Chapter 51 Keeping him is still useful
Xia Miaoyuan twisted her little hands and thought carefully.
[The plot won't collapse like this , right? ]
[I think it's probably old man Jiang's nonsense. ]
Xia Zhengqi's face was as gloomy as water: "Jiang Rong, you said that Emperor Taizu once awarded the Jiang family a gold medal of immunity from death. So, where is the gold medal?"
"The gold medal of immunity from death is hidden under the plaque of the Jiang family's ancestral hall." Jiang Taishi said lightly.
"Let Cheng Feng go to the Jiang family to find the gold medal, go immediately." Xia Zhengqi turned to Debao and instructed.
Two quarters of an hour later, Cheng Feng walked into the hall in a hurry, holding a tray in both hands.
In the tray, there was a five-inch long gold plate.
Xia Zhengqi picked up the gold plate and looked at it carefully. The front of the gold plate was engraved with four big characters "Golden Medal of Immunity from Death".
Below the four large characters, there were eight characters engraved: "Forgive you for three deaths, and your descendants for one death."
Xia Miaoyuan stared with wide eyes and tried to read.
[I remember that the book said that the unique feature of this death-free gold medal is that the small characters engraved on the back of the gold medal were carved based on the handwritten inscription of Emperor Taizu.]
[So this gold medal is very difficult to forge.]
Xia Zhengqi listened to his daughter's voice and turned the gold medal over.
There were indeed dozens of small characters engraved on the back of the gold medal, and the content was roughly about the process of the founding of the Great Xia Dynasty and Taizu's gratitude to the founding heroes.
The small characters seemed to really look like the handwriting of Emperor Taizu.
Xia Zhengqi opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment and said: "Master Yan, can you tell whether this gold medal is real or fake?"
Yan Wenjing said lightly: "I remember that the inscription on the back of the gold medal is the handwriting of Emperor Taizu. Just take out Taizu's calligraphy for comparison."
Xia Zhengqi called Yan Wenjing and several old ministers to his side, and asked someone to bring a piece of Emperor Taizu's calligraphy.
After several old ministers carefully compared, they confirmed that the small characters on the gold medal were the handwriting of Emperor Taizu.
[Yeah, the handwriting matches, which means this gold medal is authentic.]
Xia Miaoyuan concentrated on watching several old ministers identify the handwriting, and his brain was working quickly.
[In other words, the gold medal that should have been in the hands of the remnants of Liang State is now in the hands of old man Jiang.] [ Could
it be that the Jiang family has colluded with the prince of Liang State for a long time? Use money to exchange this gold medal with the prince of Liang? 】
【No, no, if the Jiang family had this gold medal, according to the flamboyant nature of the Jiang family, they should have announced it to the whole country long ago, and would not have waited until this time. 】
Xia Miaoyuan suddenly remembered that Jiang Zhiyuan had inexplicably become a living dead in prison, and that the Grand Tutor Jiang suddenly changed his confession and put all the blame on Jiang Zhiyuan.
【I know, the prince of Liang must have taken advantage of the moment when the Grand Tutor Jiang was in prison and in a dangerous situation to reach a cooperation with him. 】 【
Or it can be said to be a deal. 】
【The prince of Liang gave him advice to help him escape the crime and survive, and then the Grand Tutor Jiang would obey the orders of the prince of Liang from then on. 】
Xia Zhengqi heard his daughter's voice and felt a cold sweat break out instantly.
Oh my God, have the remnants of the Liang Kingdom become so powerful?
Not only can they plant people in the palace to steal the golden medal of immunity from death, but they can also cause trouble in the heavily guarded prison of the Ministry of Justice!
[Daddy, keep old man Jiang, he will be of great use in the future!]
Thinking of this, Xia Miaoyuan was so anxious that she babbled at Xia Zhengqi. To outsiders, the little princess who was more than three months old seemed to have something to say to the emperor.
Xia Zhengqi's eyes lit up.
Yes, his daughter reminded him.
Now, the vitality of the Jiang family has been severely damaged, and the Jiang family is no longer a threat to the Great Xia Empire.
The biggest threat at present is the remnants of the Liang Kingdom.
And if we keep Master Jiang, we can trace him back to the power of Liang State in the future.
After figuring this out, Xia Zhengqi's frown relaxed.
