Suizhou Prefecture, Second Hall.

Since Li Ling revealed his identity two days ago and took down the people sent by the governor's yamen, the prefect Wang Yaochen completely gave up his struggle, indicating that he was in line with Lord Li's leadership. If you say it, I will never go west.

This is not just a saying. In order to show his sincerity, he sent people to the inn where Li Ling was almost every day in the past few days that as long as it is a business in the yamen, no matter how big or small, it must submit a document, and state that everything will be decided by Lord Li.

Not only did Li Ling not feel happy, but he was a little disgusted. Is this going to put all the responsibility on his head? However, because the other party was loyal and obedient enough, he did not really criticize him. He only mentioned several times that it was not related to the affairs of the governor's yamen, and he could decide by himself as the prefect, but as for the effect, there was almost no effect.

However, Li Ling still has to ask about some things himself, such as the interrogation of the guys who were taken down. Although the person was locked in the government office, he would not dare to interrogate these people even if he gave the prefect Wang a courage, so he had to leave it to Li Ling's subordinates to handle it. To be clearer, he was from the Imperial City Department.

After two or three days of interrogation, I finally found something today. That's why Li Ling came to the government office again. With the congratulations from Wang Yaochen and other officials, he met He Ben and Gu Sizhu again in a public room in Yu Ertang.

Compared to a few days ago, the few people now look so haggard and embarrassed, especially Gu Sizhu. His face was still pale when he was pressed to the ground. After being pressed to the ground, his body was even more hunched, and he no longer had the energy he had when he was in the Shen family. Obviously, they suffered a lot in the prison in the past two or three days, and all kinds of terrible and tricky punishments were used on them, thus destroying their confidence from the inside to the outside.

"You are willing to explain everything to me, right? That's great. As long as you can really explain truthfully and cooperate actively, I will not only not make things difficult for you, but also reduce some of your sins as appropriate." Li Ling looked at them condescendingly, with a hint of satisfaction in his eyes, "Okay, then start with you, tell me what you know about what Governor Jiang and the others have done during this period!"

The first thing he pointed was not He Ben or Gu Sizhu, but a man kneeling behind him. After being called, his body was shocked, he stumbled, and said honestly: "The villain has always been obedient in the governor's yamen, and his knowledge is limited... I only know that over the past six months, the adults have not only had in-depth talks with the heads of many wealthy families in Huguang, but also... they also met the old people who came from the capital several times. Once, I heard them mention while drinking that they could earn more than 5 million taels of silver from Huguang this time, and also mentioned how to divide the silver..."

Li Ling's brows frowned quickly. These people's appetites were really big. After sucking bones and marrow, they actually wanted to squeeze out millions of taels of silver from Huguang after the disaster. Given the situation in Huguang and this time, how much silver can the people have in their hands be extorted by them? The only way is to take it from those big investors, and these guys are willing to hand over the money because they can get more benefits.

This should be the root cause of the government's indulgence, or even pushing them to exchange grain for land and hoarding: "Can you tell the names and positions of those officials?"

"This..." After hesitating, he reported several positions as officials. "It seems that they are two doctors from the Ministry of Works, and a resident of the Ministry of Revenue. I can't remember what the specific surname is."

Li Ling nodded and shook his eyes at the clerk who was rushing to confession by the secretary beside him. The latter understood and immediately picked up the written confession and put it in front of the man: "Check!"

When he had reached this point, he naturally did not dare to refuse to obey. He shivered and pressed his handprint on the confession.

Then, Li Ling continued to pick people and ask questions, asking several servants with low status in front of him one by one. From them, they did obtain further evidence of crimes, including but not limited to how Jiang Guixun, as the governor, used means to make the already affected people even worse, how to continue to collect tax grains after the disaster in the name of the court, just to force the people to sell land; when did the big and wealthy businessmen in Wuchang and other places have had contact with Jiang Guixun, and some shameful plans in the middle; there were several upright officials in Wuchang who were falsely accused and imprisoned by him for opposing the governor's various actions...

Although these people have a low status, since they are in the governor's hands and are trusted by them, they can naturally grasp many hidden things that outsiders do not know. Now, due to severe torture, they can only confess everything they have, and in the end they all put their confessions on their own, becoming one bargaining chip in Li Ling's hands.

