The return of the son-in-law

After Xu Lao Wu came, he saw several strangers in the room. Jiang Yannian, whom he had met before, could only stand aside, so he knew that the identities of these people definitely had a lot of background.

He remembered that on the first seven days, Guo Zhanan sent someone to send a letter to him, telling him that some officials from the capital would come to take over the matter in the next few days. If he wanted to avenge his wife and son, he had to take care of it himself. good chance.

Xu Laowu knew that his chance had come.

Revenge sometimes dazzles a person's mind, but sometimes it can calm him down and do things he usually can't do.Old Fifth Xu belongs to the latter.

He saluted with red eyes, only to hear one of them ask him: "Are you Xu Lao Wu?"

Xu Laowu replied: "My lord, Caomin is Xu Laowu, whose real name is Xu Jinjiang."

He Zudao nodded, and asked again: "You once served as a clerk in the Northwest Military Camp, didn't you?"

Old Five Xu replied truthfully: "My lord, I became a clerk 11 years ago, and it took me more than six years."

He Zudao winked, and the attendants at the side stepped forward and handed Xu Lao Wu a piece of paper, He Zudao said: "Then do you still remember the amount of military pay you handled in spring and summer five years ago?"

Xu Laowu smiled coldly in his heart, taking the opportunity to look down at the numbers on the paper, a flash of anger and excitement flashed in his eyes.When he raised his head again, his face was full of anger, and he said excitedly: "My lord, of course I remember! My son was framed and sentenced to death at that time! In the spring, the original [-] stones were gone. Five thousand, and in summer, there are only forty thousand stones!"

He Zudao and the others were shocked—whether it was the files of the Ministry of War or the records from the barracks, there were [-] shi written in black and white on them!

Where did the total military salary of [-] shi go?

Everyone knew that there was trickery in this, especially Huang Mingli.He was an insider, and he was burning with anxiety at this moment, wishing he could rush up and cover Xu Lao Wu's mouth, and take him out to kill him.But he couldn't, he didn't even dare to take the initiative to ask, because he was afraid that He Zudao and others would find out that something was wrong with him and expose the fourth prince.

Jiang Yannian looked at him coldly, and said at the right time, "Xu Lao Wu, do you remember correctly?"

Old Five Xu replied respectfully: "My lord, I will remember the other numbers wrongly, but I will not remember these two numbers wrongly. After my poor son died, I thought about it for a long time. My son is a soldier. I usually practice hard in the military camp, and I have never had any trouble with anyone. Why did I choose him as the scapegoat? Unless, the other party’s target is actually me! But who do I have any grudges against? Haha, who is to blame? Call me a clerk, and the military salary of the barracks must be handed over to me, I'm afraid some people don't want it."

Huang Mingli was overjoyed, pretended to be angry, and shouted: "Bold! What are you, you dare to imply that someone in the court is going to murder you! You have such personal grievances, my lords, his words are not enough. letter!"

Xu Lao Wu ignored him, and continued: "If it was just my suspicion, when my wife was murdered for no reason and buried in the mountains, I would conclude that someone was clearly trying to kill her! It's just that the other party didn't expect that I would die that night. Not at home, I only pity my wife, who lost her life in vain!"

Speaking of this, Xu Lao Wu felt sad, two lines of tears rolled down, and wept in a low voice.

He Zudao and the others looked at each other, and one of them said: "This man is really pitiful. My lords, how many people in the world can be impartial? Even if five fingers have lengths, how can people's hearts be unbiased? Xu Although Lao Wu has pointed out what he said, but his family is ruined, we must not sit idly by."

Regarding military pay, Wei Zichen, who represented the emperor among these few people, became the most important judge.He looked at Xu Lao Wu sobbing in a low voice, and he didn't seem to be fake, and said: "You are all talents of pillars, and you must not make a decision easily because of some people's words. I remember that there are files in the government office that record military salaries. In my opinion , why don’t we take out the dossier and let’s compare it again.”

Jiang Yannian was waiting for this sentence. Guo Zhan'an had copied the military pay for the past two years before. The files from five years ago were hidden by Shi Guogan, but the files from recent years are still there.

