Chapter 448 Fabricating Charges
Xie Zhan looked straight at him, "Do you know that your concealment of this fact almost caused a major loss for the family?"
Again, he wasn't good at fighting, but he understood human nature. He realized that the final outcome of the war between the northern border of Dali and the Wuhuan was not right, so he went to ask someone who was proficient in military affairs.
This led to the two crucial steps that followed. The first was to use the news that rice on Zhuya Island could be harvested three times a year to exchange for the position of Governor of Lingnan. The second was to join forces with Qiao Xitong, Hu Jiangyi and others to harvest the rich people in Shu and Gusu, seize their wealth, and arm themselves to strengthen themselves.
Xie Wei looked as if it was none of his business.
Xie Zhan didn't want to say anything more, "Go find Uncle Yuan and get the silver."
Xie Zhan's men and the army he recruited escorted six million taels of silver back to Chang'an. For safety reasons, they walked slowly.
When they arrived, the trap set by Lu Desheng had almost been set.
Chang'an, North City
The land in Chang'an is expensive, but it varies from district to district. As the saying goes, the east is rich, the west is expensive, the south is poor, and the north is cheap.
North City is notoriously a mixed crowd.
Xia Tiejun's family lives in the area of the north city near the market town.
It was raining today, so Xia Tiejun didn't go looking for work. Instead, he moved a chair and chatted with the neighbor ladies.
In fact, the ladies were just listening to him bragging.
"Auntie Wang, you don't know that my good brother Wang Dong is now a bodyguard (not really), traveling all over the country, and he always thinks of me. Whenever he comes across something good in a place, he never forgets to send some back to me in Chang'an."
"Your brother really has a conscience."
"Of course not. We grew up wearing the same pants."
The auntie next to her thought, isn't it? You two are both lazy and good at eating and having sex, and you both talk about your wife!
Just then, a young man with an unfamiliar face appeared. He was carrying a bulging flowery bag and knocked on the door of Xia Tiejun's house in full view of everyone.
"Xia Tiejun, they're looking for you, why don't you go open the door?"
"Hey, you received something again."
"Isn't it your good brother who sent you something?"
Xia Tiejun knew it was time for a job as soon as he saw it.
The last time Wang Dong returned to Chang'an, he set up a base, no, a contact point, and made his good brother Xia Tiejun the person in charge of the contact point.
His good brother is just like him, both of them are idle and like to gossip about their wives.
People like them are the most well-informed.
Lord Lu is very generous. Chief Steward Chen has allocated a lot of funds to him. Lord Lu doesn't care how he uses the money, but when he is needed, he has to do a good job.
Now that he has money, he can't just watch his good brother suffer, right? Shouldn't he help him out?
At this moment, Xia Tiejun was not in a hurry to go home despite the urging of the neighbors.
Before going home, Xia Tiejun insisted on boasting a few words before moving. "It must be my good brother who sent me something again. I told him that I have everything I need in Chang'an and asked him not to send me anything anymore, but he just won't listen. There's really nothing I can do about him."
His boasting effectively concealed the correspondence with other places.
After Xia Tiejun left, the ladies muttered a few words.
"Really, I've never met such a gossipy man."
"But he's lucky enough to recognize him as a brother and never abandon him."
After Xia Tiejun opened the bundle, he found a letter hidden in a secret place inside. He followed the instructions and secretly delivered the letter to Lord Zhang Xianzhang.
After receiving this secret letter, Zhang Xian tried his best to find opportunities to accompany the emperor in the past few days.
Song Mo has been in a good mood recently, and Zhang Xian is good at talking, which often makes him happy and smiling.
He had already received confirmed news that Xie Zhan had set up a scheme in Shu and Gusu and made a fortune, and the money as a tribute to him was already on the way.
It can replenish the national treasury.
In Song Mo's mind, the wealthy merchants from all over the country were the fat pigs raised by the Dali people. Now that the national treasury was empty, what was wrong with borrowing their fat meat? It didn't mean he would kill them.
As Song Mo expected, six million silver coins were finally delivered to Chang'an.
The silver was counted by the Minister of Revenue Wu Chunyu and put into the warehouse.
As soon as such a large sum of money was deposited into the treasury, Song Mo was in a good mood and praised with his attendants, "Xie Zhan is truly a man of great talent."
The Prime Minister stepped out of the group, bowing his head, and said, "Your Majesty, here is a memorial from the Governor of Pingzhou."
He had received this memorial two days ago and had been hesitating whether to take it out.
The Emperor had recently become too close to Zuo Anmin, forcing even Zhang Xian to back off. Furthermore, before his exile, Xie Zhan had served in the Secretariat and had a history with his sworn enemy, the Minister of the Secretariat. No matter how you looked at it, Xie Zhan couldn't possibly be on his side.
As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And with people coming from Gusu and Shu these past few days...
He felt he could lend a helping hand to Lu Desheng.
Hearing this, Song Mo refused. He was very happy now and didn't really want to read Lu Desheng's memorial.
Shen Wan bowed and handed the memorial in his hand forward, "Your Majesty, what Lu Desheng described in the memorial is quite important. Please take a look at it."
Lu Desheng pretended not to know that the emperor was involved in this game, and directly impeached Xie Zhan for competing with the people for profit as the governor of Lingnan.
Although Xie Zhan has been hiding behind the scenes, he cannot hide it from the emperor who knows the inside story, or some people with ulterior motives.
Song Mo frowned as soon as he saw the memorial. How could this Lü Desheng be so well-informed? He took another look and saw that it was a merchant who had been badly hit and had left his homeland to seek a living in Pingzhou. So that's it.
Song Mo looked down again.
The ministers present seemed to be observing the emperor's expression with their eyes but in fact they were observing the emperor's expression with the corner of their eyes.
They saw that the emperor's expression was not right, and those who were close to Shen Wan couldn't help but ask him quietly, "What did Lu Desheng write on the memorial?" Judging from the emperor's expression, it was definitely not a good thing!
Chen Wan said seriously, "Lord Lu impeached Xie Zhan. Lord Xie, as the Governor of Lingnan and a high-ranking official, formed a clique for personal gain and used despicable means to amass wealth. He also accused Xie Zhan of having rebellious intentions."
The ministers present gasped. What if Lu Desheng wanted Xie Zhan dead? Each of the charges he fabricated against Xie Zhan was more serious than the last.
Wait, something seems wrong?
No, what's wrong with Lü Desheng? Has he forgotten his current position? He's a provincial governor, a high-ranking official, so why is he trying to take over the job of the censor?
You've crossed the line, understand?
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