"By the way, father, the Yuan family in Jiaxing seems to have encountered some trouble recently."

When Yan Shifan's words fell, I saw Yan Song stop and turn around, his face full of confusion: "Jiaxing Yuan family? ”

Seeing this, Yan Shifan hurriedly stepped forward to remind: "Father, you forgot, when you celebrated your eightieth birthday before, the Yuan family specially sent someone to send ......."

When Yan Song heard this, after recalling it for a long time, he nodded and said slowly: "Oh, it seems that there is such a thing!" ”

After that, I saw Yan Song look in the direction where Yan Shifan was, and asked, "Say, what trouble have they encountered?" ”

Seeing this, Yan Shifan immediately stepped forward and said cautiously: "Father, here's the thing, not long ago, Yuan Kui, the young master of the Yuan family, fell in love with the wife of a common man, and not only forcibly occupied his wife, but also seriously injured her husband!" ”

"At present, this case is in a uproar in Zhejiang, the people's grievances are extremely heavy, and the government has no choice but to drag it for the time being, right now, the Yuan family has found a child and wants to ......"

When Yan Song heard this, he glanced at Yan Shifan and asked bluntly, "How much silver did this Yuan family give you?" ”

Seeing this, Yan Shifan didn't dare to hide it in the slightest, so he immediately compared a finger to Yan Song and said in a low voice: "Back to my father's words, the Yuan family sent someone to send 100,000 taels of silver, saying that after the matter is completed, there will be another reward!" ”

After Yan Song learned the news from Yan Shifan's mouth, his face was gloomy and he was about to drip water.

He didn't expect that Yan Shifan would be so short-sighted, and dare to gamble on his career for a mere 100,000 taels of silver.

Immediately, I saw Yan Song suppressing his anger, looking in the direction where Yan Shifan was, and said in a deep voice: "A case like this should be handled by the Zhejiang Inspector, that is, your subordinate He Maocai!" ”

Yan Song paused for a moment when he said this, and then continued: "In that case, do you know why the people of the Yuan family found you?" ”

Yan Shifan didn't notice the anger contained in Yan Song's words, and after thinking for a while, he responded: "Back to my father's words, according to the people sent by the Yuan family, it was because they had hit a wall with He Maocai a few times, so they wanted the child to come forward ......."

When Yan Song heard this, the whole person was immediately furious, looked at Yan Shifan with a look of hatred for iron and steel, and reprimanded: "Yan Shifan, you idiot, you haven't seen it clearly before your subordinates!" ”

"This case is clearly a hot potato, and others are afraid to avoid it, but you are like a fool, rush to catch up!"

"You said before, right now, this case is in a uproar in Zhejiang, and the people's grievances are extremely heavy, if anyone dares to deliberately favor at this time, they will put themselves in it!"

"You must know that not long after the triennial plan of the imperial court, officials at all levels from top to bottom have received rewards from His Majesty, and it is time to show their strength."

"And the Inspectorate is also gearing up, competing with the officials, and preparing to make some achievements to show His Majesty!"

"Do you want to be a bird at this time?"

After listening to Yan Song's analysis, Yan Shifan only felt cold sweat, and he actually walked in front of the ghost gate inadvertently!

When Yan Song said this, a hint of mockery appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said to himself: "Hmph, I just want to settle this case for just 100,000 taels of silver, it's not enough, it's far from enough!" ”

After this, I saw Yan Song withdraw his gaze from Yan Shifan's body, and ordered in a deep voice: "After I go back, I will immediately return the money I received, and remind others that they are not allowed to be involved in this case!" ”

Regarding Yan Song's words, Yan Shifan naturally didn't dare to disobey, only to see him lower his head and respond very respectfully: "Yes, father, the child knows!" ”

After that, I saw Yan Song speed up the pace of his feet and march towards the place where the sedan chair was parked.

……

It was getting late, and at this moment, Xu Jie was taking a sedan chair from Yuwang's Mansion to his mansion in the capital.

