"Uncle Prince Xiang, what else do you have to say?"
After Huaien finished reading the letter, at the emperor's signal, he found a small pile of documents from the thick envelope and sent it to King Xiang.
It was quiet in the main hall. Only Prince Xiang looked at the several pages of documents in front of him, which clearly recorded the location of the military fields belonging to Prince Xiang's Mansion, including which army team originally belonged to them. How much grain is produced every year, and when and who delivers it to Prince Xiang’s Mansion.
There are even a few pages of land deeds, with the signature of Prince Xiang's Mansion clearly on them.
The evidence is solid!
Now, even if he wanted to deny it, it would be difficult.
Facing the emperor's question, King Xiang knew that he might not be able to be kind today. After hesitating for a moment, he glanced at Zhu Huixun next to him bitterly, but he still said sophistry.
"Your Majesty, my fiefdom is in Xiangyang, thousands of miles away from the border. How can I reach the border and occupy the farmland?"
"I really don't know where these land deeds come from. I ask for your Majesty's clarification."
Since you have chosen to die and deny it, then you can only go to the dark side.
Anyway, there is no seal of his own on it. At most, it has the signature of Prince Xiang's Mansion. At worst, he will give up these properties and say that he doesn't know.
He still didn't believe it. A mere few hundred hectares of land could really make him a vassal king...
"So, what Prince Xiang means is that these evidences are all false?"
A voice suddenly sounded in the palace, but it was not from King Min.
Zhu Zhanyang looked in the direction of the sound in surprise, and saw that the person who spoke was as tall as a green pine, with a pale face, and he felt majestic when he looked at it.
Minister of the Ministry of War, Yu Qian!
King Xiang was in a daze for a moment, and he didn't expect that it would be him who spoke.
Seeing this situation, Zhu Huixuan on the side couldn't help but sneer in his heart. This King Xiang has not yet understood what the situation is.
Today's matter may have started as a clan matter, but as he opened his mouth to impeach, the issue was raised to the military camp.
This is not just a matter of clan affairs, but a matter of state affairs!
Along with Zongwu, many ministers present indeed had no room to speak, but when it came to state affairs, how could they remain silent?
Seeing Yu Qian's obviously unkind appearance, Zhu Zhanyang hesitated for a moment, but in the end did not dare to deny it directly.
The evidence presented by King Dai was obviously not collected in one or two days. Many of the evidences were interlocking and whether they were true or false was not difficult to investigate.
The only thing he can deny now is...
"Looking at the signature on it, it is indeed the seal of the Prince's Palace. However, I really don't know about this matter. Maybe someone below him secretly accepted it and acted recklessly under the banner of Prince Xiang's Palace."
Seeing Yu Qian come forward, King Xiang immediately realized the seriousness of the problem.
If it were just a Min King, he might be able to deal with it, but if he had to fight with these ministers in the court, especially if the other party had their own handle, he would definitely not be his opponent.
Therefore, King Xiang finally chose to use the usual tricks of the vassal king after committing crimes, pushing two, five, six, and pretending to be dumbfounded.
Over the years, countless vassal kings have relied on this trick to escape countless crimes.
The wrong things are all done by the people below, and they don’t know anything.
Of course, in this case, these fields will definitely not be saved. In fact, if King Dai had not produced so much evidence, King Xiang would not even admit this guilt.
However, as soon as he said these words, Zhu Huixuan on the side couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, secretly thinking that King Xiang was still too naive.
He also didn't want to think about it. Yu Qian had stood aside and watched coldly for so long without saying a word. Now he suddenly intervened in this matter. Could it be that he was simply speaking for himself, the King of Min?
Do you really think you can get away with it this way?
Sure enough, after listening to King Xiang's argument, Yu Qian took out a thick stack of documents from his sleeve and asked.
"Prince Xiang, if it is said that these fields on the border were obtained by royal officials who deceived the prince, stole the royal seal, and granted and received privately, then are these the same?"
From a distance, King Xiang couldn't see clearly what Yu Qian took out.
However, just hearing his tone, King Xiang had an ominous premonition.
Sure enough, as the chamberlain walked down the imperial steps, took these documents from Yu Qian's hands, and presented them to the emperor, Yu Qian continued unhurriedly.
"Your Majesty, this is a memorial submitted by the censor sent by the Metropolitan Procuratorate to Qingzhang Tianmu in Xiangyang in conjunction with local officials."
“It details the official land, private land, and unnamed land actually under the control of Prince Xiang’s Mansion in Xiangyang Mansion and its surrounding areas, totaling about 3,200 hectares, which is far more than the imperial court. The fields given to King Xiang include military camps, official fields, and civilian fields."
