Emperor Mu stood up and glanced around the hall with his cold eyes: "Rong Cang, Qi Jin, Xie Lin, the two ministers from the Ministry of Revenue, Dou Hong'an, will follow me to the Qinzheng Hall to discuss matters, and the others will retreat."
Yang Dexi sang loudly: "Retreat from the court——"
Emperor Mu threw up his sleeves and left: "Yang Dexi, the commander of the Nine Gates Imperial Army has come to the palace to discuss matters!"
"This slave obeys your orders."
"There are also Prince An and Prince Kang. Since they both have titles, it's time to help me relieve my worries and call them over!"
"Yes, I will go and convey the order." Yang Dexi paused slightly, turned around and called out to the few young eunuchs following him, and gave them the order one by one, "You, immediately take the two of them to convey the order to the Commander-in-Chief of the Nine Gates Forbidden Army. , you, go and tell the two princes, don’t delay, go quickly.”
"yes."
Arriving at the Qinzheng Hall, Emperor Mu could not suppress his anger. He waved his hand and swept away the mountains of memorials on the imperial case to the ground: "A bunch of treacherous sycophants! Corrupt officials! These are the officials under my rule. For three whole years, every year There was a flood last year, and I was worried about the people. I was afraid that the money allocated would not be able to solve our urgent needs! It would be better for them to deceive me from the beginning to the end! I am a fool!"
Rong Cang and Qi Jin stood far away, waiting for the emperor to vent his anger before stepping forward.
They are not the old foxes in the court. They are not good at kneeling down to plead guilty and shouting that they deserve to die. They are also not good at flattering, so they can only wait quietly.
The two ministers of the Ministry of Libu and the Minister of Hubu were good at it, but seeing His Royal Highness the King of War silently, Prince Qi silently, and Uncle Xie Xiaoguo silently, they naturally huddled behind the three of them in front of the quail, keeping silent to keep safe.
After Emperor Mu vented his anger, he finally calmed down and sat down on the dragon chair covered with bright yellow silk cushions. He frowned slightly and covered his heart calmly.
The chamberlains knelt down tremblingly, packed up the memorials, and placed them neatly on the imperial desk.
"I just learned today that the power of King Chen and the Prime Minister's party has reached such an extent." Emperor Mu's voice was cold, hoarse with a hint of anger, "They were able to hide the truth and deceive the emperor for three years. I don’t know how many officials there are, I feel terrible just thinking about it!”
"Your Majesty." Uncle Xie Xiaoguo took a few steps closer and bowed to report, "After I took over the household department, I took the time to check the details of the amount of silver entering and exiting the treasury every day. So far this year, there are not many major expenses. In addition to the fixed support from the military camp, The rest are the monthly schedules and expenses of the harem and concubines, and the Ministry of Industry allocated funds to the two princes to repair their mansions... But I roughly checked the account books of last year and the year before last, and found that many of the accounts were inconsistent."
Emperor Mu narrowed his eyes: "Is there something wrong with the accounts?"
"Yes." Uncle Xie Xiaoguo nodded, "Because I have only been in charge for a short time, I haven't carefully checked the specific problems yet, but there is something I have to report."
"explain."
"After the previous Minister of Household Affairs returned to his hometown, he died of illness on the way home." Uncle Xie Xiaoguo lowered his head, with a slender posture and a calm tone, "I think there must be something fishy in this."
"Zhang Shangshu is dead?" Emperor Mu was startled.
"Yes." Uncle Xie Xiaoguo nodded, "I noticed that there was something wrong with the accounts of the Ministry of Accounts. As soon as I took over, I found someone to ask about Zhang Shangshu's work style during his reign. I also took advantage of my position in the Ministry of Punishment to send someone to check Zhang Shangshu's work style. Some things happened before and after Shangshu returned to his hometown, and I accidentally learned that he had died of illness on the way back to his hometown."
Emperor Mu's expression darkened: "Do you think there was something fishy about his death?"
