After all the officials entered the palace, the receptionist heard the bell ringing, so he shouted loudly in the eunuch's unique high-pitched voice: "Go to court."
Then all the ministers saluted, and the prince also stood up from his chair, waiting for the emperor and the queen to come to the court.
The guard of honor, the wing screen, the palace maids, the eunuchs, and Ya Le cooperated tacitly, and slowly walked out from behind the screen at the same time. Everything was like a movie, after many moves and coordination, the court process was carried out in an orderly manner. The proper etiquette.
The ministers held different banbans according to the size of the officials. Li Hong lowered his hands naturally and followed the ministers to salute the emperor and the queen, because today is basically the last court meeting before Yuan Day, and this court meeting is celebrated as a celebration. The queen's appearance did not make the ministers feel that it was beyond the rules of etiquette.
What's more, when His Majesty and the Crown Prince were campaigning in Liaodong, when the Crown Prince was campaigning in Anxi, and when Your Majesty was in poor health, the Queen had presided over the affairs of the court many times. Therefore, the Queen's appearance today has long been accustomed to the ministers in the court. .
Different from the Great Court Meeting, today's court meeting is more like a work report meeting. Zhongshu Ling will present various local memorials, and the Shangshu Ling will summarize the situation of the entire Tang Dynasty for a year. In short, today is mainly about work celebrations, supplemented by listening to political affairs. .
As a result, there is no need for the Huangmen Shilang to report auspicious omens in the Yuan Dynasty, the Minister of Household Affairs to report the contributions of various states, and the Minister of Rites to report the tributes of various states and foreign countries.
The wind opens the festival, and the gray rhythm moves the early sun. Hundreds of barbarians are worshiping Xia Zui, and all the nations are still in power. Although there is no trace of Shun and Yu, I am glad that the world is healthy. The carriage tracks are the same as the eight tables, and the writings are mixed in all directions. He Yiyan is wearing all the crowns and colorful clothes. Yu Yao galloped along the road, and the bells and drums shook the rock corridor. The group practice is glowing, and the frost halberd shines in the morning light. Morning and night, I cherish the truth, but in the end I am ashamed to caress the wilderness.
Pei Yan started with the late emperor Li Shimin's "Zhengri Fa Chao", and after nearly half an hour of sonorous and powerful expressions, he made a simple summary of the situation of the Tang Dynasty in one year.
"Please ask the minister to make a speech and give instructions..." The voice of the ceremony officer sounded again in the main hall of Xuanzheng Hall.
Li Hong slowly stood up from the chair. Today's behavior of His Royal Highness in the court is very different from that of the past. Everyone, including Li Zhi and Wu Mei, felt Li Hong's different past.
Today, he looks the same on the surface as usual, but a pair of deep eyes shine with a calm, incomprehensible light, making it impossible to see what secrets are hidden in those abyss-like eyes.
"I would like to report to my father, my mother, and all the courtiers. Since my son and his father personally conquered Liaodong, they have not been in the court for half a year. Therefore, today, there is a Zuo Pu She urging the Yuan Dynasty in Shangshu Province." Li Hong looked calm, Looking at Li Zhi with a curious face.
Wu Mei, on the other hand, was just like Li Hong who was sitting on the chair just now, with his eyes drooped and as calm as an old monk sitting still, silent.
"Yes." Li Zhi glared at Li Hong secretly.
Li Hong continued to sit back on the chair without any expression. He urged Yuan Zong to slowly walk out from among the ministers, saluted Li Zhi, Wu Mei, and Li Hong, and then began a brief memorial to the general chapter of Shangshu Province.
As Ji Yuan Zong's memorial came to an end, Pei Yan looked at Fang Xianzhong, but Fang Xianzhong ignored Pei Yan's questioning eyes when he was aware of it.
Everything is unusually calm today, and I am afraid it will be the time for the prince to take action next.
But from the beginning to the end, Li Hong had been sitting on his chair without moving. As the memorial to Yuan Zong was finished, and as the high-pitched voice of the ceremony officer came up again, Fang Xianzhong was the first among the ministers. He stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I apologize."
"Apologise? Zhongshu ordered Pei Yan and Zuo Pushe to tell me about the prosperity and peace of the Tang Dynasty for a year, but you want to plead guilty in the name of the Minister of Industry?" Li Zhi glanced at the court curiously, but he didn't expect it. It was Fang Xianzhong who took the initiative to plead guilty.
"Returning to your majesty, I know that I cannot escape the blame, but in fact I have no choice but to do so. Your Majesty ordered me to start the reconstruction of Prince Wu's Mansion immediately after the first day. However, the Ministry of Industry that I am in charge of now cannot come up with the money to rebuild Prince Wu's Mansion. Please punish me." Fang Xianzhong glanced at Li Hong and saw that Li Hong still had no response, so he had to lower his head and wait for His Majesty's questioning.
"What about the money?" Li Zhi was not angry, and glanced at Li Hong casually, and then looked at Fang Xianzhong again.
Fang Xianzhong glanced at Li Hong again. Li Hong still didn't look at him. He couldn't help but murmur in his heart. Could he really save his life by doing this
But he had already reached the court, and he couldn't help but flinch, so he had to bite the bullet and said: "Back to Your Majesty, the silver from the Ministry of Industry was secretly misappropriated by His Highness the Crown Prince and allocated to the Ministry of War. However, the whereabouts of this money was given to Quanzhou Shipyard.”
