Chapter 230 More Unjust Than Dou E
"Let's stabilize him first. If the families of the principal wife and the concubine fall at the same time, I will lose my dignity."
Prince Ning did not protect Matthew Li because he could not do so.
But as long as Zhou Hongjing's affairs were not related to corruption, he could still handle them.
"Your Highness is right, but unless we can make up for the tax, it will be difficult to solve Lord Zhou's matter."
The staff did not disagree with King Ning's idea, but he was clear about the court laws.
Two hundred thousand taels of tax silver, with no clear explanation of where they went, is no different from corruption.
Whether the Zhou family will fall or not is not up to Prince Ning to decide.
"Well, I know what's going on."
Did Prince Ning know what was going on? No.
He could guarantee that Zhou Hongjing would marry off his daughter within three days after he was released from prison, which proved the attitude of the Supervisory Office.
As long as you pay the taxes and come up with a reasonable explanation, the Supervisory Department will not pursue the matter any further.
But if Zhou Hongjing cannot make up the tax, then he can only handle the matter impartially.
"I will go see Zhou Hongjing, and you two can go about your business."
Prince Ning stood up and walked out of the study while speaking.
The two aides looked at each other, realizing that there was no room for them to say anything more, and hurriedly stood up and followed him out.
After leaving the study yard, the three of them went in two different directions.
At this time, Zhou Hongjing was waiting anxiously in the front hall of Prince Ning's mansion, where guests were usually received.
He wants Prince Ning's help with tax and silver issues, and he also wants Prince Ning's help with his little daughter's affairs. I wonder if Prince Ning will be annoyed by him?
"Master Zhou, sorry for the wait."
When Prince Ning entered the front hall, Zhou Hongjing was lowering his head and frowning anxiously.
Hearing Prince Ning's voice, he quickly stood up and saluted, saying, "Your humble servant pays respect to His Royal Highness Prince Ning."
"No need to be polite, sit down and talk."
Prince Ning raised his hand and motioned Zhou Hongjing to sit down, and he also walked to the main seat and sat down.
"Your Highness Prince Ning, I came here this time to ask you to save my little daughter. She just married into the Ma Mansion today, and she encountered this incident. It's really bad luck."
Seeing that Prince Ning was quite polite to him, Zhou Hongjing no longer cared about beating around the bush.
"Didn't Miss Zhou Er just marry into the Ma family today? Her household registration and family tree should not be registered with the Ma family yet, right?"
Prince Ning did not expect that Zhou Hongjing came to him to talk about Zhou Jiaming.
A concubine's son remarried, and it was not appropriate for him, a prince, to join in the fun.
Therefore, neither he nor Princess Ning showed up at the Ma family's wedding banquet, but they just sent people to deliver congratulatory gifts early to show their courtesy.
So much so that he was still unaware of Zhou Jiaming's affairs.
"That old bastard, Matthew Li, actually cheated his subordinates..."
When Zhou Hongjing saw that King Ning was asking him, he told King Ning the whole story of the marriage between the two families from beginning to end.
"He must have known that the Ma family would not be able to escape this disaster, and he did this to harm me in order to protect his eldest son's wife and children."
Zhou Hongjing was so angry when he spoke that his face turned red and his neck became thick.
King Ning did not comment on his words.
Of course he knew why Matthew asked Ma Ruyu to divorce him.
But whether Zhou Jiaming should marry Ma Ruyu is not up to Ma Xiuli.
After all, it turns out that Zhou Hongjing's brain is not working well.
They had clearly found out about Yuzhou, but they were completely unaware of what Matthew Li had done in Yuzhou.
"If that's the case, why didn't you notice it earlier?"
After listening to Zhou Hongjing's complaints about Matthew Li, Prince Ning asked calmly.
"I was not in the mansion at that time."
Zhou Hongjing was extremely embarrassed.
He was investigated by the Supervisory Commission, so the Ma family came to the Zhou family to propose marriage. The whole process was handled by his wife and housekeeper Zhou. How could he detect any clues in advance?
"Oh, as for the tax payment, have you figured out how to pay it?"
