The functions of Jinyang Palace were originally just Yang Guang's palace, and there were few functional departments such as ministries and temples. Shortly after the Sui army conquered Taiyuan last year, it carried out a large-scale expansion, and departments such as the three provinces, six ministries, nine temples, and five supervisors had their own office spaces.

Among them, the Censorate is located in the southeast corner, which is a three-story red building. However, because it has the power of supervision and arrest, it has built a basement, which serves as a prison for the Censorate to temporarily detain criminals.

After returning from Cui Mansion, Yang Yuanqing came directly to the Censorate. The Censor was Yang Shanhui and one of the seven ministers of Ziwei Pavilion, but he was just a name and did not ask about the specific affairs of the Censorate. The specific affairs were the three Censors.

One is Han Shouzhong, who is responsible for supervising all officials in the capital, one is Liu Meng, who is responsible for the supervision of local governments, and the other is Dai Chongyun, who is responsible for the internal affairs of the Censorate.

In addition to the three censors, there are also twelve censors and twenty-four supervisors. Together with the censors, there are a total of forty people in the Censorate, who are responsible for the supervision and operation of the entire Sui Dynasty.

This time, the Yicang Grain Case in Fangzi County, Zhaojun. Although Yang Yuanqing had killed the county magistrate and the county magistrate, the matter was not over. The confession obtained from the county magistrate Xu Shouxin's confidant, and some bribery records found in Xu Shouxin's study, and Xu Shouxin's superior, Zhang Jibei, the prefect of Zhaojun.

The record clearly shows that Zhang Jibei knew about Xu Shouxin's corruption in the charity warehouse and tacitly abstained from Xu Shouxin's corruption. In return, Xu Shouxin would give Zhang Jibei a 20% benefit later.

Because this bribery has not happened yet, it can only be considered dereliction of duty. However, in Xu Shouxin's record, he bribed Zhang Jibei 5,000 yuan a year to maintain his best praise for three consecutive years.

But this is just Fangzi County, Zhao County governs eleven counties, and what about the bribery situation in other counties? Of course, checking Zhang Jibei's crime of accepting bribes is just an excuse. Yang Yuanqing wanted to use Zhang Jibei to intimidate the Hebei officialdom.

Yang Yuanqing walked into the gate of the Censorate. Han Shouzhong had already received the news and was waiting at the gate. Han Shouzhong gave a deep bow, "See Your Highness!"

Yang Yuanqing nodded, "Has Zhang Jibei confessed?"

"Your Highness, this person is very tough and refuses to ask for help. He refuses to admit any bribery, and it is useless to punish him."

Han Shou sighed repeatedly. "The humble master will find a way to ask him to confess."

"Take me to see him."

Everyone hurriedly led Yang Yuanqing to the dungeon, walked down the steps from a room, and walked deeper and deeper. After about three or four feet, their eyes became dim. There were oil lamps on the walls, and the air was turbid, cold and humid. The dungeon gave people a gloomy and terrifying feeling.

Walking through a long corridor and coming to an iron gate, a prison guard opened the iron gate. More than a dozen personal guards and officials from the Censorate surrounded Yang Yuanqing and walked into the iron gate.

Inside the iron gate is a stone house made of large bluestone, which looks very empty. The stone walls are covered with various torture instruments, and a basin of fire is lit in the corner. Eight strong men are naked, with flesh on their faces, and their eyes are fiercely staring at an iron cage in the center of the room.

The iron cage was about eight feet in size, the size of an arm was thin, and a person sat softly at the corner of the iron cage. He had an iron chain tied to his feet, his upper body was naked, and his body was covered with bruises. It was Zhang Jibei who was escorted in the morning. At this time, he fainted and his head was soft on the cage.

Zhang Jibei implemented the three-court trial. The three-court trials were jointly conducted by Shaoqing of Dali Temple, the Minister of Justice and the Chief Censor of the Censorate. However, this three-court trial was conducted later. First, Zhang Jibei had to confess and conceal, and then the three-court trials confirmed the confession one by one, and finally the three parties signed and decided.

At this time, the chief censor saw that the King of Chu had actually come, and hurriedly stepped forward and bowed to report: "Your Highness, the criminal has just finished the interrogation and has fainted."

Yang Yuanqing glanced at Zhang Jibei and said, "Wake him up!"

‘Wow!’ Two big men poured two buckets of cold water on Zhang Jibei. After a while, Zhang Jibei moaned and slowly woke up.

Yang Yuanqing waved his hand, "Everyone retreats!"

Everyone did not dare to resist the order and retreated one after another. There were only Yang Yuanqing and Zhang Jibei in the stone house. Yang Yuanqing walked to him and looked at him coldly.

Zhang Jibei moved his body with difficulty, looked up at Yang Yuanqing, and sneered, "Let's disappoint your highness!"

Yang Yuanqing smiled faintly, squatted down in front of him, staring at him and said, "Let's make a deal!"

Zhang Jibei wanted to spit on Yang Yuanqing's face, but he still held it back. He thought of his wife and children, and he was happy when he spitted on it, but his wife and children died.

Zhang Jibei turned his head and ignored Yang Yuanqing, his face full of disdain.

Yang Yuanqing ignored his attitude and continued, "I might as well tell you clearly that no matter your moves, you are dead. I need to use your head to shock the Hebei officialdom, but I know you have a son named Zhang Jihong. Now Cui Xueli is studying and is studying very well. He is in the third grade of Cui Xue every year, and you have a daughter. He promised Cui Hongyuan's nephew. If you recruit according to my requirements, then your son will not be influenced by you. If you pass the imperial examination, I will admit him normally and give him a career."

