Zhou Renyuan slept for two hours and was woken up by Wang Fuzhi and Shen Tieshan, he was also tired enough, he rushed back to Nanjing from Fengyang non-stop, and arrested officials overnight and fought a vicious battle in Zhao Mansion, which consumed a lot of physical strength. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info He washed his face with cold water and asked Wang Fuzhi, "Are all the people on the list arrested?" ”

Wang Fu didn't sleep all night, his face was a little haggard, he rubbed his eyes and replied, "All of them have been arrested, they are all in the prison of the Nanjing Criminal Department, we have been interrogated overnight, and we have refused to explain the problem, and even Xu Wenjue has said that they are fair to buy and sell land!" ”

"What? They have proven their guilt, and they still don't admit it, who gave them such courage? Zhou Renyuan said angrily.

"It seems that they are in a group, with the mentality that the law does not blame the public!" Wang Fuzhi guessed.

"Humph! Does the law not hold the public accountable? Wish for the moon! Let's go, go to the Nanjing Criminal Department! Zhou Renyuan flicked his sleeves and walked out of the post house and went straight to the criminal department.

Nanjing Criminal Department, Liu Zhilu, the secretary of the Criminal Department, has a headache, last night Zhou Renyuan arrested so many descendants of meritorious heroes and relatives at once, and these people are high-ranking officials with knighthoods, so he is at a loss, I heard that he also killed Zhao Zhilong, who resisted the decree. Why did the prince and his entourage turn Nanjing upside down as soon as they arrived in Nanjing, Liu Zhilu's heart was uneasy, after being woken up from the bed last night, he and Wang Fuzhi and Tong Haichuan suddenly interrogated these lords, but I didn't expect these lords to insist that they did not take advantage of it, and their attitude was tough, and they even said that they would sue the capital to return their innocence. When Wang Fuzhi showed the evidence found by Jinyiwei Tong Haichuan, they instead said that Jinyiwei was framing them, and Tong Haichuan was so angry that he almost stepped forward to beat them. Liu Zhilu also knew that these people had indeed seized a lot of land over the years, but they must have relied on their arrogance, otherwise they would never dare to go against the crown prince. So he hurriedly discussed with Wang Fuzhi and Tong Haichuan at that time to stop the interrogation and told Zhou Renyuan to deal with this trouble.

As soon as Zhou Renyuan and his entourage walked into the lobby of the Criminal Department, Liu Zhilu hurriedly said as if he had seen a savior, "My prince, you are here!" Xia Guan really can't go down to trial! If they refuse to confess, we can't be tortured! ”

"Are they still stubborn?" Zhou Renyuan asked.

"Lord Wang was interrogated with the lower officials last night, and they had a bad attitude, but they were like victims one by one!" Liu Zhilu said helplessly.

"This king wants to see how stubborn these people are, Lord Liu, ascend to the court!" Zhou Renyuan said.

After a while, the officials escorted Xu Wenjue, the Duke of Wei, Liu Zuochang, the Marquis of Anyuan, Zhang Gongri, the Marquis of Longping, Li Hongji, the Marquis of Linhuai, Tang Guozuo, the Marquis of Lingbi, and Guo Zuoyong of Cheng Anbo into the lobby. When these people saw that it was no longer Liu Zhilu but Zhou Renyuan who was trying the case in the lobby, their hearts began to tense. Especially when Xu Wenjue saw the cold light in Zhou Renyuan's eyes staring at him, he involuntarily knelt on the ground with weak legs. When the rest saw Xu Wenjue kneeling, they had to reluctantly follow and kneel in the lobby, muttering in their hearts, "Why does Xu Guogong have to be soft as soon as he comes up?" "But thinking that Zhou Renyuan is a messenger and a prince, it is still appropriate to kneel him.

"This king will tell you one thing first, Zhao Zhilong resisted the decree last night and has been killed by this king!" Zhou Renyuan was a dismount as soon as he came up.

"Ah---?h Xu Wenjue and the others had white lips and trembled.

"I heard that you were very arrogant last night, and you denied it in front of the evidence, and it seems that you also want to resist the decree?" Zhou Renyuan said in a gloomy voice.

