Chapter 80
After saying this, Mu Qi no longer paid any attention to the pale-faced Eunuch Yang, and leisurely got up and left the secret room.
He waited in the alley of the Ministry of Justice's prison for a while, and when he saw that there was no one around, he finally pushed the door open and greeted with a smile:
"Mr. Hai, you have worked hard!"
As expected, Hai Gangfeng did not leave. He stayed in the prison and read the files over and over again. When he saw the prince step into the door, he immediately stood up with a look of slight surprise.
However, this surprise was only for a moment. After all, Hai Gangfeng had been in the officialdom for half a year and was familiar with the rules and conventions. So after a moment of hesitation, he immediately guessed the purpose of the prince of Duke Mu's appearance. After returning the greeting, he couldn't help but sighed:
"I didn't expect that the prince would be involved in this case."
"For a major case of treason, of course we need to send important officials to carefully examine and investigate it." The prince said calmly, "But your majesty probably didn't expect that things would come to this point..."
Of course, it is unrealistic to say that Master Feixuan and Emperor Wanshou were completely unaware of the dirty things going on in Jiangnan; otherwise, why would they have to include Yang Deshui from the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau in the luxurious jury team? Just as Eunuch Yang said, he was just a dog sent to Jiangnan by the palace, and his lifelong duty was to look after the emperor's house. Such a loyal dog should, of course, jump out and bite people desperately at the right time when listening to the trial, and use his own face to save the emperor's face, even if it means interrupting the interrogation and disobeying the imperial edict. It's a pity that there is always someone stronger than you. After being beaten up by the prince and Hai Gangfeng for a round, Eunuch Yang had no choice but to leave in tears.
The prince's words were full of meaning, and Hae Gang-bong seemed to be hesitant to speak. After a moment of silence, he spoke in a low voice: "I'm afraid this will cause trouble for the prince. I'm really sorry for that."
Hai Gangfeng was upright but not stupid. When he saw the connection between the imperial criminal, the textile bureau, the Westerners and the exchanges between craftsmen, he had already vaguely guessed the inside story behind this trial - really, the inside story - the other jurors from the Ministry of Justice might have reacted a little slowly, but after figuring it out, they also trembled and turned pale, wishing they could slide off the table. So Hai Gangfeng simply asked them all to leave, leaving only a low-level clerk who had nothing to do with the matter to accompany and record. In the final analysis, he just didn't want to drag anyone into the water.
But now, the Prince of Duke Mu was actually attending the trial in a secret room. This meant that he was dragging people into trouble even if he didn't want to - could such a heavy bomb be heard casually? What's more, it was Hai Gangfeng who was recommended by the prince!
What exactly is your relationship? Why does it seem more and more abnormal the more I think about it?
The favor of recommendation was as heavy as Mount Tai, but Hai Gangfeng had inadvertently let his benefactor down, so of course he had to feel guilty.
The prince just sneered:
"I've already caused enough trouble for myself, why should I ask Mr. Hai to do it for me? Don't worry, the trouble you've caused me is just a drop in the bucket..."
Just as he finished speaking, there came a distant sound like the roar of an ox. It was sharp and high-pitched, full of fear and vibration. The echo vibrated in the prison and was enough to make people's eardrums hurt.
Hai Gangfeng was greatly surprised: "This is——"
"This is Eunuch Yang from the Weaving Bureau who is here to attend the trial." Mu Qi listened attentively and smiled: "From the noise, Eunuch Yang must have finally gone crazy..."
Hai Gangfeng:? !
Hai Gangfeng stood there in a daze, instinctively realizing that something was wrong!
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It should be said that SSR is SSR, especially SSR who has experienced many hardships at the grassroots level. The accuracy and sophistication of their vision is indeed beyond the reach of ordinary people. Although the prince's train of thought was also beyond the imagination of ordinary people, Hai Gangfeng was stunned for half a cup of tea, and still vaguely deduced the shocking drama that had just taken place in the secret room based on the scattered details of these few words - and after guessing the whole picture, he immediately shut up.
...How should I put it? Hai Gangfeng had been active in Zhejiang officialdom for several months. He killed gods and demons when he met them, and was invincible with a copy of "The Great Edict" and a belt. He could make the local eunuchs wish they were dead, and he could drive a weaving bureau chief crazy with just a few words. But even such a sharp tongue that was always effective has now become silent.
Hai Gangfeng really couldn't find anything to say!
He didn't say anything, but the prince wanted to say something. The prince looked outside the door and smiled:
"But, Eunuch Yang is still very sensible. Even if he wanted to go crazy, he knew to hold back and wait until the official business was done before going crazy. At least he didn't delay the hearing of the imperial decree..."
