Be a master through ancient times

Although I have already expected that this trip will be fruitless, there are still things that should be done.

On the same day, Mu Yuanxiu bought a restaurant with a big wave of his hand on the grounds that the imperial court rewarded officials of Nanfu Province, big and small, and asked all officials of the sixth grade and above in Nanfu Province to attend in two days.

There are about 200 officials above rank six in a province, thanks to the unimpeded waterway in southern Fujian, so after two days, except for a few elderly or bedridden officials, everyone else was present.

It is rare for a Beijing official to come to Nanfu Province, and even if there is, it has nothing to do with most of the people here.This time the imperial court sent the imperial envoys from Dali Temple here, and many people came here with the mood of watching the excitement. By the way, it would be great if they could learn some skills.

One night, Mu Yuanxiu seemed to be accepting compliments from everyone in the chief seat, but in fact, he had been watching Lin Futong's activities from the corner of his eye the whole time, wanting to see which officials were closer to him. Can we start with them.

But what's regrettable is that everyone may have heard the news. There were very few people in front of Lin Futong, and even if there were, they would come here to toast a glass of wine out of face and leave.Lin Futong didn't seem to care at all, with a smile on the corner of his mouth all the time, as if he had turned back to the kind and gentle old man he used to be.

Chu Ci noticed that although he was smiling, the smile didn't reach his eyes, obviously he was pretending to be like this.Lin Futong must be very annoyed now, but the leader of Nanfu Province is being avoided by everyone like a poisonous thing.During the annual banquet in the past, no matter how big or small the officials were, they all revolved around him.Such a stark contrast, presumably one day when he regains power in his hands, those who neglected him today will probably suffer.

After the banquet, Mu Yuanxiu left Chu Ci again.He drank a few more glasses tonight. Although he replaced it with water later, he was somewhat drunk and his head hurt badly.

His little servant knew that he had this problem, so he hurriedly stepped forward to help him rub it, and it took a while for him to recover.

Chu Ci sat at the side drinking tea to hangover, but he was not given too much alcohol, he was only a little tipsy.

"A Ci, what did you see? The old man looked at him all night, but he couldn't find any flaws. My people walked around in the past two days, but they didn't find any problems." Mu Yuanxiu frowned, It seems that Lin Futong should be absolutely sure that no one will find out.

Chu Ci shook his head and said, "I haven't found out who he has more contacts with. I'm afraid it will be more difficult to start from this aspect. I think we should ask those businessmen for questioning. Apart from Zhao Kuan, there were other Others are also allowed to go to sea to do business, but those merchants are relatively timid, and they dare not say anything when the navy comes forward."

"Yes, you can't just look at Zhao Kuan. Even if you can't prove that he has connections with foreign countries, accepting bribes is a serious crime, especially when the two armies are confronting each other, it is even more sinful."

After Mu Yuanxiu made his decision, all the businessmen who held the pass that day would be secretly brought over for questioning.These businessmen were terrified. After the fact that Zhao Kuan was a spy was made public, everyone felt insecure, fearing that if they made a mistake, they would be identified as a spy.Who told them to choose Zhao Kuan as the leader?

Now that they are being secretly held hostage, they feel ashamed.After arriving at the place and knowing that it was just an interrogation, it seemed as if he had returned to heaven from hell again. For the content of Mu Yuanxiu's interrogation, let alone cooperate, he simply knew everything and said everything.

But after a lot of talking, it was all useless words.It is clear how they discussed and planned, but when asked about bribery, they all kept silent.It wasn't until Mu Yuanxiu threatened to close the shop to investigate the case that this group of people revealed that the incident was planned by Zhao Kuan, a Japanese. They had about a dozen shops here, each of which paid about 3000 taels of silver.All the money was handed over to the head of the meeting, Zhao Kuan, who would find a way to give it to Governor Lin.

Mu Yuanxiu asked everyone to draw and adjourn, and then let them leave.But when these businessmen came, they were scared to death, but when they left, they were dilly-dallying.

"What else do you have to tell me?"

