Rise From the Humble

"The lower official was wronged."

"I was wronged."

As soon as Yan Song finished speaking, the Taicang officials under trial, the Chaku censor, the warehouse soldiers, accountants, cooks and others who were kneeling on the ground all shouted that they were wronged.

"Unjustly accused?! You still have the nerve to cry out that you are unjustly accused! I'm really angry! According to the records in Taicang's big account, there should be 2,127,200 taels of silver in Taicang's bank now, and seven gold taels in total. 120,000 taels. Why did the Taicang bank store only 1,237,250 taels of silver and 316,500 taels of gold during the inventory yesterday? How to store silver and gold Can’t reconcile with the big account? Where did the 889,950 taels of silver and 400,000 taels of gold go?! It’s not you. Could it be that they ran away on their own?!”

Yan Song's face was livid, his face was stern, and he stared angrily at the officials in the hall. He looked even more majestic, and his voice was cold, and every word seemed to turn into a flying knife with cold light, which was pierced into the hall. human heart.

"That's Zhu Ping'an deliberately using a small amount of gold and silver to frame us." Taicang Langzhong Zhao said with a smile on his face.

"Ming Ge, I see that it was Zhu Ping'an who framed us." Several people in the hall followed suit.

"Unbridled!" Yan Song became even more angry when he heard this. He was furious, pointed at Zhao Langzhong and others, and shouted angrily, "You still want to quibble at this point! You really don't know how to live or die! At that time, not only were there people who followed the inspection envoy Zhu Ping'an to take inventory, You, Taicang officials, and people from Dongchang are supervising. Every box of gold and silver has been verified and recorded. In the final statistics, your accounting office in Taicang also participated in the statistics. Such facts , How can you believe that you are so mouth-watering!"

"Mr. Ge, calm down."

Zhao Langzhong and others felt as if they heard thunder and thunder, and they all knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

"Please calm down, sir. There may be something hidden in this inventory. Please give me one day. I will immediately send someone to check again. I believe we will be able to find out the reason." Taicang Zhang Guanku lifted up his official trousers. Zhui knelt on the ground, raised his hands and begged.

"Why did you go so early?! We already took inventory yesterday, and the evidence of the deficit is conclusive. There's no need to wait until you take off your pants and fart." Yan Song glanced at Zhang Guangku, and sneered sarcastically.

"This official is scared." Zhang Guanku and others lowered their heads and said.

"Afraid?! Oh, you should be afraid, you can't escape this blame! Think about my Ming Dynasty, how difficult these years have been, with natural and man-made disasters, one after another, floods in the south today, drought in the north tomorrow, and barbarians from the north the day after tomorrow. On our border, the Japanese pirates from the southeast the day after tomorrow came to attack again. One by one, they provided disaster relief to the people, resisted the barbarians, and exterminated the Japanese pirates. All of them did not require money! As for my Ming Dynasty, how can there be anything big in these years? The income has long been stretched and we cannot make ends meet, and we rely on the wealth accumulated in Taicang over the years. As a result, you have ruined the wealth that I, Ming, used to save my life! Even if you grow ten heads, it is not enough to cut off!!!" Yan Song pointed at Zhang Guanku and others in the hall, gritted his teeth and said sadly.

Zhang Guanku and others knelt on the ground with their heads lowered, saying nothing.

"Not only that, there are still gold and silver in Taicang. Among them, 903,800 taels of silver are not pure silver, and 125,500 taels of gold are not pure gold. I have already asked the craftsmen of the silver building to find out. One thousand taels of silver and one thousand taels of gold were extracted for inspection. They probably contained less than 90% silver or gold, and the remaining 10% was either lead or copper. Calculated in this way, there were nearly one hundred thousand taels of silver and ten thousand taels of gold. Fly away! You are so brave!" Yan Song was so angry that his whole body trembled.

"Sir, calm down!"

Zhang Guanku and others knelt on the ground, bowed their heads and said.

"How do you ask me to calm down my anger!" Yan Song almost spat in their faces. After saying this, he reached out and tapped Liu Yushi in the hall and asked, "Liu Yushi, an inspection of Taicang's bank should be carried out every year. Last year. At that time, I remembered that you were responsible for checking Taicang, what? Could it be that you, Liu Yushi, did not check? Why didn't you find that the bank was short of money? "

Liu Yushi knelt on the ground, raised his head and glanced at Yan Song, as if he was observing his words, but he didn't see what he wanted to see on Yan Song's face. He only saw anger and accountability, so he quickly lowered his head and reported back. : "Reporting to your lord, when I took stock of the bank account, I actually found a deficit."

"That's nonsense. Since you discovered the deficit, why didn't you report it to the court?" Yan Song asked.

"That's right. Although the lower official discovered the deficit, it was not big, just a small loss. Moreover, Zhang Guanku has been looking for the reason. It was the lower official who did not report it." Liu Yushi lowered his head and replied.

"Haha, a small loss? In one year, a small loss turned into a huge loss? In addition, how do you explain the deficit and false accounts in Taicang's accounts? This is not just one or two years, but three years, every year. !" Yan Song slammed the table hard and asked loudly.

Liu Yushi was kneeling on the ground, his head almost hanging to the ground.

"As a censor, your crime is particularly serious! I have a law in the Ming Dynasty that says, 'Any censor who commits a crime will be punished with three additional grades, and the crime will be punished more seriously if there is stolen goods.' Liu Censor, you should know this law, right?" Yan Song looked directly at Liu The censor asked coldly.

"I understand." Liu Yushi tapped his head on the ground.

"Humph, it's good to understand. So do you. "Shang Shu·Kang Hao": If there is a serious crime, it is not the end, but a green disaster. It is suitable for you. Since the way is extremely wrong, it is not possible to kill at this time. My "Da Ming Law" - "Name" It is also stipulated in the "Regulations" that "Anyone who surrenders before the crime is committed shall be exempted from the crime. He will send someone to serve as the surrender, if the law is compatible with the concealed person. The leader and the minister will listen to the law as if the criminal has surrendered." For example, if treason, treason, or rebellion has not yet been committed, and if a relative first files a complaint or is arrested and sent to an official, the principal offender will be exempted from the crime by surrendering himself. If he commits the crime himself, the principal offender will not be exempted from the crime. Others who are responsible for the crime will also be exempted from punishment by surrendering.' Now that the matter has come to this, it is best for you to surrender as soon as possible and return the gold and silver you have embezzled. I will also ask the Holy One to give you a lenient sentence." Yan Song snorted coldly, and his eyes wandered around the people in the hall. once, and then sighed and said, as if he had aged dozens of years suddenly, "As the chief assistant, I did not discover the problem in time. I also have a responsibility. I am ashamed of your Majesty. After this case, I will tell you Your Majesty has resigned from the position of chief minister."

"You can't do it, Mr. Ge."

"No sir."

As soon as Yan Song finished speaking, many civil and military officials who were watching stood up one after another and tried to persuade him.

Xu Jie, who was next to Yan Song, was even more "excited" and pulled Yan Song's sleeves. He tried to persuade him, "Sir Yan, why are you doing this? It's not your fault. The six departments and six subjects of Ming Dynasty are all Are you always responsible for the failure of the Procuratorate, the Hanlin Academy, or the local government? In our Ming Dynasty, you are the only one who can always help His Majesty support the government. If you keep resigning, aren't you adding trouble to His Majesty?"

Li Mo, who was in the presiding chair, heard Yan Song's words of resignation. He glanced at Yan Song with a sarcastic expression, glanced at Xu Jie with a disdainful expression, and then glanced at the numerous officials who had stood up to listen with disdain. Made a nasal sound.