Since Zhang Yushi suddenly summoned Xu Liang that day, he has not been looking for trouble with Xu Liang for a few days. Xu Liang was at ease, hiding in the real room of the Xu Mansion and testing the small model of the Franc machine cannon made by skilled craftsmen such as Chen Yu and Wang Dazhuang with the people in the arms department.

From time to time, the people passing by the Xu Mansion could hear one or two loud firecrackers exploding from the Xu Mansion, and several passers-by were curious to probe their brains at the door of the Xu Mansion, and soon the family members of the Xu Mansion came out to disperse the people.

In the yamen of the Pingliang Prefect's Mansion, Zhang Nianyun, the imperial historian of the capital, was inspired by Qiao Yunsheng, the secretary of the Criminal Department, and was busy arranging manpower in the past few days to investigate the entire matter related to the death of the prince, and personally went to Jingning City, checked the Shaanxi Valley where the incident occurred, and summoned relevant personnel for interrogation.

It took six or seven days, and Zhang Nianyun didn't find any useful clues. After talking secretly with Zhang Fengqi, the prefect of Pingliang, the two of them behind closed doors, Zhang Yushi's face looked better.

Zhang Yushi turned to Qiao Yunsheng, the secretary of the Criminal Department, and asked him for a warrant to Xu Liang to hand over the officers and soldiers of the guard who were involved in the Andong Zhongwei who were imprisoned.

Qiao Shangshu naturally agreed, the warrant was written in an instant, handed it over to Zhang Yushi, and hurriedly bypassed him and hurried out to the banquet.

Looking at the background of Qiao Shangshu's hurried departure, Zhang Yushi sometimes really wondered if it was a wrong decision for Emperor Chongzhen to send this master to Pingliang to investigate the case.

Because from beginning to end, Wang Tiqian's case was all Zhang Yushi's busy work.

The 400 yellow-faced and thin-skinned officers and soldiers of the guard were smoothly transferred to the cells of the prefect's yamen, where they were guarded by the officers and soldiers of the Beijing camp brought by the Qin Cha. Zhang Yushi was interrogated for several days in a row, but still found nothing.

Zhang Yushi was about to despair. Bumped into Qiao Shangshu once again going out to the banquet with a red face, Zhang Yushi finally couldn't help it. Stopped Qiao Shangshu and said, "Ministry, it's December." There was no progress in the case, and the lower officials were anxious. Ministry, do you have the time to care about the case? ”

Zhang Yushi stood in front of him, Qiao Shangshu couldn't help but stop helplessly, he glanced at Zhang Yushi carefully, patted Zhang Yushi's shoulder, and encouraged: "Young man, work hard, this official is optimistic about you." ”

Zhang Yushi is in his forties, and Qiao Shangshu is only in his early sixties. Qiao Shangshu, who is in his early sixties, patted Zhang Yushi, who was in his forties. Call him young man......

Zhang Yushi couldn't cry or laugh, and said sincerely: "Ministry, don't be joking. ”

Qiao Shangshu looked at Zhang Yushi seriously again, sighed, and said, "Lord Zhang, look at this official, this official is sixty-two years old this year, even if his body is strong, how many years can he stay in the court?" The saint sent an old man here, saying that he was investigating the case. In fact, it is to scatter the mind. If you push forward more than ten or twenty years to investigate this kind of thing, the old man will be as energetic as you, as for now. You're up to you. Master Zhang, you should boldly investigate, and the official will fully support you behind your back. ”

Zhang Yushi didn't expect Qiao Shangshu to think like this, although he didn't know the true intentions of Emperor Chongzhen. But Qiao Shangshu is a member of the second rank and an official of the six departments. The status and status of Zhang Yushi are more than a little higher, Qiao Shangshu insisted on saying so. Zhang Yushi can only obey orders.

"It's just that the subordinate officials are shallow in their studies and lack of ability, so I'm afraid that they will live up to your trust in the ministry." Zhang Yushi said.

"Alas," Qiao Shangshu frowned slightly, deciding to mention Zhang Yushi a few words, and asked, "What has Xu Liang been doing lately?" ”

"Like...... Didn't do anything. Zhang Yushi hesitated and said, "After the questioning that day, Xu Liang hid in the Xu Mansion and did not leave the mansion for several days. There are some strange noises in it from time to time, and I don't know what kind of fame he is doing in it. ”

Qiao Shangshu said: "Master Zhang, if you want to investigate a case, your eyes can't just fall on one person. Xu Liang is a ghost, he knows that you are staring at him, so he deliberately stayed in Xu's mansion honestly, not out of the gate, not out of the second door, and wasting time with us. However, he is the same acquaintance of Pingliang Mansion, but we are from the capital, he can afford it, we can't stay in Pingliang for three or five years to solve this case? ”

"Ministry, do you mean to let the lower officials expand the scope of the investigation?" Zhang Yushi asked.

"Instead of staring at the stagnant pool of Xufu, it is better to cast a net on a large scale in another place, whether it is good that Lai can always catch something." Qiao Shangshu said.

