The eldest prince was imprisoned for life
Chapter 76: The eldest prince is imprisoned for life
Everyone returned to Fengjing. Three days later, the emperor commended those who provided disaster relief. In this rather festive atmosphere, someone stepped out.
"I have a memorial to report."
"What's the matter, Censor Su?"
"I accuse the Crown Prince of secretly reselling 100,000 dan of disaster relief grain. This is sheer lawlessness and a betrayal of Your Majesty's cultivation of him!"
"You're talking nonsense! This prince didn't resell 100,000 dan of disaster relief grain!"
Today, the eldest prince was specially allowed to attend the court to receive an award for his contribution to disaster relief.
"Censor Su, are you reporting based on rumors again this time?"
The joy on the emperor's face disappeared instantly.
"Your Majesty, I have collected evidence this time!"
The emperor looked at the expressions of the courtiers in Hongwu Hall, closed his eyes, and then issued an oral order to the terrified eunuch Quan.
"This matter has been handed over to the Ministry of Justice for investigation. The eldest prince is forbidden to leave the palace until the case is fully investigated."
"I obey your order."
Qi Ying stepped out of the group and leaned forward to receive the order. No wonder his right eyelid had been twitching since he got up today.
"Withdraw from the court!"
The emperor doesn't want to see these court officials today!
At this time, Lord Zhao was already furious.
The emperor dragged the eldest prince back to the prince's palace. He only said that the eldest prince was not allowed to leave the palace, but did not say that others were not allowed to enter the palace.
"Did I tell you to feed the dog?"
"Tell me honestly, how much did you take?"
Lord Zhao slammed the study door shut, turned around and began to question the eldest prince.
"Grandfather, I, I took 50,000 shi, but this was the remaining amount after the disaster relief work was completed. I did not delay the disaster relief work."
"The remaining grain belongs to the imperial court, not you! It's still disaster relief grain. Who gives you the right to sell it?"
"I, Grandfather, I, I..."
"Alright, forget me. Take out the money, admit your mistake with a good attitude, and then go into seclusion and reflect on your mistakes."
"Grandfather, I've already spent the money. I'll find a way to make it up! Please plead for me with the Emperor!"
"You've only been back three days! Fifty thousand dan of grain can be sold for at least thirty thousand taels of silver. Where did you spend the silver?"
The eldest prince saw that his grandfather's eyebrows and beard were trembling with anger, and he swallowed secretly.
Speak the truth with courage.
"Yesterday, I redeemed the freedom of an honest official..."
"Ha ha ha ha······"
"Okay, very good!"
Lord Zhao laughed loudly towards the sky, which scared the eldest prince greatly.
"Grandpa, Grandpa, I know I was wrong! I really know I was wrong!"
Lord Zhao pushed away the eldest prince's hand that was trying to support him and shouted angrily.
"You know nothing!"
It was the first time that the eldest prince heard his grandfather swear in his life. He pushed his grandfather away with his mouth open for a long time.
"I, Zhao Zhengyuan, have passed the imperial examination and become one of the Three Dukes. I have participated in government for many years without making any mistakes. None of my children are stupid. How could I have a grandson like you?"
"You reflect on your mistakes in the mansion. I will be returning home first."
After saying this, without even looking at the eldest prince, he pushed open the door of the study and strode away.
The eldest prince looked at his grandfather's back, slowly took a few steps back, sat down on the chair with an inexplicable expression.
Half a month later, Qi Ying, the Minister of Justice, brought a stack of evidence and a thick memorial to the palace to meet the emperor.
He resold 100,000 dan of disaster relief grain and mixed sand and gravel into northern border military rations for two years, totaling 150,000 dan. He plotted to assassinate General Guo Jun of Huaihua, had close contacts with Fan Liang, the Imperial Censor of the Northern Border, and condoned his advisors in the government to seize civilians' land...
Part of the evidence was discovered by copying the account books of the eldest prince's mansion.
The emperor looked at the charges one after another on the memorial and closed it with an expressionless face.
Since the Ministry of Justice has already verified it, most of these things are true.