"During the process of clearing the abbot, the censor received many complaints, accusing King Xiang of oppressing the people, buying and selling by force, and annexing land, which resulted in the death of many people and their families."
"The complaint, the yellow book and the accounting books for the past years are all attached. Your Majesty, please take a look."
At this time, even the ministers present felt a sense of surprise.
Well, they originally thought that King Min's move to impeach King Xiang would be considered a killer move.
But he didn't expect that the bigger killer move would be Yu Qian's!
As King Xiang said, his fiefdom is in Xiangyang, which is thousands of miles away from the border. If he insists that he does not know the situation at the border, it is just that someone is using his name to send the message, or his subordinates are deceiving the superiors and concealing the truth. That makes sense.
After all, the border military garrison named in Prince Xiang's Mansion was only two to three hundred hectares.
This number is not a small number for ordinary civil and military ministers, or even for noble families, but for a vassal king, it is actually just that.
They are thousands of miles apart and the number is not particularly large, so it is not impossible to quibble.
However, within his fiefdom, there are thousands of hectares of land. It is much more difficult to deny this...
"Your Majesty, rectifying the army and the garrison is a major policy of the imperial court and is beneficial to the country and the people."
"As a vassal king of a clan, you should protect the country and protect the court. However, as a great lord, King Xiang is domineering, occupying land and treating the court as if it is nothing. Now that what has happened, not only does he show no regrets, but he is also wanton. Sophistry, deceiving the saints."
"Since he arrived in the capital, he has made many mistakes. His majesty has been merciful and respectful of his relatives, and he has never been able to bear the blame. However, relying on your majesty's kind heart, King Xiang has become more and more unscrupulous, causing many clan members to criticize him repeatedly. He is so untalented and unvirtuous. How can a person who cannot do his best for the imperial court and has lost the virtue of the clan be in charge of the clan's mansion and set an example for the clan?"
"Your Majesty, please think again!"
With Yu Qian coming forward to increase the pressure, how could Zhu Huixuan let go of this opportunity? Before King Xiang could react, he immediately followed, knelt down and spoke.
At the same time, a group of clan disciples below also reacted, and all of them followed, knelt down and spoke.
"Your Majesty, please think again!"
"Your Majesty, minister..."
King Xiang did not expect that almost in a moment, he would become the object of condemnation by the whole court.
At this moment, a large group of Wuwu Yangyang's clan disciples, led by King Min and Yu Qian, made another petition with great momentum, as if King Xiang was already unable to stop the discussion, and instantly drowned out his voice to defend himself.
On the throne, the emperor stared at the documents in front of him. After a long while, he finally spoke.
"Uncle Prince Xiang, in recent days, you have been working endlessly on religious affairs, and you must be very tired. Earlier, the imperial doctor also said that the emperor's uncle's injury must be well rested. For the sake of the emperor's health, he handed over his errands first. , rest peacefully in the Tenth Prince’s Mansion.”
"As for the matters related to Zongxue, I will leave it to the uncle of King Min to take care of it for the time being."
"His Majesty……"
Prince Xiang's face turned pale and he spoke with a trembling voice.
However, before he could continue to speak, when he raised his head, he was met with the emperor's stern gaze.
As a result, King Xiang immediately calmed down.
Nowadays, the emperor still cares about the friendship between his uncle and nephew, or to be more precise, he cares about the face of his clan relatives.
Therefore, there was no mention of charges or punishment, only that he should "rest for a period of time."
However, if he insists again and again, then the emperor will be forced to put all the evidence on the table for careful review.
After thinking about this, Zhu Zhanchen took a deep breath and said.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
After he finished speaking, King Xiang raised his head and felt the looks of pity, pride, disdain, or contempt from all directions, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of shame and anger in his heart.
His eyes swept over Zhu Huixun, who looked like he was succeeding in his treacherous plot, and Zhu Zhanzhen's eyes finally focused on Yu Qian, who was standing in the hall and speaking righteously.
"Yu Shaobao, it is true that the Qiancheng of the country is also there!"
Almost gritting his teeth, King Xiang spoke to Yu Qian, but he could not hide the hatred flowing between the lines.
Obviously, in King Xiang's view, if Yu Qian hadn't stepped in at this time and exposed the land in Xiangyang, then even if King Min and King Dai joined forces, he would always have a chance to escape.
Of course, in addition to this, there is another very important reason.
In the eyes of King Xiang, whether he is King Min or King Dai, he is always a vassal king and a clan member of the Zhu family. It is natural for them to fight against King Xiang.
