"Say, who the hell are you trying to protect?!" Emperor Jiajing's cold and emotionless questioning was like a poisonous snake entwining silence, as long as he didn't like it a little, he strangled him to death.

"The sinner is just a small patrol, no grade, insignificant. I don't have the ability to protect anyone at all," the silent voice became more and more calm, and almost word by word at the back: "I will never favor anyone!" ”

Emperor Jiajing said with a smile: "Zhao Zhenji's performance is not like this, he said that from the very beginning, you have been disobedient to the yang and yin, hooked up with the magistrate, and secretly obstructed the case several times. In the end, he took a risk, burned the physical evidence, and was caught by him. The facts are clear, the evidence is conclusive, what else is there to quibble? ”

"There is nothing to quibble with." Silent but unmoved: "The minister has a Dan heart, but he can learn from the moon, and there is no need to quibble!" ”

"Huh...... Justified! Emperor Jiajing laughed angrily at him: "Is it a big man who teaches you that as long as you don't admit it to death, you can turn the danger into a disaster?" ”

"It's not." Shen Mo shook his head and said, "No one taught me this, I have to say it myself." ”

"Still quibble." Emperor Jiajing said lightly: "It seems that the water in here is very deep, so that you don't tell the truth when you see me, I ask you the last time, who are you down?" ”

As soon as these words came out, Shen Mo immediately said: "Back to Your Majesty, the whole world is not the king's land." On the shore of the land, it is not the king's minister. All the officials of the Ming Dynasty were people of the imperial court and people of His Majesty. ”

"Childish." Jiajing's voice was a little relaxed: "The Ming Dynasty is so big and there are so many officials, I can't manage it alone, so I still divide the pot to eat and divide the family...... Let's talk about it, are you Shen Xie Yuan fishing in the pot surnamed Yan? Or is it surnamed Xu with the surname Li? ”

He raised his head silently, his eyes were full of tears, and his voice trembled slightly: "Back to Your Majesty's words - Chenben Buyi, mediocre and naïve, His Majesty will not give up, and he has been entrusted with a provincial patrol, and he has been ordered to assist in the investigation of the case of the invasion of Nanjing by the Japanese invaders. Although the co-organizer should respect the chief official, the minister knows that everything the minister does is given by His Majesty, so everything the minister does, only listen to the emperor, only for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, and will never listen to the instructions of others, and no one can influence the minister's original intentions......" In the end, his face was already full of tears, and he only listened to him and said with great pain: "As for the failure to find out about the Qin case this time, it disappointed Your Majesty." All responsibilities, in the final analysis, are the fault of one minister, and have nothing to do with others...... But the minister confessed to His Majesty that if this kind of thing happened again, the minister's choice would not change...... "Like a child who has been wronged, he can finally spit out his heart, and in the end, Shen Mo can no longer cry."

Emperor Jiajing was a little irritable and said: "It's useless to cry, burning the account book is to confirm the crime of 'destroying evidence', if others want to treat you, I can't save it!" ”

After listening to the emperor's words, he silently wiped away his tears and said, "Minister...... I beg Your Majesty to give me knives and scissors. ”

Emperor Jiajing said unhappily: "What can death say?" ”

Silent about this Khan, he hurriedly explained: "The minister does not dare to put the monarch's father in injustice. The minister just has something to present to His Majesty. ”

There was no sound inside, and after a while, the curtain was lifted, and the fat eunuch came out with a tray with a gold-handled knife on it, and kindly reminded: "You can take it easy, move the knife in front of Your Majesty, and you will be hacked to death by a knife if you go out of line." ”

Smiling at him silently and gratefully, she picked up the knife and made a large opening at the bottom of the jacket...... Then take out a well-sealed oilcloth bag from the inside, cut the other side of the jacket, and take out the same oilcloth bag. Looking deeply at the thing in his hand, he silently exhaled a long breath of turbidity and said: "For this thing, the minister is still alive and dead, and now he can finally present the Son of Heaven!" ”

The fat eunuch asked softly, "What is this?" ”

Shen Mo slowly opened the oilcloth bag, and a blue-skinned booklet appeared in front of his eyes, and the fat eunuch couldn't help but exclaim: "Ledger? This is a very unexpected sentence, and even Huang Yanjing in the curtain is stunned.

