Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 613 The fight is over

The Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate came into conflict.

In fact, we cannot blame the Ministry of Personnel for its counterattack. No matter which government office it was, if so many officials were arrested by the Censorate at once, it would have to launch a counterattack.

Even if the Minister and Vice Minister of Personnel were not involved at all, once these officials were guilty, they would inevitably be accused of "failing to judge people" and "failing to manage their subordinates strictly". How could they not be angry?

Therefore, the Ministry of Personnel's counterattack was comprehensive, and the counterattack against the Censorate, especially Yang Yuan, the vanguard of the Censorate, was particularly fierce.

That morning, several officials rode on horseback to the Chengdu Marquis Mansion in Renmeifang.

These men were all wearing long dark brown robes, and their demeanor and bearing showed that they were people who had held high positions for a long time and had the power of life and death, and they were quite dignified.

When the doorman of Yang Mansion saw their temperament, he did not dare to neglect them.

Every move and every word of these people exudes nobility. Right now is a turbulent time, and they dare not cause trouble for their masters.

The doorman hurried forward to inquire, and the man said solemnly: "I am the person in charge of the three examination cases of the Ministry of Personnel Examination Department, named Lu Nanting. This is the clerk Song Da, and he is the secretary Zhao Su. We came to your house to investigate the wives of Yang Yuan, the assistant censor of the Metropolitan Censorate."

Menzi was speechless after hearing this. He thought he had a good eye, but he didn't expect that among these seemingly invaluable people, the most important one was just the one in charge.

The Ministry of Personnel is divided into four departments, and each department has a number of cases depending on the amount of business it handles.

For example, the Sifengsi had five cases: the first case of conferring titles, the second case of conferring titles, the third case of conferring titles, the case of procuratorate law, and the case of miscellaneous matters.

In the three-level system of ministry, department and case, this case is equivalent to the department in later generations.

Section Chief Lu brought two section chiefs with him, and his demeanor was more impressive than that of any senior official in the department.

When the doorman heard him introduce his identity, although he did not agree with it in his heart, he remained respectful on the surface. He invited them into the mansion and sat them in the side hall.

After hearing their detailed purpose, the doorman went to tell the housekeeper, and the housekeeper went to ask Lu Xi for instructions.

The eldest princess naturally didn't need to see Chief Lu. After hearing the housekeeper's explanation of the other party's purpose, Lu Xi nodded and said, "Whoever he wants to see, just take him there. Don't refuse them, lest they give others something to talk about and cause trouble for the master."

After saying that, she took people out, saying that she was going back to her parents' home, but in fact she went to Fanfang.

The Yang family's trade with Southeast Asia and the West was in her hands, and this mistress of the house was responsible for more than just the internal affairs of the Yang Mansion.

After hearing this, the housekeeper took the three people in charge of the three performance evaluation cases to see Dan Niang first.

Dan Niang is two and a half months away from her due date, and she is already pregnant.

Several people who were in charge of the three merit examination cases met Madam Dan Niang through the curtain of the small flower hall.

The three of them carefully inquired about how Dan Niang met Yang Yuan and married into the Yang family, focusing on the conflicts between her and her parents, and the disputes with her ex-husband's family.

If they hadn't asked, Dan Niang would have almost forgotten the life that once made her miserable.

At this moment, she talked about the grudge between her and the Fan family at the foot of Tianzhong Mountain, and the dispute with the Fang family in Huzhou. She was overwhelmed with mixed feelings for a moment.

Qingtang listened to their questions patiently, but later they focused on the part that embarrassed Danniang and kept asking questions. Qingtang finally got angry.

The little girl rushed out from behind the beaded curtain, overturned their table, spilled their tea, and showed off her feminine power.

Dan Niang naturally scolded the little girl for being ignorant and ordered her to leave and be punished.

Section Chief Lu had tea splashed all over him, so he had to retreat in embarrassment and go to ask Wu Gu Lun Yingge.

As soon as they left, Dan Niang, who had been lying lazily on the Hu bed, sat up.

Is the Ministry of Personnel trying to use my affairs to embarrass Erlang?
Are there any handles left from what happened back then that they can use to attack Erlang?
Although the past was hard to recall, in order to avoid leaving any stain on Yang Yuan, Dan Niang still recalled it carefully.

