After traveling through time, I was spotted by the new emperor

Chapter 222: Qi'an Department's First Major Case

Although Ye Wuwei does not advocate torture, the prisons of the Qi'an Department have all kinds of torture tools.

Yao Guangzhi presided over the trial, and Ye Wuwei sat with him as an observer.

Yao Guangzhi pointed at the iron donkey cart and said to the two of them:

"You two are the first group of people to enter the Qi'an Prison. I hope you won't be the first to use these torture instruments."

The two men looked at Yao Guangzhi, who was tall and ferocious.

Looking at the iron donkey cart again, the long sharp spikes on it were shining with a cold light.

Imagining the scene of being pressed on iron nails, the two men trembled at the same time.

"Sir, I don't know what you want to ask, but as long as we know it, we will answer it truthfully."

"identity".

These two people were the staff members of the governors of Qingcheng and Pancheng respectively.

"The purpose of coming to Chamdo."

The two hesitated and didn't say anything.

Yao Guangzhi walked to the charcoal fire and took the red-hot chromium iron in his hand.

One person said hurriedly:

"My governor sent me to Chamdo to inquire about the year-end evaluation."

Another person quickly followed suit.

Yao Guangzhi flipped the chromium iron over a piece of red-hot carbon and asked, "That's it?"

"That's it."

Yao Guangzhi threw the chromium iron into the charcoal fire and said, "Do you think I'm a fool?"

Seeing Yao Guangzhi's expression suddenly change like that of Yama, the two of them shuddered.

"Sun San, show them the evidence."

Sun San presented the records of the two men depositing funds at the Shui's Pharmacy in Qingcheng and Pancheng, and withdrawing funds from the Shui's Pharmacy in Chamdo.

"How do you explain that you each took two thousand taels of gold?"

The two men's faces changed drastically, and beads of sweat appeared on their foreheads.

Yao Guangzhi glared at the two of them and said, "I have very little patience. If you don't tell me, I'll torture you."

The two then confessed:

"We came to Qamdo on the orders of the governor to make connections, and this gold is used to bribe people."

"Who did you bribe?"

"Even if we confess, it's useless. We don't have any evidence."

"Don't worry about that."

The two of them told the truth:

They made an appointment with Yan Shifan to gamble at Yanyuntai, and each lost 1,000 taels of gold to Yan Shifan.

"What about the remaining 1,000 taels of gold?"

The two men also explained the whereabouts of the gold. Some used it to buy calligraphy and paintings, porcelain, and jewelry as gifts, while others used it to give gold directly.

Two of them embezzled three hundred taels of gold each.

Yao Guangzhi asked the two men to sign their names, and then had them taken to the cell and locked up.

When they were alone, Yao Guangzhi said to Ye Wuwei, "I didn't expect them to be so ruthless."

"Why wouldn't they dare to do that? It's precisely because they can't verify it that they dare to be greedy."

Yao Guangzhi thought about it and agreed.

"But as they say, their testimony alone is not enough to constitute evidence."

“Not necessarily.

For those who give paintings, calligraphy, porcelain or jewelry as gifts, we can start by investigating the selling shops. If we can find out that they bought them and find evidence in the homes of the bribe recipients, we can convict them.

But gold..."

"Gold has no markings, so it's really hard to tell."

Ye Wuwei thought for a moment and asked, "Where do you think Minister Yan hid the gold he received?"

"You mean that as long as a large amount of gold is found in the Yan family and they can't explain where the gold came from, then Minister Yan can be convicted?"

“Even if he cannot be sentenced to prison, he can at least be removed from office.

But if we hadn't found a large amount of gold in the Yan family, we would definitely be impeached for trespassing, and the next thing we would have faced was the disbanding of the newly established Qi'an tribe."

After hearing what Ye Wuwei said, Yao Guangzhi became cautious.

He finally got promoted in the Qi'an Department, but he didn't expect to be dismissed before he could even get comfortable in the office.

"If we also capture the other five people who lost gold to Yan Shifan, will the confessions of seven people count?"

"It doesn't count, but the other five people must be arrested too."

"What would happen if we first arrested all the officials who accepted calligraphy, paintings, porcelain, and jewelry?"

Ye Wuwei turned the black jade ring on his thumb.

This black jade ring was a New Year's gift from Qi Wushuang to him. It was carved as a pair, one for Qi Wushuang and one for him.

"Why do the Qingcheng and Pancheng governors dare to send money through the Shui family pharmacy? Why do they leave such a big handle for others?"

Yao Guangzhi was stunned: He had never thought about this question.

"That's because bribery and corruption were so common in the officialdom that everyone took it for granted."

Yao Guangzhi remained silent.

Although he was allocated a house during this housing distribution, he was born into a common family and did not have enough money to buy the house. He had to find a lender among the people to pay the full amount of the house price.

But Major-General Zhan, who also came from a commoner family, paid the full amount of the house without blinking an eye.

Why is that?

Because Major-General Zhan has been an official for many years, and this time he took advantage of the momentum of the Qi'an Department to be promoted to the fourth rank.

Ye Wuwei said:

"The corruption was rampant before. If we really investigate it, I'm afraid no one in the court will be clean.

But corruption must not be tolerated, so I chose to target Minister Yan.

If we only bring down a few petty criminals this time, while Minister Yan remains unscathed, not only will we fail to combat corruption, but the Qi'an tribe will also be unable to establish its authority."

Yao Guangzhi understood: "So to catch a thief, you must first catch the leader."

"That's what I mean."

Ye Wuwei chose to attack Minister Yan for another purpose:

The Ministry of Personnel is in charge of official promotions and is the most important of the six ministries, but it is completely out of Qi Wushuang's control. Of course, he wants to bring down Minister Yan.

As for other people, the punishment measures will be determined based on the circumstances.

Yao Guangzhi thought for a moment and said:

"We can't bet that Minister Yan hid the gold at home, but if Yan Shifan can personally admit to accepting bribes, then we can also convict Minister Yan."

"However, Yan Shifan's confession alone is not enough.

If he changes his confession and claims that we tortured him, we will be severely criticized by the court officials, which will affect the Qi'an tribe."

Yao Guangzhi scratched his head: "This won't work, that won't work either. What should I do?"

Ye Wuwei fell into deep thought.