Yang Tinghe was well versed in the rules of officialdom, and he believed Shi Zan also understood them.

Even Yang Tinghe didn't have to tell Shi Zan, don't expose me, because he knew that even if he didn't remind him, Shi Zan would never report Yang Tinghe unless he had to, even though everyone knew that the initiator of this incident was

He Yang Tinghe.

But if Shi Zan didn't say anything, there would be no evidence. This is the official rule.

otherwise.

You, a Huairou Bo, a martial artist who has retired from the country, do not listen to the emperor's orders, but you dare to take advantage of the emperor's wool with a note approved by the chief academician?

Are you loyal to the emperor or Yang Tinghe?

Besides, if you don't report Yang Tinghe, then Yang Tinghe might be able to help you run the government and get you out early.

On the contrary, if you come forward to report Yang Tinghe, Yang Tinghe will probably be fine, because he is the chief minister, and the responsibility for the loss of pig iron does not lie entirely on him. The emperor still has to rely on Yang Tinghe to stabilize the court. But then, you Shi Zan will be equivalent to

Having offended the emperor and Yang Tinghe at the same time, it is very likely that he will disappear from the stage of Ming Dynasty.

…

…

After Yang Tinghe met Shi Zan, he sent someone to inform Sun Jiao, saying, don't be idle anymore. Didn't the emperor ask you to collect debts? You can go now.

After receiving the message from Yang Tinghe's people, Sun Jiao became even more angry.

Did the person named Yang take care of Shi Zan's family?

Has Shi Zan prepared the silver, or is he waiting for the chains?

It was near sunset that Sun Jiao arrived at Huairou Bo Mansion.

Shi Zan asked Sun to be handed over to the main hall alone, with thoughtful etiquette and diligence.

Sun Jiao said: "Yan Zhang, you and I are old acquaintances, and I don't want to embarrass you. It's really His Majesty who gave me this bad job. You should know why I'm here, right?"

Shi Zan looked distressed and nodded but did not reply.

"In the first year, I kept saying that you were going to transfer the Nanjing Left Army Governor's Office to take charge of the affairs, but nothing happened. Do you know why?" Sun Jiao asked.

Shi Zan looked up at Sun Jiao with a slightly surprised expression.

How did he know such secrets among the high-level officials in the DPRK?

Could it be that the emperor didn't like him and didn't want to transfer him?

Sun Jiaodao said: "Actually, Wei Guogong has colleagues with you and supports you to return to Nanjing to take up your post. However, many things happened later, involving some games between the emperor and his ministers regarding the defense of Nanjing, including the subsequent disputes over the southeastern coastal defense...

…”

Shi Zan couldn't help but said: "Mr. Sun, if you have anything to say, tell me directly why I couldn't make the trip?"

"snort!"

Sun Jiao said, "Do you still need to ask? Of course there is someone in the court who is obstructing it. As for who it is, I don't need to tell you."

Shi Zan suddenly felt as if he had been bitten by a dog.

I have tried my best to help Yang Tinghe, so Yang Tinghe doesn't agree with my transfer to Nanjing, right?

There is so much oil and water in that place, and the mountains are high and the emperor is far away. Officials all want to be officials in the capital, but the garrison ministers all want to go to Nanjing.

For Wu Xun, the capital was not a good place, and the British Duke and Cheng Guogong were not the big bosses among the nobles. Why did they think they could become famous in a place like the capital where nobles gathered together?

Sun Jiaodao: "Earlier, Duke Cheng Guo went to Yang Jiefu to discuss the matter. You should also know about this. Your relationship with Duke Cheng Guo was also good. But later, Duke Cheng Guo was recommended by Yang Jiefu to serve as the Honored Minister of the Nanjing Coordinated Guards, so later he

..."

Shi Zan now fully understood that Yang Tinghe was behind everything, and in the end he was not regarded as a co-defender of Nanjing.

"Mr. Sun, don't say anything. No matter why I was unable to go to Nanjing to serve, it was all arranged by the imperial court. I will not blame others. The matters related to Yongping Mansion are my doing and have nothing to do with others. If you

If you feel that you must put me in jail for interrogation, you don’t have to do anything. Just say a word and I will go to the Ministry of Punishment after I tie myself up!"

Shi Zan is Wu Xun after all.

He still had some backbone, and he felt that Sun Jiao was trying to sow discord in front of him and asked him to report Yang Tinghe.

But the current situation is that no matter how angry he is with Yang Tinghe, he can't

The report said that Yang Tinghe ordered him to do this. This involved the issue of whose orders he listened to as a minister. In other words, even if his teeth were broken, he would still swallow them with blood.

