After lunch, I just digested the food and prepared to go back without taking a nap in the temple.
When I was leaving, I met the abbot, who was the old monk from last night. I don’t know if he had been reminded or if he was already aware of everything, but he didn’t mention a word about what happened last night.
Before leaving, Xiao Cao put his hands together and bowed to the host, "Thank you, Master."
"Amitabha. You are so polite. You have a kind heart. You have saved people and cured diseases. You have great merits. The Bodhisattva will bless you."
Xiaocao smiled and said nothing more.
"Have all the Kaiping guards left?"
"Yes, he left after dawn. The patient you treated has woken up and looks well. You are a miracle worker." He still did not forget to praise Xiaocao.
"Xuan'er..."
"I am here. Master, I will take my leave now."
"Amitabha. Goodbye, benefactor."
The court was not peaceful today, and Emperor Xuanren was rarely angry.
After Wei Tingyu left Zhou Qunshan, he did not even return to Pingyang Marquis Mansion, but went directly to the Supervisory Office, which was located in the palace, sorted out some things, and then presented them to Emperor Xuanren. As an office directly under the emperor, the ministers of the cabinet basically did not know what happened before the matter was revealed.
Wei Tingyu presented four items in total: an account book, a record book, a memorial he wrote, and a bunch of things as evidence.
The first one, the first half records hundreds of large and small accounts of the three salt transport commissioners in Jiangbei (north of Qijiang River). The number seems small, but the problem is that these are private accounts rather than public accounts, and only for one year.
Originally, salt permits should have been issued by the government, and merchants would use the permits to obtain salt and then sell it. However, such a large amount of salt was concealed, and without salt permits, it became smuggled salt and was transported to various places to make huge profits.
Not everyone can get private salt, so it naturally requires a close relationship.
There are nearly 130 prefectures in Jiangbei, which have always been known for their wealth. There are three provincial governments, three salt transport commissioners' offices, and all the prefectures, counties and districts together have a huge and complicated relationship.
Who swallowed up so much contraband salt
The second half of the records are more complicated. It records what year, month and day someone gave something to someone, and then someone gave something to someone else, and then someone else gave something to someone else under what name. There are many variations, and finally it points directly to a certain family in the imperial city. These families all have one thing in common, that is, they have more or less relationship with Prince Dun. For example, the Yuan family, the maternal family of Prince Dun’s grandmother, is said to have sent a batch of valuable treasures last year; for example, a Shaoqing of the Taichang Temple is Prince Dun’s brother-in-law, and his wife is a concubine of Princess Dun. However, the couple sent a giant tortoise that looks like bronze but is actually pure gold to Princess Dun’s parents. In addition, there is a concubine or maid of Prince Dun’s family...
Although it was not mentioned explicitly, the meaning was obvious.
As for the second thing, it is even more interesting. Almost all the officials of the entire Qi Dynasty from the third rank and above are on the list, and there are also a few officials of the fourth and fifth ranks. Needless to say, the former are all important officials of the Qi Dynasty, and the latter are all valued by Emperor Xuanren, not only in the imperial city but also in the local areas.
It records their life experiences from the time they entered officialdom to the present, as well as their families, important relatives, and important personal connections. Each person has almost three pages. Judging from the handwriting above, the recording time is not consistent, and it is obvious that it was added bit by bit over time. The earliest record date in the booklet can be traced back to three years ago, and the content written at the beginning is also the most, and the first few decades of most people's lives are included.
Some people have almost filled up all three pages, leaving not much blank space, while some people still have a large amount of blank space.
Those who leave less blank space are almost all military generals and a small group of top civil officials.
Even people who don't understand can see something from it.
The officials who are so concerned about Qi Chao, and judging from the situation, are not Qi Chao’s own people, but people outside Qi Chao, so who are they
The most special person here is not actually these, but the last one written on it. Her surname is Li and her given name is Ruoshui. She is the only woman in the thick book. Not only is the most space taken up to record all the poems she has written, but a small portrait of her is also drawn.
