[Qing Chuan] Mu Emperor's Grace

He Shen's move is more or less determined to break the boat.He also knew that as Jinan Prefecture was the seat of the governor's yamen in Shandong, Xu Ji and others were very likely to do enough superficial work on the treasurer's granary, but if they left Jinan, they missed the opportunity to directly grasp the current situation.What's more, he faintly felt that the girl's death was not easy.

When Xu Ji received the imperial edict, Cathay Pacific was in his residence.He took Minghuang's imperial decree from the official's hand tremblingly, only feeling dizzy before his eyes, but he had to accept the decree with a forced smile to thank him.

As soon as the officer left, Xu Ji collapsed to the ground.He looked ashen and defeated, as if he had really suffered a serious illness.

Cathay Pacific heard that the official had left, so he hurried to the front hall.Seeing Xu Ji lying on the ground, his heart trembled, and he quickly helped him up: "Master Xu...you are...get up..."

Xu Ji gasped and struggled to get up, but pushed away Cathay's support.Holding the imperial decree in his hand, he said in a trembling voice, "Look, it's all your bad idea. What did Heshen like to do with ingenious gifts? I sent all the treasured pictures of wintersweet and birds, but in exchange What? It's the emperor's imperial decree to track down Ku Yin. It's not like you don't know that Ku Yin in Jinan Prefecture is still short of 4 taels. Where do you want me to find so much silver in this short period of time?"

Seeing that Xu Ji was angry, Guotai hurriedly served him tea: "Master Xu... calm down, isn't this officer trying to find a way."

Xu Ji rubbed his chest and sat down, frowning and holding a cup of warm tea: "Aren't you the most perverted mind on weekdays, think about it!"

Guotai laughed along, but he had already scolded Xu Ji thousands of times in his heart, but he didn't show it at all on the surface: "Otherwise, we might as well borrow some money from the surrounding prefectures and counties to make up for the vacancy in the treasury of Jinan."

Xu Ji sneered and said, "I thought you had some good ideas, but it turned out to be just some old tricks. Let me tell you the truth, Guo Deping, the prefect of Licheng, has already passed on me. In the county of Licheng alone, there is a vacancy in Kuyin. Up to 7 to [-] taels. You really think that only we can use the money in the treasury, and those prefectures and counties below give you so much filial money every year, and it is not enough to just increase the grain collection."

Guotai was also anxious, but still pretended to be calm, and listened to Xu Ji's reprimand with his head down.

"Also, the imperial edict to check the treasury this time was personally issued by the emperor. Wouldn't the emperor know about our little tricks? Even if the emperor did not hide it from the emperor, there is still He Shen who is staring at us..."

"Then tell me, my lord, what should I do?" Cathay Pacific's fat round face was wrinkled.

Xu Ji fiddled with the tea leaves slowly, and sighed: "For the present plan, I only hope that this matter will involve many people, and the emperor will not deal with it completely, otherwise the foundation of the society will be shaken..." He paused and said: "If the emperor If you are willing to kill chickens and monkeys, that would be the best."

A sternness flashed in Xu Ji's eyes, and Cathay shuddered when he saw it.

Xu Ji glanced at Cathay, and said with a half-smile, "What are you afraid of? You are the chief envoy of Shandong. Even if you kill him, you should be a monkey."

Cathay's face turned red, but he could only smile submissively.

This day was the day when the treasury was opened for bank inspection and grain inspection. Hongli brought He Shen, Ji Yun and others to the gate of the treasury.Xu Ji didn't say he was sick this time, but his complexion was still not very good.

Hongli looked at Xu Ji and Guotai with their heads down, raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "What's the matter today, why do both of them seem to be beaten by Shuang?"

Cathay Pacific's sharp mouth has completely lost its true colors today, and the people who were very active in answering have now learned Xu Ji's trick: pretending to be deaf and dumb.

Seeing that no one answered, Hongli gradually put away his smile.It was only then that the two discovered that when the emperor smiled, he still had a superficially friendly look, and once he put away his smile, he was the real majesty of an emperor.

Cathay Pacific's hand holding the treasury key trembled uncontrollably, He Shen glanced at him, and said softly: "What are you still doing in a daze, hurry up and open the door, the Lord Long Live's time will not allow you to wait."

Cathay Pacific, however, seemed to have not heard He Shen's words at all, trembling like a sieve.It wasn't until Xu Ji who was beside him stabbed him severely that he came back to his senses.

He stepped forward in a daze.According to regulations, except for Hongli, all officials entering the treasury must step over a horizontal bench and raise their palms together above their heads at the same time.This one means that there are gods three feet above the head, and the officials who entered the treasury were worthy of the heavens, and did not steal a copper coin from the treasury.The second is for instant inspection.If the officials stole the silver taels, when the guards on both sides heard the noise when passing the bench, or saw the silver falling to the ground, they would further search the officials in order to catch those sneaky officials.

Cathay was stunned when he saw the bench. Because of his fat body, he was very clumsy when he stepped over the bench, and accidentally tripped over and faced the loess.

Ji Yun immediately laughed out of shame.He Shen also pursed his lips, finally suppressing the overflowing smile from that idea.

