Fenghou

"Let me ask you, what's the reason for the sudden drop in the price of sheepskin in March this year, by more than [-]%?"

Jin Binghui's face changed drastically, and a trace of fear flashed in his eyes. The thing he feared most finally came.

"This March, let me think..."

Chong Huan snorted heavily, "Why don't you go to the Neiwei Yamen and think about it slowly!"

Two inner guard soldiers raised him up, and he shouted in fright: "I remember, I remember!"

Zhong Huan gave him a wink, and the two inner guard soldiers put him down, and Zhong Huan looked at him coldly, "Let me remind you one last time, my patience is almost running out."

"I said! It's because a large batch of sheepskins came, too many, and the other party asked us to sell them as soon as possible, so we had to lower the price, but we didn't sell this batch of sheepskins, and we sold ordinary sheepskins at a reduced price."

"why?"

"Because this batch of sheepskins are all high-quality old sheepskins, it's a pity to sell them at a reduced price. The other party is eager to ask for money, so we will sell the ordinary sheepskins cheaply and give him the money."

"Who is the other party?" Zhong Huan asked, staring at him.

"We don't know the real owner of the goods. We deal with a dental man named Huang Zhan. We all call him Huang Fang. He is the owner of Taiyuan Huang's Dental Shop and is very famous in Taiyuan."

It was already very close, and Zhong Huan asked again: "How much is that batch of old sheepskins?"

"About [-] copies!"

The quantity was a bit inconsistent, so Zhong Huan continued to ask: "This is not the first time I have sold old sheepskin to you!"

"No! A total of three batches were sold, and this year is the third batch. Each time there are 30 copies, a total of [-]."

"When was the first sale?"

"three years ago!"

Chong Huan gritted his teeth and said, "Don't you feel anything unusual about this batch of goods? How could Taiyuan produce sheepskin?"

Jin Binghui lowered his head, terrified to the extreme, and said in a low voice, "We suspect it's the military's sheepskin, otherwise it would be impossible for so many high-quality old sheepskins to appear all at once."

"Who else bought this batch of sheepskins besides you?"

"And Dongzhu Yang and Dongzhu Shi!"

"Is it Yang Shaoan and Shi Wensheng?"

These two people, together with Jin Binghui, are the three largest fur merchants in Jingzhao.

Jin Binghui nodded, "That's them!"

……

After Wang Hao got the report, he immediately sent people to arrest the two big businessmen Yang Shaoan and Shi Wensheng to the inner guard for interrogation. At the same time, he found [-] old sheepskins purchased at the beginning of the year from their warehouse.

They received it at the price of two pens per piece, worth 20 pens. In addition, the first and second batches of 20 old sheepskins have been sold by them.

After Chen Qing got the report, he ordered the confiscation of their property, and ordered Zhong Huan to lead [-] elite inner guards to Taiyuan to arrest the broker Huang Yaren.

Although Chen Qing generally would not confiscate the property of merchants, the behavior of these three fur dealers was so bad that each bundle of sheepskins had the military's stamp number on it, which was washed off by them with vinegar.

Knowing that it is military capital and selling it to make huge profits, this is a big crime.

The first thousand and 470 chapters trace

In Taiyuan Prefecture, the investigation into the Cangcheng corruption case has been going on for half a month, and all kinds of serious incidents that have been covered up have been exposed one by one, which is shocking. Cao De, who used to be the prefect of Taiyuan, was too sad to speak. He wrote The letter of resignation strongly demands to take the blame and resign and take responsibility for this case.

Chen Qing approved his resignation. Although he was not involved in the case, he did have dereliction of duty. However, Chen Qing immediately appointed him as Yongnan Propaganda Envoy and sent him to far away Nanyang to preside over the establishment of Yongnan Port and Yongnan Army. Avoid public opinion for a while and protect him.

Cao De immediately accepted the new appointment, bid farewell to his wife and children, and led [-] craftsmen to Quanzhou to go to sea.

……

Taiyuan Cang is one of the four major warehouse groups in the Yong State. Because of the conquest of the Jin State, a large amount of military and civilian supplies were stored in the Cangcheng. Because many supplies are shared by the military and the civilians, the management is also shared by the military and the civilians, which is prone to dual management. The possibility of not caring about both ends made Chen Qing very worried.

