Su Hao reported that there was a huge corrupt clique in Runing, from officials at the prefectural and county levels down to local tyrants and inferior gentry, and the officials and gentry colluded to take advantage of natural disasters to lure people to gamble, take advantage of the situation to issue usury, and then seize the land of peasants who could not repay their debts, and push the peasants into the abyss of poverty. In addition, after investigating the farmers, Su Hao also found that the disaster relief grain money issued by the imperial court was not distributed to the affected people, but fell into the pockets of officials of all sizes. If all these crimes are true, at least dozens of heads will fall to the ground in Runing Mansion from top to bottom.

At the same time, the Runing Prefecture also sent a special person to submit a report to Beijing, which said that Su Hao had made meritorious contributions and adopted the means of setting up a bureau to frame innocent merchants, and widely involved in indiscriminate arrests and killings. Some businessmen were tortured under heavy sentences and provided a large number of false testimonies, with which Su Hao created a large number of unjust cases in Runing.

At the back of Su Hao's report, a large number of copied account books and books were attached to support it. Behind the report of Runing Mansion, there are also more than 1,000 testimonies and signatures of local merchants and gentry.

The two reports were sent to the court at the same time, which naturally caused an uproar.

A large number of officials, led by Shoufu Shen Shixing, thought that Su Hao's report was exaggerated, and it was true that there were problems in Runing Mansion, but it was too appalling to say that the officials in the entire Runing Mansion were bad people. In particular, after Su Hao arrested the suspect, he refused to allow the officials of Runing Mansion to participate in the interrogation, which was against the rules, and many officials believed that the imperial court should reprimand Su Hao, remove him from his position, and transfer him back to the capital for questioning.

A small group of officials, led by Wanli and Wang Xijue, believed Su Hao's investigation conclusions, because the logic of the report he provided was very clear, and all the conclusions were supported by a large amount of evidence. Although out of prudence. Su Hao did not send the original account books found from all over the place to the capital, but only attached the copy of the honorary copy, but Su Hao also said that the imperial court could send a large official to Runing to review, and he would provide all the original evidence at that time.

In the court of the Ming Dynasty, even Wanli's occasional blackening of the eyes would attract questions from the officials, and lead to protracted quarrels, not to mention the corruption of officials in a government. The officials of Runing Mansion are inextricably linked with the officials in the court, not to mention the relationship between fellow villagers, teachers and students, the same year, brothers-in-law, aunts and uncles. Even what Liu Qichang sends to various departments every year is enough to make many people willing to say a few good words for him.

"The responsibility for Runing's affairs lies with Weichen." Wu Boxing, the head of the household department, made a self-examination to Wanli bitterly, "Weichen just thinks that Su Hao is young and talented, and he is quite sharp. I want him to go to Runing to check on Haoqiang. Who would have thought that this son would be pampered and arrogant, and in order to make a blockbuster, he would not hesitate to create an unjust prison and trap thousands of people in Runing. The minister implored the saint to send a decree as soon as possible, summon Su Hao back to Beijing, find out the truth, and tell the world. ”

"Wu Shilang's words are wrong." In the middle of the matter, Wang Jiguang stepped forward and said. "The occupation of land by the Runing Mansion is well known to everyone in the court, but the officials who were sent to Runing to investigate the case in the past have not been able to find out a single one, and only a few minions can be arrested each time. Incurable. When Wu Shilang recommended Master Su to Runing, he also hoped that he could thoroughly investigate the matter and dig out the big fish behind it. Now that Master Su has done it, why did Wu Shilang break his promise and gain weight again? ”

Wu Boxing said: "Let Su Gaizhi investigate the case." Although it was recommended by the official, it was not for him to do whatever he wanted. Now he does claim to have found the big fish. But the complaint that thousands of gentry in Runing jointly wrote to him is false? If it weren't for his arrogant behavior and the anger of the heavens and the resentment of the people, how could he arouse such great public anger? ”

"I don't know the truth about the joint signing of thousands of gentry. In case the officials of Runing Mansion forced the gentry to sign the letter, how credible is what this book says? Wang Jiguang did not give up and continued to retort.

Wu Boxing and Wang Jiguang competed with each other, and other officials also got involved. This one said that Su Hao lacked experience, and the investigation of the case was not necessarily very safe, and that said that Liu Qichang was a treacherous and slippery, and what he said could be believed at most was already the limit. The mouths of the officials of the Ming Dynasty have been tested for a long time, and such a little thing has to be broken up, and it will not be finished without three or five months.

In fact, the reason why many people oppose Su Hao is not very related to the affairs of Runing Mansion. What Su Hao did this time did was guilty of many officials' rebellion, that is, he mainly relied on the army in his hands in handling the case, which was a typical criminal with martial arts. What's more, when Su Hao first started up, he was attached to the eunuch Li Long, so that the word "eunuch" was pasted on the top of his head, which was enough to make everyone feel bad for him.

"Okay, you Aiqing don't have to argue, let's talk about how to deal with this matter." Wanli listened for a while, and his head hurt again, and he had to speak out to stop this war of words and ask everyone to start voting.

