Chapter 43 King Jing makes up for the loss
So they happened to meet Prince Jing and His Royal Highness Prince Duan who were drinking wine in Prince Jing's mansion.
It was also King Jing’s first marriage, so it was not easy for the ministers to get him drunk, so they just said a few auspicious words and left.
Prince Duan also took the wine and said a few words of blessing and left, but when he left, he turned back and said to Prince Jing, "I will come to you in seven days."
King Jing also knew what it was about, but he didn't care. When I returned to the bridal chamber and lifted the veil from my face, I finally felt that I had truly started a family.
In the past few days, King Jing first accompanied He Yaoguang to the palace to express his gratitude, then returned home, and then chatted with General He, "What are your plans now, Your Highness?"
King Jing put away his romantic appearance and said, "Prince Duan has already started, and the emperor has not assigned any errands. What do you think, father-in-law?"
He Taiwei, "Just wait for Prince Duan to finish this matter. In a few months, the envoys from foreign vassal states will come to study, and then Your Highness can ask for a job."
Prince Jing did not refute. After staying for a few days, he brought He Yaoguang back to Prince Jing's Mansion and saw Prince Duan waiting in the hall.
Prince Duan, "Sister-in-law, please step aside for now."
He Yaoguang glanced at Rong Bo and left with his servants.
Prince Duan was not polite either. "Last month I found out that you asked the Ministry of Rites to borrow several million taels of silver from the Ministry of Revenue. I won't go into other details. Go to the Ministry of Revenue to pay back your gift money first."
King Jing, "Don't worry, second brother, I will go to the Ministry of Revenue to pay back the silver later."
Prince Duan, "Besides that, your wedding has many rituals that exceed the rules for a prince, which is why the Ministry of Rites is in a huge deficit. I have brought the accounting books with me, you can ask the accountant at Prince Jing's mansion to take a look, and if there are no problems, I will make up for it in a few days."
King Jing, "My brother has never heard of this. This is beyond the etiquette and needs to be made up."
Prince Duan, "This is a different time. Don't waste your time talking nonsense. I have informed you of the matter."
After saying this, he paid attention to King Jing's expression and left with his men in the carriage.
King Jing returned to the study with a sullen face. He Yaoguang asked about what happened. Although he was a little angry, he said, "The dowry my mother gave me is enough. You can use it for emergency."
Prince Jing's peach blossom eyes were tinged with emotion. "Why would I want your dowry? I'm just angry that he used chicken feathers as a token of authority. The reason why I asked the Ministry of Rites to borrow this money from the Ministry of Revenue was to make things difficult for him. I didn't expect that Prince Duan has changed now. In the past, he would never have the face to come to me to collect the debt."
Finally, he added, "Sure enough, once someone gets involved with that position, he will change."
He Yaoguang frowned slightly, "Your Highness, please don't say such things outside. No matter what, you have to save face. Father doesn't like his children to quarrel."
King Jing smiled fearlessly, "Okay, I'll listen to you. I'll ask someone to return the money right away, so that he won't go to my father and say that my wedding went beyond the etiquette. It's better to have the servants spread the news that I even made up for the extra money for my brother's wedding in order to support him."
He Yaoguang was also amused by him, so she returned to her room without saying anything more to him.
As soon as Prince Duan returned to the six ministries, Prince Jing sent people to pay the outstanding amount of silver. Many officials from the Ministry of Rites saw this and calculated how much silver they owed after leaving their shift.
On the second day, as soon as the Minister of Revenue Wei Dongyuan arrived at his office, a long queue formed outside the Ministry of Revenue, and it turned out that they were all officials from the Ministry of Rites.
He summoned several fifth-rank officials and said, "When they have paid in full, calculate the amount immediately, register it in a book and send it to Prince Duan."
Several people nodded in agreement.
