Everyone was taken aback.
Secret report?
Cheng En Gong's eyelids twitched rapidly.
"On September 16, an earthquake struck, killing and injuring hundreds of thousands of people and livestock. The Crown Prince arrived in Zhongzhou on September 25 and ordered the granaries to be opened and grain distributed."
"Under His Highness the Crown Prince's supervision, the various prefectures of Zhongzhou Prefecture successively distributed grain, totaling one million shi, which is two-thirds of the new grain in the entire prefecture."
"However, very little grain actually reached the people; it was all taken away by grain merchants, unscrupulous traders, and officials. The people received less than one percent of it."
“The people of Zhongzhou were homeless, starving, and without a proper burial. In November, they began to gather and rose up in rebellion, and have already occupied Zhongzhou Prefecture.”
...
Upon hearing the secret report, the Duke of Cheng'en turned pale and retorted, "Your Majesty, is this information true? Who is spreading these rumors?"
Emperor Hui said calmly, "You don't know? Because you're too eager to amass wealth."
"Your Majesty, I am terrified!" Duke Cheng'en knelt on the ground and wept bitterly. "The people of Zhongzhou have rioted. The Crown Prince is the heir apparent; he cannot be harmed!"
The Crown Prince's faction was also terrified and hurriedly begged His Majesty to send troops to suppress the rebellion.
Emperor Hui chuckled.
"Suppress? The people have nothing to eat, nothing to wear, nothing to live in, and they can't even bury their dead. Why don't they rebel? If it were me, I would rebel too! How could the Crown Prince be in danger? He ran away as soon as the riot broke out, and he's almost at the capital by now, isn't he?"
They ran away?
Even the Crown Prince's faction felt that the Crown Prince had defied the emperor's authority by running away.
"Lord Cheng'en, the people have rioted, and you're afraid? You want to solve the problem with grain? You even want me to spend money? Fine, I'll spend it then, but you actually dared to quote 600 wen per catty! How dare you quote such a price?"
Duke Cheng'en knelt down and kowtowed, begging for mercy.
"No matter what, he is my son, the crown prince whom I personally appointed." Emperor Hui, thinking of the heavy military power held by the Duke of Chengen, could only swallow his anger and said to Grand Secretary Liu in a low voice, "Draft an edict to summon His Highness the Crown Prince back to court, and immediately select another imperial envoy from Zhongzhou to pacify the region."
The Grand Canal project is suspended.
...
Today in court, the Crown Prince's ineffective disaster relief efforts were discussed. Although Grand Secretary Liu reminded us to keep it a secret, how could it possibly be kept secret?
As soon as they left the court, Prince Qi and Prince Jin immediately gathered together.
Although they are rivals, their true rival is the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince's maternal grandfather, the Duke of Chengen, Wei family, was so powerful that the two of them combined were looked down upon as being no match for the Crown Prince.
Right now, the Crown Prince's disaster relief efforts have actually provoked a rebellion among the people. Their opportunity has arrived, and they must create a wave of public opinion.
"Brother, what do you suggest? I'll do whatever you say this time. Once the Crown Prince ascends the throne, neither my brother nor our mother will survive."
"First, spread the word that the people of Zhongzhou have been forced into rebellion by the Crown Prince," said Prince Qi. "The source of this rice price increase is the Duke of Cheng'en's mansion leading the charge. The Wu family and the Crown Prince have joined forces, raising the price of rice from three coins to six hundred coins. It's utterly outrageous!"
“Then I will send people to spread the word, to spread it in Jiangnan, Zhongzhou, and around the Grand Canal project area.”
After a brief meeting, the two brothers summoned their respective confidants and made arrangements.
That evening, rumors began to circulate throughout the entire Dagan area.
First, rumors circulated in various places that the Crown Prince forced the government to open the granaries and distribute grain. However, after the granaries were opened, the grain was not given to the people, but to his own subordinates.
His subordinates maliciously hoarded grain and then began to inflate prices...
This news caused an uproar, turning ordinary people into angry birds.
"No wonder grain prices have increased hundreds of times; it was the Crown Prince who did it."
"Fengyu Rice Shop was opened by the brother of the Duke of Cheng'en; the real master is the Duke of Cheng'en's mansion."
"The Wu family rice shop is the rice shop of the in-laws of Duke Cheng'en."
"The rice shop in Yangzhou was opened by the Crown Princess's brother."
The people shared the news, and their anger grew. It turned out that their crown prince was behind the price gouging and hoarding of grain!
Everyone started digging deep into the Crown Prince's past.
More and more news came from all directions, and even how the crown prince was established was spread.
"The Duke of Cheng'en's mansion was originally the garrison commander stationed on the northwestern frontier during the reign of the late emperor. They colluded with the Western Xia, falsified military intelligence, and forced the late emperor to empty the national treasury time and time again."
"The Empress Dowager is from the Wei clan. She poisoned the late Empress Dowager, causing her death, and then used intelligence from the border regions to blackmail the late Emperor into making her his successor."
"Empress Dowager Wei mistreated His Majesty, who was still the Crown Prince at the time; His Majesty lived a life worse than that of ordinary people."
"After Empress Dowager Wei ascended to the throne, she almost poisoned Emperor Hui, who was still the crown prince at the time. Her own son died of smallpox before she began to support His Majesty!"
"The Wei family supported His Majesty, forcing him to make the eldest daughter of the Duke of Cheng'en the Empress, and drove Consort Yun to her death."
"Forcing His Majesty to appoint Zhou Jingrui as Crown Prince"
"The Crown Prince is not worthy of his position."
The Crown Prince is short-sighted.
"The Crown Prince is neither benevolent nor righteous."
"The Crown Prince is disloyal and unfilial."
"The Crown Prince is acting perversely and against the will of Heaven"
"Crown Prince..."
Immediately afterwards, rumors spread that a demon had descended upon the crown prince and an evil dragon had been reborn.
The rumors spread like wildfire, from the capital to all parts of the country, overnight, growing ever stronger.
Even the two sons born to the crown prince were said to have been born amidst dark clouds pressing down on the city and violent lightning, with some witnessing ferocious beasts grinning menacingly in the dark clouds!
The big tree at the entrance of Huguo Temple was struck by lightning on the day the eldest grandson of the emperor was born!
The birth of the Crown Prince's two princesses was accompanied by many people hearing mournful cries echoing through the wilderness all night.
...
Many ordinary people were so frightened by the rumors that they avoided the Crown Prince's residence.
Some people even secretly dumped garbage and poured excrement into the shops and estates belonging to the Crown Prince and the Duke of Cheng'en.
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