Tianliangyuan

Chapter 198 Xie Zheng's First Merit

Xu Zhaozhao found a way to have someone deliver the jade pendant to Xie Zheng through a beggar.

After Xie Zheng's message reached the Emperor directly, Zhao Changqing was urgently summoned to the palace. Not long after, Xie Zheng, Xu Jun'an, and Fang Dazhuang were ordered by the Emperor to lead troops out of the city and head straight for a county town dozens of miles away.

Less than an hour later, a swift rider returned to report that a large number of silver ingots and copper coins had been discovered in a somewhat dilapidated house.

Emperor Yong'an's expression was complex, showing both shock and a hint of annoyance.

"Say!"

"Your Majesty, when I returned, General Xie and Prince Xu were still counting the items. It has been confirmed that there are twelve boxes of silver ingots and more than thirty boxes of copper coins in the secret room beneath the house, but the exact amount is still unknown."

"Someone, summon Gu Dongyang."

Afterwards, Gu Dongyang, along with several officials from the Ministry of Revenue, rode cavalry straight to a county outside the city.

This time, they found even more money than before.

This time, Xu Zhaozhao didn't keep any extra money because she knew that this money came legitimately from the national treasury. Even if she was greedy, she couldn't touch this kind of money; she would lose her head.

After arriving at the location, Gu Dongyang went forward to confirm, and several of his men also went to check.

It was finally confirmed that it was all government silver!

"My lord, I have brought along some detailed records of the Ministry of Revenue's expenditures from that year. As you can see, the markings on these records match the silver ingots that the Ministry of Revenue issued at that time."

Every batch of silver ingots will bear the official seal; there is no mistake about that.

When silver ingots were cast, there would be the year of casting, the supervisor, and so on.

All of this matches up, which means that this batch of silver ingots is the disaster relief silver that the imperial court had been unable to find.

"My lord, according to a rough estimate, the total amount of silver ingots and copper coins combined is still insufficient to cover the disaster relief funds from that year."

"Yes, it's normal for there to be a shortage. After all the items are inventoried and put into storage, I will present them to the Emperor."

"Yes."

When dozens of cartloads of silver ingots and copper coins were brought back to the Ministry of Revenue, countless people craned their necks and their eyes turned red with envy.

The Minister of War was pondering that the soldiers' supplies for this winter should be sufficient. Should he submit a memorial to seek more benefits for the soldiers on the border?

The Minister of Works was wandering around. The court needed money everywhere, and the Ministry of Works was the one most in need of funds. They were busy building palaces, bridges, and post stations. Should they consider asking for money?

The other department heads were also secretly wondering how much money their departments would be allocated for this task.

Looking at the numbers recorded above, Emperor Yong'an's expression turned extremely grim.

At this time, there were also several important officials of the court in the hall, including Marquis Anxin Xu Han, Prince Qi, former Minister of Personnel and current Grand Secretary Liu Jinpeng, Grand Tutor Jiang, Marquis Dingnan, Duke Zhenguo and others.

Everyone was a confidant of Emperor Yong'an, so they naturally understood that His Majesty's mood at this moment was more anger than joy!

Gu Dongyang understood, but as the Minister of Revenue, he had to report it. Besides, in any case, the national treasury was much fuller this year.

Emperor Yong'an's face turned ashen: "What do you all think?"

Everyone understood what the Emperor was asking, but no one dared to be the first to speak.

At this moment, if you say the wrong thing, you'll probably get scolded to death by the Emperor!

Grand Tutor Jiang, being the eldest, slowly cupped his hands and said, “Your Majesty, regarding the case from back then, you have already issued an order to search the Cheng family mansion. Moreover, the deposed Duke of Ningguo who was involved in the case has already died, and his wife also hanged herself in prison. In principle, the culprit has been executed, and I believe that this case is a foregone conclusion.”

Because these official silver coins were never found back then, the case was repeatedly impeached by censors and other parties, who believed it was a miscarriage of justice. Now that these coins have been found, and hidden in the Cheng family's old residence, I believe the Cheng family has no way to defend themselves in this case!

Emperor Yong'an gently closed his eyes. He was furious. He had once trusted Cheng Gong so much!

After carefully observing the Emperor's expression, Gu Dongyang reminded him, "Your Majesty, the Cheng family was imprisoned after the incident, but Cheng Jin, the former heir of the Duke of Ningguo, has never been found. To this day, he remains missing, neither alive nor dead. When the Ministry of Justice interrogated him, his servants all claimed to know nothing. In my opinion, we should continue to intensify our efforts to apprehend Cheng Jin."

Emperor Yong'an nodded slightly: "Indeed, we must still order Cheng Jin to be found. Remember, he must be captured alive. I want to ask him personally, 'I trusted the Cheng family so much back then, is this how they repay me?'"

Everyone could tell that the Emperor was furious.

Xu Han then raised a small question: "Your Majesty, when Cheng Jin disappeared, the case of the embezzlement of disaster relief funds had not yet come to light. If Cheng Jin chose to hide because he heard about the Cheng family, then finding him would still be too difficult. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Emperor Yong'an looked over: "Do you have a solution?"

Xu Han didn't hesitate, and instead said, "Cheng Yuan!"

This name is enough to make everyone understand.

It would be such a waste not to use such good bait.

"Cheng Yuan is indeed very useful, and she even came to me of her own accord."

After listening to her father's words, Xu Zhaozhao gave this response.

Xu Han's expression was somewhat strange, as he felt that his precious daughter was too amazing.

Xie Zheng deserves the most credit for this achievement, since he was the one who first discovered the jade pendant and then, by a twist of fate, learned that the jade pendant might be related to the Cheng family.

In short, what seemed like a series of twists and turns to others was actually a smooth journey for Xie Zheng.

After obtaining the jade pendant, Xie Zheng immediately ordered people to inventory the Cheng family's property, especially their houses and estates.

This semi-abandoned house was originally registered under the name of a distant relative of the Cheng family. When Xie Zheng led his men there, only an elderly couple were guarding the house.

If Master Cheng was innocent back then, then how did he go to such lengths to protect this residence and store the money in a secret room?

In just a few days, Xie Zheng and Qi Yunze felt that their values ​​needed to be reshaped!

It was so shocking, and so unexpected.

They thought that someone like Cheng Gong, who always considered the people's interests, could never do something so contemptible towards innocent lives.

But the facts right in front of us are a slap in the face.

Qi Yunze got half drunk, lamenting his years of hard work and his poor judgment of character.

"Tell me, were we blind back then?"

Xie Zheng was in a better position than him; at least he wasn't drunk, and his expression remained as cold as ever.

"Xie Sanlang, you've really found a good wife! If she hadn't laid everything out on the table, we would both still be being played like fools by Cheng Yuan! Who would have thought that Master Cheng, whom we've always revered as a wise teacher, would actually be such a despicable person who values ​​greed more than the lives of ordinary people!"