Chapter 235 Interrogation
"Master, something really happened."
Steward Zhou was so anxious that cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He pulled Zhou Hongjing into the carriage and spoke again impatiently.
"What happened?"
Seeing that Steward Zhou did not seem to be faking it, Zhou Hongjing frowned and asked.
"There is actually silver in Chongxian's vault."
Butler Zhou approached Zhou Hongjing and whispered.
"Um?"
Zhou Hongjing was confused.
Chong County is a county under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Prefecture. It is closest to the capital and was also the first county he asked Li Yishen to check.
According to the time, Li Yishen should have finished his investigation in Chong County.
But how could there be silver in the Chongxian treasury? Wasn’t it all transported to the Ministry of Revenue and stored there when the local tax was paid at the end of the year?
"But what about the unpaid taxes?"
Zhou Hongjing asked the butler this question for some unknown reason.
Butler Zhou looked at his master and touched the back of his head in confusion.
Whether it is tax or not, doesn’t his own father know better than him?
He is not from the government, he is just here to deliver a message.
"Master, this old slave doesn't know."
Butler Zhou said hesitantly.
"Since the people from the Supervisory Office are going with us, then isn't it just a good opportunity to transport the silver from the Chongxian Bank back to the national treasury? I, your father, will be safe then."
Zhou Hongjing was a little flustered. This money that appeared out of nowhere was not a good thing for him.
If he is lucky, it will prove that he has evaded paying taxes.
Although the amount of unpaid taxes in the account was not a single sum, it was not unreasonable to compile it into the Chongxian Bank and submit it to the national treasury.
But what if you are unlucky? Who knows what else it might be related to?
"Master, that silver is more than 200,000 taels."
After listening to Zhou Hongjing's words, Butler Zhou gave another reminder.
"What did you say? More than two hundred thousand taels? Why didn't you tell me earlier? How much silver is there?"
When Zhou Hongjing heard this, he became even more panicked.
If there were less than 200,000 taels in the treasury, or even exactly 200,000 taels, he would have a way to justify himself.
But how should he say the extra ones?
"Master, it's three hundred and fifty thousand taels. Three hundred and fifty thousand taels exactly."
When Butler Zhou said this number, Zhou Hongjing's eyes went dark and he passed out.
The treasury was the imperial treasury. It should have been empty, but there was an extra 350,000 taels of silver in it.
Three hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver was the total tax revenue of all the counties under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Prefecture for two years.
If Zhou Hongjing cannot explain the source of the money and why he did not hand it over to the national treasury, he will not be able to escape the crime of corruption.
The laws of Sheng'an State stipulated that anyone who embezzled 100 taels of silver would be sentenced to prison, and anyone who embezzled 1,000 taels of silver would be sentenced to death.
Even if the Supervisory Commissioner admitted that 200,000 taels out of the 350,000 taels were unpaid taxes, the remaining 150,000 taels were also his embezzlement.
He embezzled 150,000 taels of silver, and I don't know how many times his head must have fallen off.
"Grandpa...Grandpa, please wake up, Grandpa..."
Butler Zhou supported Zhou Hongjing and pinched his philtrum with his thumb.
"Old Zhou, please stop pinching me. I don't want to wake up. Just let me sleep like this."
Zhou Hongjing was unwilling to open his eyes and face the increasingly worsening situation.
The vault was clearly guarded, so how could someone have taken advantage of the situation and put so much silver in there?
Eh? The Chong County Bank can't hold all that silver, could the news be wrong?
Thinking of this, Zhou Hongjing opened his eyes hopefully and said to Butler Zhou: "Old Zhou, are you remembering it wrong? The Chong County Bank can't hold all that silver."
Butler Zhou thought about it and hurriedly took out something from his pocket, which contained Li Yishen's handwritten letter.
Li Yishen was considered Zhou Hongjing's man. When he saw the situation in the treasury, he found an opportunity and sent a message to Zhou's steward.
"Master, this is a letter from Lord Li, please take a look."
Butler Zhou took out the letter and handed it to Zhou Hongjing, asking him to read it himself.
Zhou Hongjing opened the letter eagerly and saw the contents at a glance: 50,000 taels of silver and 30,000 taels of gold.
"God wants to kill me..."
After reading the letter, Zhou Hongjing shouted and then fainted again.
The maximum storage capacity of a county-level bank is 100,000 taels of silver. With 50,000 taels of silver and 30,000 taels of gold in it, it is not crowded at all.
Such a large amount of silver was found in the imperial treasury, and the magistrate of Chong County and those who were in charge of looking after the treasury were not free from involvement.
But there happened to be an incident of underpaying taxes, so it goes without saying that Zhou Hongjing would be implicated by that money.
This time, Butler Zhou did not dare to pinch Zhou Hongjing again. He just asked the driver to speed up and planned to go back to the mansion to let the palace doctor take a look first.
Dali Temple.
Matthew was taken away for interrogation again.
"Matthew, the case in Yuzhou has already been concluded, and all the people involved have been arrested. You'd better explain the stolen silver that was transported to the capital as soon as possible."
Yu Jinming sat at the desk, looking at Matthew Li who was lying on the ground, his eyes were as sharp as a torch, and he wanted to stare at him until he was full of holes.
Su Pengxin, who was sitting next to him, also looked at Matthew Li with the same eyes.
What Matthew Li did was too bizarre and the amount of stolen silver involved was huge, so Emperor Yongping asked the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice to jointly investigate the case.
In Yuzhou, the warehouses used by Ma Xiuli to store the stolen silver had been sealed off by the Ministry of Justice.
However, the exact location of the warehouse in the suburbs of Beijing has not yet been determined. Matthew Li is still resisting, still holding on to a glimmer of hope.
"Master Yu, I don't know what you are talking about. What do you want me to confess?"
Matthew Li felt like fainting from the pain, but he couldn't, so he just fooled Yu Jinming.
Because he didn't say anything, he was tortured.
This was also the first time he experienced the methods of the murderer.
Neither dying nor living, and without leaving any trace.
This made it very difficult for him to resist.
"Matthew, you have been an official in the court for many years, you must know the methods of the Dali Temple, right?
Since I am asking you this, it means that I have enough evidence. If you take the initiative to ask the Dali Temple to investigate, I think you know the difference."
Yu Jinming's tone when questioning cases was always calm and gentle, and he provided gentle guidance.
The Dali Temple had actually already found out about the warehouse where Matthew Li hid the silver outside the capital.
However, he and Emperor Yongping were puzzled as to where they had transferred the stolen silver.
The reason why they did not intercept Matthew Li when he was transferring the stolen money was that they wanted to find out his purpose.
"Master Yu, I really don't know what you are talking about."
Matthew Li only responded hastily before Suo Jiang took action.
But to be honest, he still didn't say a word.
"Matthew, you know very well that I could have just written a confession and asked you to sign it. But why did I bother to interrogate you over and over again in person? Do you really not understand the deeper meaning of this?"
Yu Jinming looked at Matthew Li with deep eyes, and his tone hinted that if it were someone else, they would definitely think there was a chance of survival.
But Matthew Li had been immersed in officialdom for many years and was well versed in the law.
He knew his guilt and what the consequences would be.
Therefore, I was not moved by Jinming's words.
"Matthew Li, Chongxian Bank..."
Seeing that he still didn't say anything, Yu Jinming continued.
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