Rule over Ming Dynasty

Chapter 252 The murderer emerges, the monarch and his subjects close the net

The fact that the culprit could be in this courtroom shocked everyone present.

It was Liu Jin who reacted first, and immediately led a few warriors to guard Zhu Youtang's left and right sides, while the Jinyi Guards led by Wang Xiang felt as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

Li Yu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Li Si, Minister of the Ministry of Households and other important officials had blank eyes, and they also looked around vigilantly, looking for the murderer more.

The reactions of Rui'an Bo, Wang Yuan and Changning Bo, Zhou Yu were intriguing. They silently turned their heads to look at someone standing beside them.

The people in the hall crazily ate melons. They had come to watch this appalling massacre, but they didn't expect the emperor to come in person. Now, there was a big reversal.

What shocked them the most was of course that at this moment, the culprit who committed the crime that day was identified by the painter Bai Zihua in this court.

At one point, the atmosphere in the courtroom seemed to lack oxygen, and it was eerily quiet.

It's just that no murderer jumped out to admit the crime, everyone couldn't help but looked at each other, and then silently cast their respectful and puzzled eyes on Zhu Youtang above.

Zhu Youtang handed the selected portrait to Liu Jin, and Liu Jin showed the portrait to everyone present, and the murderer's appearance was clearly revealed.

Huh?
This portrait is vividly drawn, not only presenting the facial features of the person, but also expressing the expression of the character, like a decisive young man.

When they saw the portrait displayed by Liu Jin, everyone understood why the emperor had just said those words, and immediately turned their heads to look at Huichang Marquis Sun Ming.

"You don't think the person in the painting is the Marquis, do you?" Sensing the gazes around him, Sun Ming immediately looked at Libu Shangshu Li Yu and others unkindly.

impossible!
The people in the hall naturally couldn't see the portrait clearly, but when they saw everyone in the hall looking at Huichang Hou Sun Ming, they shook their heads in unison.

Not to mention that it is impossible for the majestic Marquis of Huichang to do such inhumane things, even if Marquis of Huichang really wanted to do it, he would send his men there instead of personally leading a team to exterminate the sect.

"Huichanghou, don't you think this person is very kind?" Zhu Youtang saw that Huichanghou wanted to pretend to be confused, so he asked directly.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the person in this portrait is indeed somewhat similar to my younger brother Sun Duo, but it must be the artist who framed my younger brother, or it was caused by a poor painting skill!" Sun Ming pointed at the painter Bai Zihua who was kneeling on the ground, seeming to accuse him angrily.

Huh?
The people in the hall watched the development of the situation, but they knew that Ganqing was the younger brother of Huichang Marquis Sun Ming who had a serious suspicion, and even Sun Ming's younger brother Sun Duo was the real murderer.

Zhu Youtang remembered that Sun Duo and the person in the painting "can't be said to be irrelevant, but exactly the same", so he looked at Bai Zihua kneeling on the ground and asked, "Bai Zihua, what do you say?"

"Your Majesty, Cao Min is only drawing based on the facts, and I don't know if he is similar to Huichang Hou's younger brother!" Bai Zihua shook his head lightly, without arguing.

Li Yu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, stroked his beard lightly, on the contrary, he was even more convinced that Bai Zihua was not aimless, and now Sun Duo, the younger brother of the Marquis of Huichang, was seriously suspected.

"Your Majesty, as long as we call Sun Qianhu to the court, we will know whether it is Sun Duo who brought blood to launder the house!" Li Si, Minister of the Household Department, saw a major breakthrough in the case, and immediately stood up and suggested.

Many of Wu Xun's children will be stuffed into the Jinyiwei system. Sun Xianzong of the Sun family was once an official residence in Jinyiwei and commanded Tongzhi. Now Sun Duo is the deputy thousand households of the northern thousand households of Jinyiwei City.

Li Si's proposal was immediately supported by the accompanying ministers, but they all agreed to bring Sun Duo here to confront the painter Bai Zihua in court.

Zhu Youtang knew that this case involved a huge force, so he lightly ordered Wang Xiang: "Wang Xiang, you should send someone to bring Sun Duo here immediately!"

As a local third-rank Yamen, the Shuntian Mansion Yamen naturally did not have that much authority to arrest the majestic deputy Qianhu, but the Jin Yiwei went and captured them naturally.

Wang Xiang took the order and immediately sent Mou Bin to arrest people.

"Your Majesty, this matter is too absurd. Please take it back. My younger brother has studied the books of sages and sages since he was a child, and he is also worshiped by the Confucianism. It is absolutely impossible for him to do such a crazy thing?" Sun Ming, the Marquis of Huichang, knew that the matter would involve himself, so he immediately asked.

