The Ming Dynasty, Hongwu, is completely different from other dynasties, and the transportation between the upper and lower levels is very efficient.

Zhu Yuanzhang could be said to be truly in control of the entire Ming Dynasty, and his imperial edicts were truly implemented. Even though some nobles were corrupt, they had not yet formed a huge force, at least they had no intention of confronting the royal family.

The originator of this rumor incident came from the northwest direction.

The Ming Dynasty's ruling power over the entire northwest is much weaker than that over the south. In addition, after hundreds of years of foreign rule, the Ming Dynasty has only been established for 25 years.

Although no force dares to confront them openly, there are many people who dare to plot secretly.

It will take a long time, or several generations of education, to completely win back the hearts of the people.

This is also why the Shanxi merchants dared to challenge the court in this way, and even ruined the reputation of the crown prince, slandered Zhu Di, and alienated the royal family.

The fact that they were able to come up with such a plan showed that Shanxi merchants had large and extensive network of contacts, which not only involved the imperial court in the capital, but also had close ties with the grasslands.

Secondly, there must be talented military advisors who can give advice and suggestions. Most people would not even dare to think of a plan to alienate the royal family, let alone implement it.

However, in the case of Zhu Ying, they made a huge mistake.

That is to blockade or even wipe out the entire Shanxi business community, except for the Jin merchants.

This meant that no news could be leaked from either the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce or other small chambers of commerce under Zhu Ying's guise.

Zhu Ying's eyes were immediately fixed on Shanxi.

Even though they are spreading this rumor everywhere, the root cause has been thoroughly discovered.

Now that we know it’s the Shanxi merchants who are causing trouble, things become much easier.

Nowadays, whether you are traveling for business or entering and leaving various checkpoints, you need a travel permit and a household registration.

At this point, Zhu Ying no longer cared about innocence or injustice, and could no longer take care of some of the cases.

The Shanxi merchants were a very closely connected group. No matter whether they were from a big or small family, they were like brothers when they were doing business outside.

This is due to the ethos of the entire Shanxi merchants.

In other words, killing a thousand Shanxi merchants would not necessarily be a mistake. This one in a thousand probability is enough in today's era.

The entire capital began a large-scale search of Jin’s household registration.

As long as your registered residence is in Shanxi, we will arrest you no matter what.

Even if you have lived in the capital for several years or even dozens of years, you will still be arrested. Who knows if there is any secret collusion between the two?

Merchants from Jin were either taken to the Bingmasi prison or directly captured in military camps.

The people of Jin were thrown into the prison of the Public Security Bureau.

Officials in Jin were sent to the Jinyiwei prison.

In less than two days, tens of thousands of Shanxi people were arrested.

The entire capital city was terrified at the mention of the word "Jin".

Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!

In the Jinyiwei prison, a man was being whipped, with blood all over his chest and back.

The whips of the Jinyiwei are all made of special rattan. These rattans have been soaked in salt water and are rich in salt. When the whip is used, the skin and flesh will be torn apart, and the salt will also enter the body, stimulating pain.

In fact, flogging was banned after the Sui and Tang dynasties because it caused too much damage, but this did not include special trial institutions such as the Jinyiwei and the imperial prison.

"Cao Zixing, a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue, was a fifth-rank official. In the seventeenth year of the Hongwu reign, he served as the governor of the Shanxi Salt Tax Administration for three years."

"Tell me about this matter regarding the rumor about the Crown Prince. What exactly is going on? Explain it in detail so that you won't suffer any physical pain."

"In our Jinyiwei prison, this whipping is only the most basic punishment. There are many other punishments. I don't think you are too eager to try them."

Song Zhong looked at Cao Zixing in front of him and said with a sneer.

At this moment, after being whipped for a whole morning, Cao Zixing no longer had the strength to wail. The burning pain tortured him all the time. He gasped violently and uttered with difficulty: "Water, water..."

Upon hearing this, Song Zhong glanced at the captain next to him, and the captain immediately brought a ladle of water and poured it into Cao Zixing's mouth.

After taking a few gulps and recovering a little, Cao Zixing said hoarsely: "If you want to accuse someone, you can always find a pretext."

"Since I passed the imperial examination, I have served as an official for thirteen years. I have never engaged in corruption, bribery, or colluded with cliques. You Jinyiwei are being indiscriminate and have no evidence."

