After the cannon fodder prince collapsed, the country will not perish

Xu Huizhou thought for a while and said, "Then you must know who is behind the scenes?"

Since Xiao Di has entered and exited at the same time as Yan Jing, and was able to secretly visit the existence of Captain Nie, he must have never given up on pursuing this matter, and it is not surprising to find out who is behind the scenes.

Xiao Di spoke frankly, looked at Xie Qingci and said, "I did inquire about the events of the year secretly without telling His Highness, but I only found out that Young Master Xu had behaved abnormally in the army back then, and Captain Nie only recently discovered clues, so he stayed put." , no action has been taken yet."

Xie Qingci met Xiao Di's eyes, feeling a burst of warmth in his heart.

Xiao Di must have sensed his defensiveness, that's why he even explained his private affairs again and again.

"The people behind the scenes are not so easy to find. We can clear up the previous misunderstanding this time and return General Xiao's innocence." Xie Qingci paused: "As for what happened back then, we will throw out the evidence and let the third division The same goes for checking."

As long as they have absolute evidence to prove that the testimony of those people is nothing, it will be enough to shock the whole world. As for where these testimonies come from, the clearer they know and the more careful their argumentation, the more people will suspect them.

Xiao Di understood Xie Qingci's meaning, nodded slowly and said: "The people who plan to frame the testimony and those who set the fire last night must be the same group of people - we can start with the fire this time and find out what happened back then."

His voice is calm and low-mellow, making people feel at ease involuntarily.

The doors and windows were closed tightly, and the four of them sat around the table, lowered their voices together, and discussed specific strategies.

On the outskirts of Beijing, the wind blowing past still smelled of burning sawdust. Looking at the houses around them that disappeared overnight, the faces of these farmers were full of surprise and uncertainty.

"Do you know? These families were burned overnight. I heard that none of the adults and children were rescued."

"It's not far away, why didn't I hear anyone calling for help?"

"That's why it's so strange—it's been said that this must be a punishment from the heavens!"

"It's good that we have to move. Several households have been burnt to ashes." "It was completely overnight."

"God's punishment fell on us ordinary people, alas, what a crime!"

On the hillside not far away, several fine works are hidden behind it.

They listened to every word these people said.

In Yan Mansion, Yan Pingrong frowned and looked at the person in front of him: "How is things going?"

"The man was already burned to death. In order not to arouse the suspicion of the people around us, we also set fire to several houses nearby. The houses were all made of wood, and the autumn is dry, so it is not surprising that the fire broke out for no reason." The visitor gently After a pause, he said, "However, Mr. Xu went in and rescued the child and the woman."

Yan Pingrong didn't care about this, and asked again: "Are you sure you left after watching him burn to death?"

"Okay, that person didn't get out of the door until the house collapsed. We brothers didn't leave until we saw the house collapsed."

How did they know that as long as they moved fast enough, under the cover of night and fire, they could hardly see the figure of saving lives.

At the moment before the window collapsed, someone had quietly taken Captain Nie away from the flames.

These people reported what they saw today, and finally said: "According to my subordinates, those people also complained a lot about the actions of the Third Highness..."

Yan Pingrong also felt that this matter was interesting, so he immediately went to the prime minister's mansion and reported the matter to the prime minister.

The Prime Minister's eyes revealed a thoughtful look.

He never thought that with the help of this matter, it could lead to the matter of Xie Qingci's grain collection.

The prime minister pondered, now that the people are complaining, isn't it because of Xie Qingci's perverse behavior that God punished him?

With this big hat on, even if Xie Qingci's work does not stop, it will definitely not please His Majesty.

This is a pleasant surprise.

It was rare for the prime minister to boast: "What your subordinates have done this time is quite neat."

Yan Pingrong had a happy face: "Then the prime minister wants to enter the palace?"

"Which palace?" A sneer curled up on the corner of the Prime Minister's mouth: "It's not right for us to come forward in such a matter, you go and call Taoist Wang here."

Daoist Wang is a Taoist specially introduced to the emperor by the prime minister. After the emperor succeeded to the throne, he loved alchemy to seek longevity. The prime minister found this fairy and specially made medicine for the emperor. The emperor would listen to him to some extent.

Sure enough, when Taoist Wang said it so miraculously, even the emperor felt that the matter was strange, and he felt a little more jealous, so he immediately called Xie Qingci to inquire.

"I heard that you have misbehaved recently, so that God punished you?"

Xie Qingci knelt down and said: "Father, what I have done has already been reported to you, and I have no selfishness, and I have acted frankly."

The emperor frowned and said, "However, it is also true that within one night, many shelters built by the imperial court caught fire."

"That's a good fact." Xie Qingci said flatly: "But whether it's God's will or man-made, father ordered the third division to investigate and find out!"

Artificial?

