In the private house, Bai Sheng led people to rummage through the boxes, but did not find any stolen money or evidence.

On the floor of Qin Hui's study room, where the book box pressed against it, there were traces of two new floor tiles.

A middle-aged official said: "These two floor tiles must be laid at the back, but they have not been touched for at least a year and a half."

This man was called Li Jiucheng. He was originally the son of a police officer in Nanzheng County. He had nothing to do and worked as a helper for the nobles in the city all day long.

When Hanzhong City was breached, his father took advantage of the opportunity to join the Zhu family and his son, but Li Jiucheng was discovered by Shi Yuangong to collect intelligence.

Now, Li Jiucheng is a doctor in the Military Intelligence Department of the Ministry of War, and this time he was temporarily seconded to help investigate the case.

Bai Sheng pointed to two floor tiles: "Pry them open and dig three feet into the ground!"

Nothing was found.

There were two servants in the house, both deaf and blinded old men. Bai Sheng couldn't ask anything at all.

On the other hand, more than a dozen neighbors were "invited", and they all stood in the courtyard fearfully.

Li Jiucheng left the study and asked, "Who has come in?"

The neighbors all shook their heads.

Li Jiucheng pointed to the two old servants and asked, "Who has dealt with them?"

Still everyone shook their heads.

In order to avoid exposing his whereabouts, the secret monitors sent by Ju Ming only occasionally wandered around Qin Hui from a distance and never entered Qin Hui's secret house.

It is not convenient for Ju Ming to talk about this kind of thing. Now the officials handling the case must investigate it themselves.

A neighbor cautiously said: "The two of them don't go out much except to buy charcoal, vegetables and salt. They can't hear what they say. They haven't seen each other in the past few years. It sounds like their accent is from Kaifeng."

Li Jiucheng continued to ask: "There are only two of them in this house?"

Another neighbor said: "When the imperial court first moved the capital, there was a young lady and an old woman. They didn't speak much, but they also talked to me. They claimed that they moved from Kaifeng and came to Luoyang with their husbands to do business.

.”

Immediately someone else took over the conversation: "It's definitely not business! Her husband is a bit old. Although he wears a hat every time he comes back and lowers the brim of the hat to cover half of his face, he can tell by the way he walks that he is doing business.

Official."

"It's just an official who moved here with the imperial court in moving the capital."

"Yes, yes, that little lady is the official's wife, and she even gave birth to a child!"

"The eldest wife in her family is probably a jealous woman and won't tolerate her husband taking concubines."

"..."

The neighbors were no longer afraid, and gradually opened up their chat boxes, and started gossiping.

Li Jiucheng asked: "How many days does the male owner of this house come here?"

Someone said: "Not necessarily. But every time I come here, I take a donkey cart with a cover. When I get off the cart, I open the door to enter the hospital and walk a few steps. I wanted to talk to him once, but he ignored me.

The courtyard door was closed as soon as you entered. You don't look like a good person at first glance. How can a good person cover his face when he wears a hat?"

Li Jiucheng asked many more questions, but was unable to obtain any further information.

When Bai Sheng saw Li Jiucheng winking at him, he immediately ordered his release and said to his neighbors: "You all go home, don't wander around, don't talk nonsense. If you think of anything suspicious, come and report to me immediately."

When they heard that they could leave, these people were completely relaxed.

Some people actually took the initiative to inquire: "May I ask my husband, what crime did this family commit? They actually hired the imperial city guards to arrest them."

"Don't ask what you shouldn't ask." Bai Sheng said with a straight face.

Li Jiucheng walked around the house, carefully observing clues along the way.

He stood at the door of a utility room, first looking at the copper lock that had been broken open by the soldiers, and then at the hoe that had been overturned during the search inside the house.

"Is there a problem here?" Bai Sheng asked.

Li Jiucheng pointed to the corridor outside the door: "General, please look here. Doesn't it look like you move around a lot? The moss on the stone path outside the corridor is very thick. Except for the fresh footprints of the guards, there are no other traces of movement."

Bai Sheng nodded: "It seems that those two old servants don't come here very often."

Li Jiucheng pointed to the utility room again: "There are some tools in the room. There are hoes, shears, flower pots... and the door is locked with a copper lock. If this is really Qin Hui's secret house, the two old servants

If you don’t come here often, are the things inside there used by Qin Hui?”

Bai Sheng said: "The Emperor likes farming and raising flowers, and many ministers also follow suit. Qin Hui is famous for learning farming, and he was praised by the Emperor when he was in Kaifeng. A corner of the small courtyard of this house has been set aside as a vegetable garden.

