Chapter 2980 Hot pot ants
Seeing the prince's warm smile, Princess Baling's awkward and anxious mood relaxed a little, so she didn't beat around the bush and simply got straight to the point and told what Chai Zhewei had just come to ask her for.
After listening, the prince frowned.
Princess Baling observed her words and saw that the prince's expression was a little dull, so she quickly said: "The daughter you borrowed is the water you threw out. My sister should not be involved in such things, but how could the Duke of Qiao come to the door in person and even kneel down?" She was pleading on the ground. As a member of the Chai family, how could she remain indifferent? Furthermore, even if Qiao Guogong had thousands of people? This is wrong, but after all, she is still the flesh and blood of Aunt Pingyang. At that time, Aunt Pingyang loved our brothers and sisters deeply, and she was very doting on the prince's brother. If it were true that the title of Duke Qiao was taken away by Guo, not only would it attract criticism, but also the prince would be criticized My brother is mean and ungrateful, so how can the prince’s brother be worthy of Pingyang Gugu?”
Li Chengqian was silent.
Pei Xingjian was sent to Zuotunwei after receiving Fang Jun's request for help. Naturally, he knew why Fang Jun took action against Zuotunwei.
Although his father personally marched away from Chang'an and left him in charge of the country, Li Chengqian still lacked a sense of security. What he learned about Chai Zhewei's behavior from Fang Jun made him deeply worried, so he agreed to Fang Jun's actions against Chai Zhewei.
But Princess Baling's words are indeed worthy of consideration.
Logically speaking, he does not have the power to seize the title of Duke of a country. Even if he now supervises the country on behalf of his father, he can at most lock up the guilty officials and transfer the case files to Dali Temple or Zongzheng Temple, waiting for his father to return to Beijing. Make a decision later.
But who in the outside world cares about these procedures?
One can only think that he took advantage of His Majesty Li Er's expedition to use his power to attack political opponents and eliminate dissidents.
Especially Chai Zhewei’s identity, after all, he is the flesh and blood of Aunt Pingyang...
If Duke Qiao's title was taken away by Guo because of him, how could he have the face to meet his aunt under Jiuquan in the future? Not to mention that it will give the world an impression of being mean and unkind, and all the images of kindness and forgiveness in the past will be in vain.
Thinking about the favor Princess Pingyang had shown him in the past, I couldn't bear to feel that although the heroic female hero was highly respected after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, she lived a desolate and lonely life...
While I was thinking about it, I saw a chamberlain entering the palace and reported: "Your Highness, I am asking for an audience outside the palace of the Duke of Yue."
Princess Baling was immediately startled and said hurriedly: "This matter is just caused by a personal grudge. The prince brother must not severely punish the Duke of Qiao, so as not to be mistaken by the government and the public as condoning and favoring the Duke of Yue, which will damage his reputation."
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Li Chengqian waved his hand and said in a deep voice: "It's not as you imagine. The criminal law is an important weapon of the country. How can I let others manipulate it to attack political opponents and seek revenge for personal gain?"
He showed his attitude to Princess Baling and continued: "Sister, please be patient. After all, the investigation has not ended yet, and the situation of Zuotunwei is not clear. We will not make a conclusion until the inspection is completed and we understand the priorities of the matter. ”
Although he felt that Li Chengqian was trying to evade, it was considered generous to be able to give such a sentence, so he had to say: "Then my sister will go back first and wait for news about the prince's brother."
Because he was going to meet Fang Jun, Li Chengqian did not hold back, and said with a smile: "This is the best. As long as Zuotunwei's situation is not too serious, how can I be too harsh? You can go back and wait for the news for the time being. The princess will choose her later. The gift will be sent to your princess mansion.”
Princess Baling stood up and saluted: "Thank you very much, brother Prince. My sister will leave first."
"Well, go ahead."
After Princess Baling left, Li Chengqian asked someone to bring Fang Jun in.
Fang Jun entered the Li Zheng Hall, saluted Li Chengqian, and then sat on a chair on the side. The elegant and delicate little palace maid served another cup of tea.
Li Chengqian raised his hand to invite tea.
Fang Jun thanked him, picked up the tea cup and took a sip, then asked: "Just now, I saw His Highness Baling at the palace gate..."
Mentioning it slightly, but not asking explicitly, was a courtesy, although Princess Baling's motive for entering the palace was almost obvious.
Li Chengqian sighed, explained the fact that Princess Baling came to intercede with Chai Zhewei, and then said: "Ba Ling has never opened her mouth to Gu, and it is rare for Gu to refuse her request. And she mentioned Aunt Pingyang, Gu Ye feels that it would not be appropriate if it makes too big a fuss.”
In fact, until now, the inspection team led by Pei Xingjian and Xin Mao has not reported any results, but both of them have determined that there must be something wrong with Zuotunwei's account books.
