King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 13 Who are you blaming?

As brothers of the same mother, it is natural to show filial piety.

When the servants escorted the prince away, Zhu Jinghong also followed, and did not return until he was sent out of the hall.

In the main hall, the officials who wanted to leave in the name of visiting, because of Zhu Jingyuan's last words, could only stay obediently at the moment.

When Zhu Jinghong returned, most of the officials glared at him, but Zhu Jinghong felt nothing about it.

When he came to the center of the main hall and looked back at the vacant throne, Zhu Jinghong couldn't help feeling excited.

To think that he was about to preside over the discussion so soon... Zhu Jinghong felt inconceivable.

What happened today was beyond everyone's expectations, and Zhu Jinghong was no exception.

Right now is not the time to be emotional, since he intends to make a career out of it, it is natural to strike while the iron is hot.

After picking up his mood, Zhu Jinghong turned around and walked towards the imperial steps, and said at the same time: "Everyone, Brother Huang asked me to preside over the discussion, do you have any objections?"

At this time, if anyone makes noise, Zhu Jinghong will not be soft, even for high-ranking officials.

This group of people is not active in their work and has a tendency to fight in groups. It is impossible to do errands without subduing them.

The hall was very quiet, Zhu Jinghong did not care about anything, but his status was precious and reasoning was useless, so naturally everyone would not be unhappy.

The black hats of everyone present have been earned in the early and late hours of the ten-year cold window, and no one is willing to lose it easily.

Slowly walking up the imperial steps, Zhu Jinghong continued: "Since you have nothing to say, then I will say it..."

Zhu Jinghong's posture was much stronger than that of the sick prince, and it was the first time that all the officials felt oppressed.

"I heard that the thirteenth prince is ignorant. It seems that I have not been in the capital in the past few years, and I have been taught by the Holy One... This master has made great progress!" Looking at Zhu Jinghong's back, Lin Ruhai was filled with emotion.

Whether in the Hanlin Academy or the cabinet secretary, he can be regarded as a close minister of the emperor, so he knows a lot about royal affairs.

Although the current emperor has many heirs, Zhu Jinghong is one of the three sons and one daughter born of the empress who is truly loved by him as his sons and daughters.

"Fourth brother came here to suppress the Japanese this time, and asked you to prepare food, grass and military equipment. Now you haven't even settled your accounts. What do you mean?"

"Master Thirteen, we..."

Before the following officials finished speaking, Zhu Jinghong interrupted sharply: "Who are you?"

With a bad premonition in his heart, Hu Jin'an cautiously replied: "I want to report to the Thirteenth Lord, I should recommend Hu Jin'an, the official of Tianfu!"

"Ying Tianfu promotes officials? Ying Tianfu is in charge of you?"

Zhu Jinghong's questioning made Hu Jin'an unable to answer.

Zhu Jinghong was going to find trouble for nothing, so how could he not make use of the excuse now.

"Who is Yingtian Zhifu? Come out and speak!"

The prefect of Yingtian is Jia Yu Village, but Zhu Jinghong doesn't know who the head of Jia Yu Village is, so he wants to see him today.

"Report...Report to the Thirteenth Master, the magistrate Jia Hua is not here!"

Seeing that the colleague at the side did not speak, Hu Jin'an could only bite the bullet and answer, who made the matter happen because of him.

"Oh? He's so bold? He's not here when the prince summons him?" Zhu Jinghong's tone became more and more hostile.

The atmosphere has been heightened here. If Jiayu Village is not rectified, the previous foreshadowing will be in vain.

Jia Yucun, oh Jia Yucun, who made you lose your luck... Zhu Jinghong sighed secretly.

"This... Prefect Jia went to Liyang, I'm afraid he's still on his way back!"

Liyang is the most remote county in Yingtian, at least two hundred miles away from Fucheng, and the order to discuss the matter was issued at noon yesterday, so it is normal that Jia Yucun did not come back in time.

"What did he go to Liyang for?"

"Urge the county government to start transporting military rations!"

