Chapter 131: Court Debate

At dawn. Reading

A cockcrow broke the tranquility of the capital.

At the hour of Mao, the ministers dressed neatly and walked towards the palace along the Imperial Street leading to the imperial city.

On the way, officials walked together in twos and threes, talking about the Ninth Prince, Prince Yan.

For more than ten years, the Ninth Prince was inconspicuous among the princes.

So inconspicuous that the ministers almost forgot about him.

Unexpectedly, since the Ninth Prince went to Yanzhou, the name of Prince Yan Zhao Xu has been frequently mentioned in the capital.

At first, the officials only discussed Xia Bing and fine wine from Yan County.

Later, it was the military supply list.

And now, the name of Prince Yan is even more resounding in the capital.

From the royal family to the common people, everyone knows the deeds of Prince Yan in Yanzhou.

The victory of Prince Yan over the northern barbarians was made into a story by the people, and it was sung in the streets and alleys.

But in their opinion, it was not a big deal for Prince Yan to win a small autumn hunt.

But in recent years, Dasong has been at a disadvantage in military affairs, losing more than winning.

And in the war with the northern barbarians, such a victory was almost non-existent.

Therefore, the achievements of the King of Yan caused such a great shock when they were spread to the capital.

Of course, this is also the reason why the King of Yan captured Kutu.

"Brother Wang, have you heard any rumors? If the emperor decides to reward the King of Yan, what should we say?" Three officials walked side by side, and the one in the middle said.

"The news from the palace said that the emperor was very happy. It is said that he went to the bedroom of Concubine Mi last night." The official surnamed Wang said.

"It's not Concubine Mi anymore, now Concubine Mi." The official on the left said.

"Really or not?" The official in the middle was surprised.

"Is this fake? The emperor issued an order after dinner." The official on the left shook his head slightly.

The difference between a noble and a concubine is not a little bit.

Directly promoting a noble to a concubine shows that the emperor now attaches great importance to the King of Yan.

After all, in the palace, it is either the mother who is honored by the son, or the son who is honored by the mother.

The current Prince of Yan is no longer the cowardly prince who was bullied by other princes in the capital all day long.

And the officials should open their eyes and re-examine the Prince of Yan.

"In this case, let's go with the flow. Anyway, the emperor has probably decided on the reward. If we oppose it in the court, we will offend both the emperor and the Prince of Yan." said the official in the middle.

The other two nodded. For them, the most important thing in the court is to protect themselves and try not to offend anyone.

Behind the three people, an official walked alone.

His name is Yuan Hang, and he is the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

The Yanzhou Yuan family is his own clan. In order to let him serve as an official in the court over the years, they have arranged many officials in the court.

So for him, the matter of the Prince of Yan made him very unhappy.

After all, if the Yuan family is damaged, his interests will also be damaged.

It is said that the Prince of Yan also submitted a memorial to impeach Yuan Li.

In this morning court session, even if he could not stop the emperor from conferring the title of Prince of Yan, he would refute the memorial of Prince of Yan and safeguard the interests of the Yuan family.

He looked at the second and sixth princes not far away, and felt relieved.

Because they would definitely support him.

After entering the imperial city, officials came to Hongguang Hall one after another.

This is the palace for the morning court session of Dasong.

When everyone arrived, the palace supervisor went around the back of the hall and invited the emperor to attend the court session.

Not long after, Zhao Heng arrived at Hongguang Hall with Liang Cheng's service.

Sitting down on the dragon chair, Zhao Heng glanced at the officials.

"Long live the emperor, long live the emperor." The court officials immediately shouted.

Zhao Heng nodded. He had not attended court for a long time.

Usually, Dou Wei handled all the affairs of the court, big and small.

He just took a look at the memorials that had been annotated.

If it was not an important matter, he would not even look at it and directly let the six ministries implement it.

Today, the reason why he came to the court in person was still for the affairs of Prince of Yan.

In recent years, the authority of the royal family has been declining, and the power of the emperor has been covered in dust.

Although he does not like to govern, he knows that if things go on like this, the royal family will eventually become a puppet.

However, he has no way to deal with the powerful families that are secretly separatist in Dasong and the declining royal military strength.

But now the battle of the King of Yan has given the royal family a face.

He naturally wants to use this matter to show off to these powerful families.

"The matter of the autumn hunting of the Northern Di has been discussed in the court for several days. Now that the King of Yan has sent Kutu, there will be no more objections to the matter of the captives." Zhao Heng said slowly.

"There is no objection, but some people can't stand the good of the King of Yan and block it everywhere." The eldest prince Zhao Gang rushed to say.

As he spoke, he looked at the second prince and the sixth prince.

The reason why he was deposed was due to the contribution of these two people.

So in the matter of the King of Yan, he went against them from the beginning.

"Indeed, father, the contribution of the Prince of Yan is known to all and cannot be erased." The third prince said, he hated himself for not taking the lead and losing the opportunity.

Zhao Heng nodded with satisfaction, "What about the ministers?"

The ministers looked at each other, and no one objected.

The Kutu people have been sent, and if they continue to make trouble, they will be looking for trouble.

"In this case, the Prince of Yan has made such a great contribution, he should be rewarded heavily." Zhao Heng said, and then his face suddenly became serious, but before that, the Prince of Yan's memorial should also be shown to the ministers.

After that, he gestured to Liang Cheng.

Liang Cheng came to the steps with the memorial and showed it to the ministers one by one.

Suddenly, noisy discussions rang out in the court.

"Yuan Li is so bold and reckless that it is really uneasy to let him sit in Yanzhou."

"I didn't expect Yan County to be so dangerous. In just a few months, the King of Yan was assassinated twice."

"To be able to stand in this tiger and wolf land, this King of Yan is really capable."

"Empty words are not enough. If the King of Yan can't produce solid evidence, it will be a false accusation of a loyal minister."

"Zhang Kang is a spy from the Northern Di. How can his words be believed? It is possible that he deliberately murdered the governor of Yuanzhou."

"..."

The voices of discussion reached Zhao Heng's ears.

Zhao Heng smiled slightly.

Before going to court, he guessed that the court would say so.

However, the King of Yan did not have solid evidence. It was indeed difficult to convict Yuan Li based on the confessions of a few people.

But he took out the memorial, not to convict Yuan Li.

It was just to let the ministers know what the Yuan family did in Yanzhou.

Pave the way for his subsequent rewards and win more support.

"Father, with only one charge, the memorial of the Prince of Yan may not be able to convince the public. The governor of Yuanzhou has worked diligently in Yanzhou for many years and has worked hard for the court. His achievements cannot be slandered by a few words." After reading the memorial and the charge, the Sixth Prince was so angry that his chest rose and fell violently.

He ignored the Second Prince's obstruction and refuted.

When Yuan Hang saw the Sixth Prince speak, he stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, what the Sixth Prince said is very true. If the Prince of Yan can produce the correspondence between the Governor of Yuanzhou and Zhang Kang who secretly harmed him, he can still convict the Governor of Yuanzhou. It is difficult to convince the public with just a few words."

After he finished speaking, another eight officials stepped out and refuted.

"The numerous evil deeds of the Yuan family in Yanzhou in recent years are well known. Can they just sit by and watch with a few words without any evidence? In my opinion, the Prince of Yan has no need to say bad things about the Governor of Yuanzhou. He was just forced to say this out of helplessness."

At this time, a purple-robed minister stepped out and said sternly.