Chapter 171: Confession of Guilt

"Childe, have you thought about it?" Before we left, Yuan Jian suddenly asked.

"Well, I've decided. At present, our biggest enemy is Mongolia in the north, and we must first settle the inside before we go outside, although I also want to bring this group of corrupt officials to justice, but time does not allow, and the battle between Song and Mongolia in two or three years is imminent, so at present, the internal reform of our dynasty needs to be carried out gradually on the basis of stability. However, if these corrupt officials cannot change their greed, they will be liquidated sooner or later. ”

Stability is paramount, and development is the last word. Stability and development are indispensable for each time, but only seeking development on the basis of stability is in line with the current situation.

Yuan Jian sighed: "Yes, son, let this group of corrupt officials live for a few more years." ”

"Sir, get ready to go."

"Does that boy need to be disguised?"

"No need."

Since you want to make it clear, I don't think it's necessary to let "Huyan Gongzi" relay it, in this era, the transportation is inconvenient, and it's not so easy to go back and forth, so let's solve it straightforwardly.

Juyinglou is closed again tonight, and the diners in Fuzhou know that whenever Juyinglou is closed, there must be another big man gathering here.

Accompanied by Ye Mengding, I came to Juying Building on time.

Chen Xinshu and Jiang Baoshan, who were dressed in civilian clothes, greeted each other in front of the door early, and when they saw me standing next to Ye Mengding, both of them looked slightly surprised in their eyes, and after being stunned for a moment, Chen Xinshu said respectfully: "Lord Ye, please." This son, please. ”

Ye Mengding bowed his head slightly, and said to me first: "Childe, please." Then he returned the salute with his fists, and smiled at Chen Xinshu: "Lord Chen, please." ”

Chen Xinshu said that he invited Ye Mengding to the banquet alone, but he didn't expect Ye Mengding to accompany a strange son, and his attitude towards him was very respectful. You must know that Ye Mengding, as a secretary of the ministry, is a second-class member in the court, and he has real power, who can make him treat him so respectfully? At least there is no such No. 1 person on Fujian Road, so there is only one possibility, this son is also from the capital of the Hidden Dragon and Crouching Tiger, Huyan Gongzi? Chen Xinshu and Jiang Baoshan's minds both conjured up the name of my young son.

I don't know Chen Xinshu, and I haven't seen it, at the end of the fifth year of Jingding, officials from all walks of life went to Beijing to report on their work, and the representative of Fujian Road was Shi Hongsheng, Chen Xinshu did not enter Beijing, not to mention a large number of people at that time, even if he was among them, I would not know.

I glanced at Chen Xinshu, ignored him, and walked straight forward. Jiang Baoshan lightly touched Chen Xinshu, who was in a daze, and motioned for him to follow.

The guards brought by Ye Mengding quickly surrounded the gate, and Yuan Jian and the others followed closely behind me and entered the house together.

Juying Building is decorated generously and decently, with Fujian characteristics. I sat unceremoniously on the main seat, Yuan Jian stood behind me, Wen Zhang stood outside the door, and Lan Yu and Shen Mo looked around.

After Ye Mengding entered the house, he didn't dare to sit down, stood aside and said, "Childe, this is Chen Xinshu from Fujian Road, Lord Chen." ”

Chen Xinshu didn't even dare to sit down after seeing Ye Mengding come in, and he was even more convinced of my relationship with the palace, his own official position was smaller, how dare he sit down, so he had to stand beside Ye Mengding and bend down to me and said, "Chen has seen Gongzi." ”

I glanced at Chen Xinshu sternly, and said expressionlessly: "You are Chen Xinshu?" ”

"Yes, Childe, it's Chen." Chen Xinshu has been in the officialdom for a long time, and his ability to recognize people is not small, although this is on his own territory, but in the face of this young man who even has to be respectful to Lord Qincha, how dare he be disrespectful.

"Chen Xinshu, I heard that you once asked Lord Ye Mengding Ye to tell the emperor that your Fujian Road officials are willing to follow the emperor to revitalize our dynasty, is there such a thing?"

"Hui Gongzi, there is such a thing."

"Why do I think this sounds duplicitous?"

"Childe, what do you mean by that?"

