Daming: The system rejected my request for salted fish

Chapter 1344

To be honest, he had wondered who would be the first to attack him, but he guessed it would be someone from the Ministry of Works.

After all, there are three parties who are inextricably linked to this matter of counterfeit banknotes: him, the Bureau of Printing and Minting, and the banknote printing bureau.

The last one is the Ministry of Works. No one wants to take the blame, so they will try their best to smear the other two parties.

However, the Bureau of Printing and Minting was not a formal department and was not qualified to participate in court discussions in the Fengxian Hall; they could only wait to be notified of the results.

That leaves only the Ministry of Works, and coincidentally, there's someone there with whom he has a conflict: Qian Jinguang!

To Wei Wu's surprise, it was not Qian Jinguang who stepped forward first, but the Imperial Censor Zhan Hui.

Seeing the look on Zhan Hui's face that seemed to want to completely nail him down, Wei Wu calmly shrugged and asked:

"Lord Zhan, I don't know what I have to say. Why don't you tell me what you want me to say first?"

"Still not admitting it?!"

No sooner had Wei Wu finished speaking than Zhan Hui, as if injected with adrenaline, immediately raised his voice and rebuked him.

Then, without waiting for Wei Wu to speak, he continued:

"Let me ask you, wasn't it you who boasted that no one in the world could replicate the ink used to print banknotes?"

"Yes, I said it, so what?"

Wei Wu raised his eyebrows and asked a question in a flippant tone. Seeing his attitude, Zhan Hui's temper flared up immediately.

"So? What do you mean 'so'? This whole thing was orchestrated by you, the Duke of Zhenguo, who embezzled public funds!"

He responded angrily to Wei Wu, then without giving Wei Wu a chance to speak, Zhan Hui continued:

"The Ministry of Revenue has already counted the account books submitted by money shops in various places and confirmed that the number of banknotes circulating in the private sector has far exceeded the number printed by the imperial court."

"You were the one who suggested the money exchange, you were the one who came up with the special ink, and you also said that this ink cannot be counterfeited."

"Then how do you explain all those extra silver notes? You're not going to say it has nothing to do with you, are you?"

Compared to Zhan Hui's anger, Wei Wu remained remarkably calm, immediately nodding and saying:

"Lord Zhan is very clever. That's right, I was just about to say that. This matter really has nothing to do with me."

"Oh no, it's not that there's no connection at all. After all, I was the one who promoted the money exchange, and I also provided the ink."

"But that's all. As for why we printed so many banknotes, what does that have to do with me?"

At this point, Wei Wu looked at Zhan Hui with the kind of pity one would show to an idiot, and then continued:

"I have neither engraving skills nor the expertise to print banknotes. You should ask the Bureau of Printing and Minting about the quantity of banknotes to be printed!"

"Furthermore, His Majesty also designated the Ministry of Works to manage special inks, so shouldn't this question be directed to the Ministry of Works?"

When Wei Wu opened his mouth and completely shirked all responsibility, Zhan Hui's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

He then pointed his finger directly at Wei Wu's nose and began to curse.

"This is utterly shameless! Who else could it be but you? All the banknotes printed by the Bureau of Printing and Minting are documented and verifiable."

"The special ink was approved by two vice ministers of the Ministry of Works. Do you think both vice ministers have betrayed the court?"

If both vice ministers of the Ministry of Works, one of the six ministries, betrayed the court, it would mean that the entire Ministry of Works was in trouble.

After all, there were many officials in the Ministry of Works under the two vice ministers, and they were all connected.

Therefore, the officials in the Fengxian Hall basically did not believe such a thing, because the possibility was indeed too small.

This is why Zhan Hui could say it so openly, because he knew that other officials shared the same thoughts as him.

On the other hand, when faced with Zhan Hui's questioning, Wei Wu still responded with that nonchalant tone.

"What, in Lord Zhan's mind, the Ministry of Works will not betray the court, but I, the Duke of Zhenguo of the Great Ming Dynasty, will definitely betray the court?"