20demayo Chapter 204 This person is very interesting. He likes
Chapter 204 This person is very interesting. He likes
Chu Xi barely managed to get through the most difficult days, while His Majesty and a group of court officials far away in the capital finally discussed and agreed on disaster relief matters.
The other details about disaster relief were easy to discuss, except for two that had been the subject of endless disputes among the different factions.
In addition to the silver and grain that need to be allocated for disaster relief, the most important thing is the chief officer. This chief officer will directly affect how much of the disaster relief silver is left to reach the disaster relief area!
Obviously, Your Majesty is not a wise and powerful monarch, otherwise, the court would not have fallen apart so quickly within less than twenty years of his rule, and the Great Zhou would not have been on the verge of collapse due to internal friction.
He himself had been a prince before, so he naturally knew that such a lucrative position would definitely be fought over by several princes. Once it was snatched away, it would be divided up like a piece of meat.
But he didn't care. As long as the main official was chosen, what the people below would do had nothing to do with him. The more intense the fight, the better. In this way, no one force would become powerful alone!
As for the embezzled silver, whether it will affect the overall situation, and whether it will cause many victims to die because they cannot get the silver to live, what does it have to do with him?
As long as it doesn't affect his throne and doesn't shake his kingdom, what does the death of a few poor people matter?
Zhou Yichen, Chu Xi and others could all guess that His Majesty would not care about the candidate for disaster relief, so two days before Zhou Yichen arrived, the two had a secret talk and made a plan.
The new disaster relief official appointed by the court is Yun Jiyou.
He had just been transferred back to the capital last month, and his relationship with Chu Qibai was known to everyone in the court, so he was the final candidate.
But, in fact, there were constant twists and turns in the process. The original candidate was not Yun Jiyou. When he was transferred back to Beijing, he was just a sixth-rank minor official, the Dali Temple Secretary.
This matter should not have happened to him, because the candidates put forward by the Seventh Prince and the Eighth Prince all had problems one after another, and... the First Prince had no support from the civil servants, but one of the First Prince's lieutenant generals was selected into the disaster relief team.
As a guard accompanying the relief silver, it was a large amount of silver after all. Although it was distributed by the imperial court, he was afraid of encountering someone who was not afraid of death.
Therefore, the team escorting the silver must not be small and must have certain combat experience.
Then, the eldest prince's group, who are temporarily free in the capital, are naturally the most suitable candidates. Adding Yun Jiyu, who has close ties with the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery, can also form a balanced situation.
Not to mention, although His Majesty does not know how to be a wise monarch and govern the country well, he can use the imperial mentality with ease.
After Zhou Jialiang's secret instigation, it turns out that the Huzhou mountain bandits are not real bandit troubles, but a force in the court deliberately arranged to lurk in the mountains to prepare for the future...
This news soon spread throughout the capital. The key point was that all the evidence pointed to the Eighth Prince. The Eighth Prince was already uneasy, and now he dared not act rashly.
The Seventh Prince felt that his chance had come, and he proudly recommended two candidates to provide disaster relief. One was the younger brother of his concubine, and the other was the legitimate son of the Marquis of Yuyang.
Both of them were recommended by him personally, but before they set out, they were both sued by the emperor. It was said that the official position held by the eldest son of the Earl's family had replaced the test paper and taken it from someone else.
Unfortunately, the poor scholar who was replaced by him realized something was wrong and attempted to file a complaint with the emperor, but was beaten to death in the Jingzhao Yin Mansion.
The concubine's brother relied on being the seventh prince to bully the world, forcibly seize someone's wife, and kill people in the street. The wife was carried out the night she entered the mansion, covered with wounds and died in a very miserable way.
The old couple whose daughter-in-law was taken away and whose son died tragically beat the drum in the Dali Temple, just wanting justice for their son and daughter-in-law!
The candidates put forward by the Seventh Prince had problems one after another before they even left the capital, and none of them were good. Under the resentment of the people, they jointly impeached some upright officials and strongly demanded a trial.
Even a fool like Your Majesty doesn't think it's a big deal...
He had no choice but to approve their request and hand the matter over to the Dali Temple for a thorough investigation, with the eldest prince serving as the supervising judge.
Seventh Prince: ...
Not only did he go through a lot of trouble in vain, but he also lost two people. Although these two people were not his right-hand men, he couldn't help but be angry because he lost two people and his reputation.
The emperor's intention of appointing my eldest brother to supervise the trial is even more obvious. With a prince in charge, even if the seventh prince wanted to protect them, he would be powerless.
The Eighth Prince was hindered by the fact that the bandits in Huzhou suspected that they had found an iron mine, but the news was suppressed by the Huzhou officials and was not reported in time.
The candidates proposed by the two were naturally eliminated.
Yun Jiyou was the third person selected. It’s not that the Seventh Prince and the Eighth Prince didn’t want to ruin this candidate, but... they checked but couldn’t find any attackable points on Yun Jiyou.
Apart from the fact that the other party's identity was closely related to the Mansion of the Loyal and Brave Marquis, although he had entered the officialdom for so many years, he was like a clean stream, not forming cliques, not seeking personal gain, and not being corrupt or accepting bribes in private.
Now, they all wilted.
As for Zhou Jialiang, who was observing secretly, he curled his lips slowly after hearing the news, "It's too late to leave the capital now! According to their speed, it will take at least four days to arrive..."
The current situation in Xi'an cannot last even for one day, let alone four days!
"Master, we received a letter from Western Chu and Dongying saying that they cannot get close to the Third Prince and the Prince of Chu, and they both want our people to help. Should we... send our spies into action?"
"Tsk." Zhou Jialiang shook his head without disguising, his lazy tone revealing a bit of coldness and ruthlessness, "You are so useless. It's been so long, and you still can't kill Zhou Yichen!"
The guards next to him were already accustomed to Zhou Jialiang's tone of voice.
"Tell them that I don't have enough manpower there and I'm powerless. I wish them good luck." Zhou Jialiang suddenly spoke before escorting them away.
"By the way, tell them to leave Chu Qibai alive. Apart from him, they can do whatever they want with the others, whether they kill them or capture them."
The guard was stunned for a moment, then nodded without asking why, "Yes."
This was not the first time he heard from his master that he wanted to spare the life of Prince Chu. It seemed that his master really admired and valued Prince Chu.
"Also, that Miss Jiang went to the border, right? Spread the news and let everyone be happy!" Zhou Jialiang always smiled when he spoke.
Just looking at his expression, those who didn't know would think he was easy to talk to and in a good mood. In fact, only when you look into his cold, dark and deep eyes, you will realize that he is not in a good mood at all.
The guard continued to nod, "Yes."
Zhou Jialiang glanced at the guards who were standing there, waiting for his orders.
The cold eyes made the guard realize immediately that this was a signal that it was time to go out.
The guards hurried down to deal with what Zhou Jialiang had instructed, while Zhou Jialiang took out the letters that recorded Chu Xi's daily life and read them.
Even though...he has read this letter no less than three times.
Well, this guy is interesting, he likes it.