Chapter 444 Suicide
"Then go and ask Mr. Yang." The official named Zhou said anxiously.
"Brother Zhou, why don't you understand?" The official sighed: "The officials obviously want to scare the monkeys this time, and no one can protect us."
"Impossible, Mr. Yang is also involved in this matter. If something happens to us and he is in trouble, how can he ignore us?" said the official surnamed Zhou.
"Perhaps Mr. Yang is the monkey. Although he will be in trouble if he doesn't interfere, he won't be held accountable. But if he does intervene, your majesty may not only kill the chickens, but also the monkeys. Do you think Mr. Yang will take care of it?"
"Ziyu, maybe it's not that bad and it's because of something else?" the official named Zhou said with luck.
"Alas."
The official who was called Ziyu sighed: "The Minister of Punishment is His Majesty's minion. If it is really something else, Yushitai or Dali Temple should have come to us first. How could the Punishment Ministry send someone here.
Brother Zhou, don't take chances. Now the end of the two of us will be miserable, and even our families will be implicated. If the two of us die, we will die. But we have to find a way to save our families. I have a way to do it. Give it a try. ”
The official surnamed Zhou looked blank when he heard this. In fact, he also knew that there was almost no other possibility for the Ministry of Punishment to send people to look for him.
But the ant is still alive, so he naturally doesn't want to die.
"What can I do?"
"We..."
Ziyu leaned into the ear of the official named Zhou and whispered a few words.
The official surnamed Zhou looked at Ziyu with horror and disbelief upon hearing this.
"Brother Zhou, this is the only way we can save our family. Time is running out now. If we delay any longer, we will have no chance at all."
The official surnamed Zhou was silent for a long time, and said in a hoarse voice: "Okay..."
…………
There are a total of three political affairs ministers in the Zhengshi Hall, which are also commonly known as deputy prime ministers.
However, in the officialdom, few people directly address the deputy prime minister, and they also address him as "Xianggong".
After Zeng Gongliang transferred the Privy Envoy, a position became vacant.
Hai Wenyou has officially taken over the vacated deputy prime minister position after 20 years.
One of the other two people is named Guo Yi and the other is named Yang Shengkui.
The duty of the deputy prime minister is to assist the father-in-law in handling government affairs, but each has an independent public house.
Yang Shengkui was handling government affairs in the public room when his entourage hurried in.
"My Lord, what's wrong, the Ministry of Punishment just sent someone to the Political Affairs Hall to invite Mr. Liu Zhou from the Li's Office." The attendant reported.
There are multiple rooms under the political hall, such as the Kongmu room, the official room, the household room, the military ceremony room, the punishment room, etc., to handle specific affairs.
These rooms correspond to various departments in the government and are directly managed by the deputy prime ministers.
"What!"
When Yang Shengkui heard this, he stood up in shock and said angrily: "What kind of place is the Political Hall? Even if an official commits a crime, it is not the Ministry of Punishment's turn to deal with it. It is simply lawless!"
"My Lord, the Ministry of Punishment has neither the guts nor the right to deal with the officials of the Political Hall. Now that we are sending people to invite them, we must have obtained His Majesty's permission," the attendant reminded.
Although he is just a follower, he has been with Yang Shengkui for many years, and his political vision is more sensitive than that of ordinary officials.
As the deputy prime minister, Yang Shengkui naturally couldn't be unaware of this. It was precisely because he knew this that he felt panicked and frightened.
"Go find them two, and arrange for someone to inquire and see if the Ministry of Punishment has not only found them, but also other officials." Yang Shengkui ordered.
"Yes!" the attendant responded and hurried away.
"Are you trying to scare the monkeys?" Yang Shengkui muttered to himself.
When he learned that the Ministry of Punishment had sent people to look for Liu and Tuesday, he knew that the matter should have been exposed.
Zhao Xing guessed right. The merchants involved in transporting grain were unwilling to transport grain. It was indeed their joint effort.
But this matter cannot be regarded as deliberate, it can only be regarded as deliberate.
After all, many of the merchants involved in transporting grain have already received enough salt and tea for two or three years.
People in their family who were doing business a few years ago had contacted them one after another and were unwilling to continue to provide food to the court. After all, the imperial court's demand for food was too great, and their funds would be unbearable if it continued to be transported.
However, these officials were afraid that withdrawing collectively would anger Zhao Xing, so they asked them to continue transporting the goods. After a few years, they gradually withdrew due to insufficient funds.
But they didn't expect that Zhao Xing would propose reforms to official evaluation later that year, and their opposition would be of no use.
So someone suggested that the merchants simply withdraw collectively, thus forcing Zhao Xing to compromise.
The demand for food on the border is too great, and it is difficult for the merchants themselves to maintain it. It is also a legitimate reason, so Zhao Xing can't get angry because of it.
Now it seems that Zhao Xing's temper is even more explosive than imagined, and he overturns the table.
However, he felt that Zhao Xing was still a little naive. The collective withdrawal was their fault, but even if this incident had not happened, those merchants would not be able to bear it.
Although the money piled up at home seems to be no different from exchanging it for salt and tea, but you can't exchange all the money for tea and salt, right?
What Zhao Xing did would have no deterrent effect at all, and those merchants would still stop transporting grain.
"Your Majesty should know better." Yang Shengkui murmured.
He felt that Zhao Xing should be able to see this clearly.
6◇9◇Book◇Bar
In other words, what Zhao Xing did was probably to scare them and force their business relatives behind them to continue transporting grain to the border.
Thinking of this, Yang Shengkui's face relaxed.
"Jiajun, it's not good..."
While Yang Shengkui was deep in thought, his entourage ran in with a panic look on his face.
"Are you in a hurry to show your dignity? Could it be that the Ministry of Punishment dares to go directly to the political hall to arrest people?" Yang Shengkui scolded.
The attendant took a few breaths and said: "The two adults, Liu and Zhou, hanged themselves in the public room!"
"What?"
Yang Shengkui was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then a surprise filled his heart.
Originally, this matter was somewhat troublesome, but now that Liu and Zhou committed suicide, it was the emperor Zhao Xing who was in trouble.
Since ancient times, it has been very rare for officials to be forced to death in government offices.
Once this incident comes out, it will inevitably arouse the grief and anger of officials and literati all over the world.
No matter what evidence Zhao Xing had, it was illegal for him to let the Ministry of Punishment handle it.
As long as he has the upper hand, even if Zhao Xing releases evidence later, in the eyes of outsiders, it will be to cover up the facts and throw dirty water on the two of them.
The dead are the most important, and by then, not to mention officials, even the people will feel disgusted.
Thinking of this, Yang Shengkui said a few words to his entourage, and then dared to go to the official's room.
When Yang Shengkui arrived, many officials from the Political Affairs Hall had gathered outside the public house where the two committed suicide.
Han Zhang has arrived and is instructing people to put the two people down and block the news.
No matter why the two committed suicide, the news cannot leak out until the investigation is clear.
Otherwise, with all kinds of rumors, even if the real results are finally announced, no one will believe it.
…………
Longtuge
Zhao Xingzhen was looking at the list of beautiful ladies and picture album sent by Chu Xiugong.
After half a month of selection, the draft has come to an end.
A total of eighty-nine beautiful ladies were finally selected into the Chuxiu Palace.
Although Zhao Xing said that there were no more than a hundred people, Chu Xiugong did not dare to make up the number.
The picture album in Zhao Xing's hand at this time not only contained the portraits of these beautiful women, but also their origins and specialties.
(End of chapter)