Zhu Jinghong was silent for a while, staring at Hu Jin'an coldly and asked: "I was talking just now, why did you interrupt?"

Today he was here to find fault, since Jia Yucun couldn't clean up, he naturally wanted to hold on to Hu Jin'an.

"I asked you to talk or not before, but now I have to interrupt? What do you mean? You despise me like this?"

Contempt for a direct prince, even if it is an unfounded accusation, still makes Hu Jinan break out in cold sweat.

Although he was higher than the two county magistrates just now, he knew that there was no difference in front of Zhu Jinghong.

In order to avoid repeating the mistakes of Wang Qun and Wang Qun, Hu Jin'an immediately knelt down and pleaded guilty: "I made a mistake, please punish the thirteenth master!"

Directly asking Zhu Jinghong to punish him without begging for mercy for himself, Hu Jin'an is called dying and reborn.

If it's just a slip of the tongue, it's really not easy to punish.

In general, Zhu Jinghong wanted to run his errands well. On the one hand, he was a princeling, and on the other hand, he changed the impression of the emperor's father.

So at this moment, it is really not good for him to punish Hu Jin'an severely, and he will suffer if everything goes too far.

"That's all for this time, I will talk in the future... You must not interrupt at will, otherwise you will not be lenient!"

Hearing this, Hu Jinan's hanging heart fell.

He knew Zhu Jinghong's intentions very well, so he was afraid of being severely investigated as a typical example, after all, his butt was very dirty.

After signaling Hu Jinan to get up, Zhu Jinghong looked at the crowd with his hand on the leather belt, and then asked, "Who else wants to talk?"

All the officials were silent, they looked at Zhu Jinghong differently from before, they dared not despise the young prince anymore.

"Okay, let me continue..."

"It's understandable that there are gaps in the accounts, and it's acceptable that it takes time to sort them out, but there is always a deadline for solving things!"

"Brother Huang is kind, and I can't bear to add harsh words to you. You should have done your best to return the favor, but now you are just trying to evade the blame, and the accounts are still a mess..."

"Is this how you repay the emperor?"

Flicking his sleeves, Zhu Jinghong's tone became cold: "I'm not the emperor's brother. According to the words in the book, I pay attention to repaying kindness with kindness, and repaying grievances with straightness..."

"I'll give you half a month. If you don't understand the accounts again, then we'll use military law to discuss the matter!"

"I'm not afraid to tell you that this time, the emperor's brother came to Jinling under the banner of the king's order. Officials below the fourth rank can be removed from their posts to wait for participation, and those below the sixth rank can be punished directly!"

Each of the following few sentences has great power, making the backs of those who have ghosts in the scene shudder.

If it is really based on the king's law, with the current attitude of the Ming Dynasty towards officials, many people present would have to ransack their homes and exile.

With so many officials involved, would the prince really do such a "perverse" thing?Aren't you afraid that Shilin's reputation will turn against Prince Rui?

"Don't think that the law does not blame the public. If my fourth brother can't handle it well, he won't be able to sit in that seat. Do you think he still cares about your black hat?"

In the last sentence, Zhu Jinghong thought that he said it in a rather cryptic way, but it was like a thunderbolt to the ears of all the officials.

Whether the prince's position is stable or not, is it possible to say so clearly?
If other people mentioned this matter, they could be punished directly as treason, but it was Zhu Jinghong who mentioned it.

But after thinking about it carefully, all the officials were instantly alert.

This trip to Jinling is extremely important to the crown prince. If these people cause the errand to go wrong, I'm afraid it will not end well.

Seeing everyone's serious expressions, Zhu Jinghong showed a smile, and then said: "You guys... If you want me to say that you are really smart, you will be mistaken by your cleverness!"

The wind of these words was too fast, making it difficult for everyone present to pick up.

Rubbing the exquisite reliefs on the railing of the imperial steps, Zhu Jinghong continued: "You don't even think about it, who sent the emperor? To blame the emperor is the same as who to blame?"

Good guy, it was just the people with ghosts in their hearts sweating coldly, but now everyone is trembling.

(End of this chapter)