Chapter 185

In the sultry afternoon, the Qianqing Palace is also as hot as a stove.

The palace maids and eunuchs moved the huge ice blocks stored in winter out of the cellar and placed them in a large copper basin to make the outside of Zhengde's dormitory a little cooler. The four palace maids sweated like rain and fanned behind Zhengde, Zhengde didn't want to move, sitting on the chair and looking at the large number of folds on the case in a daze.

Liu Jin and Zhang Yong and others stood on the side with their heads bowed, the sound of cicadas outside the hall was hoarse, and the noise made people upset, Zhengde finally couldn't help it, stretched out his hand to pull the folds and turns on the case to the side and got up and said: "Xiao Jinzi, Xiao Yongzi, accompany me out of the hall to breathe, this hall is too stuffy, the back garden should be cooler." ”

Liu Jin hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the sun outside is scorching and hot, and there is no living wind, so it will be hotter when you go out; Besides, Song Qianhu will come to see the driver in a while, saying that there is something important to report. ”

Zhengde sighed and said, "Song Nan is afraid that he hasn't come to see me for more than ten days, what is he busy with?" ”

Liu Jin said in a low voice: "As far as the slave maid knows, Song Qianhu has been investigating a big case recently, and his whereabouts are extremely secretive, and the slave and maid sent someone to find him to enter the palace to accompany the emperor, but he didn't see anyone else." ”

Zhengde said in surprise and envy: "Investigate a big case? I envy him a little, he runs freely outside every day, where is it like me, he is locked in this palace every day, he used to want to go out of the palace and sneak out, but now he can't go anywhere, I feel that I am a bit like the money leopard you got here, and I have nowhere to use my strength every day. ”

Liu Jin said with a smile: "You are the emperor, this kind of investigation is naturally handled by the courtiers, you only need to move your mouth, and the courtiers will be like a proper one." ”

Zhengde sighed and said, "I don't want this proper post, what case did Song Nan investigate?" ”

Liu Jin said softly: "Your Majesty, the Jinyi Guard Yamen is handling the case, how can the slaves and maids ask a lot, but it is said to be a shocking case, Song Qianhu is also very cautious, I am afraid that I will report this case to the emperor today, the emperor is not in a hurry, and he will know when Song Nan arrives." ”

Zhengde sat down, wiped his sweat, took a few sips of cold herbal tea, took a book and looked at it a few times, and then threw it aside, holding his cheeks.

Dark clouds surged up in a corner of the sky, like splashing ink quickly spread across the sky, just now the sun was still shining like fire, and in the blink of an eye, the sky was full of dark clouds, which is a common sight in summer afternoons, and torrential rain will pour down in the blink of an eye.

The street vendors panicked to gather their stalls, pedestrians also hurried to hurry, a cool wind blew, the streets were full of dust and leaves, the first bean-sized raindrops fell a moment later, a boom thunder sounded, instantly, the whole capital was shrouded in heavy rain, the street was a chicken flying and dog jumping, and the people who couldn't avoid it became a soup chicken in an instant.

Liu Jin hurriedly urged the eunuchs and palace maids to close the doors and windows, and the store suddenly became dark, the heat dissipated, and there was a slight chill.

Zhengde got up and was just about to ask Song Nan why he hadn't arrived, when he heard the footsteps at the gate of the palace, it seemed that many people were entering the hall, and Qiu Ju's deep voice waiting at the door sounded outside: "Zhengnanfang Jinyi Wei Qianhu, the Han general Song Nan in front of the palace asks to see him." ”

Zhengde perked up and shouted, "Call him in." ”

"Song Nan sees the driver!" Qiu Ju shouted, the bamboo curtain was raised, and Song Nan, who was soaked with red tassels and red armor, walked in in full armor, leaving patches of water stains on the ground he walked through, but he looked excited.

"You're here, I'm bored." Zhengde stepped forward with a smile and stopped Song Nan, who was about to salute, and said, "Excuse me, if you kneel, my carpet will be completely wasted." ”

Song Nan said with a smile: "Forgive the minister for being rude, the heavy rain is pouring down, and the minister has become a chicken in the soup." ”

Zhengde smiled: "You fully armed are not too hot, Liu Jin, go and fetch a basin of water for Song Qianhu to wipe it." ”

Liu Jin's face was slightly embarrassed, he actually wanted to serve Song Nan, he was really unhappy, Song Nan waved his hand and said: "How dare you work Father-in-law Liu, give me a towel, I'll wipe my face." ”

The palace maid hurriedly found a dry towel, Song Nan wiped it, wiped the rain on his head and face, Zhengde looked at Song Nan with a smile and cleaned up, and then said: "You haven't seen anyone for more than ten days, I sent people to look for you, what did you do?" I got a money leopard, it's fun, I want you to come and see, but I can't find you, I'm a busy person. ”

Song Nan said: "The emperor forgives the sin, the minister has not been idle for more than ten days, and the minister has gone to catch mice for the emperor." ”

"Catch mice?" Zhengde was surprised.