After the duty, Zhu Zaikun couldn't wait to gather everyone and announced the outcome of the matter.

After Xu Jie learned the news from Zhu Zaikun's mouth that the whole thing had ended here, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

In Xu Jie's opinion, it is only fitting that this matter can end decently, after all, since ancient times, the emperor's suspicion has always been the heaviest.

Once the emperor has a suspicion of someone, he will try to find evidence to prove his conjecture.

And the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, how many people can stand up to investigation?

When the time comes, things will only evolve into pulling out the radish and bringing out the mud, and everyone will be finished together!

And in this process, although some evidence can be seen at a glance to be deliberately fabricated, it can still be accepted by the emperor.

In the final analysis, the emperor is just trying to find a high-sounding reason for himself to strangle the danger in the cradle, and the emperor doesn't care if it's true or not.

"King Yu was only reprimanded by His Majesty for a few words this time, and it didn't hurt the root, wait for the next time to find an opportunity, let King Yu behave well in front of His Majesty!"

Thinking like this, Xu Jie's mood was much better, only to see him open the sedan curtain and enjoy the night in the sky.

The moonlight peeked out of the clouds and fell to the ground, and a gentle breeze blew through it, making people feel very comfortable, and through the moonlight, you could faintly see the outlines of many houses in the distance.

Time passed slowly, I don't know how long it has been, only to hear a soft call from outside the sedan chair: "Master, it's here!" ”

When Xu Jie heard this, he responded imperceptibly, and after the sedan chair stopped, he got down from the sedan chair with the support of the slave.

The housekeeper, who had been waiting at the door for a long time, saw Xu Jie returning to the mansion, and immediately greeted him, leaned down, and said respectfully: "Master, you are back!" ”

Hearing this, Xu Jie glanced over the butler's body, and asked, "During my absence, nothing happened in the house, right?" ”

When the housekeeper heard Xu Jie's words, he lowered his head and responded respectfully: "Master, I can't hide it, during your absence, Lord Wang brought someone to visit. ”

When Xu Jie heard this, he raised his eyebrows and asked, "You mean, the right servant of the household department, Wang Ting?" ”

When the housekeeper heard Xu Jie's words, he didn't dare to hide it in the slightest, and immediately told everything he knew: "Yes, master, not long after you left the mansion, Lord Wang brought one, it is said that someone from the Yuan family in Jiaxing came to visit!" ”

After Xu Jie learned the news from the housekeeper's mouth, the whole person was immediately furious, and said in a deep voice: "Hmph, Wang Ting, this waste, I haven't settled accounts with him yet, and he actually dares to make trouble for me at this time......

Seeing that Xu Jie was suddenly angry, the housekeeper hurriedly lowered his head and admonished: "Master, stop being angry, before leaving, Lord Wang specially told the little one, saying that the people he brought this time were ......."

Before the housekeeper's words were finished, he was interrupted by Xu Jie's impatient words: "Okay, this is not the place to talk, go in and talk about it!" ”

After Xu Jie dropped this sentence, he walked towards the mansion by himself.

When Xu Jie's words fell, the housekeeper didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly took three steps and two steps to keep up with Xu Jie's footsteps, and responded respectfully: "Yes, master!" ”

After entering the room, I saw Xu Jie sitting in the main seat by himself, looking in the direction where the butler was, and asked, "Say, what's the matter?" ”

When the housekeeper heard this, he didn't dare to hide it in the slightest, and after organizing the language in his mind, he repeated the whole thing.

After hearing this, Xu Jie couldn't help but sneer, his face was full of disdain, and he commented: "Hmph, it's really a gentleman, and he can do such a ridiculous thing!" ”

When the housekeeper on the side heard Xu Jie's words, he also responded in a harmonious voice: "What the master said is that the little one heard that this Yuan Kui is a concubine, anyway, the Yuan family does not rely on him to support him, and it is naturally his temperament on weekdays, but this time the matter is big!" ”

When the housekeeper said this, he paused, and continued: "Master, the person sent by the Yuan family gave 10,000 taels of silver as a meeting gift, and the Yuan family seems to be quite anxious, and is willing to pay 100,000 taels of silver to settle this case, you see, do you want to ......?"

