"Duke Yansheng." Chongzhen looked at Kong Yinzhi.
"I am here."
Chongzhen pointed at the letter in his hand and said, "You said that this letter and its contents are all false accusations?"
"Yes, I have never written this letter, and I don't know where it came from. Your Majesty, please investigate." Kong Yinzhi's face was full of rich expressions.
There was anger at being framed, as well as pleading with Chongzhen, and also some confidence in telling the truth.
"Lord Fan," Chongzhen looked at the cabinet chief Fan Jingwen, "You said that this letter was written by Duke Yansheng, but Duke Yansheng said that it was not written by him. What's going on?"
Why did Chongzhen drag the cabinet into the water?
It's for now.
If Duke Yansheng is regarded as a criminal, what would be needed to convict him in the court?
A plaintiff is needed.
Only with a plaintiff can Duke Yansheng become a defendant.
If there was no plaintiff, Duke Yansheng would not be convicted no matter how serious the crime he committed.
Fan Jingwen, who is now being dragged into this matter, is the plaintiff.
He was responsible for prosecuting Duke Yansheng and cross-examining him.
"Your Majesty, I have a few questions to ask Duke Yansheng." Fan Jingwen said reluctantly.
"Please do as you wish, Lord Fan." Chongzhen nodded in agreement.
"Duke Yansheng!" Fan Jingwen looked at Kong Yinzhi.
"Lord Fan!" Kong Yinzhi looked at Fan Jingwen with the same gaze.
"You say this letter is a forgery?"
“That’s right!”
"Who do you think forged the letter? What was the purpose of forging it?"
"This...how would I know! If I knew, I would not appeal to Your Majesty." Kong Yinzhi replied unhappily.
Fan Jingwen nodded and continued to ask, "In the 17th year of our dynasty, the Jiannu army came to Qufu, and the defenders in the city surrendered without a fight. The Yanshenggong Mansion was looted and lost millions of taels of silver, right?"
"Wait," Kong Yinzhi stretched out his hand to correct him, "The other party's identity is still a mystery. It could be a Jiannu or a bandit. It's a pity that the court has not yet found out the truth, and the money has not been recovered."
"We'll talk about this later. The most urgent thing is to figure out the letter."
"That's right, go on."
"Okay!" Fan Jingwen nodded. "Coincidentally, the person who wrote this letter said that he was willing to provide Jiannu with two million taels of silver, but Jiannu needs to go and get it in person."
"What's even more coincidental is that He Shun, the then garrison commander of Qufu, claimed that he had received an order to surrender without a fight, so he opened the city gates and let the Jiannu enter the city."
"As a result, the Yanshenggong Mansion was looted and millions of taels of silver were lost."
"What does Lord Fan want to say?" Kong Yinzhi interrupted Fan Jingwen: "Are you trying to say that I am helping the Jian Nu in this way?"
"I'm just explaining what happened."
Kong Yinzhi said righteously: "The Duke of Yansheng's mansion was indeed robbed, and millions of taels of silver were lost. This matter is known to everyone in the Ming Dynasty. The person who framed him must have known it, so he deliberately wrote such a letter."
"Everyone, as the Duke of Yansheng of the Ming Dynasty, how can I, Kong Yinzhi, be a vassal of the Jian Nu? And how could I provide the Jian Nu with one million taels of silver?"
"To be honest, how could I give money to the Jian Nu that I myself would not spend?"
"That's irrational, isn't it?"
This remark caused laughter.
As the saying goes, sincerity is the ultimate skill.
Although what Yanshenggong said seemed funny, it was very reasonable.
Everyone present nodded in approval.
Just as the situation was about to develop in a direction favorable to Duke Yansheng, the censor Huang Zongxi stood up.
"Your Excellency, Lord Yansheng!" Huang Zongxi said calmly, "You said the letter was forged, but the paper is old, the handwriting is also old, and the handwriting is almost the same. If it was a frame-up, the letter should have been written several years ago, and then sent to Shenyang."
"It was then discovered by Lord Wang Yongji, the Governor-General of Ping Liao, and was finally sent to the capital and presented to Your Majesty."
"This can no longer be described as difficult, it's a completely impossible task!"
"How is it impossible? As long as they want to frame someone, they will find a way to do it." Kong Yinzhi said to Huang Zongxi in a condescending tone.
Although he didn't know Huang Zongxi's name, he knew from his position that Huang Zongxi's rank was not high, so he didn't take him seriously at all.
Huang Zongxi sneered: "Your Excellency Yanshenggong is right. It can indeed be done, but there are only three possibilities."
"The first possibility is that he sneaked into Jiannu and placed the letter in the so-called imperial city of Jiannu before Jiannu left Shenyang."
"The second possibility is that he entered Shenyang after the Jiannu left, put the letter in the so-called imperial city before Governor Wang found it, and then left quietly."
"As for the third possibility..." Huang Zongxi paused, "It was the Governor-General of Ping Liao, Wang Yongji, who wanted to frame you, Lord Yansheng. He first took the opportunity to put the letter on the ground, then picked it up and displayed it in public, acting like a thief crying thief."
"Lord Yansheng, which possibility do you think it is?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the Qianqing Palace immediately became quiet.
Duke Yansheng Kong Yinzhi immediately put away his contemptuous look and looked solemn.
Fan Jingwen had a blank expression on his face, giving people the impression that he was extremely cunning.
The six ministries and nine officials stood there motionless, wanting to watch the fun.
Chongzhen was very happy in his heart, but his face showed great anger.
He seemed very dissatisfied with Huang Zongxi's behavior.
Duke Yansheng Kong Yinzhi looked at Huang Zongxi seriously and said, "May I ask your name? What is your official rank?"
"The Censor Huang Zongxi holds the sixth rank!" Huang Zongxi said coldly.
He is a man who hates evil.
In his eyes, this letter was irrefutable evidence.
So he wanted to convict Duke Yansheng.
"Censor Huang," Kong Yinzhi thought for a moment, "I don't know how the other party framed him, so I can't guess."
Kong Yinzhi really couldn't guess.
Guess the first possibility?
As far as he knew, the Jinyiwei had not been able to infiltrate the Jiannu, let alone the others.
He was the only one who could infiltrate the Jiannu group.
If the Jian Nu wanted to frame him, there are many better ways than this.
Guess the second possibility?
The first person to enter Shenyang City after the Jiannu left was Wu Sangui.
He and Wu Sangui had never met each other and had no grudges against each other.
There was no reason for the other party to frame him, and there was no need for him to fight back.
Guess the third possibility?
That's even worse.
Wang Yongji was not only the governor-general of Pingliao, but also a scholar.
He had the opportunity and ability to frame himself, but he had no motive to do so.
The most crucial point is that he could not have expected that he would become the Governor-General of Pingliao seven years later.
The three possibilities became three impossibilities for him.
"Your Excellency, Lord Yansheng!" Huang Zongxi began to pursue the matter relentlessly, "You keep saying that the letter is a forgery, but you can't find any evidence that it is a forgery. This is hard to convince people!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
