Chapter 176 Troubled Times

Recently, it has been a turbulent time, with major events happening almost every day.

Just this morning, at dawn, a message came from the prison that General Ling committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

This news instantly caused a sensation in the court and the public.

"Committing suicide out of fear of punishment? General Ling has a great reputation and is a man of integrity, so why did he commit suicide out of fear of punishment?"

"An iron-willed man? More than 200,000 taels of gold and 1.5 million taels of silver were seized from the Ling family's secret vault. General Ling is indeed a man of integrity."

The minister who defended General Ling choked for a moment and said stubbornly: "General Ling has embezzled and accepted bribes, and the evidence is conclusive. I have no intention of exonerating him. It's just that General Ling has been in charge of military power for so many years, and he should still have the backbone of a military general. He won't commit suicide in the prison."

"I also think this matter is suspicious, there must be something fishy going on. A secret that can be told to others. " Censor Ding said in a sonorous and powerful tone, bowing, "I request the emperor to order a thorough investigation of this matter."

Prime Minister Feng said: "Your Majesty, I heard that Prince Yi of Rong Wangfu was stopped by General Ling when he was escorting the Ling family to the Tianlao. The two whispered some secrets, and then General Ling committed suicide in the Tianlao. I think this matter is extremely suspicious."

This sentence can be said to be sinister. Prince Rong's face changed, and he turned his head and glared at him: "Isn't what you said by Prime Minister too much? Xuan Yi is a member of the Imperial Guards. Commander, the criminals are being escorted by the Emperor's order. What does Ling Ancheng want to say? Can Xuan Yi stop him? How come the Prime Minister has turned public affairs into a crime of ill-intentioned behavior? "

"Why is your Highness so nervous?" Feng Xiang argued slowly, "I mean that Ling Ancheng's cause of death is suspicious, and the key is to find out the truth. As for what he said to Prince Yi, and whether Prince Yi has ill-intentioned behavior, the Emperor can summon Prince Yi to ask him face to face, and we'll know."

Prince Rong snorted coldly: "What does the Prime Minister mean by this? You know it in your heart. Clear! Ling Ancheng has done something dishonest, and he deserves this fate. Prime Minister Feng wants to beat the fallen dog, and I know it very well, but don't drag Prince Rong's Mansion into the water. I won't interfere in your affairs! "

Prince Feng was about to refute, but Prince Rong said coldly: "In my opinion, Prime Minister Feng should be more obedient recently, otherwise one day the princess will seize the embezzled income from the mansion, and I am afraid that the person who will be beaten will be you, Prime Minister, so please take care of yourself."

After the voice fell, Prime Minister Feng's expression instantly turned pale, and his face became extremely ugly.

The emperor sat on the dragon throne without saying a word, with a solemn and deep expression, just listening to the court officials' arguments calmly.

He was in a good mood today, so he would naturally be more patient with the court officials, and even had the mood to think, who else among these ministers in the court could help him add bricks and tiles to the treasury?

Thinking of the number of taels reported by the Imperial Guards after they counted all the property of the Ling family last night, he was shocked.

Two hundred thousand gold, converted into silver, is about two million taels.

There are also more than one and a half million taels of silver.

Ling Ancheng, a military commander, is quite practical. He has no interest in antiques and paintings. In addition to keeping a few valuable weapons in his hands, he ordered people to pick out some valuable antiques and paintings and jewelry sent by officials and give them to Concubine Duan. The rest were converted into gold or silver.

In this way, it is naturally more convenient to count and convert. For the current national treasury, antiques, paintings, calligraphy and jewelry are far less practical than gold and silver.

The emperor was in an indescribable mood at this time, but as a calm and majestic emperor, he certainly could not show his happiness in front of the ministers. Instead, he had to try his best to conceal it and reveal an unfathomable attitude.

As for why Ling Ancheng committed suicide in the prison last night...

"Stop arguing." His Majesty the Emperor finally spoke, his tone cold and angry, "I will have someone investigate this matter. If there is really something strange about Ling Ancheng's death, I will never tolerate it!"

As he spoke, he swept his cold eyes over the civil and military officials in the court, "But I am really too shocked and disappointed! I can't believe it! The treasury is empty, the national strength is weak, and Xiqi is now in a difficult time. I thought that the ministers would help me overcome the difficulties, but until today, I realized that my idea was a joke!"

The civil and military officials in the court all changed color.

"I believe in all my beloved ministers and use all my beloved ministers, but I didn't expect that all the adults in the court have bulging pockets and rich houses. Everyone is richer than me. You are really good." The emperor sneered, "Hong Chenghai's family seized 800,000 taels of silver. I was shocked enough. I didn't expect the Ling family to exceed the shocking amount. It was simply dumbfounded!"

The hall was dead silent.

All the civil and military officials knelt down: "We are guilty!"

"Can you guess how much silver the Ling family has seized?" The emperor sneered, "If it is all converted into silver, it is a full 3.5 million taels! What kind of number is this? It is true that you don't know until you check it, and you will be shocked when you check it!"

The ministers knelt on the ground and kowtowed continuously: "We are guilty!"

"You are indeed guilty." The emperor said coldly, "Imperial Censor Ding! Imperial Censor Shen!"

"I am here!"

"Don't you like to impeach the princess? Come and explain to me today, why did the Ling family embezzle so much silver, but you didn't notice it at all?" The emperor questioned, "As the supervisory censor, is this how you supervise all officials? Give me an explanation!"

Imperial Censor Ding felt cold all over: "I am incapable of supervision and deserve death! Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

"Forgive me?" the emperor said coldly. "Since you know you have failed in your duty, you still dare to ask me for forgiveness? From today on, Ding Shitang will be stripped of his position as the Imperial Censor, fined for one year, and confined to reflect on himself for three months. Court is dismissed!"

The ministers knelt and shouted: "Farewell, Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor!"