Early the next morning, Xu Yougong and Zhang Yitian of the Censorate, Li Jixiao and Hua Xingfan of the Ministry of Works, Chu Yi and Chen Yitian of the Ministry of Revenue, and Hu Xianghui of the Ministry of Rites all submitted petitions. This time, the scope of their impeachment had expanded from the old nun of Hanoi to Taoist Si Fang and Hu Mole.
How Taoist Si Fang used the opportunity of finding the elixir for the Emperor to abuse his power, how he accepted bribes, how he helped a large number of merchants who bribed him to evade taxes, how he used official carriages to transport goods for free, how he interfered with local justice …
How Hu Mole interfered with the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works, how he forced the Ministry of Revenue to change the severely affected areas to lightly affected areas after accepting bribes, and how he reduced taxes for the areas that were not affected by the disaster, but the heavily affected areas did not have taxes reduced, and there was no relief, and countless victims starved to death. How he interfered with several major projects that the Ministry of Works was in charge of …
These were all facts that could be investigated and not some groundless accusation from the Imperial Censorate. The more Wu Zetian read on, the angrier she became. She immediately gave the order to capture the barbarian Mo Lei. At the same time, she sent people out of the capital to capture Daoist Si Fang who was still enjoying himself. All the arrested people were handed over to Lai Junchen.
Whenever Lai Junchen had a chance to mess with people, he would be so energetic that he could be energetic even if he didn't sleep for three days and three nights.
Since Lai Junchen took over this task, he was so energetic that he didn't even go home. He lived in the prefectural magistrate's office all day long. Under his efficient speed of solving cases and his style of cracking down on cases, Young Master Jiang had no time to make any response. His last source of income was broken one by one by Lai Junchen as if he was digging tree roots.
On the 16th of the first month, Xue Huaiyi sobered up before the fire was completely extinguished.
He hid in the abbot's meditation room for three days in a panic. For the first time, he didn't drink a drop of wine. If there was any movement outside, he would think that the Emperor sent people to arrest him.
Although the disciples of the first class didn't know what the guardian master of the state had done, they all saw Xue Huaiyi's frightened look. In order to not let Xue Huaiyi continue to panic, the whole backyard of the White Horse Temple became a forbidden area. No one was allowed to enter and absolute silence was maintained.
However, the unusual silence made Xue Huaiyi even more anxious. It wasn't until five days later that he was finally freed. Five days later, the cause of the fire in the Ming Hall and the Heavenly Hall was finally announced to the world. The cause of the fire was that a few craftsmen who were repairing the Heavenly Hall had placed several rolls of linen next to the source of the fire, and the palace maids and eunuchs who were looking after the Heavenly Hall had neglected their duties.
These poor people were sentenced to death, and so the matter came to an end. At the same time, the imperial court announced plans to rebuild Ming Tang and Heaven. This time, they also planned to cast the Nine Cauldrons and the Twelve Zodiac Gods. The entire project was still supervised by Xue Huaiyi.
After receiving the imperial edict, Xue Huaiyi sat alone in the meditation room for a long time. That great fire vented his anger, but it did not increase his intelligence. After thinking about it, he finally figured it out. "This is the Emperor's compensation to him! The Emperor felt his anger, so he used this almost flattering method to please him! "
The man who sold medicine in Jianghu had never read the history books. He did not understand that when the emperors in history wanted to get rid of a person, they would often treat him warmly and generously. They would show more trust and favor him than usual.
In his view, if the Emperor wanted to kill him, it would only take a word. Since the Emperor did not do so and gave him such a lucrative job, it meant that the Emperor had forgiven him for his mistakes and was trying to salvage the relationship between them.
Thinking about the fear and unease he had felt these few days, Xue Huaiyi could not help but want to laugh at himself. "Yes, the entire world belongs to the Empress. Only two houses were burned, how could the Empress be angry? Do you think two palaces are a big deal to a wealthy monarch? "
Xue Huaiyi became excited. He had not drunk for a few days, and his mouth was so bland. He immediately ordered a banquet and gathered his trusted disciples to eat and drink to their hearts' content. As he was drunk, he could not help but flaunt the truth about Ming Tang and the Heavenly Hall to his disciples.
In his view, this was the embodiment of his manhood. He knew that because he had fallen out of favor, even some of his disciples were gossiping about him behind his back. He used this matter to announce to everyone, "The Emperor still loves me! No matter what trouble I cause, he will not punish me! "
…
With the Emperor's anger, there was no longer a need for Yang Fan to arrange for people to impeach the three swindlers. There was always no lack of people in the court who would follow the will of the Emperor and hit a man when he was down. More and more people began to expose the three swindlers. Not only did they accuse them of using the tiger's might to intimidate others, but they also began to expose their so-called "magical powers" with a lot of facts.
The old nun of Hanoi, who had missed the best opportunity to escape, was arrested and sent to prison. The prostitutes who wanted to rely on her to escape taxes were all sent to various places to serve. Even the Sinong Temple sent more than 20 young girls to be responsible for weaving straw mats.
The sudden distribution of so many beautiful women with bright eyes and white teeth was a very happy thing for the craftsmen who had been working in the Sinong Temple's bamboo supervisor. Regarding this, the workers of the Dragon Gate Hot Spring Soup Supervisor were very dissatisfied. If they were given a few, they might have the opportunity to peep at the beautiful women bathing. Giving them to the bamboo supervisor was a reckless waste of God's gifts.
