Chapter 68: After you figure it out, talk to me again!
Tong Guan returned to the queue angrily, feeling very unhappy. It seemed that there was no chance for this military achievement.
"Your Majesty, I have something to report!"
At this moment, Liu Anshi, the imperial censor, suddenly came out.
"Say!" Lin Nuo nodded.
"I want to impeach Song Jiang, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry. When he was in charge of the Ministry of Industry, he took bribes and abused his power. He is really a traitor. I ask your Majesty to punish him!"
Song Jiang was originally the Minister of the Ministry of War, but his ability was really not suitable for the Ministry of War. After the fall of the Song Dynasty, he was transferred to the Minister of the Ministry of Industry by Lin Nuo, and he has been in office for seven years.
"Liu Anshi, you usually arrest and slander whomever you want, but now you are making trouble for me by just making false accusations. Let me ask you, do you have any evidence that I have been corrupt, bribed, and abused my power?"
Song Jiang frowned, and after hearing that Liu Anshi aimed the artillery fire at him, his temples bulged, and he felt disgusted in his heart.
He was not afraid of being impeached, but he was afraid of losing his position in the emperor's heart.
Over the years, he has become very clear that he has never been favored by His Majesty. However, firstly, he is an old man from Liangshanbo and has made great achievements in the court. Secondly, he is good at figuring out the holy will. In several major decisions,
I guessed the emperor's intention correctly and stood beside His Majesty.
Therefore, even if His Majesty did not like him, he did not make things difficult for him, because His Majesty needed ministers like him. Because of this, although his position was changed from Minister of the Ministry of War to Minister of the Ministry of Industry, his rank was not lost at all.
But if Liu Anshi, a troll, targets himself for a long time, and criticizes him whenever there is nothing wrong, then the good impression he originally had in His Majesty's heart may be reduced to a freezing point.
At this time, several high-ranking officials, including Wu Yong, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and the Minister of Dali Temple, also came out and said: "I have impeached Song Jiang. Over the years, I have received many letters saying that he abused his power.
, levy taxes on a per capita basis, and if you pay a certain amount of coins, you can be exempted from corvee service.”
"In addition, when Song Jiang was presiding over the construction of post roads from the imperial capital to other places, he arbitrarily asked for money and food from the squires in various places and enriched his own pockets!"
"My ministers, I sincerely request your Majesty to punish Song Jiang for his crimes in order to maintain the majesty of Daqian's laws!"
Song Jiang took a deep breath and glanced at Wu Yong coldly. It was obvious that he would be impeached by several high-ranking officials in the court this time. Behind the scenes, this guy was causing trouble.
In the past few years, anyone with a discerning eye can see that Right Prime Minister Lu Junyi is suitable for leading troops in war, but not suitable for running a country. Therefore, everyone knows that after Dali Kingdom is also included in the territory of Daqian, the position of Right Prime Minister will no longer be available.
I'm afraid it will be vacant.
Song Jiang knew in his heart that the reason Wu Yong, an insidious villain, was attacking him was to eliminate him, a strong competitor for the right prime minister, in advance!
Song Jiang secretly resented that in fact, these days, he himself was sending people to collect clues about Wu Yong, but it was a pity that he was not fully prepared yet, but Wu Yong came first to do this.
"Your Majesty, I have been wronged!" At this moment, Song Jiang knew in his heart that it would be useless to talk more, so he could just cry out.
The emperor on the dragon throne is not an ordinary person. He is absolutely clear in his heart about the struggle between courtiers. Whether he is guilty or innocent depends entirely on His Majesty's thoughts.
"Zhu Wu, how do you think this matter should be handled?"
Zhu Wu did not hesitate at all, holding a jade tablet in his hand and said: "Your Majesty, since there are many officials from the Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, Yushitai, etc. to impeach Song Jiang, I believe that a trial is still necessary!"
Before Wu Yong and others impeached Song Jiang, although Song Jiang was angry, he still didn't have much fear. But now when Zhu Wu, the left prime minister, spoke, it made Song Jiang feel cold.
Who is Zhu Wu? He is the head of hundreds of officials and the most trusted person by His Majesty. When he spoke like this, he almost condemned Song Jiang.
What frightened Song Jiang the most was actually His Majesty's attitude. He even wondered if His Majesty had secretly released some kind of signal when the officials impeached Song Jiang, which made even Prime Minister Zhu Wu stand on the sidelines.
He became the opposite of Song Jiang.
The emperor's family is the most ruthless. Song Jiang really realized the meaning of this sentence at this moment. Does your majesty think that Song Jiang is useless and want to kick him out?
"In this case, Song Jiang is temporarily dismissed from the position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry and handed over to the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and Jinyiwei for review!"
After Lin Nuo finished speaking, Song Jiang almost spat out blood.
Your Majesty is really going to take action against Song Jiang!
...
At the end of the court meeting, all the officials retired. Lin Nuo stood up and looked at the prince, Lin Fan, and asked with a faint smile: "How is it? What did you see?"
"Father, do you want to take action against Song Jiang?"
Lin Nuo smiled and shook his head, "Song Jiang is very scheming, and ordinary people may not be able to control him. It is precisely because Wu Yong and others understand this that they feel that I actually want to get rid of this person.
So as to prepare for the future crown prince’s accession to the throne!”
"Then Father, do you want to get rid of Song Jiang?"
Lin Fan is now fifteen years old. Like his biological father Lin Chong, he is tall and mighty. Looking around, he looks like an emperor.
"We will know next whether Song Jiang should stay or not!"
Lin Nuo smiled and signaled to Lin Fan not to worry. After a while, Zhu Gui led several guards in royal robes and pressed Song Jiang to the back hall.
Lin Nuo sat on the dragon chair without speaking, but Song Jiang below, knowing that this was his last chance to survive, knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing.
"Your Majesty, I will tell you the truth! I have indeed collected the poll tax, and those who paid the money will be exempted from the corvee!"
"But I am not collecting the poll tax indiscriminately. Most of the people I collect are young men who have no power to tie up chickens. These people are of no use at all if they are asked to do corvee work. They may even cause more trouble. It is better to collect them.
Give them some money and relieve them of their corvée!”
"In addition, I did collect money and food from local gentry when building roads. However, I did not keep the money for myself. Instead, I spent all of it on road construction. The road construction expenses allocated by the national treasury over the years are also the construction costs.
It's about five thousand miles, but I used the extra money to build more than three thousand miles!"
Lin Nuo still didn't speak, but the prince Lin Fan beside him couldn't help it, "You didn't keep the money for road construction, but where did the head tax collected before go?"
"Your Majesty, Prince, Mingjian, I don't dare to embezzle that money. Over the years, the royal family has built many palaces in various places. Moreover, the prince got married last year, and the Ministry of Industry even built a prince's palace. At that time, the national treasury allocated
We don’t have enough money and food. In order to make the Crown Prince’s Palace perfect, the extra money was all paid from the previous poll tax!”
Huh? This matter also involves me, the prince?
Lin Fan was stunned and turned to look at his father on the dragon throne. He didn't know what to say for a moment.
At this moment, Lin Nuo finally spoke, staring at Song Jiang with indifferent eyes, and said: "I want to ask you one last question, did you really not pocket any of that money?"