"Xiaguan understands." Zhang Yushi said, and then hesitated and asked: "But if there is still nothing to find in the end, then what should I do?" ”

Qiao Shangshu finally became a little impatient, raised his voice and reprimanded: "Lord Zhang, if the problem is not found in the end, it means that the death of the prince is purely accidental, and it can be reported according to the truth!" ”

After listening to Qiao Shangshu's words, Zhang Yushi seemed to have an understanding, but he thought that if he didn't find any evidence in the end, he couldn't put some accusations on Xu Liang, and couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

"I've seen Lord Yushi!" The officer shouted.

Zhang Yushi nodded slightly, suddenly remembered that the official in front of him was a little familiar, looked at it, and suddenly remembered that this official was the person who met him in the aisle a few days ago, and couldn't help asking: "Hey, you are the one, who is that?" ”

"Xiaguan Pingliang is the same as Lu Yifa." Lu Tongzhi smiled.

"Oh, it turns out that you are also a Pingliang acquaintance!" Zhang Yushi said suddenly.

Lu Tongzhi's face turned red, and he shouted angrily: "Lord Qincha is very right, the weight of this Tongzhi of the lower official naturally cannot be compared with Lord Xu. ”

Zhang Yushi listened, and realized that the relationship between the two acquaintances of Pingliang Mansion was not as friendly as he imagined. Suddenly, remembering Qiao Shangshu's words, since he wanted to frame Xu Liang, it would be best to start from Xu Liang's opponent, he looked at Lu Tongzhi and said, "Is Lord Lu free today?" In the process of investigating the case, the official encountered some problems, and was about to find someone to ask for advice. ”

Lu Tongzhi had a faint look of excitement on his face, and said: "Being able to share the worries of Lord Qincha is a blessing for the lower officials. ”

When Zhang Yushi heard this, there was a door in the secret passage, so he put on the gentlest smile and beckoned Lu Tongzhi to return to his room.

The guest of honor sat down, and the guards served tea, Zhang Yushi casually found a few small things in the interrogation process to discuss with Lu Tongzhi, and found that this Lu Tongzhi was very familiar with Pingliang's situation, and the meaning of the words seemed to be very unconvinced by another Tongzhi Xu Liang.

In order to further confirm his thoughts, Zhang Yushi deliberately said something to praise Xu Liang as a capable minister.

Sure enough, Lu Tongzhi's face turned red, and he shouted indignantly: "If Lord Qincha makes such an evaluation of Xu Liang, then it is a big mistake!" ”

"Oh, why is that?" Zhang Yushi asked in deliberate surprise.

"Hmph, Xu Liang, on the surface, is sanctimonious, but behind his back, he is a male thief and a prostitute!" Lu Tongzhi patted the table and scolded, "Lord Zhang is far away in the capital, maybe he doesn't know enough about Xu Liang's character, Xia Guan has been an official in Pingliang for more than ten years, and I have watched Xu Liang develop from a small town to the current Pingliang Tongzhi in just two years. Master Zhang should not be deceived by Xu Liang's honest appearance, in fact, Xu Liang is the most hypocritical and cunning, two-faced and three-faced. ”

"Hehe, it seems that Lord Lu has a deep prejudice against Lord Xu." Zhang Yushi chuckled, got up and closed the door.

Seeing this, Lu Tongzhi felt more relieved, and his voice became louder, and he scolded angrily: "It's not that the lower officials like to slander people behind their backs, if Lord Qincha has been dealing with him for a long time, he will find that what the lower officials said today is true." Let's talk about the cause of the death of the prince that Lord Qincha verified this time, hum, Xia Guan has been suspecting that it is likely to be Xu Liang's hands and feet. ”

Zhang Yushi was shocked, secretly happy in his heart, but asked with a straight face: "Lord Lu can't say this nonsense, there is no evidence, framing colleagues, but officialdom is taboo!" ”

"Hehe, do you still need to frame this? Even if you guess, you can guess. Lu Tongzhi sneered, took a sip, and said: "Xu Liang didn't return early, he didn't return late, but early in the morning on the day of the accident, he hurriedly led the army back to Pingliang, so eager to create alibi evidence, isn't there no three hundred taels of silver here?" ”

Zhang Yushi's heart was even more joyful, and he asked eagerly: "Why is Lord Lu so sure?" ”

Lu Tongzhi rolled his eyes, his nostrils turned to the sky, and hummed: "Intuition, a man's intuition!" ”

Zhang Yushi stumbled, almost lying on the ground without being frightened, annoyed in his heart, is this Lu Yifa extremely bored, and deliberately ran to dispel himself? However, Lu Tongzhi's next sentence dispelled Zhang Yushi's idea of driving Lu Tongzhi out.

"Lord Qincha should know Huang Ziren, the commander of Anton Zhongwei, but can you know the close relationship between Huang Ziren and Xu Tongzhi?" (To be continued......)