manynovel Chapter 666: It’s too late to regret
Chapter 666: It’s too late to regret
Jiang Youzhen smiled, "Old and cunning. But you have a plan, and I have a ladder."
Half of the account book was burned, and only the sequence of treasures and gold and silver on the left could be seen. It was no longer possible to tell who the money was given to. No wonder Wei Xiyuan insisted that it was given to the Prime Minister and other officials.
Those officials must have accepted the money, but they certainly would not give so much, so we have to screen out Wei Xiyuan's accomplices from these people.
She picked up the letter beside her and read it, and the Fourth Prince did not stop her.
Jiang Youzhen discovered that most of the three letters had been burned. He couldn't tell who the letters were from, but he could make out some of the content.
One of the letters mentioned the graphite mines in Shanxi Province, saying only that the deposits were rich. The rest of the content had been burned and was unknown.
Looking at the other letter, the handwriting was the same, so it should have been written by the same person.
This letter seemed to be from my ancestral home, saying that they didn't have enough money and needed money.
Jiang Youzhen frowned. He always missed something important at the critical moment. After carefully observing for a while, he felt that the word after that was thirty. Thirty? It couldn't be thirty taels, so it must be three hundred thousand taels?
What did the clan need to do that required three hundred thousand taels? This number is questionable.
The handwriting of the last letter was different. The content showed that an old friend was visiting and arrived in the capital on March 5th.
This seemed to be a family letter. The burned part should have contained a greeting or something like that, but when Jiang Youzhen saw the bottom, a sentence suddenly caught her attention.
Prepared? What does that mean? Even if it was an old friend visiting, there was no reason to ask the host to prepare. How rude is that?
Jiang Youzhen immediately noticed something unusual and whispered a few words into the Fourth Prince's ear.
The Fourth Prince pondered for a moment, and just when Wei Xiyuan was feeling uneasy, a smile suddenly appeared on his lips.
"Wei Xiyuan, you should be familiar with the three letters, right? Do you think you can escape this guilt by burning some of them? I will give you one more chance. Tell the truth, and I will ask my father to show leniency and leave you with incense."
Wei Xiyuan originally wanted to resist to the end, because once he admitted it, the result would be the destruction of the entire clan.
But the Fourth Prince's words made him hesitate. If the evidence of guilt was finally found, what would be the point of his persistence?
Wei Xiyuan was in a state of conflict, and remained silent. The Fourth Prince and Jiang Youzhen were not in a hurry either, and just waited on the side.
"Your subordinate..." Wei Xiyuan felt embarrassed, but still made a decision.
"I have never colluded with the remnants of the previous dynasty, nor have I had anything to do with the rebels. Your Highness, please clear my name."
The fourth prince was so angry that he shouted: "I think you are stubborn and stubborn. Why don't you think about your wife and children?"
Jiang Youzhen: "Sir Wei, the letter refers to graphite mines. Jin Province is rich in graphite mines. The Huang family was originally a Jin merchant. After the fall of the previous dynasty, I believe it is not difficult to find out who got the mines."
She picked up the letter beside her and said, "Another family letter said that the ancestral home needed silver. The letter from the graphite mine was sent only a month later. It costs 300,000 taels to write to the ancestral home. I'm afraid it's the silver to buy the mine, right?
That means that in the past year, no matter whose name was used, the graphite mine must have been purchased. Now the imperial court has begun to control the mineral resources and does not allow private mining. If you want to open a mine, you must purchase it from the imperial court. As long as you go to the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Industry to check, I believe you can screen out a range. "
Wei Xiyuan was suddenly shocked and suddenly understood why that person was so afraid of Jiang Youzhen.
Yes, Jiang Youzhen was able to unravel the truth based on just these three letters. It was truly terrifying.
"And the graphite mine definitely needs someone to take care of it. Even if you provide silver, it's impossible for you to be selfless. You must send someone to manage it. Just bring your servants here and ask them one by one. There will always be some clues.
By then, as long as we find the location of the mineral deposits, we will surely uncover a whole host of other things.”
Jiang Youzhen smiled as he spoke, "Master Wei, do you think my analysis is correct?"
Wei Xiyuan's breathing became a little rapid. Even if those mineral deposits were bought in the name of other merchants, if they really wanted to investigate, it would only be a matter of time before they were discovered.
"And isn't Lord Wei keen on forming cliques for personal gain? Does the Ministry of Revenue have any accomplices? Who in the Ministry of Revenue accepted Lord Wei's benefits? Did you buy it at the original price? Is there anything fishy going on?"
Jiang Youzhen's series of questions made Wei Xiyuan shudder, and he was afraid that the Ministry of Revenue's account books would not be able to withstand a thorough investigation.
"As long as the accounts are kept, there will be traces. If we find ten accountants, I believe we will soon be able to find the unusual mistakes in the account books."
Jiang Youzhen said as he picked up the last letter, "This one is from an old friend who is visiting."
She smiled and said, "But I think this person must be someone sent by the other side to contact you. Is he here to collect money or to give instructions?
The letter from early March this year said that it would arrive in the capital within half a month. As long as we go to the city gate to check the registration of foreigners coming here in late March, we will be able to find out something with the pass."
After hearing Jiang Youzhen say this, Wei Xiyuan was shocked to realize that they had made so many mistakes and could find faults everywhere.
The Fourth Prince looked at Jiang Youzhen with eyes full of appreciation and admiration. Jiang Youzhen was indeed a man of worldly wisdom. He had thought of so many things in such a short time.
In fact, even if Wei Xiyuan didn't say anything, they could still follow the clues to find the real person, but if the news leaked out and the rebels escaped, all the efforts would be wasted.
Wei Xiyuan no longer had any hope of success at this moment, but he was still somewhat unwilling to accept the result.
"Your Highness, can you really protect my descendants? I have a grandson who is just two years old this year. If you can protect him and make sure he has no worries about food and clothing for the rest of his life, then I will tell you everything."
Wei Xiyuan knew that the emperor would never let his son go if he was involved. But his grandson was different, he was just a child and still very ignorant.
Find a place where no one knows him and no one will know his past identity in the future. Such a young child will slowly forget his childhood memories.
The fourth prince frowned, "You have no room to bargain with me. You know that my father hates rebels."
Seeing that Wei Xiyuan was dissatisfied, the Fourth Prince said, "In this case, I can only find him an ordinary family to adopt, away from the court."
Wei Xiyuan couldn't hold back his tears, "That's enough! Staying away from court disputes and just being an ordinary citizen, I'm lucky to live a simple life."
Jiang Youzhen sighed, Wei Xiyuan was really confused.
The emperor has shown leniency to the Wei family. As long as Wei Xiyuan keeps a low profile and retires to his hometown, he can live a simple life. But Wei Xiyuan has developed delusional ideas.
He took a deep breath and said, "I hope Your Highness will keep his word."
"If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have done it in the first place!" Jiang Youzhen sighed.
Wei Xiyuan was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "I was bewildered at the beginning. Although I regretted it afterwards, I was already deeply trapped and couldn't extricate myself."