"I've only been in Fuzhou for two or three days, and I heard that you and other Fujian Road officials are corrupt and bend the law, and the bribes you have received are huge, no wonder the taxes of my Great Song Dynasty treasury are getting smaller and smaller, are they all in your personal pockets? Is this how you came to revitalize my Great Song? also said that you want to follow the emperor, do you still have the emperor in your eyes? Last month, many places in our country were hit by torrential rains, and the imperial court provided disaster relief, and your Fujian road was good, and the disaster relief grain was sold to the Pu family in Quanzhou at a low price, and then the Pu family resold it overseas to make huge profits, is there such a thing? ”

Chen Xinshu's heart trembled, and he hurriedly said: "Childe......"

I didn't give him a chance to speak at all, and continued: "You appointed Chen Huainan, a member of your own family, and Chen Yunnan as the ship supervisor of the two major ports of Fuzhou and Quanzhou respectively, and privately set various taxes in the name of the government, and wantonly looted the people's fat and ointment, and the looted money also fell into your own pockets, is there such a thing? Also, taking the opportunity of land measurement, you and others encroached on fertile land, made false reports, and took the official land as your own. You won't be short of things like this, right? I won't say all of them. ”

My series of questions made Chen Xinshu dumbfounded, and he was at a loss for a while.

Chen Xinshu looked at Ye Mengding and said, "Childe, who are you, how do you know this?" ”

"Chen Xinshu, are you guilty?" I suddenly got up and said, "You are talking about following the emperor, and at the same time embezzling the silver taels of the treasury, do you really think that no one in the world can cure you?" Who am I? I am the emperor you keep saying you want to be loyal to, the emperor of the current Great Song Dynasty. ”

Chen Xinshu listened, his heart was cold, his legs were weak, and he knelt on the ground with a pop, with the presence of Ye Mengding, the secretary of the court department, he would not doubt my authenticity, Chen Xinshu hurriedly kowtowed: "The minister knows the crime, the minister knows the crime, please ask the emperor to be gracious." ”

I let Chen Xinshu kowtow, and after a while, I saw that there was a trace of blood oozing from his forehead, so I sat down and said, "Get up." ”

"Chen Xinshu thanked the emperor for his grace."

"Ye Aiqing, you sit down first."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Chen Xinshu, you have been an official for many years, you should know that such a huge amount of stolen money, according to the law of our dynasty, what crime should you be guilty of?"

"Your Majesty, according to the law, you should be sentenced to death."

"You still know that it is a capital crime, and if you know, why do you repeat it?"

"Your Majesty, the ministers are confused, and they all blame the ministers for being greedy for a while."

Ye Mengding nodded: "Lord Chen, just tell the truth, don't prevaricate with official words." ”

"Your Majesty, the minister was a jinshi during the first emperor's period, and he was once enthusiastic, intending to serve the country, after entering the officialdom, he found that the officialdom was contrary to his ideals, and if the minister could not adapt, he would be eliminated by the officialdom, so the minister also went with the flow, and his courage gradually increased, which led to the later out-of-control."

"Aren't you afraid of the East Window incident and receiving the sanction of the law?"

"Your Majesty, at the beginning, the ministers were also very scared, but when they saw that everyone around them was like this, they were lucky, and over time, they became a little numb."

Officialdom is a dark dye vat, and there are very few people who can clean themselves and continue to survive in the vat. To fundamentally change this situation, it is necessary to completely change the color of the dye vat, from darkness to light.

"Hmph, what a fluke." I sneered, "Today, the northern Mongolia is eyeing our dynasty, the Mongols have always been known for their military strength, our dynasty can only rely on the strong city walls, excellent weapons, and the ability to keep it safe, and these all cost a lot of silver, but our country's treasury income tax is becoming scarce, if this is the case everywhere, it will be difficult for the imperial court to meet the military needs of the soldiers in front, what do you let me use to retreat the enemy?" Sending you? Could it be that you and the others have colluded with the Mongols, and sincerely want to let the Mongol iron cavalry trample on our dynasty? ”

"Your Majesty, the ministers are loyal to the emperor and our dynasty, and the moon can be learned, where will there be anything to do with the Mongols. So far, the minister has pleaded guilty, the minister has pleaded guilty, and he is willing to accept the emperor's punishment. ”

"Punishment? All it takes is a decree to punish you, is it necessary for me to come in person? ”

"Yes, yes, the minister is stupid, and please ask the emperor to make it clear." Chen Xinshu didn't know whether he was happy or worried.