"My lord...here, can you help us keep a secret? We still have to do business in Southern Fujian Province to support our family, so we must not offend the government." Shopkeeper Wu, who is in the spice business, has a lot of gray hair recently.Not being able to go to sea that time caused more than half of his spices to spoil in the end, and he lost a lot of money, and his net worth is no longer what it used to be.If he offends the government again, I'm afraid the Wu family's fortune will fall into his hands in the end.

Businessmen are generally very sharp. Although the imperial envoy came to investigate Mr. Lin, the investigation does not mean punishment. As long as Mr. Lin is not down for a day, he will still be the leader of Nanfu. It is not a matter of one sentence to punish these businessmen ?

The others also looked at Mu Yuanxiu with expectant eyes, and there were many pleadings in them.The merchants had a low social status in this dynasty. Although they had money, most of it was in the pockets of some high-ranking officials. Once something happened, they would lose their wealth at least, or their family would be ruined at worst.

Mu Yuanxiu thought for a while, and then promised them: "Unless I have conclusive evidence to bring Mr. Lin to justice, I will never make this confession public."

If you can't take him down, it's useless to publish this confession.If he can be taken down, then there is no need to be afraid of the announcement.

The merchants thanked Dade and thanked them repeatedly, and then they dispersed.

Looking at these confessions, Mu Yuanxiu sighed inwardly. These confessions can only prove that they did intend to offer bribes, but they cannot prove that Lin Futong accepted bribes.Thinking about what they said, each of the dozen or so merchants paid 3000 taels, and I couldn't help but feel angry. This is tens of thousands of taels of silver!It was just a pass that received so much money, no wonder the folks have been saying that after three years of clearing the magistrate, he received a hundred thousand snowflakes of silver.It can be seen how corrupt the officialdom has become!

As soon as Chu Ci entered the door, he saw Mu Yuanxiu's angry look, and he scanned the confessions stacked on the table, and he understood it all at once.

"Uncle Mu, don't be angry. Although the officialdom here is not very clear, such a huge number like this time is rare."

He heard everything in another room just now, and while listening to it, he calculated an account in his heart, and the result he got also surprised him.It's not because of the amount of money, but because it's just a single shot, and you can get so much money. Lin Futong has been the governor for many years, how much money has he plundered?

Moreover, what does he want so much money for?

Mu Yuanxiu sighed: "I don't know the truth that when the water is clear, there will be no fish. It's just that the water is too turbid now, and I'm afraid the whole river will become a puddle of stinky water."

"What is Uncle Mu afraid of? As long as there are upright officials like you and my husband in the court, given time, the government will be cleared up." Chu Ci said with a smile.

"I finally know why your two gentlemen treat you like a treasure. It's really comforting to talk to you." Mu Yuanxiu also smiled, and the heavy feeling in his heart just now disappeared a lot .

Chu Ci couldn't put more money on his face, so he changed the subject: "At present, the key point of this case is still Zhao Kuan."

"Yes, I heard that Zhao Kuan has been watched by the admiral of the navy all the time. I don't know if it is convenient for the old man to interrogate him." Before he came, the emperor said that the matter should not be heard before the dust settles. It's too public, it's best to investigate secretly.But when it comes to serious offenders who are under such strict supervision, it is impossible to hide it from them.

"This matter was all reported by Marshal Zhu, so interrogation is not a problem. Although Marshal Zhu is a military general, he is a rough and detailed figure, and he should not make a big publicity. Admiral Fan and Marshal Zhu are of one mind, so let It is not a big problem for the navy to cooperate," Chu Ci said.

Mu Yuanxiu sighed again: "No wonder your husband asked me to find you. With you here, I really relieve my worries." If he investigates alone and doesn't know much about the officialdom here, I'm afraid it will take a while. It takes time to touch the edge, and now there is an extra little local snake, it is really convenient to do things.

"Even if my husband doesn't say anything, I'm also thinking about Uncle Mu's kindness in recommending me." When you go to Beijing to rush for the exam, you have to be a guarantor with the provincial capital officials. If the students have problems, you may implicate yourself. People, these Beijing officials don't pay much attention to them.Even if it succeeds in the end, you have to find someone to make a guarantee again and again, and they will reluctantly write a piece for you.

At that time, Chu Ci did not expect that he would be able to get the recommendation letter when he went to Mr. Mu's house for the first time, which shows that Mr. Mu and his husband really have a good relationship.