Chapter 3037 Entering Beijing
No one in the courtyard, not even Yin Huo, believed that the prince would rebel, because they knew with their toes that it would be more trouble than gain if he rebelled at this time.
But that’s indeed what people say outside.
Bai Shan asked, "Does everyone in the community know about this?"
"No," the guard replied, "There's news coming from the capital and Henan Province that the Crown Prince is leading a large army to the capital. Someone in the capital has written to Your Majesty, saying that the Crown Prince is gathering an army without an imperial decree and intends to rebel."
He looked at Princess Mingda, bowed slightly, and said, "There is some chaos in the court at the moment. Guo Zhanshi has sent a letter asking the princess to return to the capital."
Bai Shan breathed a sigh of relief. "So the people don't know about it?"
"yes."
Bai Shan then said to Princess Mingda, "We don't know whether this is true or not. Even if the Crown Prince is really leading a large army to the capital, it is probably for other reasons, not for rebellion. Princess, there is no need to worry."
He said, "If we can guess it, your Majesty should be able to guess it too."
Mingda also recovered, but he was still worried. "But what could the Crown Prince have to do that would require him to bring a large army to the capital?"
She didn't think this was fake. The imperial court had post stations and soldiers to report. Whether there was a large army entering the capital, couldn't the officials in the court find out?
She was worried that the prince had his own difficulties but could not express them. If there was strong opposition in the court, it would be bad if the emperor became suspicious of him.
Zhou Man thought for a moment and said, "For safety?"
Everyone looked at Zhou Man.
Zhou Man said as a matter of course: "Bringing a large army into the capital, if not for rebellion, then it can't be to defend the king, right? So it can only be for his own safety. Could it be that someone wants to kill the prince on the way, and the prince is short of manpower, so he asked the garrison for more people?"
It is impossible to support the king. Yin Li is in the capital and the imperial guards are all under the emperor's control. Unless Yin Li himself rebels, there is no need to mobilize troops from outside to support the king.
Bai Shan had a bad feeling in her heart, "That's not right. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince sent a letter saying that he had returned to the capital. According to their pace, even at the slowest pace, they should be in the capital by now. Why is he still outside?"
Mingda's spirits brightened, "Yes, the prince must be in danger!"
She immediately started thinking and said, "Hurry up and get someone here. I need to present a memorial to my father."
The guard was right. This matter had not spread. Not only was everything peaceful outside, but even the Qingzhou governor knew nothing about it. He was looking at the document handed to him by Bai Shan in deep thought.
"Beihai County has been very active lately. Judging from the treatment Bai Shan provides to his conscripts, plus the long-term workers he recently recruited, how much money has his salt farm made?"
"Sir, do you want to send someone to check the accounts?"
Although the salt field belongs to Beihai County, taxes must be paid on the sale, commonly known as salt tax.
However, the salt tax is also collected by Beihai County. At the end of the year, the accounts are reconciled and after enough is left for the county’s expenses, it is handed over to the governor’s office.
Governor Guo realized belatedly, "This kid is quite clever! Is he planning to spend all the salt tax and not give me a penny?"
The confidant's eyes widened. "That's not the case, isn't this too much?"
Governor Guo frowned and thought for a while before deciding to wait and see. "It won't be long. Let's wait until he reports in October."
In October, the county government has to hand over a certain amount of tax revenue to the governor's office, which will then hand it over to the national treasury after statistics. Generally, in order to have a good year, the governor's office of each state will hand over all accounts and items to the national treasury before November.
According to the Ministry of Revenue's calculations, it can be said that the end of the year is the busiest time for government offices at all levels.
Now that the autumn harvest is over, and even the autumn taxes have mostly been paid, October is not far away.
The local area was peaceful. Even the two thousand Yanzhou soldiers who guarded the prince and followed him to the capital were in harmony and did not hear any rumors at all.
These people were all elite soldiers selected from the Yanzhou garrison. They were first-class in martial arts and fighting skills. Even if someone mixed in with the soldiers occasionally attacked the prince's carriage on the march, they usually could not get close to him.
The one who led the troops to accompany the prince into the capital this time was General Wen's eldest son, General Wen Xiao.
He was probably also afraid that there were assassins mixed in the army, so the soldiers surrounding the prince's carriage were all trusted confidants of him and the Wen family, and they were people who would never betray him.
After two assassinations, the team became much quieter and calmer, as if the enemy had run out of tricks.
But neither the prince nor General Wen let their guard down.
General Wen didn't know who wanted to kill the prince, nor did he want to know. Just as his father said, all they had to know was that it was the prince and that the prince had the military token, and then they had to obey orders.
Don't worry about anything else.
Their journey was relatively smooth. The disputes in the court did not affect the local areas. Seeing that there was a large army escorting the prince into the capital, they did not think much about it.
There are only two thousand people, and the prince deserves such a display.
So they collected food and supplies from the county and state governments they passed by, and successfully made their way to the capital.
There are a lot of people, so the speed is a bit slow.
But the capital was not as quiet as anywhere else. Five days ago, a report suddenly came from the local area saying that the prince was leading an army of 20,000 to the capital.
There was an uproar in the court. Some people believed it, but there were also many who questioned it. So everyone suggested sending someone to check it out.
But there was no news from the people who were sent out, and they seemed to have disappeared.
As a result, the discussions in the court became louder, and rumors that the prince was leading troops into the capital to force the emperor to abdicate became rampant.
Even Wei Zhi, who had been silent all this time, couldn't help but go to the palace to meet the emperor, but the emperor did not meet him and did not give any advice on how to deal with the matter. He only heard that several sets of cups and plates were smashed in the Taiji Hall.
Today, someone finally wrote a letter to the emperor openly questioning the prince's intention to lead his troops into the capital. His suggestion was to dispatch a large army from Hebei Province to keep the prince out of Hebei Province and prevent him from entering Guanlong.
The emperor did not agree, but instead shouted angrily: "Let him come, I want to see what he wants to do."
Then he turned away.
Back in the bedroom behind the Taiji Hall, the emperor angrily picked up a cup and looked at it as he raised his hand to smash it. Gu Zhong immediately bowed and whispered, "It's cheap. I've changed it to a cheap one these past two days."
The emperor smashed it out with an expressionless face. There was a crisp "pa" sound. It was quite pleasant to listen to. It would have been even more pleasant if the cup he smashed was not his own.
Gu Zhong sent away all the attendants inside and outside the palace. Not long after, Yin Li entered the palace and reported, "Your Majesty, Qin Shu is already waiting in Zhengzhou with the imperial guards. They will be there to meet the Crown Prince as soon as he arrives."
The emperor asked, "How is Luozhou?"
"There's no unusual movement in Luozhou."
The emperor heaved a sigh of relief and said to Yin Li, "Go to the other palace and bring Prince Gong's family back. Tell them that I miss him and that Double Ninth Festival is approaching. I want to celebrate it with him."
Prince Gong came to Beijing at the beginning of this spring to lose weight and recuperate, and has stayed in the capital ever since. Apart from other palaces, he would occasionally visit the palace to see the Emperor and Empress, and the family lived happily together.
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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