The military salary of [-] shi, heh, he didn't believe that the Ministry of War had no reason to cut the military salary by [-] shi!

As far as Shi Guogan is concerned, he is considered an individual talent, but the dossier of a state is very important, especially during the reign of Emperor Wen of this dynasty, there was an incident of tampering with dossiers by the prefect.Moreover, Na Zhizhou and Tong San colluded and reaped a lot of benefits.After the Dongchuang incident, the imperial court tried its best to investigate, but only [-] out of [-] were recovered, and the loss was huge.

Since then, Zhizhou and Tongju can no longer interfere with the dossier. Every year, the Ministry of Officials will send people to various places to compile it, and these people will be replaced every year. Bring special pens, ink, paper and inkstones and horses, and order him to set off immediately.

Even Li Shaojin couldn't interfere with these personnel changes, but he thought that as long as the files of the Ministry of War and the records of the barracks were matched, no one would think of checking the files in the Xuzhou government office.

It's just that Li Shaojin's faction didn't expect that Old Fifth Xu still remembered it so clearly!And this person was found by Guo Zhan'an!

He Zudao sent someone to get the dossiers, the man came over with a lot and said: "My lords, there is no record about military pay in the dossier five years ago, I brought the ones from six and four years ago. .”

Wei Zichen was not happy when he heard the words: "Why can't I find it? Who came to Xuzhou five years ago?"

But He Zudao thought of another layer: "Send someone to search in Zhizhou's office, do you have that file?"

After hearing this, the man put down the file and led others to look for it again.

Several people in the room first read the files they brought.Sure enough, the military salary six years ago was [-] shi per quarter, but four years ago, it was only [-] shi.

Looking at the Ministry of War and the barracks, whether it was six years ago or four years ago, they were all [-] shi.

Huang Mingli sighed in his heart, Shi Guogan couldn't keep it anymore.

He Zudao was so angry that his beard blew up, and said angrily: "Okay, even dare to be greedy for military pay, this Shi Guokang really ate the guts of ambitious leopards!"

No one refuted it. After all, the civil and military forces of this dynasty were mutually restrained, and the military pay was issued by the Ministry of War, and it had to go through Zhizhou in the middle, and then sent to the military camp.In such a big Xuzhou, besides Shi Guogan, who else has this opportunity?What's more, even if there are other people obstructing it, Shi Guogan, who is the magistrate of the state but doesn't know it, will still be guilty!

Wei Zichen said: "Everyone, the issue of military pay is related to the country, and we cannot just ignore it. But Your Majesty asked us to come to Xuzhou to thoroughly investigate the matter of Shi Guogan's dereliction of duty. This matter cannot be delayed. I think it is worse than this. I and One adult is responsible for the military pay, and the other adults continue to follow the clues we found to investigate Shi Guogan's dereliction of duty. In my opinion, at the end of the investigation, the matter will come back to Shi Guogan."

He Zudao nodded and said: "Master Wei is right. If this is the case, please leave the issue of military pay to Mr. Wei, and leave the rest to us. Everyone, who else is willing to investigate the matter of military pay with Mr. Wei?"

Huang Mingli naturally wanted to seize this only opportunity, and immediately said: "Everyone, if you can trust me, let me do my part in the matter of military pay."

Although Huang Mingli's official position in the capital is not high, everyone has heard of his meticulous work.Although Shi Guogan was pointed directly at the matter of the military pay, they still had no direct evidence to prove that Shi Guogan did it, so they were relieved to ask Huang Mingli to investigate, and no one would disagree.

Only Jiang Yannian looked at Huang Mingli as if he was vaguely relieved, and chuckled disdainfully.

He thought that he and Guo Zhan'an had no other recruits waiting for him?

On the other side of the government office, Guo Zhanan, who was working, received the report and laughed it off.

Hao Yun didn't care when he saw him at the side, and couldn't help being anxious: "My lord, now is a great time, why don't you take this opportunity to pull that man off the horse?"

Guo Zhanan glanced at him with a half-smile and asked, "Who is that man? Why don't I know what you're talking about?"

