I am afraid that Peng Yuhao has given Xia Qing a lot of benefits. After all, Jiangnan is still the territory of the Xia family.
The Xia family is deeply rooted in Jiangnan. How dare these officials not give Xia Shoufu face?
Qian Huichun, who committed suicide out of fear of sin, was probably too late to curry favor, so he would not lack the filial piety he deserved.
Xia Qing's eyes were slightly misty, and she felt extremely disgusted with Qian Lizong.
Qian Lizong was a close confidant of the prince, and he would say a few words every time there was a discussion, so that others would know that the prince valued him.
He did receive a lot of money for strengthening the river embankment this time, but it was all out of filial piety from below. No wonder he was there, right?
The prince's face was as dark as water. Several officials from the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household Affairs were previously imprisoned by his father. Because no evidence of crime had been found at that time, the matter was delayed.
A few days ago, Gu Chengyu had already explained the situation of the Changtianfu River Embankment in a letter, but he did not give more details to the officials involved.
However, there were many officials mentioned, and Qian Huichun was the first among them. However, the river flooded most of the Tianfu Yamen, so the evidence of this crime was difficult to find.
Moreover, Qian Huichun has committed suicide, so the clue is considered broken.
In fact, this matter is already very clear. Now we only need to interrogate those officials in Dali Temple. I believe that few people can survive the torture.
Peng Yuhao's face froze. This time the dams in Jiangnan were strengthened, all money flows were reviewed and approved by him.
The official document reported to the court still had his official seal on it, so even if he wanted to deny it, there was absolutely no way he could.
In fact, he didn't get many benefits, and he gave all those benefits to Xia Qing as a filial piety. A full 20,000 taels of silver were given to Xia Qing, while he only kept 5,000 taels for himself.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince! This matter has been deceived by the greedy officials below. There is no way that I can reach out to the silver coins used to reinforce the river embankment."
Peng Yuhao felt uneasy and quickly came out to clarify for himself.
"Hmph! But are these materials that require silver coins approved by you? Where are the officials from the Ministry of Accounts? Have they done an audit? I have asked the Ministry of Works to archive the files and account books for the reinforcement of the river embankment at the beginning of the year. The above
The total of Changtian Mansion is 120,000 taels. And I asked officials from the Ministry of Revenue to recheck the accounts and found several suspicious things."
The prince's expression was extremely serious at this moment. Compared with the simple and honest image of the past, he actually had the majesty of an emperor.
Shen Shikang, the Minister of Household Affairs, looked a little ugly. When the prince said this just now, he also brought them in.
The reinforcement of the river embankment at the beginning of the year was the responsibility of Deng Wenshang, the left minister of the Ministry of Revenue. If there is something wrong with the account book, then Deng Wenshang must have made a lot of money from it.
Deng Wenshang was an official he trusted and had joined the prince's service a long time ago. But now he was colluding with Peng Yuhao, the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, and the incident finally came to light. Could it be that he was looking at the prince to clean up the mess for him?
Since the prince took over the East Palace, the officials of the prince's line have become wanton and domineering, and the previous caution and caution have been forgotten. It seems that they need to be beaten hard.
Furthermore, Deng Wenshang seemed to have been quite close to Xia Qing recently, and the prince had been insinuating twice in front of him.
If others don't know, unless you do nothing, the court is full of talented people. Who doesn't have a spy in the house of other officials?
Deng Wenshang was unlucky this time. It happened that the emperor ordered the prince to supervise the disaster relief. In order to show off, the prince would naturally not show mercy to corrupt officials.
Deng Wenshang was on the edge of a knife, and he would definitely become the chicken that the prince killed to scare the monkeys.
"Shilang Deng, the reinforcement of the river embankment at the beginning of the year was your prime minister's responsibility. How do you explain it?"
Shen Shikang first attacked Deng Wenshang, knowing the elegant meaning of the string music. As the uncle of the prince, he could only be tied to the same boat with the prince in his life. Of course, the prince was the only one who obeyed.
The prince's eyes fell on Deng Wenshang, and the coldness in his eyes made Deng Wenshang feel excited.
"Your Highness! How dare I do such a thing? I may have made some oversights in reinforcing the embankment this time, but I will never be greedy for money. Your Highness, please be careful!"
Beads of sweat had already appeared on Deng Wenshang's head. He was not Peng Yuhao's fellow, but he still had some sharp eyesight.
The prince's words and expression just now made it clear that he was trying to establish his authority by killing the chickens to scare the monkeys. Although he was an official of the prince's lineage, there was no guarantee that the prince would push him out in order to avoid suspicion.
The most important point was that he had colluded with Xia Qing. He now suspected that the prince had evidence of their collusion, otherwise the prince and Shen Shikang would not be so heartless.
"After the investigation, we will come to a conclusion on whether you are innocent or whether it is true." The prince closed his eyes slightly and showed no mercy to Deng Wenshang.
"Come here, imprison Deng Wenshang, the left minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and Peng Yuhao, the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, into Dali Temple. Send people to surround the two houses and wait until the investigation is completed."
The prince shouted towards the outside of the palace, and several guards immediately came in.
"Your Highness! You have no evidence that I am related to this corruption case. I am not convinced!" When Deng Wenshang saw that the prince was serious, he immediately panicked.
Peng Yuhao didn't understand why the prince wanted to arrest people when he just mentioned this matter?
Only now did he come back to his senses and quickly defended, "Your Highness! It is unreasonable for you to imprison an official of the imperial court at will without evidence."
The prince sneered when he heard this, "Unreasonable? Why, do you think I can't find any evidence? You know how much money you have embezzled. I'll tell you the truth! I have found evidence of your embezzlement, and now I'm looking for it." Check the amount of money that has been corrupted. After asking the emperor for instructions, you will definitely be made to pay the price."
The prince's face was sullen, and the anger in his chest was boiling. These officials, who were sitting on their backs, just did nothing on weekdays!
They dared to take the money issued by the imperial court to strengthen the river embankments. Do they all have dark hearts?
How many people died in this flood? Most of Changtian Mansion was submerged. How much money will be needed to rebuild after the disaster?
The imperial court also distributed 50,000 taels of disaster relief money, all of which were losses.
It would be difficult to quell the anger in his heart without cutting these officials into pieces.
Ignoring their howls, the guards immediately dragged them out.
The prince suddenly felt a tightness in his chest, as if he couldn't hold his breath. He sat down slowly and calmed down a little. After a while, he felt better than before.
He thought it was due to an old injury that had not healed before, coupled with the depression in his heart, which caused the discomfort, so the prince didn't pay much attention to it.
"Where is Kuang Zhaoying, Minister of Dali Temple?" After recovering, the prince shouted to the officials below.
"The official is here!" Kuang Zhaoying came out, knowing that the DPRK was going to clean up again this time.
"Detain all the officials on this list into Dali Temple until the investigation is completed before they are released!" The prince handed a list in his hand to the waiting chamberlain.