"Qu Zifu, the second son of the Earl of Anchang, colluded with the criminal Wu Guangping to sell weapons."
Upon hearing this, all the civil and military officials in the hall were greatly surprised.
Wu Guangping had already been ordered by the emperor to have his entire family executed when the army won a great victory. Now, he is even being implicated in collusion and arms trafficking.
This surprised many officials present, and then filled them with fear.
Amidst the uproar, the Second Prince glanced at the Left Prime Minister, only to see that the Left Prime Minister remained calm, merely shaking his head slightly, signaling him not to act rashly.
Previously, when the emperor heard about the Earl of Anchang's swindling of money, it didn't make him angry enough.
They could collude with disgraced officials or sell weapons; either crime could lead to the execution of everyone in the Anchang Marquis's household.
The thought that it had taken several months to collect evidence of Qu Zifu's crimes was deeply troubling.
Previously, when Wu Guangping executed nine generations of his family, there was not a single ripple of change among so many officials in the capital.
It is ironic that Song Yanqing still needs to investigate after returning to the capital!
The emperor, his expression growing increasingly grim, stared intently at Song Yanqing's face and said, "Tell me all the evidence you've gathered!"
Then, everyone suddenly noticed the wooden box in Song Yanqing's hand.
He handed the wooden box to Li Defu and then said, "These letters are evidence of Qu Zifu's crimes in contacting Wu Guangping."
Upon hearing this, the Second Prince's eyes lit up. He had no idea that Wu Guangping had colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country.
It is true that Qu Zifu once worked for him and sold weapons.
But those weapons were all sold to the Great Yu Kingdom in exchange for grain.
How come it's now being presented by Song Yanqing as evidence of collusion with Wu Guangping?
Where did those weapons go?
Why was the food supply in the Great Yu Kingdom able to be delivered in a timely manner?
All these questions lingered in his mind, and he couldn't find a solution.
The emperor opened the letters one by one. The contents of these letters seemed to be nothing more than ordinary greetings from friends.
Upon closer inspection, it seems to have left some kind of message, thus becoming like a talisman.
Qu Zifu never served as an official in the court, so his notes naturally did not contain any records.
As the emperor unfolded the letter, familiar handwriting came into view.
To avoid misreading, the emperor quickly ordered, "Li Defu, go and bring me the memorial from the Earl of Anchang!"
After receiving the order, Li Defu quickly withdrew.
While Li Defu was searching for the memorial, the emperor finally looked at Song Yanqing again.
"Where did this evidence come from? And how did you know about it?"
Song Yanqing said, "These secret letters were discovered by the Shadow Guards after tracking Qu Zifu for several days."
When I was stationed at the border, I sneaked into the Tartar army camp and saw with my own eyes that the Tartar camp contained weapons of the Great Jin.
The border town is rich in mineral resources, but a lot of military equipment is sent from the capital to the border.
Moreover, half of the weapons in the Tartar army camps were unmarked.
Therefore, I am certain that the weapons did not only originate from the border cities.
Therefore, after returning to the capital, I have been investigating the matter of the Jin Dynasty's military equipment being sent to the Tartar army camps.
The main hall was unusually quiet.
Therefore, Song Yanqing's voice resounded throughout the hall.
The Emperor said, "The matter of escorting military equipment to the border city is of great importance. Anchang Marquis is the only one who has entered the court to serve as an official. How will he manage to deliver it?"
This leads to the suspicion that there might be officials in the capital assisting them.
Upon hearing this, the second prince gasped, but he could not utter a sound.
Otherwise, even without evidence of guilt, it would arouse the emperor's suspicion.
Perhaps because of this, they might really miss out on the supreme position.
Song Yanqing said, "Does Your Majesty still remember that I was stationed at the border for a whole year, and my reports on the amount of military pay, provisions, and weapons were all inaccurate?"
The emperor paused slightly, then fell silent.
In recent years, the Great Jin Dynasty has suffered from floods in the south and droughts in the north. Countless amounts of money and grain have been allocated for disaster relief.
In addition, the Tatars attacked the border city, General Feng disappeared a year ago, and the city gates are about to be breached.
In preparation for war, the already depleted national treasury prompted Qian Lishe, the Minister of Revenue, to rack his brains to raise funds.
Throughout history, wars have always come down to financial and material resources. If the Ministry of Revenue cannot provide the silver, the delivery of provisions and pay to the army will naturally be delayed for some time.
Seeing that the emperor remained silent, Song Yanqing continued, "On the way to deliver military supplies, grain, medicine and other supplies may be lost or damaged."
But armaments are absolutely out of the question.
If anyone dares to abandon or sell weapons along the way, and this is discovered when the quantity is checked at the border town, it will be a capital offense.
In my humble opinion, this matter must have been instigated by someone.
The princes present, upon hearing Song Yanqing's words, immediately felt as if they were facing a formidable enemy.
Although Song Yanqing did not name names, the only people in the court who have the ability to command the son of the Earl of Anchang to do things are the princes and the powerful Left Chancellor.
They could think of it, let alone the emperor who was wary of the princes and had long since seized power and usurped the throne!
Just then, Li Defu hurried over.
He bowed and presented the memorial from the Earl of Anchang with both hands, softly reminding him, "Your Majesty."
The emperor came to his senses and opened the memorial to compare the handwriting.
When he saw that both documents were written by the same person, he was furious.
He angrily threw down the folded document and the letter, his face contorted with rage.
"Truly excellent! The Jin army fought valiantly on the battlefield."
These scoundrels, scheming and despicable, have actually used their positions for personal gain, amassing enormous wealth!
The ministers, who all bowed their heads obediently to the emperor, showed no sign of diminishing their anger.
He said, "By my order, the Imperial Guards shall immediately proceed to the Marquis of Anchang's residence and surround it completely."
Give the order: not a single fly should be let escape!
Then he added, "The entire Anchang Marquis's household has been thrown into prison and will be tried under the supervision of the Dali Temple!"
Song Yanqing recalled the report from the Shadow Guards that the Anchang Marquis's residence had received advance notice yesterday and had remained closed to the public.
He said, "Yesterday, the Princess of Kang Le led her troops to the Marquis of Anchang's residence but was refused entry."
It seems someone from the Dali Temple tipped them off, allowing the Anchang Earl's Mansion to make preparations in advance.
Upon hearing this, the emperor's face immediately turned ashen.
After a moment, he gritted his teeth and said, "The Ministry of Justice will conduct a joint trial!"
"I want to see who is so capable that they can command both the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice at the same time."
These words are meant as a warning; anyone with a brain wouldn't wade into these muddy waters at this time.
After the court session, the emperor didn't want to stay a moment longer and angrily turned and went straight back to the inner palace.
After the civil and military officials respectfully saw the emperor off, they filed out of the main hall.
Chen Xianming and his son filed a lawsuit against the emperor today, causing the Marquis of Anchang to lose both his wife and his troops. The financial loss will certainly be substantial.
Moreover, the Anchang Marquis's residence is also involved in evidence of treason and collusion with the enemy.
Both of these points made the father and son feel extremely gratified.
Song Yanqing had other important matters to attend to, so he quickly bowed to Chen Xianming and his son before leaving the main hall.
Looking at the young man's retreating figure, Chen Xianming couldn't help but sigh, "He has the bearing of the founding emperor!"
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