jdhmnovel Chapter 536 This bastard is inherently incompatible with officials?
Chapter 536 This bastard is inherently incompatible with officials?
Laziness in governance is wrong, but not a crime.
Huo Lingyue, who managed to rise to the position of prefect, was clearly not a fool.
Minor matters like taking Hu Dechang's daughter as a concubine are fine, but as for colluding with Hu Dechang to run an illegal coal mine, Huo Lingyue would never dare to leave any obvious evidence in the government office.
The quickest way to find out about the mess between Huo Lingyue and Hu Dechang is to start with Pang Zhen.
Similarly, the quickest way to find out if Pang Zhen has any flaws is to start with Huo Lingyue.
Before ordering the guards of the Imperial Son-in-Law's residence to take Huo Lingyue away for custody, his few words were clearly intended to use the prisoner's dilemma to sow discord between the two.
As for whether Pang Zhen has any dirt on Huo Lingyue?
Is Pang Zhen, a seventh-rank county magistrate who dared to spout nonsense in front of Emperor Zhu and even dared to angrily call himself Yang the Madman, really as simple as he appears on the surface?
Yang Shaofeng, anyway, didn't believe it.
Pang Zhen, who was detained for interrogation, also thought of these things.
Pang Zhen glared at Yang Shaofeng and said in a deep voice, "Is Your Highness so certain that I have evidence of Prefect Huo's crimes?"
Yang Shaofeng smiled indifferently, "Perhaps he does, perhaps he doesn't, but Magistrate Pang might as well guess whether Prefect Huo has any evidence against you, Magistrate Pang?"
At this point, Yang Shaofeng's expression gradually turned cold: "A prefect and a county magistrate, the two of them are so close, yet they can coexist peacefully. Of course, there is a reason why you, Magistrate Pang, took the initiative to back down, but who knows whether your decadent lifestyle is real or not?"
As soon as Yang Shaofeng finished speaking, Emperor Zhu, who was sitting in the chair next to him, stroked his beard and laughed.
Look, look, this is our Old Zhu's son-in-law. With just a few words, he has cornered both Pang Zhen and Huo Lingyue.
Pang Zhen was indeed cornered.
The Prisoner's Dilemma is so disgusting because no one dares to gamble on human nature.
After a long silence, Pang Zhencai said in a hoarse voice, "This humble official does indeed have some evidence of Prefect Huo's crimes, which are hidden under the bed in my bedroom."
Turning his head to look at the lame man and the guards of the prince consort's mansion, Pang Zhen continued, "Counting from the head of the bed, the seventh brick on the inner side of the outermost foot of the bed. After lifting it, we can obtain the evidence of Prefect Huo's crimes that I have collected."
Yang Shaofeng nodded in satisfaction, gave Limpy Five a wink, and then asked, "Besides the gentry of Laizhou, what other connections does Huo Lingyue have?"
Pang Zhen shook his head and replied, "I don't know about that, but Prefect Huo was also transferred from Jiangnan."
"It's just that I was transferred from Zhejiang, while Prefect Huo was transferred from Fujian."
Before entering officialdom, Prefect Huo studied in Ji'an.
"With the prince consort's abilities, he should be able to find out something."
Is there even a need to investigate?
Yang Shaofeng ordered Pang Zhen to be taken away, and then ordered Huo Lingyue to be brought back.
"Prefect Huo, Pang Zhen has just confessed."
"Unfortunately, Pang Zhen seems to have some evidence of Prefect Huo's crimes."
Yang Shaofeng smiled and said to Huo Lingyue, "I wonder what Prefect Huo thinks? Want to bet that I'm bluffing you?"
Huo Lingyue's face turned ashen, and he snorted coldly, "The Prince Consort says that Magistrate Pang has evidence of my crimes, so he does."
Yang Shaofeng smiled and waited for the lame man to retrieve all the evidence collected by Pang Zhen before carefully reviewing it. He then waved it in front of Huo Lingyue and asked, "Prefect Huo, what did Hu Dechang send you on the first day of the tenth month of the fourth year of Hongwu?"
Huo Lingyue's pupils contracted slightly as he replied, "Hu Dechang was just being considerate of his daughter and had some food and lodging sent to Hu Shi, not to me."
Yang Shaofeng hummed in agreement and continued to press, "On the 29th day of the third month of the fourth year of Hongwu, Prefect Huo's relatives in Jiangnan came to visit. In the following two months, your relatives traveled almost all over Laizhou Prefecture. I wonder what's so interesting about Laizhou Prefecture?"
Seeing that cold sweat was starting to appear on Huo Lingyue's forehead, Yang Shaofeng said with a half-smile, "Is Prefect Huo's relative named Huo Yundong?"
"A person who understands geological exploration and mineral vein finding is a rare talent even in Dengzhou Prefecture."
"I wonder if Prefect Huo would be willing to part with it?"
Upon hearing Huo Yundong's name, Huo Lingyue's heart sank to the bottom.
Whether Pang Zhenzhao recognized the name Huo Yundong, or Yang Dianfeng had already been keeping an eye on Laizhou and found out, or whether the inspector found out, none of that matters anymore.
The important thing is that since Yang Shaofeng knows the name Huo Yundong, as long as he follows the name, he will surely find more information.
Of course, Huo Lingyue was somewhat skeptical that Yang Dianfeng or the Inspector had long been eyeing Laizhou Prefecture.
After all, Yang the Madman has always been arrogant and domineering. If he had set his sights on Laizhou Prefecture earlier, he probably wouldn't have waited until today to make his move.
Huo Lingyue was still more inclined to believe that Pang Zhen had found out something and had just confessed because he couldn't withstand the pressure of being interrogated separately.
and so……
Huo Lingyue sneered and said, "In the backyard of the government office, under my bed in my bedroom, there is a hollow area. Your Highness can have someone dig it up. There is what you want inside."
"Furthermore, Your Highness, why don't you have someone interrogate the three assistant officials of Yexian County? I suspect that some of them have already sided with Magistrate Pang, and perhaps some of the gentry in Yexian County are also colluding with Magistrate Pang."
Otherwise, how would Pang Zhen know the name Huo Yundong?
How could he have collected so much evidence of my crimes?
After a slight pause, Huo Lingyue added, "And the Ministry of Personnel, Your Highness, you might as well have someone investigate who brought Pang Zhen to Yexian as magistrate."
Yang Shaofeng nodded with a smile, but Emperor Zhu's face was as black as ink.
What's wrong with this bastard? How come he always runs into these kinds of messy cases, and they always seem to escalate into something even bigger each time?
Could it be that this scoundrel is inherently incompatible with the officials of the Ming Dynasty?
Furthermore, what's wrong with our Ming Dynasty court and local governments? There are all sorts of messy and chaotic things happening everywhere.
Just as Emperor Zhu was pondering this, Yang Shaofeng said with a smile, "Since Prefect Huo has already confessed, why not confess a few more?"
"For example, who's behind you, Prefect Huo?"
"Besides those illegal coal mines, what other mineral veins has Huo Yundong discovered?"
"Who are the local gentry and gentry who have connections with Prefect Huo in Laizhou Prefecture?"
Huo Lingyue's face darkened, but Yang Shaofeng spoke up first: "Actually, it doesn't matter whether Prefect Huo says it or not. Anyway, Prefect Huo once studied at Ji'an Academy, and Ji'an, Yuyao and Jianyang are three place names that are closely related to the previous blank seal case."
"I believe that as long as we follow the trajectory of Prefect Huo's life after his birth, we will eventually find what I want."