Once the court’s proposal to confer a title of king to the British public was put forward, it immediately caused an uproar.
The officials immediately divided into two groups. One group was composed of military generals who had made great achievements and expressed their approval. The other group was composed of civil servants Qingliu who firmly opposed it.
The titles on the heads of each of the generals present were accumulated by killing enemies in battle, one battle after another. There were only two largest and most extensive knighthood activities in the Ming Dynasty, one was the founding of the country and the other was Jingnan.
Due to some unknown reasons, there are very few existing achievements in the founding of the country. Those who are still active in the court are led by the British Duke Zhang Fu, and most of them are after the Jingnan heroes.
Nowadays, Zhang Fu's status is no less than that of Xu Da, the king of Zhongshan County in the early Ming Dynasty. However, even a highly respected minister like Xu Da only received a posthumous title after his death. He never expected that the emperor would be so generous and immediately wanted to confer a title on him.
Wang.
Therefore, when Zhu Qiyu made this decision, Zhang Fu was stunned.
He even wondered if he was dead...
Wang Hailing, the censor of the right capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, stood up and said: "Under the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty, people with different surnames cannot be crowned kings. Doesn't this destroy the ancestral system?"
After hearing this, Chen Ying, the Marquis of Taining, immediately jumped out and said: "The British Lord has great military exploits, why can't he be crowned king?"
"The ancestral system is the ancestral system, and the ancestral system cannot be violated!"
"Then what do you think of the reward?"
"The British Duke is already a very humane minister, so why not add an annual salary of two thousand dan to show his recognition?"
"How can such a splendid military exploit be spent with just a small salary? Wang Censor, what do you think of the imperial court, and what do you think of us generals?"
Chen Ying argued hard not because of his deep friendship with the British public, but just to win a fight.
The Ming Dynasty selected scholars through the imperial examination, and these scholars formed a group of civil servants. Although these people usually seem to be benevolent, righteous and moral, but compared to the rough and tumble men who only know how to fight, they have more than a hundred times more in their hearts.
In the court, the struggle between civil servants and military attachés has never stopped. As the ranks of civil servants become larger and larger, it is obvious that the latecomers will prevail.
Usually Zhang Fu takes the lead, but today as the person involved, he should avoid suspicion, so Chen Ying stepped up to take the lead.
Wang Hailing snorted with his nose and said: "You can give me an iron certificate for the elixir book, or you can be a favor to my descendants. In short, it must not violate the ancestral system!"
As the two people quarreled fiercely, more and more civil servants and military attachés joined the fight, and it was about to turn into a melee.
"The Emperor has arrived!"
There was sudden silence in the main hall. Everyone knelt down and saluted, shouting long live.
Zhu Qizhen didn't even change his official uniform. He walked into the hall wearing regular clothes and sat on the dragon chair.
"Flat body!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Zhu Qizhen glanced around with a dark face and asked: "It's very lively, what's the noise about?"
Zhu Qiyu stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, I am discussing the matter of the British public reward."
Wang Hailing hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, I think that the British Duke has meritorious service in killing the enemy, so he should be rewarded. However, the ancestral system cannot be overcome, and the matter of being crowned king needs to be carefully considered!"
"I second the proposal!"
"I second the proposal!"
Behind Wang Hailing, more than a dozen officials stood up one after another to express their support.
At this time, Chen Ying couldn't help it anymore and hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, my minister..."
Zhu Qizhen suddenly raised his hand and motioned for him to step aside.
Chen Ying was a little confused, but had no choice but to retreat.
"Since it is a court meeting, everyone should express their opinions. However, I came here today for another matter!"
Zhu Qizhen looked at the ministers, smiled faintly, and continued: "There have been two robberies in the capital recently involving murder and robbery. You must have heard about it, right?"
Everyone immediately looked at each other, and Zhu Qiyu was even more confused. We are discussing such a big matter as the title of king, and you came over to talk about the case?
Just let Shuntian Mansion investigate this kind of matter. Is it necessary to discuss it here?
