Protect Our Patriarch Chapter 70: Suppress the second grade! Plan to determine the emperor’s son

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……

Emperor Longchang leaned back in his chair and couldn't help but wonder as he watched Prince Deshun's impassioned performance.

Prince Deshun used to be a loyal, honest and upright person.

Years ago, he had major differences with Prince Dexin because of his political ideas and ambitions. In anger, he secluded himself in a manor on the edge of the West Sea. He spent the whole day fishing, drinking tea, and not paying attention to political affairs. military.

Why is it that after hundreds of years of self-cultivation and recuperation, it has become even more stinky and shameless?

Let’s not talk about whether Mr. Wang is guilty or not. Even if he is guilty, he has not treated your Prince An badly... How can he immediately distance himself from the relationship and burn bridges as soon as something happens? This is too shameful, right?

"This matter has been coordinated by the three departments, and Meng Yuanbai is taking the lead in the investigation and handling. I believe that Meng Yuanbai will never bend the law for personal gain, and no matter who is involved, he will never tolerate it." Emperor Longchang waved impatiently He waved his hand and said, "Deshun, if you get tired of fishing in the West Sea, go to the East China Sea and catch a dragon whale or something. Don't come to the capital and mess around."

"Your Majesty asked me to leave it alone, so I won't care." Prince Deshun said with an honest and obedient look, "But it's rare for a child to come to the capital once. These days, he will accompany his ancestors to serve him. Two."

Not waiting for Emperor Longchang to object, he pretended to be in tears again: "I haven't seen my ancestors for a long time, and I miss them very much. Every time I think of following my ancestors when I was young, conquering the Western Jin Dynasty, and conquering the Southern Qin Dynasty, it's so exciting How high-spirited."

"But in the blink of an eye, my ancestors and I are already old."

Hearing this, Emperor Longchang's slightly cloudy old eyes also showed the brilliance of remembering the past, and he couldn't help but recall everything that happened when Prince Deshun was by his side.

The older we get, the more nostalgic we become, and the easier it is for us to miss old relationships.

"Forget it, out of your filial piety, just stay with me for a while." After Emperor Longchang finished speaking, he looked at Zhao Hongbo with a somewhat amiable expression, "Zhao Aiqing came to see me because of something. What's important?"

"Your Majesty, I do have something important to report." Zhao Hongbo saluted and glanced at Prince Deshun unwillingly. The old guy Deshun is here, how can he apologize?

Originally, I wanted to sacrifice Zhao Zhikun, plead with His Majesty, and then suppress the whole matter and downplay it.

But in the current situation, as soon as he apologized to His Majesty, Prince Deshun dared to make the matter a problem in the city and suppress the prestige of the Zhao family.

Zhao Hongbo has been the chief minister of the cabinet for many years, so he is naturally a smart man, and he understands that the other party has obviously guessed Zhao's move to plead guilty. Prince Deshun came here deliberately to disrupt the situation.

He just knew that Mr. Zhao did not dare to bring the matter to a public trial. Once under the spotlight, a shocking reversal occurs during the public trial of the three companies, the entire Zhao family will be dragged into the quagmire.

Zhao cannot afford to delay.

Since the other party wants to expand the victory, then give them another head.

Zhao Hongbo is also a decisive person. He made up his mind immediately, took a deep breath and said: "Your Majesty, I accidentally found out that this smuggling case has nothing to do with the Wang family. In fact, it is It was our little beast Zhao Zhikun from the Zhao family who was so greedy and confused that he made a big mistake."

"The reason is that he lost too much in a gambling in the Immortal Dynasty before, and he had evil thoughts after losing too much. After I learned about this, I did not dare to make Wang Zhongliang wronged, so he immediately took Zhao Zhikun with him The sinners come here to apologize."

As soon as this was said.

Emperor Longchang was stunned for a moment, and then his face gradually turned gloomy. It was very obvious that what Zhao Hongbo said was far beyond his imagination.

Before, he only speculated that someone wanted to plot against Wang and deliberately accused Wang of Luo Zhi. Whether it is true or not, Lao Yao is here to find out if it is true. If it's fake, it can just happen to be a favor to that guy Wang Shouzhe. Who would have thought that there was actually someone smuggling and collaborating with the enemy, and moreover, he was Zhao's kid!

Smuggling and collaborating with the enemy is a serious crime. How dare Zhao and the others! How dare?

