"Little ...... The villain is guilty! Facing Li Yuntian's sharp gaze, Yan Zhong only felt that his crotch was hot and he peed out involuntarily, and then knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Li Yuntian like pounding garlic, "Lord Wang, the villain is guilty, please forgive him!" ”

"Yan Zhong, your family only borrowed three hangs of money from Zhao Laosan's family, but in fifteen years, they occupied forty acres of land from the Zhao family, and also made the Zhao family's debt reach fifteen taels, do you know that the imperial court strictly prohibits loans with such high interest rates?" Li Yuntian looked at Yan Zhong with a panicked expression on his face, and asked in a deep voice.

It is worth mentioning that usury is different from ordinary private lending, and the imperial courts of all dynasties have allowed ordinary private lending, after all, anyone may encounter a difficult matter and need help from the outside world.

However, the imperial courts of all dynasties have adopted an attitude of cracking down on usury, the reason is very simple, usury is an economic behavior that affects economic order and social stability, although it can solve the temporary difficulties of borrowers, but in the long run, it usually makes loans bankrupt, which is definitely not what those high-ranking officials and dignitaries in the court are willing to see.

Therefore, the imperial courts of all dynasties have characterized usury as an illegal act, for example, one of the reasons for the raid of Jiafu in "Dream of Red Mansions" is usury.

Because usury is a non-governmental form of lending and is highly hidden, and the lenders are usually local powerful people, the local government turns a blind eye to usury and adopts an attitude of "the people do not raise it, and the officials do not hold it accountable."

Moreover, even if someone reported usury to the government, the government rarely held a court to try it, after all, those who lent money were inextricably linked with the officials in the yamen, and in the end it was only the borrower who complained about it.

Moreover, in ancient times, people adhered to the idea that "it is natural to repay debts", otherwise they would become "ungrateful" people in the mouth of lenders, so even if they were forced to ruin their families, few people went to the yamen to complain, after all, this is a matter of "you love me".

In fact, usury is different from ordinary private lending, it is not based on "you love me", if you are not forced to a desperate situation, who would think of borrowing usury, which makes the borrower stand on the edge of the cliff, and the people who can use the borrowed money to succeed are only a few.

For people who borrow usury and their families are ruined, the outside world usually uses "poor people must have something to hate" to evaluate, knowing that the front is likely to be a dead end but wanting to turn over by luck, and finally ending up with a tragic ending of drinking water to quench their thirst.

Although usury was prevalent among the people, the laws of the Ming Dynasty strictly forbade it, and the way of usury by Yan Jiatong guò forcibly seized the military land of Zhao Laosan's family, which not only destroyed the military field system of the guard, but also committed the crime of issuing usury.

Ming Taizu was born poor, in addition to the extreme contempt for businessmen, and also hated usury, so the Ming Dynasty usually imposed heavy punishments on usurers, but as time went by, private lending gradually became popular, and the government's crackdown on usury gradually calmed down.

However, now that the matter of the Yan family's usury has been involved in the case of Shangma Village, Li Yuntian, as the dignified King of Zhongwu in Daming and the left deputy of the Imperial Palace, must not ignore it, and will definitely conduct a thorough investigation, which undoubtedly makes Yan Zhong's crime even more guilty.

"Yan Zhong, do you know that according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, the crime you committed is a capital crime that will be beheaded after verification by the Criminal Department in the coming year." Looking at Yan Zhong, who looked extremely frightened, Li Yuntian said to him expressionlessly, "Not only you, but your family will also be implicated and exiled to the bitter cold and savage land of the frontier, I wonder if you can feel ashamed of your family at this time?" ”

"Lord Wang, the villain deserves it, but the villain's family is not involved in this matter, please check it out!" Yan Zhong's face changed greatly when he heard this, and he hurriedly raised his head and begged Li Yuntian, he was innocent of death, but he couldn't face the suffering of his family and was indifferent.

"This is the law of the court, and the king is helpless, and since they have benefited greatly from your crimes, they should also be punished." Li Yuntian suddenly sneered when he heard this, "I knew why I had to do it today!" ”

"Lord Wang, the villain's children are still young, and their parents are already old, so they really can't bear the wind and frost in the bitter cold land of the frontier, I hope the prince will be gracious." Yan Zhong was suddenly shocked in his heart, and kowtowed to Li Yuntian with his head touching the ground.

He knew that this was his last chance to give his family a chance to survive, otherwise he would definitely be thrown into the frontier desert, I heard that the environment was harsh, and people often died, and it was not a place for people to stay at all.

"This king also wants to open the net, but you are the mastermind of committing five murders this time, and you are wantonly issuing usury, this king really can't find a reason to be lenient." Li Yuntian shook his head when he heard this, said to Yan Zhong with an expressionless face, and then looked at Feng Yong, "Lord Feng, since this case has been examined clearly, there is no need for this king to hear the trial here again, tomorrow this king will leave for Xiaoliuqiu, and send a detailed official document to this king after the case is concluded." ”

"Congratulations to the prince!" Saying that, Li Yuntian stood up from the Taishi chair, Feng Yong and the others hurriedly got up and bowed to send them off, and they breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts, as long as Li Yuntian left, then the case in Shangma Village would be closed, and it would not cause any more waves.

"Wang ...... Lord Wang, the villain has something to report, little ...... The villain is not the mastermind but only acts according to orders, whether it is the military land that has been invaded or the usury that has been issued, the villain has been instructed by someone. Seeing that Li Yuntian was leaving, Yan Zhong was immediately shocked, and hurriedly knelt there and shouted at Li Yuntian, "Wang...... Lord Wang, the villain has repented, and I wish to ...... May you make meritorious deeds! ”

Hearing this, there was a sudden silence in the hall, Feng Yong and the others, who were originally relieved, looked at Yan Zhong in amazement, no one could have imagined that Yan Zhong would open his mouth at this time, as if he was going to confess someone, which made everyone feel bad all of a sudden.

