I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 190 Rat Rat Rat

"Your Majesty, please spare my life. This servant deserves death!"

"But everything I said is true, Your Majesty, please understand!"

"Your Majesty, even if I have the courage of heaven, I will never dare to deceive you!"

"His Majesty……"

Upon hearing this, Wang Bi's face turned pale instantly, his legs went limp, and his forehead hit the ground with a loud bang, and his head was bleeding after a few hits.

After all, he was Liu Che's close attendant, and even if he was not very capable, he knew what the words "I don't want to see him again in the future" meant.

Things had completely exceeded his expectations at this point.

He thought he understood Liu Che's character, and that what Liu Che liked and valued most were ministers who "were not afraid of power."

All those cruel officials who came from humble backgrounds but rose to high positions in the past had this characteristic.

No matter whether they were royal relatives or princes and nobles, as long as they fell into the hands of those cruel officials, they would treat them equally, and resolutely expose and punish them in accordance with Liu Che's will, without fear of offending the powerful, at least this was how they behaved in front of Liu Che. As a result, the rewards and promotions they received were far greater than those of ordinary officials.

Why does the same routine suddenly not work for him?

And isn’t this Liu Che’s original intention?
Liu Che had already issued an edict to convene a meeting to "depose and enthrone the crown prince", which clearly meant that he wanted to depose and enthrone the crown prince, and he wanted to do it with justification. So, wasn't his current "fearlessness of power" towards Liu Ju simply complying with the emperor's wishes?

Even if you don't get rewarded or promoted for this, it shouldn't be the exact opposite result, right?
"call--"

Su Wen secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, but he couldn't help feeling a little sad.

It turned out that his bet was right, otherwise his career as the Yellow Gate Minister would have ended today...

Moreover, he knew in his heart that even if Wang Bi had no political purpose this time, he must have accepted bribes from others. He also felt that this move was in line with the emperor's wishes, and even if there was no benefit, there would be no harm, so he did this.

In fact, it’s not just Wang Bi.

Many of the palace attendants had similar thoughts, and even he himself was not immune.

Fortunately, he had personally experienced Liu Ju's strength many times before, and he remained sober at the critical moment, so he did not make the wrong choice in a moment of confusion and was able to escape danger.

"promise."

While feeling relieved, Su Wen quickly sang a promise and shouted to the Qimen warriors in the hall,
"Hurry up and drag this servant away, don't disturb your majesty's peace!"

"promise!"

A group of Qimen warriors immediately stepped forward to arrest the man.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty! I know I was wrong, and I will never do it again!"

Seeing this, Wang Bi was so frightened that he was shaking all over. He almost lost his mind and could not care about anything else. He cried and begged for mercy:

"This is all my fault for being confused for a moment. I accepted money from others and was deceived by them. I am willing to report the briber and redeem myself. I only ask Your Majesty to give me a chance to redeem myself with money for my careful service to you before!"

"speak out."

After hearing this, Liu Che finally waved his hand, signaling the Qimen warriors to stop temporarily, and glanced at Wang Bi with cold eyes.

"It's Jingzhao Yin Fan Yuan!"

Wang Bi saw that there seemed to be a glimmer of hope, so he grabbed it tightly like a drowning man and said hurriedly,
"I and Fan Yuan are both from Nanyang, so we usually interact with each other."

"A few days ago, Fan Yuan invited me to a private banquet. He gave me a hundred gold coins as a gift and promised to transfer a hundred hectares of ancestral farmland in Nanyang to my brother, and persuaded me to trap the crown prince."

"I was unwilling to do so. Even though Fan Yuan tried his best to persuade me and analyzed the pros and cons for me, I still did not agree."

"Until today when I saw Your Majesty issue an edict to convene the 'Discussion on Deposing and Enthroning the Crown Prince', I thought that the Crown Prince would definitely... Therefore, I was blinded by greed and took advantage of the situation to add fuel to the fire."

"Your Majesty, I have no intention of framing the Crown Prince, and I dare not even think of deceiving you."

"Your Majesty, please consider that this is my first offense and give me a chance to live. From now on, I will definitely turn over a new leaf and never dare to have any selfish thoughts again!"

"..."

Liu Che asked again without comment:

"Go on, how did Fan Yuan analyze the pros and cons for you? Are there other people involved?"

"Fan Yuan told this servant that this incident was a big one, but it would only get bigger and bigger."

Blood flowed down Wang Bi's forehead and all over his face, but he didn't even dare to wipe away the blood that flowed into his eyes and dyed the whites of his eyes red. He kowtowed again and said,

"He also said that someone would definitely try every means to drag the crown prince into this situation, and that they have already made plans. In addition, there are many more people who do not want the crown prince to inherit the throne, so they will definitely add fuel to the fire. The crown prince will definitely not be able to escape this time."

"And if I give the Crown Prince a hand at this time, not only will I be able to receive his gifts, but I will also be able to gain the favor of more people. In the future, I will definitely be able to go smoothly in the officialdom, with only benefits and no harm."

"Besides, even if I don't do this, someone else will still do it. By then, it will be too late for me to regret it."

"As for who Fan Yuan was referring to, he did not say clearly, and I did not ask."