"The minister thinks that this matter is very important, and it is not enough to conclude the case based on these evidences on both sides of the paper, so it is better to call Su Hao back and ask him in person." Shen Shixing suggested.

Wang Xijue said: "I agree with Shen Shoufu's words. However, just calling Su Hao back will not help, Su Hao made it very clear in the report, they have caught hundreds of suspects, and there are countless witnesses. If you don't question these witnesses, just listening to what Su Hao says, I'm afraid everyone will still not believe it in the end. ”

"According to Fu Yu's opinion, you want to escort these witnesses back to Beijing?" Shen Shixing frowned and asked, escorting hundreds of suspects and witnesses, the movement was too big. Even if it turns out that these suspects are innocent in the end, then such a toss can be regarded as a waste of money and money.

What Shen Shixing could think of, Wang Xijue naturally thought of it, he said: "I'm afraid this is too much to mobilize the people, I think it's better to send a few experienced important ministers to Runing to verify." ”

"This case involves Liu Qichang, the prefect of Runing, if you want to send someone to investigate, I'm afraid you have to have a few high-level officials." Shen Shi Xingdao.

Wang Xijue turned around and saluted Wanli and said, "If the emperor allows, the old minister is willing to go to Runing Mansion in person." ”

Shen Shixing shook his head and said: "Fu Yu, you are also a lot old, it is thousands of miles away from the capital to Runing, can your body bear it?" ”

Wang Xijue said: "Su Hao was recommended by the old minister to the saint, and now that such a thing has happened, if the old minister doesn't go to find out in person, he really can't let go of it." If Su Hao really acted excessively, the old minister asked the Holy Lord to allow me to dismiss him on the spot and severely punish him. If what Su Hao said is true, it means that there is another responsible young pillar of our dynasty, which involves the foundation of my dynasty for 10,000 years. ”

Shen Shixing nodded: "What Fu Yu said is reasonable, but this is hard work for Fu Yu." ”

As the first assistant of the cabinet, Shen Shixing's loyalty to Jiangshan Sheji is unquestionable. Although he has all kinds of antipathy towards Su Hao, he is still willing to start from the overall situation on this matter of principle.

Seeing that Shen Shixing nodded, Wu Boxing was a little anxious, and he stood up again and said: "Scholar Wang is willing to work hard and go to Runing in person, and the officials admire him." However, the lower officials thought that there was something wrong with the team led by Scholar Wang to investigate the case in Runing. ”

"What's wrong?" Wang Xijue asked.

"Su Hao went to Huai'an to govern the river, and it was recommended by Scholar Wang. Between Su Hao and Wang University, there should be a friendship between teachers and students. Xia Guan thought that at such a time, it was up to Scholar Wang to verify whether Su Hao was suspected of fraud, but he was afraid that it would be difficult to ensure fairness. Wu Boxing said stubbornly, he also knew that this kind of thing was quite offensive to say it.

Sure enough, without waiting for Wang Xijue to say anything, Wanli made a move: "Wu Aiqing, Scholar Wang is an upright official, which is known to the whole world, how dare you question his unfairness?" ”

"Back to the saint, the minister naturally knows the character of the scholar Wang, but this matter involves Liu Qichang and other officials, in case they are not convinced and make irresponsible remarks, wouldn't it add variables to this matter?" Wu Boxing replied.

"That's it, the old minister will go with Fu Yu, so it won't be unfair, right?" Another cabinet scholar, Wang Jiaping, stood up and said.

"It's too ostentatious to go to two cabinet scholars for such a small matter, right?" Shen Shixing pouted and said. The entire cabinet is four people, managing the affairs of the whole country. Now two people have been sent out at once, and one is left named Xu Guo, who is not in good health and often takes sick leave, doesn't this mean that everything has to be pressed on Shen Shixing's shoulders alone?

Wang Jiaping said with a smile: "Ru Mo will work hard for a few days, Fu Yu and I will go and come quickly." When it comes to the issue of honor and disgrace of a prefect, the imperial court should also be cautious, otherwise, wouldn't other local officials be chilled? ”

Wang Jiaping said that to this extent, Shen Shixing had no choice. This kind of thing is obviously not possible for an official of the level of a cabinet scholar to do it. And if Wang Xijue is only allowed to go alone, there will be many people in the court who are unhappy. It seems that only by letting Wang Xijue and Wang Jiaping go together can they convince the public.

Wanli also agreed with this plan, he had a good impression of Su Hao, and hoped that Su Hao could bring some different styles to the court and sweep away the current staleness. Whether Su Hao can be reused depends on how well he handles Runing's case this time, and it is indeed very necessary to send two scholars to check it.

Of course, Wang Xijue and Wang Jiaping are only the persons in charge of the entire investigation team, and the specific person who does the work needs to be selected, and in the final circled list, including Wu Boxing's "anti-Soviet" faction, as well as Wang Jiguang's "pro-Soviet" faction, the most eye-catching thing is that there is also a new science and technology scholar, Cheng Dong, the seven-grade editor of the Hanlin Academy.