Yinzhen also greatly admired this Miss Cheng, a woman like her could have a place in unofficial histories and biographies.
Miss Cheng's crimes were not limited to those. There were many people in the main hall, and Miss Cheng was not very kind to her servants, so she naturally incurred their resentment.
Furthermore, if they said something useful, they might be able to mitigate their crimes. Therefore, the servants of the Cheng family naturally told the Cheng family about their masters' crimes without reservation.
Soon, the crimes of Miss Cheng and Madam Cheng filled several pages of indictments. Many of these were things that the Imperial Guards hadn't had time to investigate, as time was tight and the task was heavy, and the investigation was indeed not thorough enough.
In the end, the indictment listed nearly a hundred people by name, and the crimes of this mother and daughter alone were outrageous.
Miss Cheng and Madam Cheng tried to deny everything, but the evidence was irrefutable, leaving them no room for argument. Yinzhen then sentenced Madam Cheng, Miss Cheng, and the evil servants who had served them in court. Madam Cheng and Miss Cheng were naturally to be executed, while the evil servants, having committed too many evils, were mostly to be executed along with their masters.
Some who committed minor crimes were either imprisoned or exiled, and the process was swift and decisive.
The patriarch of the Cheng family will not be interrogated today; he will be temporarily detained because there is insufficient evidence, and further investigation is needed.
Cheng, the second son of the Cheng family, was neither favored by his parents as the eldest nor pampered as his third brother. He was the least valued of the family, yet he was the first to achieve success.
He was quite talented to have become the late emperor's teacher. Emperor Shunzhi had previously admired his talent. His third brother was a low-ranking scholar in the imperial examination, but he was able to become the Suzhou Provincial Governor because of his second brother's reputation.
Now that Cheng is alone in the capital, and the Cheng family has committed such a terrible crime behind her back, he has no face to meet his ancestors!
Once the prisoners were gone from the courtroom, Cheng Lu knelt on the ground, his face ashen.
"This servant is guilty, and I beg Your Majesty to punish me."
Yinzhen didn't have a very good impression of the program, but he knew that the program didn't have the guts, and he guessed that the program was really unaware of this matter.
Since the matter is still unresolved, Yinzhen naturally wouldn't arbitrarily convict the late emperor's teacher.
Looking at Chengxu's increasingly aged face, Yinzhen said, "Go back and rest well for a while. I will send two people to take care of your daily life. We'll talk about this matter again in a few days when we have a conclusion."
Cheng Su felt somewhat relieved that the emperor had not dismissed him from his post. He knew he was not a favorite of the emperor, but he couldn't bear to give up the feeling of being in the court and holding power, so he had not resigned.
He was truly surprised that the emperor was still patiently refusing to dismiss him. He hadn't actually been involved in the matter, but he knew his brothers well enough to know that they must have relied on his influence.
Even if the emperor understands, he can't stay in the court. Now that the emperor hasn't dismissed him directly, he has to know what's good for him. The emperor is giving him face, so he has to make sure he gets his due.
The program says: "This servant thanks Your Majesty."
The program was taken away by someone.
Since the Cheng family in Jinan was involved in the illegal salt trade, their assets were naturally to be confiscated. People started going to the Cheng family's residence last night to take inventory of their property.
Yinzhen was just about to resolve the issue of the county magistrate when someone came to report that the Cheng family's property had been confiscated.
Moreover, the items confiscated from the house are now displayed in the county government compound! It's said to be completely full.
Yinzhen led everyone to the courtyard of the county government office, which was indeed filled with gold and silver. The courtyard of the county government office was not small to begin with, and there were many boxes of gold and silver in the administrative offices and study rooms.
There are also various precious porcelain, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, priceless jade jewelry... too many to count.
Those who came with Yinzhen were all from wealthy families, but even the wealthiest people were quite shocked to see so much real gold and silver!
This fortune was enough to marry off three or four princes' wives in the capital. You know, the dowry of a prince's wife could support several princes and princesses. The fact that such a huge fortune was found in a merchant's house was truly shocking.
Yinzhen glanced at it, then said with an unreadable expression, "Record it in the books and seal it up. Store it temporarily in this county office."
It wasn't that Yinzhen didn't want to transport the silver back, but it was simply that such a large sum of silver was difficult to transport, the journey was long, and the risks along the way were too great.
In addition, money was indeed needed here, such as for repairing the river, which was the most expensive project and one of the main reasons for this trip to the south of the Yangtze River.
Next, Yinzhen began to have the county magistrate's crimes investigated. To be honest, the county magistrate was unlucky. He originally wanted to make a name for himself, but he couldn't fight against the powerful. Cheng Jingxiu had something on him, so he turned a blind eye to the Cheng family's affairs.
He wasn't unaware that the Cheng family was going too far, but he dared not do anything about it!
Now that they've been investigated and punished, they're finally free.
After this incident, Yinzhen lost his interest in sightseeing. Yunrong knew that he was probably not in a good mood, so she didn't mention going out.
Although she doesn't know much about politics, as a top student, she's very knowledgeable about general affairs!
She used to focus her energy on researching tools that would benefit the country and its people, but now she feels she can come up with some institutional solutions.
Just as she defines herself, she doesn't understand politics, but as a top student, she has studied systems and regulations. As a top student who knows how to integrate knowledge, she is confident that she can provide a suitable inspection system.
Then Yunrong got busy.
Seeing that Yunrong was busy, Yinzhen felt more guilty for not being able to accompany her to Thousand Buddha Mountain, after all, he hadn't been able to give Yunrong a couple of days of relaxation.
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