Emperor Xuanren's face was so dark when he read the first part. Not only did he let someone from nowhere see so many things, but also because some of the contents themselves were really infuriating. When he read the last part, Emperor Xuanren couldn't help but twitch his mouth. What the hell is this? What's going on? Behind this, there is still an ambitious man who loves romance and poetry
Emperor Xuanren also knew of Li Ruoshui's name, but he had little interest in this girl. Even if the poems written by Li Ruoshui contained broad feelings and even lofty ambitions, they seemed empty and false when written by a girl from the inner house who had never experienced anything. Of course, Emperor Xuanren was sometimes interested in listening to poems that praised the country's rivers and mountains. No matter what, at least at the moment of listening, it could make people feel happy.
Putting these two things aside, he read Wei Tingyu's memorial again, which concisely described the entire process of discovering and finding the things. There was not a single word of nonsense in the whole memorial.
It can be said that Emperor Xuanren liked to read such memorials, which did not waste time and got straight to the point.
Finally, there is the most powerful evidence that proves the authenticity of these things.
Wei Tingyu was originally waiting in the Supervisory Office for an audience with Emperor Xuanren. After all, how could he not ask a few questions about such a big matter
Moreover, the smuggled salt in Jiangbei is not equal to the salt gathered in the hands of Prince Dun. Prince Dun does not have much power behind him, but his hands are so long and he has taken so much greedily. How could others not be tempted and not participate at all
So why is there only one Prince Dun? Wei Tingyu is waiting for the emperor to hold him accountable.
However, he did not wait for the summons until the court session, until the court session ended, and until Emperor Xuanren summoned several important officials to discuss matters in the imperial study. This whole morning was just a waste of time.
Nowadays, there is a grand court ceremony only on the first day of each month, and today happens to be March 11th.
Civil and military officials gathered together. Emperor Xuanren said nothing. He directly picked out Prince Dun and threw the booklet to him.
Prince Dun was beaten badly by the young master yesterday, but later he found that he had no injuries at all. Although he was in great pain, he did not dare to complain to me. However, let’s not talk about this matter. Fan Wuguo’s use of Kaiping Guard to abuse his power for personal gain must not be let off. It’s just that I was “unable to move”, so I had to wait until today.
The pain in his body was somewhat relieved, but he still couldn't walk freely. He could ask for leave. It was one thing to report to Fan Wuguo, but there were only three court sessions a month, and many important things would be brought up. It was an important way to understand things that he had never known before. Therefore, any prince who was qualified to stand in the court would not miss it easily.
Besides, until the end of yesterday, I didn’t know whether that bastard Fan Wuguo found anything in Guanyin Temple. I would feel uneasy if I didn’t confirm it.
As a result, who would have thought that he would be picked out by his father at the beginning of this great dynasty.
Prince Dun opened the booklet with great trepidation and flipped through it quickly. Because it involved smuggled salt, his heart skipped a beat. He flipped through the booklet quickly until he reached the back part. He didn't understand it at the beginning. After all, it was a matter in Jiangbei. How could he be allowed to personally deal with such a "little pawn"? As he read on, cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
After reading it, Prince Dun knelt on the ground and said, "Father, I am innocent."
Emperor Xuanren said with a cold face, "What did it say? Are you crying out for injustice?" He is indeed a fool.
Prince Dun choked. Indeed, a lot was written in the book, and the things were basically all in his hands in the end. However, the record in the book stopped at the beginning, and it didn't mention that the things were in his hands. Wasn't this cry of injustice tantamount to confessing one's own guilt
"No, Father, I am worried that you might misunderstand that it has something to do with me, so..."
"So, you mean, it has nothing to do with you?"
Prince Dun was not smart, but he also knew that if he really denied everything, those who were closest to him would be discouraged. Who would be willing to assist him? "Father, this matter has nothing to do with me, but I'm afraid the record above is not true..."
"The things that Kaiping Guard presented to me are not true? You went to Guanyin Temple yesterday to hinder Kaiping Guard from doing their job, wasn't it because you didn't want them to get this thing? I haven't even started to question you yet, but you want to bite back?"
"Impossible!" Prince Dun rejected it sternly. There was something in Guanyin Temple, but it had nothing to do with this. You know, just a moment ago he still believed that Fan Wuguo was abusing his power for personal gain.
