared to ignore it, whether he was busy writing reports, or busy arguing with the officials who returned to Beijing to report on their work, they all hurriedly threw away the work in their hands, and rushed to the hall with a smoke, and then when they arrived at the ground, they found that the situation seemed to be something not quite right-the people and horses on duty inside and outside the council hall were not the usual officials of the ministry. It turned out to be the guards of the Renjun Palace, of course, suspicion is suspicion, but no one dares to raise objections, no one is around, just because Hongqing and Zhang Tingyu, the two giants of the ministry, have already sat down in the lobby, and everyone can only come forward to see the salute in confusion, and they all return to you in a daze.

"Zhang Xiang, can you start?"

After all the officials were in place, Hongqing, who had always been silent, finally made a move, but when he saw that he arched his hand towards Zhang Tingyu, he asked for instructions in a soft voice.

"Lord Wang, please."

At this point, Zhang Tingyu has been kidnapped by Hongqing, no matter what he thinks in his heart, he can only show an attitude of full support.

"Well, that's fine, let's have a meeting."

Zhang Tingyu had already expressed his attitude, Hongqing didn't say any more, nodded with a smile, and suddenly looked at the many officials standing on both sides of the lobby, and nodded in a slightly cold voice: "Where is Duan Ruiyuan?" ”

"Xiaguan knocks to see the prince!"

Duan Ruiyuan is the Wenxuan Qing Officials Division Palm Seal Langzhong, Kangxi was born in the 39th year of Jinshi, speaking of which is the same list as Zhang Tingyu, but the official luck, compared to Zhang Tingyu, is too far behind, in the early years, he served in the local area, until Kangxi 52 years due to coincidence, won the appreciation of the eighth master, this was transferred to the Ministry of Officials Wenxuan Qing Officials Langzhong, and then had to be Le Xi Heng to be fully promoted, to become the division of the palm of Langzhong, grasp the important weapon for the imperial court selection, although the official position is not high, only the five grades, But the power is extremely heavy, his people have always regarded themselves very highly, and he is one of the most unpopular officials in the ministry, at this time, as soon as he heard Hongqing come up, he called his name, and it seems that he has the meaning of looking for a ballast, although Duan Ruiyuan is a little nervous, but he is not afraid, no side, after more than a year of getting along, Duan Ruiyuan really hasn't suffered much from Hongqing's losses, plus he thinks that he has the support of the eighth master and even Le Xiheng behind him, Duan Ruiyuan is not afraid of Hongqing's majesty, this time the person is stepping forward to salute, but his face is full of dissatisfaction, Obviously, there is a crazy idea of saying goodbye to Hongqing in public.

"Bold Duan Ruiyuan, you can be guilty!"

Facing Duan Ruiyuan's big salute, Hongqing did not call out, but picked up the shocking wood resting on the copy, slapped it heavily, and broke his throat with full anger.

"The lower official is not guilty, the lower official really doesn't know what the prince means?"

Duan Ruiyuan thought that Hongqing had something to explain when he asked him to come out, and he was thinking about how to lose Hongqing's face, but he didn't expect Hongqing to ask like this, and he couldn't help but be stunned, but he quickly came back to his senses, and said without fear.

"Not guilty? What a guilty one! This king asks you, where is you around the 14th hour of August in the 56th year of Kangxi? Who did you meet? What are you doing? ”

Hongqing smiled coldly, and one question after another was thrown out like a cannon.

"Back to the prince's words, the time is too long, and the lower officials can't remember it clearly."

Duan Ruiyuan is a Jinshi from the Eight Classics, and his memory is naturally not bad, this time when he heard Hongqing say such an accurate time, he immediately recalled what happened at that time, but he categorically refused to say that he was going to come out, and as soon as he raised his head, he already prevaricated with a spicy voice.

"Can't remember? Well, the king will come to mention something, then, you are in the office of the ministry, and the person you see is Xiao Xiong, Shandong Grain Road, extorted 6,000 taels of silver, and obtained the position of Hubei Zhentai for it, this king is not wrong, huh? ”

Duan Ruiyuan's sophistry had long been expected by Hongqing, and he didn't think it was anything unusual, and he didn't take it to heart, he smiled coldly, and he had already told everything Duan Ruiyuan had done in one go.

"This is a false accusation, and the lower officials are not convinced!"

Hearing Hongqing say what happened that day so clearly, Duan Ruiyuan's heart immediately sank, but he refused to admit it even if he resisted death, but argued loudly.

"Lord, please forgive the officials for saying too much, we are all court officials, and we must have a solid basis for speaking and acting, and I am afraid that it is not good to wronged people?"

As soon as Duan Ruiyuan made such a defense, Le Xiheng, who was sitting on the left seat, immediately interrupted from the side, and his words were full of accusations.

"That is, if you catch a thief, you have to take the stolen goods, how can you frame people in vain."

