" Prime minister, prime minister, save me, prime minister, save me…"
He Shen was tied up and brought to the main hall by Shen Lian, the commander of the Jinyiwei. He Shen was shocked when he saw that all the civil and military officials were present. He looked at Wang Mang with a face full of fear and shouted at Wang Mang.
"Prime Minister Wang, are you very familiar with Lord He?”
Hearing this, Gu Fengming looked at Wang Mang and asked with a smirk.
"Reporting to Your Highness, I am only a colleague with Lord He. We are not familiar with each other in private.”
"He Shen, if you have any grievances, feel free to tell the Crown Prince and the King of Qin. Why are you asking me for help?”
Wang Mang was on the verge of exploding from anger. He had been infuriated by this pig head. This was the throne room, and He Shen was actually asking for help in front of the Crown Prince, the King of Qin, and the ministers. Wasn't this pushing him into a fire pit?
Even if He Shen didn't say it, everyone knew that He Shen was one of their own, but they still had to show some face on the surface. Wang Mang didn't want others to gossip about him.
"Your Highness, this minister is innocent, Your Highness. What crime did this minister commit that you want to capture this minister?”
When He Shen heard this, he shrunk his neck and immediately looked at Gu Fengming. Then, he said to Gu Fengming with a pitiful expression.
"What crime?"
"Didn't anyone tell you?"
Gu Fengming stared at He Shen and asked.
"No, Your Highness. What crime have I committed?”
Until now, He Shen was still confused and did not know what was going on. His guess was that his corruption and bribery had been leaked, but looking at the situation in front of him, it didn't seem that simple.
"Prime Minister Wang, tell him what happened.”
Gu Fengming smiled and said to him, indicating for He Shen to tell him what crime he had committed.
"The canal burst its banks, and the river flooded several villages and land downstream. It was when you sent people to dredge the river that you dug up the river bank, causing the banks to burst.”
Wang Mang looked at He Shen and told him what had happened.
Hearing this, He Shen froze on the spot.
" A breach in the river bank. This, this, how is this possible? This…This…"
He Shen had never thought that this would be the reason. The people he sent to dredge the river had dug up the river bank, causing the river bank to burst and flood the village. This was indeed a big crime, especially when it flooded the village. As the saying goes, the river is heartless. Who knows how many people will die? Such a crime made He Shen feel a chill on his neck.
"Your Highness, Your Highness, you can't blame this lowly official for this. This lowly official was only following orders. Who knew that the dam would burst? Your Highness, this lowly official is wronged, this lowly official is innocent.”
However, after he reacted, He Shen immediately defended himself.
He did not want to die. He had to find a way to live.
"In that case, this king wronged you?”
"No, no, that's not it. Your Highness, you didn't wrongly accuse me, but I'm also innocent. This is a natural disaster and has nothing to do with me.”
He Shen looked at Gu Fengming with a bitter expression and said to Gu Fengming.
"Is that so? Is it really a natural disaster?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good!"
Gu Fengming nodded and looked at He Shen with a cold glint in his eyes.
"This king asks you, this king has given you so many days to dredge the river, why did you only start today?”
"This…"
He Shen was speechless. What could he do? Of course, he would blackmail and extort. However, he could not say it out loud at this moment. If he did, wouldn't he be finished in minutes?
"Reporting to Your Highness, the dredging of the river requires a lot of preliminary work. This lowly official has been preparing since receiving this mission, but it has only been completed today.”
"Hmph, really?"
"Your humble subject is telling the truth!"
"How dare you He Shen, you still want to deceive the crown prince and this king. Do you think that the two of us are easy to fool just because we are young?”
Gu Fengming stood up and scolded He Shen. This scene gave the ministers a fright. Their gazes involuntarily turned to Gu Fengming. They secretly thought that although Gu Fengming's little tiger teeth had yet to fully grow, he already had some might. They could not help but be secretly speechless.
"I don't dare!"
He Shen shrunk his neck but still refused to admit it.
"Shen Lian, tell the adults present the evidence that you have gathered over the past few days.”
Gu Fengming looked at Shen Lian and said.
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Shen Lian nodded and took out a stack of papers.
"Milords, after this He Shen received the news of the canal being dredged, he did not immediately begin to sort out the river. Instead, he ordered his subordinates to extort ships that passed through the canal and collect large amounts of gold and silver from them. He used the name of the court to fill his own pockets and take bribes.”
"This is the evidence I've gathered, as well as the testimony of the ship merchants that Heshen extorted.”
"Lord He, do you still want to quibble? If necessary, I can bring those ship merchants over and confront you face to face.”
Shen Lian looked at He Shen who was kneeling on the ground and asked.
He Shen was stunned. His face was pale and cold sweat was dripping down his forehead. He did not dare to raise his head. He never expected that Shen Lian had already collected so much information. In an instant, he felt like a disaster was imminent.
"He Shen, can you explain what is going on? River dredging fees, this king remembers that a few days ago you had already transferred a batch of silver from the Ministry of Revenue as dredging fees, why do you still want to collect these dredging fees from the ships?”
Gu Fengming looked at He Shen with a smile on his face. However, this smile made everyone panic.
"I, I, I…"
He Shen couldn't even speak properly, his heart beating fast.
"Hmph, you He Shen, as the Minister of Revenue, you actually don't want to contribute to the court and the people's well-being, and you even dare to make money by dredging the river.”
"Do you know that if you had started to dredge the river on the same day, the river bank would not have burst at all? It was because of your delay that the river water level rose due to the torrential rain in the upper reaches of the river.”
Gu Fengming pointed at He Shen and said angrily.
"This subject knows my crimes, this subject was at fault. Your Highness, please consider that this subject has served the Imperial Court for many years and spare this subject's life.”
He Shen instantly understood that he could not keep his official position. This matter was too big, and it had even reached the court. He did not even have the chance to find someone to take the blame.
At this moment, He Shen only had one thought in his heart, and that was to protect his life. He didn't want to lose his life.
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