Yu Ying may not sympathize with Banyue, but as long as he opposes the prince, he is tantamount to helping Banyue.

In order to gain his support, the day before the trial, Liu Shangqing specially invited Yu Ying to dinner, and gave him a lovely Jiangnan girl.

He smiled.

So he will turn a blind eye to Liu Shangqing's attack today.

After all, Ban Yue is not a person from his own faction, and if the prince wants to get rid of him, it has nothing to do with him, so he can stand by and watch.

The three important trial officials, Fan Le, the chief judge of the Criminal Department, were cautious and did not dare to cross the thunder pool by half a step; Deputy Prime Minister Liu Shangqing, there is no doubt that he supports the prince; Another deputy judge, Yu Ying, the secretary of Dali Temple, received the beauties sent by Liu Shangqing, so he would naturally be inclined to the prince.

With such a layout, in the eyes of everyone, Ban Yue is dead.

First of all, the trial of the embezzlement of military salaries was initiated.

Three bookkeepers testified in court, saying that Banyue was insatiable and often embezzled public funds for his own.

"Is there any physical evidence?" Fan Le asked.

"The ledger was snatched by gangsters in Scaly Mountain, so there is none." The bookkeeper replied.

"There's no basis for that—"

Liu Shangqing impatiently interrupted Fan Lu's words: "Master Fan, there is physical evidence. Xiong Qi, the deputy commander of the coastal defense battalion, searched a large box of gold and silver treasures from Banyue's barracks. ”

Fan Le felt that the main control of the trial had been seized by Liu Shangqing, so he had to summon witnesses according to his wishes.

"Witness Xiong Ji—"

Xiong Ji let people carry the box to the field, very proud, it was the first time in his life to see so many big officials, he opened his eyes, and knelt down.

"Whoever is in the hall, declare his name."

"Xiaguan Xiong Ji, deputy marshal of the coastal defense battalion, has served diligently in the coastal defense battalion for more than 20 years, and has participated in more than 500 large and small wars from birth to death. In the Featherko—"

He generously stated that he had to take the opportunity to make these adults remember him. I have made such a big contribution, why do I always stop at the deputy position and can't be promoted, but let such a stinky little hairy child ride on my head?

The high-ranking adults were not interested in his statement.

Yu Ying didn't sleep very well last night, the beauty was sultry, the physical expenditure was too great, and she began to yawn.

Fan Le thought that Xiong Ji was seriously off topic, and interrupted him: "What are you here to testify to Banyue?" ”

"Ban Yue embezzled military salaries, and the amount was huge. This chest of gold and silver was found in his barracks...... "Xiong Ji angrily stated that Banyue was guilty of corruption.

Pan Yue listened, the corners of his mouth showing mockery.

This kind of cow ghost snake god is usually very good at pretending to be a turtle grandson, and once he finds an opportunity, he will desperately fall into the well.

"Banyue, you can plead guilty." Fan Le asked.

"I've never seen the contents of the box, how can I confess?" Banyue asked.

"Joke, how can you not see your own corrupt things! Don't fool yourself! Liu Shangqing refused.

Fan Le owed a debt and said to Liu Shangqing: "Lord Liu, the prisoner has the right to verify the evidence. ”

Liu Shangqing rolled his cloudy eyes, Fan Le was reminding himself that he didn't understand the profession, so he raised his hand.

"Quasi-"

Ban Yue got up and looked at the silver taels in the box, only to see that they were all official silver.

The corners of his mouth were raised, his eyes were full of confidence, and he asked Mr. Bookkeeper: "Since I became the general of the coastal defense battalion, the source of military salary is no longer allocated by the imperial court, but provided by the local treasury, is there such a thing?" ”

"It is true, the general put down the Yukou Rebellion, the coastal counties live and work in peace and contentment, and the local treasury has the spare capacity to pay military salaries." The bookkeeper replied.

"Whenever a soldier pays a soldier, the three gentlemen go to the local treasury to withdraw the silver taels, right?"

"Yes, General."

"Both of the silver withdrawn are broken silver for distribution, and the official silver has never been withdrawn, right?"

"Yes, General, the official silver is only used for the treasury stockpile, in case it is ready for the imperial court. There was no official silver in the treasury in the barracks. ”

Liu Shangqing felt that the momentum was not right, and shouted sternly: "Bold sinner, you can't say a lot of nonsense here, despise the court, and take the lead, and don't kneel!" ”

"Mighty—"

"Do! Quiver! Do......"