"Yes, Lord Duan has always been fair and strict, the prince must have made a mistake."

"How can you convince the public when you talk about things with empty words and white teeth?"

……

Le Xiheng is an old official, and he is deeply ingrained in the ministry, and as soon as he made such a statement, many officials immediately echoed it one after another, and the noise in the entire hall was as noisy as a vegetable market.

"Smack!"

Hongqing is here to kill people today, how could he be shaken by the arrogance of a group of official ruffians, before everyone can talk about it, Hongqing has already picked up the shocking wood, slapped it again, and said coldly: "Where is Li Minxing?" ”

"The last general!"

Hearing Hongqing's roll call, Li Minxing, who was leading his troops to guard the hall, immediately walked up to the hall, and responded respectfully with a standard thousand.

"This king ordered Er to supervise things, and those who dare to stir up trouble in the public court will be taken down as one, and those who dare to resist will be killed!"

This is already the time to settle the account, Hongqing has accumulated more than a year of murderous energy, at this time, there has been a general outburst, and the order issued can be described as murderous, which immediately made all the officials shudder.

"Wow!"

Hongqing's order, Li Minxing didn't dare to slack off a little, respectfully agreed, waved his hand, and the palace guards on call immediately rushed to the lobby, and lined up and down the hall without any scruples.

"Duan Ruiyuan, in the face of the facts, you still dare to quibble, since the crime is added to the first degree, this king will not bother with you about the matter of August 14, just say the matter of the day before yesterday, who did you see at one moment and two minutes at the second hour? It's all talked about again, it's only been two days, and you won't say you can't remember it again, huh? ”

Hongqing ignored the wonderful faces of the officials of the ministry, turned his gaze to Duan Ruiyuan, smiled playfully, and asked one after another slowly.

"Xiaguan ......, Xiaguan is just doing office work, and I have seen more officials in the past few days, but I can't remember who I saw at that time."

Hearing this, Hongqing once again pointed out two sensitive time periods, Duan Ruiyuan's heart had sunk to the bottom, but his heart was still not dead, and he forced another sentence to say it.

"Are you really forgetful, okay, you don't want to say, this king said it for you, on December 23, the fifty-sixth year of Kangxi, at the same time, Henan Grain Road Shan Shengshun came to the ministry to report on his work, and Nell was contacted, and at that time, Er extorted three thousand taels of silver from him, claiming that he could settle the performance appraisal for him; At two o'clock on the same day, Chen Dazuo, the prefect of Huozhou, came to Beijing for the promotion of Taoist, and he was also contacted by Er, and received five thousand taels of silver. ”

As soon as Duan Ruiyuan's posture came out, the smile on the corner of Hongqing's mouth suddenly became a little colder, but he didn't stop there, but spoke slowly and logically, but the murderous aura in his voice was already as strong as substance.

"This is a false accusation, the lower official is wronged, and the lower official is not convinced!"

Hearing Hongqing say everything he did so clearly, Duan Ruiyuan was really panicked, but this was a big crime that had to lose his head, how could he dare to admit it, and he hurriedly screamed in defense.

"Not convinced? Hey, okay, this king will convince you, come on, invite witnesses to the court! ”

Hongqing came here with full preparations, how could he be fooled by Duan Ruiyuan, hearing his cry of grievances, Hongqing immediately came up with a killer idea.

"Wow!"

Hongqing gave this order, and several of the palace guards who had been prepared for a long time answered the promise loudly, and hurriedly got out of the hall.

"Xiaguan Hubei Zhentai Xiaoxiong (Henan Grain Road Shan Shengshun) (Huozhou Governor Chen Dazuo) knock to see the prince, knock to see Lord Zhang!"

Seeing Hongqing and Zhang Tingyu, the two court members who were sitting on the top, Xiao Xiong and the others did not dare to be careless, so they rushed forward and paid homage in a proper manner.

"Excuse me, just settle down."

These are all witnesses "invited" by Hongqing, naturally it is not good for them to kneel and speak, the court officials, the dignity that should be given still has to be given, Hongqing will not make a mistake in such subsections, raised his hand falsely, and called out kindly.

"Thank you, Lord Longen."

Xiao Xiong and the others are all old eunuchs, and they all know what the purpose of coming here is today, so they will not have the slightest panic, and after thanking them, they all stood aside with their hands down.

"This king invited the three of them here today, just for one thing, that is, to invite you to confront Duan Ruiyuan, a corrupt official, on the spot, do you have anything to say?"

Hongqing first glanced contemptuously at Duan Ruiyuan, who was already extremely pale, and then asked a question in a relaxed tone.

"The lower officials and others must obey the orders of the prince!"

As soon as they heard Hongqing's question, Xiao Xiong and the others would not hesitate at all, and they all responded loudly, as soon as this situation came out, Duan Ruiyuan could no longer support it, and his eyes were full of gold and slumped on the ground......