Fortunate Young Gentleman

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The annual income of Chen Guo's treasury, excluding physical items, was equivalent to only ten million taels of silver.

A small Ezhou in the south of the Yangtze River deceived the emperor, colluded with officials and businessmen, and plotted to murder the imperial officials... In one exam, the tax money and stolen goods were recovered, equivalent to more than 5 million taels, accounting for half of the national treasury!

He had known for a long time that there was a problem in Jiangnan, but he didn't know that there was such a big deal. Jiangnan officials were so arrogant. It was because they were supported by these people in the court. The source of the chaos in Jiangnan was not in Jiangnan, but in the Golden Palace.

These people took advantage of the imperial court's salary, but separated the imperial court from Jiangnan. They only cared about their own interests and became the worms of the imperial court. Without the three million taels of silver, he could still turn a blind eye to the actions of these people. Eyes, now there is only disgust.

Chen Huang looked down calmly and said: "I asked him to go to Jiangnan, and I also gave him the Shang Fang Sword. Seeing the sword is like seeing the king. Why, he can't deal with the Ezhou officials, why can't I deal with him?"

Li Ke said sternly: "Even if he has Shang Fang's sword, it is not the reason for him to act recklessly in the south of the Yangtze River. Tang Ning relied on His Majesty's trust to cause trouble to the place and make the people of Ezhou miserable. Isn't it an added crime?"

The supervisory censor said: "Your Majesty, the Censorship Department sent people to accompany the Ministry of Personnel Examination. This was originally to supervise the officials of the Ministry of Personnel. However, as soon as Tangning arrived in Jiangnan, she acted arbitrarily and sent back the Censor Zhongcheng. Isn't this right? Does it mean there’s something wrong with him?”

"Your Majesty, Tangning must be recalled!"

"I second the proposal!"

"I second the proposal!"

…

After Li Ke spoke to the censor of the incident and supervision, the officials from the Jiangnan faction who stood up began to speak in unison. Until a figure stood up, everyone closed their mouths at the same time.

Prime Minister Feng came out, bowed and said: "The sword Shang Fang is extraordinary. This is a big deal. Since the founding of the Chen Dynasty, there has never been a precedent for giving it to a minister. No matter how much your Majesty favors and trusts his ministers, he cannot set a precedent... …If someone uses the power of the sword to harm the place, wouldn’t it also undermine His Majesty’s majesty?”

Emperor Chen looked at him and asked, "Where did Prime Minister Feng hear that Tang Ning used the Shang Fang sword I gave him to harm the place?"

"Your Majesty gave him the Shangfang Sword, which is the ultimate expression of a king's favor and trust in his ministers." Feng Xiang did not answer the question, but instead said: "But as a king, no matter what, you cannot favor only one person. Qin II only favored Zhao Gao, and Da Qin It led to the destruction of the country. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty favored Concubine Yang, and the Tang Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline... There are countless examples in ancient times that caused great disasters because of kings' exclusive favors. Is your Majesty going to follow in the footsteps of those monarchs? "

Prime Minister Feng's words were already a very stern admonishment for the king. Although he did not say it explicitly, everyone could understand the meaning behind his words.

If Your Majesty recalls Tang Ning, he will be a wise king who knows his mistakes and can correct them. If he is stubborn, he will be no different from the foolish kings in history.

Above the court, only Prime Minister Feng can say this and dares to say this.

All the officials lowered their heads and slowed down their breathing. In the past, when encountering this kind of situation, His Majesty had to have a big quarrel with Prime Minister Feng in the court. When gods fight, they little devils will avoid it if they can, and hide if they can. .

But this time, they waited for a long time and did not wait for His Majesty to get angry. Some people had quietly looked up.

The expression on Chen Huang's face was very calm, and he asked: "Does Prime Minister Feng mean that I am a foolish king?"

"I don't dare." Feng Xiang bowed and said, "It's just that I'm old and frail, and I've always been unable to deal with court affairs recently. Since your Majesty has already found a capable minister, I would like to ask your Majesty to allow me to return home after serving. …”

Everyone could hear that Prime Minister Feng was speaking sarcastically. He was forcing His Majesty to choose between him and Tang Ning.

This is also Prime Minister Feng's trick that has been tried and tested time and time again. Even when other ministers are old, His Majesty has to keep them again, let alone the right minister?

Whenever Prime Minister Feng used this move, even if His Majesty did not yield, he would always give in.

They secretly looked at Chen Huang and found that he was standing there stunned, with an expression on his face - was this an expression of surprise on His Majesty's face?

After yesterday, Chen Huang's dissatisfaction and disgust with Jiangnan officials had reached its peak.

As for Jiangnan officials, most of them were headed by Prime Minister Feng. It was precisely because of Prime Minister Feng's existence that some of his decrees for Jiangnan could not be implemented at all.

But even if he is dissatisfied with Prime Minister Feng, he cannot remove him. This is a power that although he has, he cannot exercise it casually.