Uncle Xie Xiaoguo said calmly: "I suspect there is something fishy, but I cannot rely on you to guess the inside story. We need to investigate before we can draw a conclusion."
Emperor Mu raised his eyes and looked at the two ministers of household affairs who were summoned by him.
Meeting the emperor's gaze, the right servant knelt down tremblingly: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I don't know anything..."
Zuo Shilang was the newcomer who had just taken office after Chu Yuanzhong was demoted. He was only thirty years old. No matter what mistakes the previous minister had, they could not be blamed on him. He seemed quite calm at this time.
But there are priorities.
Emperor Mu obviously had no plans to pursue him for the time being, so he just said calmly: "You should check the accounts of the household department slowly first. When you find something wrong, just report it to me. The most important thing right now is to investigate the Shuozhou disaster case first. .”
"yes."
"Select a few young officials from the Ministry of Justice who are not afraid of trouble to go to Shuozhou with you." Emperor Mu picked up the tea cup and said in a deep voice, "I will arrange more guards for you to ensure your safety on this trip."
"Uncle, when I came back from the southern border, I brought a hundred elite followers with me." Qi Jin said, "Uncle, just arrange some more people who will obey orders openly."
Emperor Mu was silent for a moment: "There is nothing to worry about in Shuozhou City, but the Gu family is too powerful and we have to guard against it. When you arrive in Shuozhou, you are entering the Gu family's sphere of influence. I cannot avoid worrying about your safety."
This is the advantage of the sky being high and the emperor being far away.
The Gu family has a great cause. Over the years, their influence has been deeply rooted in the surrounding areas. They are far away from the imperial court. They are the local emperors.
Even if the imperial officials are gone, their lives may be in danger at any time as long as their interests are threatened.
"If your father trusts you, I will leave the investigation of Shuozhou to you." Rong Cang said calmly, "I guarantee that Qi Jin and Xie Lin'an can go safely and bring the truth to them safely." return."
Qi Jin smiled and said: "His Royal Highness the War King is a military general. Although he is not as cunning as those old foxes, he is still a cunning soldier. Even with the strategies on the battlefield, the Gu family is definitely no match for His Highness the War King. Don't worry, uncle."
Emperor Mu's thoughts moved slightly, and his eyes fell on Rong Cang's face: "In this case, I will give you full responsibility for the Shuozhou matter, and give you the right to kill first and then report. If there are officials who interfere with it, they will be killed and arrested. Catch him and never tolerate anyone!"
Rong Cang lowered his eyebrows: "My son, I accept the order."
"Your Majesty." Yang Dexi hurried in and reported respectfully, "The two highnesses Prince An and Prince Kang are here."
Emperor Mu said: "Let them come in."
The two princes walked into the Qinzheng Hall neatly dressed, with lowered eyebrows and lowered eyes. They knelt down and saluted: "My sons, please see your father."
"Rong Li, Rong Yang." Emperor Mu took a sip of tea and put the tea cup on the table at hand, "As princes, you two were neglected in the past. It was my fault, but now that you have been granted the title of county prince, When you have to accept an errand, you have to accept an errand."
"Please give me your instructions, Father."
"Just follow Rong Cang's orders." Emperor Mu waved his hand, "From now on, you can just go to the Zhanwang Mansion to discuss matters. There is no need to come and repay me."
"yes."
Dou Hongan silently turned to look at Prince An, thinking that he had chosen his daughter to be his wife in the imperial garden, and at this time the emperor sent them to the King of War, and he couldn't help but wonder whether the seventh prince fell in love with Huiran at first sight. A coincidence, or a meaningful choice?
Prince An and Prince Kang have been powerless for so many years. Once they have an errand, they will probably be like the upstart students who just entered the court, either full of ambition or choosing a good master.
The emperor asked them to obey the King of War, was he planning to let these two princes help the King of War in the future, and take advantage of the situation to draw him, the official minister, into the King of War's camp?
