Chapter 189 The Troublesome Fang Xuanling

"If that's the case, then we'll do as Minister Wei says..."

Li Shimin wanted to quickly agree to Wei Zheng's request.

It's quite clear that Chu Suiliang could not have killed Li Daliang in Longxi.

There must be something fishy about this.

He didn't want to bear the reputation of wrongly killing a minister.

"His Majesty!"

But at that moment, a voice interrupted them.

Fang Xuanling stepped forward and bowed, saying, "I cannot agree with what Wei Zheng said!"

"A prisoner is a prisoner; how can you claim to be exempt from criminal status?"

"If he hurts more people as a result, who should bear the consequences?"

well.

Li Shimin sighed.

Fang Xuanling still stepped forward.

He gave Wei Zheng a wink, signaling him to continue...

Wei Zheng's expression was slightly solemn!

Fang planned and Du made decisions.

Fang Xuanling was no different from others.

Having served as the Left Minister for many years and having spent a long time navigating the officialdom, he was much more difficult to deal with than other officials!

“Xuanling, what I meant by releasing Chu Suiliang is not that I want to release him.”

"I just hope they won't be convicted before the truth is revealed!"

"If he goes to jail for this, it could very well discourage a loyal subject!"

Wei Zheng hesitated for a moment before slowly speaking.

"He didn't do it; the imperial court will clear his name!"

Fang Xuanling turned around and replied seriously, "Wasn't this matter handed over to the Dali Temple for trial?"

Sure enough, Fang Xuanling seized on this point and wouldn't let it go!

"Was Chu Suiliang a criminal?" Wei Zheng asked rhetorically.

"certainly!"

Fang Xuanling replied firmly, "No matter how eloquent you, Wei Zheng, are, you cannot change one fact..."

"The order to execute Li Daliang was personally given by Chu Suiliang!"

Upon hearing this, all the ministers nodded in agreement.

This statement is unsolvable.

If Wei Zheng is engaging in sophistry and unreasonable arguments, then he is distorting the facts!

All the ministers looked at Wei Zheng one by one.

Is Lao Wei finally going to be rendered speechless by being roasted?

"What crime did he commit?"

Wei Zheng suddenly said something.

Fang Xuanling frowned: "Wasn't what I just said clear enough?"

"I understand."

Wei Zheng suddenly laughed: "But the question is, who convicted him?"

"The Court of Judicial Review has not yet reached a verdict, and His Majesty has not yet made a decision."

"How did Chu Suiliang become a prisoner?"

this……

The courtiers were dumbfounded.

Yes, who convicted him?

It appears they were escorted here by the Li family of Longxi.

"When Chu Suiliang ordered the execution of Li Daliang, not a single official in Liangzhou tried to stop him."

"Once the executions are complete, they'll all jump out one by one and capture Chu Suiliang!"

Swish...

Wei Zheng swept his piercing gaze across the assembled officials: "Can't you all see the strangeness in this?"

The courtiers were speechless.

That seems to make some sense.

At this moment, Fang Xuanling spoke up again: "His Majesty has ordered the Court of Judicial Review to thoroughly investigate this matter and has already revoked Chu Suiliang's power. He is now a prisoner!"

Wei Zheng retorted without backing down: "You yourself said it was just a thorough investigation, not a conclusion!"

"Chu Suiliang is a prime suspect!"

"Suspicion does not prove that he did it!"

"The Court of Judicial Review has the right to arrest him!"

"His Majesty has not dismissed Chu Suiliang from his post!"

"Wei Zheng, are you trying to condone criminals?"

"Fang Xuanling, are you trying to mislead the public and let the real culprit go unpunished?"

The two prime ministers were arguing fiercely in front of the palace.

The ministers, however, had become accustomed to it!

It is perfectly normal for disagreements and arguments to occur in the imperial court!

Li Shimin watched the scene with a strange expression.

They are both my right-hand men; it's not good to favor one over the other.

But this arguing can't go on...

Just as Li Shimin was about to stop it, Wei Shuyu stepped forward...

"Uncle Fang..."

However, before Wei Shuyu could finish speaking, Fang Xuanling interrupted him.

"Don't speak!"

Fang Xuanling's eyes widened.

Old Wei is troublesome enough, how can we handle Little Wei as well?

"What do you mean by that, Uncle Fang?"

Wei Shuyu ignored this and said to himself, "His Majesty advocates opening up channels for free speech, so that everyone in the world can speak freely!"

"Besides, this is the imperial court. If Uncle Fang doesn't allow his ministers to speak, does he intend to make decisions arbitrarily?"

Fang Xuanling's lips twitched.

Xiao Wei is no pushover either...

But how could I let you and Lao Wei criticize me together?

Um.

Let's take down Xiao Wei first!

"Shuyu, as an official appointed by the imperial court and running the Wenyun Pavilion for business, do you know that you have committed a grave taboo?"

Swish.

Fang Xuanling turned around and bowed to Li Shimin: "Your Majesty, Wei Shuyu is competing with the people for profit. I humbly request Your Majesty to dismiss him from his post!"

Huh?

The courtiers were taken aback.

Unexpectedly, Fang Xuanling, who always acted like a nice guy, launched such a fierce counterattack.

They immediately started watching the show...

Li Wei clenched his fist in excitement, shouting in his heart: Remove him from office! Remove him from office!

Shift the topic and seize the initiative!

Fang Xuanling's move was ruthless.

However, you attacked the wrong target; His Majesty hasn't even recouped his five thousand strings of cash yet...

“Opening Wenyun Pavilion is something that businesses must do!” Wei Shuyu retorted.

"Even if you're doing it for business reasons..."

Fang Xuanling looked at Wei Shuyu and sternly rebuked him: "But the premise is that you need to understand your own identity!"

"You are an official, not a merchant!"

"Your every word and action represents the imperial court!"

"No matter your reason, it's wrong for you to be there!"

They are indeed difficult to deal with.

Compared to Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling was far superior.

"Uncle Fang is right."

Wei Shuyu readily admitted it.

Fang Xuanling was a reasonable person; one should not confront him directly but rather reason with him patiently.

"But I still want to ask one question..."

"I am in charge of promoting commerce. If I do not represent the court, how can commerce flourish?"

Seeing that Fang Xuanling was about to speak, Wei Shuyu would not give him the chance.

"Uncle Fang doesn't know much about business, so let me give you a brief introduction..."

"Since Huxian started attracting investment, it has attracted hundreds of merchants to settle in."

"The total investment by merchants has reached 400,000 strings of cash!"

What!

The courtiers were shocked.

How could so much money have been gathered in just a few days?

"As the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Uncle Fang should know how many people 400,000 strings of cash can support, right?"

Wei Shuyu's sharp gaze swept over the assembled officials, then he spoke with an air of dominance...

"I can confidently tell you all that it's an investment of 400,000 guan..."

"Enough to ensure that no one in the entire Hu County goes hungry."

"Enough to transform Hu County into an unprecedentedly prosperous county town."

"And this 400,000 strings of cash is just the beginning!"

"In the near future, Hu County will become a major taxpayer of the Tang Dynasty!"

Fang Xuanling was also shocked.

However, he had not forgotten his purpose; the most important thing now was to force Wei Shuyu to retreat!

"Since the pilot program in Hu County has already yielded some results, why do you still want to open the Wenyun Pavilion?" Fang Xuanling asked.

"Of course they're related!"

Wei Shuyu smiled naturally and said, "However, the intricacies of this matter cannot be fully explained in a short time!"

"I'll just pick something simple and easy to understand..."