Chapter 1322 The truth!

When Zhang Juning heard Hu Ming's name, a strange look flashed across his eyes. At this time, Zhang Wen hesitated and said:
"I heard that Minister Hu didn't dare to return to Yijing because he was worried that Minister Cui would come after him!"

Zhang Juning glanced at Zhang Wen and said in a deep voice:
"You have only been in the Ministry of Revenue for less than half a year. Where did you hear this news?"

Faced with this question, Zhang Wen smiled and said:

"Brother, although I have not been in the Ministry of Revenue for a long time, I have a good relationship with my colleagues. Everyone is willing to tell me anything. They may not mean it, but I take it seriously and remember it in my heart!"

"Stop hanging out with those bad friends! Cui Zibo is a lesson for you!"

"Don't worry, big brother. I, your younger brother, have worked my way up from the bottom. How can I compare to Cui Zibo, that second-generation rich kid?"

"Cui Zibo became the Minister of Justice only because of his father Cui Shaocai. Otherwise, with his ability, he wouldn't even be qualified to be the head of the Ministry of Justice!"

Hearing Zhang Wen's disdain for Cui Zibo, Zhang Juning shook his head and said:

"Don't say these things outside, be careful of the walls and ears!"

"Don't worry, brother. I'm just telling you that I know that the Cui family has many disciples and is well-established in the court. How dare I, a small official in the Ministry of Revenue, offend him!"

Seeing that Zhang Wen knew what was going on, Zhang Juning didn't say anything more and let Zhang Wen leave his classroom...
After Zhang Wen left, Zhang Juning pondered for a while and then asked one of his trusted clerks to bring him the transaction files of Dadongsheng Company and Baodehe Company.

The clerk under Zhang Juning was also very efficient. In less than half an incense stick of time, he found what Zhang Juning wanted from the library and handed it to Zhang Juning.

Zhang Juning took a sip of Longjing tea, feeling the fragrance of Longjing spreading in his mouth, and then he opened the file.

Zhang Juning had read this file before, but at that time there were many files and archives of Dadongsheng that Zhang Juning needed to read, and Zhang Juning did not know the tricks involved, so Zhang Juning just took a rough look and got a general understanding of the situation.

After his cousin Zhang Wen's reminder, Zhang Juning realized that he needed to look at the file again. This was not because he did not trust his cousin Zhang Wen, but because of Zhang Juning's work habits. He had been in charge of accounting for a long time, and the most important feature of accounting work was to be rigorous.
Compared with the last time when he read quickly, Zhang Juning was extremely careful and meticulous this time, reading word by word without missing any details.

The file only had seven pages in total, but Zhang Juning actually spent half an incense stick of time reading it. After reading it, Zhang Juning's eyes flickered. Although the file showed that the transaction between Dadongsheng and Baodehe was legal and compliant, with complete procedures, and it seemed that there was no problem...
However, relying on his many years of work experience, Zhang Juning still found some clues from these legal and compliant ones!
Zhang Juning knew that if he continued to follow this clue, he would most likely be able to find out what kind of tricks were involved in the transaction between Dadongsheng and Baodehe!
Thinking of this, Zhang Juning weighed the pros and cons in his mind. In fact, he had heard about the news that Cui Zibo and Hu Ming were fooling around before. He was not completely ignorant of it, but he really did not connect Cui Zibo's death with Hu Ming.

But if the truth is really as Zhang Wen speculated, Cui Shao wants to deal with Hu Ming, then this news may really be without smoke without fire!

Although Zhang Juning had never shown his disdain and disgust for Hu Ming, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, who was on the same level as himself, in his heart he still felt very disdainful and disgusted with Hu Ming!
How did Zhang Juning become the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue?

It was because he had followed Your Majesty since the early stages of the Fengwu Army, worked hard over the years, and made countless contributions and efforts that he finally reaped the fruits of victory and became the third-rank Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue!