In the past, Dan Niang was a deadbeat and a cunning fox lady. Now, she is the leader of Lin'an's catering industry and a capable assistant to Lu Xi in charge of overseas business. She is no longer the same as before, whether in terms of vision, ability or strength.

After thinking for a while, she called Qingtang to her side and gave him some instructions.

She solved this problem by herself. She didn't want to cause any trouble for Luxi, and she didn't want to make Yang Yuan worry about it.

After hearing this, Qingtang left quickly.

……

On Wugulun Yingge's side, little A'man had already secretly observed the whole process outside Danniang's small flower hall, and came back to tell Yingge about it.

Yingge's personality was seven times more arrogant than Danniang's. After hearing what happened, she felt annoyed.

When Section Chief Lu led two staff members to her side, they were not even offered tea or a seat.

Yingge met these people in the pavilion in the garden.

Yingge was sitting by the pavilion railing with a big belly. She was due to give birth a month and a half earlier than Dan Niang, but she looked more lively than Dan Niang, feeding the fishes with her big belly.

Clerk Zhao Su was lying on the small stone table with his butt sticking up, taking notes. All the stools beside the table had disappeared, leaving only a few marks of the stools on the ground that had not been wiped clean in time.

The Ministry of Personnel selects talents and promotes officials based on the "four talents and three realities" as the assessment criteria.

The four talents are body, speech, writing and judgment.

The appearance should be upright and majestic, the speech should be clear and fluent, the calligraphy should be elegant, and the literature and science should be excellent.

There's no need to talk about Yang Yuan's appearance, but the other three...

How could they dare to challenge him since he was the top scholar in the imperial examination? They would feel scared just thinking about it.

Then only the "three realities" can be used to make a statement.

The "three realities" are "virtue, talent, and labor efficiency", among which the easiest to work with is "virtue".

Whenever the Ministry of Personnel's Examination and Reward Department sent personnel to inspect the families of officials, even those of first-rank officials, who wouldn't be polite to them?
Now that he has arrived at Yang Yuan's residence, he is treated so coldly that Chief Lu is so angry that his teeth are itching.

The main target of their investigation is actually Yingge. Danniang's preliminary investigation is just to paralyze Yingge and cover up their real target.

Now that I'm here with Yingge, I naturally have to ask more detailed questions.

It’s just… Yingge seemed to be very talkative. She said everything she should and shouldn’t say without them asking.

But even though Yingge said so much, not much of it was useful.

Because she often said, "Oh, what's going on involves military secrets, I can't talk about it."

Section Chief Lu and the other two stood there for more than an hour, taking notes for more than an hour, and when they were about to leave, their minds were filled with the words "cannot be said."

……

"Snapped!"

Minister of Justice Zhang Fangxun pondered for a long time, placed a piece on the chessboard, and chuckled, "Tang Jinzhi is sitting on the Diaoyutai, but the Ministry of Personnel is his vanguard. This way of playing is really surprising."

Shen Gai on the other side laughed and stroked his beard, saying, "The Ministry of Personnel didn't want to be the vanguard, but who let the Censorate set its eyes on this piece of fat meat?"

Zhang Fangxun said: "The Ministry of Personnel has the best chance of being promoted to prime minister. This is probably the main reason why the Ministry of Personnel and Tang Jinzhi advance and retreat together, right?"

Shen Gai smiled faintly and said nothing.

The head of the Ministry of Personnel is the official with the highest chance of being promoted to the prime minister, but this process is not something that can be achieved overnight.

Shen Gai and Wei Liangchen, who accompanied the emperor to Chengdu, are both old, and they now occupy the positions of left and right prime ministers. Minister Tan does not want to disturb them.

Tang Situi, who was young and promising and had the highest chance of being appointed prime minister, naturally became Minister Tan's first choice for an alliance.

Shen Gai placed another piece. Zhang Fangxun suddenly raised his eyes and said to Shen Gai, "Mr. Shen, what do you think of Yang Ziyue?"

"Yang Yuan? Just a cruel official."

"Oh? But being a cruel official is a shortcut to promotion."

"But, throughout history, cruel officials rarely have a good ending."

Shen Gai sighed and said with emotion: "Since ancient times, any emperor who wanted to achieve something, and was not the founder of a country, who had a destiny and luck, had a few cruel officials under his command."

