Zhang Jie, the right deputy of the Inspectorate, Tang Shiji, the right attendant of the Criminal Department, and Huang Jingfang, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, are the officials of the Three Law Divisions who are responsible for reviewing the impeachment of Huang Liji, the first assistant.

Tang Shiji is a native of Zhejiang, very close to the Donglin Party, Huang Jingxing is a native of Quanzhou, and Huang Zheng of the Huang family in Quanzhou who was killed is a distant relative. The purpose of these two people's investigation is to find Huang Lixing's various incriminating evidence, and then bring down Huang Liji. Zhang Jie is the right deputy capital of the imperial history, and he is a little close to Wen Tiren, so it doesn't matter whether he finds out the truth or not. Because in Wen Tiren's opinion, Huang Liji is definitely going to fall, and there is no need to work hard.

The case involved Huang Liji's family in the Daimyo's hometown, and in order to avoid interference from all sides of the imperial court, the place of trial was placed in the Daimyo's Mansion.

Because of the fight in the court again, it took some time to select the judges, and when Zhang Jie and the other three arrived at the Daimyo's Mansion, seven or eight days had passed.

At the city gate of the Daimyo's Mansion, looking at Cao Xiong, a thousand households of the Jinyi Guard who greeted him at the city gate with Huang Jiong, the prefect of the Daimyo, Huang Jingfang and Tang Shiji's faces became gloomy.

"Huang Jiong, the prefect of the Ming Mansion of Xiaguan Daming, greets the three envoys." The daimyo prefect Huang Jiong respectfully saluted, two years ago, he was still the prefect of Zhuozhou, accompanied Lu Xiangsheng to recruit troops, and now he has been promoted to the daimyo prefect.

"Huang Fuzun is polite, and I will have to rely on it more in the future."

The three of them exchanged a few words with Huang Jiong, and Huang Jingfang looked at Cao Xiong, a thousand households of Jinyiwei, and couldn't help but say: "The imperial court ordered Jinyiwei to cooperate with the three law divisions to investigate the case, why did Cao Qianhu arrive first?" ”

Cao Xiongpi smiled and said, "Come and make some preparations earlier, so that you can better cooperate with a few adults." ”

Huang Jingfang pursed his lips and no longer paid attention to Cao Xiong. To be honest, as long as it is a civil official, there are few people who like Jinyiwei. Therefore, when Zhu Youzhen ascended the throne, no matter what faction the civil officials were, they all unanimously demanded the removal of the factory guards.

Several people traveled all the way, rested in the pavilion for one night, and only borrowed the hall of the government to formally try the case the next day.

According to the impeachment of Shi Fan, Huang Liji's family members have repeatedly accepted bribes from Wang Dengku, which facilitates Wang Dengku's business, and Shi Fan even suspects that Huang Liji's family has dry shares in Wang Dengku's business.

Wang Dengku had already been executed by Hong Chengchou, and those who were executed by his family were executed, and those who were demoted to slavery were enslaved. Shi Fan painstakingly investigated that there was a steward of the Wang family who was not dead, and was sent to the Xishan Coal Mine as a mining slave, and now he has been taken to the Daimyo's Mansion.

The three of them ascended to the hall and sat down side by side in the hall, while Cao Xiong sat on one side.

The presiding judge, Tang Shiji, was shocked and ordered to bring the prisoner.

"Three adults, that Wang Xi suddenly fell ill and died in prison three days ago." Li Jiang, the head of the express class of the Daimyo Mansion who was in charge of taking people, said.

"Dead? How did he die, was it suicide or homicide? ”

The three of them were all shocked and angry, glanced at each other, and then looked at Cao Xiong, who was sitting indifferently on the side, and Tang Shiji asked.

"It's not suicide or homicide, according to the cell boss, it seems that he has a sudden illness, and when he died, he howled for half the night, and was sent to Langzhong, but he couldn't find any symptoms, and he examined the body, and it wasn't poisoned." Li Jiangdao.

"Cao Qianhu should know about this, right?" Huang Jingfang looked at Cao Xiong.

Cao Xiong buttoned his nostrils and wrote lightly: "I know, I went to see the corpse after the incident, and I should have had intestinal carbuncles." ”

"Carbuncles?" The three of them will be skeptical, but there is no way to do it.

"Then bring Huang An, the steward of the Huang Mansion, here." Tang Shiji sighed.

Wang Xi, who knew the inside story, died, and this matter was either done by Huang Liji's family or by this Cao Xiong. Now that there is no witness, I can only see if I can open the gap from Huang Liji's manager Huang An.

"That, when Huang An went out the day before yesterday, he fell into the river and died, and he was buried." Li Jiang bowed his head and said.

"What?" Huang Jingfang stood up angrily.

Nima's, it's okay to say that one person died, but two people died one after another, which is clearly killing people and killing people, and doing it so unscrupulously, for fear that others won't know!

Arrogant, it's really too arrogant, it's clearly calling for the three trial officials!