How did Hu Ming become the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue?
This guy was completely dependent on the Hu family's background, the Hu family's money, and his social skills. He made no contribution to the Fengwu Army or the court, but was parachuted by His Majesty to the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Zhang Juning did not dare to have any objection to Ye Mingsheng's appointment, but seeing that Hu Ming, a second-generation ancestor, easily became the same minister as himself, although Zhang Juning did not say anything, he was still very unhappy in his heart. If there was a chance to make Hu Ming unlucky, he, Zhang Juning, would also be happy to see it happen...

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The next day, in a mansion in East City of Yijing,
Ye Dong was pacing in the room, looking very anxious, and at this moment a scholar in white walked into the room.

Seeing the appearance of the scholar in white, Ye Dong was like seeing a savior and immediately asked: "Mr. Kong, what did Zhao Bao say?"

Feeling Ye Dong's impatience, Kong Yu couldn't help but sigh in his heart, but still nodded and said:

"My Lord, Zhao Bao has agreed. He will surrender himself at the Metropolitan Procuratorate tomorrow and confess that he was the one who sent someone to assassinate Liu Xinjie!"

After hearing this answer from Kong Yu, Ye Dong finally breathed a sigh of relief. Liu Xinjie's death caused even bigger disturbance than he had expected. When Wang Xuecheng personally came to the General Staff and asked for a joint investigation, he was completely panicked!
Although Ye Dong's military achievements in the Fengwu Army over the years were not too impressive, he quickly climbed to the position of general and became one of the senior generals of the Fengwu Army. Ye Dong himself knew very well why he was able to become a general of the Fengwu Army!

The reason is simply that his surname is Ye, and he used to be Ye Mingsheng's personal soldier and is Ye Mingsheng's confidant!

Not only Ye Dong himself knew the reason, in fact other generals in the Fengwu Army also knew it. For this reason, it’s not that no one gossiped behind his back...

But Ye Dong was not ashamed of this but proud of it. He even once openly said with pride that you are just jealous of me. If you are capable, you also have the surname Ye and have served as a personal soldier for His Majesty!
Because this incident caused quite a stir in the Fengwu Army, Ye Mingsheng criticized Ye Dong for it and told Ye Dong to learn to be low-key!

Facing Ye Mingsheng's criticism, Ye Dong's attitude was very good. He repeatedly assured that he would reform himself and would not make such mistakes again. However, privately he still returned to his old ways, feeling very proud and complacent about the fact that his last name was Ye and that he had served as Ye Mingsheng's personal soldier!
In the battle between the Fengwu Army and the Luoan court, Ye Dong served under Yuan Song and followed Yuan Song into Guanzhong. He was the first group of Fengwu Army troops to enter Luoan, even though Luoan had declined due to the war and was no longer the most prosperous city in the Great Zhou.

However, as the capital of the Three Kingdoms for nearly 100 years, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse, and Luoan still gave the Fengwu Army soldiers a little shock.

Although the Fengwu Army had strict military discipline and did not allow burning, killing and looting, when these ferocious Fengwu Army soldiers entered a big city like Luoan as conquerors, some things were inevitable!
As the commander of an army, Yuan Song also understood the hard work and sacrifices of the Fengwu Army soldiers during the attack. Therefore, as long as it did not involve ordinary people and did not cause adverse effects, he would turn a blind eye and allow the Fengwu Army soldiers to make some money from the cronies of the Luoan court...

Ye Dong was also very happy to return to Luoan. He had lived in Luoan for several years with Ye Mingsheng. However, his identity at that time was just a personal soldier around a commander. In Luoan, a place where powerful people gathered, Ye Dong at that time was nothing but a fart!

So even though Ye Dong had countless dreams and fantasies about Luo An at that time, in the end he could only think about it.

This time when he revisited the old place, Ye Dong was no longer the unknown man he used to be. Now he was a general of the Fengwu Army!

So Ye Dong vowed to experience all the things that he had only dared to think about back then, in order to make up for his regrets and comfort his lost youth.

