The second prince Zhang Jingyang smiled and said, "Lord Zhou, you have worked hard on the journey. Father is already waiting in the palace. Just leave this to me."
Just as Zhou Shuren was about to speak, someone around the Second Prince came back from the prisoner car and said, "Lord Lin is dead."
The second prince looked a little unhappy. He had specifically asked for the order in order to take the opportunity to put the fifth prince in the quagmire. "Lord Zhou, do you have anything to say?"
Zhou Shuren took a step forward and said, "I need to talk to the Second Prince alone."
Zhang Jingyang's eyes were full of amusement. He knew that this old fox would not be so easily tricked. "Please come in, Lord Zhou."
"Second Prince, please."
After the two men left the team, Zhou Shuren said, "Lord Lin is not dead. The one driving the fourth carriage is Lord Lin. The one who died is just a fake death row prisoner."
The second prince laughed, "Lord Zhou is one step ahead."
Zhou Shuren lowered his head and said, "I am just being more cautious."
The second prince was holding the beads, so he was an old fox. He was still thinking that Zhou Shuren would fall this time, "Lord Zhou is too modest."
Zhou Shuren curled his lips. He didn't like to have immediate worries. "Second Prince, I will go to the palace first. The rest is up to you."
Finally got rid of it, don't have to worry about it anymore!
The second prince's eyes were full of excitement. As long as he was not dead, he would skin the fifth prince alive even if there was no evidence. "Okay."
Zhou Shuren took Lord Wang into the palace alone, and Yao Zheyu was responsible for staying behind to assist the second prince.
At the palace gate, Lord Wang was tidying up his official uniform. He looked at Lord Zhou from the corner of his eye. He felt stupid. He silently put down his hand and moved closer to Lord Zhou, "Lord Zhou."
Zhou Shuren was thinking about something, "What's wrong?"
When Lord Wang saw the eunuch coming over, he closed his mouth and said, "No, it's okay."
When Zhou Shuren saw that it was Eunuch Liu, he felt upset and wanted to give him a reward, "Eunuch Liu."
Aren't you busy? His purse!
Eunuch Liu, "I haven't seen you for a few days. Master Zhou looks younger again."
Zhou Shuren said with a wooden face, "The Emperor must be anxious, please come in, Eunuch Liu."
As he spoke, Zhou Shuren handed over the purse. The smile in Eunuch Liu's eyes became even more intense. He had no children and the older he got, the more he asked for money. Lord Zhou was generous and just held the purse without pulling it. "Lord Zhou, you can let go now."
Zhou Shuren released his hand with a heartache. The palace was the biggest money-eating beast. "Hehe."
Eunuch Liu took the silver with a smile. Seeing the reluctance in Lord Zhou's eyes, he felt relieved. "Please, Lord."
Zhou Shuren held the letter and the list, "Please."
Lord Wang was being ignored. He looked at Lord Zhou with a twitching mouth. It was the first time he saw Lord Zhou's reluctant look. He glanced at Eunuch Liu and shrank his neck.
Zhou Shuren was already very familiar with the Zheng Palace. He had had a night chat with the emperor in the Zheng Palace. He followed Eunuch Liu into the Zheng Palace. Except for the second prince, everyone was there.
Zhou Shuren knelt down to pay his respects. He felt pained when he heard what Lord Wang was saying. “Your Highness.”
The emperor glanced at Zhou Shuren, and more of his eyes were on Wang Ju. The eldest son of the Wang family, he would come to the capital sooner or later. His eyes turned back to Zhou Shuren, and he understood, "Get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Zhou Shuren and Lord Wang stood up. Zhou Shuren held up the memorial and the list. "Your Majesty."
Lord Wang also held it up, "This is the register of sealed property."
Eunuch Liu took them all and stepped forward quickly. The emperor motioned to the prince, "Take a look first."
Eunuch Liu paused for a moment and quickly changed direction, "Prince."
The prince ignored the jealous looks of his brothers, reached out to take it, and first read the memorial from Lord Zhou, which described the whole incident in a clear and coherent manner without any nonsense. Then he handed it to his father, "Father."
The emperor took it and glanced at it. He knew what was on the memorial, then put it down.
The prince skipped over the list and focused on the confiscated property. The more he looked, the angrier his face became. "Lord Lin's family background is even richer than mine."
He was not really a poor prince. The money given to him by his father was little, but he had a mother. When his mother married his father, she brought a considerable dowry. His grandfather also plundered money in his conquests, and most of it was given to his mother, who then gave it to him.
The prince looked at the fifth son. He had always known that the fifth son had silver in his hand. At first he thought it was given by his mother, and as a son he would not be partial to her. But now he realized that his mother would not give a penny to the fifth son. Lord Lin's family assets were equivalent to more than 400,000 silver coins, so the fifth son must have even more.
The emperor took it and looked at it carefully, his expression turned a little ugly. The Lin family had only withheld so much money, so how much money was spent on maintaining people and soldiers in the past ten years
The emperor looked at Zhou Shuren. Should he say that he was lucky to have a lucky general? Otherwise, when the imperial power was transferred, even if he was ruthless, there would be chaos. The emperor looked at Lao Wu with sharp eyes.
The Fifth Prince was not in good health to begin with. Feeling his father's gaze, he trembled all over and instantly knelt on the ground, saying that he was innocent and suspected of being a cover-up. He could only bite the bullet and said, "My son knows nothing. Please investigate, father."
Zhou Shuren secretly thought it was a pity. This time he didn't dare to find a place to watch the show. The emperor's eyes changed. He was angry. When he saw the book of property, he was also shocked. At the same time, he was secretly lucky that this way of making money was destroyed. Otherwise, if he waited for a few more years, there would be chaos in the court.
Zhou Shuren looked at the Fifth Prince kneeling on the ground with a frown. He couldn't help but wonder, the other party hid it so deeply, did he really not realize that the Emperor knew that the Fifth Prince was a fake
Why did he always feel that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what was wrong? Never mind, everything will work out when the time comes!
The emperor seemed not to have heard what the fifth prince said. He continued to look at the booklet and silently calculated the total value in his mind. Now it was only the confiscated property from Jinzhou, and there were also several other states. The tax revenue from Jinzhou would be equivalent to one-sixth of the annual tax revenue. The annual tax revenue of the entire court was only more than 20 million taels, and this was brought by maritime trade in the past two years.
The war has been going on for a while, taxation has been very low, and the court has been withholding money. In Jinzhou alone, nearly five million taels of silver were confiscated. Although most of them were savings left by merchants for generations, where was the silver that was taken away
The third prince failed to snatch the job from his second brother, and originally wanted to add insult to injury, but when he saw his father’s gloomy face and shrank his neck, he decided to keep his mouth shut at this time.
The fourth prince didn't dare to laugh. He lowered his head and remained motionless.
Lord Wang's back was covered in sweat. There was no sound in the Zheng Palace. It was too depressing. He quickly glanced at Lord Zhou who was not affected at all. Lord Wang was silent. No wonder his father said that he could only defend and never think of surpassing Lord Zhou in this life.
Zhou Shuren looked at the Fifth Prince. He felt that if he waited any longer, the Fifth Prince would definitely faint. He was shaking all the time. After all, the Fifth Prince was the same age as Rongchuan, both fifteen. Even though he was mature mentally, he was still a child.
So many things have happened recently. This child has not been tortured crazy. His mental state is already very good. No one in ancient times should be underestimated!