Looking at the people kneeling in the hall, Chongzhen's heart gradually turned cold.
Dang Chongya is the leader of the Jin Party!
Why was the Jiannu able to develop?
There are the Jin Party in the court and the Jin merchants below.
In addition to normal trade, Shanxi merchants secretly supplied military supplies to the Jiannu. At the same time, they asked members of the Jin Party to provide internal intelligence to the court, frame loyal officials, exclude dissidents, and take the opportunity to make huge profits.
Historically, after the Jiannu entered the Pass, Shunzhi did not forget the eight Shanxi merchants who had made great contributions to them. He held a banquet in the side hall of the Forbidden City, summoned them in person, and gave them clothing.
Only eight?
No, these are just the eight that have made the greatest contributions!
Merchants from Shaanxi, Shanxi, Shandong, Zhejiang, Huizhou, and Huguang have all done similar things!
These people must all die!
No, death is too kind to them.
Their homes were searched, the men were cut into pieces, and the women were all sent to the army.
However, the most urgent task is to capture the thief and the leader, and first eliminate the Jin Party and Jin merchants who have sold out the country the most.
Shanxi merchants were rich, and only with their money could the imperial court have the confidence to exempt the entire country from land taxes.
Although the headquarters of these Shanxi merchants were not in the capital, Tongzhou, east of the capital, was a canal wharf. In order to do business, most of the merchants left their silver in the capital.
As for other businesses, Chongzhen had no intention of touching them in the short term.
The imperial court's transportation capacity cannot meet the needs of the border. If all the businesses are destroyed, the border troops will be in chaos!
He asked calmly, "Master Li, what do you think?"
Everyone looked at Li Banghua.
Li Banghua held the letter and asked, "Hai Ke, are you really not involved in this matter?"
"Your Excellency is wise. I have never exchanged letters with the bandits."
"But the letter you wrote to Liu Zongmin is also attached to this letter, and the handwriting is also from you. How do you explain it?"
Shen Weibing felt a chill on his back. He took the letter from Li Banghua in surprise and read it carefully.
The handwriting on the letter was indeed very similar to his own, but upon closer inspection one could still see some differences.
He held up the letter and explained: "Please look, everyone. Although the handwriting of these words is similar to my handwriting, there are three differences when you look closely. In other words, this letter is a copy."
Several people who were familiar with Shen Weibing nodded after reading it, and upon closer inspection, there were indeed differences.
Li Ruo Lian said slowly, "Is there a possibility that these three or two differences were intentionally made by Lord Shen? So that he can distance himself from the matter when it is exposed?"
"You..." Shen Weibing pointed at Li Ruolian and wanted to swear, but he held back the words when they came to his lips.
This guy is the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, you can't mess with him.
"What do others think?" Chongzhen looked at others.
Seeing that the Donglin Party and the Jin Party were in trouble at the same time, the other parties stopped and watched without saying a word.
The more times like this, the more you need to keep quiet, otherwise you will easily get into trouble.
This was exactly the effect Chongzhen wanted. He sneered and said, "Chen Weibing, Dang Chongya, don't rush to deny it. Since the Jinyiwei has found the account book, we must verify it regardless of whether it is true or false. Whether it is black or white, loyal or treacherous, we will know it once we check it."
"This matter is of great importance. The Royal Guards are required to solve the case within two days."
"Your Majesty, I am innocent!" Shen Weibing wanted to cry but had no tears. He never thought that this day would come.
Given the Jinyiwei's style of doing things, there is a high possibility that he will not be able to get out alive.
Apart from the dozen or so people from the Donglin Party, no one else pleaded for mercy.
Seeing that Chongzhen didn't speak, he looked at the chief minister of the cabinet, Li Banghua.
Although Li Banghua belonged to the Donglin Party, he never participated in party disputes. He would only come out to plead for mercy when a Donglin Party member was persecuted.
"Lord Li, I am wronged!"
Li Banghua looked at the letter in his hand and shook his head slowly: "Hai Ke, it's not that I won't help you, it's just that the evidence is here and I can't help. So, go to the Pacification Office and explain the matter clearly, they won't make it difficult for you."
"Isn't that right, Commander Li?"
Li Ruo Lian's expression was extremely serious: "Don't worry, Mr. Li, the Pacification Bureau never wrongly accuses good people."
Shen Weibing took a half step back and fell to the ground.
Dang Chongya looked at Shen Weibing's flustered appearance with disgust. He swept his eyes across the court and finally landed on Zhang Xin, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice.
He had a good personal relationship with Zhang Fengxiang, the former leader of the Qi Party, and Zhang Xin was the new leader of the Qi Party. It was reasonable for him to help him.
After receiving Dang Chongya's signal, Zhang Xin thought about it.
After a moment, he bowed and left the class: "Your Majesty, this is inappropriate! Since this matter is of great importance and it is a case personally assigned by Your Majesty, it should be tried jointly by the three judicial officials and the Jinyiwei."
The Ming Dynasty law stipulates that when encountering major cases, the three judicial departments of the Dali Temple, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate should jointly try the case; when encountering particularly serious cases, the three judicial departments should conduct a "round trial" together with the ministers of various ministries and the Tongzhengshi; cases personally assigned by His Majesty should be tried by the three judicial departments together with the Jinyiwei.
This case belongs to the last category, and according to regulations it must be tried jointly by the Three Departments and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
As soon as these words were spoken, Dang Chongya was instantly overwhelmed with admiration for Zhang Xin!
This is called professionalism!
With the presence of the three judicial officials, the Jinyiwei could not force him to confess.
"Minister Zhang is right. I second your opinion."
"I second this motion."
With Zhang Xin taking the lead, officials in the court knelt down one after another and agreed, requesting the Three Departments and the Embroidered Uniform Guard to jointly try the case.
Even the cabinet chief Li Banghua was among them.
This is the rule of the court. As the head of the civil officials, he must take the lead.
Chongzhen took a quick glance and instantly guessed what they were thinking.
Shen Weibing and Dang Chongya can die. The worst result of the joint trial by the three courts and the Jinyiwei is the death of the two of them. If the Jinyiwei is allowed to conduct the trial alone, I don't know how many people will be implicated.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