The Immortal Nun of Hanoi, who knew 500 years in the past and 500 years in the future, did not foresee this calamity for herself. She fell into Lai Junchen's hands. This immortal nun was frightened by Lai Junchen's cruel methods. In reality, she had not seen anything. She was frightened by everything she had heard about Lai Junchen.
When she was thrown into prison and learned that this was Lai Junchen's territory, she immediately untied her belt and hanged herself. She was afraid that if she was one step late, she would not be able to live or die. The Immortal Nun of Hanoi's death was so clean and neat that it made Lai Junchen, who had arrived a step late, very depressed. He had wanted to use the Immortal Nun of Hanoi to bite a few more ministers into prison so that the case of arresting high-ranking officials would have more weight.
Soon after, Taoist Shifang and the barbarian Molei were also listed as wanted by the imperial court.
The barbarian Molei had escaped. This was all thanks to the old nun of Hanoi. When she lost the emperor's trust and was ordered to return to Hanoi, she had sent someone to inform Molei. She knew that she had lost the emperor's trust, so the future of Molei, who was not valued by the emperor, was also worrying.
The three of them were only a temporary group of swindlers. Now that a disaster had befallen them, they naturally went their separate ways. However, whether it was because of their past friendship or because she was worried that Molei would confess something about her after he fell from the horse, she needed to inform Molei.
Although Molei did not commit a crime at that time, he was even more careful than she was. When he heard her disciple's words, telling him to escape as soon as possible, he even abandoned the Seven Treasures Carriage. Taking advantage of the fact that there was still no curfew that night, he hurriedly packed some soft things and fled in the night. When Tang Zong arrived at his residence, it was already empty.
Taoist Shifang was not so lucky. He had been free and unfettered outside for more than half a year. Everywhere he went, he was like a king. Glory, splendor, wealth, wealth, silk, and women were all enjoyed to his heart's content. After more than half a year, it was time to return to the imperial court to hand in the imperial edict, so he reluctantly returned.
On the way, he was still thinking that when he saw the emperor, he would tell him that he was still missing a few ingredients to refine the elixir of immortality. The main ingredients had not been found yet, and he would continue to travel south in the spring. Who would have thought that before he arrived at Luoyang, he would be captured alive by the people sent by the imperial court to arrest him?
Taoist Shifang, this Jianghu swindler, was also very straightforward. When he heard that the case was handled by Lai Junchen, he knew that it was impossible for him to survive. In order to avoid suffering, it was better to end his life early.
On this point, as a Jianghu wanderer, he was much more clear-headed than the two officials, Liu Sili and Shu Lianyao. Liu Sili and Shu Lianyao believed Lai Junchen's lies. In order to survive, they did not know how many old friends they had bitten. As a result, when there was nothing left to bite, they were still pushed out by Lai Junchen to be beheaded.
However, because of the old nun of Hanoi's suicide, the people sent to arrest Taoist Shifang strengthened the guard. He had not found a chance to commit suicide, so he pretended to be docile, causing the people watching him to gradually relax their vigilance. When he was escorted to the Yanshi near Luoyang, Taoist Shifang finally found a chance to commit suicide successfully.
Among the three main criminals, one escaped, and two died. This made Lai Junchen extremely angry. Taoist Shifang and the barbarian Molei did not have any disciples or subordinates, and the so-called disciples of the old nun of Hanoi were all prostitutes in the brothel, and most of them were half-closed, so they wanted to seek shelter under the old nun of Hanoi to evade taxes. These women had never served high-ranking officials, so how could he expand his achievements?
At this time, the Revenue Assessor of Luoyang Prefecture, Li Jing, suddenly appeared as if he was helped by God.
Few people in Luoyang Prefecture knew that Li Jing had a cousin who was the chief eunuch in charge of Princess Taiping's Mansion. After all, it was not a glorious thing to have a eunuch in one's family. However, everyone knew that Li Jing was not only slippery and cunning, but also quite capable. That was why he could become an official from a poor family until he became the Revenue Assessor of Luoyang Prefecture.
Li Jing provided a lot of important information to Lai Junchen. According to the information provided by Li Jing, Lai Junchen caught many big fishes who relied on the Three Divine Fakes to make money. Although these so-called big fishes were just small fish and shrimp for Lai Junchen, because most of them were not officials, in Luoyang Prefecture, these people were rich and powerful and had a high status. For example, the largest pharmacy in Luoyang Prefecture, Jichun Hall, had a branch in Yangzhou.
At the moment, Lai Junchen was short of people. He was very appreciative of this subordinate who suddenly appeared and was very talented in solving cases. Soon, he hinted to the current Revenue Assessor of Luoyang Prefecture, Li Poli. Li Canjun immediately found a reason to send a gift and asked someone to transfer him from his original position.
For a long time, it was common to ask someone to send a gift to be promoted to a higher position or a better place, but it was very rare to be transferred to a small place. Li Canjun did this, so many people thought that he must have made a big mistake in his original position, or been caught taking bribes or something, so he used this method to avoid trouble.
Generally speaking, in the officialdom, unless it was a life and death enemy, it was rare to kill someone. If the other party took the initiative to give up his position, and you still didn't let it go, it would inevitably make other colleagues hate you. So this method was the best way to avoid trouble. Poor Li Canjun had never been caught by anyone. It was just that the governor wanted him to leave, and he didn't dare to refuse.
Then Lai Junchen immediately asked for an imperial edict to appoint Li Jing as the Revenue Assessor of Luoyang Prefecture, in charge of the Six Prefectures. He became the third person with real power in Luoyang Prefecture, under the governor and the magistrate.
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