One month after the joint investigation team rushed to Taiyuan, the imperial court received more than a dozen urgent express mails in a row, and what worried Chen Qing most happened. The shortage of sheepskins was only the tip of the iceberg. Other supplies included food, cloth, tents, pig iron, etc. However, all the warehouses managed by the military and civilians have a large shortage and the accounts do not match the facts, while the warehouses managed by the military alone, such as armory, gunpowder depots, and fuel oil depots, etc., have not experienced shortages.

The problem is very clear, the shortage of supplies is related to the government, and all the clues point to one person, Sima Douhuang of Taiyuan Prefecture.

Dou Huang had already disappeared, and disappeared without a trace before the investigation team arrived in Taiyuan Mansion. Not only was he missing, but a large number of people involved in the case, mainly the head of the warehouse, either disappeared or died strangely. there is none left.

One of the reports made Chen Qing very worried. This Dou Huang handled Tie Huo Lei. Although it was five years ago, all military records show that the [-] Tie Huo Lei he handled were either taken back or exploded. , was not missed, but Chen Qing was still very worried. After all, these data were reported by Dou Huang himself to the military. He didn't know if the military had verified them.

He wondered if the Tie Huolei of Hu Shatu, a foreign monk from the Kingdom of Jin, might be related to Dou Huang. After all, Hu Shatu came from the Taiyuan Gunpowder Bureau, and Dou Huang was also from a wealthy local family in Taiyuan. Is there any relationship between the two? Some kind of intersection.

There were several counselors sitting in the official room, and Chen Qing paced back and forth with his hands behind his hands. He said angrily to the crowd, "There are many big problems here, such as how his supplies were shipped out, and why no one found out? And the money he sold How is it transferred, hundreds of thousands or millions of coins is not a small amount, how can we know nothing about such a huge flow of copper coins?"

Everyone felt the overwhelming anger of King Yong, which rarely happened. Jiang Yanxian said cautiously: "The matter has come to this point, and there is nothing we can do to get angry. What we can do is to make up for it. The second is to hunt down Dou Huang and minimize losses as much as possible. .”

Zhou Kuan also said: "His Royal Highness, judging from the current situation, this should be a nest case. It cannot be done with Dou Huang's ability alone. There must be other officials involved in the case. I have two suggestions for humble officials. First, don't Set a deadline to give the investigation team enough time, and second, implement a heavy reward system, and those who have made great contributions can be rewarded and even promoted."

Lu Qingshan also added: "With so many materials being sold at a high price, the market will definitely respond. According to the current market research, only sheepskins have responded, and the supply of other materials is relatively normal, especially for tents, which are missing 1 pieces. If the tents enter the market, we will have news immediately that these are military tents, so I suspect that these supplies have not been cashed in yet, and they are either hidden somewhere or shipped to the Kingdom of Jin."

"The guess about Lu Shenzheng is very reasonable!"

Zhang Xiao added: "If we infer according to Lu Canzheng's thinking, it is very likely that among the materials we seized in Yanshan Mansion or Hebei Road, there were stolen items from the Taiyuan Warehouse."

Everyone spoke to each other, and the anger in Chen Qing's heart gradually subsided, and he finally calmed down.

He said to the crowd: "Everyone is right. First of all, it is a dead sheep. I require a thorough inspection of warehouses everywhere. In addition, loopholes in the system must be repaired. Shared warehouses are not allowed. Military warehouses are military warehouses, and official warehouses are military warehouses. The official warehouse must be separated, and secondly, an exchange of warehouse chiefs must be established. Any warehouse chief must not serve in one place for a long time. After three years of service, he must be transferred to another place. "

Jiang Yanxian leaned forward and said, "I obey my orders!"

Chen Qing nodded and said: "The division of labor in the case investigation in Taiyuan must be clear. The investigation team should not worry about hunting down and finding materials. It should only investigate the warehouse and the officials involved in the case clearly. The hunting and tracing should be left to the inner guards. They are more efficient. More professionally, this case can be classified as the first corruption case in the Yong Kingdom, not only corruption, but also dereliction of duty, it must be thoroughly investigated, an iron plate must be engraved on the record, so that future generations will remember it!"

Chen Qing said to Lu Qingshan again: "Please ask Lu Canzheng to go to Taiyuan Mansion to lead the investigation. There are too many investigation teams and there is no leader. I am really not at ease!"

"Humble job is leaving today!"