"Everyone has enemies. Officials have political enemies. The same is true for the emperors who are high above. Therefore, any emperor who wants to achieve something and does not want to be constrained by others needs a sharp knife.

This knife would help him to resolve many enemies that would otherwise have required years of struggle and negotiation. Shang Yang, Zhang Tang, Zhufu Yan, Lai Junchen, etc., were all defeated by this knife.

If you look through the history books, you will see that when the emperor's decrees can be implemented smoothly and without any deviation, the emperor must have such a knife in his hand.

On the contrary, when the court is full of people but the government orders are not issued outside the palace, haha, the emperor must be missing such a sharp blade in his hand. "

Zhang Fangxun said: "But, when the emperor has achieved his goal, he can't stop using this knife. If he stops, it will be useless. If he continues to chop, it will hurt the emperor's vitality."

Shen Gai said: "So, the bloody sword will eventually return to its sheath. Killing one person to bring peace to the world is inevitable."

Zhang Fangxun narrowed his eyes slightly and asked slowly: "Then, according to Mr. Shen, when does the emperor want to use Yang Ziyue's knife?"

"As long as we cannot fight the Northern Expedition, Yang Yuan's sword will still be useful."

Shen Gai stroked the jade chess piece in his hand and said with a smile: "Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that the blade of this knife is bent, and the government will find another knife or replace it with another one. Then Yang Yuan's knife will be broken in advance."

Zhang Fangxun sighed and said, "With his qualifications, he has a bright future. Why does he have to take this shortcut?"

Shen Gai said: "Shortcut, it's quick! Tang Shitui and Yang Ziyue fought fiercely, but deep down, aren't they the same kind of people?"

Shen Gai smiled faintly and said, "And for the emperor, they are both very useful. King and tyrant are two sides of the same coin. If you are only benevolent and righteous, you will be coerced by others. If you are only tyrannical, it will not last long. Only those who are both king and tyrant will become the greatest emperor in the history."

Zhang Fangxun placed a piece, raised his eyes and asked: "So, can the current emperor become the greatest emperor in history?"

Shen Gai smiled but said nothing.

……

In the Censorate, Xiao Yiran, Lu Chengze and others began an intensive interrogation of the detained officials.

It is not convenient to torture them, and it is impossible to make them speak by coercion or inducement alone.

Fortunately, Qiu Shunquan had confessed, and according to his "cooperation" with many officials, as long as they could find some hard evidence of their crimes, they could use this as a breakthrough point to open up their psychological defenses. Therefore, Yang Yuan tried to attract the opponent's firepower to himself, and stood in front to resist the dense rain of arrows shot by the opponent.

The opportunity to break through the enemy camp's defense was given to Xiao Yiran and his men.

However, Xiao Yiran and Lu Chengze soon discovered that their investigation encountered internal resistance.

The Left Vice-Chief Censor Xiao Hongji reopened the investigation into the case of the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Personnel.

Many key witnesses and officials involved in the case who needed to be investigated by Xiao Yiran, Lu Chengze and Yu Zeping were transferred over by Xiao Hongji to be investigated by Deputy Xianxian Xiao.

Without these key figures, the investigations by Xiao, Lu and others were often interrupted and unable to continue.

This made Xiao Yiran, Lu Chengze and others feel helpless.

Xiao Hongji was the Deputy Chief Censor of the Censorate, the boss of their boss, and only one level lower than the Chief Censor Zhu Zhuo in the Censorate.

Zhu Zhuo's attitude towards Xiao Hongji is a bit like Qiao Zhen's attitude towards Liu Yiguan. As an official in charge, he cannot interfere too much with his deputy.

At the beginning, Xiao Lu and others wanted to handle it themselves and not let Yang Yuan worry about them. After all, Yang Yuan had already taken on the greatest resistance by fending off the endless attacks from his political opponents alone.

However, faced with the involvement and trouble from Vice-President Xiao, they were really powerless.

In the end, they reported the current dilemma they were facing to Yang Yuan. After all, if they kept dragging it on, big problems would arise.

"Vice-Governor Xiao was originally investigating the case of Li Jianwu, so it's not necessarily that he was deliberately trying to embarrass you."

Yang Yuan said with a smile.

He will be reckless when he should be, but he is not stupid when he shouldn't be.