The emperor's face turned cold: "You said someone secretly set the fire?"

In order to reduce the anger of these dignitaries, he first whipped Xiao Di, but later he knew that the bandit incident was probably related to these people, so he didn't pursue it any further.

As a result, instead of restraining themselves, these people began to pretend to be ghosts and set fires to kill people.

Xie Qingci said solemnly: "My son pleases my father to order the three divisions to thoroughly investigate this case. If it is really God's will, my son is willing to be punished and not to interfere in this matter."

Hearing that the emperor had handed over the matter to the third division, the prime minister changed color a little, but immediately felt relieved.

It doesn't matter that Xie Qingci is the prince, most of the three divisions are his disciples, and Xie Qingci has no solid evidence in his hand, so he can only be led by the nose.

Thinking of this, the prime minister immediately cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, please go in person to show your love for the people."

At that time, the officials of the three divisions spoke in unison, and His Majesty was on the spot.

Let's see how Xie Qingci still defends.

A few days later, the three divisions began to interrogate the case at the same time.

This case is strange, there are no defendants, and there is no definite evidence. The main officials of the third department all have personal relationships with the prime minister, so they all say that this time is caused by natural disasters.

Xie Qingci said coldly: "So, all the adults insist that this is a natural disaster, and it has nothing to do with everyone here?"

"Your Majesty said it was a natural disaster, so why does Your Highness insist on talking about human disasters?" The Minister of the Ministry of Punishment who presided over the trial was a member of the prime minister. At this moment, he sneered unceremoniously: "If His Highness hadn't changed the course without authorization, there would be no thunder from the sky. .”

These words were full of impatience and contempt, Xiao Di coldly swept over, remembering this person's face.

Xie Qingci did not appear to be irritated, but clapped his hands and called a few officials: "Shangshu, please look, these are all new officials from the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and Metropolitan Procuratorate. In many cases, what they said is also credible..."

"They are all low-ranking officials." The Secretary of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs waved his hand and said with a smile: "Your Highness is young, and His Majesty personally intervened in this case. The ministers have also investigated for a long time, and there is indeed no trace of arson. It is undoubtedly a natural disaster!"

"Really?" Xie Qingci smiled slightly, turned to the little official and said, "Report what you have investigated to Shangshu."

"Yes!" The young official said with a righteous face: "I visited these wooden houses that were on fire, and indeed found no abnormalities indoors, but found some ashes outside one place..."

Immediately, an official from Dali Temple interrupted: "Shangguan is talking, why should you interrupt, the fire was very big at that time, isn't it normal to have some ashes?"

"My lord, this king allowed him to speak." Xie Qingci's cheeks were as cold as ice and snow: "You don't have to be so angry, listen to him first."

The young official said: "This is the ashes collected by the lower official."

The ashes were dark brown, and there were some unburned gunpowder inside.

"Everyone can see clearly, these are the embers of the gunpowder cartridge and the gunpowder tube that were purchased uniformly in Beijing!" Xie Qingci said slowly: "Does this thing still need to be used for punishment from the heavens?"

As soon as the words were uttered, people around him were aroused to discuss.

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice looked at the prime minister in a panic: "This... This mass of ashes, how can it be seen that it was left by Huo Zhezi, Your Highness, you are too far-fetched..."

"The embers of the gunpowder cartridge contain sulfur and oil, and it only needs a small spark to ignite it again." Xiao Di's calm voice sounded neither humble nor overbearing: "Your Majesty can also invite soldiers from the Ministry of Industry to come, and they will see it immediately." Know."

Yan Pingrong's face turned pale immediately.

"During the visit, I also found that there were sporadic incense sticks left under the windows of some family members." Encouraged by the young official, he presented a small piece of incense sticks: "This is incense for the ecstasy, it seems to be the person who set the fire. I want to stun the people in the house first..."

"Ridiculous! Absurd!" The emperor interrupted with a gloomy face: "You are still talking about the punishment from the heavens, and it's not you who are doing dirty tricks one by one!"

That's all there is to it, there's nothing left to see.

It is probably because these officials were dissatisfied with his actions to confiscate the cultivated land that they actually did these strange things.

Deceive the monarch at the top, and misunderstand the common people at the bottom.

"Confiscating cultivated land and incorporating it into military rations is my national policy. If you are dissatisfied, feel free to come to me." The emperor said coldly, "Don't blame me for being merciless if you do such nasty things to others."

"Your Majesty is wise! It's just that this matter is not just arson and framing. It's as simple as wanting to change the national policy." Xu Huizhou, who stood aside for a long time without saying a word, walked out slowly, knelt down and said: "My minister Xu Huizhou, the person who reported the arsonist turned black and white , once slandered loyal ministers and good generals, and overthrew our country!"

These words were so loud that everyone present turned pale immediately.