He said calmly: "The golden medal of immunity from death was indeed made by Emperor Taizu. Jiang Rong, I will spare your life for the sake of Emperor Taizu."
That day, Xia Zhengqi issued two imperial edicts.
One of them was the verdict on the guilty officials.
The commander of the imperial guards Wei Jianzhong, the Minister of War Liu Hong, the Vice Minister of War Jiang Zhiyuan, the Vice Minister of Personnel Sun Chaogui, the Vice Minister of Revenue Jiang Zhishan, and several ministers in Jiangxia Province who were involved in embezzling disaster relief funds and harming the victims of the epidemic were all sentenced to death and executed immediately because human lives were involved.
Since Jiang Zhiyuan was still in a coma, he was sentenced to be beheaded after he regained consciousness.
Chen Youdao, the Minister of Revenue, and the eight officials who colluded with the Jiang family were all sentenced to have
their property confiscated and exiled. As for Jiang Rong, because Emperor Taizu had granted Jiang Rong's father a gold medal of immunity from death, according to the provisions on the gold medal, Jiang Rong could be exempted from death, so he was exempted from death.
However, all the embezzled money of the Jiang family was collected into the national treasury, and Jiang Rong's powerful official positions, Minister of Personnel and Imperial Academy, were all abolished.
The title of Duke of Yan inherited by the Jiang family was also abolished, leaving only his position as Grand Tutor.
As soon as the imperial edict was issued, the whole court was shocked.
Because Xia Zhengqi has always been tolerant and rarely kills people, this time he beheaded more than a dozen ministers at once, which is really shocking.
In addition, the Jiang family is a prominent and stable family in Daxia, and Jiang Hui, the daughter of the Jiang family, is the adopted mother of the current emperor. As a result, the Jiang family was treated like this, which is really shocking.
And the position of Taishi left by Xia Zhengqi to Jiang Rong is just a useless decoration.
In Daxia, there are Taishi, Taifu, and Taibao, and they are called the three masters. It sounds high-sounding, but in fact it is just a virtual title given to them to show the emperor's love for important ministers, and they have no real power at all.
As for the other imperial edict, it is to reward meritorious ministers.
Liu Tiefeng, the county magistrate of Kuqiao County, was promoted to the governor of Jiangxia Province. The brave men who followed Liu Tiefeng to the capital were rewarded with 1,000 taels of silver by Xia Zhengqi and were given the title of Great Xia Heroes.
As for the crown prince and the second prince, they were rewarded with 100 acres of good farmland, a house in the capital, and 1,000 taels of gold.
Dongfang Lingyun, who assisted the second prince in searching for Wei Jianzhong's stolen silver, was appointed as the inspector of the Inspectorate.
Through these things, Xia Zhengqi realized the importance of the Imperial Guards, and he also let the Crown Prince and the Second Prince enter the Imperial Guards for training.
After the two edicts were issued, Xia Zhengqi's heart, which had been hanging for a long time, finally settled down.
He was leisurely in the Kunning Palace, drinking tea with the Queen, while watching Xia Miaoyuan practice sitting hard.
"Miaoer, come on!" Xia Zhengqi raised the corners of his mouth and looked at Xia Miaoyuan lovingly.
[Hey... Oops...]
Xia Miaoyuan first turned over and lay on his side, then stretched out his chubby little arms and propped himself up.
Just when he was halfway up, his body tilted and fell down again.
[Hmph! Hate it, hate it, failed again! ]
Xia Miaoyuan complained angrily.
"Miao'er, don't be discouraged. Look, your father is cheering you on!" Xia Zhengqi said softly.
"Ah, Miao'er is stronger than other babies of the same age, but she is less than four months old. It's too early for her to start practicing." The queen said softly.
"She is not only stronger than them, but our Miao'er is different from others!" Xia Zhengqi picked up his daughter lovingly and lifted her up high.
[Hahaha! So this is what it feels like to be lifted up high! It feels like you are about to fly.]
Xia Miaoyuan giggled.
[Daddy, do it again, higher!]
Xia Zhengqi listened to his daughter's voice and lifted her up even more vigorously.
"Your Majesty, please take care of yourself. Don't sprain your waist." The queen smiled.
At this time, Eunuch Debao hurried in and reported: "Your Majesty, the father and son of the Wei family have arrived and are waiting in the upper study."