Due to geographical environment problems, both Southern Qin and Western Jin were relatively short of metal ores, especially iron. Therefore, Dagan was inferior to Dagan in the production and equipment of weapons and other military equipment. Coupled with various other factors, Dagan was Only then can one fight against two.

Therefore, one of Daqian's military national policies is to cut off the trade of most metal mineral deposits, including iron ore, refined salt and high-end grains between Daqian and Southern Qin and Western Jin. The former is military, and the latter two , it is people’s livelihood!

Once prohibited items are smuggled to Southern Qin, it will help increase Southern Qin's national power, which in turn will pose a threat to Daqian. If allowed, the consequences will be disastrous.

"How audacious, this is an act of collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country!" As expected, Prince Deshun immediately jumped out and scolded, "Are you, the Zhao family, planning to rebel?"

"Your Majesty, Prince Deshun." Zhao Hongbo bowed deeply to Emperor Longchang, his face full of guilt, "This behavior is indeed extremely bad and unforgivable. I am unable to defend myself and I am unwilling to defend myself. Although this incident was committed by Zhao Zhikun alone, as the ancestor of the Zhao family and the chief minister of the cabinet, I did neglect to discipline my descendants. I cannot absolve myself of the blame for the crime committed by Zhao Zhikun."

"Therefore, I would like to ask Your Majesty to resign from the position of Chief Assistant to the Cabinet, and I would like Your Majesty's permission."

Resigning as the Chief Minister of the Cabinet?

Prince Deshun was stunned.

This Zhao Hongbo is really decisive and ruthless.

Over the past thousands of years, the greatest prestige and power of the second-grade Zhao family has come from the fact that there is a prince and a chief minister in the family.

The position of Duke is the legacy of the ancestors and embodies the prestige of the Zhao family. The position of first and second-in-command is the real power. It is also under this real power that the Zhao family can prosper and reach its current peak situation.

Emperor Longchang also frowned slightly.

Even in recent days, he has been a little dissatisfied with the Zhao family and a little unhappy with Zhao Hongbo, but he has never really thought about depriving Zhao Hongbo of his power as the chief assistant of the cabinet.

After all, Zhao is also the founding father of Daqian, and has made countless sacrifices and bloodshed.

A country cannot be supported by just one royal family. The royal family is just the most powerful family, the largest contributor, and the largest "equity ratio". It is not a family like "family world".

For this reason, as an emperor, he must balance the relationship between the royal family and the aristocratic family, and the aristocratic family and the aristocratic family.

"Uncle Hong, how much did Zhao Zhikun smuggle?" Emperor Longchang's face was extremely solemn, "How many years did it last?"

Zhao Hongbo also looked at Zhao Zhikun with stern eyes: "You evildoer, why don't you answer your Majesty's words quickly."

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty." Zhao Zhikun said in a trembling voice, already feeling weak, "It's been ninety years since then. From the beginning, we tried it on a scale of millions a year, and later, we developed The number has grown to 10 to 20 million a year, 20 to 30 million, and in recent years, it has been more than 50 million every year."

"After deducting management and various costs, the total profit is 8,830 million dry gold." As he spoke, Zhao Zhikun also took out the account book and presented it honestly, obviously prepared for it.

Lao Yao took the account book and handed it to Emperor Longchang.

This is not a small scale, but it is not out of control!

The gloomy Emperor Longchang flipped through it casually and put it aside: "Where is the profit money?"

"I spent part of it. In addition, I used most of the rest to pay off my debts..." Zhao Zhikun said bravely, "Your Majesty, I was cheated in that gambling session!"

Zhao Zhikun gave money to Prince Kang. Naturally, he could not do it blatantly. Instead, he went to the Immortal Dynasty and came back.

"Your Majesty, I don't believe that Zhao Zhikun did this alone. It must be Zhao who was behind it." Prince Deshun said, "Your Majesty, please take a closer look."

"Your Majesty." Zhao Hongbo also bowed and said loudly, "My Duke Anguo is the pillar of Daqian's court and is loyal to Daqian. How could he betray his country for such interests? These 830 million stolen gold are involved. It is already difficult to recover the nobles of the Immortal Dynasty. But I, Mrs. Zhao, are willing to collect one billion in dry gold and return it to the national treasury. However, the amount of funds is too large for Zhao to collect at the moment. Please allow your majesty to allow Zhao to return 10 million every year. , pay it off within a hundred years."

"Your Majesty, it's not that Uncle Hong shirks his responsibility. It's just that Uncle Hong is the chief minister of the cabinet and holds a lot of power in his hands. If he really wants to engage in the despicable act of smuggling and collaborating with the enemy, I dare not say that it can be done without leakage, but it is not possible. The method would be so crude, and the scale would be at least several times larger."