He never thought that the eldest prince, who had been honest since childhood, would grow up to be like this.
"I understand, Lord Qi, please step back first."
"Your Majesty, I will take my leave."
The emperor waved his hand, and after Qi Ying left the imperial study, Eunuch Quan gently closed the door and then stood by the door, acting as an invisible man.
"Bang!"
"Very well, all my sons are fine!"
“Bang!”
······
After the emperor had vented his anger and calmed down, Eunuch Quan opened the door and called two nimble eunuchs to quickly clean the room.
At the next morning court session, Eunuch Quan read out the imperial edict punishing the eldest prince in public.
He will be imprisoned in the Grand Prince's Palace for life and will not be released without special pardon.
The eldest prince's wife knelt calmly to receive the order. She had anticipated this day long before the Minister of Justice personally led people to copy the account books of the palace.
Later, her grandfather came to see her and asked her why she didn't tell him when she found problems with the account books. However, there were only a few account books in the mansion that matched, and there were so many things to do that she didn't know where to start.
"The Emperor had the heart to imprison me, but I didn't commit all these crimes. Eunuch, please tell the Emperor that someone is slandering me and trying to harm me!"
The eldest prince knelt on the ground, crawled forward on his knees and grabbed his father-in-law's robe.
"Grand Prince, please don't embarrass me. The evidence is before everyone. No one will believe what you say. I will return and report now."
The eunuch who delivered the imperial eunuch signaled the two young eunuchs behind him to pull the eldest prince away, turned around and went out. The door slowly closed, and the eldest prince's mansion was surrounded by the imperial guards.
When Chu Huaibei heard about this, he actually felt that things had finally calmed down.
The eldest prince in the original novel was imprisoned a few years later than he is now. He was imprisoned only after the emperor moved the capital to Jianye.
Later, the third prince gradually gained control of political power, defeated the second prince's faction, ascended the throne after the old emperor's death, and began his life of cheating.
The current plot probably has some things happening ahead of time due to her involvement.
Sun Mingsi received Jin Yi's secret letter and sneered after reading it. It was said that if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beams will be crooked as well. Some things are indeed in one's bones.
The eldest prince resold 50,000 dan of disaster relief grain, and the remaining 50,000 dan were the property of the two assistant ministers. The second and third princes were colluding to set up a trap for the eldest prince.
However, the eldest prince also deserved his punishment. He dared to tamper with the military rations in the northern border and even implicated Fan Liang. He deserved to be put to death.
Among these, only Guo Jun had nothing to do with him, but he had some connection with the rest of the charges. Even if his brothers had planned it, he himself had bad intentions, but the two brothers magnified his thoughts several times.
Now the northern border is missing a military inspector and a general, so we have to send someone else over. Let him think carefully about the choice.
When Chu Huaibei heard that people from the Ministry of Justice had found the murder weapon used to kill Guo Jun in the home of General Guide Li Guyan's mistress, he was stunned. Guo Jun had someone kill her, so how could the murder weapon be found in Li Guyan's possession?
Tsk, that’s right, maybe someone wants to add fuel to the fire and prevent the eldest prince from turning over.
This person is easy to guess, whoever benefits will be the one.
Inertial thinking is not good, someone might be speaking up for you.
Because of the snow disaster in Jiangnan Prefecture, Jin Hongye was extremely anxious in the northern border. He didn't know the situation in his hometown of Yangzhou, but he knew that his parents and elders were all safe.
Chu Huaibei specially allowed his advisor to return to Yangzhou for a visit. He heard that the advisor had bought a lot of grain in the northern border and brought it all the way back to Yangzhou.
Jin Hongye finally settled down after receiving a letter from his advisor a month and a half later. Initially, the village's food reserves had been looted by refugees, but fortunately, the family had prepared plenty of food for the Lunar New Year celebrations. Later, the imperial court provided timely disaster relief, so no one suffered from starvation or injury.
By the time the master returned to the northern border, it was already May.
Every May in the North marks the beginning of a busy year.
This year, the wheat planting area on the Zhenbei Palace farm has shrunk to one-third of its previous size. Now, vegetables, sweet potatoes, and peppers fill the remaining fields.
