Reborn as a eunuch, the system tells me to seduce the empress?

Chapter 20 Arouses Yu Qingli's Suspicion

Sun Zhengming's confession took the clerk an entire night to write down.

Sun Zhengming confessed to much more than he had expected.

Over the years, Yongchang Bo Liu Kaishan has been using the name of Guanyun Marquis to interfere in the affairs of the Ministry of War's Military Selection Department, accepting bribes and buying and selling military positions.

A fifth-rank commander of a thousand households is priced at three thousand taels. A fourth-rank deputy commander of a guard is priced at eight thousand taels.

The largest single transaction was selling a military post in Jizhou Town for a total of 50,000 taels of silver.

If this case of buying and selling military positions were to be uncovered, it would implicate at least fifty or sixty military officers.

Most of these people were former subordinates of Guo Liang, the Marquis of Guanyun.

Suppressing his excitement, Chen San presented the confession to Lin Mo's duty room that very night.

But after reading Sun Zhengming's statement, Lin Mo shook his head and said, "These things alone are not enough to bring down Liu Kaishan."

Lin Molai said.

Sun Zhengming is nothing but a nobody.

What he really wanted to do was to get rid of Guo Liang, this nobleman.

In fact, like other dynasties in history, the Great Liang Dynasty was plagued by accumulated problems.

It has come to the point where change is absolutely necessary.

In the past, Lin Mo would have turned a blind eye to these things.

After all, he was a eunuch.

As long as he lives, he can serve as a tool in the emperor's hands, enjoying wealth and comfort for the rest of his life.

But now that he has been reborn and has become a man again.

Naturally, we should consider the future generations.

"Master, what should we do now?" Chen San asked cautiously.

Lin Mo tossed the confession onto the table and said indifferently, "Continue to dig deeper for me. This time, we'll make an example of them so that the military and civil officials will automatically avoid the Eastern Depot."

Lin Mo stood up, walked into the secret room where the Eastern Depot stored various files, and brought out a sandalwood box.

Lin Mo opened the wooden box, took out a stack of yellowed letters, and handed them to Chen San.

"You lead the brothers from the Eastern Depot to the Earl of Yongchang's mansion to arrest people."

Chen San took a look and gasped.

These letters turned out to be secret correspondence between Yongchang Boliu Kaishan and the Mongol Tatar tribes during the two to nine years after he came from Xinglong.

Although the contents of the letter were cryptic, the meaning conveyed between the lines was crystal clear.

Liu Kaishan actually smuggled ironware and salt to the Mongols, using them to exchange for their warhorses for profit.

You should know that bringing a good warhorse from outside the pass to inside the pass can earn you several thousand taels of silver.

It's true what they say: people die for money, and birds die for food!

With such exorbitant profits, who wouldn't be envious?

"Governor, where did you get this from?" Chen San's voice trembled as he spoke.

Even the Eastern Depot's intelligence network was not as comprehensive as the letters Lin Mo possessed.

"You don't need to ask that." Lin Mo sat back down in his armchair, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. "Now it's time to close the net. Take men to search the Yongchang Marquis's mansion. Dig three feet into the ground and find the account books between Liu Kaishan and Guo Liang. With Sun Zhengming's confession, plus Liu Kaishan's account books and these letters, even if the Empress Dowager pleads for mercy, Guo Liang won't be able to save his head."

Chen San knelt on one knee and said in a deep voice, "Your subordinate obeys!"

"Furthermore," Lin Mo stopped him, "Guo Liang has many old subordinates in the army over the years. Make a list of them. Don't let anyone who is involved in buying and selling military positions get away with it. Arrest those who should be arrested, and kill those who should be killed. I want all the military officers in the army to know that offending the Eastern Depot is no different from offending the imperial court."

Despite the great opportunity, Lin Mo had no chance of killing Guo Liang.

However, there is still a good chance that he will be given a minor punishment as a warning.

Moreover, Lin Mo did not expect to subdue Guo Liang and other nobles with a major case.

The reason he launched this major case was not only to establish the authority of the Eastern Depot, but also to prove himself to the newly enthroned Empress.

Both civil and military officials can be killed.

Only eunuchs would stand on her side.

Although Yu Qingli is a woman.

But she was also an emperor.

As an emperor, suspicion is in his nature.

He used this major case to arouse Yu Qingli's suspicion.

Chen San nodded, accepted the order, and withdrew.

Lin Mo sat alone in the duty room, the candlelight casting half of his face in light and half in shadow.

He looked down at the stack of yellowed letters on the table, his gaze as deep and unfathomable as two bottomless ancient wells.

These secret letters were indeed written by Liu Kaishan, but the process of obtaining them was far more complicated than Chen San had imagined.

Three years ago, Lin Mo planted a spy next to Liu Kaishan. That person was one of Liu Kaishan's most trusted advisors, and most of Liu Kaishan's secret letters were sent through him.

The price for that person to work for Lin Mo was three thousand taels of gold, and justice for the entire family that Guo Liang had killed.

Lin Mo never considered himself a good person; he had so much blood on his hands that he couldn't even count it all.

He had very few loyal and righteous people around him. But he had one bottom line in his actions.

I never go back on my promises.

These are the rules he learned in the martial arts world.

The next morning, before dawn, the Yongchang Marquis's residence was surrounded by two hundred agents from the Eastern Depot, who were packed in layers.

The head of the gang, Chen San, personally led the team, with Chen San and Han Tong providing support from both sides.

The guards, with embroidered spring knives at their waists and black lacquered crossbows in their hands, lined up in formation, completely sealing off the entire street.

Several official families living near the Yongchang Earl's Mansion were alarmed and sent people out to inquire about the situation. Upon discovering that it was the Eastern Depot handling a case, they all retreated and closed their doors tightly.

Chen San stepped forward and knocked on the door. After knocking three times and receiving no response, he waved to four guards to bring up a battering ram.

The wooden battering ram slammed down, forcefully smashing open the black lacquered gate of the Yongchang Marquis's mansion.

The guards rushed in and split into three teams.

One team went straight to the backyard to search for people, another team searched the front hall and study, and a third team guarded all the exits.

The maids and servants in the mansion screamed in fright and fled, only to be herded into the courtyard by the guards like ducks, where they all knelt on the ground.

Yongchang Boliu was found in a hidden room in the backyard rockery.

The usually imposing old count was only wearing a nightgown, barefoot, with disheveled hair and a pale face.

He hid in the dark room for a whole night, but was still found by the spy.

When Liu Kaishan was brought in front of Chen San, his legs were shaking so badly he could barely stand.

Chen San coldly sized him up, his tone laced with sarcasm: "Old sir, why are you hiding? The Eastern Depot is giving you face by inviting you for tea."

Having weathered decades of storms, Liu Kaishan managed to regain his composure and said sternly, "I am a hereditary earl, with an iron certificate bestowed by the founding emperor. Your Eastern Depot has trespassed on the earl's residence; what is your punishment?!"

Chen San didn't reply, because the people behind him had already brought over three camphor wood chests with several others.

The box was placed on the ground, the lock was pried open, and the lid was lifted. Everyone in the yard gasped.

The three boxes contained three different items: one filled with gleaming silver ingots, another with gold bars and jewels, and the third with account books and letters.

"Lord Liu, don't try to scare me." Chen San picked up an account book from the box, flipped through it, and sneered, "This ironclad guarantee from the Liu family probably can't protect you from your treasonous crime of colluding with the Mongols!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Kaishan's expression instantly turned ashen and filled with despair.