The next day, the sky had just dawned, and Chongzhen of the Taihe Hall sat on the dragon chair and began the routine court meeting, with a sharp shout from the deacon eunuch. The ministers visited the shrine, showing the majesty of the emperor.

Chongzhen was wearing the black crown robe of the Son of Heaven, sitting on the dragon chair, looking around at the ministers, and asked in a loud voice, "What is the matter with the Qing?" ”

"In recent years, the people of Guanzhong have not harvested the drought, the victims have risen in all directions, and the rebellion against Gao Yingxiang and others has ravaged the Central Plains, and the governor Yang He has been unfavorable, causing the thieves to become bigger, and the people are miserable, so I implore Your Majesty to punish their crimes!" ”

Chongzhen replied, "I know! You go down and write a copy of it! I consulted with the Cabinet! After that, he glanced at Luo Yangxing.

Luo Yangxing immediately played "Your Majesty! Recently, Liu Jimin, deputy envoy of Shandong Jiaolai Salt Transportation Division, reported that there was another hidden story in Sun Yuanhua's case, but the minister had already found out that there was such a thing, and the minister suggested that the case be retried! ”

"Oh? Is the evidence conclusive? ”

Luo Yangxing bowed down and replied: "The human and material evidence is there!" ”

"Then hand it over to the Criminal Department for retrial!" Chongzhen waved his hand

"Your Majesty! This is not appropriate! What is Liu Jimin's official position? A salt official in Shandong! The cabinet has already decided on this matter, even Jin Yiwei has no right to overthrow it, let alone Liu Jimin? And as far as the minister knows, Sun Yuanhua and Liu Jimin are both old disciples of Xu Ge, and they are brothers and sisters, so there must be something strange about this matter, and please don't believe your majesty's words! Min Hongxue objected

"Your Majesty! There is a way to raise relatives and not avoid suspicion, and the minister is worthy of asking himself, and Jimin is a disciple accepted by the minister the day before yesterday, what Lord Min said is not credible! Your Majesty! Xu Guangqi immediately objected

Chongzhen heard the words and said: "The two Aiqing have their own words! I don't know if it's true or not! So be it! Is it good for me to recruit Liu Fan to come and confront him in person? ”

"Your Majesty! The minister is willing to confront him in court! Xu Guangqi hurriedly agreed

When Min Hongxue heard this, he was not good at objecting, so he had to say: "The minister is also willing to confront him in court!" ”

Chongzhen nodded and said, "Xuan Liu Fan came to meet him!" ”

After Chongzhen gave the decree, a little eunuch immediately went to deliver the decree, and half an hour later, Liu Fa, who received the decree, hurriedly came. After Chongzhen saw Liu Fan, he asked, "Jimin!" Ministers and I, if you have any doubts about what you said about Sun Yuanhua, please explain it to everyone! ”

Liu Fan replied, "Your Majesty! As far as the minister knows, Lord Sun was really framed by traitors, and there are several relatives of the rebel Chen Shi and several Liaodong soldiers under the minister, which can prove this! The minister also heard about this by chance and reported it to Jinyiwei! Now they are already in Jinyiwei Town! Lord Luo can prove this for the minister! ”

Luo Yang's interface said, "Your Majesty! Several witnesses have been signed and pledged, and the minister has a copy of his confession, please ask His Majesty to take a look! Then he took out his confession and handed it to the little eunuch.

Chongzhen took the confession, glanced at it hastily, and said, "Hmm! Since what the two Aiqing said is true! I decided to retry this case, and the matter would be handed over to the Dali Temple, the Criminal Department, and the Three Divisions of the Metropolitan Procuratorate for trial, accompanied by Jin Yiwei. It is necessary to thoroughly investigate this case, restore its innocence, and not let the imperial court lose its prestige. ”

"Your Majesty!" Jin Yiwei commanded Luo Yangxing, Hu Yingtai, the secretary of the Criminal Department, Zuo Du Yushi, Dali Temple Si Qing and others bowed down to respond.