At this point, Yang Yuanqing's tone became cold, "But if you don't help, not only will you be skinned and put as grass, but your son, but your wife and daughter will not be able to survive!"

Zhang Jibei was shocked, but he still didn't move or say anything. His eyes were still staring at the iron gate, but his eyes became a little complicated. He remembered that Yang Yuanqing killed Xu Shouxin's family of eleven people in the family.

Yang Yuanqing felt the subtle changes in his emotions. He knew in his heart that in fact, Zhang Jibei was holding on to the death like this, there was no element of national justice. He simply did not want to betray Cui Hongyuan and thus protect his son. To put it bluntly, it was still for the sake of interests, so he started from interests and gradually collapsed his defense line in his heart.

Some things cannot be solved by torture, such as the exchange of conditions. The interrogator does not have this power, but Yang Yuanqing is different. He is the highest authority. He can agree to anything or refuse to agree to it.

His attitude is sometimes more effective than torture. Zhang Jibei was obviously a little shaken. Yang Yuanqing said calmly: "I just said I missed someone. Your hometown is Lucheng County, Xindu County. You have a nephew in your hometown named Zhang Rongguang. He is only three years old this year. He is the same. If you call him, he will be safe. If you don't call him, his head will land immediately!"

Zhang Jibei was shocked all over. He finally turned around and looked at Yang Yuanqing incredibly. The so-called nephew in his hometown was actually his illegitimate son. He was drunk in Cui's house three years ago and had sex with the maid sent by Cui Hongyuan to serve him. The maid later gave birth to this child.

This matter was extremely hidden, and even his wife didn't know it, only Cui Hongyuan knew it. From Yang Yuanqing's tone, it was obvious that Yang Yuanqing had already known the truth. Who told him that there was only one possibility, was it?

Yang Yuanqing took out a box from his arms and opened it. It was a pair of white porcelain tea cups, as thin as white paper and as crystal clear as jade. He squinted his eyes and smiled, "You should know these cups! Someone presented them to me."

Zhang Jibei recognized the pair of cups at a glance. They were the Boying Cup and a precious thing passed down by the Cui family in Boling for three generations. They have always been treasured by the head of the family.

Zhang Jibei suddenly understood, no wonder Yang Yuanqing knew about his illegitimate son, and Cui Hongyuan betrayed him.

He felt a pain in his heart, and a mouthful of blood spurted out, and he was completely disappointed. The person he was trying to protect, but in the end he betrayed himself. The shadow cup in Yang Yuanqing's hand was like a sharp sword, piercing Zhang Jibei's sword into his heart.

Yang Yuanqing stood up and said lightly: "I'll give you two days, you can think about it yourself! Your punishment will not be affected within two days. In two days, it will be the same whether you will make a move or not."

Afterwards, Yang Yuanqing turned around and left. At this time, Zhang Jibei's low voice came from the iron cage, "Your Highness, can you keep your word?"

Yang Yuanqing stopped and said coldly: "I, Yang Yuanqing, is His Majesty the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty. Will I break my trust in a little person like you?"

"good!"

Zhang Jibei finally agreed, "I'll exchange with you!"

Lu Yu is also one of the seven ministers of Ziwei Pavilion. His specific position is the Minister of Justice. He was admitted to court for two days after he was ill. However, he did not come to Ziwei Pavilion, but worked in the official room of the Ministry of Justice.

Lu Yu is the younger brother of Lu Chu, the prime minister of Luoyang. He not only inherited the position of the head of his brother's family, but also inherited the tough line of his brother.

Lu Yu is not as cowardly and lustful as Cui Hongyuan. He is an extremely shrewd head of the family, with excellent moral character, strict and self-disciplined, and has no scandals in him, nor has he any bad deeds of embezzlement and bribery.

Compared with Cui Hongyuan, he is less principled and cannot see through the situation. However, he is extremely principled and can see through the overall situation.

He knew very well that Yang Yuanqing's purpose of checking the grain in the charity warehouse was to actually clean up the Hebei officialdom, perhaps not a complete cleaning, but an important position, such as the prefect, the chief minister, etc., must be replaced.

Cleaning up the officialdom in Hebei is only the first step. His ultimate goal is to suppress the influence of the aristocratic families on the court. Even if the aristocratic families cannot be eradicated, at least it must curb the growth of the aristocratic families and then slowly suppress them.

Lu Yu knew very well that Yang Yuanqing was also testing to some extent. If the Hebei family did not resist much, then his cleaning storm would blow even more violently. If he encountered the Hebei family's firm resistance, then Yang Yuanqing's cleaning storm would be restrained a little.

This is also the reason why Lu Yu is more tough. Of course, there are three major families in Hebei. It is not enough to rely on the Lu family of Fanyang alone. It also depends on the unanimous resistance of the Cui family of Boling and Cui family of Qinghe.

The Cui family in Qinghe suffered a heavy blow, and Cui Junsu was Yang Yuanqing's confidant and could not count on him, so the attitude of the Cui family in Boling was crucial.

However, Cui Hongyuan had an ambiguous attitude and was not firm in resisting. He clearly agreed to go to court together today, but he claimed that he had not come to the disease, which really angered Lu Yu.

As noon approached, Lu Yu packed up the table and prepared to go for lunch. At this time, a employed person walked in quickly and took an invitation in his hand.

"You have reported to the Prime Minister, His Highness the King of Chu ordered people to send invitations and invite the Prime Minister to go to the banquet at noon."

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Chapter completed!