Chapter 236 Enough Space
When Matthew Li heard Yu Jinming's words, his pupils shrank slightly and his heart almost stopped.
"And the Yu County Bank..."
......
Yu Jinming mentioned three county-level banks in a row before Matthew Li closed his eyes dejectedly, as if he had lost his life and became motionless.
But Yu Jinming was a martial artist, and he clearly saw that Matthew Li's body was shaking slightly.
This shows that he is struggling fiercely in his heart, and the decision of whether to give up or continue fighting may soon come to a conclusion.
Sure enough, after about a quarter of an hour, he opened his eyes with great difficulty and said, "I confess."
Afterwards, Matthew Li explained the places where he had transferred the stolen silver and the purpose of doing so.
He placed stolen silver in the vaults of one county and nine counties under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Prefecture, with two purposes.
First, we must adhere to the principle that the most dangerous place is the safest place.
Fortunately, he thought that if he didn't say anything, no one would think that he would hide the stolen silver in the imperial treasury.
The second purpose is to pull Zhou Hongjing into the water.
If those vaults are ever found, Zhou Hongjing will be implicated.
Since the investigation of him was caused by Zhou Hongjing, you can't blame him for dragging Zhou Hongjing into it.
"Zhou Hongjing has a large amount of embezzled tax money in the treasury. If you don't believe me, you can count the amount and then check the accounts. I have a ledger of all the money I have.
The extra money, at least 300,000 taels, was originally stored in the treasury."
Matthew Li explained everything that needed to be explained this time, but he still mentioned this.
He said he would wait for the Zhou family at the Dali Temple, and he would not go back on his word.
Su Pengxin looked at Matthew Li and did not comment on what he said.
Is Zhou Hongjing really that stupid?
How could the tax monies that were embezzled with great difficulty be stored in the imperial treasury?
Moreover, more than 300,000 taels of silver is not a small amount. Would a Jingzhao Yin have the courage to embezzle it?
"Master Su, Zhou Hongjing is not as courageous as he looks. If you don't believe me, you can check him out."
Matthew Li was determined not to stop until Zhou Hongjing was killed.
"Originally, I thought that if the silver was found after being placed in the vault, Zhou Hongjing would be implicated. But after my people went in, they found that there was already a large amount of silver in there."
Matthew Li was still trying his best to get close to Zhou Hongjing.
Although he had already trapped Zhou Hongjing, he was worried that Jin Ming would not believe him, so he could only emphasize it again and again.
Yu Jinming naturally believed in Matthew's purpose.
When he and Emperor Yongping decided to let Zhou Hongjing drag out the affairs of Yuzhou, they knew that Ma Xiuli would not let Zhou Hongjing go.
Yu Jinming also believed that Zhou Hongjing was corrupt.
Didn't Chu Chengxi just find out that Zhou Hongjing had missed paying 200,000 taels of silver?
Zhou Hongjing had been an official for more than twenty years, so the two hundred thousand taels must not be all that he had embezzled.
Such corrupt officials must be investigated sooner or later.
After Yu Jinming and Su Pengxin had examined Matthew Li, they brought his sons and all the adult men in the Ma clan to the court one by one.
It was not until noon the next day that all the criminals involved in the Yuzhou case were tried.
Zhou Hongjing was taken back to the Ministry of Justice by the people from the Supervisory Department early in the morning.
The people sent out by the Supervisory Office had already checked all the imperial treasuries in the counties under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Prefecture overnight.
Another day passed, and the files of the Supervisory Office regarding Zhou Hongjing's evaded tax and the Dali Temple's files regarding Ma Xiuli's case were both delivered to Emperor Yongping.
"One million six hundred thousand taels of silver, one hundred thousand taels of gold?"
Emperor Yongping's eyes almost popped out when he looked at the numbers on the Dali Temple files.
When converted, it amounted to 2.6 million taels of silver.
When Sheng'an State had the most silver reserves in its treasury, it only had over one million taels of silver.
Matthew Li actually holds wealth that is enough to rival a country.
These were only the ones he transported back to the capital. It is said that there are probably more hidden in Jingzhou than these.
"The Supervisory Office found 1.95 million taels of silver and 100,000 taels of gold."
Chu Chengyi is looking through the case files of Zhou Hongjing.
"Why the extra 350,000 taels?"
Emperor Yongping asked.
The Dali Temple's files contained the confessions of Matthew Li and his accomplices, with an account book attached at the back.
Matthew's own confession matched the numbers in the account book exactly.
"Zhou Hongjing said that he only forgot to pay 200,000 taels, and he didn't know where the extra money came from."
Chu Chengyi flipped through the files with a frown on his face.
The interrogation by the Supervisory Department was still too mild. Even when Zhou Hongjing said he didn't know, they actually believed him.
"Why not hand Zhou Hongjing over to the Dali Temple for trial as well?"
Chu Chengyi suggested before Emperor Yongping could speak.
The embezzlement of 350,000 taels of silver had already constituted a serious crime for the court, and the Supervisory Office was indeed unable to handle such a serious case.
"Okay, you decide."
After reading Matthew's confession, Emperor Yongping was so angry that his beard trembled.
A minister of rites is actually so capable of saving money? I have always underestimated him.
There is still a lot of money on this account whose whereabouts are unknown, and the money spent is no less than the money found.
"Zihuan..."
Emperor Yongping suddenly had a bad feeling, but he thought maybe he was just overthinking it.
"No problem. Go to the Dali Temple in person and ask the kid from the Yu family to check every expense in this account book."
Without waiting for Chu Chengyi to respond, Emperor Yongping continued.
"Yes, I will go now."
Chu Chengyi put down the file in his hand, turned the wheelchair and walked out of Yu's study.
After Emperor Yongping watched Chu Chengyi leave, he looked at Chu Qinshu who was sleeping in his arms.
The doubts in his heart were actually easy to verify.
But he was a little afraid to face it.
If it was really as he guessed, then he would have one less son.
Chu Chengyi and Chu Qinshu understood the entanglement of Emperor Yongping very well.
But both of them left enough space for Emperor Yongping. If he wanted to uncover the truth, let him uncover it himself.
Of course, if he doesn't want to reveal the truth, Chu Chengyi will gradually reveal it as the case progresses.
If you want to compete for that position, you have to rely on your own abilities.
If all the means are based on fratricide and oppression of the people, then they can only be excluded from the ranks of those competing for the throne.
......
Chu Chengyi personally took action and Zhou Hongjing was quickly transferred to the Dali Temple.
Yu Jinming certainly knew that the trial of Matthew Li's case to this point was just the beginning.
When Matthew's stolen money appeared in the treasuries of various counties in the capital, Zhou Hongjing would inevitably be implicated.
Therefore, when the people from the Supervisory Office sent Zhou Hongjing over, he had no choice but to accept it with pleasure.
But he also knew that Matthew Li wanted to plot against Zhou Hongjing and had already tampered with the accounts, and that the accountant had either been silenced by Matthew Li or sent away.
It is very difficult for Zhou Hongjing to prove his innocence.
Of course, Zhou Hongjing himself is not innocent either.
Therefore, he really wanted to know how much more secrets Ma Xiuli and Zhou Hongjing could reveal about each other that the imperial court didn't know.
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