Fan Le had to pat the hall and drink to make Banyue kneel.

Ban Yue knelt down, full of confidence, and continued to ask rhetorically: "May I ask your Excellencies, since such a large box of official silver, since there is no one in the barracks, if I want to be corrupt, do I have to move it from the local treasury?" There is a box of tax silver missing from the local treasury, that is a big deal, is there no record? ”

Since taking over the local administration, in order to ensure the integrity of officials, it has specially stipulated that the entry and exit of the two banks in the treasury must be approved and signed by the officials at the highest level in the treasury, and the treasury management, the treasury account manager, and the cashier shall sign at the same time, and the withdrawer shall sign before the handover.

These records are difficult to falsify and erase, let alone tax money earmarked for special purposes.

Therefore, this chest of silver will find its source.

When Xiong Ji heard this, he secretly complained to himself, he didn't know that the source of military salary had been changed to the local treasury, and he always thought that it was directly allocated by the imperial court, and it was natural that the money stored in the barracks silver room should also be official silver.

So when he offered this plan at that time, he directly used the prince's hand edict to borrow a box of silver taels from the nearest silver treasury.

At that time, the bank officials were very embarrassed, saying that they could not come up with so much money for a while. Xiong Ji said angrily, don't pretend to be poor, this is what the prince wants, do you dare to disobey the order? As he spoke, he showed the prince's edict.

The officer signed a withdrawal slip for him.

What's bad is that when the silver two were handed over from the warehouse, he stupidly signed his name, so wouldn't it be possible to find out at a check?

"Xiong Ji, I hope you didn't sign your name, right?" Banyue asked sarcastically.

"Xiaguan...... Of course the lower officials will not ...... No, what does this have to do with the lower officials? Xiong Ji stammered, thinking to himself, the prince must be able to help him settle this matter, isn't it just a box of silver taels? When the time comes, return it, erase the record, and you'll be done.

Ban Yue seemed to understand his thoughts, and said, "Do you see if there is anything special about the silver taels?" ”

Xiong Ji looked carefully, and saw a strange number engraved on the official silver, which was very hidden, and it was impossible to see it if he didn't look closely.

"This is the mark of tax silver, and the mark of each batch of tax silver is different, and it is consistent with the record in the account books. In the treasury, only tax silver will not be removed and replaced with local broken silver, and all must be handed over to the state treasury. You say, "Why should I take the tax money if I want to take the silver?" Otherwise, isn't it self-defeating? ”

Xiong Ji's legs were weak, and he had never been so afraid when he went to battle, because this meant that unless he returned the box of silver intact and destroyed the records of borrowing silver, this box of silver would be the iron evidence that he had framed Banyue.

But this silver will be confiscated by the criminal department, can it be returned?

If the truth is revealed, if the prince wants to protect himself, he will definitely throw himself out to take the blame, won't he be completely finished?

Now I finally understand why Banyue can be a general, but he can't.

"Smack!"

Fan Le picked up the startled wood and patted it: "Xiong Ji, is this silver tael really as Banyue said, it is engraved tax silver?" ”

Xiong Ji shuddered.

In the end, he couldn't let go, he had the support of the prince, what was he afraid of, so he said inwardly: "This is what Banyue embezzled, how can the lower officials know?" ”

"Banyue, do you plead guilty?" Fan Le asked sternly again.

"I cannot confess my guilt, this box of silver was planted by a traitor. According to the marks on the silver, you can find out the origin of the box of silver, and you can also find out who proposed it, and the truth will be revealed. Banyue flatly denied his guilt.

"Someone, send someone to investigate." Fan Le commanded.

"Slow." Liu Shangqing objected, "The capital is thousands of miles away from the coastal counties, and it takes too long to verify it back and forth, so we will continue to try the case, and it will not be too late to postpone the investigation of this matter." ”

He realized that the box of silver could never be checked.

Today, I want to strike while the iron is hot, convict Ban Yue in one go, and put him down, so that he can no longer be allowed to check the origin of the silver.

Xiong Ji breathed a sigh of relief, with the old prime minister in charge, he was not afraid of not being able to kill Ban Yue, then the matter of verifying the silver two would be over, and Ban Yue would not have a chance to defend his corruption case.