Song Nan nodded, turned around and shouted, "Father-in-law Xu, come and see the driver." ”

Xu Zhi, who was covered with his head and face, hurriedly came in from outside, and his whole body was like a soup chicken, and as soon as he entered the door, he fell to the ground, kowtowing again and again, and shouted: "The emperor forgives the sin, the slave and the maid deserve to die, and the slave and the maid are dead." ”

Zhengde was startled, he didn't recognize Xu Zhi's appearance, Song Nan reached out and ripped off the black scarf covering Xu Zhi's hat and face, Zhengde was shocked: "Xu Zhi? How are you? What happened? ”

Xu Zhi didn't dare to answer, he kowtowed desperately, and his forehead gradually became swollen, Zhengde turned to Song Nan and said, "What the hell is going on?" ”

Song Nan said: "The minister found out a big case of embezzling the treasury silver of the Internal Affairs Bureau, and thirteen of the twenty prisons of the Inner Court were involved, and the amount involved was as high as three million treasury silver, and Xu Zhi, the imperial horse supervisor, was one of the main culprits. ”

Zhengde gasped and exclaimed, "This ...... Where does this begin? ”

Song Nan reported the truth to Zhengde in 1510, and attached the list of Wang Yue and others' family properties that were rewritten after Xu Zhi's explanation.

"Wang Yue Fan Heng is so bold that he treats the Internal Affairs Office as a cash cow, how much silver is still in the treasury?"

Song Nan said: "According to Xu Zhi's confession, the deposit of silver is less than 200,000 taels, which is barely enough for the palace within the year. ”

Liu Jin interjected: "No wonder Wang Yue has been dragging the 500,000 taels of silver that the slave maid does not allow to repair the leopard room, it turns out that the treasury has long been empty, and it has all fallen into their own pockets. ”

Zhengde was furious, stretched out his feet and kicked Xu Zhi, and scolded: "What are such rebellious minions still kept? Don't you want to drag it out and cut it? ”

Xu Zhi was so frightened that he hugged his head and cried, looking at Song Nan, his eyes were full of pleading.

Song Nan said: "Your Majesty, Xu Zhi can't be killed." ”

Zhengde said angrily: "Why can't you kill it? And you will intercede for such people? ”

Song Nan said: "Your Majesty, Xu Zhi is an important witness, Wang Yue, Fan Heng and others embezzled the treasury silver, but what they did was extremely secretive, not only did there be no trace of what was done on the accounts of the Internal Affairs Office, but also the family property such as fields, houses, shops and other family properties fell under the names of others, and in the absence of evidence, they would definitely deny it; The emperor must not forget that Wang Yue, Fan Heng and others are figures who have held the power of the inner court since the first emperor ascended the throne, and there must be many people in the inner court and the outer court who are connected with him. ”

Zhengde said angrily: "Passive? Do they dare to rebel? The world is mine, and what I say doesn't count. ”

Song Nan waved his hand and said: "Your Majesty, having said that, don't forget, you have just been on the throne for only three months, and the coffin of the former emperor has not yet been buried. The civil officials of the cabinet and the six ministries, the relatives can't explain it, we can't offend a large group of ministers in order to deal with Wang Yue and Fan Heng, right? ”

Zhengde frowned and said, "Do you just let them get away?" ”

Song Nan said: "Of course not, on the contrary, to deter the ministers through this matter, let the ministers know the wisdom of the emperor, this Xu Zhi can not be killed, he is the best Lu witness, he knows everything clearly, and his repentant attitude is more sincere, the 400,000 taels of silver embezzled have also been handed over, the reason why I came late is to load his silver into the palace and transport it to the palace, Xihuamen has a special service on duty, I just waited for the replacement of the servants before entering the palace, I just don't want to startle the snake." ”

Zhengde said: "Where is the silver?" ”

Song Nan pointed out, Zhang Yong quickly lifted the bamboo curtain, only to see that under the corridor outside, more than a dozen carts lined up for a long time, the rain cloth on it had been lifted, and all the big wooden boxes on it were full, and they must have been full of silver.

Zhengde walked out quickly, only to see Song Nan draw a knife to split a wooden box, there was a loud noise, and a large pile of silver fell to the ground along the side of the car, full of silver light.

Zhengde smacked his tongue and thought for a while: "Then according to your meaning, how should we arrange it?" ”

Song Nan said: "The minister has assigned people to monitor all the people involved, tomorrow morning, the emperor will try the case in court, and the minister will start to arrest the relevant people early tomorrow morning, and then the human and material evidence will be presented one by one in front of the ministers, and Fan Heng Wang Yue will be taken down in court, so as to prevent someone from begging for mercy, and show the emperor's majesty and sacredness, so that the ministers can see how the emperor strategizes and decides to win." ”

Zhengde said happily: "Good way, you can think of it, so I will also raise my eyebrows in front of the cabinet scholars and the officials of the six ministries." ”

Song Nan smiled and said: "That's what the minister meant, this is a good opportunity for the emperor to establish authority, forgive the minister for boldness, for this plan, the minister can also be regarded as an overstep of the investigation, it was a small case, involving a real estate of Wang Yue, the more the minister investigated, the more suspicious he felt, so he secretly followed, I didn't expect to dig out such a shocking case, and the minister didn't expect it." In the palace tomorrow, some people will definitely say that the minister, a small thousand households, should not be involved in this case. ”

Liu Jin said: "That's right, the emperor might as well give Song Nan an identity, so he said that the emperor specially allowed Song Nan to investigate the case, so they can't slander Song Nan based on this." ”

Zhengde said: "Then I will give you a special purpose." ”

Song Nan said: "No, the decree must go through the celebrant supervisor, wouldn't it be a surprise to the grass." ”

Zhengde thought for a while, stretched out his hand and tore off the jade pendant on his waist and handed it over: "My jade pendant is a token, and I said that I didn't want to startle the snake, so I could only make an edict and use the jade pendant as a basis." ”

Song Nan stretched out his hand and said, "Thank you, Emperor." Also, since Xu Zhi handed over the stolen goods, he is willing to testify, and he also asks the emperor to give leniency when he sends it, which is also the condition I promised him. ”

Zhengde said: "Okay, if he is lucky, he will leave him a dog's life." ”