Sun Jiao said angrily: "What do you think I am here for? To ask you to expose Yang Jiefu? What good will this do to you and the stability of the court? Let me ask you, how much money do you have in your house?"

Shi Zan was startled.

silver?

Sun Jiaodao: "Your Majesty means that this matter arises from a dispute between the monarch and his ministers and should not involve ministers who have nothing to do with the court. However, your Majesty's losses must be compensated. As long as the value of the lost batch of pig iron is compensated, your Majesty can

Just pretend that this is not the case, and you won’t be able to get to the bottom of it.”

"Then...how many taels of silver?"

When Shi Zan heard this, it looked like he was going to bleed a lot if he didn't want to be held accountable, right?

Sun Jiao thought about it for a while and said, "It costs four to fifty thousand taels of silver at least. You should have it at home, right?"

Shi Zan smiled bitterly and said: "Mr. Sun, how much do you think my house is worth? I also have a house in Nanjing, and with the land at home, it can be sold for a few thousand taels. It would be good, forty or fifty thousand taels?"

That’s really life-threatening.”

Sun Jiao asked, "Really?"

"Uh...no."

Shi Zan said firmly.

Sun Jiao could tell from Shi Zan's slight hesitation that this guy was obviously not telling the truth.

You, the Shi family, are nobles passed down from generation to generation. You have served as a coordinated garrison in Nanjing for so many years, and you must have gained a lot of money. Do you think that you, our civil servants, can only serve for one generation?

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty has always turned a blind eye to the corruption problem of its nobles. The local army of the Ming Dynasty is lax in armaments, all thanks to you. Are you still pretending to be poor here?

Sun Jiao sighed: "I have fulfilled my responsibility by telling you your Majesty's intention. If your Majesty really wants to pursue the case and take you to the imperial prison for interrogation, I'm afraid..."

"Jail? It's not like that, right?"

Shi Zan was a little worried.

If he went to the Ministry of Punishment, it would be better to say that after all, Xunchen was a person who was beyond the court system in the Ming Dynasty. No one would dare to do anything to him, a superb Huairou Bo.

But if you go to prison... things will be difficult to handle.

In Shi Zan's view, isn't the imperial edict a trumpet prepared by the emperor for you civil servants? How does this have anything to do with me as a martial artist?

Sun Jiao said: "What you are meddling with this time is the interests of Jinyiwei. If you really want to end up in prison, I'm afraid they won't be polite to you. They will use water torture and fire torture. You should weigh it first. Either you find someone

Excuse yourself with reasonable and legal reasons, or get the pig iron back, or you can only pay the money and settle the matter, or... Sigh! I don’t want to talk about it anymore, I want to get to know you, and I don’t want you to go to a dead end. "

Dead end?

What do you mean, Mr. Sun?

Make me commit suicide?

As long as I die, this matter will end there?

It sounds reasonable. If something goes wrong, commit suicide.

But I don’t even have a son yet.

Those wives and concubines were unhappy and failed to give me a son and a half. If I died, it would be my younger brother who would inherit the title. I would commit suicide just to preserve the family’s reputation? Isn’t this too unfair?

Besides, isn't it just tens of thousands of taels of silver, and is it really going to end in a life-or-death situation?

"Mr. Sun, you have to save me."

Seeing that Sun Jiao was about to leave, Shi Zan knelt down in front of Sun Jiao with a "pop" sound.

I didn't kowtow to Yang Tinghe before, but I did kowtow to Sun Jiao here.

Sun Jiao said: "Yan Zhang, what are you doing? Get up, what can't you say clearly?"

Shi Zan stood up, with runny nose and tears: "I am devoted to the imperial court, and I have never slacked off in official matters. This time, I just wanted to return to Nanjing early to perform my duties and serve the imperial court. I thought I was just assisting the central court.

If you do something, who knows the pig iron can be lost?"

"Although I can't be said to be impoverished, one person can't fill such a big hole! If you leave, I'm afraid the factory guards will come next time. I'm old and can't bear the suffering.

I’m afraid it’s really going to happen... ugh."

one

Such a big old man actually started sobbing in front of Sun Jiao.

Sun Jiao felt a headache for a while, and said with a wry smile: "It's not that I don't want to help you, but I want to see if you can help yourself. You have only been in court for only a year or two. The rules of the court should have been clear by now. I hope you can take care of yourself."

"

In this matter, Sun Jiao was completely unable to help.

After analyzing the stakes and coming up with an idea, the problem can be solved by spending money.
To be continued...