Volume 2: The Capital, I’m Back Chapter 70: Who did you sell your grain to?
As soon as the court proposed to confer the title of king on the Duke of England, it immediately caused an uproar.
The ministers immediately divided into two factions . One faction consisted of military generals and meritorious officials, who all expressed their approval, and the other faction consisted of civil officials, who firmly opposed it.
The titles of the generals present were accumulated by fighting in battle after battle. There were only two major and extensive events of conferring titles in the Ming Dynasty, one was the founding of the country, and the other was the Jingnan Campaign. Due to some unknown reasons, there are very few people who have made contributions to the founding of the country. Those who are still active in the court are headed by Duke Yingguo Zhang Fu, and most of them are descendants of the Jingnan Campaign heroes.
Today, Zhang Fu's status is no less than that of Xu Da, the Prince of Zhongshan in the early Ming Dynasty. However, even Xu Da, a high-ranking official, was only given a posthumous title. He never expected that the emperor would be so generous as to directly confer the title of king on him.
Therefore, when Zhu Qiyu announced this decision, Zhang Fu was stunned.
He even doubted whether he was dead...
Wang Hailing, the Right Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate, stood up and said, "According to the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty, people with different surnames cannot be crowned kings. Isn't this a violation of the ancestral system?"
Upon hearing this, Taining Marquis Chen Ying immediately jumped out and said, "Duke Ying has made great military achievements, so why can't he be crowned king?"
"The ancestral rules are the ancestral rules, and they cannot be violated!"
"Then tell me, how should we reward you?"
"The Duke of Ying is already a high-ranking official. Why not increase his annual salary by another 2,000 dan as a token of recognition?"
"Such a great military achievement cannot be dismissed with a small salary. Wang Yushi, what do you think of the court, and what do you think of us military commanders?"
Chen Ying argued with reason, not because he had a deep friendship with the Duke of England, but just to prove himself.
The Ming Dynasty recruited officials through the imperial examination system, and these officials formed the civil service group. Although these people usually seemed to be full of all sorts of nonsense, benevolence, righteousness, and morality, they actually had a hundred times more in their hearts than the rough guys who only knew how to fight.
In the court, the struggle between civil officials and military officials has never stopped. As the ranks of civil officials grow stronger, it is clear that the latecomers are gaining the upper hand.
Usually it was Zhang Fu who took the lead, but today as the person involved he should avoid suspicion, so Chen Ying stepped forward to take the lead.
Wang Hailing snorted and said, "You can grant a red seal and an iron certificate, or you can grant favors to your descendants. In short, you must not violate the ancestral system!"
As the two men quarreled fiercely, more and more civil and military officials joined the fight, and it was about to turn into a melee.
"The Emperor has arrived!"
The hall suddenly became quiet. Everyone knelt and bowed, shouting "Long live the master".
Zhu Qizhen did not even change his imperial robes. He walked into the hall in casual clothes and sat on the dragon throne.
"Stand up!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Zhu Qizhen looked and asked, "It's very lively, what's the noise?"
Zhu Qiyu stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, we are discussing the issue of the title and reward for the Duke of Ying."
Wang Hailing hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I think Duke Ying has made great contributions in killing the enemy and should be rewarded, but the ancestral rules cannot be violated, and the matter of making him a king needs to be carefully considered!"
"I second the motion!"
"I second the motion!"
Behind Wang Hailing, more than a dozen officials stood up and expressed their support.
This time, Chen Ying couldn't help it, and hurried forward and said: "Your Majesty, I..."
Zhu Qizhen suddenly raised his hand and motioned him to step aside.
Chen Ying was a little confused, but had to retreat.
"Since this is a court meeting, everyone should express their opinions. However, I am here today for another matter!"
Zhu Qizhen looked at the ministers, smiled faintly, and continued: "Recently, there have been two robberies involving murder and looting in the capital. I think you have all heard about them, right?"
