Over the years, Emperor Yuanfeng had only suffered such humiliating injustice before he seized the throne. Since he had worked hard to expand his territory and killed or exiled those people, he had never felt so ashamed again. He came with high hopes, but left with disappointment.
Sun Yongning's face couldn't just be described as ugly. As the Minister of War, he was naturally the first to bear the brunt. No one knew better than him what this scene in the competition meant.
This made him even more horrified and he felt like he was trembling all over.
He knew that the people below had their own plans, but he didn't expect such an incredible mistake to happen. What was going on? This was the annual competition of the three camps. Even if the emperor was not there in person, it was still a big event.
The Beijing Camp was commanded by Song Che himself. Logically speaking, no one should be deducted from the Beijing Camp's expenses.
Is Wen Runze out of his mind?!
The situation was already extremely embarrassing, but who would have thought that the Tartars from the grassland royal court would cause trouble again, bursting into laughter and mocking the elite troops of the Beijing camp.
Emperor Yuanfeng hated being threatened the most in his life, especially the Tartars who had repeatedly invaded the borders of the country in recent years. During the reign of the deposed emperor a few years ago, they had even come to Beijing, which made him feel even more humiliated. Now that the people of the grassland royal court had witnessed such a joke in front of him, one can imagine how angry he was.
After the matter was over, Sun Yongning was almost pale, and he couldn't wait for everyone to disperse. He changed his clothes and went straight to the tent of Prime Minister Yang Bo. As soon as he entered the door, he knelt on the ground and said, "Master, save me!"
Yang Bo was not in charge of the tent. Gao Ping sighed and helped Sun Yongning up. Cai asked solemnly, "How could you do such a stupid thing?!"
Seeing that Yang Bo was not there, Sun Yongning was panicked and frightened. He spat in frustration, then let out a long breath and cursed in Minnan dialect: "Who the hell could have thought that those people would be so bold!? You know that Wen Runze is Zheng Siyu's brother-in-law. It's usually the master who said that we should be more lenient with those with the surname Zheng. Others don't know who is behind the Zhengs, but don't we know it in our hearts? In the final analysis, behind Zheng Siyu is Xu Ci Fu. Our master doesn't want to offend Ci Fu, so I have always listened to the master, turning a blind eye and not bothering to care about their business. But who knows, I don't care about their business, they are really lawless."
If it was something else it would be fine, but what time and situation was this
Even if he relied on Xu Shun's support, Wen Runze was too bold! They actually cut the expenses of the Beijing Camp to this extent!
Sun Yongning was not stupid at all. He touched his forehead and was so worried that his hair turned white overnight. "I think the Marquis of Guangping has lost his patience and deliberately chose this day to make a fuss. What is he afraid of? He is the uncle of His Majesty. His Majesty favors him very much. This is something everyone knows. If this matter is not made public, he will suffer in secret. But this Marquis is not the kind of person who will suffer in secret..."
Gao Ping could fully understand Sun Yongning's current mood. He put his hands to his lips and coughed. Seeing that Sun Yongning was still nervous, he sighed and advised seriously: "Forget it, you are a minister after all. How can you be scared like a quail? Let's put other things aside for now. The weapons that the Arsenal and Equipment Department gave to the Beijing Camp this time were not handled by you, right?"
"It didn't pass through my hands!" Sun Yongning flatly denied: "Am I stupid? Carrying the sedan chair for those people?"
"Then there's no need to rush!" Gao Ping snorted coldly, narrowing his eyes and saying, "Now that the old Prime Minister has been ordered to go to the Qinzheng Palace, we can't panic first. Anyway, the matter has not happened to you, so let's wait and see."
In the Qinzheng Hall of the other palace, Emperor Yuanfeng was furious and, in a rare move, he scolded all the ministers who came in.
When asked about Song Che, Song Che was particularly confused and angry. He insisted that he had no prior knowledge of this. His face turned red with anger: "This batch of things was recently received by the Arsenal Department of the Ministry of War. Because I knew there was a big competition, I was reluctant to take out the weapons and armor. I came here specially to wait for the day of the big competition to show my power..."
Song Che knelt on the ground. Although his back was still straight, his hair had turned a lot whiter. As he spoke, he pursed his lips and smiled bitterly with a tired look: "This old minister really did not expect that the batch of things given by the Ministry of War would be like this..."
Everyone could understand what he had not said.
Yes, if you put yourself in their shoes, no one, unless they are crazy, will fail at such a critical moment.
Song Che's words were directed at the Ministry of War.
Yang Bo's eyebrows twitched suddenly.
And Xu Shun, who was standing next to him, also had a flash of anxiety between his brows.
Emperor Yuanfeng looked at Song Che for a moment, then called him up personally: "What did uncle do wrong? It was those people who were just sitting there doing nothing who were so bold. Uncle never wanted something like this to happen. Don't worry, I will get to the bottom of it!"
As soon as the words fell, everyone's expressions changed.
Emperor Yuanfeng immediately ordered Gao Ping from the Ministry of Justice and Du Ce from the Censorate to investigate the incident of passing inferior goods off as good ones.
Emperor Yuanfeng was furious. Gao Ping, Du Ce and others did not have time to return to the capital, so they discussed the case in the tent overnight.
In fact, it is not difficult to investigate this matter thoroughly. The things that the Arsenal and Equipment Department gave to the Beijing Camp are all known in number. There are records of who they were given to and when they were given to them. As long as we find the registration book and find out who used the seal, it will be clear where the problem with the things came from.
But the problem was that when the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate sent people to look for the Ministry of War's booklet, the booklet had disappeared.
At the same time, Wen Runze, who had already been in a state of panic, appeared in front of Xu Chong. He knocked his head until it was red, swollen and bleeding, but he still did not dare to relax for a moment. He knocked his head heavily on the ground with red eyes from crying, and begged Xu Chong for help: "Sir, sir, you must save my life, sir!"
Xu Chong was furious. Seeing him crawling towards him and trying to hug his legs, he kicked him without thinking and sneered, "You are so evil! You are like a silver in a frying pan. You can't wait to reach out and grab it. Aren't you afraid of burning your hands? Why do you make such a mistake in this matter and let others catch you!"
Wen Runze was kicked upside down, but he didn't care about the embarrassment. He climbed up crying and lay there crying loudly.