Song Cheng, Yin of Shuntian Mansion, seemed to know it well, so he said flatly: "Money touches people's hearts!"

"Whether it is true or not, we will find out when we meet, and the Marquis of Huichang doesn't need to obstruct it! You dear friends, you are tired after standing for so long, you sit here, and Song Qing will accompany me to the back house for a walk, and the witnesses will be taken to the side hall to be strictly guarded!" Zhu Youtang decided to take a walk, and made arrangements authentically.

In fact, Li Yu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, and others were not tired from standing, but now that the emperor had spoken, they naturally had to obediently sit on the empty chairs prepared earlier.

Huichang Hou Sunming and Qi Xun seemed restless at the moment, but the matter had developed to this point, especially Sun Duo was caught out, so they could only act in camera.

The Shuntian government office is located in Rizhongfang in the north of the city. Because it is a model of government offices in the world, it presents the most standard government office layout and occupies a large area.

"Your Majesty, please come inside!" Song Cheng seemed to do everything without changing his face, and made a gesture of invitation respectfully.

Although Zhu Youtang knew the layout of the Shuntian Mansion from online novels in his previous life, when he actually set foot here, he had a different feeling.

Go around the screen, pass through the Gongyin Gate at the back, and enter the second hall area.The second hall usually hears ordinary civil cases, but it seems very quiet here.

Enter through the door on the east side of the three halls, and you will come to the area of ​​the three halls.

The west side of the three halls is the study room, and the east side is the signing room. The center of the north is naturally the court used to hear private cases, and the signing room is the daily office of Shuntian Fu Yin.

Jin Yiwei has already cleared this place first, so naturally no idlers will appear.

Standing outside the corridor, Zhu Youtang liked the tranquility of this courtyard, but he could faintly hear the sound of weaving from inside.

"Your Majesty, please come here!" Song Cheng arranged things, hurried over and pointed to the door of the signing room.

Zhu Youtang walked into the signing room and glanced briefly.

Here is the layout of the outer hall and the inner room. The outer hall is a tea hall that can entertain guests, and the inner room is an office area. The bookshelves behind are full of various files.

Zhu Youtang did not go to the inner room, and was not interested in the official affairs of the Shuntian government office, so he asked lightly: "Song Qing, did you send someone there just now?"

"Exactly!" Song Cheng's eyes were clear, and he responded solemnly.

Zhu Youtang was still interested in the current case, so he asked earnestly, "Do you think you can find evidence of the crime?"

"I don't know! It's just that according to my investigation, the evidence should be there!" Song Cheng's face remained unchanged, and he shook his head in a solemn expression.

Liu Jin frowned slightly, looking suspiciously at the pair of monarchs and ministers.

He knew that on the day Song Cheng met the saint, the monarch and his ministers chatted for a full cup of tea in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, but he was not there at the time about what they talked about.

Zhu Youtang frowned slightly, and Dang even asked curiously: "Song Qing, you know that this case involves so much, are you really not afraid?"

"I'm studying to become an official, and what I'm looking for is justice!" Song Cheng knew that he had stabbed a hornet's nest, but he responded without the slightest fear on his face.

Zhu Youtang glanced at Song Cheng indifferently, then walked out: "Song Qing is really easy to pursue, then do you know what I want?"

"I'm stupid!" Song Cheng couldn't figure out what Zhu Youtang was thinking, so he bowed his hands respectfully.

Zhu Youtang raised his head and looked at the sky above the courtyard, looking very sure: "What I want is a strong country and a rich people!"

The country is strong and the people are rich?

Song Cheng's body shook slightly. Although it sounded like a cliché, after all, he had heard too many lofty ideals since he was a child, but he felt strongly in his heart that the emperor was moving towards this goal.

Although he has never been in contact with Yao and Shun in ancient times, he has not seen the prosperity of Kaiyuan, and he does not know what the nearest prosperity of Yongle is like, but he feels that he will be able to see a splendid prosperity of Hongzhi.

It's not because I have been repeatedly promoted that I feel that Zhu Youtang is a wise king, but through my own contact and observation, I came to the conclusion.

The reason why I was able to try the case so smoothly today is because of the support of this Mingjun, otherwise, how could it be so methodical.

"I heard that Song Qing is as clean as water, so I don't mind if I go to the back house to take a look!" Zhu Youtang's eyes fell on the door of the back house, and he asked.

Song Cheng was stunned for a moment, and then explained: "It seems that Zhuo Nei is weaving cloth, which may hinder Sheng Sight!"

"No problem!" Zhu Youtang immediately became interested, and stepped inside.

In fact, at this moment, he was still a little uneasy. After all, this was like a Schrödinger's cat game, and too many virtuous ministers in history could not pass the test.

