There are still a lot of officials who have gone out from the Shanghai Bo Division, one is the third grade of the left waiter, and the other is the fifth rank of the lang. This is still only the central officials, and there are a total of five local officials from the third rank, the fourth rank, and the fifth grade.

The Shanghai Shipping Division was established relatively late, and the Guangzhou Municipal Shipping Division, which was the first to be established, how many officials should go out of other municipal shipping divisions?

In the interrogation room, Cao Benshu knocked on the table twice, "Explain it all." ”

Du Xingxue said: "At the beginning of the opening of Shanghai Port, it was Wu Ge Lao (Wu Yingji) who was in charge. At that time, the investigation was relatively strict, and Wu Ge Lao had just been reused by the emperor, and he was bent on meritorious promotion, and he did not rub sand in his eyes. Later, Wu Ge Lao was promoted, and the chief official of the City Department was also replaced by Xiao Zhifeng. "Xiao Shufeng is a scholar of Yongyang Town, Zhao Han raised troops in Wuxing Town, and the second territory of expansion is Yongyang Town.

The first batch of martyrs of the Datong Army was placed in the ancestral hall of the Xiao family in Yongyang Town. This Xiao Qifeng can definitely be called a meritorious hero from the dragon, a proper official of the noble faction of the DPRK.

Du Xingxue continued: "At the beginning of Xiao Jifeng's tenure, he was relatively honest as an official. But his son Xiao Jingzhang was dragged into the water by the maritime merchant Wu Wengang. Xiao Jingzhang is a gentleman, he doesn't like to read, he doesn't like to be an official, he worked in Shanghai at the age of sixteen or seventeen, and he likes to compare with the young master of the rich businessman family. This guy got Wu Wengang's money, and ganged up with several officials to evade taxes. After the matter was revealed, Xiao Qifeng was worried about his official hat, so he helped his son suppress the case. ”

"The case is pressed when he says it," Cao Benshu asked.

Du Xingxue said with a smile: "The amount at that time was not large, and Xiao Qifeng knew a lot of nobles, so the official in charge of investigating the case turned a blind eye and ordered Wu Wengang to pay back taxes and quietly exposed it. For the sake of a small case, why should you offend the minister of the dragon who came out of Yongyang Town? Cao Benshu asked, "Xiao Qifeng was pulled into the water like this"

Du Xingxue said, "Not yet. His son Xiao Jingzhang was crippled because he was jealous of the wind. Wu Wengang helped spend money to settle the situation and let the victim turn over the supply and marketing case. Afterwards, Wu Wengang invited Xiao Qifeng to a banquet, but Xiao Qifeng had to go to the appointment because of his feelings. Wu Wengang entangled the father and son of the Xiao family, sent Wen to play, and sent women, and they became angry when they came and went. "Wu Wengang is not just about tax evasion," Cao Benshu asked.

"Of course it's not all," Du Xingxue said, "Wu Wengang opened a money bank, and all the dirty money collected by corrupt officials in Shanghai was stored in Wu Wengang's money bank." Moreover, without access certificates, it is impossible for the imperial court to find the stolen money. Relying on this, Wu Wengang's money bank has grown rapidly, and many businessmen have asked Wu Wengang for loans. Wu Wengang also took the opportunity to invest in a number of firms, about more than a dozen maritime trade companies, in which Wu Wengang has shares. Cao Benshu asked again: "Why are these criminal account books all in your hands, what are you doing?"

Du Xingxue said: "I am originally from Beizhili, and my family fled to Shandong. Shandong also became chaotic, and continued to flee south, and his father and brother died of illness one after another on the way. My father had some friendship with Xuan Hu Gong (Xu Guangqi) in his early years, so I brought my family to Shanghai. At that time, the Xu family was ordered by the imperial court to divide the family and move, and the descendants of Xuanhu Gong were busy dividing the family property, where could they take care of those of us who defected? Not even a single one, and I almost starved to death on the streets. "Go on." Cao Benshu said.

Du Xingxue said: "At that time, Shanghai County was expanding the recruitment of officials, and I was going to be a junior official, but I suddenly fell ill a few days before the exam. After recovering from my illness, because I knew Taixi mathematics, a few years after the primary school in Shanghai was opened, many wealthy businessmen were looking for teachers to make up lessons for their children, so I applied for the west seat of Wu Wengang's family. ”

Cao Benshu said: "Being Mr. Xixi is just a temporary move, why didn't I go to the exam again?"

Du Xingxue explained, "My father and brother have passed away, and I am the only one to serve my mother, and I am too busy as a clerk in the new dynasty, so how can I have time to take care of my mother at home, and the older my mother gets, the more sick she becomes, and she dies of illness within two years, and the family is in a mess." Alas...... Anyway, it's very annoying, and I don't have time to do business. ”

Cao Benshu asked, "How did you get in touch with Xiao Qifeng?"

Du Xingxue said, "When I was teaching at Wu Wengang's house, I had a good relationship with his son, and ...... and seduced his daughter. Shengxing cooked mature rice and was pregnant, he didn't want to lose face, so he pinched his nose and admitted it. ”

"You are really a bad seed, and you can do such things." Cao Benshu couldn't help but sigh.

