Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

In the private house, Bai Sheng led people to rummage through the boxes, but did not find any stolen money or evidence.

On the floor of Qin Hui's study room, where the book box pressed against it, there were traces of two new floor tiles.

A middle-aged official said: "These two floor tiles must have been laid at the back, but they have not been touched for at least a year and a half."

This man was called Li Jiucheng. He was originally the son of a police officer in Nanzheng County. He was idle and idle, working as a favor for the nobles in the city all day long.

When Hanzhong City was breached, his father took advantage of the opportunity to join the Zhu family and his son, but Li Jiucheng was discovered by Shi Yuangong to collect intelligence.

Now, Li Jiucheng is a doctor in the Military Intelligence Department of the Ministry of War, and this time he was temporarily seconded to help investigate the case.

Bai Sheng pointed at two floor tiles: "Pry them open and dig three feet into the ground!"

Nothing was found.

There were two servants in the house, both deaf and blinded old men. Bai Sheng couldn't ask anything at all.

On the other hand, more than a dozen neighbors were "invited", and they all stood in the courtyard with fear.

Li Jiucheng left the study and asked, "Who has come in?"

The neighbors all shook their heads.

Li Jiucheng pointed to the two old servants and asked, "Who has dealt with them?"

Still everyone shook their heads.

In order to avoid exposing his whereabouts, the secret monitors sent by Ju Ming only occasionally wandered around Qin Hui from a distance and never entered Qin Hui's secret house.

It is not convenient for Ju Ming to talk about this kind of thing. Now the officials handling the case must investigate it themselves.

A neighbor said cautiously: "The two of them don't go out much except to buy charcoal, vegetables and salt. They can't hear what they say. They haven't seen each other in the past few years. It sounds like their accent is from Kaifeng."

Li Jiucheng continued to ask: "Are they the only two in this house?"

Another neighbor said: "When the imperial court first moved the capital, there was a young lady and an old lady. They didn't speak much, but they also talked to me. They claimed to have moved from Kaifeng and came to Luoyang with their husbands to do business. ”

Immediately someone else took over the conversation: "It's definitely not business! Her husband is a bit old. Although he wears a hat every time he comes back and lowers the brim of the hat to cover half of his face, he can tell by the way he walks that he is doing business. Official."

"It's just an official who moved here with the imperial court in moving the capital."

"Yes, yes, that little lady is the official's wife, and she even gave birth to a child!"

"The eldest lady in her family is probably a jealous woman and won't tolerate her husband having concubines."

"..."

The neighbors were no longer afraid, and gradually opened up their chat boxes, and started gossiping.

Li Jiucheng asked: "How many days does the male owner of this house come here?"

Someone said: "Not necessarily. But every time I come here, I take a donkey cart with a cover. When I get off the cart, I open the door to enter the hospital and walk a few steps. I wanted to talk to him once, but he ignored me. The courtyard door was closed as soon as you entered. You don't look like a good person at first glance. How can a good person cover his face with a hat? "

Li Jiucheng asked many more questions, but was unable to obtain further information.

When Bai Sheng saw Li Jiucheng winking at him, he immediately ordered his release and said to his neighbors: "You all go home, don't wander around, don't talk nonsense. If you think of anything suspicious, come and report to me immediately."

When they heard that they could leave, these people were completely relaxed.

There are actually people who take the initiative to inquire: "May I ask my husband, what crime did this family commit? They actually hired the imperial city guards to arrest them."

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask." Bai Sheng said with a straight face.

Li Jiucheng walked around the house, carefully observing clues along the way.

He stood at the door of a utility room, first looking at the copper lock that had been broken open by the soldiers, and then at the hoe that had been knocked over during the search inside the house.

"Is there a problem here?" Bai Sheng asked.

Li Jiucheng pointed to the corridor outside the door: "General, please look here. Doesn't it look like you move around a lot? The moss on the stone path outside the corridor is very thick. Except for the fresh footprints of the guards, there are no other traces of movement."

Bai Sheng nodded: "It seems that those two old servants don't come here very often."

Li Jiucheng pointed to the utility room again: "There are some tools in the house. There are hoes, shears, flower pots... and the door is locked with a copper lock. If this is really Qin Hui's secret house, the two old servants I don’t come here often. Is the stuff in there used by Qin Hui?”

Bai Sheng said: "The Emperor likes farming and raising flowers, and many ministers also follow suit. Qin Hui is famous for learning farming, and he was praised by the Emperor when he was in Kaifeng. A corner of the small courtyard of this house has been set up as a vegetable garden. There are also many peonies planted in trays around. I think Qin Hui often comes here to plant flowers. "

Li Jiucheng said: "Qin Hui cultivates land and flowers, so naturally his servants are not allowed to touch..."

"dig!"

