King Kang was leaning on his chair, his face gloomy. A group of counselors in the palace were standing in the hall, their heads lowered, their eyes evasive, not daring to look at him.
After an unknown amount of time, King Kang stood up holding his chair, glanced downwards, and said sternly: "You guys are talking, have I raised a bunch of dead people over the years?"
After a commotion in the crowd, someone finally spoke anxiously.
"Once the Minister of the Ministry of Industry returns to Beijing and embezzles money from the Ministry of War ordnance, His Highness will definitely be traced..."
"The dignitaries in the capital cannot afford to be accused of interfering in the salt policy. In order to protect themselves, they will definitely push His Highness out to save his life..."
"From now on, Your Highness must prepare for the worst..."
…
King Kang was trembling with anger, pointed at them, and said in a trembling voice: "What's the use of talking about this? I want you to think of a way, what should I do now!"
One person said in a trembling voice: "Beijing, everyone in the capital is staring at His Highness. Your Highness can do nothing but wait for the court and His Majesty's disposal..."
"A bunch of trash!" King Kang pointed at them and said loudly: "Get out of here, get out of here!"
As if they had been granted amnesty, everyone rushed out of the hall.
When there was no one in the hall, King Kang's legs softened and he collapsed on the ground. Fear appeared in his eyes, and he murmured: "No, no..."
At the same time, the Tang family.
The door of the Tang family was closed tightly, and in the past two days, all the officials who came to visit were turned away.
This made countless people doubt. When King Kang encountered a catastrophe, the happiest people should be King Duan and the Tang family. However, the Tang family's performance was too calm, which was very different from before.
Thinking about it carefully, it seems that the Tang family has been silent in the court for a long time. Whether it was the Qing Dynasty incident led by Prime Minister Feng or the confiscation of the Su family's property in Jiangnan, the Tang family has not done anything, and it is a bit strange to be quiet.
At this time, in Tang Huai's study in the Tang Mansion, he made a cup of tea, took a sip, walked to the window, looked at the sky outside the window, and breathed a long sigh of relief.
Tang Qi walked in from outside the door and said: "The news from Dali Temple is that the dignitaries related to salt merchants from various places have been recruited. If they don't recruit King Kang, they will only die. If he is confessed, at least the lives of the family can be saved..."
He looked at Tang Huai and said with some relief: "King Kang is finished."
After fighting King Kang for so long, there were countless confrontations secretly and openly, but they were all small fights. Tang Qi was never more sure than this time that King Kang was finished.
He embezzled money from the treasury, was short on weapons, colluded with salt merchants and officials from the Ministry of Industry, and interfered in the affairs of salt and iron. Even if he is a prince, he will definitely not be forgiven.
The Ministry of Industry is so rich in oil and water, and there are huge profits in salt and iron. Why didn't the Tang family get involved? It's not that they couldn't, but that they didn't dare...
At the court tomorrow, once this matter is implemented, King Kang will be demoted to a fiefdom, demoted to a commoner, and expelled from the capital...
No matter what the outcome is, King Kang will no longer be the opponent of King Duan, and will forever lose the chance to seize the throne.
But without King Kang, there is no suspense about the position of the East Palace.
Tang Huai walked back from the window and said, "Unexpectedly, he is the one who solves the biggest threat for us..."
Tang Qi looked at him and asked: "At the court tomorrow..."
"No need to speak." Tang Huai waved his hand and said, "Just watch."
Tang Qi nodded and said, "I'll remind Prince Duan."
…
Today's morning court has not yet begun, but the officials waiting in front of the palace are already feeling extremely depressed, and their eyes are looking at a figure standing in front of them from time to time.
King Kang looked haggard and his face was pale and bloodless.
In the past two days, there was no news from the palace. He had spent the most difficult two days in his life. The upcoming morning court was related to his future destiny. He was extremely nervous at the moment and had no leisure time to pay attention to the things around him.
People's strange eyes.
King Duan came from behind, stood next to King Kang, looked at him, and asked with a smile: "Brother Huang said last time that he wanted to donate five thousand taels of silver. I wonder if it still counts?"
King Kang looked at him, his fists clenched and his expression extremely stern.
It seemed like a familiar occasion, but at that time he was taunting King Duan for not being able to get the money, and today it was King Duan's turn to sarcastically come back.
King Duan looked at him, with pride and ridicule in his eyes. A eunuch came out of the palace and said loudly: "Go to court!"
All the officials walked into the main hall in order. Not long after, Emperor Chen slowly walked onto the dragon chair from the back hall.
There was silence in the palace today. Emperor Chen looked at King Kang at the front and said in a deep voice: "Zhao Cheng!"
King Kang's body trembled, he stepped forward and said in a trembling voice: "Son, I am here."
