bookpub Chapter 80 Yang Wanli's Interrogation, Shen Yan Clicks His Tongue
Chapter 80 Yang Wanli's Interrogation, Shen Yan Clicks His Tongue
For the next few days, Liu Chuan's cell was constantly filled with activity.
The Ministry of Justice sent people to check on his injuries every day.
Li Jianzhong's medicine was very effective; in just seven or eight days, Liu Chuan's injuries had almost completely healed.
Upon receiving the news, Ding Anzhi rushed to the prison to interrogate Liu Chuan, hoping to gain merit.
As a subordinate official, Shen Yan naturally had no way to stop him.
However, I still gave a reminder.
"Lord Ding, Liu Chuan has just recovered from a serious illness and cannot withstand severe torture."
Ding Anzhi glanced at him.
"I understand. Do you think I am someone who doesn't know my place?"
After saying that, they took the person away.
Seeing his confidence, Shen Yan couldn't help but laugh.
"This Lord Ding is certainly confident. He thinks he can accomplish something the Embroidered Uniform Guard couldn't do so easily?"
Hearing Shen Yan's words, Chen Xiaoshuan and the others all lowered their heads and dared not say a word.
Since the matter didn't affect him personally, Shen Yan didn't care what they did.
Even if Liu Chuan brought back a corpse, it wouldn't be his problem.
As expected, Liu Chuan was brought back that evening.
His injuries had worsened, and Shen Yan could only shake his head and call Li Jianyi for treatment.
Ding Anzhi's face was full of anger, indicating that the interrogation was not progressing smoothly.
"Is it really that easy? Can the Embroidered Uniform Guard really send someone to the imperial prison?"
That's tens of millions of taels of silver. If it were Shen Yan, he definitely wouldn't send the person to the prison. He would rather the person die by his own hand.
One's own incompetence is certainly pathetic, but the progress of one's opponent is even more distressing.
Of course, the power struggles among high-ranking officials are beyond Shen Yan's control.
He was just venting a little in prison.
Yang Wanli arrived a day later, after hearing that Ding Anzhi had been humiliated.
However, he did not take the prisoner to the Ministry of Justice for interrogation, but instead interrogated him directly in the imperial prison.
Shen Yan led the person to the torture chamber and was about to leave when Yang Wanli spoke.
"Shen Yan, you can stay!"
"Yes, Lord Yang."
Shen Yan didn't know why Yang Wanli wanted to keep him here, so he didn't ask any questions and just stood aside waiting.
Yang Wanli went straight to the point and asked Liu Chuan the question.
"Lord Liu, you should know the instruments in this torture chamber better than I do, so I won't go into detail about them."
"Hehe! How could I not be familiar with it? I've been through it all these past few days."
"Alright! I won't waste any more words. What do you want in order for you to hand over the whereabouts of the money?"
Liu Chuan sneered, "Can you give me what I want? I'm just a scapegoat. Do you dare to arrest the person behind it all?"
Yang Wanli replied calmly, "How do you know I wouldn't dare if you didn't tell me?"
"I work for two people, one surnamed Jiang and the other surnamed Zeng. Do you know why they didn't kill me?"
Why?
"Because these two people represent the heavens of the Great Zhou Dynasty, who can break through the heavens? I tell everyone who asks me this, but in the end, nothing ever comes of it."
Yang Wanli fell into deep thought.
He naturally knew the two people Liu Chuan mentioned.
The surname Zeng naturally refers to Zeng Shihong, the current Left Chancellor.
The Jiang family is a bit more complicated. The Jiang family is the wealthiest merchant family in the Jiangnan region, and behind them stands the Right Chancellor Yan Fan.
Yan Fan amassed his fortune by relying on Jiang family businessmen; most of the well-known businessmen in various places had some connection with him.
Yang Wanli sighed inwardly.
"Above are the two prime ministers of the current dynasty, who can truly be said to be the sky of the Great Zhou. The one who can pierce the sky is probably not even born yet."
Seeing Yang Wanli's expression, Liu Chuan already knew the answer.
He couldn't help but laugh and say:
"Heh! Now you know why nobody dared to take this on, right? I can tell you where all this money went. Half's in the Zeng family's pocket, and the other half's in the Jiang family's pocket. Go get it!"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Liu Chuan's laughter was full of mockery, and his eyes were full of ridicule.
Yang Wanli didn't take it seriously, but he never expected that the person behind the scenes would be the Prime Minister of the court.
Shen Yan sighed softly to himself.
"Ugh! I knew I shouldn't have stayed inside; the more secrets I heard, the more I learned."
He hadn't expected the Great Zhou Dynasty to have deteriorated to this extent. It wasn't surprising that Yan Fan coveted Shen Yan, as this was a well-known fact among scholars.
However, Yan Fan's corruption didn't really affect ordinary people much.
He was indirectly greedy, accumulating wealth through merchants and then making them hand over a share of the profits.
Yan Fan was responsible for ensuring their business ran smoothly, providing them with all sorts of conveniences.
His greed was undisguised, and every year many businessmen would visit Yan Fan's steward's house to curry favor.
Everyone in Bianjing hoped to receive his protection; this was common knowledge.
Shen Yan was hearing about Zeng Shihong's affairs for the first time and was very curious.
But reason told him that he shouldn't listen to this, or it would bring trouble.
finally.
This interrogation yielded no results; Yang Wanli did not obtain any valuable clues.
Although Liu Chuan said that all the money had been handed over, he didn't believe it.
Yang Wanli had long known that Liu Chuan held a considerable amount of money, perhaps not tens of millions.
But it won't be less than a million, if we can win over Liu Chuan this time.
His chances of being promoted to Minister of Justice would be much better.
Ding Anzhi shared the same thought, but when he heard that Zeng Shihong was involved, he lost a lot of courage.
They were no longer that concerned about Liu Chuan's case.
Yang Wanli did not leave the prison immediately.
Instead, he went to the jail room with Shen Yan to have tea.
"Shen Yan, you heard the interrogation just now. Do you have any ideas about what to do with Liu Chuan?"
Yang Wanli spoke casually, not expecting Shen Yan to give him any advice.
Shen Yan pondered for a moment before speaking:
"Liu Chuan's wife and children have mysteriously disappeared. They must be being controlled by someone. They should still be alive. If we can find his wife and children, it shouldn't be difficult to get him to talk."
Yang Wanli sighed: "What you said, I've also inquired about, but even the Embroidered Uniform Guard can't be found, so it's probably difficult for us to succeed."
Although Shen Yan's suggestion was rejected, Yang Wanli still felt a glimmer of hope.
Shen Yan continued, "Actually, there is another way, it just depends on whether you want his life or his money."
Yang Wanli gave him a deep look and understood the meaning behind Shen Yan's words.
He thought to himself, "Shen Yan is indeed quite capable in his words and deeds; it's a pity he's staying in the Heavenly Prison."
He thought for a moment and then replied:
"What you said does make sense; the higher-ups definitely care about the money. But Liu Chuan must die too. As for Ma Chuan, Zhang Chuan, and the like, nobody should care."
Yang Wanli knew that what the higher-ups cared about was definitely silver, since the Great Zhou was desperately short of money.
Emperor Xuanwu needed money to build the Wanshou Palace, and the soldiers on the border also needed to be paid. There were floods in the south and droughts in the north, all of which required money.
With so little income, how can we cover our expenses?
Now suddenly a person appears, carrying ten million taels of silver.
How could I not be moved by it?