Is there anything wrong with what Xiao Hongji did?
It sounds very decent and there is absolutely no problem with that.

The case they are investigating happened before the case they are investigating, and they haven't closed the case yet. Shouldn't they continue investigating?

Why does it mean that if you want to investigate, everyone has to give way to you and cooperate with you, including your immediate boss?

Yang Yuan was determined not to fall into this trap.

"At present, it is not advisable for us to start another game. Not only do we lack energy and manpower, but we have made too many enemies at once and we cannot cope with them."

Yang Yuan said: "We caught the Ministry of Personnel off guard and acted so quickly that they had no time to react.

But because of this, we did not lay a solid foundation for the case caused by Qiu Shunquan.

Now that the investigation is progressing slowly, it is a good opportunity to strengthen the foundations that still have loopholes.

Besides, it is impossible for Deputy Magistrate Xiao to just try this case all day, and he cannot bring all the people involved in the case to court every time he tries the case, right? Got it?"

After hearing this, Xiao Yiran and Lu Chengze clasped their fists and retreated, and then started to fight with Xiao Hongji.

Often, while the criminals were being tried in this hall, people from another hall were already waiting outside the door. It was a seamless and smooth transition.

Deputy Secretary Xiao was also an old man with the passion of youth. He suddenly turned into a workaholic and worked diligently every day, investigating cases from morning to night.

The censors sent by Yang Yuan to handle the Qiu Shunquan case were like a group of young, strong and energetic wolf cubs. They patiently patrolled beside the big tiger Xiao Hongji every day. As soon as he dozed off, the prey would be taken away.

……

After another day of office dismissal, Yang Yuan rode an ox cart and slowly returned to Renmeifang.

After passing the "Sanyuan Jidi" archway, the guards who had been escorting them secretly quietly dispersed.

Yang Yuan opened a corner of the car and took a quick look at "Luo's Medical Clinic".

A patient was coming out carrying a bag of medicine, and everything seemed normal.

Yang Yuan lowered the curtain of the sedan chair. At this moment, he felt like he was walking through a dense forest.

He took a hunting bow and set many traps, hoping to capture prey.

And he was also a prey in the eyes of the prey, and there were also many ferocious beasts following his footsteps and smelling his scent...

If either side relaxes even a little, they will face a fatal blow from the other side.

When he saw "Luo's Medical Clinic", he thought of Hua Yin and Xiao Nai, who he had sent to monitor Luo Cheng'an.

He had been very busy these days. He hadn't visited Shishi and Yanran for many days. He hadn't even visited the three Japanese women living in the east courtyard of the mansion.

Such days are certainly dangerous and exciting, but they are not as comfortable as "sharing a glass of wine in front of friends, and embracing soft jade by the lamp."

Let’s go to the East Courtyard tonight and stay overnight.

When Yang Yuan thought of Ji Xiang, the only thing about her that was tough was her mouth, a smile appeared on his lips.

The future female swordsman who "stands like Maitreya with folded hands and sits like an open lotus petal", he has a strong desire to conquer every time he fights with her.

Especially when she had two female ninjas as helpers, she felt a special sense of accomplishment when she beat them until they begged for mercy.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived at the mansion, he received news that Miss Belle had arrived.

Yang Yuan hurried to the flower hall, where Yuchan was chatting with Bei'er. When she saw Yang Yuan coming back, she knew that the two must have something to talk about, so she went to find Bingxin for a walk.

Yang Yuan also knew that Belle had not yet married, and she would not come unless there was something important.

Yang Yuan pulled her over and asked softly, "What trouble did you encounter?"

Emmanuelle Belle said, "Erlang, these past few days, there have been some suspicious people lingering around Nianhua Cottage. Although they are disguised as passers-by or vendors, they always hang around Nianhua Cottage, asking the concierge or neighbors about the ownership of Nianhua Cottage and the situation of the sisters living there."

"'Nianhua Xiaozhu' was originally Cao Yong's property, but it was transferred to my name directly through the relationship with the Minister of Revenue."

Yang Yuan laughed and said, "Others may not be able to find out about this relationship, but the Ministry of Personnel will definitely be able to find out. However, as long as they don't want to drag the Minister of Revenue into this, they won't bring it up.

Therefore, what they really want to know is not who owns this house, but who owns the beautiful foreign ladies living in Nianhua Cottage."