However, Yu Qian, a civil servant, dared to interfere in the affairs of the clan, and dared to help King Min to impeach him, the king of the Zhu family, which was simply the following crime!
However, King Xiang looked down on Yu Qian and felt that it was disrespectful for a mere minister to offend the vassal king.
But similarly, in Yu Qian's eyes, a vassal king like King Xiang who made no contribution to the country and only knew how to cause trouble to the court and suck blood from the treasury was also not worthy of any respect.
What's more, with the development of the Ming Dynasty to this day, it is almost impossible for the vassal king to interfere in the government affairs.
The status of King Xiang may be able to intimidate local officials, but for an important minister like Qian, although he can't offend him, he will not offend him, but if he does offend him, he will offend him.
Therefore, facing King Xiang's obviously sarcastic words, Yu Qian just calmly cupped his hands and said.
"My lord, you are ridiculous. I am just loyal to my duty and sharing your majesty's worries."
"Okay, okay, okay!"
King Xiang's eyes paused on Yu Qian's face for a moment, then he suddenly laughed and said.
"I admire Yu Shaobao's unselfishness. The accumulated abuses in the army were not accomplished in a day. It was difficult and arduous and involved many things. It is really difficult to describe. Today, Yu Shaobao impeached me impartially. There is evidence, and I will accept it." .”
"It's just that since Yu Shaobao is responsible for the affairs of the imperial court, he must treat other kings equally, right?"
After the words fell, Yu Qian's eyes flashed, and he had already guessed what he was going to say next, but even if he knew, his answer would not change.
Yu Qian bowed slightly and said calmly.
"It's natural!"
"Okay, then I will ask you a question!"
Logically speaking, with what the emperor said just now, King Xiang should be ready to resign.
But at this moment, King Xiang was obviously unable to control his emotions. After receiving Yu Qian's answer, his expression suddenly became excited.
His voice rose, he raised his right hand, pointed it straight at Zhu Huixun aside, and asked sternly.
"Regulating the military and military settlements is a major matter of the imperial court, so does Min Fan have no crime?"
"Since Yu Shaobao is impartial and impartial in impeachment, why do you only submit to Your Majesty the evidence that our Xiangfan has invaded and occupied land?"
The ministers looked at King Xiang's excitement and sighed inwardly.
Well, this Prince Xiang seems to be completely crazy. He can't escape unscathed. No matter what he plans to do, he will have two people behind him.
King Xiang's eyes wandered between Yu Qian and Zhu Huixun, his voice suddenly became lower, and he spoke in a sinister manner.
"Or is it that Yu Shaobao has been secretly colluding with King Min for a long time, just to join forces today to bring down this king?"
"Or maybe you feel that the late emperor has passed away and I have no one to support you in the court, so you attack me first?"
Two words, and there is murderous intention in speaking.
The former sentence refers to the court ministers secretly making friends with the clan, and the latter sentence implies that Yu Qian bullied the clan and violated the dignity of the clan.
No matter which one of them, once it is confirmed, it will be a death penalty, which shows the hatred of King Xiang at this moment.
However, what King Xiang didn't expect was that after he asked the question, the first person to refute was not Yu Qian himself, but...
"Uncle Prince Xiang!"
In the Wenhua Palace, the emperor's expression was gloomy. After everyone entered the palace, he gave a rare drink and said in a cold voice.
"You made a mistake!"
With a simple sentence, Prince Xiang, who was standing in the palace, suddenly felt a heavy imperial power coming towards his face. For no reason, he felt a chill on his back.
After pausing for a moment, the emperor pondered a little and said.
"Just now you accused King Min of colluding with King Dai without any evidence, and now you are accusing important officials of the imperial court of colluding with the vassal king based on your own assumptions. Uncle Xiang, as a Zongzheng, you usually judge the affairs of the clan based on your own preferences. Right or wrong?"
As he spoke, a look of disappointment flashed across the emperor's face, he shook his head and said.
"It seems that I really shouldn't hand over the clan's residence to the emperor's uncle. I express my gratitude and convey the decree to remove King Xiang from his position as the great clan leader. I will be banned from the ten princes' palaces to think about my mistakes. I will not leave without permission without decree!"
King Xiang was in a daze for a while, but he didn't expect that the emperor, who had been silent from beginning to end, would actually become really angry at this moment.
You know, even just now, the emperor only asked him to hand over his errands and return home to recuperate. Although the result was the same, he still saved some face.
But now, as soon as this decree comes out, it is considered a real punishment.
What exactly is going on……
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