When Xu Jie heard the housekeeper's words, he shook his head imperceptibly, and commanded: "Okay, there is no need to talk about this matter anymore, if someone looks for it next, just say that the master and I are in poor health, and no one will see me!" ”

Seeing that Xu Jie had already made up his mind, the housekeeper didn't dare to persuade him anymore, so he immediately lowered his head and responded respectfully: "Yes, master!" ”

After that, I saw Xu Jie pick up the teacup on the table, take a sip, look in the direction where the butler is, and then said, "Okay, it's not too early, you go down first!" ”

"Yes, sir!"

After the housekeeper responded, even though he was about to leave and hadn't taken a few steps, Xu Jie seemed to suddenly remember something, and then followed up and said, "By the way, return the 10,000 taels of silver that was sent!" ”

When the housekeeper heard this, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then, seeing him react, leaned down, and responded respectfully: "Yes, master, the little one will do it!" ”

After the housekeeper left, I saw Xu Jie retract his gaze and said to himself: "This royal court is really not enough to achieve more than enough to fail, and it will cause trouble for me all day long!" ”

"The great plan of the imperial court has just ended, and the officials have been rewarded by His Majesty, so don't you find yourself unhappy when you go up at this time?"

In Xu Jie's view, whether it is the plan to impeach and retire the most officials, or the emperor's reward to the officials, they are all vaguely conveying the same message, that is, the emperor has made up his mind to rectify the rule of officials!

In addition to this consideration, Xu Jie's behavior towards those gentlemen is also very disdainful.

In his opinion, these gentlemen are the moths of the Ming Dynasty, who only fool around with a group of fox friends and dog friends on weekdays, spend all day drinking, and bully others.

Once something happens to these gentlemen, they will inevitably implicate their own family, and when the time comes, they will bring the whole family to the funeral together.

"When I become the first assistant of the cabinet, I must ask His Majesty to revise the Da Ming Law, cure this group of moths, and give the people justice!"

Thinking of this, Xu Jie subconsciously clenched his fists.

……

Zhejiang, Zhejiang's Governor's Palace.

In the conference hall, at this moment, Zheng Michang and He Maocai were eagerly waiting for Zhao Zhenji's arrival.

Since they figured out that Zhao Zhenji's mission in Zhejiang was to investigate the land annexation, they spared no effort to collect evidence in this regard.

The two have been working in Zhejiang for many years, and they have long been deeply rooted, so they quickly collected a lot of relevant evidence.

When they came over today, they wanted to hand over all this evidence to Zhao Zhenji, in order to show their value and make Zhao Zhenji rely on them more.

As long as you have a good relationship with Zhao Zhenji, the top boss, you can even save your life at a critical time!

After all, Zhao Zhenji has the right to cut first and then play the game given by His Majesty, and maybe, like Hu Zongxian, he has the power to present the song to the emperor.

At this moment, I saw Zhao Zhenji pacing leisurely and entering the meeting hall of the Governor's Palace.

Zheng Michang and He Mao saw Zhao Zhenji coming, and hurriedly got up from the seat, looked in the direction where Zhao Zhenji was, arched his hand, and said respectfully: "The lower official has seen the governor!" ”

When Zhao Zhenji heard this, he glanced over Zheng Michang and He Maocai respectively, nodded, and commanded: "Well, sit down!" ”

"Thank you, Governor!"

After Zheng Michang and He Maocai sat down, they saw Zhao Zhenji sitting on the main seat, withdrawing his gaze from the two of them, and asked: "Say, what's the matter with looking for this official?" ”

When Zheng Michang and He Maocai heard this, after glancing at each other, they saw Zheng Michang get up from the seat, and then took out a pile of papers from his sleeve, and said respectfully: "Lord Governor, here is the situation of the grange and population that the Yuan family in Jiaxing has hidden!" ”

"In addition, it also involves some situations of the Xu family in Qiantang and the Yu family in Yuyao."