By the afternoon, Prince Duan saw the newly released list of officials who had to pay their debts and the amount of money owed. Prince Duan's subordinate Xiao Hui said, "Your Highness has collected half of the debts today. If you can collect the debts owed by the Ministry of Justice, it will be a big job."
Prince Duan, "The Ministry of Justice is unclear, so we can't act rashly. We'll just have to get through this time."
Xiao Hui, "Your Highness, are you really going to miss this rare opportunity? I heard from people in the six ministries today that His Highness Prince Jing is interested in taking over diplomatic affairs. He is currently learning the language of the foreign vassal states through He Taiwei."
Prince Duan Suzheng's face was still gloomy, "He was quick to act."
Xiao Hui, "As long as there are no mistakes in diplomatic affairs, it is basically a great achievement. If Your Highness hands it over now, it will appear that Your Highness is careless and unwilling to rectify the moral principles of the court."
Prince Duan, "Don't just talk, what preparations have you made?"
Xiao Hui clapped his hands and asked someone to bring over a ledger. "Your Highness, please take a look. This is a detailed list of all loans made by the Ministry of Justice. It clearly states that the Ministry of Justice has applied for large quantities of replacement equipment in recent years, from shackles and shackles to interrogation equipment, all of which have high budgets, but in fact there is no need for large-scale purchases."
“In addition to this, a temporary criminal interrogation department was set up at the border to falsely submit materials and have ordinary people dress up as criminals to apply for resettlement fees.”
Prince Duan was shocked and said thoughtfully, "I didn't expect them to be so bold. I'm afraid there are many officials involved. I will go back and discuss it with the general first."
Xiao Hui, "Your Highness, time waits for no one. I have already found out the officials involved. Among them, He Xuan, a fifth-rank doctor of the Ministry of Justice, is the one who is in charge of the case. What's more, he is a relative of Your Highness Prince Jing."
"I also found out that He Xuan will be sent to Qiongzhou in the next two days."
Prince Duan, "What are you waiting for? Since the evidence is irrefutable, immediately order the officials to go to the Ministry of Justice."
"yes."
The people in the six ministries have been in a panic these days. Now, everyone saw from the office windows that Prince Duan and a group of people were walking towards the Ministry of Justice in a menacing manner. Even though they were all Jinshi graduates, they couldn't help but feel curious.
Huang Tijiang, the Minister of Justice, was handling a case. He had just finished writing the report when he heard someone calling him.
He walked out and said, "Your Highness, what are you doing? In the past, only my Ministry of Justice arrested officials, and I have never seen an official of the Ministry of Justice being arrested."
Prince Duan said, "Minister Huang has his reasons for what happened. You will know after I finish interrogating him. He did this because he was afraid that someone would leak the information." After saying that, he handed the account book to the Minister of Justice Huang Tijiang. "Someone, take He Xuan and his men back to the Dali Temple jail and detain them."
Huang Tijiang advised, "Your Highness should verify it. After all, he is a fifth-rank official. How can he be detained based on these records alone?"
Prince Duan, "I know what you want to say. You are just worried that the matter is too big and you cannot bear the responsibility. Now the person has been transferred to the Dali Temple. You don't have to worry. You will send all the files and documents of this person to me later."
A group of people took away several officials from the Ministry of Justice in a mighty manner. The Second Prince was indeed ordered to recover the national funds. If they found that someone had embezzled the funds, people from other departments naturally would not dare to say much. They all returned to their original positions, hoping to get off work quickly so they could find out more.
Prince Duan then threw He Xuan into the Dali Temple and began to torture him. As expected, He Xuan did not plead guilty, but some of his subordinates admitted to the forged declared amounts, and several of them were forced to sign their names.
Prince Duan was in a good mood at this time and was just waiting for He Xuan to confess his guilt.
Although he had never taken the imperial examination, he knew that there were some tough guys among these officials, and not all of them were cowardly and easily bullied. He Xuan was one of them.
The torture still didn't make him speak, which made him a little annoyed.
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