Chapter 1375 Emperor Wen Takes Action
Imperial City.
The court meeting was very lively.
Because of Yun Zheng's uprising, the ministers were once again divided into two factions.
One faction advocates war.
One faction advocated retreating to the south of Qi River, preserving strength, and taking things step by step.
The two factions argued fiercely in the court. Everyone had sufficient reasons for their own views, but neither could convince the other.
"Your Majesty, I have something to report!"
Just when the two sides were arguing fiercely, the new Imperial Censor Liang Lunchen suddenly stepped forward.
"Gentlemen, be quiet!"
Emperor Wen raised his hand to stop the ministers who were still arguing, and his eyes fell on Liang Lunchen, "What did you say, my dear minister Liang?"
Liang Lunchen: "I want to report to the Duke of Jingguo, Xu Shifu!"
After listening to Liang Lunchen's words, the ministers couldn't help but look puzzled.
Xu Shifu is still recuperating at home!
Why did Liang Lunchen suddenly want to report Xu Shifu?
Of course, many people know the truth clearly, but they just pretend not to understand.
Emperor Wen frowned slightly and looked at Liang Lunchen in confusion: "Duke Jingguo has worked so hard for the country that he has become ill and is now bedridden. Why did Lord Liang come to visit Duke Jingguo?"
Liang Lunchen shouted: "I want to report Xu Shifu for forming a clique for personal gain, taking bribes and perverting the law, and harming loyal officials..."
"Ok?"
Emperor Wen frowned even more tightly, "Lord Liang, this is the court, everything you report and say must be based on facts, not just nonsense!"
"I understand!"
Liang Lunchen nodded heavily: "I am the Imperial Censor, and it is my duty to supervise all officials! If I don't have solid evidence, I would never dare to speak nonsense!"
Emperor Wen lowered his brows and thought for a moment, then said sternly: "Then tell me, what evidence do you have? You'd better explain it to me clearly, otherwise, I will punish you for framing your colleagues!"
Liang Lunchen bowed and said loudly: "If there is even a single word of falsehood in what I have said, even if Your Majesty wants to behead me in public, I will not complain!"
"Very well, remember your words!"
Emperor Wen gave Liang Lunchen a warning look and said, "Show me all the evidence you have!"
Liang Lunchen immediately took out a memorial and an account book from his sleeves and presented them respectfully.
Mu Shun did not dare to delay and quickly took the memorial and account book and presented them to Emperor Wen.
Emperor Wen's face looked unhappy, and he seemed very dissatisfied with Liang Lunchen's report on Xu Shifu.
After warning Liang Lunchen again, Emperor Wen opened the memorial to take a look.
Looking at the contents of the memorial, Emperor Wen's expression became even uglier, with a hint of anger in it.
After a moment, Emperor Wen threw the memorial aside and picked up the account book to look through it.
The more Emperor Wen looked at it, the more shocked he became, and a chill ran down his face.
After a long while, Emperor Wen raised his head with a frosty face and stared at Liang Lunchen sternly: "Where did this account book come from?"
Liang Lunchen replied: "A servant of the Xu Mansion accidentally found it while cleaning the house. This person still had a conscience, so he risked his life to steal the account book and give it to me!"
"The evidence of corruption recorded in this account book should only be a small part!"
"According to my secret investigation over the past few days, Xu Shifu has embezzled at least 30 million taels of silver!"
"While investigating Xu Shifu's corruption case, I accidentally discovered evidence that Xu Shifu had formed a clique for personal gain and persecuted loyal officials..."
boom……
As Liang Lunchen finished speaking, all the ministers were shocked.
"Thirty million taels of silver?"
"Master Liang, are you sure you are not drunk?"
"Do you know what thirty million taels of silver means?"
"How much is the tax revenue of our dynasty in a year? How could the Duke of Jingguo embezzle so much money?"
All the ministers looked at Liang Lunchen in shock.
Even people from Xu Shifu's group were shocked.
As the Minister of Revenue, it would not be surprising if Xu Shifu embezzled several million taels of silver.
But Liang Lunchen asked for 30 million taels of silver, which really scared them.
Thirty million taels of silver, just thinking about it seems exaggerated.
"Your Excellencies, there is no need to be shocked."
Liang Lunchen raised his eyes and scanned the ministers. "This is just my conservative estimate. The actual amount of money Xu Shifu embezzled is definitely much more!"
Just a little more?
The officials were shocked again.
Emperor Wen's eyes fell on Liang Lunchen: "The authenticity of this account book has yet to be verified, right? Just relying on an account book casually delivered by a servant of the Xu Mansion, what can it prove?"
Liang Lunchen: "This person also accidentally discovered the secret room where Xu Shifu hid the silver. If Your Majesty does not believe it, you can order the Yulin Guards to take this person to search Xu's mansion!"
"Where is this person?"
Emperor Wen asked immediately.
Liang Lunchen: "I was worried that Xu Shifu would kill this person to silence him, so I hid him. I am the only one who knows where he is."
"Somebody come!"
Emperor Wen's face fell, "Order Xiao Jian to lead a thousand Yulin Guards to obey the orders of Liang Aiqing, Yu Fu!"
"The minister is here."
Yu Fu stepped out of the line, sweat dripping from his forehead.
Emperor Wen: "You are the Minister of Punishment, I order you to accompany me!"
"Your humble servant... obeys your order!"
Yu Fu agreed reluctantly.
Soon, Liang Lunchen brought Xu Mansion's servants and a large number of Yulin Guards to Xu Mansion.
Looking at the servants in his own house, Xu Shifu suddenly laughed out loud: "Good, good! Your Majesty has a good method! As the saying goes, serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. It is not unfair for me to lose, it is not unfair..."
Xu Shifu laughed out loud, and as he laughed, tears began to flow.
This person is the old man in his house!
Before he met Emperor Wen, this man was already working in Xu's mansion.
Unexpectedly, he secretly defected to Emperor Wen.
What a good idea!
Xu Shifu did not struggle or make any excuses.
When he saw this servant, he knew he had completely lost.
However, Emperor Wen may not have won!
……
On this day, a piece of news spread quickly throughout the streets and alleys of the imperial city.
The Minister of Revenue was investigated for corruption, and the Imperial Guards found a total of 13 million taels of silver, more than 200,000 taels of gold, and countless rare treasures in the secret room of Xu's mansion.
It is said that the carriages carrying gold, silver and treasures stretched for a mile.
That’s not all.
I heard from the grapevine that the Yulin Guards also found a treasure map in Xu's mansion.
It is very likely that Xu Shifu also hid a large amount of silver outside the imperial city.
While searching Xu's mansion, the Yulin Guards unexpectedly discovered that Xu Shifu had a close relationship with the former crown prince's rebellion.
Emperor Wen was furious and ordered that Xu Shifu and many officials of the Xu family and their families be imprisoned.
On the same day, the Minister of Justice Yu Fu was also arrested and imprisoned.
As for the specific reasons, there are many different opinions.
Some people said that Yu Fu was related to Xu Shifu's case of embezzlement, some people said that Yu Fu was related to the former prince's case of treason, and some people said that Yu Fu intended to rebel.
Within one day, two ministers of the court were arrested.
As the surprise interrogation of the two men unfolded, more officials were implicated.
That night, many generals of the six guards of the imperial city were arrested.
Several others were caught red-handed while they were planning a rebellion.
A small number of generals resisted stubbornly and were killed on the spot...