"Wang Hailing!" Zhu Qizhen suddenly asked, "What is the relationship between the Qing family and Fanji Warehouse?"
Wang Hailing was suddenly named, and his expression suddenly changed, and he said: "Back to the emperor, I have never engaged in business activities, and I don't know that there is a Fanji Warehouse."
"Oh!" Zhu Qizhen nodded and said, "Since we don't know each other, then something happened at Fanji Warehouse, but you, the censor of Youdu, were busy in private. Why?"
Wang Hailing had a strange look on his face and hesitantly said: "Wei Chen... don't... don't understand what the emperor is talking about..."
Zhu Qizhen was not in a hurry and said slowly: "Who did the Qing family meet last night? You should remember it, right?"
"Last night...last night..."
Wang Hailing's face was pale, beads of sweat kept dripping from his forehead, and he was speechless for a long time.
Last night, when I met those people, there was no one around!
Obviously, everyone got away, except the mute who was sweeping the floor at home...
Is it the mute?
That's not right. This man has been in the house for more than ten years. He is deaf and mute. He doesn't respond when you play the gong next to him. How could it be him?
"Why, you don't remember what happened last night? Do you want me to help you reminisce?"
Wang Hailing fell to his knees and said tremblingly: "Weichen just negotiated a business with someone, but Weichen really didn't know anything about Fanji Warehouse!"
With a faint smile on his face, Zhu Qizhen asked: "Didn't Caiqing's family just say that they had never engaged in business activities? Did I hear it wrong?"
Wang Hailing no longer dared to hide it, so he could only say: "I know my mistake, please forgive me!"
"Don't be in a hurry to forgive me!" Zhu Qizhen asked again, "Tell me first, what kind of business are you talking about?"
"Weichen's hometown has some surplus grain, and he wants to sell it to get some money..."
"How much food is there?"
"About...about...five hundred stones..."
"Huh?"
Zhu Qizhen frowned, his face becoming increasingly ugly.
Wang Hailing could only say: "Wei Chen remembered it wrong, it was about five thousand stones."
"I would like to advise you, think about it before you speak!"
"Weichen remembered, it seems to be fifty thousand stones."
"Fifty thousand stones!" Zhu Qizhen nodded and asked, "Who are you selling it to?"
"Sold to...sold to...Caoji Warehouse."
"Then why did the Qing family help Fan Ji Warehouse? They also wrote a note to Shuntian Mansion. Why is that?"
As he spoke, Zhu Qizhen winked at Wynn who was standing aside. Wynn understood and took out a piece of paper and handed it over.
Wang Hailing only glanced at it, shaking like chaff, and said quickly: "Weichen also has some business dealings with Fanji Warehouse. Among the stolen goods this time was Weichen's fifty thousand stone grain. Weichen knew that he was in the court, so he shouldn't
When doing business, you should not use your status to put pressure on Shuntian Mansion. I know I was wrong, so I beg the emperor to show mercy!"
Zhu Qizhen sneered: "That's all?"
"Weichen...Weichen...three months ago, we entrusted Fan Ji Warehouse to sell a batch of grain worth about 80,000 shi. Weichen knew he was wrong and will never dare to do it again!"
"I also want to ask you, why did you choose to cooperate with Fan Ji?"
"It's because..." At this point, Wang Hailing no longer dared to hide anything, so he had to tell the truth, "Because the shipping price of Fanji Warehouse is relatively high..."
Zhu Qizhen asked again: "Why is Fanji's shipping price so high?"
"This... weichen really doesn't know about the smuggling of goods..."
Zhu Qizhen suddenly stood up and asked with a dark face: "I will give you one last chance. Do you really not know?"
Wang Hailing trembled with fright, a stream of heat surged out from between his buttocks, and a strange smell suddenly filled the hall.
Zhu Qizhen's face became extremely ugly, and he said in a deep voice: "The shipping price is high because they sold food supplies to the Mongols. How dare you say you don't know about it?"