I saw Shen Mo put together the two account books in the two bags, and said with a long sigh of relief: "Your Majesty, the former Zhejiang Governor was silent according to the Prison Military Road, and presented two account books obtained from the Zhejiang Governor's Villa, one of which is the account book and the other is the account book, please read it." ”

The sandalwood in the hall was swirling, the needles could be heard, everyone looked at the emperor behind the curtains, and Emperor Jiajing did not ask the fat eunuch Huang Jin to take the resignation, but asked firmly: "Why did you lie to me before, saying that the account book had been burned?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, the minister did hide the truth." He said silently: "But the minister has a last resort...... Because this account book involves the situation in Zhejiang Province and even several southeastern provinces, once it is not handled well, it may make the anti-Japanese situation that has just improved come to naught in a blink of an eye, so Weichen is foolish, this thing must be the first to be seen by His Majesty, thunder, rain and dew, all have a king, so that the southeast will not be turbulent, so that the Ming Dynasty will not fall into civil strife, so that the ministers know that everything is in the emperor's heart, and it is all determined by His Majesty! ”

The frenzy on his face made the fat eunuch's eyes light up, and he said in his heart that he really didn't see it, this guy's sycophant skills are perfect! The first time I saw His Majesty, I made such a high-level sycophant...... But I don't know if it was thanks to Lu Bing and Tao Zhongwen's pre-exam counseling that Shen Mo was targeted.

The chime of the bell ...... was crisp and pleasant, and the thick pale yellow curtain rolled silently to both sides.

Silence saw a circular sitting table covered with bright yellow futon cushions, and next to the sitting table was a jade chime on a rosewood shelf, and a chime pestle of the same color was diagonally inserted in the chime, and the crisp chime must have sounded from here.

But his gaze stopped there, he didn't dare to look up again, after all, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty had not yet had the habit of looking at people.

But after all, there were people sitting on the futon, and Shen Mo heard a clearer voice from there: "Are you worried that someone will make a fuss about this and force me to comply?" ”

"The minister is stupid," Shen Mo quickly lowered his head and said, "Maybe it's a mediocrity disturbing himself, but as long as there is a possibility, the minister is willing to do so." ”

"Hehe......" Emperor Jiajing actually laughed out loud: "It's good to be young, you have no worries when you are motivated, and there are not so many messy things in your head." ”

Shen Mo was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but he heard the emperor continue: "But there are also disadvantages in being young, and you don't think about the problem thoroughly, have you ever thought about such consequences?" Let's not talk about Zhao Zhenji, just his teacher Xu Jie, and Yang Yi's fellow countryman Li Mo, no matter what your motive is, you have already offended the two of you in fact, so you are not afraid that they will give you small shoes to wear? ”

"Of course, the minister is afraid that his career will be blocked, and he will even be imprisoned." Silently, he said: "But the minister is even more afraid that someone will use this to blackmail the monarch's father and make His Majesty make a choice of last resort." In order to maintain the authority of the Lord, Weichen is not afraid even if he is broken! ”

"Hahaha......" Emperor Jiajing laughed loudly, and said with undisguised pleasure in his laughter: "I really didn't see the wrong person. As he spoke, he stretched out his thin, slender hand.

Huang Jin presented the account book.

Jiajing held the account book far away and squinted through it. At first, his face was calm, but slowly, his eyes became cold...... He has lived in the deep palace for a long time, and has no contact with ministers, but his grasp of authority is more important than that of Yanjing in previous dynasties, and his secret is nothing more than the control of personnel and financial power. So it's easy for him to look at the ledger.

Emperor Jiajing sat there watching and pondering, kneeling on the ground silently, Huang Jin stood silently, there was no other movement in the hall, only occasionally heard the rustle of paper turning, and it was even quieter.

Time passed slowly, until the shadows on the ground became shorter and shorter, and the emperor slowly closed the account book, and his face was completely calm again.

Jiajing finally asked, "Have you read this account book?" ”

Shen Mo gritted his teeth and said softly: "Don't dare to deceive Your Majesty, after reading it, the minister found that it must not be leaked, and can only be handed over to the Holy Judge." ”

Emperor Jiajing nodded slowly, the expression on his face was very complicated, with some approval, but also with anger that could not be concealed, he turned his head and asked Huang Jindao: "Do you know what is recorded in this account book?" ”

Huang Jin pursed his fat face and said quietly: "The slave doesn't know." ”

Jiajing said coldly: "Let me tell you, it is the thirty-fourth year of Jiajing, the various taxes in Zhejiang, and the final flow of salaries!" ”

Huang Jin was stunned, looked at Jiajing blankly and said, "Where did it go?" ”

"Hmph......" Jiajing's nose let out an angry snort: "Not to mention the purpose of going to the imperial court and handing over the vassal king, just say that the one million taels of military expenses spent, what really fell on the army is only 550,000 taels, and the remaining 450,000 taels," he said and slapped the table heavily and said: "It all flowed into the pockets of his Zhao Wenhua and Hu Zongxian!" What greed, lawlessness! ”

Huang Jin hurriedly knelt down and said, "Your Majesty is angry......

"No wonder Shen Mo didn't dare to hand over this account book," Jiajing's chest rose and fell violently, and his face was pale: "If you are stabbed out, this crime of embezzling a huge amount of military salaries, the immortal Lao Tzu will not be able to keep it!" Their whole family has to be decapitated! ”

(To be continued)