Before Li Jiucheng could finish speaking, Bai Sheng had already reacted and led his guards to dig the vegetable garden.

While digging, a guard shouted: "There is something!"

Bai Sheng was so happy that he grabbed the hoe and dug it himself, and soon dug out a corner of the wooden box.

Keep digging, keep digging.

A small wooden box was lifted out.

The old accounts of the past, along with many treasures, were all transferred by Qin Hui.

It was originally hidden under the floor tiles in the study room. Last year, Qin Hui used it to grow vegetables and buried them all in the vegetable garden.

This small box also had a lock, and Bai Sheng violently pried it open.

Inside the box were two objects wrapped in oil paper, layer after layer. Charcoal and lime were sprinkled on the bottom of the box to prevent moisture.

Bai Sheng opened the oil paper package and found a pamphlet inside.

It contains the year, month and day, as well as some names of people, places and numbers, as well as many names of goods.

Li Jiucheng watched from the side for a while and said, "This is the account book. The word 'guan' should be omitted after the number. All the names are pseudonyms, and only Qin Hui knows who it refers to. The time and place names should be real, but the goods are definitely fake. The names of the goods may refer to a certain official position or a certain project."

"It's so mysterious that people can't understand it." Bai Sheng cursed.

Li Jiucheng reached out to turn the last page and said, "The most recent time was three years ago. This is the account book from three years ago. There should be boxes that haven't been dug out."

Bai Sheng ordered: "Keep digging, dig up this vegetable garden."

Li Jiucheng went to unpack another oil paper bag in the box.

Baochao, all Ming Baochao!

Bai Sheng counted them and said in amazement: "A full 50,000 guan. They are all old-version Baochao from previous years. There is no 500 guan denomination. This bastard is greedy. Why doesn't he send it back to his hometown? Staying in Luoyang can only honor the land god."

Very simple.

Qin Hui's parents had died long ago, and they moved to Jiangning, where there were no relatives at all, only Qin Hui's uncle's family.

Qin Hui's brothers either passed the imperial examination and became officials; or were arranged by Qin Hui to transfer from clerk to official position, and after being transferred to an official position, they had to be transferred to another place.

Without relatives and brothers, did Qin Hui send the money to Jiangning and give it to his uncle for safekeeping?

In the past two years, Qin Hui began to arrange his funeral.

He sent his confidants back to expand the dilapidated house in his hometown of Jiangning, and asked his cousin to buy some land. He also asked one of his eldest brother's sons to return to Jiangning to take care of the emerging family business, so that his descendants can develop there with peace of mind in the future.

There are often relatives from their ancestral home who come to the capital to beg for money.

Qin Hui lost his father in his childhood and lived a hard life. His mother took his sons back to his ancestral home, but did not get help from the relatives. Therefore, Qin Hui did not like those relatives, and he closed the door to see them several times at the beginning.

Later, he gradually came to his senses and sent his confidants back to his ancestral home to renovate the ancestral tomb and ancestral hall.

He also funded the establishment of schools and sponsored the children of the clan to study. To put it bluntly, he made long-term investments and slowly cultivated his family power.

He did not spend too much money on his hometown and ancestral home, and most of the stolen money was left in the capital.

"We found it again!"

Twelve boxes were dug out in total.

Some boxes did not have account books, but they must have hidden money, totaling 650,000 strings of cash.

Bai Sheng took the evidence to report, and at the same time left some people behind: "You stay here, and no one is allowed to enter or leave. Keep digging and see if you can dig it out again."

Bai Sheng went to the palace overnight.

Zhu Ming looked at the treasure banknotes and account books, and said with a smile: "Several boxes were also dug out from the residence of the Minister of Revenue. There was another box that was not buried in time, and it is probably still in use. It is temporarily pressed by two piles of books, and there are account books and treasure banknotes in it. This Qin Hui really learned skills from the emperor. At least, he is very good at digging and turning the soil, and he is not inferior to the old farmers when it comes to work."

Bai Sheng came to the emperor: "This man is really hateful, but I dug out 650,000 strings of cash!"

"Why, are you envious?" Zhu Ming said with a smile.

Bai Sheng waved his hand and denied: "I have a title and an official position, and I can receive salaries for both. The government often rewards me, so why would I need to embezzle and accept bribes?"

Zhu Ming said: "Send it to the Dali Temple."

Bai Sheng took the evidence and led a team of guards to the Dali Temple.

Qin Hui was on trial, and he refused to plead guilty, insisting that he had only received some gifts of calligraphy and paintings.

His trusted servants were also stubborn and didn't think they could make meritorious contributions while guilty, hoping that Qin Hui would be acquitted.

The concubines really knew nothing, and even the concubine who lived in the secret house had never entered Qin Hui's study. They also said that Qin Hui occasionally lived in the secret house, and apart from reading books, he just planted flowers and vegetables, and didn't do anything else.