Chen Qing confronted Zheyan again: "The Tiehuolei incident needs to be independently investigated. I ask the Privy Council, the Arms Supervision and the Firearms Bureau to form an investigation team. I am not the investigation team to find out the whereabouts of Tiehuolei. This matter is left to the internal guards." Do, what I care about is whether there are similar things in other places. You can sort out the incident of Dou Huangling using Tiehuolei, how he applied, how to use, how to confirm that he has used it, how to return it, how to destroy it, every The link is clearly arranged, and then you will know where there are loopholes. In fact, I suspect the use link the most. He said he used three, so how do you know how many he actually used? This is the key."

Orihiko nodded, "I understand!"

Chen Qing said to everyone: "Now iron fire mines are being used more and more for civil purposes. When we build the Danba waterway, I will approve [-] large iron fire mines, as well as the dredging of the Sanmenxia waterway and the expansion of the Tianbao Canal. A lot of iron fire mines have been used, and more will be used in the future, so we must improve the system, and the investigation of Dou Huang is a negative example, so that we can be more meticulous when formulating the system, so that there are no loopholes."

……

It has been almost half a month since Chong Huan led hundreds of internal guards to Taiyuan City. They found Huang's Yamen, but the Daya man they were looking for, Huang Zhan, fell into the water and drowned this summer. All transaction records were burned, except Except for Huang Zhan himself, no one knew who the client was, and even all the counters couldn't find any records about Huang Zhan's large wealth transfer.

But Zhong Huan did not give up, he still carried out a very detailed investigation, of course Huang Zhan was murdered, there is no doubt about it, he believed that an old-fashioned person like Huang Zhan would not spare a hand.

The time has come to mid-December, less than half a month before the New Year, and Taiyuan is still a world of ice and snow with several heavy snowfalls.

This morning, Lu Jin, the commander of the internal guards, ran into the lobby of the Taiyuan Internal Guards Office like a gust of wind, and said to Zhong Huan, "General, we have found a clue!"

Chong Huan cheered up, and quickly said, "What clue?"

"It's the clue that the general thinks is suspicious!"

"You mean, Wu Kang, Huang Zhan's son-in-law?"

"It's this man!"

Wu Kang is Huang Zhan's son-in-law and a dentist. He divorced his wife Huang Huan two years ago, so he was missed during the investigation.

"What's wrong with him?"

"After Huang Zhan's death, his daughter Huang Huan disappeared, but someone once saw Huang Huan's mother and son in Qingyuan County, and Qingyuan County is Wu Kang's hometown, and the low-level investigation has shown that Wu Kang and Huang Huan have a very good relationship. , Huang Huan is very filial to his parents-in-law, there is no reason for Wu Kang to divorce his wife for being unfilial."

Zhong Huan said slowly: "You mean, Wu Kang only claimed to divorce his wife, but in fact he did not divorce his wife."

"The humble official believes that it is very likely that Huang Zhan's intentions are serious, and he used the method of divorcing his wife to protect his daughter and son-in-law, and then many secrets are hidden with Wu Kang!"

"Where is Wu Kang now?"

"He is not in Taiyuan, and he probably returned to his hometown."

Zhong Huan immediately said: "Let's go to Qingyuan County!"

The first thousand and 470 chapter two witnesses

Qingyuan County is located in the south of Taiyuan City, about [-] miles away from Taiyuan City.

Instead of going to the county seat, they went to Hutou Village, Changqu Township, west of the county seat, which is Wu Kang's hometown.

Wu Kang's old house is a big house, covering an area of ​​at least five acres. It has been renovated, giving people a deep feeling of a courtyard.

The inner guard knocked on the gate of Wu's mansion, and went directly into the house. Wu Kang was indeed here. He was frightened, and ran out quickly to clasp his hands and begged Zhong Huan, "My parents are old, please don't enter the house. Everything fits you?"

Zhong Huan looked at him coldly, "I'll give you one last chance to repeat what you said just now. If you say something wrong, your parents, wife and children will be taken away together, regardless of life or death!"

Wu Kang fell to his knees and slapped himself desperately, "My parents are old, my wife and children are weak, I implore the general not to enter the inner house, I will take care of everything!"

"Everyone is like this, thinking that they are the only ones who are smart and that others are idiots and fools. If we didn't know that you are a fake divorcee, would we rush to Qingyuan County on ice and snow?"

"The villain is stupid, I say everything!"

Chong Huan snorted, "Let me ask you first, where is Huang Zhan hiding?"

"The old man is here!"

An old man came out from the inside, he sighed and said: "General Xiao Zhong is really powerful, even this old man knows about his suspended animation."

Wu Kang said anxiously: "Father-in-law, my son-in-law will explain everything clearly."