When Zhao Zhenji heard Zheng Michang's words, a trace of excitement flashed on his face, and he immediately commanded: "Quickly show it to this official!" ”

As soon as Zhao Zhenji's words fell, he saw the guards on the side step forward, carefully took the pile of paper from Zheng Yuchang's hand, and respectfully handed it to Zhao Zhenji's hand.

After Zhao Zhenji took the pile of papers from the guard's hand, he couldn't wait to browse it.

The content recorded above is not far from what Zheng Michang said before.

The hidden grange and population of the Yuan family in Jiaxing are recorded on it, and in addition, Zheng Michang also attached an additional record of the Yuan family in Jiaxing paying taxes to the imperial court.

Zhao Zhenji quickly finished browsing all the contents above, and immediately, he slapped the table and said in a deep voice: "His Yuan family owns so much land and granges, but the annual taxes paid to the imperial court are converted into less than two thousand taels, which is really unreasonable!" ”

When Zhao Zhenji said this, he looked in the direction where Zheng Michang and He Maocai were, and continued: "After this official comes down, he will definitely tell His Majesty the truth about these facts!" ”

Zheng Michang and He Maocai on the side heard Zhao Zhenji's words, and they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Zhao Zhenji's words undoubtedly gave them a reassurance, because Zhao Zhenji directly made it clear to the two that he had the power to directly submit the song to the emperor.

And this is exactly the same as the former governor of Zhejiang and the governor of Zhejiang, Hu Zongxian!

Zhao Zhenji is taking this opportunity to show his strength to Zheng Michang and He Maocai, so that they can not scruple and act boldly.

Not long after this, I saw He Mao on the side looking at Zhao Zhenji, who was sitting on the main seat, and asked: "By the way, Lord Governor, the case of Yuan Kui, the young master of the Yuan family, has dragged on long enough, and the people are very indignant about it, do you see if it is ......?"

Zhao Zhenji heard He Maocai's words, and after pondering for a while, he commanded: "Well, this official thinks it's time, so let's release the news, just say that the official government will openly hear the case in seven days, and when the time comes, the official will be present in person!" ”

When He Maocai heard this, his expression immediately turned grim, and he responded respectfully: "Obey, Lord Governor!" ”

Then, I saw Zhao Zhenji withdraw his gaze from Zheng Michang and He Maocai, waved his hand, and commanded: "Okay, let's do it first, this official still has things to deal with next, you can leave!" ”

"Yes, Lord Governor, the lower official will retire!"

When Zheng Michang and He Maocai heard this, they immediately got up from their seats and bowed to Zhao Zhenji.

After Zheng Michang and He Maocai left the meeting hall of the Governor's Palace, Zhao Zhenji also got up from his seat and marched in the direction where the study of the Governor's Mansion was located.

After Zhao Zhenji returned to the study of the Governor's Palace, he immediately spread out the pen and paper and wrote the note that was about to be presented to Jiajing.

After repeatedly considering the sentence in his mind, Zhao Zhenji picked up the pen and wrote it down.

"Your Majesty, Weichen Zhao Zhenji, you previously instructed Weichen to investigate the land annexation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and you have already raised some eyebrows."

"Weichen found out that the Yuan family in Jiaxing annexed a large amount of land by various means, and hid many granges and populations, and the annual tax paid by the Yuan family in Jiaxing to the imperial court was only two thousand taels of silver!"

"Along with this note, there are also the Yuan family in Jiaxing, the hidden grange, population records, and the records of the Yuan family's payment of taxes to the imperial court in recent years!"

"In addition, it happened that Yuan Kui, the young master of the Yuan family in Jiaxing, committed a crime recently, and Weichen planned to use this matter to ......"