"Just because I am a resident of Jin, you have thrown me into the imperial prison and tortured me severely... You..."

Song Zhong sneered and repeated Cao Zixing's words.

"Come on, these words are useless even if you try to fool a ghost. Do you know why among all the officials registered in Jindi, only you can enjoy the interrogation by me personally?"

"That's because among all the court officials with Shanxi household registration, your rank, Cao Zixing, is the highest."

"What did I ask you about? It's about the Crown Prince's rumors, slandering the royal family. This is an unforgivable crime of disrespect, but you answered irrelevant questions. You talked about corruption and bribery. It's really funny. You are fooling a fool."

"Oh, it's a good thing you did that. Otherwise, if I checked your file, I would really think you were a clean official."

Hearing this, Cao Zixing lowered his head slightly, ignoring his gaze with Song Zhong. Deep in his eyes, a trace of panic and fear flashed.

The dungeon of the imperial prison was very dark, and Cao Zixing's heart became even colder.

He didn't expect that with just one sentence, he would be caught by the Jinyiwei in front of him.

He wanted to explain, but Cao Zixing understood at this moment that the problem had already been exposed, and no matter how he explained, the people in front of him would not choose to believe it.

After hiding for more than ten years, he was unwilling to accept the fact that something went wrong because of one sentence!!!

Song Zhong looked at Cao Zixing in front of him coldly. He could work his way up from a small flag of the Jinyiwei to the current level of Pacification Envoy. The effort he put in was something that most people could hardly imagine.

Apart from anything else, when it comes to observing people's expressions and analyzing words, Song Zhong can be said to have maxed out his talent.

How could such an obvious loophole not be noticed?

The reason why Cao Zixing was not given severe punishment and only whipped was because there was no evidence to prove that Cao Zixing had any collusion with the Shanxi merchants.

The records in the files are very clean. Even when he was a salt official, there was no trace of corruption.

On the contrary, some subtle records show signs of being excluded by colleagues.

At first glance, although Cao Zixing was registered in Shanxi, he had almost no dealings with Shanxi merchants.

The reason why Song Zhong dared to use flogging when Cao Zixing was captured was entirely because of the information provided by the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce.

It was simply because Cao Zixing’s surname was Cao, and his registered residence was only a dozen miles away from the Cao family of Shanxi merchants.

This alone is highly questionable.

Because the north was ruled by a foreign race, in the imperial examinations, or the examinations on the Four Books and Five Classics, the gap between the talented northerners and the talented southerners was more than just one level.

This also means that among the officials with Shanxi household registration in the capital, Cao Zixing, who is of the fifth rank, is the highest-ranking one.

His resume seems clean, but in fact there are still many suspicious points.

A poor scholar from a poor family had smooth sailing in his attempts. Although he was not as successful as the noble class, he was promoted steadily without any setbacks.

Before coming here, Song Zhong had done his homework long ago and could recite the records in the mountain of volumes in detail.

After struggling and hesitating for a while, Cao Zixing finally did not speak.

Song Zhong said softly, "You have to think it over carefully. If you don't confess, with the ability of our Jinyiwei, it will be absolutely no problem to make a solid case for you. Evidence can be forged."

"The rumor case has shaken the government and the country. If a few officials are not killed, how can the anger of His Majesty and His Royal Highness be appeased? Don't say that I already know there is something wrong with you."

"We Jinyiwei have nothing to do on weekdays. Do you know where we like to go the most? It's to listen to books in the teahouse."

"We've heard this story so many times that we can make up a few more."

After hearing this, Cao Zixing sneered and said, "It's just death, what's there to be afraid of? Since I entered your prison, I never planned to get out alive. If you have the guts, give me a quick death."

Song Zhong laughed, and burst into laughter. He laughed for a long while before stopping.

He said to Cao Zixing: "I'll give you a quick death. All right. I'll take charge of this matter. No problem."

"But, you may be happy here, but have you ever thought about your wife and daughter?"

"From what I know, you don't seem to have any sons, but only two unmarried daughters. I don't know if they are pretty or not."

"A few days ago, the Music Bureau was complaining that there had been no newcomers in the past few months, and the nobles had been saying they were a little bored. I think Lord Cao's wife and daughter should be able to cheer up a lot of people."

Upon hearing this, Cao Zixing's eyes turned red, and he glared at Song Zhong and said viciously: "Despicable, shameless, and vulgar!!!"

