Prodigal Son of the Ming Dynasty

  Chapter 1582 The truth comes out

  Wang Shouren protected Fang Jifan all the way back to Beijing.

   Almost didn't have much contact with outsiders.

  But within half a day after he returned to Beijing, he was able to find out the real culprit.

  This is unbelievable.

   It is inevitable that some people will think that Wang Shouren is grandstanding.

  Even that Liu Huiwen was only smiling, and acted very calmly and indifferently.

  Wang Shouren didn't care about the eyes of everyone. He glanced at his mentor, and then said: "Your Majesty, if things like assassination are not done carefully, it is very easy to show flaws."

"But just..." He looked very calm: "The mastermind behind this assassin is not good at this. The so-called interlacing is like a mountain. This person is full of lies everywhere, and there are many arrangements, which can be called ridiculous. Therefore, it is necessary to arrest such a person." It’s too easy to be the real murderer.”

  Emperor Hongzhi was speechless for a while.

  Fang Jifan's face was calm.

   To be honest, Wang Shouren's tone was a bit loud.

   Make it look like you, Wang Shouren, are very professional.

   But… he seems really professional.

   One specialty can do many things, it is still the same as being a teacher.

   All the ministers held their breath and looked straight at Wang Shouren, with different thoughts.

  Emperor Hongzhi asked the case, and said: "Really? If that's the case, let me explain it in detail, and I will listen with all my ears."

Wang Shouren quickly said: "But any real expert must have planned his actions in advance. However, judging from the many details of this assassination, the assassination this time seems to be extremely hasty, so that even the whereabouts of the mentor cannot be accurately grasped." , it can be seen that they are only acting temporarily, and... the people who act are nothing more than a group of thieves."

  After hearing this, Emperor Hongzhi nodded secretly, feeling quite reasonable.

  People’s impression of the criminals is often that they are extremely sinful, so they all go to the deepest point of speculation, as if such a person, if he dares to have such courage, must... also have great abilities.

  But Wang Shouren only downplayed it, which exposed this mentality.

   "Thus, the minister was thinking, since they acted hastily, then... who are the people they hired?"

  Emperor Hongzhi frowned, unable to answer for a while.

Wang Shouren said: "This is very easy to guess. If you think about it...it must be a local. Otherwise, after the arson, the officers and servants in Nantong Prefecture will react immediately. They will block the gates of Nantong Prefecture and the sluices entering the city. , to find the real culprit, when the time comes...As long as the search is door-to-door, all foreigners who are different from other places will become suspects. Only locals, relatively speaking, are the safest. In this regard, the instigator behind the scenes , should be clear in my heart."

  Emperor Hongzhi followed this line of thought and nodded secretly again.

I saw Wang Shouren said again: "If you want to understand this section, it is actually very simple. If you are from Nantong Prefecture and have the courage to take such a risk and commit such a serious crime, then... these people must have been killed. People, and dare to take risks for money."

  Emperor Hongzhi narrowed his eyes and said, "A local bandit?"

Wang Shouren shook his head, smiled and said: "It shouldn't be, because... I have already said that the person behind the scenes is not careful, which means that this person has no experience in this field before, and is completely ignorant of this way." , I just feel that this is precisely the best time to assassinate my mentor, if I miss it, it will be difficult to get another chance. This person... usually does not make friends with gangsters, how can he contact gangsters when he is in a hurry?"

   To do such a major event, you must first have mutual trust.

   There is no mutual trust, you just tell people about your plan, and they run to Fang Jifan to report the news and go to collect the reward money. Isn't this courting death?

  Emperor Hongzhi looked puzzled.

   Seems to make sense.

  A person who has never met gangsters, does he dare to trust these people? Since he didn't dare, then who was the dead man he temporarily recruited.

   "These people, first of all, must be outlaws, and secondly, they must be easy to be manipulated by others. After thinking about it, I really have such people in Nantong Prefecture."

  Emperor Hongzhi frowned.

   "Who is it?" Emperor Hongzhi was full of curiosity.

"Salt!" Wang Shouren said: "In order to protect the official salt, the imperial court specially set up salt, but this salt is a profiteering thing. It has always been guarded and stolen. If you talk about bold and reckless, there is no one in this world except in the mountains. In addition to the thieves who fell into the grass, there are those guards who steal the salt. The official salt they guard is actually a mountain of gold and silver. Unceasingly, the imperial court has severely cracked down on this, but these people still dare to steal salt. Therefore, although these people are wearing official clothes, they are in fact no different from thieves. They put their heads on their belts and lick Blood. I have always thought that the mastermind behind the scenes is not a rebel or a traitor, but the person he can use is the person he can control, and Yan Ding is the easiest to control, because their ancestors all They are military households in Weizhong, and their wives and children are also in the army, but they are courageous and ruthless, as long as the superior threatens them, they dare not refuse."