Hai Gangfeng: …………
Does Eunuch Yang know that he is so sensible?
——Or in other words, did Eunuch Yang become sensible voluntarily? !
He was silent for a moment, and could only say dryly: "So, the jury business is over?"
"Of course." The prince nodded. "The jury record has been sealed and sent to the palace. It can no longer be withdrawn, so Eunuch Yang had to go crazy... However, our business has been concluded, but Mr. Hai's business has not. The chief judge is to write a closing statement and submit it to the court for the three judicial officials to consider and decide the case."
At this point, the prince's expression couldn't help but become slightly serious. Now that Hai Gangfeng was trying the case and recording the confessions, of course all the stinking dirt inside the Weaving Bureau had been exposed, and he was bound to throw the dirty water on the faces of Master Feixuan and Master Wanshou. However, this kind of confession was submitted in secret after all, and even if it was not kept carefully, the scope of the leak was quite controllable. However, once the chief judge's testimony was submitted to the Three Law Departments via the Ministry of Public Security, everyone who handled it would be able to see the whole picture, and the secret would be revealed in a mess, which was undoubtedly like taking off Master Feixuan's pants to show everyone his old hemorrhoids.
Would Master Feixuan tolerate such an insult?
"So, let me remind you." The prince said word by word, "Mr. Hai, at this moment, you must not do anything to remove the dragon scales! Only by combining hardness and softness can you achieve long-term success. Remember this!"
The current emperor is a tyrant who holds great power, is vicious and ruthless, and is by no means a timid, cute and charming villain. Once someone's face is hurt and his reverse scale is touched, there is no one in the world that he dare not kill. The reason why the "Memorial on Public Security" in history has been passed down through the ages is probably because Lao Deng was so seriously ill at that time and was about to die, and the dying imperial power had been greatly weakened. In view of the fact that all officials tried their best to protect Prince Yu, they had to show mercy and reluctantly spared Hai Gangfeng's life. And now - now, Master Feixuan, who is alive and well and has not been burned to death by the two fires of eccentricity, definitely has the energy to do evil.
If someone really took advantage of the situation to give advice, Hai Gangfeng would just be the next loyal minister who died without a sound!
Being able to accomplish such a great career in the officialdom, Hai Gangfeng is certainly not a stubborn and naive person. He was silent for a moment, then said:
"I am not Lord Shen Lian. But this case is shocking and has far-reaching consequences. It must be resolved."
"It must be brought to a clean conclusion." The prince said, "But only by avoiding the current emperor can there be hope of a conclusion. Otherwise, your life will be buried along with this case, and there will be no one to administer justice."
"Can it be avoided?"
"…It should be possible." The prince pondered, "There is one thing that needs to be made clear. I don't think the higher-ups know what the weaving bureau has done. Otherwise, the palace would rather punish all the eunuchs than allow the princes to buy and sell firearms. This is truly touching the bottom line! In the final analysis, it was just a failure of supervision from the higher-ups."
Of course, it is very difficult to say whether this oversight was intentional or unintentional. The Weaving Bureau has been acting recklessly for many years, which may be due to the intentional or unintentional connivance of the higher-ups - the True Lord only wants to make money, and does not care how the money is made; therefore, the long-term trampling of rules and corruption of systems has finally given rise to a live dad like the one we have today.
No wonder smuggling along the coast is always happening and cannot be stopped despite repeated bans! With such a good emperor sitting on the throne, why would he investigate any smuggling?
Of course, as long as there is a charge of negligence on one's head, there will always be room for shirking responsibility in the future. The prince slowly spoke:
"…But if we want to avoid the higher-ups, we have to find someone to take the responsibility. As long as the blame is passed on, the rest will be easy."
"The weaving bureau and the prince cannot bear this responsibility."
They really cannot bear the responsibility. The Weaving Bureau is just a dog looking after the slush fund, and the princes are just a group of pigs with muddled brains. To expect pigs and dogs to take all the responsibility for this terrible disaster is to underestimate the intelligence of the people in the world.
"Then let someone else take charge." The prince said calmly, "Mr. Hai, you have been training militiamen to build fortifications along the coast. Is it effective now?"
Hai Gangfeng was stunned for a moment, as if he didn't understand why the topic suddenly turned to the militia. But still nodded:
“It’s roughly what it looks like.”
"That's good." The prince's brows relaxed. "Since everything is ready, we have the best candidate to take the blame and the best solution to all problems... Mr. Hai, please wait a moment. I have a secret memorial to submit. After this secret memorial is presented to the emperor, you can write a memorial."