Ye Dong spent more than ten days in Luoan living a life of debauchery. If it were just that, there would be nothing wrong. After all, other Fengwu Army generals in Luoan were no less capable than Ye Dong. Everyone continued to play music and dance. No one would say anything about anyone else unless the eldest brother said something about the second brother.

However, Ye Dong made a more serious mistake at that time!

At that time, due to the collapse of the Luoan court, some palace maids and eunuchs in the Luoan Palace began to make a living on their own. Many of them stole things from the palace and then wanted to sell them quietly to save some money for themselves for the rest of their lives.

And because Ye Dong's surname was Ye and he was Ye Mingsheng's confidant, Yuan Song deliberately arranged for Ye Dong to be in charge of guarding the palace in order to clear himself. As a result, many eunuchs and palace maids who stole things from the palace were caught by Ye Dong...
As a result, Ye Dong also obtained some palace items including official kiln porcelain, seals, dragon robes, the emperor's armor, the emperor's sword, etc. At that time, Ye Dong did not think much about it, and was planning to present these things to Ye Mingsheng after returning!
However, Ye Dong's generals were not clean with the spoils, they also secretly kept some of them for themselves. Some of them were prepared to leave them as heirlooms for their descendants, some of them were in debt from gambling and wanted to cash in the items so they could return to the gambling table and make a profit. For various reasons, these people with ulterior motives all advised Ye Dong not to report the matter!
One of their reasons was that, although it was against the rules to privately keep these things, Marshal Ye would surely become emperor in the future. When that happened, General Ye Dong would be a royal relative, and with your achievements, you would most likely be crowned king. In this way, these things would not be against the rules!
This sentence can be said to have spoken directly to Ye Dong's heart. The reason why he felt honored and proud that his surname was Ye and he was Ye Mingsheng's confidant was that Ye Dong himself felt that when the day came when Ye Mingsheng ascended the throne and became emperor, he, Ye Dong, might also be crowned king!
Ye Dong was also looking forward to that day, so due to his own psychological factors, the persuasion of his subordinates, and the influence of alcohol, Ye Dong hid these things privately, and in order to prevent the news from leaking out, he also asked his men to kill the palace maids and eunuchs who stole the things...
Although he made this decision in a confused state at that time, Ye Dong calmed down after returning to Yijing. He felt more and more that these things were hot potatoes, so he intended to offer these things to Ye Mingsheng several times.

But in the end, Ye Dong gave up these ideas. He knew very well that even if he took the initiative to present the things to Ye Mingsheng, these things were too sensitive. Once someone traced them, they would find out that he had kept these things for a period of time and killed the palace maids and eunuchs.

By then, there is a high possibility that I will be accused of having a rebellious heart, and when the evidence is conclusive, I will be unable to defend myself!
So in view of this, Ye Dong could only continue to keep these things privately at home. Originally, Ye Dong wanted to hide these things at home for the rest of his life and not tell anyone, as if these things never existed.

However, Ye Dong could hide, but his subordinates could not hide at all. Like Ye Dong, they also secretly hid a lot of things that flowed out of the Luoan Palace, and now they are planning to take action!
Although they knew that these things were valuable but sensitive, so they wanted to sell them quietly, but their actions were still leaked and were found out by the Censorate.
Because whether it is according to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty or the current laws of the Great Qian Dynasty, privately hoarding royal artifacts is punishable by death. This can be said to be a serious crime in the law. In addition, Chu Zhiyi has just been transferred from the position of Yunbing Censor to the position of Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. He wants to establish his prestige through some things to better assist Ye Mingsheng. Therefore, Chu Zhiyi also attaches great importance to this matter and wants to investigate it to the end!
Chu Zhiyi’s investigation into this matter was a secret investigation, but there were members of the Ye family in the Censorate, so Ye Dong accidentally heard some rumors. He knew very well what the consequences would be if this matter was exposed, so he was extremely worried about it...
(End of this chapter)