Li Jing gritted his teeth and bowed, saying, "I admit defeat."
Emperor Xuande summoned Puyi and ordered him to go to Li's house and bring all the cash to the palace. The money would then be received by the Ministry of Revenue and used entirely for disaster relief.
Some officials who were at odds with Li Jing praised him in a strange way, saying that Li Jing was a man of high moral character who was willing to give away his wealth for the sake of the disaster victims.
Censor Li, who is always eloquent, didn't say a word in reply. I wonder what he was thinking.
Before Puyi took the order and left, Shen Zhixiu gave instructions.
"Commander Fu, when we get to the Li family, please speak to them politely. Tell everyone in the Li family that this isn't a confiscation of property; it's Censor Li who donated cash for disaster relief."
"This subordinate will bear in mind Lord Shen's instructions."
After Pu Yi left, Shen Zhixiu said, "Your Majesty, we should wait for Commander Fu. We need to know how much money Censor Li can offer so that we can plan the rest of the process."
"If there's any left, we can use it to support the wars in Northern Xinjiang and Liaodong."
Emperor Xuande nodded, thinking Shen Zhixiu's words made sense. He did not leave the court yet, and everyone continued to discuss the war in Liaodong.
After more than an hour, Emperor Xuande frequently looked outside the hall, obviously losing his patience.
Just as he was about to send someone to ask, the commander of the Dragon Guards, Puyi, suddenly hurried into the hall.
Pu Yi knelt on one knee and said, "Your Majesty, I have already taken all the cash from Censor Li's family."
Emperor Xuande casually asked, "Why did you take so long?"
I wondered how much cash the Li family could have. Even if I had to carry it back on foot, it wouldn't take that long.
Pu Yi replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, the amount is truly too large, and it has taken us quite some time."
As an emperor, Emperor Xuande was naturally sensitive to these things.
"What's going on? Is the amount too large? How big is it?"
Puyi didn't know how to answer, so he could only wave his hand and signal his men to bring the things over.
Then, two of the Dragon Guards came in carrying a large box, more than a dozen boxes in total. The entire empty space in the middle of the Ganyang Palace was filled with these boxes.
After the box was thrown to the ground, it was opened directly by the Dragon Guards, and the contents inside were exposed to everyone.
There were sixteen boxes of neatly arranged silver ingots.
Everyone was shocked, and Emperor Xuande stood up and walked down the hall.
Pu Yi continued, "I have already calculated that each box contains 100,000 taels of silver. Adding them together, the total is 1.6 million taels."
Someone subconsciously looked at Li Jing. Li Jing's face was pale and he stared at the silver ingots with a wandering look.
Emperor Xuande also looked at Li Jing, "Lord Li, your family is quite wealthy. Where did all this money come from?"
Although Li Jing was from a branch of the Li family, the family property he received when the family was divided was not much, just enough to support his life.
After Li Jing entered the government, he spent the first three years in the Hanlin Academy, then worked as a salt transport envoy in the Salt Transport Bureau for several years. Three years ago, he was transferred back to the capital and joined the Censorate.
Everyone knew there were benefits to being a salt transport commissioner, but the sheer amount of silver still frightened the court officials.
Li Jing listened to Emperor Xuande's questions and knew that he couldn't panic at this time, as there might still be a glimmer of hope.
He was panicking, but trying to calm himself down.
"In reply to your Majesty, this silver...was...left with me by my brother-in-law who is a businessman."
Shen Zhixiu looked puzzled and spoke.
"Li Yushi, I remember that your brother-in-law didn't do any big business. He used to sell tea in the capital, but was beaten for counterfeiting. Half a year ago, he returned to Tongzhou Prefecture and opened a teahouse with only eight tables."
"Is Li Yushi saying that a teahouse with only eight tables can earn 1.6 million taels of silver in half a year?"
After hearing what Shen Zhixiu said, Li Jing shuddered subconsciously.
I wondered if Shen Zhixiu was crazy. How could he know everything his brother-in-law did?
What he didn't know was that Shen Zhixiu had been investigating every official in the court since he took charge of the Ministry of Personnel. Shen Zhixiu had investigated every member of his family, from eight generations of ancestors to every aunt and uncle who could be related to him.
He would not use these to attack his colleagues, but when necessary, he would immediately know what was going on.
Emperor Xuande could see that Li Jing was panicking, so he sat back on the dragon throne and scolded him harshly.
"Li Jing, why don't you tell the truth? Where did all this money come from?"
Then he looked at Pu Yi and asked, "Besides money, what else does their family have?"
Pu Yi said respectfully, "Your Majesty, Censor Li has countless rare and precious antiques in his home."
Emperor Xuande stared at Li Jing with cold eyes, "Li Jing, why don't you say it?"
Li Jing knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. I am innocent. This money... this... was not embezzled by me."
No one mentioned corruption, but he brought it up first.
Emperor Xuande took a deep breath and said, "First, remove Li Jing's official uniform. The three courts will jointly investigate Li Jing's corruption case."
Wang Jian, the Minister of Punishment, Jing Yun, the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple, and Wei Wei, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, received the imperial edict together.
No one expected that a discussion about disaster relief in Ganyang Palace would eventually ruin Li Yushi's future and even his life.
When his official uniform was taken off, Li Jing looked at the Crown Prince and Li Jingchuan, but they were both obviously helpless and didn't look at him.
Li Jing looked at Shen Zhixiu again. Was it a coincidence, or did he do it on purpose?
Shen Zhixiu looked calm, neither arrogant nor guilty.
It seemed that whether Li Jing was demoted or not had nothing to do with him.
After Li Jing was taken away, there was a moment of silence in the hall.
The Crown Prince remained relatively calm. Although Li Jing was loyal to the Crown Prince, he knew he dared not say anything. The officials of the Three Departments also did not dare to accuse him of Li Jing's corruption.
The final result of this incident was probably that the Li family was raided and Li Jing was beheaded.
Afterwards, Emperor Xuande took the opportunity to admonish the court officials before disbanding the court meeting.
Shen Zhixiu left Ganyang Palace with satisfaction. He had gained a lot from today's morning court session.
When the news of disaster relief reached the He family, He Guangfu, the official head of the He family, immediately went to find his cousin He Guangju to discuss countermeasures.
For the He family, the Imperial Household Department's business was theirs. The medicinal materials needed for this disaster relief effort were equivalent to the He family's cash.
Everyone is happy when money comes in, but no one is willing to take it out like this.
At this time, the second wife of the Su family, Mrs. He, also got on the carriage and returned to the He family with a sad face.
She didn't know that the He family was going to provide disaster relief. She only knew that her shop's business was not good. It was a damp winter and many of the medicinal herbs in the warehouse were moldy.
He had been extremely worried about these moldy herbs for the past few days. Today, she had no other choice but to go back to her brother's house to discuss the matter.
After He entered the house, the servant took her to the inner house to meet the mistress of the house, He Wenju's wife Xu.
"How are you, sister-in-law?" He bowed as she entered the room.
Xu sat in the main seat, holding a heater in her hands, and wearing a crimson satin jacket embroidered with lotus leaves.
Hearing He's voice, he raised his eyelids and said, "My dear aunt is here. I'm sorry for not welcoming you. Our temple is small and I'm afraid it can't accommodate a big Buddha like you."
Because Su Xiangling became entangled with the prince, she entered the Eastern Palace and gained favor.
Therefore, Xu had a lot of opinions about her sister-in-law and spoke to her in a sarcastic tone.
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