"Lord Wang, you are a sin that you want to add, why do you have no excuse?" Tang Guozuo shouted inwardly.

"After we are all heroes, we are all lords of the imperial court, and you have no right to kill us, prince." Zhang Gongri also shouted.

With a "snap", Zhou Renyuan picked up the startled wood and slapped the table, shouting angrily, "After the hero of the shit!" You don't want to serve the court, share worries for the country, and take advantage of the local grabbing, so that the people lose their land and are displaced, the national tax is lost, and the finance is lost, you are the real moths of the Ming Dynasty! After saying that after the heroes are said with the face, if your heroic ancestors knew that there were unscrupulous descendants like you, they would crawl out of the grave and strangle you shameless people! ”

"We are a fair deal, what the prince said is clever and robbing, and the lower officials don't understand!" Tang Guozuo said.

"Fair trade? Are the numbers in your books false? Your little marquis actually has millions of acres of land, and how much do you have every year, so can you buy so much land? Even if the highest-ranking Duke Xu Guogong only has more than 200 taels of silver a year, how can he have 4 million acres of land? Four million acres of land are worth nearly 30 million taels of silver, where did all this money come from? Zhou Renyuan asked, pointing to the account book on the table.

"After we are all heroes, most of our land was given to our ancestors when Taizu was there!" Xu Wenjue argued.

"That's it! Most of our land was left behind by our ancestors. The rest of the crowd chimed in.

"Fart! Do you think this king can be deceived? According to the "Da Ming Law", regardless of the clan, the land that the heroes are rewarded with must be reduced in each generation, you say that most of them are rewarded by Taizu, Taizu has been less than 300 years since the founding of the country, and your founding ancestors have been passed on to you for about six generations, when Xu Da, the Duke of Wei, was the first hero of my Ming Dynasty, and was awarded 2 million acres of land, and each generation was reduced by 20 acres, and there should be 800,000 acres of land left here to your Xu Wenjue, not to mention your several marquises, did each of you have millions of acres of land falling from the sky? Zhou Renyuan pointed to the roof and said.

"This?" Xu Wenjue and the others didn't expect Zhou Renyuan to be so familiar with the laws of the imperial court, and they didn't know how to answer for a while, and a few people in the hall exchanged glances, "Lord Wang, why do you want to chase after us and fight us fiercely?" In fact, our land is approved by the emperor. Li Hongji, who had not spoken, said.

"What? Are you saying that all of your lands are approved by the emperor? Zhou Renyuan's face was red and white. Wang Fuzhi and Liu Zhilu opened their mouths wide in surprise, not knowing what to say.

"If the prince doesn't believe it, you can go and check the case file of the Nanjing Household Department." Li Hongji said proudly.

Zhou Renyuan looked at Li Hongji's confident look, he was annoyed and suspicious, and he had to announce his retirement. Back in the back hall, Zhou Renyuan kicked the door open angrily, and Wang Fuzhi hurriedly persuaded, "Renyuan, you have to calm down!" ”

"Looks like we've been put on the hook by these guys." Zhou Renyuan said unwillingly.

"According to my analysis, there is something else going on in this matter." Wang Fuzhi pondered. "Lord Liu, please send someone to the household department to get the case file, and it is best to ask the household department to send someone over."

Liu Zhilu hurriedly sent a few entourages to the household department.

"And Brother Nong, what kind of medicine are you selling in this gourd?" Zhou Renyuan asked strangely. "It's just a matter of getting the case file, why do you even have to call people from the household department?"

"Renyuan, Lord Liu, do you know whether these fields are good fields or thin fields?" Wang Fuzhi asked.

"It should be a good field." Liu Zhilu replied.

"Then do you think that with the current emperor's behavior, the emperor is shrinking his clothes and food, and he will also reward these outdated lords who have not made meritorious contributions and have not established a career?" Wang Fuzhi then asked.

"That's almost impossible!" The two replied in unison.

