vstars Chapter 425 News Summary, The Silent Emperor
Chapter 425 News Summary, The Silent Emperor
Minister Wang secretly embezzled a large sum of money from the Ministry of Revenue, which he was preparing to transport out of the capital to recruit soldiers and build weapons for the Third Prince.
This was the conclusion drawn by Jiang Xiaoqi and his grandfather: it turned out that the entire Wang family had already pledged allegiance to the Third Prince.
If Jiang Xiaoqi hadn't attended the small banquet at the Liu family's house, she probably would have received this secret information much later.
Both grandfather and grandson were secretly alarmed. This matter was of great importance, concerning His Majesty, the court, the officials, and even the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
Whether the Third Prince had enough wealth to recruit soldiers and horses before he conceived the idea of rebellion, or whether he had the idea of rebellion first and then began to drag the Minister of Revenue into it.
Any action taken will plunge the world into chaos, shattering the peace of the past two decades since the founding of the nation.
Landlord Jiang frowned, pondered for a moment, and then said, "This matter must be informed to the Emperor as soon as possible so that he can take precautions."
However, we lack concrete evidence and only have hearsay. If we rashly submit this report, he might turn around and accuse us.
“Grandfather, although we discovered this matter, it is not our responsibility to speak about it.”
"You mean... Minister Wu of the Ministry of Works?"
Jiang Xiaoqi nodded. Lord Wu was His Majesty's confidant, so it was obviously more convincing for Lord Wu to say this.
Besides, Lord Wu has people under his command who can investigate thoroughly and then present the evidence to the Minister of Revenue.
The culprits were caught red-handed; the entire Wang family is in deep trouble and will not escape.
Finally, the message was delivered to Minister Wu through Jiang Changqing. Minister Wu was somewhat surprised that news came so quickly!
The Jiang family is truly talented, and Minister Wang has hidden himself very well.
If it weren't for his troublesome second grandson, he would probably have remained in hiding until the third prince truly rose to power.
Haha, the Jiang family is his lucky charm. Not only Minister Wang, but Jiang Changqing's side has also found many officials who have sided with the eldest prince.
There was also news yesterday about his mole in the Ministry of Rites.
The general distribution of power among the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Rites is now clear.
The rest will have to rely on Lao Lin. He doesn't have anyone he can trust in the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, or the Ministry of Personnel.
As if they had thought of something, Minister of War Lin Shenxuan found an excuse to go out on his day off, but actually arranged to meet Minister Wu at a teahouse under his wife's name.
The two met in a private room of the teahouse, and without any formalities, they sat down and got straight to the point.
Minister Wu first informed Lin Shenxuan about the Wang family's scheme to obtain money for the Third Prince.
"This third prince is quite ambitious. If he succeeds in recruiting soldiers, the consequences will be unimaginable."
Minister Wu said, "Yes, I have now basically found out which officials in the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Rites have taken sides. We are only missing the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Personnel. Brother Lin, have you made any discoveries?"
Lin Shenxuan frowned and pondered for a moment, then said, "There are also some people in the Ministry of War who are secretly communicating with the Third Prince, but there is no conclusive evidence yet."
There are traces of the First Prince in many places in the Ministry of Personnel, which suggests that the Ministry has used its authority to place many of his people in important positions.
The Ministry of Justice hasn't found anything yet, but..."
"Just what?"
"It's just a bit strange, though. There was a fire at the Ministry of Justice recently that killed dozens of serious criminals, and the Ministry of Justice hastily closed the case."
"This matter is indeed somewhat strange, but the Ministry of Justice is like an ironclad block, so this matter may be difficult to investigate."
Death row inmates...serious offenders...
What use are these people if they don't die?
They're the kind of people who live for today and don't care about tomorrow. They don't need anyone to promise them great benefits. As long as they're offered the promise of regaining their freedom, they'll risk their lives to fight for it!
"Dead warrior!"
Wu and Lin spoke in unison.
"When will we be able to use suicide soldiers... during a rebellion, during a power struggle?"
"Ha, I initially thought the Ministry of Justice might be the only one that hadn't gotten involved in the succession struggle. I was wrong!"
Minister Lin chuckled self-deprecatingly. Luckily, he had told Old Wu about this matter, otherwise he would have really put aside the Ministry of Justice and focused on his Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel, which were clearly siding with the Crown Prince.
Now that the two have met and consolidated the information, they basically know that although there are four or five factions in the court, the overall situation seems to have been completely divided up by the eldest prince and the third prince.
Minister Wu said with a solemn expression, "It now seems that the First Prince and the Third Prince have been secretly plotting for a long time in their struggle for the throne. We must inform His Majesty of this situation as soon as possible."
Lin Shenxuan nodded, "Now many people in the Ministry of War are on the side of the Third Prince, and the Ministry of Revenue is entirely the Third Prince's private treasury. He can be considered to have money, people, and troops."
The eldest prince holds the Ministry of Personnel, and many officials in various places also support him. There is also the Ministry of Rites. Although the Minister of Rites is the maternal grandfather of the fourth prince, the fourth prince is currently unable to establish himself, so the officials of the Ministry of Rites naturally have the idea of finding another powerful figure to rely on.
The matter that happened in the Ministry of Justice is somewhat puzzling. The person who did it was very clever and left no trace.
We need to send more people over there to investigate further; they might uncover more interesting information.
After discussing it, the two decided that Minister Wu would first go to the palace to meet the emperor and report the current situation truthfully.
Minister Lin continued his covert investigation into the fire at the Ministry of Justice, determined to find out who was now using the Ministry of Justice.
After Minister Wu entered the palace, Minister Lin left through the back door of his own teahouse.
After gathering the information, both men felt angry and repressed. His Majesty treated each of his sons well, but he had not established a crown prince early on, which only fueled his sons' ambitions to fight each other.
These veteran officials had all fought alongside His Majesty to establish the empire, so their bond was naturally different from that of others.
Anyone can be bribed, but neither of them can.
They will always stay by His Majesty's side and clear obstacles for him.
His Majesty the Emperor's expression was not as gloomy as one might expect after hearing the report from his trusted old minister.
However, he really didn't expect his sons to be so impatient.
"I understand. Keep an eye on them. They won't be able to cause any major trouble."
"Go back. You've all worked hard these past few days. Once you've roughly investigated the matter, you can hand it over to Tiger to continue the investigation."
Minister Wu immediately understood the deeper meaning. Indeed, he and Old Lin could now retire successfully after investigating this matter.
The Tiger Guards are indeed better suited for covert investigations; those openly pro-royalists are far too conspicuous.
The princes weren't stupid; they would eventually notice if they were being watched for too long.
Sigh... His Majesty seems to have aged a few years. He says he doesn't care, but he's probably quite upset inside.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I take my leave!"
After Minister Wu withdrew, the emperor sat alone on the dragon throne for a long time, and no one knew what His Majesty was thinking...