When the last word fell, Zhao Zhenji couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Immediately, I saw Zhao Zhenji call his cronies, and pointed to a pile of papers on the bookcase, and ordered in a deep voice: "Send this letter to His Majesty's hands with these papers, and no one's hand can pass in between, understand?" ”

Seeing this, the cronie did not dare to slack off in the slightest, and took the note from Zhao Zhenji's hand very solemnly, carefully put away the pile of papers, and said in response: "Yes, my lord! ”

……

Soon, the news that Zhao Zhenji, the newly appointed governor of Zhejiang, was going to publicly try Yuan Kui's case seven days later, spread.

As soon as this news came out, the people all felt refreshed and began to inquire around about the origin of the governor of Zhejiang, who had not been in office for a long time.

"Have you heard, our governor of Zhejiang, who has just taken office, is going to openly try the case of the young master of the Yuan family!"

"Ah, what is the origin of this governor, who actually dares to go against the Yuan family?"

"What is the Yuan family, let me tell you, this governor is very big, before he came to Zhejiang, he was an official at the foot of the Son of Heaven, it seems that he is called supervising the imperial history, I heard that those big officials in the capital have to tremble when they see him......"

Soon, this news reached the ears of the Yuan family.

At this moment, in the room, Yuan Yongyu, the head of the Yuan family, was full of sadness, constantly pacing back and forth in the room, and there was a crying sound from time to time.

Yuan Yongyu was upset by this cry, and immediately stopped, turned to look at his third lady, and reprimanded: "Okay, don't cry, what's the use of crying!" ”

When Yuan Yongyu said this, his anger did not subside, and he continued to reprimand: "Kui'er has become the way he is now, it is all caused by you, if you hadn't been spoiling him, he wouldn't have caused such a big disaster to my Yuan family!" ”

"For so many days, just for Kui'er's business, my Yuan family has used a lot of favors, this unsuccessful thing, just let him die in prison, in this way, it can also avoid a big disaster!"

When Yuan Yongyu's third lady heard Yuan Yongyu's words, she immediately got up from her chair and cried: "If Kui'er has any three longs and two shorts, I won't live anymore, and I will die on the pillar another day!" ”

"For so many years, you've only cared about your business, have you ever cared about Kui'er?"

After Yuan Yongyu's third lady finished speaking, she covered her face with a handkerchief and left the room crying.

After this, I saw Yuan Yongyu retract his gaze and sigh helplessly, as his third lady said, in recent years, he only cared about the business of the Yuan family, so he neglected to discipline Yuan Kui.

Due to the long-term lack of attention, Yuan Kui gradually gave up on himself, mixed with a group of indiscriminate people, spent all day drinking, and gradually became infected with the style of a gentleman.

Just when Yuan Yongyu was still feeling guilty for owing Yuan Kui, he saw the housekeeper walk in and report respectfully: "Master, the eldest young master asks to see you!" ”

When Yuan Yongyu heard the housekeeper's words, he suppressed all the chaotic thoughts in his heart, and commanded: "Well, let him come in!" ”

"Yes, sir!"

After the housekeeper responded, he immediately walked away, and after a while, he only heard a sound of footsteps outside the door, and the person who came was Yuan Cheng, the eldest young master of the Yuan family.

Yuan Cheng, as the eldest son born to Yuan Yongyu and his eldest wife, has been brilliant since he was a child, showing great talent, and now, he has been admitted to the examination.

Yuan Yongyu knows that if no one in the officialdom takes care of it, then his Yuan family is a piece of fat to be slaughtered.

Therefore, in recent years, he has given a lot of silver to those high-ranking officials in the DPRK and China, and even sent a valuable gift to Yan Song on his 80th birthday.

Because Yuan Cheng is brilliant and shows good talent, Yuan Yongyu has placed the most expectations on him, hoping that he can be admitted to the imperial examination and enter the official career.

In this way, it can not only glorify the lintel, but also make the Yuan family more prosperous and gradually transform into the home of the eunuchs.

(End of chapter)