Chapter 146 Complaint
Yichun Beiyuan.
Wang Quan said, "My lord! The prince's servant Li Yifu is asking for an audience!"
"Why is he here?" Li Chengqian asked.
"He said he has something important to report to you!" Wang Quan said.
"Then let him wait in Guangtian Hall, I will go there now!" Li Chengqian said.
"Yes!" Wang Quan withdrew!
Li Yifu waited anxiously in Guangtian Hall. Every minute and every second of waiting was a torment for him. Time passed very slowly and he felt that the days were like years.
There were footsteps outside the hall, and the crisp sound of the cane hitting the ground reached Li Yifu's ears, and he shuddered immediately.
Li Yifu adjusted his court clothes and looked up at the door. As far as his eyes could see, Li Chengqian's figure appeared in his eyes.
Seeing the prince approaching slowly, Li Yifu didn't care about anything else. He trotted to Li Chengqian and saluted.
"Your Highness! I have something important to report!"
Li Chengqian's handsome face was filled with deep eyes. He looked at Li Yifu who bowed to him and frowned. He saw a trace of panic and uneasiness on Li Yifu's face.
"What happened? Why are you panicking?" Li Chengqian asked.
"Your Highness! Duke of Chen, Hou Junji, just seized the money I sent to the Ministry of Revenue! Not only that, Hou Junji also hit me. Please, Your Highness, help me." Li Yifu burst into tears. As he spoke, he lifted his clothes and showed the wounds on his body to Li Chengqian.
"How dare you! You dare to do such an indecent act in front of His Highness, and pollute the eyes of the Crown Prince." Wang Quan, who was following Li Chengqian, angrily scolded Li Yifu for daring to lift his clothes in front of the Crown Prince.
"Your Highness, please forgive me! I was in a hurry and lost my manners. I hope Your Highness will forgive me." Li Yifu hurriedly bowed and apologized.
Li Chengqian didn't say anything. He came to the main seat and sat down and said, "Tell me what's going on?"
Seeing that the prince didn't want to blame him, Li Yifu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Your Highness! Today you asked Wang Neiguan to come to my house to pass on an order, sending part of the bank's profits to the Ministry of Revenue, and handing it over to the Minister of Revenue to enrich the national treasury
." "But who knew that the people I sent came back to report that the money sent to the Ministry of Revenue was withheld by Duke Chen, who said it was for other uses."
"I was so angry that I went to Hou Junji to argue, but he actually admitted the fact that he had withheld the money. I asked him for it, but he not only refused to give it to me, he also beat me."
"It doesn't matter that Hou Junji beat me. The most important thing is that he doesn't take Your Highness seriously."
"Oh! How can Hou Junji not take me seriously?" Li Chengqian said lightly.
"I said that the money was given by Your Highness to the Ministry of Revenue to replenish the national treasury. Hou Junji had no right to embezzle it privately. Later, I reported Your Highness, but Hou Junji not only spoke rudely, but also said that he was not afraid of the Crown Prince even if His Highness was in front of him."
Li Yifu told Li Chengqian how Hou Junji did not take Li Chengqian seriously, and exaggerated it.
Li Chengqian's eyes flashed with anger. Hou Junji was too ignorant. It seemed that he had to give him a good beating to let him know who was the future master of the Tang Dynasty.
By beating Hou Junji, he also warned those rebellious old ministers, so that they would not be difficult to control after he ascended the throne.
Li Chengqian knew in his heart that there were some untruths in Li Yifu's words, and he even exaggerated Hou Junji's words.
But what does it matter? As the crown
prince, he must seek revenge on those who dare to bully him, Li Chengqian, and cannot let others bully him at will.
Li Yifu is an official of the Eastern Palace and his man. Even if he is wrong, it is the crown prince who should punish him, and it is not Hou Junji's turn to take over. If
you can't protect your own dog, who will do your best for you in the future and do things for you.
No one wants to follow a mediocre master and be bullied everywhere.
So today, Li Chengqian will protect this dog.
"Hou Junji is so brave!" Li Chengqian angrily threw the dragon-headed cane in his hand, and the cane rubbed the floor and slid far away, scaring Wang Quan and Li Yifu.
Wang Quan immediately trotted over, bent down to pick up the cane on the ground, turned around and trotted back.
"Why did Hou Junji appear in the Ministry of Revenue? It seems that he, the Minister of War, is not in charge of that place!" Li Chengqian said.
"I have also asked, and Duke Chen said that he still has the title of Minister of Revenue, so it is natural for him to go to the Ministry of Revenue." Li Yifu paused and continued.
"But I heard from the Minister of Revenue and the Vice Minister of Revenue that Duke Chen went to ask for food and money."
"For food and money? What kind of food and money? The court allocates enough food and money to Hou Junji and his Flying Tigers every month, why did he go to the Ministry of Revenue to ask for it?"
"Could it be that the Ministry of Revenue did not allocate food and money to Hou Junji, so Hou Junji went to the Ministry of Revenue to make trouble, and happened to meet you sending someone to deliver money to the Ministry of Revenue?" Li Chengqian asked.
At the beginning of the Zhenguan period, the Turkic Khan Jie Li invaded the Tang Dynasty with an army of 200,000. The Turkic army was 40 miles away from Chang'an, and the court and the public were shocked at the time.
It was at that time that Hou Junji's Flying Tigers made great achievements in fighting against the Turks. After this battle, the number of Flying Tigers was controlled at 800.
Since then, the rations for Hou Junji's Flying Tiger Army have always been provided by the court and distributed on time every month.
"The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue said that it has been distributed. The full amount of rations will be distributed to the Flying Tiger Army on time on the first day of each month, and no less."
"But Hou Junji is still dissatisfied and asks the Ministry of Revenue to distribute rations for another 1,600 people. The Ministry of Revenue naturally disagrees. This is because my people just happened to arrive at the Ministry of Revenue. I have just told you what will happen next." Li Yifu said.
"I want to see what this Duke Chen wants to do?" "
Wang Quan, immediately send someone to Duke Chen's mansion to summon Hou Junji to the East Palace to see me." Li Chengqian ordered.
"Yes!" Wang Quan accepted the order and asked a eunuch to go to Duke Chen's mansion in person to invite Hou Junji to the East Palace.
Li Chengqian and the others waited for about an hour, until Li Chengqian was furious, and Hou Junji finally came late.
"My dear! Duke Chen is here!" The eunuch came in to report.
"Humph!" Li Chengqian was dissatisfied with Hou Junji's late arrival, and snorted coldly, "I have government affairs to deal with, so I asked Duke Chen to wait outside."
Hou Junji was increasingly not taking him, the prince, seriously, and Li Chengqian decided to leave Hou Junji alone to cool his temper.
"Yes!" The eunuch withdrew and came outside the hall to convey Li Chengqian's words to Hou Junji.
"Your Highness is busy with government affairs. Please wait here, Duke Chen."
Hou Junji frowned. This prince was so rude. He invited him to the East Palace but left him outside.
Hou Junji didn't care about that. He took a step forward and tried to force his way in.
"Duke Chen, Duke Chen, you can't go in. The prince ordered you to wait outside the palace." The eunuch saw that Hou Junji was going to force his way in and hurried forward to stop him.
If Duke Chen forced his way into the hall, they would all be in trouble.