Du Xingxue continued, "Later, I deliberately befriended Xiao Jingzhang and treated Xiao Dagongzi as a dog's leg. Through Xiao Jingzhang, I met Xiao Jifeng, worked hard to show my talents, and really won Xiao Qifeng's appreciation. I originally planned to use Xiao Qifeng to break away from the Wu family and do my own business. Alas, I really don't have business material, and the trading company I opened in partnership with Xiao Gongzi closed down after only one year. Cao Benshu said, "With the Xiao family as a façade, how can the trading company lose money"

Du Xingxue smiled bitterly, "Mr. Xiao has too many fox friends and dog friends, and he stuffs people into the trading company from time to time. He also has a good face, and many goods are sold to our trading company at a high price because of his friendship. In the end, it was Xiao Gongzi's friend who rushed in, who fled overseas with the money, and disappeared two ships with him. Cao Benshu sighed, "This Xiao Gongzi is really indescribable." ”

Du Xingxue said: "After that, I stopped doing business, and Xiao Qifeng and Wu Wengang also had a disagreement, so I took the opportunity to be their middleman." All the stolen money from the city department was handled by me, part of it was deposited in Wu Wengang's bank, and part of it was distributed from Chen Xianchun's hands to his accomplices and officials. Chen Xianchun has only been doing this for five years, and before him, there was another named Zhai Shirang, who heard that he died of illness after being transferred to Shaanxi. Cao Benshu asked, "That Zhai Shirang, is he really sick and died, or was he murdered?"

Du Xingxue shook his head: "I don't know, but I should have died of illness." He had already left the city and went to Shaanxi to be a local official, so there was no need for Xiao Jifeng to send someone to kill him. ”

Cao Benshu asked again, "After Xiao Qifeng was transferred out of Shanghai, did he continue to take the stolen money from the city?"

"I've been taking it," Duchenne said, "if he can't stop this kind of thing, even if he wants to stop it, the maritime merchant who is too involved in the case will continue to give him silver." Moreover, the city and shipping departments of other ports also have henchmen promoted by him, and I guess most of them also send money. The dirty silver he has been greedy for over the years, even if there is not a million, I am afraid there are three or five hundred thousand. ”

Cao Benshu asked again, "Chen Xianchun and his son, you killed him"

"No," Du Xingxue explained, "Zhai Shirang, who has already died of illness, and this Chen Xianchun, what they do, once the case is discovered, they must die." This was said a long time ago, and when they died, the case was closed. But Chen Xianchun was afraid of death and refused to commit suicide, so I could only persuade him personally. Cao Benshu asked, "If you persuade them, they will be willing to die."

Du Xingxue said: "Of course, they have to show the stakes bitterly, if they don't commit suicide, they will definitely die when the case is found." And even if he is beheaded, there are too many officials involved, and his family will be worse than dead. If they commit suicide, Xiao Qifeng and other officials will take care of their families afterwards. Even if the family is exiled, they can quietly send the silver, and when the wind passes, they can slowly move back from the exile.

Cao Benshu still didn't understand one thing: "Those account books are so important, why are they all in the study?" If you are afraid of being found out in Datong Bank, you can also dig a big pit and bury it. And after I brought someone to the door, you immediately confessed to your sin. ”

Du Xingxue sighed and said, "Alas, I'm tired. More and more officials and businessmen were involved, and I, as an intermediary, couldn't sleep all night. Moreover, Chen Xianchun's stupid son always drove a big carriage to swagger through the city, for fear that people would not know that his father was a corrupt official, and sooner or later he would be strictly investigated by the imperial court. Also, if Xiao Qifeng can escape this catastrophe, when the rumors pass, I estimate that he will be wiped out. "You can run away." Cao Benshu said.

Du Xingxue said: "My mother, wife and children in my family are all targeted by Wu Wengang. He also asked his daughter to take her grandson back to her parents' house to visit relatives, and now my wife and children are under the care of the Wu family. My old mother, who is almost seventy years old, and is sick, where can she withstand the bumps of the waves Cao Benshu stared at Du Xingxue for a while, and always felt that it would not be so simple, Du Xingxue must have something to hide. "Fan Hongjing, you sent someone to kill him," Cao Benshu asked.

Du Xingxue shook his head: "It's not me, and it's not an official, the hired murderer is my father-in-law, Wu Wengang." Fan is very smart, and through the clues, he suspects that Wu Wengang is very deeply involved. He pretended to accept bribes, deliberately befriended Wu Wengang, and often asked for some insider information. Wu Wengang killed people in anger, and Wang Cai and Chen Xianchun took care of the aftermath and cremated the body according to normal death, for fear that the government would send a piece for an autopsy. Cao Benshu asked again, "In addition to Fan Shishi being killed, does Wu Wengang have any other murders?"

"Yes," said Du Xingxue, "six years ago, there was a servant in the city's shipping department, who was unwilling to accept dirty silver, and did not trust the Shanghai officials, so he quietly took a boat to Nanjing to denounce it. Halfway through the water drowned...."

"This is a loyal man, write down his name." Cao Benshu said to the interrogation reporter. Duchenne said, "I have forgotten the name of this official, a petty official, I really can't remember." "The official is not a small official, but an official position, a minor official from the ninth grade of the city.

Cao Benshu was furious, "The murder is a big deal, and he is also a murder officer, is his name not worthy of you to remember" Du Xingxue was silent. Far away in Luzon.

A few years ago, a rich man came called Du Xingmin. He claimed to be the son of a wealthy businessman in Shandong, and because he had a falling out with his brother over the family property, he took his wife and children to go overseas.

Du Xingmin also did not develop in Manila, and chose a small village to settle down. He also spent money to buy land, raised a few Japanese ronin, and bought indigenous captives from the government as tenants.

Today, there are hundreds of acres of land, and they pay taxes according to the regulations, and the excess land is willing to pay the ladder tax. What's even more strange is that the tablets enshrined in his house are all whiteboards, and the names of the deceased are not written.

He had a wife, two concubines, four sons and two daughters. There was a concubine with a son, who lived alone in another courtyard. This concubine and Du Xingmin seem to be intimate, but in fact they keep a distance, but they seem to be an uncle and sister-in-law.