"presumptuous!"
Prince Dun suddenly shuddered, "Father, please believe me, this is absolutely not the case."
"there is nothing?"
"The matter of Guanyin Temple has nothing to do with me. I just thought my cousin was naughty and wanted to stop him from making trouble by using the name of Kaiping Guard. I really don't know anything else."
Yesterday, Wei Tingyu did not find anything related to the Duke of Dun. He knew there was something, but he was not sure what it was. The Duke of Dun did not go there again, but the person who sent the things went there worriedly. It turned out to be a jade Guanyin, which was placed openly in a certain meditation room. There was a Guanyin statue in the Guanyin Temple, which was normal. It was placed carelessly, and no one would suspect it easily. Because the person went there and found out that the Guanyin statue was empty, filled with large silver bills, a huge amount of one million. It did not seem to have anything to do with the Duke of Dun, but this sum of money just made up for a certain gap, so that everything was connected.
But Prince Dun himself doesn't know this.
It was not in the booklet, but it was clearly written in Wei Tingyu's memorial.
If we count the years carefully, during the reign of Emperor Xuanren, the largest amount of disaster relief silver was only one million. This evildoer could easily embezzle one million, and this is only a part of it. The power behind this son is relatively ordinary, so what about the other sons who have powerful forces behind them
It's no wonder that Emperor Xuanren was so angry. It seems that he hasn't taken action for a few years. Do you think he is old and soft-hearted? "Pick them up and read them to me one by one."
"Father—" Prince Dun's eyes were full of pleading.
"read!"
Prince Dun did not dare to disobey and began to recite tremblingly.
At this point, it wasn't just the people from the Prince of Dun who started sweating. They themselves knew best who was involved. Even though the ones involved later were only related to the Prince of Dun, there was no reason why they couldn't find anything related to other princes and officials after listing them in such detail.
Although no one except Wei Tingyu and the other parties knew the details of what happened last night, since the people from the Nine City Military Department knew about it, they would have leaked some information to some extent. So the pursuit would obviously not be a small matter. However, would the matter in Jiangbei cause such a commotion? Could the people of Prince Dun cause such a commotion
But now is not the time to think about that.
When Prince Dun finished reading, not only was his mouth dry, but his entire body almost collapsed.
Now that it has been taken out, it means that it will not be let off easily, so this is a large-scale public execution.
"Prince Dun said before that the matters in the booklet have nothing to do with him. I would like to ask you all, does this matter have anything to do with him or not?" Emperor Xuanren said in a calm voice.
To put it in one sentence: should Prince Dun be responsible for this matter, or should the person whose name is on the list be responsible for it
He was a reasonable emperor who gave them room to choose.
The entire court fell into silence, a terrifying silence.
Finally, it was the father-in-law of Prince Dun who stood up and knelt down to plead guilty. "I know my crime, please punish me, Your Majesty."
With him as an example, others also stood up to apologize. Of course, these were people who could stand in the court. It should be noted that all officials above the fifth rank had to attend the grand court. Naturally, there were more people standing outside the hall. It didn't matter if they didn't hear what Prince Dun read. A few leading personnel were enough, and whether they were willing or not, they had to follow the opinions of those people.
Then, Emperor Xuanren made a judgment on the spot: all financial income must be handed over to the national treasury, and all people will be fined for three years' salary. Their official positions will remain unchanged. However, in the following year, the Ministry of Personnel will conduct a full-year evaluation of these people. Anyone who makes the slightest mistake will be immediately dismissed from office, and all their descendants for three generations who participate in the imperial examinations will be demoted.
This punishment can be said to be harsh and not harsh at the same time. It is harsh because Emperor Xuanren has zero tolerance for their subsequent performance. It is not harsh because after all, their lives and property are not involved. You know, there have been cases where people were beheaded for a few hundred taels of silver. In comparison, this seems nothing.
Prince Dun did not receive any specific punishment. He was just thrown outside the palace by Emperor Xuanren and made to kneel. All the civil and military officials could see it clearly. There were also the imperial guards as well. Many palace people could see his "heroic appearance". Without Prince Duan, he was the eldest son and he was really disgraced.