Hao Yun knew he was wrong, but he was worried that he had completely surrendered to Guo Zhanan now, but Guo Zhanan didn't look like he planned to beat the dog in the water.If Shi Guo dared to escape this catastrophe, what should Hao Yun do?

Could it be that you have to find a way by yourself?

Guo Zhan'an thought for a while, and he knew what Hao Yun was worried about.Guo Zhan'an naturally didn't like the character of being afraid of wolves and tigers, but seeing that Hao Yun was someone he could use in this mansion, he decided to keep him for now.When I leave Xuzhou another day, I will naturally not take Hao Yun away.

"Instead of worrying about this, why not make me a new pot of tea." Guo Zhan'an pointed his index finger on the desk and warned, "Don't use your brains, weeds never end well."

Hao Yun's heart trembled. He was the best at observing words and expressions. He had been worrying about his own life before, so he didn't realize that Guo Zhan'an was impatient.Now it seems that I am afraid that I have offended Guo Zhan'an.

He hurriedly took the purple clay pot to make tea again, and when he left the study, Hao Yun realized that if Shi Guogan hadn't been pulled down this time, Guo Zhan'an would be the first to be unlucky.And what is his identity, Hao Yun?I'm afraid Shi Guogan will only think of him as a number one person if someone reminds him.

Thinking of this, Hao Yun couldn't help regretting that his performance a few days ago was probably all in vain because of these two sentences today.

After Hao Yun left, Guo Zhanan found the brazier, burned the secret letter in it, and poured out the half cup of cold tea to extinguish the flames, then clapped his hands and continued to deal with official business.

Outside the window, unknown songbirds were singing happily, which made Guo Zhan'an think of Huo Yu in the mansion.

For some reason, Huo Yu suddenly became mysterious, and he didn't know what he was planning secretly, even if Guo Zhan'an asked him, he refused to tell.

However, Guo Zhanan expected that Huo Yu would not cause any trouble, and it was rare for Huo Yu to have something he wanted to do, so Guo Zhanan was happy to let him do it.

But he didn't know that Huo Yu was planning a surprise for him.

Although Guo Zhan'an didn't intervene, Jiang Yannian was still there.Someone tampered with the military pay, even if the military camp was the victim, it would not escape the responsibility.Jiang Yannian took advantage of the opportunity to participate in this investigation from the standpoint of the military camp, and Wei Zichen naturally welcomed it, but Huang Ming was so rational that he really wished that a thunderbolt would strike Jiang Yannian to death.

Obviously, God did not fulfill Huang Mingli's wish.The weather in Xuzhou has been exceptionally good these past few days, but the faces of everyone in the room are getting worse and worse.

The matter of military pay is actually very simple. Even if there is no dossier about military pay five years ago, the soldiers can feel whether they are warm and whether they are full.Originally, each soldier had three sets of clothes every six months, from two sets in the first six months of five years to two sets a year now, there is no need to look through files, just ask any veteran in the barracks to know.

As for food, grass and weapons, not to mention, compared with five years ago, they are by no means the same.

Looking at these crimes, Wei Zichen smiled angrily: "This Shi Guogan can be regarded as a talent, and there are so many things that go wrong in such a big matter as embezzlement of ink's military salary."

Jiang Yannian sat on the side, sipping tea in a comfortable mood, and said with a smile: "A wise man is bound to make a mistake. When they are greedy for military pay, they only think about how to hide it from their superiors, but they forget that the soldiers are the ones who can feel this most. Yes. However, if there is no Xu Laowu, we will only rely on the files of the Ministry of War and the records of the barracks, and we will never know that someone has tampered with the military salary, let alone investigate the matter thoroughly and ask those soldiers."

Although Wei Zichen was not reconciled, he had to admit that Jiang Yannian was right.

Civil servants and military officials have always disliked each other, and even he is not immune.To be honest, if Jiang Yannian hadn't mentioned that there was such a person as Xu Laowu, he would have seen that the file and the number on the record matched, and he hadn't planned to find another witness to confirm this matter.

"It's a capital crime to embezzle the army's salary, not to mention that Mr. He also found a lot of evidence against Shi Guokang. I also ask Major General Jiang to tell everyone in the military camp for me. I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer on this matter."

