The prison of the Criminal Department is not a water prison as outsiders think, nor is it as dark as the edict prison, it does not bask in the sun all year round, and there is no difference between the size of the 100 cells and the prefecture and county, but the fences are all cast iron, and the guards are all fine and well-guarded.

Since yesterday afternoon, the prison has been guarded by additional guards, and the heads of various departments of the Criminal Department but those involved in this case have all worked in the prison. For example, the director of the Zhili Qing Officials Division and the director of the prison hall have stayed up all night.

In addition, the director of the Arrest Department led people to Daxing to arrest the demon Wang Sanzhao. This supervision and arrest department is also known as the "six doors" among the people, and it is full of veterans who have been arrested in prison for many years.

In addition to the manpower of the Ministry of Punishment, there are internal and external brocade guards stationed, which is also the meaning of the first auxiliary Ye Xianggao, Wang said that the case of the Qianqian Forbidden Palace led to the demon to plot against the case, the case is serious, the two cases are one case, there is a division must focus on detaining, and there can be no mistakes.

Since the Qin prisoner Wang Yueqian came to the Criminal Department, he has been interrogated many times by officials of the Criminal Department and Dali Temple, and after yesterday evening, another Qin prisoner, Kong Xue, was arrested and released, and the number of officials interrogated in the prison has increased again.

The Metropolitan Procuratorate also sent two imperial historians to come, one of whom was Zuo Guangdou, who was famous for investigating the fake official fake seal case the year before last, and the other was Song Benqing, the imperial historian of Sichuan Province.

It was Ye Xianggao's arrangement to let Yu Shi listen to the case, and Yang Dongming, the waiter who presided over the affairs of the Criminal Department, had no objection to this.

At present, there have been six interrogations of the Qin prisoner Wang Yueqian, and nine interrogations of Confucius, and the officials involved in each round of interrogation are different, and the methods of interrogation are also different.

So far, the confessions obtained by Wang Yueqian have been the same six times, but Confucius has repeatedly changed his words, saying that he was framed by Wang Yueqian, and at the same time saying that he did not know, and he insisted on not admitting that he was involved in the conspiracy and rebellion.

In this regard, the officials involved in the interrogation all believed that Wang Yueqian's confession was true, and Confucius was rude and cunning, and refused to tell the truth.

Only if Confucius refuses to be truthfully recruited, the case cannot be confirmed. Someone proposed to be sentenced, but Yang Dongming, a waiter in the Criminal Department, vetoed it, believing that if the sentence was moved, the authenticity of the confession would be easy to be attacked.

Then Kong Xuezhu didn't open his mouth, and if he wanted to find out the facts of the case, he could only put his hope on the arrest of the demon king Sanzhao.

Half an hour ago, Liu Yijing, who had been the supervisor of the country's sacrificial wine and was now a waiter in the Ministry of Rites, suddenly came to the Criminal Department, saying that he had come to listen to the case on the orders of the first assistant.

Liu is a person from the Ministry of Rites, but the handling of the case is a matter of the Criminal Department, that is, other yamen want to interfere, and Dali Temple and the Metropolitan Procuratorate can participate, but the people from the Ministry of Rites come to intervene, which is strange.

But neither the people from the Criminal Department nor the officials who came to hear the trial were surprised by Liu Shilang's arrival, nor did they think there was anything wrong.

Because as we all know, Liu Yijing is a member of the Donglin Party.

And the imperial historian Zuo Guangdou and Song Benqing sent by the Metropolitan Procuratorate are also members of the Donglin Party, Hui Shiyang of the Criminal Department of the Criminal Department, and Wang Zhihuan, the director of the Prison Department, are also members of the Donglin Party, and the Shaoqing Shi Ji who came to assist in the case of Dali Temple is also a member of the Donglin Party.

In other words, except for Yang Dongming, the servant of the Criminal Department, all the people involved in the supervision and interrogation of this case were Donglin Party members, and Jinyi Wei commanded Luo Sigong to also get close to the Donglin Party.