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, and Zhu Qiyu was even more confused. We are here discussing such a big matter as conferring a title of king, and you come over here to talk about a case?
This matter can just be investigated by Shuntian Prefecture. Is it necessary to bring it up in court?
"Wang Hailing!" Zhu Qizhen suddenly asked, "What is the relationship between your family and Fan's Warehouse?"
Wang Hailing was suddenly called out, his expression changed immediately, and he said: "Your Majesty, I have never engaged in business activities, and I don't know there is a Fanji Warehouse."
"Oh!" Zhu Qizhen nodded and said, "Since you don't know him, then when something happened to Fanji Warehouse, why did you, the Right Censor-in-Chief, run around in private?"
Wang Hailing looked strange, and he stammered, "Your humble servant... I don't... I don't understand what the emperor is talking about..."
Zhu Qizhen was not in a hurry and said slowly: "You should remember who you met last night, right?"
"Last night...last night..."
Wang Hailing’s face was pale, beads of sweat kept dripping from his forehead, and he was unable to speak for a long time.
Last night, when I met those people, there was no one around!
I had clearly sent everyone away, except for the mute sweeper at home...
Could it be that mute?
That's not right. This guy has been in the mansion for more than ten years. He is deaf and dumb . You knocked the gong next to him and he didn't respond. How could it be him?
"Why, you don't remember anything about last night? Do you want me to help you recall it?"
Wang Hailing knelt down on the ground and said tremblingly: "I just negotiated a business deal with someone, but I really don't know anything about Fan's warehouse!"
Zhu Qizhen smiled faintly and asked, "Didn't you just say that you have never engaged in business activities? Did I hear it wrong?"
Wang Hailing no longer dared to hide it, and could only say: "I know I was wrong, please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
"Don't be so quick to forgive me!" Zhu Qizhen asked again, "Tell me first, what business are you talking about?"
"I have some surplus grain in my hometown, and I want to sell it for some money..."
"How much food is there?"
"About...about...five hundred stones..."
"Um?"
Zhu Qizhen frowned and his expression became increasingly ugly.
Wang Hailing had no choice but to say, "I remembered it wrongly, it was probably five thousand shi."
"I advise you to think it over before you speak!"
"I remember now, it seems to be 50,000 shi."
"Fifty thousand shi!" Zhu Qizhen nodded and asked, "Who will you sell it to?"
"Sell to...sell to...Cao's Warehouse."
"Then why did the Qing family help Fan's warehouse so much? And why did they send a note to Shuntian Prefecture?"
As he spoke, Zhu Qizhen winked at Huai En who was standing beside him. Huai En understood and took out a note and handed it over.
Wang Hailing took a look and trembled all over. He hurriedly said, "I have some business dealings with Fanji Warehouse. Among the stolen goods this time was my 50,000 shi of grain. I know that I am in the court and should not do business, let alone use my status to put pressure on Shuntian Prefecture. I know I was wrong, and I beg the emperor to show mercy!"
Zhu Qizhen sneered, "That's all?"
"Your humble servant...your humble servant...three months ago, I entrusted Fanji Warehouse to sell a batch of grain, about 80,000 dan. Your humble servant knows that I was wrong, and I will never dare to do it again!"
"I would also like to ask you one more question, why did you choose to cooperate with Fan Ji?"
"It's because..." At this point, Wang Hailing dared not hide it anymore and had to tell the truth, "Because the price of goods shipped by Fanji Warehouse is relatively high..."
Zhu Qizhen asked again: "Why is Fan Ji's shipping price so high?"
"This... about the goods being taken away, I really don't know..."
Zhu Qizhen suddenly stood up and asked with a dark face: "I will give you one last chance, don't you really know?"
Wang Hailing shuddered with fear, a hot current flowed out between his thighs, and a strange smell suddenly filled the hall.
Zhu Qizhen's expression turned extremely ugly, and he said in a deep voice: "The shipping price is high because they sold the food supplies to the Mongols. Do you still dare to say that you didn't know?"