Emperor Chen's eyes showed deep disappointment, and he said sternly: "Kneel down!"
King Kang's legs went weak and he knelt down in the palace.
…
Tang Ning did not go to court today. She heard about the situation in court today from others.
There was only one thing discussed in the court today, and that was the Ministry of Works case.
This case involves a wide range of things. There are dozens of Beijing officials involved, and more than ten dignitaries involved. The fate of these people is not very good, but none of the officials involved can keep their heads.
Even those dignitaries who dared to reach out to the salt administration, even if they were in official positions, ended up having their homes confiscated and exiled.
Of course, the one that everyone pays the most attention to is King Kang.
These officials and dignitaries are all related to King Kang. In the past period of time, King Kang's power has suffered a heavy setback. After the remaining people were punished, there was almost no one available around King Kang. Compared with the original
King Duan is even worse. In the court, he has no capital to compete with King Duan.
Of course, he no longer has to argue with King Duan.
In September of the second year of Dingyuan, Kang Wang Zhao Cheng was involved in a case involving the Ministry of Industry, embezzled money from the treasury, and interfered in the affairs of salt and iron. His majesty removed him from the title of prince and demoted him to heir. Within one month, he
He wanted to leave the capital and go to Shuozhou fiefdom.
There are three types of royal titles in the Chen Kingdom: prince, heir king, and county king.
Among them, the status of the prince is the most respected. The status of the heir king is higher than that of the county prince and lower than that of the prince. Among these three types of kings, only the prince is qualified to compete for the heir apparent.
In other words, King Kang was implicated in the Ministry of Works case and was directly kicked out of the ranks of princes, and could no longer compete for the position of crown prince.
Shuozhou is in the remote north. Once King Kang went there, he would have few opportunities to return to Beijing.
The only ones competing for the throne in the capital were King Kang and King Duan. Once King Kang left, there was a 90% chance that the position of the East Palace would fall to King Duan.
Although after King Kang left, the Imperial College and other departments he was responsible for were handed over to King Huai as his agent, the resources in the hands of King Huai were nothing compared to those of King Duan. King Kang and King Duan had been fighting for the crown prince for so many years.
, and the dust is finally settling.
Although there were many twists and turns in the process, the Tang family and Prince Duan finally had the last laugh.
Some people couldn't help but feel a little sad when they thought about the process of King Kang's downfall.
King Kang was defeated because of Tang Ning. Without Tang Ning, the acting minister of the Ministry of Industry, who exposed King Kang's case, King Duan would not have been able to ascend to power so early.
However, everyone is well aware of Tangning's relationship with the Tang family and Prince Duan.
This time, it was he who created his opponent. It was he who personally pushed King Duan to the highest position and pushed the Tang family to the next level of glory.
However, after King Duan secured his position and gained power, how could the Tang family let him go?
Presumably that stingy Mr. Tang, the broom star, must have mixed feelings in his heart at this time and feel extremely uncomfortable...
Tang Ning felt really bad. Speaking of it, there was no deep hatred between him and King Kang. He was just doing what was within his responsibilities. Who made King Kang so bold that he dared to touch the bottom line of the court like Yantie?
Now that Prince Kang has become King Kang Si, he will leave the capital soon and will no longer be able to contain Prince Duan. This means that he has indirectly helped the Tang family and done Prince Duan a huge favor. In addition to becoming more famous as a broom star,
, he didn’t get any benefits.
No matter how you look at it, it was him who lost this time.
Thinking of Prince Kang, Tangning couldn't help but sigh, shook her head and said, "It's useless..."
Prince Kang's Mansion.
King Kang sat paralyzed in the palace alone, with no one around him.
Before today's morning court, the palace's advisers had left completely. Although the servants did not dare to escape, they all stayed far away.
He turned his head and looked at the empty hall, with a sad smile on his face.
Years of planning and years of dreams vanished in this moment, becoming empty in the blink of an eye.
What's ridiculous is that the source of all this was just because he bumped into someone else's cruise ship...
"Successor, heir, hahahaha..." King Kang looked like he was crazy, he looked up to the sky and laughed wildly, with tears streaming down his face.
"Has Your Highness just given up?" A calm voice suddenly came from inside the palace.
King Kang stopped laughing, looked back at the middle-aged man behind him, and asked with a sad smile: "Aren't you leaving yet?"
Mr. Xu looked at him and asked, "Why are you leaving?"
King Kang glared at him and gritted his teeth and said: "I have been deposed by my father. Can a useless person become the emperor? Do you want to see my jokes if you stay here..."
Mr. Xu looked at him calmly and said, "If I say you can, you can."
King Kang got up from the ground, grabbed his collar, and said frantically: "What can I do?"
Mr. Xu threw a piece of white silk on the ground and said, "This is the way."