In this case, what Feng Xiang said just now was exactly what he wanted and spoke to his heart.

He suppressed the joy in his heart, thought for a moment, nodded and said: "Prime Minister Feng has worked hard for the country all his life, so he deserves a good rest. I agree with your request."

Prime Minister Feng raised his head suddenly, regardless of the etiquette of monarchs and ministers, and looked at Emperor Chen in disbelief.

It shouldn't be like this, things definitely shouldn't be like this. Resigning is just a bargaining chip for him to force His Majesty to make concessions. How could His Majesty agree to it? How could he agree to it!

He opened his mouth, but there seemed to be a ball of cotton stuck in his throat, and he couldn't speak.

It was not only Prime Minister Feng who was shocked, but also all the courtiers in the palace.

After Emperor Chen finished speaking, a shocking uproar broke out in the court hall.

"His Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, you must not!"

"I beg your Majesty to take back your order!"

"Does Your Majesty really want to cause chaos in the imperial court and destroy the country because of a sycophant?"

…

This time, it was not only officials from the Jiangnan faction who knelt down, but almost half of the court officials in the hall knelt down.

Being dismissed from the position of prime minister was a big deal. Although it was Prime Minister Feng who resigned himself, everyone knew that this was not his intention!

The two prime ministers were like the two pillars of the court. If one fell, how could the court be stable?

Officials could ignore the affairs of Jiangnan and watch the fun, but if His Majesty wanted to dismiss the prime minister, they could not stand idly by!

"Flatterers?" Emperor Chen looked at them, smiled, and asked, "Do you know what those Ezhou local officials did?"

After he spoke, the court immediately became quiet.

Emperor Chen looked at them and asked, "They colluded with officials and businessmen to embezzle the tax silver of the court. Do you know how much tax silver Tang Ning recovered from Ezhou this time?"

"Five million taels, a full five million taels!"

Emperor Chen raised his voice and looked at a person standing in front of the court and said, "Qian Shuo!"

Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Qian Shuo stepped forward and said, "I am here."

Emperor Chen looked at him and asked, "Tell them how much tax silver the treasury collected last year?"

Qian Shuo thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, in the first year of Dingyuan, the money deposited into the treasury was equivalent to about 10 million taels of silver."

"Did you hear that?" Emperor Chen looked at the officials and said sternly, "10 million taels, the tax silver of the treasury is only 10 million taels a year, and a small Ezhou hides half of the treasury..., you all know how to ask me for money, and after all this time, I am the poorest!"

Emperor Chen's voice was almost a roar, and the officials were silent.

"Do you think this is the end?" Emperor Chen walked up to the upper room, took out a thick letter, threw it in the face of the Li Ke Jie Shi Zhong, and cursed: "This is a letter from the people of Ezhou, which lists dozens of crimes of Ezhou officials. Tell me, who is causing chaos in the local area?"

Li Ke Jie Shi Zhong looked pale, trembling, and knelt on the ground, not daring to speak.

Emperor Chen threw another memorial at the face of the Supervisory Censor and said in a deep voice: "Two years ago, Censor Zheng went to Ezhou to investigate the mining tax, but died of acclimatization. You should remember it, right?"

Without waiting for his answer, Emperor Chen snorted coldly and said: "Of course you remember, you should remember, because it was you who replaced him!"

He looked at the ministers and raised his voice again. "He is the flatterer you are talking about. He recovered 5 million taels of tax silver for the court. He redressed the grievances of the people of Ezhou. He found out that the Supervisory Censor who died in Ezhou two years ago did not die of illness, but was murdered by Ezhou officials!"

Your Majesty was obviously angry, and the officials kneeling on the ground lowered their heads and dared not say a word.

Emperor Chen walked up again, and while all the officials were looking down and no one was paying attention, he secretly opened Tang Ning's letter and read it, then closed it, paced back down, and said sternly: "I used to think that the enemies of my Chen State were in the grasslands, in the Western Regions..., but now I am becoming more and more clear that the enemies of my Great Chen are not in the north or the west, but in this court, in this Golden Palace!"

"Accusing loyal people as traitors, protecting criminal officials, forming cliques for personal gain, forcing the emperor in the Golden Palace..., which one of these was not done by you? You just talked to me about Zhao Gao, tell me, you and Zhao Gao , what's the difference!"

"When you were fighting in the capital, the flatterer you called was collecting taxes for me and redressing the grievances for the people. When you stand here and accuse him, don't you feel a little ashamed?"

"I am very sad, I am very disappointed in you!" Emperor Chen glanced at everyone again, sighed, and said: "Kneel down for me, kneel for half an hour, kneel here, touch your conscience, and think about it for me..."

After that, he walked straight out of the hall. Seeing this, Wei Jian hurried down and followed him closely.

Emperor Chen's face was as gloomy as water. He walked out of the hall, walked through two long corridors, walked to a deserted place, stopped, the anger on his face was gone, and laughed up to the sky: "It's great!"