Speaking of Zhou Hongjing not being in the palace, Prince Ning thought of the tax issue.
Even if he acted as a guarantor, he could only protect Zhou Hongjing for three days.
Zhou Hongjing was released from prison yesterday and will be imprisoned again the day after tomorrow.
"Your Highness, I am wronged. I really did not embezzle the 200,000 taels of tax money."
When it comes to taxes, Zhou Hongjing feels that he is more wronged than Dou E.
He had submitted the five years' tax to the Ministry of Revenue every year, so how come they suddenly found out that he had missed paying?
If it's thirty or fifty thousand taels, he can still make up for it.
But he had been an official for more than twenty years and had not received any benefits of two hundred thousand taels. What could he use to make up for it?
"Greedy? If you are really greedy, do you think you can still sit here and talk to me?"
When Prince Ning heard him cry out for injustice, he suddenly felt a headache.
Among all the women in his backyard, none of them came from a family as unreliable as Zhou Hongjing.
If it weren't for the fact that his wife and concubine's families had not encountered accidents at the same time, which would have been detrimental to his reputation, he really wouldn't want to care about Zhou Hongjing's affairs at all.
"Ah? Then...what does the prince mean?"
Zhou Hongjing was confused. If it wasn't corruption, then the Ministry of Revenue must have not checked it clearly.
He is innocent, so why not just release him? Why are you still asking him about taxes?
"It is clearly recorded in the accounts of Jingzhao Prefecture that 200,000 taels of silver have not been submitted to the Ministry of Revenue. The Ministry of Revenue has repeatedly checked the income and expenditure of the national treasury, and it is true that 200,000 taels of silver are missing in the past five years. Did you collect the tax silver and forget to submit it to the Ministry of Revenue?"
Prince Ning reminded.
In fact, what King Ning said is basically impossible.
In order to facilitate the storage of tax grain and tax silver, the imperial court built special granaries and silver vaults in various places.
Each of these granaries and treasuries had its own account book, and the accounts were managed by different people, so there was no possibility of forgetting to hand in the funds.
Moreover, it is impossible that two hundred thousand taels of tax were evaded over five years only this year to be discovered.
"Your Highness, the lack of money in the treasury has nothing to do with me. I personally monitor the tax payments."
Zhou Hongjing did not understand Prince Ning's hint and continued to deny it.
"Sir Zhou, I will remind you again for the sake of Concubine Zhou. The Ministry of Revenue said that you forgot to pay 200,000 taels of silver. So you forgot to pay 200,000 taels of silver. There is the account to prove it.
Furthermore, I will only guarantee that you will be released from the Procuratorate for three days. It is up to you whether you want to be imprisoned again the next day."
Prince Ning almost said openly that someone was plotting against Zhou Hongjing.
But if they dared to attack Zhou Hongjing, they must have something on him, otherwise they wouldn't have dug such a big hole for him in such a short time.
"Your Majesty, please save me. Where can I get two hundred thousand taels of silver in such a short time?"
Zhou Hongjing knelt down as he spoke.
When he was in the Supervisory Department, someone reminded him.
It's just that the reminder was vague and he didn't understand it.
After Prince Ning said this, what else was there for him to not understand?
Which god had he offended? Wasn't this going to cost him his life?
"Master Zhou, I have said everything I need to say. You should just take care of yourself."
Prince Ning didn't want to see Zhou Hongjing's cowardly look anymore, so he said this and got up and left.
"Your Majesty, your humble servant..."
Zhou Hongjing knelt on the ground and turned 180 degrees, looking at Prince Ning's back and extending his hand.
Why is the prince running so fast?
He doesn't eat people.
Prince Ning: If I don’t run away, why don’t you ask me to borrow money?
"Master, does Prince Ning agree to help with the Second Miss's matter?"
After leaving the front hall, Butler Zhou came forward to support Zhou Hongjing while asking.
He had just been called out of the front hall by the steward of Prince Ning's Mansion and had been waiting outside.
He didn't hear a word of what Prince Ning and his master said inside.
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