"Your Majesty, what Mr. Fang said is true, but His Highness the Prince did not misappropriate it privately, but misappropriated it when the Ministry of Industry had a surplus of silver. This year, the Prince led Mr. Fang to inspect the disaster management along the Yellow River. At that time, the Ministry of Industry There is still plenty of money, and before this, His Royal Highness has already used the money from the Ministry of Works." Ren Yaxiang, Minister of the Ministry of War, stood up and said.
"Your Majesty, I believe that His Royal Highness, as the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, should not misappropriate the original silver coins of various ministries at will, but should explain clearly why he misappropriated the silver coins to go to Quanzhou." Di Renjie, the minister of Dali Temple, was glanced at by Li Zhi Finally, he stood up and said.
From the beginning to the end, Wu Mei did not raise her head to look at the court, as if this had nothing to do with her, it was just a fight between ordinary courtiers in the court, and the prince was not involved.
The Minister of Rites took a look at Di Renjie and said calmly: "Master Di, since Master Fang is asking your Majesty to apologize, should we first let Master Fang explain why the Ministry of Works suffered such a huge loss? Master Ren has already said that after the prince embezzled , the Ministry of Industry still has plenty of money.”
Di Renjie took his time and said with a smile: "Whether it is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince first or the Minister of the Ministry of Industry after that, in short, the money from the Ministry of Industry must be made clear where it goes. As for who comes first and who comes last, His Highness the Crown Prince, as the Crown Prince of the Tang Dynasty, will be the first to make it clear. , wouldn’t it be too late for Mr. Fang to tell you the whereabouts of the other coins?”
Li Qiao, the imperial censor, stood among the ministers with a smile and said calmly: "The differences mentioned by Lord Di, since Lord Fang pleads guilty, it is natural that Lord Fang is the first to express his guilt. As for His Highness the Crown Prince's misappropriation of silver to go to Quanzhou, no matter what Anyway, it’s not going to be spent in the East Palace, so I think it’s better to let Mr. Fang speak out first.”
"Fang Xianzhong, you know what I used for the five million taels of silver, right?" Seeing that Di Renjie was about to speak, Li Hong waved his hand, interrupting Di Renjie's words.
In the court, those who expressly support you naturally support you, and those who expressly do not support you do not necessarily mean that they do not support you.
Regarding Di Renjie's reaction, Li Hong did not think that Di Renjie did not support him. On the contrary, he wanted to know what he had talked about with his mother last night.
Now, his actions seemed to be relieving Fang Xianzhong, but in fact he was testing for himself whether Fang Xianzhong could be trusted.
"Yes, I know the cost of your silver, but there are five million taels of silver from the Ministry of Industry, plus the silver that you have embezzled from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War, the total value exceeds ten million taels, but Quanzhou can only go to sea for five million taels. A giant ship, and before that, three similar giant ships sank in the sea for five to seven days, and the third one only lasted ten days, and then followed in the footsteps of the first two giant ships. , completely sank in the sea. In this way, the eight giant ships cost more than ten million taels of silver. I think there must be corruption among them. After all, I am the minister of the Ministry of Industry, not the navy commander Cui Zhi. However, I am proficient in canals and can build a luxuriously decorated giant ship with only a few hundred thousand taels for a five-tooth battleship. The Quanzhou giant ship is obviously worth only a few hundred thousand taels each. The rest of the money is unknown to your highness. Where did the money go?" Fang Xianzhong stared at the ground, but a pair of feet slowly appeared in his sight.
The sweat on his forehead became more and more as the feet got closer to him, and even squinted into his eyes. The bitter and uncomfortable feeling made him dare not reach out to wipe it, so he had to lower his head and try hard. Blinking.
"You are right, but in fact four ships were sunk, not three, and the cost of these four ships was more than double the price of the five ships that can sail today. But you know Why is it so expensive?" Li Hong patted Fang Xianzhong on the shoulder, which made Fang Xianzhong tremble and almost fall to the ground.
"I don't know, so I hope that His Highness can give me a reasonable explanation." Fang Xianzhong continued to lower his head, feeling Li Hong's fingers hitting his shoulder with a rhythm.
"Okay, it's okay for me to explain to you, but I'm done explaining, can you explain to me?" Li Hong faced Fang Xianzhong again and motioned for Fang Xianzhong to raise his head and look at him.
Fang Xianzhong wanted to see signs of a transaction in Li Hong's eyes, but those deep eyes were like an endless whirlpool. Not only could he not see his intentions clearly, but it made him even more flustered.
Pei Yan watched all this quietly. Fang Xianzhong went to Di Renjie's house yesterday. Although he was not invited by Di Renjie to narrate the story, the time he spent at the door for half a stick of incense was enough for the two to make a deal.
Di Renjie's words in the court today were clearly biased in favor of Fang Xianzhong. It seems that Di Renjie and Fang Xianzhong reached an agreement yesterday, so should he add fuel to the flames at this time and make His Royal Highness the Prince a thousand How many thousand taels of silver can you tell
Thinking of this, Pei Yan calmly observed the expressions of Li Zhi and Wu Mei. Seeing that their attention was on Li Hong, he confirmed in his mind and took two steps forward and said: "Your Majesty, As the saying goes, "Princes who break the law are guilty of the same crime as the common people." I believe that no matter what the purpose is for His Royal Highness to misappropriate silver from the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the Ministry of War to build a giant ship, it is obviously impossible to explain that His Highness the Crown Prince's move is for our great benefit. According to Tang's consideration, it is obvious that His Royal Highness has other selfish motives."
(End of chapter)