There are also many peonies planted in trays around. I think Qin Hui often came here to plant flowers."

Li Jiucheng said: "Qin Hui cultivates land and flowers, so naturally his servants are not allowed to touch..."

"dig!"

Before Li Jiucheng could finish speaking, Bai Sheng had already reacted and led his guards to dig the vegetable garden.

While digging, a guard shouted: "There is something!"

Bai Sheng was so happy that he grabbed the hoe and dug it himself, and soon dug out a corner of the wooden box.

Keep digging, keep digging.

A small wooden box was lifted out.

The old accounts of the past, along with many treasures, were all transferred by Qin Hui.

It was originally hidden under the floor tiles in the study room. Last year, Qin Hui used it to grow vegetables and buried them all in the vegetable garden.

This small box also had a lock, and Bai Sheng violently pried it open.

Inside the box were two objects wrapped in oil paper, layer after layer. Charcoal and lime were sprinkled on the bottom of the box to prevent moisture.

Bai Sheng opened the oil paper package and found a booklet inside.

It contains the year, month and day, as well as some names of people, places and numbers, as well as many names of goods.

Li Jiucheng watched for a while and said: "This is the account book. After the numbers, the word 'Guan' should be omitted. The names are all pseudonyms. Only Qin Hui knows who he refers to. The time and place names should be real, but the goods

It must be fake. The names of the goods may refer to a certain official position or a certain project."

"It's so mysterious that people can't understand it." Bai Sheng cursed.

Li Jiucheng reached out to turn the last page and said: "The most recent time was three years ago. This is the account book from three years ago. There should be some boxes that have not been dug out."

Bai Sheng ordered: "Keep digging and dig all over the vegetable garden."

Li Jiucheng went to unpack another oil paper bag in the box.

The treasure banknotes are all Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes!

Bai Sheng counted it and exclaimed: "It's a full 50,000 guan. They are old banknotes from previous years. There are no denominations of 500 guan. This bastard is greedy. Why doesn't he send it back to his hometown? Keep it.

In Luoyang, we can only respect the land master."

Very simple.

Qin Hui's parents died long ago and moved to Jiangning. There were no clan members there at all, only Qin Hui's uncle's family.

Several of Qin Hui's brothers were either admitted to the imperial examinations and became officials; or Qin Hui arranged for them to be transferred from official to official positions, and after being transferred to rank officials they had to be transferred to other places.

With no clansmen and no brothers, could Qin Hui send the money to Jiangning and hand it over to his uncle for safekeeping?

In the past two years, Qin Hui began to make arrangements for his funeral.

He sent his confidants to expand the dilapidated house in his hometown in Jiangning, and then asked his cousin to buy some land. He also asked one of his eldest brother's sons to return to Jiangning to take care of the emerging family business, so that from now on, his descendants can develop there with peace of mind.

People from their ancestral homeland often come to the capital to enjoy the autumn breeze.

Qin Hui lost his father when he was young and lived a difficult life. His mother once took her sons back to their ancestral home, but they did not get help from the tribe. Therefore, Qin Hui didn't like those tribesmen and stayed away from them for the first few times.

Later, he gradually thought about it, sent his confidants back to his ancestral home, and renovated the ancestral tombs and ancestral halls.

They also provide money to run schools and support the children of the family to study. To put it bluntly, they are engaged in long-term investment and slowly develop their own family power.

Neither his hometown nor his ancestral home spent much money, and most of the stolen money was left in the capital.

"I dug it again!"

Back and forth, twelve boxes were dug out.

Some boxes do not have ledgers, but they must contain money, totaling 650,000 yuan.

Bai Sheng went back to life with the evidence of the crime, and at the same time left some men behind: "You stay here and no one is allowed to come in or out. Keep digging and see if you can dig out more."

Bai Sheng entered the palace overnight.

Ju Ming looked at the treasure banknotes and account books and said with a smile: "In the official residence of the Minister of Revenue, several boxes were also dug out. There is also a box that was not buried in time. It is probably still in use. It is temporarily held down by two piles of books. There are also account books in it.

He Baochao. This Qin Hui has indeed learned his skills from the Supreme Emperor. At least he is very good at digging and plowing the ground, and he is not inferior to the old farmers in his work."

Bai Sheng came closer to the emperor: "This man is really hateful, but I dug up 650,000 coins!"

"Why, are you envious?" Zhu Ming said amusedly.

Bai Sheng quickly waved his hands to deny: "I have a title and an official position, and I can receive a salary from both of them. Officials often give rewards, so why do I need to take bribes?"

Ju Ming said: "Send it to Dali Temple."
To be continued...