"If it is not possible to take the initiative to reward, there is only one possibility, that is, they take the initiative to ask the court for the land, and then the emperor grants it. But isn't it strange that the emperor would agree to their request? That's millions of acres! Wang Fuzhi said the last question: "Unless there is an element of deception here!" ”

Liu Zhilu was shocked when he heard this, "No, they shouldn't be so bold." ”

Zhou Renyuan was not surprised, and snorted coldly, "They all dare to resist the decree, and it is not strange to deceive the court and the emperor, and besides, there may be comrades in the capital!" ”

"What? Lord, did you say that there are still their accomplices in the capital? Liu Zhilu was in his heart, originally he just wanted to retire in Nanjing, but he didn't expect that this case would also involve officials in the capital, and he was worried that his black yarn would be lost after Zhou Renyuan left. As the saying goes, "the building near the water gets the moon first", if he offends the high-ranking officials in the capital and participates in two books in front of the emperor, he will not have a good life.

"What, Lord Liu, are you afraid?" Zhou Renyuan saw through Liu Zhilu's psychology, "Don't worry, we are entrusted by the prince to do things this time, and the prince will remember your merits if we do it, and you are still worried about your black yarn in front of the emperor?" ”

Liu Zhilu said curtly: "How can the lower officials be afraid? It is the duty of the lower officials to worry about the country, and the lower officials have no regrets if they lose the black yarn! ”

"That's good, don't just think about Wusha as an official, you have to think about the country and the people first!" Zhou Renyuan said.

"Yes! Be! What the prince said is that the lower officials must remember it! Liu Zhilu hurriedly said.

The person who sent someone to the household department to get the case file and a director surnamed Li from the household department came to the criminal department, Wang Fuzhi spread out the case file and looked at it carefully, which read: "Chongzhen gave permission to Xu Wenjue, the Duke of Wei, to invite 1.3 million mu of fields in the south of Luzhou City, 930,000 mu in the east of Lu'an City in the Marquis of Anyuan, 930,000 mu in the east of Lu'an City, Zhang Gongri, Marquis of Longping, 870,000 mu in the north of Lu'an City, and 730,000 mu in the north of Jinan City by Li Hong, Marquis of Linhuai-------"

"Lord Li, have you investigated the fields written on this in your household department?" Wang Fuzhi asked Director Li of the household department.

"The prince of Qiqi and the two adults, Chongzhen for three years, the lower official is only the county order of Lu'an, and Chongzhen only served as the head of the Nanjing household department for six years, so the situation at that time is not clear to the lower official, but as far as the lower official knows, these lands should be all barren mountainous land." Mr. Lee replied.

"What? Are they all barren mountains? Master Li, are you telling the truth? Zhou Renyuan asked.

"Xia Guan has been a county magistrate in Lu'an for five years, so of course he knows. However, the land that An Yuanhou and Long Pinghou later took in Lu'an was a fertile field in the southeast and northwest of Lu'an City, and the difference between the words in this direction was thousands of miles. Later, when I became the head of the household, I also raised questions, but there was no news, and then it was gone! Director Li explained.

"Sure enough, it's greasy." Wang Fuzhi compared the account book and the approval document, "You see, the land that Xu Wenjue asked for permission in the approval document is the south of Luzhou City, and the land actually occupied by the account book is indicated in the southeast of Luzhou City, and everyone else is the same, all of them are out of position. ”

"Hmph, play with words! Deceive and conceal the subordinates, these people are really hateful, Lord Liu will be promoted again! Zhou Renyuan commanded.

When Xu Wenjue and the others entered the lobby of the Criminal Department again, they found that things did not develop according to the route they envisioned, they thought that as long as the household department inquired about the land that was indeed granted, it would be over, but they didn't expect Zhou Renyuan to be so truthful that even the files of the household department were found to compare them one by one.

"What else do you have to say about changing the location of the land approved by the imperial court without permission, and changing the wasteland into the annexed fertile land?" Zhou Renyuan asked, holding the file of the household department.

