He also got to know a lot of people at this banquet, which is why he had such a great influence in the court.
After these confessions were completed, Han Yu said, "Let me ask you, what happened with Xiong Tingbi? Why did you find someone to frame him? Do you have a grudge against him, or do you have other things to do?"
"Your Excellency, I was instructed to do this." Li Ruzhen did not beat around the bush.
"Who is it?" Han Yu asked again.
"Your Excellency, it was Yuan Yingtai, the Governor of Liaodong. Everything was ordered by Yuan Yingtai. He said that if I cooperated with him, he would be the Governor of Liaodong, and we would have the final say in Liaodong from now on. In the entire Liaodong, Xiong Tingbi is the most troublesome person. As long as we get rid of him, there will be no more worries in Liaodong."
Nodding gently, Han Yu continued, "It's on the record." Then he turned around and asked, "Anything else?"
"Yes." Li Ruzhen nodded and continued, "The people who cooperated with us in the court were all arranged by Yuan Yingtai. He said that as long as we cooperated well, they would find a way to take down Xiong Tingbi, and the person appointed would definitely be him. It turned out just as he said. Xiong Tingbi was taken down, and the new governor of Liaodong was indeed Yuan Yingtai. It was indeed him."
"Who are you referring to by 'they'?" Han Yu asked again.
Hearing this question, Li Ruzhen smiled self-deprecatingly and shook his head.
This Han Yu, it is obvious that he cannot not know about this, but why is he pretending not to know at this moment? Does he have to say this matter himself?
So Li Ruzhen could only look up and say, "It's the Donglin Party. I don't know what people outside think of this name, but that's what I call them. Most of these people are from the Donglin Academy. Even if they are not, they are from the same class and year, or even from the same school. They collude with each other in the court and form cliques for personal gain, so I call them the Donglin Party."
"It's on record." Han Yu continued expressionlessly.
Although there was no expression on his face, Han Yu was not at peace in his heart.
This can be seen from Han Yu's eyes, because his eyes revealed a hint of gray. Obviously, he also knew that this time the Donglin Party could no longer escape.
After calming himself down, Han Yu continued to ask, "Anything else besides this?"
"They have people in the court," Li Ruzhen continued. "Zou Yuanbiao, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Gao Panlong, the Junior Secretary of the Imperial Household Department, and Sun Shenxing, the Minister of Rites—all of them are their people."
Li Ruzhen directly bit all these people into it.
Han Yu's heart trembled. He glanced at Li Ruzhen, but found that Li Ruzhen was also looking at him, and there was even a hint of sarcasm at the corner of his mouth.
This hint of sarcasm was directed at myself because I am also from this faction.
However, Han Yu remained calm. He knew that such things were inevitable and he would face more criticism in the future.
"Let him sign it." Han Yu said directly: "Take Yuan Yingtai with you."
Soon Yuan Yingtai was brought up.
The case, which had been going smoothly, finally encountered setbacks at this point, and Yuan Yingtai admitted nothing.
Yuan Yingtai said he had no idea about the false accusation against Xiong Tingbi, nor did he know about the Donglin Party. He was appointed by the imperial court to go to Liaodong.
In a word, he will never admit it.
Everyone looked at Han Yu, including Wei Zhongxian.
Everyone wanted to know what Han Yu could do. From the beginning until now, Han Yu had been unstoppable. Everyone, including Wei Zhongxian, hoped he would continue to create miracles.
After taking a look at Yuan Yingtai, Han Yu sighed.
This was the first time Han Yu showed his emotions since the interrogation began.
However, Han Yu quickly calmed down and asked directly, "When the late emperor was still alive, he allocated 1 million taels of silver to Liaodong. However, only 600,000 taels of silver were actually distributed to the Liaodong troops. How do you explain this?"
Yuan Yingtai looked up at Han Yu. He hadn't expected Han Yu to ask such a question. He hadn't expected it, no matter what.
Looking at Han Yu, Yuan Yingtai's face was very bitter.
How do you say this?
Could it be that this is the rule of the court, the unspoken rule of officialdom?
There is no way to say this. Once you say it, you will end up in a terrible situation.
"There is no problem with the accounts. When it reaches 1 million, we will actually pay out 1 million," Yuan Yingtai said expressionlessly.
At this point he could only deny it, there was no other good solution.
"At this point, it's no use denying it. Li Ruzhen has already confessed the truth. We just need to send people to investigate in Liaodong, and they will definitely find out. Do you want to wait until then to convict you? The 400,000 taels of silver from the court will definitely not disappear out of thin air. You have to think carefully. You can't afford to embezzle 400,000 taels of silver."
After saying this, Han Yu did not speak again.
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