Hearing this, Song Zhong felt a little bored.

This scholar's cursing is so low class, he keeps repeating the same few sentences over and over again.

Song Zhong didn't care at all about the angry and murderous look. The captain next to him saw this and slapped him in the face.

Phew!

Cao Zixing spat out a mouthful of blood and several of his teeth were knocked out.

Not just anyone can become a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Even in the army, they have to be elite soldiers.

The force of this slap was restrained, otherwise a civil servant like Cao Zixing might have been slapped to death.

"Lord Cao really thought it through. He only cared about his own happiness and didn't care about the misery of his family."

"But then again, with Lord Cao's status, he can enjoy more than just these. As the most hidden chess piece of the Shanxi merchants in the capital, Lord Cao's treatment must be much higher."

"We, the Jinyiwei, will definitely compile a good story for Lord Cao. At the very least, we can help Lord Cao win a place in the list of those who will be executed."

Song Zhong said it lightly. In his mouth, such things sounded like ordinary conversation.

When Cao Zixing heard that his entire clan would be executed, his body froze.

On the surface, he had no sons, but in fact, he had two sons.

These two sons were already present before he took part in the imperial examination.

However, when his second son was born, his first wife died during childbirth. Due to some special reasons, his two sons were adopted by his cousin before he took the imperial examination.

At that time, the Ming Dynasty had not been established for long, and the village kept the matter secret.

When the government checked the household registration, it naturally did not record it.

Song Zhong didn't know about this.

But it does not prevent the extermination of nine clans, which are also included.

"If I tell you, can you just kill me and spare my wife and daughter?"

After a long while, as if admitting defeat, Cao Zixing spoke slowly.

But when Song Zhong heard this, he didn't feel excited or happy, instead he frowned.

Something is wrong.

Having been involved in interrogations for many years, Song Zhong immediately realized that something was wrong.

Because Cao Zixing's compromise was too sudden.

However, it was naturally impossible for Song Zhong to guess the reason all at once.

After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Lord Cao will not be able to walk out of this prison alive. If the things Lord Cao entrusted me to do can have some merit, perhaps my relatives can also save their lives."

"Of course. If Lord Cao's instructions are of great use and can bring great merit, I can say a few words to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince about the matter of his wife and daughter."

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is kind and benevolent, and I'm sure Lord Cao knows that."

Hearing this, Cao Zixing felt relieved and relaxed.

In fact, when it came to the life and death of his wife and daughter, or being sent to the Jiaofangsi, Cao Zixing would at most be angry, but it was absolutely impossible for him to compromise.

Only his two sons are his parents.

It sounds a bit inhumane, but this is the situation in the Ming Dynasty today.

Besides, his wife was not originally from Shanxi, but a wealthy woman he met after passing the imperial examination.

At this moment, Song Zhong, who had been staring at Cao Zixing's facial expression, felt something in his heart.

He noticed what had just happened.

It seems that Cao Zixing cares about someone in his clan.

He did not say that his wife and daughter could escape from the Jiaofangsi, but Cao Zixing did not pursue the matter.

So thinking back to what happened just now, it was the sentence about killing nine generations of the clan that made Cao Zixing change his mind and compromise.

In fact, no matter who you are, everyone is selfish.

To many criminals, there is not much difference between executing an entire family and executing nine generations of a clan. It is just that others think it is very cruel and it is mostly used to intimidate the clan.

Anyway, the incense has been cut off, so I don’t care that much about the life and death of my clan members.

This is what most people really think.

However, Cao Zixing's behavior was the opposite, which was not right.

Song Zhong keenly realized that there was definitely someone among Cao Zixing's relatives whom he cared about very much.

Some details of the file flashed through Song Zhong's mind.

Cao Zixing was not very interested in women. Apart from his wife in the capital, he had no concubines.

After giving birth to two daughters, there has been no movement in recent years and it seems that she has no intention of having more children.

There is an old saying: There are three types of unfilial behavior, and the worst is to have no descendants.

Cao Zixing, who had no male offspring, didn't seem to be very anxious.

This goes against common sense.

Unless, he already has a son, but no one knows about it.

Thinking of this, Song Zhong's eyes flashed and he felt relieved.

As long as you know the prisoner's weaknesses, you don't have to worry about him not confessing everything honestly.