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Eunuch Li held onto a corner of the table tightly, feeling dizzy and almost falling backwards. Despite this, he still impatiently waved away the young eunuch who came forward to support him, and stared at the dozens of pages of confession spread out on the table with wide eyes. The more he looked at it, the more shocked he became. His anger rose, and his eyes immediately became bloodshot:
"What on earth are the officials in Zhejiang doing!" he said sternly, "How dare they send such a confession to the higher-ups!"
The eunuchs who accompanied him in the inspection looked at each other in bewilderment, not daring to speak for a moment. After a brief silence, it was the most experienced eunuch, Chen, who spoke up:
"What can we do? They just want to kill us! A treason trial is a treason trial. What about the Portuguese and the textile bureau? They just want to drag us all into it and kill us all! Killing us doesn't matter, but I'm afraid these pen-wielding people will come after the emperor!"
This last sentence is sinister and murderous, and is extremely malicious. But what Li Zaifang wanted at this moment was this murderous intention - if the emperor humiliates his subjects, they must die. Those civil and military ministers all had their own ways out, but they, the eunuchs, had absolutely no way out; if this confession was really submitted to pour dirty water on the emperor's head, they would deserve to die!
We must take action, we must fight back, and we must let the civil servants know how powerful we are. What we need at this time is murderous intent.
He slowly turned his head, his tone already filled with appreciation:
"You have a point."
Eunuch Chen was caught off guard and his face immediately showed joy.
"But just having a reason is not enough." Li Zaifang said: "The confession is already like this, what do you think we should do?"
Eunuch Chen was eager to make a contribution, so he immediately said, "Of course we should ask them to re-examine the case and swallow back every word that involves the palace and His Majesty!"
"The confession has come in, how do we try it?"
"That's not difficult." Eunuch Chen had been able to stay in the Imperial Household Department for so long, so he had a lot of ideas in mind. "Didn't Yang Deshui accompany the trial? Let Yang Deshui come forward and say that the confession is suspected of being forged. Then we can try to transfer the chief judge who doesn't know what's good for him far away. We can find someone else to conduct the trial overnight and report it to the palace immediately."
He took a step forward and took the opportunity to say, "If you are worried, I, your grandson, will do it for you. I will go and talk to Yang Deshui in person this time, so I am not afraid that he will not agree."
This idea is quite sound. Li Zaifang pondered for a moment, then turned to ask the young eunuch:
"Where's Yang Deshui? Why didn't he come to see me after he finished his work?"
The young eunuch hesitated, but still had to bite the bullet and reply:
"Let our ancestors know that Eunuch Yang has gone crazy!"
Li Zaifang was stunned for a moment, then snorted: "This kid is quite smart."
Smart indeed. Involving the Weaving Bureau would certainly involve his weaving chief Yang Deshui. There were many hidden talents in the capital city and undercurrents were surging. Neither he nor he could take it head-on was a good idea, so he might as well just lie down and pretend to be crazy and stupid, becoming a dead man who could never speak politically. Only if he remained silent could he buy time for the palace to turn the situation around.
"Since he is crazy, I will take some doctors with me." Eunuch Chen said, "But this is just right. Yang's madness gives us an excuse to say that the jurors were crazy and didn't hear clearly. The interrogation will not count and we can just have another trial..."
“But, but.” The young eunuch said timidly: “The jury record has been delivered, and it has Eunuch Yang’s signature on it…”
Eunuch Chen was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage - once a word is spoken in the officialdom, it cannot be changed; after the jury record was delivered, the entire set of procedures was already completely complete, even the Imperial Household Department had no room to tamper with it!
Damn it, if this happens, then that guy surnamed Yang would have gone crazy for nothing. !
According to common sense and rules, Yang Deshui should have acted crazy and thrown a tantrum to disrupt the entire interrogation as soon as he realized something was wrong. Only eunuchs like them would have room to operate in the muddy water. Now the signature has been signed and the documents have been sent, there’s no point in you continuing to act crazy! Useless trash, a troublesome bastard, a waste who can't even go crazy!
There was nothing he could do about it, and he couldn't just yell at a madman in front of his colleagues. Seeing that there was no hope of success, Eunuch Chen's expression changed several times, and he finally spoke harshly:
"Who else was interrogated with Yang Deshui? They are truly heartless people. They actually allowed such a confession to be submitted! I think Yang Deshui must have been driven crazy by them!"
At this point, he couldn't admit his mistakes, so he just put the blame on the rest of the jurors. Maybe he could force them to change their statements and withdraw the document.
The young eunuch was startled by this outrage and whispered:
"I'm just afraid..."
"What are you afraid of? No matter who he is, we will skin him alive. You say!"
The young eunuch was helpless and could only whisper: "There is a Jinyiwei, and, there is also the prince of Duke Mu..."
Eunuch Chen: ...Ah?
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Is it true that I beat the prince of Duke Mu?
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