As they continued to admit it, not only Li Ling's face became more gloomy, but He Ben and Gu Sizhu's expressions also became more uneasy. The former was because if this continued, he had nothing to confess. What if people suspected that they had reservations, then they were tortured by themselves? As for the latter, they were more complicated. In addition to worrying about themselves, they were also worried about how the governor should deal with it after the failure. Even at this time, he was still loyal to Jiang Guixun.

"It's yours now." Li Ling looked at He Ben, but made him feel nervous: "Sir, please spare your life. The young man has confessed all the things they know. I really can't say more..."

"Is that so? I can't see it." Li Ling shook his head, "Since you are the inspector under Jiang Guixun's tent, you always have some connections in the army. Haven't you heard of some hidden information? For example, what generals in the military have he made in the past few years, or who have simply depended on him, and only his leader is his."

"This..." He Ben hesitated for a moment, but after meeting Li Ling's gaze, he still answered honestly: "I dare not hide it from you. Lord Jiang regards these things as secrets and will not let the villain know..."

"Huh?" Li Ling narrowed his eyes, as if he was suspicious, and seemed to stare at him unhappily. This glance made He Ben's back feel cold, and he quickly said, "Sir... I only know that he has a good relationship with Governor Xie, and they meet every few days. There are also three battalions of soldiers inside and outside Wuchang, among which Liu Chunsheng, commander of Muziba and Yu Wanli, commander of Liuziba, were both recommended by the governor. They often come to the governor's office to show their kindness...more, the younger ones really don't know..." Speaking of this, he couldn't help but glance at Gu Sizhu. Compared to himself, Gu is the real governor's confidant.

Li Ling also set his eyes on Gu Sizhu, whose face turned pale again: "Tell me, how many people he has had secret contact with and how many local civil and military officials have he bought to make them use it?"

It was not until this time that Gu Sizhu understood the excellence of Li Ling's questioning. First, let those who knew less say all the irrelevant things, and then when it was his own turn, he could only explain all the more important things one by one.

If Gu Sizhu had just fallen into Li Ling's hands, he would naturally not compromise at this time, and even if he died, he would not betray the governor. But now, after experiencing suicide failure and being overwhelmed by many methods from the Imperial City Department, he was not so determined. He really didn't want to suffer the pain of life being worse than death!

But, do you really need to explain the secrets that may lead to the governor in a desperate situation? He has the kindness of knowing me, how can I repay my grudges?

Seeing that he was still hesitant, Li Ling hummed again and said, "Gu Sizhu, don't forget that you are an official of the court, not Jiang Guixun's family slave! Also, what I can decide now is not only your life and death, but also your family. It is not an exaggeration to search the house for the crime you have committed! Those who know the times are heroes, and now I am willing to give you a chance to make a fortune and punish you. If you are still stubborn and try to protect those stolen officials, then it will only harm others and yourself!"

Feeling the strong pressure and thinking about the pain he suffered a few days ago, Gu Sizhu's defense line finally collapsed completely: "I... I'll help... In fact, not only the commanders of the two battalions were long been bribed by Lord Jiang, but also the more than ten military officers below, they all followed the orders of Lord Jiang.

"There were also related to this, the adults from the capital who finally chose to cooperate. Because their life and death were in the hands of Lord Jiang, and there was no choice but to cooperate."

"Then why did he do this?" Li Ling asked what he cared about the most, and what troubled him the most.

Logically speaking, there can be corrupt officials, but there is no need to be so greedy. Don’t Jiang Guixun know that if all these mistakes are made, they will cause a catastrophe to him?

Nowadays, Dayue is not like at some point. The court still has absolute authority. Not to mention Huguang, even in southern Yunnan, those generals with heavy troops dare not have any unfaithful intentions. Where did he get the confidence? I think he can really cover the sky with one hand?

"I don't know this... I don't know. Anyway, since I followed Lord Jiang, he has been able to monopolize the power. Few people dare not act without following his orders. In fact, some people have advised him not to be so fucked, but they are ignored by the Lord."

Li Ling frowned again. It seemed that there was another point that he had not mastered. This might be the key to destroying Jiang Guixun in one fell swoop. But the problem is that now it is almost time to find out where can I find out the whole story?
Chapter completed!