Chongzhen asked Min Hongxue, "Min Aiqing! Do you still have questions? ”

Min Hongxue bowed down and replied, "Don't dare!" Your Majesty! There is no problem with the minister! ”

Chongzhen nodded with satisfaction and asked, "What else is there to do?" It's okay to retreat! ”

Wu Weiye played "Your Majesty! The minister impeached Liu Jimin for five major crimes, one was dereliction of duty, abuse of power, two privately expanded the army, built a city without permission, and had bad intentions, third, extorting merchants, accepting bribes, fourth, selling illicit salt, crazy money, and fifth, forming a party for personal gain! I beg your Majesty to be clear! ”

Chongzhen was speechless and said, "Is that all?" Liu Fan! Wu Aiqing sued you for five major crimes, do you have something to say? ”

Liu Fan replied, "Your Majesty! The minister is wronged! This matter is completely Wu Weiye's bloody mouth! The five major crimes are complete nonsense. Where does this come from, since he served as the Jiaolai Salt Transportation Division, he has always lived and eaten in the salt field, personally explored the salt field, reformed the official salt production, and has recently made some achievements, so that the output of the Shihe salt field has increased greatly! There should be hard work without merit! There is also the matter of expanding the army and building the city, and the ministers have already played Your Majesty! It was only implemented with His Majesty's permission! As for blackmailing merchants to sell illicit salt, it's completely because Lord Wu doesn't know how to pretend to understand. Since the implementation of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty's salt and iron monopoly has basically existed in name only, and a large amount of salt has been lost to the hands of merchants, resulting in the lack of salt tax in the Ming Dynasty, and it is difficult to collect taxes. The minister's reform of the salt administration is also to increase the tax revenue for the imperial court! Moreover, the silver taels obtained from the sale of official salt have been sent to the inner treasury, and there is no private greed for ink at all! Up to now, the minister has not even had a place to live, and he usually lives in the army and eats in the army. The minister is wronged! ”

Hearing Liu Fan's defense, the ministers were in an uproar! There are opponents, there are admirers, and there is a debate around this matter. Chongzhen was so noisy that he had a splitting headache, and said angrily, "Everyone, Aiqing, don't make a noise!" I already know about Liu Fan! What Wu Weiye played is not true! I dismissed it! This matter needs not be discussed again! ”

Seeing that Chongzhen was angry, the ministers kept silent, but Wen Tiren went against the current and said, "Your Majesty! Although there are some omissions in what Wu Weiye said, what Liu Fan did was indeed out of character! Legally speaking, his behavior has been somewhat transgressive! The minister suggested that His Majesty should be punished! ”

"The minister seconded the proposal!" "The minister seconded the proposal!" For a while, there was a voice of approval in the court. Liu Fan looked around, except for his teacher Xu Guangqi, who was silent, and all agreed to this matter.

Seeing this situation of enemies on all sides, Liu Fan's heart was full of anger, as if he was refuting it. When the words came to his mouth, he swallowed again, sighed, and said dejectedly, "The minister is guilty!" ”

Chongzhen also smiled bitterly when he saw the reaction of the ministers in the palace, and said helplessly, "Okay!" I know! Liu Fan's words and deeds are wrong! A one-year fine! Retreat! ”

When the head of the household department heard this, he immediately played: "Your Majesty! The household department has no money left! I beg your Majesty to allocate internal funds to solve the urgent need! ”

Chongzhen was a little surprised when he heard this, and said, "At this time, the autumn tax has just passed!" Why is there no money in the household department now? ”

Bi Ziyan, the secretary of the household department, replied helplessly: "Recently, there has been a great drought in Guanzhong, and there are many disasters in the world, and there are too many money and grains needed in all aspects, and there is a large deficit in the household department, and the nine sides have been in arrears for three months, and the autumn tax income is not enough to pay the soldiers!" There's nothing you can do about it! ”

Chongzhen also knew that the important ministers of the court had long been worried about the million taels of silver sent by Liu Fan, and it was beyond his expectations that he could endure until now to speak! He didn't expect to keep all the money, so he simply waved his hand and said, "I know!" I will send someone to send 500,000 taels of silver to the household! Retreat! He let out a heavy snort and got up and left.