Cathay Pacific struggled for a long time, but failed to get up from the ground.Hongli waited for a long while, but couldn't see it, and said to the guard beside him: "You guys, hurry up and help him."

Finally, with the support of the guards, Cathay stood up, but the official hat was tilted to one side, and the official uniform was covered with dust, looking very embarrassed.

However, Guotai no longer had the mind to worry about these things. He imagined countless angry appearances of Hongli in his mind, so that he limped up the steps, but failed to open the door of the treasury for a long time.

Seeing Hongli frowning, He Shen knew that he was getting impatient, so he hurried forward and said softly, "Give me the key...I'll open it."

Cathay looked at him in embarrassment, unable to refuse but did not want to hand over the key.Seeing his expression more miserable than going to a funeral, He Shen couldn't guess what was going on, so he just grabbed the key and snatched it away with all his strength.

The moment Cathay Pacific opened the treasury door, the expression on Cathay's face was one of despair.He Shen entered the warehouse first, looked at a sealed silver box, and stood aside waiting for Hongli's arrival.

Under the guidance of Xu Ji, Hongli entered the treasury, looked around for a week and then ordered: "Open the box and inspect the silver."

The boxes were opened one by one by the guards, and by comparison, the number was just right with the account.

The leading guard reported back to Hongli: "Your Majesty, after checking, there is no difference between the amount of treasury silver and the account book."

Cathay was originally in a cold sweat waiting for Hongli's strict decree to come down, but he couldn't help being stunned seeing this scene.He secretly glanced at Xu Ji, and seeing the smug smile on his lips, he knew that he must have tampered with the deposit.

While shocked, he breathed a sigh of relief.As soon as he raised his hand to wipe off his sweat, he saw He Shen raised his eyes and looked over.

After He Shen glanced at him, he went straight to a silver box, picked up a silver ingot and looked at it carefully, and then said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the amount of this silver is good, but the quality is not right."

As he spoke, he picked up an ingot of silver and handed it to Hongli: "Please look, your majesty, this one is Qilu silver of excellent quality, in the shape of a horseshoe, and is usually cast by officials; The ingots are in the shape of steamed buns, and are usually cast privately. Mr. Xu, I would like to ask, although the amount of silver in this treasury is correct, why is the quality uneven? Could it be that they were not counted when they were put into the treasury?"

Xu Ji didn't expect He Shen to be so careful, so he paused for a moment before responding: "There is indeed a loan of 4000 taels from the money shop in Jinan City. It is a deficit left by the predecessor when he left office. This is money that can’t be credited.”

He Shen opened his mouth when he heard the words, but did not speak, but turned his gaze to Hongli.Hongli was silent for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Let's go and see the granary first."

A group of people went out of the bank. Cathay was obviously in a better mood this time, and did not make a fool of themselves when they stepped on the bench.

When it was Xu Ji's turn to open the granary, he moved very neatly, and the bags in the granary were also filled to the brim.This time Xu Ji rushed to report back in front of everyone: "Your Majesty, the food bags cannot be opened, if they are opened, the food will be useless if it gets wet.

He Shen stepped forward and touched the sacks one by one.Suddenly his hand stopped, and beside one of the bags, he actually touched some gravel.He Shen rubbed it with his hands and found that it was indeed sand.

He Shen sneered and said, "Master Xu, it's winter now, and there has been no rain in Shandong for a long time. Even if the food is opened at this time, it will not be damp."

Xu Ji was choked by He Shen's reasonable words, and his expression suddenly turned ugly: "Master He...you..."

Seeing that he had been wronged and had nowhere to tell, He Shen laughed and said, "Master Xu, you dare not open the seal, is it because there is something wrong with this grain bag?"

Xu Ji was pressed every step of the way, so he had to compromise and said: "Okay, I will fight it out today." He pointed to the two guards and said: "You two, open those two bags of wheat."

Just as the two guards were about to carry the top two sacks of wheat down, He Shen said, "Wait a minute, if I read correctly, this granary has two floors, the upper floor has wheat, and the lower floor also has wheat. Take a bag from each layer and open it?"

He Shen pointed to a bag of wheat stored in the lower layer covered by straw, smiling authentically.

As soon as the words came out, Cathay Pacific noticed that Xu Ji's face changed.Xu Ji said stiffly, "Isn't it because there is too much food on the upper floors, so it's inconvenient for the lower floors to get it?"

Hongli heard this kind of rhetoric, and said directly: "Take the lower class for inspection."

The guard then took out the food bag, and the moment he opened the seal, everyone was stunned.

In this bag, apart from a part of the wheat, there is also a lot of sand and stones mixed in. It looks like an ordinary grain bag on the outside, but the inside is already riddled with holes.

Hongli's face was livid, and a pair of sharp eyes examined the dejected Xu Ji and Guotai: "You guys, what else do you have to say?"

The silence in the room made the time all the more difficult.

At the end, Hongli sighed: "Take these two people back to the governor's office for trial." After the two were captured by the guards, Hongli turned his head and looked at Heshen with deep eyes: "This case is settled by Heshen." Shen presides over the trial, and Qian Feng assists from the side."