"Lord, since you have to investigate to the end, we can't say anything, it's a big deal for us to return these lands, but a lot of our land is dedicated to the emperor to make the imperial village, if you want to return it, the land of the imperial village will also be withdrawn." Xu Wenjue and the others changed their strategy and wanted to tie their land and Huangzhuang together to make trouble for Zhou Renyuan.

"Do you think that if you use Huangzhuang to suppress this king, this king will not be able to do it? Hum - dream! Zhou Renyuan became even more angry when he heard this, "If this king expected to be right, you didn't show the emperor that these fields were owner's fertile fields at that time, and your crime of bullying the king was even more serious!" ”

Xu Wenjue and the others drooped their heads, cold sweat broke out, they didn't expect to be exposed by Zhou Renyuan all of a sudden, they were also afraid that the fake thing would be exposed, so they came up with the idea of taking out part of the land to Chongzhen as the imperial village, now no official dared to touch this problem, and besides, they bought the commander of Jinyiwei to make Luo Yangxing, and they have annexed a lot of land smoothly over the years without being investigated.

"It seems that you don't shed tears when you don't see the coffin, this king and the crown prince will immediately play the emperor, deceive you to the emperor, so that the emperor's reputation will be damaged, and the evil deeds of the people in the world will be revealed one by one, and you will confess when I see it!" Zhou Renyuan pressured.

"No, no, the prince, we are willing to confess, we are willing to return the land, and take out the silver taels to compensate these farmers, and ask the prince to spare our lives!" Xu Wenjue and the others were shocked and kept kowtowing and begging for mercy.

Zhou Renyuan looked at the ugly faces of these people and said disdainfully, "A bunch of scum, I thought you were not afraid of death!" Come on, let them sign and draw! ”

When I left the Punishment Department, it was close to noon. Zhou Renyuan only realized that he was hungry at this time, "I was troubled by these turtle grandchildren, and I didn't even eat breakfast!" Zhou Renyuan scolded in a low voice. Back at the inn, Zhu Cihong had already woken up and was waiting for them in the living room.

"Fourth uncle, how is it? Did they all confess? Zhu Cihong asked, he heard that Zhao Zhilong resisted last night, and he was frightened, and now he still has palpitations.

"Toast and don't eat, guys who specialize in eating and drinking. All recruited, and behind them there is also the commander of the Jinyi Guard, who is responsible for Luo Yangxing. Prince, we have to carefully refer to how to play the emperor, like Luo Yangxing, Zhao Zhilong, Han Zanzhou, these people are all people trusted by the emperor, I don't know how the emperor will feel after knowing that these people know the law and break the law?" Zhou Renyuan said.

Li Chao and Lu Yiqi on the side heard Luo Yangxing's name, their faces became ugly, and they stood awkwardly on the side, not knowing what to do. They were sent by Luo Yangxing to protect Zhu Cihong, but they didn't expect that their immediate boss was also involved in the land annexation. Zhu Cihong was more sensitive, and found that the two of them looked wrong, and said kindly, "The loyalty of the two of you is known to the prince, and Luo Yangxing is his personal problem, and your Jinyiwei is not his Luo Yangxing's alone, but my Daming, you two can rest assured, this prince still trusts you!" ”

Li Chao and Lu Yiqi knelt on the ground with emotion, and said, "Thank you for the prince's trust, the two of us will definitely do our duty faithfully and live up to the prince's trust!"

Zhou Renyuan nodded appreciatively to Zhu Cihong, Zhu Cihong has such a mind at a young age, which is really rare. One day in the future, if he can ascend the throne, he must be a wise king, I don't know if God will give him such an opportunity.

On the same day, Zhu Cihong and Zhou Renyuan's recital was sent directly to the capital through 800 miles of expedited work. Zhou Renyuan looked at the gloomy sky, and only then did he remember that today was Chinese New Year's Eve, and the New Year was about to usher in, which was the first New Year that Zhou Renyuan spent in the Ming Dynasty after crossing over. I don't know how the family in the Guiwang Mansion in Hengzhou is doing, how the armament training in the Hengzhou military camp is doing, and whether the missionary Rost has found the other two missionaries. Zhou Renyuan found that he missed Hengzhou a little, and that was his home!