"Your Majesty, I have told you everything I know. I have never lied. Please understand. Or you can summon Fan Yuan so that I can confront him face to face!"

"..."

After hearing this, Liu Che seemed to have lost interest in Wang Bi. He turned around and waved to Su Wen.

"No! Drag it away!"

Su Wen immediately understood and conveyed the emperor's will to the warriors of Qimen.

Wang Bi was dragged out of the greenhouse hall with repeated cries of "Your Majesty, spare my life". At this time, Liu Che looked at Su Wen, who was standing with his head bowed, and said calmly:

"Su Wen, I was wondering why things kept disappearing in the Greenhouse Palace recently. It turns out that rats have invaded. I'll leave the task of getting rid of the rats to you. I don't want to scare them away for the time being."

"My slave takes orders."

Su Wen's heart couldn't help but tighten again, and he bent his body even lower.

……

That day, a piece of news spread throughout the Weiyang Palace:

[The eunuch Wang Bi was dishonest and stole the imperial property from the palace. Today, he was caught red-handed by Su Wen. Su Wen took the initiative to order him to be beaten to death. Afterwards, he took the initiative to apologize to the emperor.]

【The emperor, mindful of Su Wen's loyalty, pardoned his transgression.】

Although this news caused heated discussions in the palace, it did not have any impact.

After all, judging from the nature of this matter, it is just an insignificant little thing, and is not worth mentioning at all compared to the "debate on deposing and enthroning the crown prince" that will be held in half a month.

But Su Wen already understood one thing:

Now the palace and its surroundings are full of mousetraps. Although there were no such things as mousetraps at that time, they were of a similar nature.

And Crown Prince Liu Ju was the bait in the mousetrap.

Any mouse that tries to take the bait will have its neck broken by the mousetrap.

Even if he just showed interest in the bait, it would still not work.

The upcoming "debate on deposing and enthroning the crown prince" is a bigger mousetrap, just waiting for the mouse to fall into the trap.

……

Confucius Mansion.

"Mr. Kong, now you and I can finally rest assured!"

After learning about the "proposal to depose and enthronize the crown prince", Dongguo Xianyang came to the Kong Mansion as soon as possible. After entering the study with Kong Jin, he smiled as if relieved.

"I told you before, everything is under my control."

Kong just looked at him and smiled.

"Your Majesty has issued an edict to hold a discussion on the dethronement of the crown prince. Liu Ju's dethronement is a fact. He is now in a difficult situation, so how can he still think about the reform of the salt and iron industry?"

"Even if we take a step back, Liu Ju is just a fool who doesn't know how to advance or retreat. He will definitely not be able to find anything about you and me in the remaining half month."

"Besides, who would have thought that it was you and me who were the ones who impeached you and me at the court meeting because of the salt and iron issue?"

Dongguo Xianyang bowed flatteringly and said with a smile:

"Mr. Kong is right. Thanks to your planning, I am now able to turn danger into safety. Please accept my humble brother's greetings."

"However, after this incident, most of the salt and iron officials have been replaced, and His Majesty has also seen the benefits of 'standardization'. Even if the crown prince is deposed, I'm afraid he will still promote this decree."

"So, Lord Kong, this time we have suffered a great loss. It is not an exaggeration to say that both you and the prince have suffered losses."

Kong Jin's smile stiffened slightly when he heard this, and he said with resentment but helplessness:

"Who would have thought that this young boy could come up with such a brilliant plan to wipe out a family?"

"This is the best possible outcome."

"Brother Dongguo, listen to my advice. As the saying goes, serving a king is like serving a tiger."

"The wealth we have earned over the years is almost enough to ensure the safety of our two families for a hundred years. Since the business of salt and iron has lost much profit, and you and I are no longer useful to Your Majesty, after the 'debate on the crown prince' is over, I will take this opportunity to take the blame for the malpractice of the salt and iron government in the name of improper employment, and resign from the office. This will be considered an explanation to Your Majesty."

"This may be the only chance for you and me to escape unscathed in this life. We must not wait until His Majesty casts his eyes upon us..."

……

The following half month was nothing short of torture for many people.

But for Liu Ju, it just passed by in a flash.

The reform of the state-run salt and iron industries is still proceeding in an orderly manner.

Just as Liu Ju had expected, more salt and iron officials have been arrested for the crime of "huge amounts of property of unknown origin", and their replacements have taken office to implement "standardization" among various ironworks.

At the same time, the court judge's carriages were constantly traveling back and forth between the local areas and Chang'an.

These were all confiscated properties, which almost filled up the national treasury temporarily set up in Shanglinyuan, and this did not include the land and mansions that could not be moved back.

As for the slaves who originally belonged to the salt merchants and iron merchants in the ironworks, they were unified into official slaves.

Some of the slaves with superb skills were pardoned by Emperor Liu Che and abolished their slavery, and became minor officials in the iron workshop.

However, Liu Ju's mind was no longer on this matter, but was completely focused on the "debate and enthronement of the crown prince."

Early that morning.

There was no need for Guo Zhen to come to Qiufang and knock on the door, Liu Ju had already woken up half an hour earlier.

After carefully bathing and washing, he changed into court robes, took the blank ivory tablet, went out, and took a carriage straight to the Weiyang Palace.

(End of this chapter)