Otherwise, why would Chai Zhewei be so panic-stricken, asking people to intercede?
Fang Jun said: "What do you think, Your Highness?"
Li Chengqian said: "I know that you are not doing it for personal grudges, but for the stability of Guanzhong, and you are thinking about me, so I don't care about sister Baling's face, so I asked you to stop. However, Duke Qiao After all, the title was awarded to Aunt Pingyang by Emperor Gaozu, and it should belong to the Chai family. As long as the Chai family has not committed a serious crime of rebellion, this title should not be taken away. "
Fang Jun nodded and said: "Wei Chen understands."
Li Chengqian's intention was very clear. He could follow Fang Jun on how to check Zuotunwei's accounts and how to mess with Chai Zhewei, but there was a bottom line, that is, the title of Duke Qiao could not be endangered.
But Fang Jun had some doubts.
He teamed up with the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Civil Affairs to send a joint inspection team to check Zuotunwei's account books. He just wanted to find Chai Zhewei's violations of the law, so as to achieve the purpose of admonishing and punishing him, so that the entire Zuotunwei was controlled and could not The unscrupulous deployment of troops and generals endangers the stability of Guanzhong.
I have never heard of a general who was deprived of his title by Guo because of military accounts...
Even Hou Junji at that time was impeached by the imperial censor because he plundered all the countless gold and silver treasures in his palace during the overthrow of Gaochang Kingdom, which triggered a series of reactions. This led to Hou Jun gathering to take risks and conspire to tamper with him.
However, this moment of checking the accounts frightened Chai Zhewei so much that he ran around asking people to intercede. His reaction was really a bit extreme.
Could it be that there are some great secrets hidden in Zuotunwei's account books?
*****
When Chai Zhewei returned to the Zuotunwei barracks, it was completely dark. The lamps and candles were lit in the barracks. Just after dinner, the air was filled with the aroma of food.
Chai Zhewei, who had not had his teeth polished for most of the day, did not feel hungry at all. He returned to the Chinese army tent and asked General Shi Youwenzhi, the commander of the army, to call him and asked: "What is the result of the inspection over there?"
You Wenzhi was nearly forty years old. He was originally a wealthy family in Huyi, and his family was closely related to the Chai family of Jinzhou. However, his family fell into poverty later on and he was completely impoverished. So he came to recommend himself, and was appreciated by Chai Zhewei. He fully recommended him to become the chief of Zuotun Guards, and he was regarded as a confidant and trusted by him.
You Wenzhi entered the big account and when he heard the inquiry, he replied: "There is no result yet, but these are all good accountants, fast and steady. I'm afraid they won't be able to review the account books one by one until tomorrow morning. The tricks in them will be revealed. I’m afraid I can’t escape.”
Upon hearing this, Chai Zhewei became more and more panicked.
If the hidden things in this account book are exposed, it will be enough to cause an earth-shattering disaster...
You Wenzhi was his confidant, so he naturally knew very well about the fishy things in the account books. There was no need to hide it. Chai Zhewei rubbed his face and asked anxiously: "I have invited Princess Baling to go to the East Palace to intercede. I don't know what the prince can do." Do you want to miss the old love and save me this time?"
You Wenzhi thought for a while and said: "Commander, don't be worried. Since Princess Baling has gone to the East Palace, it will have some effect. As for the reaction of His Highness the Crown Prince, there are just a few situations. Either send someone directly to stop this. inspection, but there is little hope. After all, Fang Er is a confidant of the prince. Since this inspection is carried out by Fang Er, Er's suggestion, if you give up halfway, it will be a slap in Fang Er's face. Or you can just let the inspection continue, and then deal with it depending on the results of the inspection. As for completely ignoring Princess Baling's face... I don't think it's a big deal. Maybe, the prince has always been a soft-hearted person, so he will always show some kindness.”
His analysis was very reasonable, but Chai Zhewei became increasingly restless.
In these situations, only if the prince sends someone to stop the inspection at this moment can the secrets of the account books be hidden. The rest of the situations are considered to push him over the cliff.
Guo seizes the title?
Those are all trivial. If the prince is more decisive, he might just be able to kill him with the imperial sword left by His Majesty Li Er...
Seeing Chai Zhewei's expression as if he was sitting on pins and needles, You Wenzhi leaned forward, came close to Chai Zhewei's ear, and whispered: "Commander, please be patient for a moment. You might as well wait for a while. If His Highness the Crown Prince still hasn't sent anyone before midnight, then we will do it." Prepare for the worst.”
Chai Zhewei was stunned: "What's the worst plan? Mother! You don't want me to rebel, do you?"
You Wenzhi lowered his voice and said: "Why is this? Just burn those account books with a fire, and it will be settled..." (End of Chapter)