"Yan Zhong, you don't have to talk nonsense, where does the prince have time to listen to your noise here." Then, Yang Yu, who looked surprised, was the first to react, his eyes flashed with a look of panic, he knew that Yan Zhong couldn't bear it and was ready to involve him, so he shouted at the guards on the side in a hurry, "Come on, quickly descend this person and drag it down, so as not to talk nonsense!" ”

However, the guards in the lobby did not move, they were Feng Yong's personal soldiers who belonged to the Yamen of the Fujian Xingdu Division, how could Yang Yu, the commander of the right guard of Jianning, command them.

The corners of Li Yuntian's mouth couldn't help but reveal a sneer, the reason why he told Yan Zhong about the consequences he was facing just now was to let Yan Zhong "bite" Yang Yu out and make a big scene, after all, he had come to Jianning City, so the Fujian Xingdu Division would at least have to lose a military attache of the third grade.

"Lord Wang, the villain is not talking nonsense, everything the villain does is instructed by the villain's brother-in-law, and everything the villain does is doing things for the villain's brother-in-law, otherwise how can the villain and the grass people do so many evil things!" Yan Zhong saw that Yang Yu wanted someone to drag him away, so he hurriedly shouted to Li Yuntian, "The prince is clear, the villain's brother-in-law is the mastermind, and the villain is just an accomplice!" ”

"You cunning and treacherous person, obviously you did those things, what do you have to do with this official, how can the prince be deceived by you!" Yang Yu's face suddenly turned pale, he pointed at Yan Zhong and scolded loudly, then bowed to Li Yuntian, bowed and said, "Lord Wang, this person has always had a bad heart, and in order to escape responsibility, he actually wants to slander and humble his position, please check it!" ”

"Oops!" Looking at the scene in front of him, Feng Yong suddenly sighed in his heart, and secretly shook his head helplessly, he knew that the matter was getting big now, once Yan Zhong, who knew that Yang Yu was fine, confessed to Yang Yu, it would be difficult for Yang Yu to escape this catastrophe.

"This king asks you, how many brothers-in-law do you have?" Li Yuntian looked at Yang Yu, who was looking excited, and asked Yan Zhong, who was kneeling there.

"Lord Wang, the villain has three brothers-in-law!" Yan Zhong didn't know what Li Yuntian meant by what he asked, so he answered honestly.

"Lord Yang, since he has three brothers-in-law, why do you think what he said is you?" Li Yuntian looked at Yang Yu after hearing this, and asked in a deep voice.

"This ......" Yang Yu didn't expect Li Yuntian to ask this question, and he was a little dumbfounded for a while and didn't know how to explain, and then found a reason, "Lord Wang, the two younger sisters of the lowly wife married into an ordinary family, and the lowly post had heard that Yan Zhong was doing evil outside under the banner of the lowly position, but he didn't move him because of his family affection, and now he wants to escape the blame, and he will definitely put the blame on the lowly one." ”

After finishing speaking, Yang Yu couldn't help but reach out and wipe the cold sweat oozing from his forehead, feeling extremely annoyed in his heart, thinking that Yan Zhong was a complete fool, if Yan Zhong's family was exiled to the bitter cold land of the frontier, he would definitely not stand idly by, and if he also fell, then no one would be able to help Yan Zhong's family at that time.

"Lord Wang, the villain has evidence to prove that everything the villain did was secretly instructed by the villain's brother-in-law." Yan Zhong was now out of the way, he didn't want the old and young in his family to go to a place with a harsh environment in the frontier, so he told Li Yuntian-for-tat, "Lord Mingjian, if it weren't for the villain's brother-in-law's instructions, the villain alone wouldn't be able to do those things!" ”

Because Li Yuntian's prestige has spread all over the Ming Dynasty, Yan Zhong has long heard of Li Yuntian's character, and knows that although Li Yuntian acts vigorously and resolutely, as long as the other party is willing to repent and honestly confess his crimes, Li Yuntian will be commuted.

This makes Yang Yu feel like grasping a life-saving straw, once he becomes an accomplice and actively reports and exposes Yang Yu's crimes, then Li Yuntian will definitely open up to him, even if he himself cannot escape death, he can also win benefits for his family.

Although Yang Yu is Yan Zhong's brother-in-law, the two can be said to be close relatives, but now that Yan Zhong is facing a life-and-death situation, he can't take care of Yang Yu, so he can only think about how to get a light deal for his family.

As for Yang Yu's ability to take care of Yan Zhong's family members in the future, Yan Zhong is not optimistic about this in his heart, even if Yang Yu has this intention, but it is thousands of miles away from the distribution place, and what he committed is a case supervised by Li Yuntian, Yang Yu's place to help his family is really limited.

Besides, Yan Zhong didn't think that Yang Yu could escape this time, just like Yang Yu's previous evaluation of Yan Zhong, although Yan Zhong was greedy, he was not stupid, he didn't think that Li Yuntian came all the way from Xiaoliuqiu just to take down a flat-headed commoner like him, otherwise Li Yuntian wouldn't have wasted time building Ning City at all.

Therefore, Yan Zhong felt that it was better for him to confess Yang Yu first and make meritorious contributions, otherwise once Yang Yu was also taken down by Li Yuntian, he would be completely finished, and he would not be able to help his family.