Chapter 96: Fearing the oppression and protecting oneself, Ai Lishu took the initiative to ask for the order
Hearing the words "lay down the spyliner", Ye Xingmao suddenly showed panic on his face, but in the blink of an eye, he suppressed his panic and cried out that he was wronged.
"My Lord, this is an injustice. I am just a commoner. How could I have arranged a spy in Lord Xu's house? This is a huge injustice!"
According to common sense, how could a mere clerk in a black robe with no official rank and no rank have spies in the mansion of a fourth-rank official and force Xu Mingtang into a desperate situation, where he could only fight to the death?
However, his fleeting panic just now had actually proved Sun Shaozong's speculation!
This leaves only two possibilities.
Either Ye Xingmao is a rare hero, so he can manipulate Xu Mingtang, a fourth-rank official, as a commoner; or, behind Ye Maoxing, there is a mastermind who is more powerful than Xu Mingtang.
Obviously, the latter possibility is far greater than the former!
Ye Xingmao had mentioned earlier that Xu Mingtang was the chief "river embankment ambassador" of the country, and his official position in the river office was only below the governor and commander.
The "Governor" here naturally refers to Wang Yan, the governor-general of the river; the "Commander" here refers to the two commanders of the southern and northern rivers. The commander of the Jiangnan River is stationed in Jinling and has no right to interfere in the river affairs in the north. Therefore, the most suspicious people are Wang Yan and the commander of the Beihe River!
Wang Yan naturally thought of this as well. His face was as black as the bottom of a pot. After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a sentence from between his teeth: "He is so heartless, so heartless! I will not stop until I get to the bottom of this case!"
Then he angrily ordered: "Come here, help me catch this thief first!"
Several people immediately rushed over and pinned Ye Xingmao to the ground.
Wang Yan was still not satisfied, so he stepped forward and kicked him in the chest, shouting, "Damned slave, why don't you tell me the truth about why you snooped into Lord Xu's mansion!"
"My Lord, please understand. I am truly wronged!"
But Ye Xingmao continued to cry out for injustice and refused to tell the truth.
"Well, well, well, what a thief who won't cry until he sees the coffin!"
Wang Yan laughed angrily several times, his hair and beard standing on end. He suddenly turned around and ordered, "Sun Tongpan, since you have discovered this case with your keen eyes, I will hand this thief over to you for punishment. Please use your thunderous means to investigate this hidden truth thoroughly!"
When he was furious just now, Sun Shaozong had been looking at his nose with his eyes, and his heart with his nose, just like the old monk in meditation.
After hearing Wang Yan's instructions, he just frowned , and bowed calmly, saying, "Sir, if it is my duty, I will do it. But for this case, I'm afraid I have to ask my colleagues in the River Department to check if there are any problems with Mr. Ye's accounts first."
“As it should be.”
Without waiting for Wang Yan to express his opinion, Jia Yucun nodded and agreed: "This case involves a fourth-rank official. If corruption is found, it should be handled by the Dali Temple or the Censorate. Shuntian Prefecture will never dare to interfere."
According to the rules of the Great Zhou, if it is an ordinary criminal homicide case, it will naturally be investigated by the local government or the Ministry of Justice. However, as long as it involves corruption cases above the seventh rank, it must be presided over by the Dali Temple and the Censorate, and the local government and the Ministry of Justice can only assist.
Sun Shaozong took over Jia Yucun's words and said righteously, "Of course, if the minister is sure that this case has nothing to do with official corruption, I will investigate it thoroughly, even if it means going through fire and water!"
Damn little fox!
Facing Sun Shaozong's "upright and incorruptible" face, Wang Yan cursed him in his heart. Because Sun Shaozong's words seemed to leave room for maneuver, but in this day and age, which clerk in charge of accounting can have no problems with the accounts? !
Originally, Wang Yan thought that Sun Shaozong called Jia Yucun together out of respect for his superior, but now it seems that Sun Shaozong clearly had the intention of retreating, so he deliberately pulled Jia Yucun over to sing the same tune!