Hongzhi Zhongxing, praised by later generations, is all virtuous ministers who are rare in a century, but the fact is that the Ming Dynasty ushered in the craziest period of big landlord annexation, and countless people could only be reduced to tenants.

The back house is where the family members of the Yamen of Shuntian Mansion live. The courtyard inside is very clean, and because there are few servants, it is very quiet, and there are chickens and vegetables in the open space.

In the west wing room, there was a sound of weaving. A beautiful woman was skillfully operating the loom, and her belly was already slightly bulging.

The beautiful skinny maid Xiaotao just finished feeding the chickens and was about to deliver water, but when she saw the emperor coming, she just glanced at the handsome emperor, and knelt down to greet him.

Zhu Youtang saw this situation, but he knew that the information was not deceiving.

Although the civil and military officials of the Manchu dynasty were all corrupt, it is undeniable that among them were officials who were able to clean themselves up, and this black-faced young man can at least stick to his official conduct until now.

"My life is precious, please be safe!" Yunniang stopped what she was doing and saluted in a panic when she heard that Zhu Youtang was coming.

Song Cheng's unchanging expression seemed to have a touch of warmth, and he introduced it to Zhu Youtang: "Your Majesty, this is Yunniang, the humble nephew. It is fortunate that I have her to take care of the family affairs for me!"

"It is indeed a good helper! Yunniang, did you weave this cloth?" Zhu Youtang nodded in approval, then turned his eyes to the cotton cloth on the shuttle loom.

"Yes!"

"How long have you been knitting?"

"This cloth has been woven for two days!"

"How many days will it take to make cloth?"

"A day and a half!"

While asking questions here, Liu Jin walked directly into the main room.The maid Xiaotao had already seen it, but she didn't dare to stop it, and she knew that there was nothing valuable to steal from this house.

When Liu Jin came out, she also shared her hands with Zhu Youtang.

"This cloth is going to be sent to the Royal Cloth Shop!"

"Exactly!"

"Let me inscribe a line!"

Zhu Youtang suddenly became interested, so he decided to write an inscription on the white cloth that had not yet been woven.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for giving me the words!" Yunniang was overjoyed, and said thankfully.

Zhu Youtang seemed to be on a whim, so he wrote on it with a pen: "One porridge and one meal, it's not easy to think about where it came from; half a thread, half a thread, constant memory is difficult."

Song Cheng originally thought he was going to destroy half of the cloth, but after seeing a line of words on it, his eyes couldn't help showing admiration.

Regardless of whether he can successfully create a prosperous Hongye in the end, and today's son is indeed a wise king with the people in his heart, it is no wonder that he will support him in uncovering the truth about the murder of the Qian family.

After Zhu Youtang handed over the pen to Liu Jin, he gave instructions: "Liu Jin, order the cabinet to draft an order later! Yunniang can manage the family internally, but can be a husband externally. I will give Yunniang a fourth-rank wife, and give one hundred cloth tickets, a pair of jade Ruyi!"

The current cloth tickets can be said to be real gold and silver, and have become the hard currency in the capital nowadays. One hundred cloth tickets can be said to be a huge sum of money.

"Your Majesty, this reward is too heavy!" Song Cheng's eyes widened and he stopped him.

Zhu Youtang stretched out his hand to help Yunniang who was moved, and then expressed his position lightly: "I want my subjects to be clean, but I don't want my subjects to be poor! It's just that the court is not rich now. This gift is for Yunniang. Yunniang must also put the baby in her womb first, and work less in the future!"

Although he had thought about getting a high salary to support honesty, it turned out that a high salary can't support honesty, and the current finances don't allow it, so increasing rewards is an expedient strategy.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, Long En!" Yunniang burst into tears, realizing that her husband has really met a good monarch, and it's no wonder that she has been working on the case day and night lately.

Zhu Youtang didn't stay here for too long, and when he learned that Sun Duo had been taken to the court, he returned to the court to continue the trial of the case.

After learning of Zhu Youtang's generous gift, Song Cheng seemed to have no more worries, so he slapped the gavel and called the witness Bai Zihua back to the courtroom.

Zhu Youtang has returned to the throne to drink tea silently, knowing that the real drama is about to kick off.

Song Cheng saw that Bai Zihua was brought up, so he pointed to Sun Duo who had just been arrested and asked, "Bai Zihua, do you recognize this person!"

Everyone present knew that this would be a crucial testimony, and immediately looked at Bai Zihua with bated breath.

Bai Zihua turned his head to look at Sun Duo, and immediately fell to the side as if frightened, pointed at Sun Duo and said in fear, "Yes, yes, he led people to destroy Qian's house, he killed my son!"

The case finally ushered in a major breakthrough. The person who massacred Qian's mansion turned out to be the younger brother of Huichang Hou Sunming, a person who could never have imagined beforehand.

(End of this chapter)