Emmanuelle Belle asked anxiously, "What should we do then?"

Yang Yuan said calmly, "Let them investigate. I have no personal relationship with them. I don't believe they dare to fabricate evidence and accuse me of being absurd and lustful. The last person who did this is now in prison at the Metropolitan Procuratorate."

After hearing this, Emmanuelle Belle turned her head slightly and glared at Yang Yuan in reproach.

Since the rain and dew, Belle, who was already as beautiful as an angel, has become even more charming in every frown and smile.

At this moment, her slightly angry and resentful look is particularly cute.

Yang Yuan couldn't help laughing when he saw her, and patted her on the buttocks, saying: "Why are you looking at me like that? Okay, I know, they have nothing to do with me, you have, hehe."

Belle snorted proudly, thinking that he had some sense, this heartless little rascal.

Yang Yuan smiled and put his arms around her slender waist, feeling the amazing curve that slanted downward from there, and said softly: "You and I haven't been together for many days, so don't leave tonight."

Bei Er couldn't help but blush when she heard this. She struggled a little shyly and said in a light voice, "You are such a lecherous and daring villain. People are waiting to catch you, and you still dare to let me stay?
You better think of a solution quickly, what will you do if someone uses this to attack you?"

Yang Yuan slapped her plump buttocks again. He liked the feeling of it.

Yang Yuan smiled and said, "You don't have to worry about this. I know what's going on and I have a way to deal with it.

You should go to the East Courtyard and rest first. I want to meet the Eastern female swordsman and the Western female knight tonight, and become an undefeated man in both the East and the West."

After hearing this, Belle's blue eyes became moist as if spring water was about to burst out:
"Erlang, you are bragging. I am a Western female knight and I never admit defeat."

"Yes, you, the Western female knight, never admit defeat, even if you lose. The only thing that's tough in your body is your mouth. It just so happens that the Eastern female swordsman is the same. You two can be a pair of good sisters."

After some joking and coaxing Belle away, Yang Yuan thought about it carefully and realized that what Belle was worried about was indeed a problem.

Yang Yuan called a guard and gave him some secret instructions.

After hearing this, the guard immediately turned around and left.

When the second drum of Lin'an Night Market just sounded, Young Master Wang and Mr. Fan received the message sent by Yang Yuan.

The two of them are now serving as officials in Lin'an Prefecture. Mr. Fan is from Guanzhong, and Mr. Wang is from Longshan.

In order to make it convenient for them to go to the government office every day, they found a house near the Lin'an government office and rented it together.

Yang Yuan asked the two of them to help him revise something after they arrived at the yamen tomorrow.

Taking a concubine requires registration with the official media, and the concubine must be registered in the household register of the person taking the concubine.

Yang Yuan asked the two of them to find an opportunity to add Belle's name, and to move the date forward about half a year.

Previously, when Yang Yuan asked Dan Niang to use the beauty trap to lure Wanyan Quxing into a trap, he made use of the etiquette and laws of the Song Dynasty.

The etiquette and laws of the Song Dynasty were both strict and lenient in their requirements for scholars.

Indulging in wine and women and lingering in pleasure parties are the elegant ways of scholars, and no one will use this to write articles about you.

However, if the other party is a good family, then you have seriously violated the rules of propriety. If it is an official, then this is a major issue of "morality".

Although Yang Yuan was still unclear about what the people investigating Nianhua Cottage had discovered, he had to take precautions before it happened.

At this time, Bachelor Lu Zhuwei had already brought Fan Shi, Aunt Deng and her husband, and their son Fan Dong into Lin'an City.

Bachelor Ye Quan, along with Old Master Fang from Huzhou and Fang Hu and Fang Jiao who were escorting Old Master Fang, were also on their way back to Lin'an.

Dan Niang's younger brother Fan Dong is still addicted to gambling. After he failed to pay back his debts, his legs were broken by the debt collectors.

Mr. Lu was kind enough to get him a wooden wheelbarrow.

The family of three were so excited that they burst into tears at the thought of being able to get back with Dan Niang and let her continue to be the blood supplier for the Fan family.

There are still many good people in the world. With the help of Mr. Lu, who is righteous, outspoken and fair, this time, they will never be driven back to the countryside in disgrace.

(End of this chapter)