Huang Zhan shook his head, "Although you know about it, you are not involved in the case. I don't want your family to be dragged down."

Huang Zhan stepped forward and said to Zhong Huan, "I'll go back with you, let's make it clear here."

"Tell me first, is Dou Huang the most involved person in this case, or is there someone else?"

"This case is relatively complicated, and it also involves Jin Guo and Ke Lie's Ministry, but Dou Huang is indeed the highest person involved in the case of Yong Guo, and there is also Zhao Dang, the deputy envoy of Hedong Transshipment."

Zhong Huan immediately said to Wu Kang: "You prepare a room!"

Wu Kang immediately cleaned up the outer study, and Zhong Huan took Huang Zhan to question and ordered his subordinates to make a record. Huang Zhan is not only an important person involved in the case, but also a key witness, and he handles all of Dou Huang's money.

"You tell me everything you know, and I will keep your daughter and son-in-law safe!"

Zhong Huan's eyes were sharp, he saw through Huang Zhan's weakness, he was his daughter and son-in-law.

Huang Zhan nodded, "The reason why I faked my death was to protect my daughter. In fact, it was an old servant of mine who was killed by them. He looked a lot like me. When I found out that they were going to get rid of me, I Let this old servant pretend to be me and often go out in my carriage, but the old servant was shot dead by them with poisoned arrows, the carriage crashed into the moat, pretended to fall into the water and drowned, I was so scared and hid in Qingyuan County."

"Is this Dou Huang very powerful?"

"He has money and power, bought many dead men, and killed those who were unfavorable to him. The biggest mistake I made was not coveting his [-] yuan and underwriting sheepskins for him. You will discover many of his secrets, and you will definitely ask, how did he get to this point, where did the things go, where did the money go, and where did the people go?"

Zhong Huan nodded, "I really want to know, can you answer?"

"Since the general spared my son-in-law and daughter, of course I know everything. He is the eldest son of the dignified Taiyuan Dou family, but he worked for the Jin people. The key is a woman. This woman was brought by an old monk of the Jin Kingdom..."

"Hu Shatu!" Zhong Huan blurted out.

Huang Zhan said in surprise, "General Zhong even knows about it. This happened ten years ago."

Zhong Huan felt a little heavy in his heart. If Hu Shatu was involved, Tie Huolei might be involved.

"You keep talking!"

"This woman may be very powerful in the house, and she charmed Dou Huang. At that time, Dou Huang was still the county magistrate of Yangqu County, and he became a captive under the skirt of this woman. It was spread at the time, but it was not too big. It was forgotten by others, it was two years ago, when Dou Huang was drunk, he told me that he regretted it, but he couldn’t get off the boat anymore.”

"Everything is sold, tell me, where is the money?"

Huang Zhan sneered and said, "The general thinks everything is sold?"

"Isn't it?"

Huang Zhan shook his head, "I only sold sheepskins, because he needed money to feed the dead soldiers and buy officials, and he sent all the other supplies to the grasslands to the Klei Ministry!"

"How can he do it?"

"Because he was rich, he gave the east east transshipment envoy Zhao Dang [-] guan. At that time, Zhao Dang was the deputy envoy. He was able to issue a pass, and he sent these military supplies to the grassland in the form of border trade. As a result, we will become stronger and cooperate with the army of the Kingdom of Jin to defeat the Mughal tribe."

"Did Jin Guo appoint him to send him to the Ministry of Kret?"

"should be!"

"Let me ask you one last question, where is Dou Huang hiding? If you can help us find him, even if you are guilty, I will intercede with King Yong and spare you the death penalty!"

No one wants to die. Although Huang Zhan is over sixty years old, he also does not want to die. When he heard that he could not die, he was also excited. He fled to the Kingdom of Jin. According to the information I got, he was ordered by the imperial court to transport 40 sheepskins to Yanshan Road. He knew that the matter would be exposed, so he destroyed the documents and fled. But it is impossible for him to go to Yanshan. flee in the direction of the road, but go to Datong Mansion!"

"why?"

"Because there is no cabinet shop on Yanshan Road, but there is in Datong Mansion, and his 1 taels of gold are stored in Datong Mansion. He will definitely take the gold and flee in the direction of Linhuang Mansion, but there is a problem!"

"what is the problem?"

"He fled around November 22. He fled to Datong Mansion in early December, but the grassland has already been blocked by heavy snow, and it is difficult to move. We have to wait for spring!"