This naturally made the rest of the party officials who were concerned about the case dissatisfied, but Shoufu Ye Xianggao used his power to handle the case in person, and the rest of the party could not fight even if they were dissatisfied.

This is the difference between a minor minister and an important minister.

The minister has nothing to do to make noise to attack, but in case of trouble, the minister is personally determined, and the minister is powerless to resist.

After Liu Yijing arrived at the prison, he interrogated Confucius with Wang Zhihuan, the director of the prison hall, but Confucius still refused to speak, sitting on the ground and holding his knees with a dull gaze.

Liu Yijing shook his head, motioned for Wang Zhihuan to go out with him, and when he went outside, he saw that the fans of Liangdongchang who were listening to the case in the Criminal Department were looking at him, and he couldn't help but look at him, and he couldn't help but snort slightly.

The two knew that Liu Yijing was a waiter of the Ministry of Rites, so they didn't dare to attack, so they looked away, still standing with their hands like before. But as long as an official enters the cell for interrogation, the two of them will follow, and they will write down what they ask and what they answer.

This is the responsibility of the two of them, and the relevant facts of the case must be immediately reported to the East Factory, and then handed over to the emperor, which is called the "beating incident".

This was to prevent officials from colluding and deceiving the emperor.

……

After Liu Yijing came out of prison, he met Yushi Zuo Guangdou again.

Zuo Guangdou is a junior in the party, and his reputation is prominent, Liu Yijing loves it, nods at him with a smile, and then goes to the duty room of Yang Dongming, the waiter of the Criminal Department, with Wang Zhiyu.

After stepping into Yang Dongming's duty room, Liu Yijing scolded: "That Kong Xueduan is a thief, sexually rape and cunning, he can't do anything about him if he doesn't open his mouth, hmph, it's a good calculation." In my opinion, it is better to punish such thieves, and if they are not punished, they will not know how powerful they are. ”

"Brother Ji Hui, this case is no different, rebellion is a capital crime, and Confucius just knows that it is a matter of reluctance to recruit him. This will be to beat him to death, and he will not say a word even if he is afraid. "Yang Dongming and Liu Yijing are old acquaintances and have a very good relationship.

"If you can't be punished, is it just so consumed?"

Liu Yijing knew that what Yang Dongming said was true, and he was really sure that it was a major case of rebellion.

"As long as you take the three edicts of the demon king, Kong Xue has to open his mouth if he doesn't speak." While Yang Dongming was talking, Wang Zhiyu stepped forward and poured tea for the two.

Holding the tea in the palm of his hand, Liu Yijing frowned and said, "When will the demon get it?" It's been almost two days. ”

Yang Dongming shook his head, he was also very anxious about this matter, there was news from Daxing, there was no trace of Wang Sanzhao, and now Shuntianfu and even Gyeonggi had issued an official document, but where could the vast sea of people find the demon. If Wang Sanzhao does not fall into the case for a day, this case will not be investigated.

Seeing this, Liu Yijing knew that there was no good news, so he sighed and said: "Brother Qi, I have long said that the people around Concubine Zheng are not good things, they are Concubine Zheng's duty, and they can't stand the demagogy of the people around them." Therefore, we should have sent King Fu out of Beijing a long time ago, and completely cut off their minds. But Ye Ge Lao believed in His Majesty and always dragged it. We are kind, but people are uneasy and kind, hum, they actually want to rebel against the usurpation, it's really damned! ”

Yang Dongming saw that Liu Yijing was talking so carelessly, and he didn't know what to say, so he shook his head with a wry smile. Wang Zhiyu knew the character of this veteran of the party, and he was also smiling and silent.

"What, am I wrong?" Seeing Yang and Wang like this, Liu Yijing couldn't help but ask.

