Li Xing and Zhao Si hid in the bushes not far away, discussing countermeasures in a low voice.

"If you want to enter the cave, you must first clear the guards at the door." Li Xing groaned.

Zhao Si proposed: "I think we can make some noise, lure them over to investigate, and then take the opportunity to sneak in." ”

Li Xing nodded and said, "Good idea, let's find some stones to throw over, it will definitely distract them." ”

So the two searched everywhere and finally found a few large rocks not far away.

Li Xing instructed Zhao Si: "When I count to three, we will throw out the stones at the same time, and then take advantage of the chaos to quickly enter the cave." ”

"Understood!" Zhao Si clenched the stones, grinding his fists and standing by.

"One, two, three!"

The two shouted in unison and threw the stone out with all their might.

I heard only two loud "knocks", and the stones fell heavily on the other side of the valley.

"W-What sound?" The housekeepers at the entrance of the cave immediately became alert.

"Go check it out!" The leader of the family commanded.

The servants raised their swords and walked vigilantly towards the source of the sound.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Xing and Zhao Si quickly dived into the cave.

I saw that the lights inside were bright, and all kinds of tools were scattered all over the ground, as well as ores and ores.

The subordinates of the Li Mansion are toiling and digging.

"Oh my God, this is the secret mine of the Li Mansion!" Zhao Si exclaimed quietly.

Li Xing said in a deep voice: "It seems that our guess is correct, the Li Mansion actually mined minerals without permission, and the evidence of the crime is here!" ”

The two didn't have time to take a closer look, for fear that the guards would come back, so they hurriedly left the scene and returned to the yamen.

After listening to the report, Chu Ze was furious and said, "Sure enough, you are bold!" Unauthorized mining of mines, Li Fu has rebelled and will not avoid! ”

After that, Chu Ze immediately began to draft a note, detailing the evidence of the Li Mansion's illegal mining of the mine.

Chu Ze thought secretly in his heart: "Li Mansion is such a thief who deceives the king, I will definitely wash away the shame with their blood!" Wait for the imperial army to arrive, and see how I play with you! ”

At the same time, inside the Lee Mansion.

Li Yue was still immersed in the pleasure of obtaining the mine, and said to Li Kuo proudly: "The output of this mine far exceeds my expectations, hahaha, my Li family's money bag is about to bulge!" ”

Li Kuo said: "My lord is wise and martial, the discovery of this mine is really an opportunity for my Li family to prosper!" ”

When Chu Ze saw that the song was written, he immediately ordered people to summon the government officials and the government force, and quickly assembled together.

At dawn, Chu Ze personally led a hundred officers and soldiers and fifty officials to the valley on the outskirts of the city, and saw the Li Mansion family standing guard at the entrance of the cave from a distance.

Chu Ze whispered to his subordinates: "You guys first hide around and wait for me to lead away the guards at the door, and then quickly control the entrance of the cave." ”

After speaking, Chu Ze asked several officials to pretend to be Taoist priests of Youfang, and walked slowly to the cave with him, pretending to be passing by.

The guard at the gate immediately stopped them vigilantly and said, "Who are you, who have approached the forbidden land of this mansion without authorization, and want to find death!" ”

Chu Ze put on a look of surprise and said, "There is someone else's land hidden in this valley? I'm so sorry that we were just passing by, and we didn't mean anything else, so please let us go. ”

The guard's face was full of suspicion, and he raised his knife and approached a few steps and said, "Who are you?" Say it! ”

At this moment, Chu Ze suddenly shouted: "Go! Hearing this, the officers and soldiers around rushed out and quickly rushed to the entrance of the cave to annihilate the guards.

The guards were caught off guard and were quickly subdued to the ground.

Chu Ze personally entered the cave to check, only to see that the lights inside were bright, and the people of the Li Mansion were working hard to mine ores, and the ground was full of mined minerals.

"Traitor! You steal the imperial court mines without authorization, and you deserve death! Chu Ze shouted angrily.

The people of the Li Mansion were so frightened that they scattered and fled, and they were soon subdued by the officers and soldiers.

Chu Ze was furious and personally interrogated one of them: "Do you know your crime?" Mining the minerals of the imperial court without permission, you will all be beheaded for public display! ”

The man was so frightened that his legs weakened, and he begged: "Lord Mingjian, we are just mining on the orders of the head of the family, and we do not intend to rebel against the court, and please let us live!" ”

Chu Ze unified the arrested Li Mansion miners in the Zhizhou Mansion and monitored them separately to prevent them from colluding with each other, and then summoned them for interrogation one by one.

Zhang Wang, the miner who was summoned first, was already frightened, and began to tremble when he saw Chu Ze.

Chu Ze said in a deep voice: "What's your name?" What kind of work do you do in the mine? ”

Zhang Wang snorted: "Hui, back to the prince, my name is Zhang Wang, and I am responsible for digging ore in the mine......"

Chu Ze narrowed his eyes and asked, "Do you know that mining the mines of the imperial court without permission is a major crime of rebellion?" ”

Zhang Wang was extremely frightened, and begged: "Lord Mingjian, we are just mining under the order of the head of the family, how dare we have the intention of betraying the court!" I also beg the prince to be gracious and let us poor people live! ”

Chu Ze sneered and said, "The rebellious heart of the Li Mansion is obvious, do you still want to escape by quibbling?" Tell me, how long have you been stealing mining mountains? Where does the ore go? ”

Zhang Wang realized that Chu Ze had a resolute attitude, so he had no choice but to confess honestly: "Back to the prince, we have been mining this mine for more than a year. The excavated copper ore was transported back to the Li Mansion for storage.

He then summoned the other miners for interrogation, all of whom obtained similar confessions.

These confessions can be used as ironclad evidence that the Li government stole mining mountains without permission.

Chu Ze sorted out and summarized the confessions of the miners, and was about to draft the military order to capture the Li Mansion, when a servant hurriedly ran to report: "Report to the commander, I just received a tip, there was a commotion from the Li Mansion, it seems that I learned the news that the mine was destroyed, and the eyeliner who went to check said that the Li Mansion was in a mess, and the master of the Li family fled overnight in a carriage with his family!" ”

Chu Ze said angrily: "What? Li Yue, a traitor, actually chose to run away after the incident? Quick, gather your officers and soldiers, and immediately surround the Li Mansion! ”

Li Xing and Zhao Si quickly gathered their subordinates and went to the Li Mansion in full armor.

I saw that the gate was closed, and the people of the Li family were busy carrying their belongings, and the scene was extremely chaotic.

"The slaves of the Li family, let them be arrested!" Li Xing shouted violently, and his officers and soldiers immediately picked up their weapons and rushed into the Li Mansion.

The Li family was caught off guard and was quickly subdued to the ground.

Chu Ze also arrived afterwards and personally interrogated the Li family's steward: "Your master Li Yue has already escaped, and the rest of you should not do any more useless struggles!" Hand over the key to the Li family's dungeon, sincerely confess your guilt, and get out of the way! ”

The steward was so frightened that he handed over the dungeon key and said, "Lord Mingjian, we are all deceived by our masters, and we are not really rebellious to the court, and I ask the prince to ......be gracious" (end of this chapter)