Although Jia Yucun was of a lower rank than Wang Yan, he was still an important official after all, unlike Sun Shaozong, a sixth-rank official who could be manipulated at will.
Therefore, although Wang Yan was unhappy, he could only muffle his words and say, "In this case, I will first mobilize some people from the Ministry of Works to thoroughly check all the accounts of Xu Mingtang during his tenure!"
After saying this, he glanced at Sun Shaozong and Jia Yucun, only to see that the two of them were again acting as if their eyes were looking at their noses and their noses were looking at their hearts, as if they were wandering in the world and had nothing to do with them.
They are indeed birds of a feather!
Wang Yan complained angrily in his heart, flicked his sleeves and prepared to leave.
But just as he took a step, he heard Sun Shaozong remind him: "Mr. Minister, the most important thing right now is not to check the accounts, but to protect the dam built by Mr. Xu."
Wang Yan paused when he heard this, and his heart skipped a beat.
Wang Yan was inevitably a little worried because he was worried that this "corruption scandal" would affect him. It was only after Sun Shaozong's reminder that he realized the huge crisis behind Xu Mingtang's suicide!
If there were no insurmountable obstacles, how could it be easy to force a fourth-rank official to death?
As the ambassador of the Yongding River embankment, the hurdle in Xu Mingtang's heart must be on the embankment of the Yongding River!
And if something goes wrong with this riverbank...
Just as he was feeling anxious, he heard Sun Shaozong say, "Please make preparations early and bring the people along the river..."
However, before Sun Shaozong could finish, Jia Yucun suddenly interrupted him and said solemnly, "Please rest assured, sir. Shuntian Prefecture will organize the people to defend the north dike and work with the river government to protect the capital!"
Hearing this, Sun Shaozong and Wang Yan were both shocked.
Sun Shaozong wanted Wang Yan to organize the evacuation of the people living along the river; but the meaning of Jia Yucun's words was all about the four words "defend the north dike to the death"!
Although Jia Yucun did not say it explicitly, Sun Shaozong and Wang Yan could tell what he meant. In fact, he was advising Wang Yan to abandon the South Dike or even destroy it if necessary, so as to divert the flood to Hebei and ensure the safety of Kaifeng Prefecture!
Wang Yan showed some struggle on his face, and said hesitantly: "The autumn flood of Yongding River is always swift and fierce. I am afraid that the peak of the flood will enter the territory of Beijing in a few days. How can we...how can we make it in time..."
Jia Yucun still had a look of gratitude on his face, and he bowed his hands solemnly and said, "It is my duty as an official. Even if I don't have time to gather the people, I must try my best. Otherwise, if the north dike cannot be protected, and the flood comes and disturbs the emperor, I will be blamed even if I die!"
Wang Yan was afraid that he would not have enough time to evacuate the people on the south bank, but Jia Yucun kept talking about "recruiting the militia", but in fact he was still persuading Wang Yan to abandon the South Dike, and even abandon the people on the south bank!
Seeing the hesitation on Wang Yan's face gradually fade away, Sun Shaozong felt more and more cold in his heart - he originally just wanted to remind Wang Yan, but who would have thought that he would come up with such a crazy countermeasure in the end?
Gritting his teeth, he could not help but bow and said, "My Lord, I am willing to go to the south bank to organize the people to evacuate..."
“Nonsense!”
Before he could finish, Jia Yucun angrily scolded him, "You and I are both ministers guarding the land. How can we go to Hebei and act recklessly without the emperor's order? Besides, this matter will be handled by the ministers and officials in Hebei. Why do you need to add fuel to the fire?!"
Wang Yan also sighed, and then ordered: "Sun Tongpan, you don't need to worry about this matter. The most important thing right now is to temporarily block this matter so as not to shake the morale of the army. When you return to the back hall later, just say that Xu Mingtang committed suicide out of anger because of family discord."