In this regard, Emperor Longchang did not comment, but looked at Zhao Zhikun again and said: "Did Yingji participate in it?"

"Your Majesty, cousin Yingji did not know about it." Zhao Zhikun replied honestly, "Your Majesty, you also know the temper of cousin Yingji, and it is impossible for him to do such an act. Therefore, I can only arrange two Enter as a master~~Conquer the power of Anjiang through the Jiaolong Gang..."

The reason why I am so honest is because I know that this matter is not subject to investigation.

Emperor Longchang's face relaxed a little, then he looked at Zhao Hongbo and said, "Uncle Hongbo, you must have some clues about how to deal with it when you come here this time. Let's talk about it."

"First, I have no face to serve as the chief minister of the cabinet again, and I ask your Majesty to hire someone wise. Second, I, the Zhao family, are willing to make up for the stolen money to replenish the national treasury. Third, Zhao Zhikun is an unforgivable crime of smuggling and treason, and should be severely punished. I just hope that His Majesty, for the sake of him being the seed of supernatural power, will allow him to go to the battlefield outside the territory and enter the cannon fodder camp to kill the enemy and atone for his sins until he can atone for his sins."

Zhao Hongbo did not shirk responsibility, spoke sonorously and forcefully, and then begged: "Your Majesty, please remember that Zhao is the founding father of the country and leave a face for Zhao, for the sake of a long-lasting family."

Each of these three treatment conditions caused huge trauma to Zhao, and it was extremely difficult to recover in a short period of time. But it is still much better than being completely discredited.

It’s just that the conditions Zhao originally wanted to give were only two and three. As for the first item, it was Zhao Hongbo's impromptu idea to silence Prince Deshun.

"I do believe that the Zhao family should not be involved in the smuggling and collaborating with the enemy as a whole. Such an apology is indeed frank enough." Emperor Longchang's expression was calm, "But Zhao Aiqing must not forget that now all the spearheads are directed at Changning. The Wang family is targeting Wang Shouzhe. Now under the spotlight, how will it end?"

"Don't think that because I stay in the palace all day, I will be blind, deaf, and blind. I don't know why this happened and why it developed to such an unmanageable point."

"Your Majesty." Zhao Hongbo cupped his hands and said, "The investigation into the Wang family's taxes is indeed an investigation order issued by the minister after receiving the report. But now it seems that someone is secretly trying to target the Wang family."

Although this plan was proposed by Zhao Zhikun. But since Zhao Hongbo agreed and implemented it, he naturally would not shirk his responsibility.

"It was Meng Lang who caused the reputation of the Wang family to be damaged. I can only shamelessly ask Your Majesty to mediate in this matter. I, Mrs. Zhao, are willing to compensate and have the Third Division officially announce to the public that the Wang family has not evaded taxes. , and there is no smuggling and treason."

"Your Majesty, from what I've seen, it's clear that the Zhao family fell into the hole they dug themselves after stealing the chicken but losing the rice. How can you let such a false accusation against a loyal person be so easily let go?" Prince Deshun was there again. Stirring up the situation, he said with an expression filled with indignation, "My child is complaining for the Wang family, and for Shouzhe~~~~"

"Spit!"

Emperor Longchang really wanted to spit on Deshun's face.

I didn’t know who it was just now, but she kept saying that Wang would be severely punished. In the blink of an eye, she started to accuse Zhao of framing Zhongliang? When did this boy Deshun become so shameless?

"Okay, okay, no matter how you say it, the Zhao family is the palace of the Duke of the country." Emperor Longchang waved his hand and said angrily, "Their ancestors and our ancestors fought together. This time for the fight between the emperor and his son, it is indeed Some tricks were used secretly. But I don’t believe that they are collaborating with the enemy and treason.”

"However, if this matter becomes a big issue, it will bring shame to both the royal family and the Zhao family. Uncle Hong, since you want me to mediate, you must show some practical sincerity so that I can talk to Shouzhe. ."

"Back to Your Majesty, our Zhao family will obey Your Majesty in everything." Seeing Emperor Longchang relent, Zhao Hongbo felt relieved and saluted and said, "What Your Majesty says, we will do."