Yang Dongming saw that there were no outsiders here, so he nodded and said, "Brother Ji Hui is not wrong, now that I think about it, Elder Ye Ge is indeed wrong... King Fu has a lot to do with the affairs of the domain, why was he coaxed by His Majesty's words? He didn't want to think about it, when did our majesty keep his word? ”

Wang Zhiyu interjected: "You can't blame Ye Ge Lao, last year coincided with the accident in Wuxi Academy, Ye Ge Lao had to compromise with His Majesty in order to save teachers and students, but he finally set a return date." ”

"The return date is set, but people don't give up." Liu Yijing said hatefully, "With Concubine Zheng here, if the medicine is buried, who knows when it will be blown up?" The plan now is to sit on this case, so that Your Majesty will no longer be half-hearted, so that my generation can be at ease and worry-free. ”

Thinking of the troubles between the government and the opposition over the years because of Concubine Zheng and King Fu, Liu Yijing's anger was even more soaring, and he couldn't vent his old friend, and said angrily: "Your criminal department is too incompetent." ”

Yang Dongming also had a headache, and persuaded: "Brother Ji Hui, you can dissipate your anger, you have to be in the Ministry of Rites, if you are in my Criminal Department, I am afraid that the liver fire will explode... What's the use of being anxious about this matter, it's better to wait with peace of mind, if you are angry, Wu Ge Lao wants someone from me, how can I still get it? ”

Wu Ge Lao is talking about Wu Daonan, who was added to the Ministry of Rites as a cabinet minister at the beginning of the year with Fang Congzhe, and is also a scholar of Dongge University.

Wu Daonan's entry into Beijing also has an interesting story, since receiving the holy decree he went to Beijing from his hometown, dressed as simple as ordinary people, and on the way did not live in the post station of the imperial court, so that no one knew that the auxiliary ministers of the Taiwan Pavilion had arrived in the country. This matter, recited all over the world, everyone is called Wu Daonan Daxian.

Wu Daonan is in charge of the Ministry of Rites as a scholar of Dongge University, and he is a hall official, who is Liu Yijing's boss, but not a member of the Donglin Party.

Another cabinet minister, Fang Congzhe, is not the Donglin Party, but the Zhejiang Party. This is also the emperor's power trick, just to balance the power of the court.

Wang Zhihuan also persuaded the party elders, he said: "Lord Liu, don't be excited, there is always a way to solve the matter." No matter how deep the demon hid, where did he hide, and how long did he hide? After all, it was the work of these few days. At that time, the two cases will be tried in the first instance, and I am afraid that Confucius will not confess. ”

Liu Yijing nodded, took a sip of tea, and sighed slightly: "This court hall is really quiet and the wind does not stop." ”

Yang Dongming said: "Your brother Ji Hui has been in office for thirty years, and I haven't seen any storms. ”

When Liu Yijing heard this, his spirits perked up, and he said: "If I can use this case to completely suppress Concubine Zheng and expel all those young people from the court, my court and even the world will be clear!" ”

After hearing this, Wang Zhiyu thought it was true.

Yang Dongming was a little worried: "But there is one thing that is troublesome, and we can't prevent it." ”

"Oh, what's the matter?" Liu Yijing raised his eyebrows and asked.

Yang Dongming said: "There are many villains around Concubine Zheng, and there are also many villains in the court, for fear of setting off rumors and flying rumors to shake Your Majesty, and even black and white, reversing right and wrong." ”

"They dare!"

Liu Yijing slapped the table, with an angry face, "If there is really a generation of people who dare to bewitch Your Majesty, everyone will be punished, and I am a righteous gentleman and I will not stand with him!" ”

"I hope so..."

Although Yang Dongming is good friends with Liu Yijing, he is not a member of the Donglin Party after all, so he has some things to say, he pondered for a while, and ordered Wang Zhihuan to go to the Arrest Division to inquire about the situation.

After Wang Zhiqian left, Yang Dongming told Liu Yijing about Wang Yueqian's confession, and whether there was anything suspicious in the total between the two sides, they compared it again and again, but neither of them found any problems, and they couldn't help but be more convinced that Wang Yueqian's confession was true.

Not long after, I heard a commotion outside, followed by a faint sound of scolding and scolding.

"What's the matter?"

Liu Yijing got up and pushed the door to check, but saw Wang Zhihuan rushing towards the house, and shouted into the house: "My lord, Dongchang has robbed people!" ”