"As the Shangshu of the Ming Dynasty, I, Qin Hui, act upright and sit upright, so why should I be afraid of false accusations from the scoundrels?"

Qin Hui sat in the secret room and spoke with great righteousness.

The officials of the three judicial departments were not in a hurry. In addition to interrogating Qin Hui and his family, they also interrogated several of Qin Hui's current and former subordinates.

Sooner or later, someone will not be able to bear it!

In the middle of the night, Bai Sheng suddenly arrived and threw out a pile of account books and treasure notes.

A total of more than 1.26 million guan were found in the two houses.

Moreover, according to the records in the account book, the later the time, the faster Qin Hui's corruption speed, which means that he is no longer so cautious as he becomes more and more greedy.

The stolen money in the last three years is more than the total of the previous ten years!

If he continues to let it go for a few more years, it is estimated that Qin Hui can embezzle three or four million strings of cash.

"Minister Qin, you make me dig so hard. The emperor can only harvest food from farming, but you can grow Ming treasure notes from farming!" Bai Sheng sneered.

Wei Liangchen, Pan Lianggui and others who were responsible for the interrogation of Qin Hui were terrified when they saw so many Ming treasure notes.

Looking at Qin Hui again, he found that he had collapsed on the chair.

It's over, it's all over, the things buried in the ground have been dug out.

If only the box that had not been buried was found, Qin Hui could have argued that the banknotes inside were his savings over the years, and the account books were his secret business (although this was also against the rules, at most he would be dismissed from office, and Qin Hui did register a business name as a cover).

But more than one million strings of cash were dug out, how the hell could he argue?

Everyone knows that Qin Hui was very poor when he was young, and he was not from a prominent family, so it is unclear where the money came from.

Pan Lianggui quickly flipped through an account book and then threw it to Qin Hui: "Tell me, what kind of business is so profitable? There are many names and goods recorded in your account book. There are commercial and tax goods left in various places such as Hu Cao, Gong Cao and bank check. File, maybe I can search the file to help you clear your grievances.”

Qin Hui decided to take another gamble: "These are the money of the Wang family. When the Wang family was split up, many of their properties were gone, and they were afraid that the Ming Dynasty would confiscate their property, so they entrusted the money to me for safekeeping. As for those account books, they are all It’s a random fabrication, and if the court investigates it, there will be a reason.”

"More than one million coins, entrusted to you for safekeeping?" Wei Liangchen said with a smile.

Qin Hui said: "It was entrusted to me by the eldest brother of the Wang family. After he died of illness, I was greedy for the money, so I buried it in the ground and wanted to keep it to myself. None of the other brothers of the Wang family knew where the money went. Only my wife knew."

Pan Lianggui was speechless: "Do you think we are all fools? These account books of yours all have time written on them, and they have not been broken for more than ten years. Your wife's eldest brother is dead. Does it mean that his soul comes back to the world every month and divides the time? The money is entrusted to you for safekeeping?"

Qin Hui's mouth was dry and he didn't know how to explain it.

Pan Lianggui said: "Bring Wang here and make this guy give up completely."

Soon, Wang was brought to this room.

Pan Lianggui said: "More than one million yuan was dug out in Qin Hui's house. He said it was the property of the Wang family that your eldest brother entrusted for safekeeping. Do you know this?"

Qin Hui had a pleading look on his face. He felt that the couple were like grasshoppers on the same rope, and his wife would probably help him to lie as much as possible.

Mrs. Wang looked at the treasure banknotes on the table, and said in surprise and anger: "You, who killed a thousand swords, have been greedy for more than a million coins? I have been married to you for so many years, how have I ever enjoyed all kinds of wealth? You are so greedy. All the money must have been used to raise vixens!”

Qin Hui was stunned and couldn't understand his wife's reaction at all.

In the first half of his life, his wife Wang has always been his think tank. A clever and cunning woman, doesn’t she know that if she confesses, she will die? Why should I be jealous at this time?

Wang, however, looked sarcastic: "Why are you staring so wide? The imperial guards have been dispatched, how can you still escape? From the moment the emperor ordered the arrest, you were already dead. What are you wishing for in vain?" Rimeng! Even if you are not greedy, you will die, otherwise how can the emperor get down?"

These few words were like a bolt from the blue, making Qin Hui's head buzz.

With his intelligence, he should be able to figure it out. But he was still lucky and unwilling to give up the last glimmer of hope. He couldn't stand it until his wife exposed him.

Wang continued to distance herself from the relationship, and knelt down to the officials of the Sanfa Department on the spot and said: "Everyone knows for a fact that I have been separated from this man for a long time. He didn't even let me step into the official residence of the Minister. Talk to me. I don’t know any of the corrupt and illegal things he did..."