It was Zhang Jie, the right deputy who didn't care much about the outcome of the trial, and his face changed at this moment.

"Cao Qianhu, you also know about this, right?" Tang Shiji looked at Cao Xiong and asked coldly.

Wang Xi is dead, as long as Huang An himself does not confess, the crime of colluding with Wang Dengku will not be done, after all, Huang An is the family of Shoufu, and it is impossible to torture him to extract a confession. From this point of view, it cannot be done by the Huang family. Then it can only be the Jinyi Wei Qianhu Cao Xiong in front of him!

Why did Cao Xiong do such a thing? Could it be the emperor's order, the emperor doesn't want Huang Liji to step down and wants to protect Huang Liji?

Cao Xiong raised his head and looked at the three of them with a smile: "I know, I also went to examine the corpse, and it was really drowned." Alas, seeing that the three adults were about to come to try the case, it was really unexpected that such a thing would happen. ”

The three of them were speechless, and they had the intention to accuse and scold a few words, but they didn't know how to speak. The other party is Jinyi Wei Qianhu, who can take the other party without evidence?

Wang Dengku is a traitorous businessman who has something to do with him, if it is verified, not to mention that Huang Liji will not be the first assistant, and he will be robbed of his house and questioned. Now the biggest charge is gone.

The three of them looked at each other, and they all felt that there might not be any results in this trial.

The next case was that Huang Liji's family forcibly occupied people's fields and beat people to death, and Tang Shiji ordered him to bring the bitter master.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the son of the grass man was not killed, but he accidentally fell to the ground, knocked his head on the stone and lost blood to death." The old farmer named Zhao Xuan shuddered.

"You don't have to be afraid, we are envoys, we are sent by the imperial court to investigate the case, as long as you tell the truth, the imperial court will definitely make the decision for you and avenge your son!" Tang Shiji was kind and seductive.

Zhao Xuan's eyes were blank for a moment, but he quickly lowered his head: "Lord Hui, the son of the grass people did fall to his death, and it has nothing to do with others, and the grass people can't blame others." ”

Huang Jingfang said angrily: "You have to think clearly, false accusations are punishable by imprisonment!" Don't tell the truth yet? doesn't even avenge your son's revenge, is there a father like you in the world? ”

"Lord Huang, it's not right for you to say that!" Cao Xiong stood up, "There is no complaint, someone said that his son was killed, and then summoned him." You are bluffing and scaring like this, obviously forcing him to lie, is it true that Lord Huang wants to make an unjust case? ”

Huang Jingfang said angrily: "Nonsense! Cao Qianhu, this case is the presiding judge of the Three Law Divisions, please don't intervene. ”

Cao Xiong sneered: "The Holy Decree is clear, the Three Law Divisions are in charge, and the Jinyi Guard assists." Since it is assistance, the official has the right to speak. ”

"Okay, okay, don't quarrel with your own people." Zhang Jie played a round road.

Who is his own person? Huang Jingfang twisted his head.

"Lord Tang, since the owner said so, forget about this case, and replace it with another one." Zhang Jie said with a smile.

Tang Shiji nodded: "Pass it on!" ”

The courtiers collectively impeached Huang Liji's family on more than a dozen charges, including bullying men and women, occupying people's land, and stealing by tricks. In fact, this kind of thing is not only done by Huang Liji's family, but also by most of the gentry family, otherwise how could they annex so many fields and have so much wealth after being an official for a few years? Otherwise, why do so many people want to test for fame?

However, a personal testimony was summoned, but they all flatly denied that they had been oppressed by the Huang family, but on the contrary, they praised the Huang family, saying that the Huang family repaired bridges and paved roads, helped villagers in disaster years, and helped the needy, which was simply a great benevolent person, and Tang Shiji and the three were dumbfounded.

Is this Nima investigating the evidence of Shoufu Huang Liji's crimes, or is he here to make a name for him?

However, these summoned people are not criminals, and there are thousands of households in Jinyi, Cao Xiong, so they can't order these witnesses to be tortured, right?

The trial lasted for three full days, and even one of Huang Liji's charges was not determined, which made the three of them very helpless.

"Yuanfu is really honest and honest, and he is very strict in governing his family!" Cao Xiong stood up and said with a smile, "The three adults have also been tried for so many days, and the people who should be summoned have also been summoned, is it time to close the case?" ”

Tang Shiji and the three nodded silently, the matter has come to this point, there is no way.

Several people signed the results of the trial, and then Cao Xiong sent his men back to Beijing on fast horses.

After reading the results of the trial, the officials were in disbelief.

"There must be something strange in it, please send someone else to retry it!" Yu Shi Shi Fan shouted in the court.

Zhu Youzhen turned his face: "Bold Shi Fan, he dared to frame Shoufu, come to someone, take it down for me, and go to prison!" ”

"Weichen is wronged, Your Majesty, Huang Liji really seduced the traitor king to the treasury." Shi Fan screamed sadly, but was dragged down by the two Han generals.