  Emperor Hongzhi gasped.

  In fact, no one would have thought that it was Daming's official army who did the work.

In this way, it can actually be explained. After the incident, Nantong Prefecture closed the city gates, blocked the access to waterways, searched for thieves everywhere, and factory guards also appeared everywhere, but their targets were mostly those who used to The outlaws, who would have thought that the real murderer is hiding in the army.

  This is actually... nothing more than a blind spot in the temple.

  Even Emperor Hongzhi, as well as the princes of the court, would never know that there would be such a team in Nantong Prefecture.

  Wang Shouren's difference is that he has read thousands of books and traveled thousands of miles. He has a deep understanding of the three religions and nine streams, and different groups of people.

  At this time, the smile on Liu Huiwen's face finally began to gradually disappear.

And Wang Shouren continued: "Follow this line of thought and look down, then everything will be easy. When the minister and his mentor arrived at the Ningbo Shuizhai, they ordered someone to use a fast horse to write a letter to the Zhizhou of Nantong Prefecture, and asked him to secretly write a letter." After this investigation, it was immediately found that there were a dozen or so salt workers who happened not to be in the camp at the time, and claimed to the outside world that they were escorting several trucks of salt to the canal for loading and unloading. , There is no record of official salt handover at all. The magistrate of Nantong Prefecture had found out their details seven or eight days ago, first secretly controlled their family members, and then arrested them. Then, these people confessed and confessed. They are ordered to act by the Judiciary and the Judicial Officer."

   "And this salt class prosecutor came to the case. Seeing that the situation is over, there is no need to use torture, so he confessed to the real mastermind behind the scenes."

   "Who is it!" Emperor Hongzhi's face was ashen, and his tone was urgent.

   It turned out to be an official ordered by the imperial court, and the person who might be involved was actually in the temple.

  Emperor Hongzhi subconsciously came up, his face was cold.

Wang Shouren looked around, only remained silent for a moment, and then said: "Because this is a big matter, the magistrate of Nantong Prefecture and the minister did not dare to disclose it easily in advance. He followed the minister's train of thought and secretly investigated the case in Nantong Prefecture. It happened to be at this time that they went north on a sea boat, and when the officials arrived in the capital, their secret letter had already arrived in the capital, and the person revealed in the secret letter was really no small matter. arts…"

   buzzing...

   There was an uproar in the hall.

  As a matter of fact, for some ministers, when Wang Shouren said that the Nantong State Salt Department was involved in the matter, someone had already guessed who was behind the scenes.

This Nantong Prefecture is a thoroughfare. The salt department in this place is the fattest, and it has always been a place for some ministers in the court to compete. Therefore, don't think that the Nantong Prefecture Salt Promotion Department is just a mere fifth-rank , but it is really eye-catching.

  Who doesn't know...the current promotion is the proud student of Liu Huiwen, Jijiu of the Imperial College.

no surprise…

  Everyone looked at Liu Huiwen.

   Liu Huiwen was silent, he didn't say anything.

  Emperor Hongzhi also looked at Liu Huiwen in disbelief, with astonishment flashing in his eyes.

  After several dynasties, Liu Huiwen has always given Emperor Hongzhi the image of a honest and elderly man.

  Where did he expect that he would go so mad.

  Emperor Hongzhi's first thought was whether the investigation was wrong.

  But... Liu Huiwen didn't complain, he just curled up his hands and coughed desperately.

  After this heart-piercing cough, Liu Huiwen panted heavily, and stood up calmly but slightly trembling. His beard and hair were all white, and every step he took seemed to be strenuous.

Immediately, he prostrated himself on the ground, and said calmly: "The old minister has served the emperor for several dynasties, and now he is very old. When His Majesty ascended the throne, it was the most gratifying day for the old minister, because... my Ming Dynasty finally welcomed a saintly and benevolent man." Your Majesty, at that time, the old minister... I was so relieved..."

   As he spoke, he raised his cloudy eyes. There was no fear in his eyes, but he had deep nostalgia for a certain good time.

"But..." He suddenly seemed distressed: "But ten years ago, everything changed. Your Majesty no longer respected etiquette and righteousness, no longer yearned to be a virtuous king, but only cared about pennies and pennies, and always put profit first. Over the years, seeing many things in the temple, the old minister is really heartbroken...cough cough..."

Speaking of this, he coughed desperately again, his head drooped weakly, and his eyes were full of old tears: "These days, the old minister is thinking, how did things come to this point today, why does His Majesty listen to the villain's slander, How did His Majesty become like this... The old minister can't figure it out, and he can't figure it out. Is this interest more important than morality and shame? Those trivial knowledge are better than the sacred knowledge? The minister... is getting old , not long after, I will go to see the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty, but the old minister...does not accept...does not accept this tone."

  (end of this chapter)