What Jiang Yannian wanted was this sentence, his play was over, so he wouldn't stay here any longer to make people uncomfortable.He got up and cupped his hands and said: "In that case, I will go back to the barracks to report to the general today, and ask Mr. Wei to take care of our barracks. All the soldiers are waiting for the good news from Mr. Wei."

Huang Mingli stood aside, already made up his mind - Shi Guogan, he couldn't stay.

In the Xuzhou Prison, Huang Mingli, dressed in plain clothes and a hood, walked into the cell where Shi Guogan was being held.

The guards who were guarding the prison had already been sent away in advance. Huang Mingli walked unimpeded all the way, ignoring the sound of the iron chains colliding from both sides, and walked to Shi Guogan's cell.

Shi Guogan no longer had the arrogant arrogance of the past, and his treatment these past few days has become worse and worse day by day. It is obvious that his crimes are being exposed one after another.It has been three days since he was clean in the cell that was not like a cell, and now he is in the cell full of rats and bugs.

The cell that Shi Guogan is currently in is the deepest one in Xuzhou Prison, except for the jailer, there are no other prisoners.None of these guards had spoken to him. In the empty cell, Shi Guogan almost went crazy.

Now someone finally came, Shi Guogan raised his head nervously and asked, "Who are you?"

Huang Mingli didn't take off his hood, and said in a low voice, "I can't hide the military salary anymore."

Shi Guogan trembled all over, and hurriedly said: "Nonsense! You don't have to slander me!"

Huang Mingli was too lazy to talk nonsense with him, and said: "I slandered you? Before leaving, the Fourth Young Master told me."

Shi Guogan rushed towards Huang Mingli and said anxiously, "What evidence do you have that the Fourth Young Master sent you here?"

Huang Mingli didn't answer, just said: "Your wife is two months pregnant, you have to think about it, whether you want to bring the whole family to die, or leave a bloodline."

Shi Guogan was so angry that he almost vomited blood: "Are you going to throw me as an outcast?"

Huang Mingli still did not answer, but took out a small bottle from his arms, poured a pill out of it, and said, "If you think about it, choose it."

Now that the matter has come to this point, Shi Guogan has long understood that he has no choice.

Even if he denounced Li Shaojin himself, he could not escape death.As for Li Shaojin, he is Liu Xiang's grandson, how many capable people are there around him?I'm afraid that when Li Shaojin focused on the military salary, he left a way out for himself.

When Shi Guogan thought about it now, he regretted it very much.Then what is Li Shaojin's identity, and what is his identity?Back then, he was elated because Li Shaojin chose him to do things for him, but with Li Shaojin's status, without Shi Guogan, wouldn't he be afraid of Guoguogan, Mu Guogan?

It was clearly planned early in the morning to throw him away as an abandoned child!It's just that the issue of military pay was exposed too early, and the time was advanced!

But his wife was already two months pregnant. If he gritted his teeth and refused to confess Li Shaojin, then his wife and the child in his wife's womb would survive!

There are three kinds of unfilial piety, and the greatest is to have no descendants. Shi Guogan knew that he would die no matter what, and he could only choose to swallow this pill without any weight.

But he was still worried: "Why should I trust you?"

Huang Mingli laughed, and took out a token from his bosom, which was just what Li Shaojin's confidants could have.

Shi Guogan was still not at ease, stretched out his hands from the gap in the cell, pinched it carefully, and confirmed that the token was not fake, so he believed it.

"I want you to swear, swear that you will take good care of my wife and children."

Huang Mingli refused: "You have no choice. I will leave when the count reaches three."

Shi Guogan only thought it was ridiculous, he himself was an dignified magistrate of Xuzhou, a high-ranking member of one party, but now he was at the mercy of others, and he had no chance to resist.

With a long sigh, he took the pill and swallowed it.

Huang Mingli held his nose until the convulsion stopped, and left this dirty place in disgust.

In the cell, two mice ran across Shi Guogan's still-cool body.One of them stopped, carefully sniffed at Shi Guogan's finger, and ran away again.