After the peppers are harvested in October this year, the meat sauce workshop can be set up. Chu Huaibei predicts that this meat sauce will become a must-have item for people when traveling long distances in the future.
It can make money and bring convenience to the people, killing two birds with one stone.
Chu Huaibei was watching the wheat harvest. He thought that the weather was too cold this year and some wheat would be frozen. Unexpectedly, in just three years, the wheat seeds' cold resistance had improved a lot. As the weather warmed up, Chu Huaibei notified the people to apply fertilizer in time. The wheat grew well and the yield would not be much less than last year.
While guarding against Mongolia's trouble, Mongolia has been recuperating for two years and is estimated to have recovered.
At the same time, he was also paying attention to who the emperor would send to serve as the military inspector and replace Li Guyan as general.
These two positions have been vacant for almost a month. The emperor is always so slow in selecting people. With so many people in the court, wouldn't it be inconvenient to find two people? Perhaps the emperor has difficulty making decisions.
Chu Huaibei complained secretly.
Chu Huaibei almost has the final say in the northern military camp, but the emperor is still unable to have the final say in the court.
If the emperor knew about Chu Huaibei's complaints, he would probably have some dangerous ideas again.
In fact, the emperor had been worrying about these two candidates for more than half a month. In the eyes of the emperor, the position of Military Inspector was more important than a general.
The court needs to find a loyal minister who can only be loyal to the emperor and not anyone else, but now he is facing some difficulties.
The court had been arguing for more than ten days, but the emperor didn't even want to look at the candidate who was nominated. Did these people think he was blind?
After the routine discussions, he began to choose among the remaining people himself, but he always managed to get in touch with some of them.
After much difficulty in selecting one, the imperial edict had not yet been issued when his old father, who had been in poor health, passed away. The candidate then submitted a memorial to express his mourning.
This delay lasted for nearly a month, and finally a historian without any faction was chosen to compile the document. Yuan Langzhong, a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Rites and Ceremonies, was appointed as the Military Inspector.
As for the selection of generals, the Ministry of War had few people to choose from. In the end, General Gong, who had some connections with Lord Zhao, was chosen.
He ordered the two to rush to the northern border to take up their posts as soon as possible.
The court officials engaged in a war of words in the Hongwu Hall for half a month, and in the end the benefits were given to these two people. They were so angry that their eyes and noses were crooked, but they could do nothing about it.
They knew in their hearts that this was the best choice for the emperor, but not for them.
Having said that, the emperor asked the two men to take up their posts quickly. General Gong was better, as he was in his prime, had a muscular body, and was also a first-class horseman.
Doctor Yuan was almost fifty years old. He was very tall but very thin. He was usually very slow in handling official business in the Ministry of Rites. He was indeed more patient than others in compiling history.
On the way to the northern border, Doctor Yuan looked like he was dying every day, so General Gong had to slow down and even had to hold his horse for him from time to time!
Adding up the time all together, it would take more than a month for him to arrive in the North to take up his post.
In mid-June, the wheat in the military settlements had been harvested, and the two new officials, exhausted from the journey, finally arrived at the northern border.
"This subordinate pays homage to the King of Zhenbei."
"This general pays homage to the King of Zhenbei."
"No need to formalize, you two. You've worked hard on this journey. Tonight, I will host a banquet in the meeting tent to celebrate your promotions."
"Thank you for your gracious invitation, Your Highness. I will definitely attend the banquet on time."
"You're welcome. You've had a hard time on the road. I've prepared a tent for you two so you can rest."
"Yuan Yushi, please rest in the barracks tonight. Tomorrow the king will send someone to escort you to the Yushi Mansion."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
The last "Thank you, Your Highness" was obviously more emotional. The two men were hurried on their journey by the emperor, and each of them brought a servant with them.
I originally thought that it would take two days to get to the northern border, but I didn't expect that the King of Zhenbei was so careful and thoughtful. No wonder everyone's evaluation of the King of Zhenbei was at most that he was young and frivolous, and there were no too many harsh words.
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