The other officials in the court did not dare to intercede for him.

Zhu Youzhen continued to issue an order, and those officials who had impeached Huang Liji were all taken down for questioning, and waited for them to be dismissed or demoted. How can you say that impeachment will be impeached, and if impeachment fails, you will naturally be blamed!

For a while, there was a lot of noise in the court, and many officials fell into a panic. Didn't the emperor already dislike Huang Liji, why did he want to protect him? Many officials were deeply puzzled.

Fortunately, we didn't fire at Huang Liji! Wen Tiren and Zhou Yanru looked at each other, and they both felt happy. But he still didn't guess His Majesty's thoughts, Wen Tiren felt very sorry.

Since the impeachment charges were not established, Zhu Youzhen issued an order to comfort Huang Liji, the first assistant, and asked Huang Liji to return to the cabinet to look at the matter. Who knew that Huang Liji became reserved, and continued to resign, saying that he was impeached by so many people, and he was deeply ashamed, and he had no shame to set up a court again.

Zhu Youzhen sent Cao Huachun, the superintendent of ceremonies, and Cao Huachun, the commander of the East Factory, to Huang Liji's house in person. Cao Huachun didn't say much, and directly put a stack of papers in front of Huang Liji. After Huang Liji saw it, cold sweat rolled down his cheeks.

The records on the paper are full of confessions, all of which are evidence of the Huang family's crime of bullying men and women to occupy the fields, and the top one is the housekeeper Huang An's confession of collusion with Wang Dengku, and eating dry shares in the Wang family's store.

When these confessions saw the light of day, it was the day when Huang Liji was ruined.

Looking at the paper, Huang Liji's body trembled violently.

"Motosuke, Your Majesty knows that your family did these things behind your back, and you don't know about it in the cabinet. Your Majesty expressed your understanding and has asked Jinyiwei to clean up for you, so you don't have to worry about it in the future. Cao Huachun comforted.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, the old minister will go to the cabinet tomorrow!" Huang Li said with great difficulty.

Huang Liji knew that from now on, he could only listen to the emperor in everything. The dignified cabinet chief assistant has since become the emperor's eagle dog, and any struggle for power and dignity of the prime minister will become a joke.

Huang Liji has returned to the cabinet, and the storm in the court has stopped, so many impeachments can't help Huang Liji, and it is useless to impeach again, but it will endanger itself, and the officials are not stupid.

Seeing that Huang Liji was safe and sound in so many impeachments, coupled with the rumors faintly heard, the officials knew that Huang Liji was very prosperous, and some officials came to the door of the Huang family one after another in an attempt to surrender.

Most of the officials who were dismissed for impeaching Huang Liji were members of the Donglin Party, and many officials took refuge in Huang Liji.

This time it was not against the Donglin Party, but at several other cabinet elders.

In the recent impeachment storm, several cabinet elders were impeached, except for Xu Guangqi, who was not very in charge of affairs, and was trusted by the emperor and received fewer impeachments, the other three cabinet elders were impeached in large numbers.

There are not many officials in the Ming Dynasty who have been truly honest for more than 200 years, and as long as they look for charges and stains, they will definitely be found.

After being impeached, Shi Fenglai, Li Guopu, and Zhang Ruitu, the three elders, also defended themselves and resigned, and then went home to think about it behind closed doors.

In the eyes of the courtiers, Shoufu Huang Liji is fine, and Shi Fenglai and the other three pavilion elders are naturally fine.

Who knew that Zhu Youzhen suddenly approved the resignation of the three elders.

What kind of operation is this?

The courtiers were all confused, and Shi Fenglai and the three of them were even more confused.

Zhu Youzhen did not treat them badly, let them all be honored according to their original grades, rewarded with gold, silver and satin, and let the brocade guards escort them back to their hometown. As for the impeached crimes, they are ignored and deciless are preserved.

The reason why Zhu Youzhen took down these three people was to balance the court and calm the anger of many officials, these three people were eunuchs, and they all had a slander against Wei Zhongxian, and they were stained in terms of character, which was despised by many officials, which was also the main reason why many officials impeached them.

Winning these three people will calm the emotions of the officials, and the war with Jiannu is imminent, and Zhu Youzhen doesn't want the court to quarrel all the time.

In the cabinet, it is enough to keep Huang Liji as an obedient eunuch, and there is no need to get so much.

At the beginning, Zhu Youzhen had hope for Shi Fenglai, hoping that he could take the initiative to take refuge in himself, but Shi Fenglai obviously didn't want to be seen as a minister, although he wanted to be the first assistant, he refused to be honest and obedient. And Shi Fenglai is too smart and not easy to control, so just take it, Zhu Youzhen doesn't want to bother too much about him.

Now, there are only Huang Liji and Xu Guangqi left in the cabinet, and Xu Guangqi is still not very in charge. There are so many things in the entire Ming Dynasty, Huang Liji can't manage it alone, and the election of a new cabinet scholar has become a top priority.