The Hangzhou Governor's Office is undoubtedly the most delicate place at the moment.
Governor Zhu Wan ordered a thorough investigation into the arson case, but the efficiency of the government investigation was disappointing.
After several days of investigation, I didn't find even a single clue.
However, this is not really the fault of Hangzhou prefect Zheng Youhe. Although Prefect Zheng is a neutral, at least there is nothing wrong with him obeying the orders of his superiors.
It can be said that Prefect Zheng strictly implemented the Governor-General's orders, but the people who were responsible for the actual work were deliberately procrastinating.
As for the reason, everyone knows it.
Zhu Wan naturally could not tolerate this and repeatedly urged the prefect Zheng to investigate the case carefully, and even mobilized the power of the Supreme Court to investigate the case.
However, the Zhejiang officials seemed to have agreed on this and pretended to obey Zhu Wan's orders but secretly disobeyed them, and the Judicial Commissioner was no exception.
The investigation into the arson case has stalled.
There is no doubt that they are all waiting, waiting for a result.
Either Zhu Wan will be impeached and dismissed from office, or the emperor will protect Zhu Wan.
There are only these two possibilities; there is no third.
If it is the former, there is no need to investigate the case any further and everyone will be happy.
If it is the latter, it is a bit complicated.
In short, they are not in a hurry to express their opinions.
Zhu Wan saw it clearly.
These officials only cared about the official hats on their heads and did not care about the Ming Dynasty court or the livelihood of the people.
Just when he was feeling grief-stricken, his personal guard suddenly came to report that Xu Yan wanted to see him.
Zhu Wan then ordered him to come in.
But Xu Yan and Shen Mingchen walked into the hall one after another.
Seeing Zhu Wan's haggard face, Xu Yan felt a little uneasy. God knows what Zhu Wan has been through recently.
"I pay my respects to the Minister."
Xu Yan bowed deeply to Zhu Wan and said in a deep voice, "Your Excellency, this is my fellow countryman, Shen Mingchen. He has long admired you and has come specially to pay his respects."
Xu Yan's words were very clear, how could Zhu Wan not understand them?
He wants to introduce Shen Mingchen!
This is nothing, since we are from the same hometown, it is reasonable for us to help each other.
Shen Mingchen quickly bowed to Zhu Wan and said, "I pay my respects to His Excellency the Minister."
Not everyone can be called late.
At least one must be a scholar with a degree. However, a student does not have this qualification.
Shen Mingchen was a scholar, so there was naturally nothing wrong with calling himself that.
Zhu Wan nodded slightly as a response to Shen Mingchen.
"Please sit down, everyone."
Zhu Wan raised her hand and nodded.
The two of them sat down carefully.
Shen Mingchen thought to himself that the Governor was really humble and more approachable than he had imagined.
"Your Excellency, I heard that a huge fire suddenly broke out in the Hangzhou government prison, burning all the prisoners to death?"
Xu Yan got straight to the point and asked directly.
Zhu Wan nodded and sighed, "Indeed. This is so strange. I think someone is demonstrating."
"Everyone knows Sima Zhao's intentions. These Southeast Sea merchants have lost all their dignity."
Xu Yan sneered and said, "Master Minister, have you thought about how to deal with this?"
Zhu Wan shook his head. "I've ordered a thorough investigation into this matter, but it seems everyone in Zhejiang's officialdom has agreed to this in advance. They're lip-service to my orders, but secretly disobeying them. My orders are simply impossible to implement."
Xu Yan thought to himself that Zhu Wan was being sidelined.
So miserable!
It was no wonder that Zhu Wan had stirred up a hornet's nest. Countless Fujian and Zhejiang smuggling merchants resented him, and many officials were also implicated.
Even if someone is not involved in maritime smuggling, they will mostly watch from the sidelines to see the situation clearly before making any decisions.
Xu Yan winked at Shen Mingchen, who understood and stepped forward, bowing, saying, "Your Excellency, I have a plan."
Zhu Wan said "oh" and nodded to signal Shen Mingchen to continue.
Although he didn't know Shen Mingchen, since he was recommended by Xu Yan, he must be good.
"Minister, why don't you spread the word... this... this..."
Shen Mingchen talked to Zhu Wan, and Zhu Wan's eyes lit up.
"It's indeed a good idea."
"But this would be an injustice to Lord Minister."
"It's nothing. As long as we can find the real culprit behind this, even if I suffer some injustice, it won't matter."
Zhu Wan said in a gentle voice.
...
...
Recently, strange things have been happening one after another in Hangzhou.
First, the Hangzhou government prison was burned down, and then the governor fell ill with a strange disease.
The provincial governor, the chief judge, and the commander-in-chief all went to visit him.
But the Governor said that the disease was contagious and declined visits from several senior officials.
Therefore, in the entire city of Hangzhou, no one except the governor's confidants knew what disease he had and what his condition was.
Rumors spread all over the place.
Some said that the governor had smallpox, while others said he had the plague.
Some even said that the Governor had contracted syphilis.
In short, exaggerate as much as possible.
What is even more strange is that the Governor's Office seemed to have no intention of refuting the rumor and allowed it to spread in Hangzhou City.
The pro-Haipai officials in Hangzhou were all overjoyed. Zhu Wan fell before they could even make a move.
Now that Zhu Wan is obviously old, she has no energy to investigate any arson case.
On the contrary, this gave the pro-Shanghai faction an opportunity.
As the saying goes, take advantage of your illness to kill you.
If they don't take action now that Zhu Wan is in such a state, wouldn't that be too cowardly?
Even God wouldn't be able to bear that.
These officials were usually suppressed by Zhu Wan, but now they can finally hold their heads high and show off.
They held secret meetings with smuggling merchants and formulated a thorough and detailed plan, ready to completely overthrow Zhu Wan in one fell swoop.
...
...
After searching for it everywhere, I finally found it without any effort.
Liu Jingqi didn't expect happiness to come so suddenly.
At this critical juncture, Zhu Wan fell ill.
This is truly a godsend!
He immediately contacted the heads of the three major families, He, Lin, and Wu, to discuss the matter together.
Now, all the impeachment memorials have been sent to the capital, but they have disappeared without a trace.
There is no doubt that someone in the court wants to protect Zhu Wan.
At that time, Liu Jingqi did have a moment of hesitation.
But now he has strengthened his belief.
If he can't even fight a sick man, why is he still in this business?
What's more, Zhu Wan offended not only himself, but the interests of the entire Fujian-Zhejiang maritime merchant group.
Now is the time to take his life.
...
...
"It looks like the fish are taking the bait."
A faint smile appeared on Xu Yan's lips.
Shen Mingchen took a sip of tea and said leisurely, "These people are still impatient. When they heard that the Minister was ill, they all jumped out."
"They're just a bunch of clowns. It's a good time to catch them all in one fell swoop."
Xu Yan said lightly.
"I really want to see what kind of outrageous things they will do."
“People die for money and birds die for food. It’s not surprising that they do anything.”
...
...
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