Chapter five hundred and eighty first confrontation (two)
In the past month, there has been a lot of commotion in the Ministry of War. Everyone has been strictly investigated. Especially the Arsenal Department, who has been detained and interrogated from top to bottom, and has not been seen for a whole month.
Most of the officials in the DPRK had old friends and disciples, so it was common for them to keep in touch with each other. The Ministry of War was an exception, as they were all military generals from top to bottom. There were also quite a few sons and daughters of the royal family who joined the Ministry of War.
It is not easy for civil servants to get information from the Ministry of War.
Because of this, the officials only vaguely heard that several officials from the Ministry of War were being detained for interrogation. Other than that, it was difficult to find out any information.
At this time, the emperor asked the fourth prince, and all the officials raised their heads and looked over, fearing that they might miss a word.
The fourth prince was tall and straight, the crown prince among all the princes. His deep voice was cold and stern: "I would like to inform my father, your ministers and Wu Shangshu to investigate carefully for many days and find out that the three crossbows are indeed authentic."
From the Arsenal Department of the Ministry of War."
"Two months ago, Chief Ding, who was on duty at the Arsenal Department, did not stay in the warehouse. Instead, he sneaked out to drink wine and did not return until dawn. The other three low-level military attachés on duty were arrested after midnight by a man named Zhou.
The boss led him out of the warehouse and hid in the room playing dice and gambling. After an hour, he returned to the warehouse."
"The next day, they were shocked to realize that three crossbows were missing from the Arsenal Department's warehouse."
"They were frightened in their hearts, but they did not dare to speak out. Chief Ding was afraid that his dereliction of duty would be discovered, so he concealed the matter together with these three low-level military attachés. In the warehouse records of the Arsenal Department, these three people were listed
The crossbow was stolen and damaged by someone unknown. No one noticed it for a while."
"I never thought that these three crossbows would appear in the hands of assassins later and assassinate the seventh emperor brother on his wedding day. Fortunately, the seventh emperor brother was safe and sound, otherwise, these derelict bastards would have been killed.
Even if he is cut into pieces by a thousand swords, he will not be able to understand his hatred!"
At the end of the sentence, the fourth prince's voice was full of anger, and his handsome face, which had always been indifferent, looked particularly excited.
Oh!
His acting skills are really superb! I usually underestimate him!
Sheng Hong sneered in his heart, with a look of gratitude on his face. He took a step forward and said, "For my brother's matter, Brother Four Emperors worked tirelessly and stayed in the Ministry of War for a whole month to thoroughly investigate the matter. I am grateful."
Not enough!"
The fourth prince behaved like a brother and responded sternly: "This is my brother's responsibility! It's embarrassing to say that my brother investigated and interrogated rigorously, but only found out where the bow and crossbow came from and the reason why it was lost. Who was responsible for the crossbow?
He stole it, but my brother has never found out."
Then, with a look of shame on his face, he raised his hands and apologized to Emperor Jianwen: "My son, I did not do my job well, I beg your father to punish me!"
Wu Shangshu of the Ministry of War, who had never said anything, also looked ashamed and apologized solemnly.
Wu Shangshu was also a military general. He was brave and good at fighting, and was as famous as the late General Lian. When he was in his fifties, he was promoted to Minister of War. It has been more than ten years now.
There were more than twenty important ministers in the Qi Dynasty. Among the five ministers, the eldest was Mr. Lu. Among the six ministers, the eldest was the sixty-five-year-old minister Wu.
Wu Shangshu suffered many injuries when he was young. Now that he is old and his health is far worse than before, he often takes leave to recuperate in his mansion. It took him only one or two years to become an official.
Wu Shangshu was already an old man, and he would not compete for power with a young and energetic prince who was favored by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it was quite smooth for the fourth prince to accept the Ministry of War. In just over a year, it was enough for the fourth prince to serve in the Ministry of War.
Employ a lot of manpower.
That's why there was such a good show in the court today!
…
No matter how the officials speculated, at this moment, no one questioned whether the fourth prince's words were true.
Anyone with a discerning eye can tell at a glance that the assassination of the seventh prince is related to the dispute between the crown prince. As an ordinary official, he has no qualifications or need to get involved. He can just stay aside and watch the show.
Sure enough, the third prince suddenly took a step forward, raised his hands and said: "The fourth prince worked hard for a month to find out these four bastards who were derelict in their duties. I shouldn't have said anything. However, I know something and am closely related to it.
It’s relevant. I have to report it to Father Ming.”
A dark cloud suddenly passed through the fourth prince's heart.
It is definitely not a good thing for the third prince to suddenly speak out!
Emperor Jianwen was obviously a little surprised, so he opened his mouth and asked, "What is it?"
The third prince first looked at the fourth prince apologetically, and then said: "Last night, a young man came to my house with a secret letter. This young man's surname is Ding, and his last name is the character "Chuang". He is the eldest son of Director Ding."
"He presented the secret letter to me, saying that the secret letter recorded the bribery of Director Ding. He did not want his father to bear the reputation of being the culprit, and he did not want to see his own father die in an unknown manner. This is why he gave up.
He risked his life to take out the secret message and asked me to present the seal to my father."
"My son was quite surprised at the time and scolded him angrily. He was about to drive him out of the house. Unexpectedly, as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he hit his head against the wall and died. Fortunately, there were guards who stopped him in time. This Ding
Chuang was seriously injured, but not dead."
At this point, the third prince sighed softly: "Ding Chuang has a stubborn temperament and is not afraid of death. He risked his life to ask me to present the secret letter to the Holy Saint. I couldn't bear it, so I had to agree."
Emperor Jianwen frowned and said in a deep voice: "Where is the secret letter?"
The third prince took out a letter from his sleeve and said respectfully: "My son has brought the letter. Please read it, father!"
Eunuch Lu stepped forward, took the letter with both hands respectfully, and then presented it to the Holy Saint.
The letter was sealed tightly, and there was no trace of it being opened. Emperor Jianwen opened the letter immediately without any hesitation. There were three pieces of paper, and they were densely written.
Emperor Jianwen glanced around, not knowing what he saw, and his expression suddenly darkened.
When Emperor Jianwen read the letter, the officials did not dare to say anything, so they secretly looked at the fourth prince.
The fourth prince looked calm, but his heart sank.
He bought people's hearts in the Ministry of War, and Chief Ding was the first to surrender to him. Chief Ding was not of high rank, but he was in charge of the warehouse of the Arsenal Department.
Everything he reported before was true.
The person who led Director Ding to drink wine was another director of the Ministry of War. The person who led three people guarding the warehouse to play dice and gamble was also the person who made the arrangements.
In the end, it was Sheng Xuan himself who took away the three crossbows.
He did not want Sheng Xuan to take the blame, so he had to push Director Ding and four others out as scapegoats. What he reported to Emperor Jianwen before was all true, with witnesses and physical evidence. Even the Ministry of Punishment tried it again, and the result was the same.
Seeing that this matter was about to be resolved, I never thought that the third prince would have an unexpected incident, and a secret message suddenly appeared...
You can even figure it out with the soles of your feet. This "secret letter" must be a weapon against him!
What exactly was written in this letter? (To be continued)