"Okay, then let me think about it. First, the position of the chief minister of the cabinet is of great importance. Although you, Mr. Zhao, have bad morals and have no face to take responsibility, you can't just take it, right? Uncle Hong , at the next day's court meeting, you will come forward to recommend Yinda, Duke of Dingguo, to serve as the chief minister of the cabinet for the time being. Do you have any opinions?" Emperor Longchang thought for a while and said.

Zhao Hongbo's pupils shrank, but he quickly calmed down and said calmly: "I have no objection. The ancestor of Dingguo Gong Yinda is talented and knowledgeable, and has unparalleled virtue. He is expected to hold the position of chief assistant."

"Secondly, in order to quell the public grievances, your Zhao family was not strict in educating your children, which led to the scum of the family. The punishment should be reported to the world. Do you have any objections?" Emperor Longchang said again.

"My lord, I have no objection. Since it was my fault, Mrs. Zhao, I shall bear all the consequences."

Zhao Hongbo surrendered again.

In this case, although it will reduce the prestige of the Zhao family, with Prince Deshun present and many external matters, the matter cannot be hidden at all. Official notification of punishment is the best solution, at least it can be said more nicely.

"It's quite sensible. In that case, how can Shouzhe compensate for it? I will mediate for you." Emperor Longchang's face softened slightly, "Except for the three conditions of your Zhao family's self-punishment, your Zhao family You have to reflect carefully and check your family tradition. Otherwise, if such a scum appears again in the future, I may not be as easy to talk to as I am today."

"I will obey your Majesty's will." Zhao Hongbo agreed.

When Prince Deshun heard this, he sighed heavily in his heart. The end of all this is that there is still no way to escape Wang Shouzhe's plan.

Shou Zhe told him through Mingyuan that His Majesty's heart lies in balance. Although he wants to suppress the Zhao family, he will never kill the Zhao family.

He came to disrupt the situation this time mainly to mess around and expand the original results. When he came today, his purpose of disrupting the situation has been exceeded. The foreign master in the position of first and second aid is already the biggest gain.

Next, Wang Shouzhe naturally has a way to deal with it.

As for whether Zhao Zhikun can enter the cannon fodder camp, it is secondary. In the final analysis, he is just a magical species. If it is not a magical power, its influence will still be limited after all.

"Old Yao, please take the time to remind Wang Shouzhe." Emperor Longchang was quite satisfied with Duke Anguo's attitude of being respectful and obedient and accepting punishment. Then he said to Old Yao, "As soon as possible, we can promote his relationship with me." Let’s meet.”

"Is Your Majesty going to issue an order to summon Wang Shouzhe?" Lao Yao said with bright eyes, "I have also wanted to see Wang Shouzhe for a long time."

"Bah, who am I? What is his identity?" Emperor Longchang said with a proud look on his face, "How can I summon him at will?"

After a pause, he murmured in a low voice: "Hint, hint, do you understand?"

"Old slave understands, hint, hint." Lao Yao said with a smile.

"Okay, this matter is settled." Emperor Longchang waved his hand, "Uncle Hong, you go back first and wait for me. Deshun boy, come with me, I will compete with you to test your fishing skills."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Everyone agreed in unison.

……

A few days later.

The investigation team headed by Sancaisi posted the investigation notice in a low-key manner.

The smuggling case of the Changning Wang family has already caused a stir in Guilong City, and the popularity remains high. More and more people are paying attention to this case.

Now, as soon as the investigation results came out, the emotions that had been brewing for many days were immediately "exploded" under the instigation of thoughtful people.

The effect was almost like dropping a bomb directly into the crowd.

No one expected that such a shocking turn would occur when the case seemed to have been finalized.

The person who smuggled and collaborated with the enemy was actually not the Wang family of Changning, but Zhao Zhikun, the great genius of the Zhao family! Even Zhao Ge, the chief minister of the current government, resigned due to this.

For a time, everyone was in an uproar, and the government and the opposition were shaken.

In the streets and alleys, after tea and dinner, almost everyone is discussing this matter.

At the beginning, everyone's attention was still focused on the fact that Zhao Zhikun actually smuggled and collaborated with the enemy. They secretly scolded Zhao Zhikun for being a magical species who enjoys the treatment of many stars but does not do anything in private. He is simply a member of the aristocratic family. The worms and scum should be severely punished!

But soon, the wind direction changed subtly.

Some people have pointed out that Zhao Zhikun, as a great talent carefully cultivated by the Zhao family, is very likely to inherit Zhao Hongbo's position as the first assistant in the future. The future is bright, and there is no reason to take risks to smuggle?

What is he trying to do? What does he need so much money for?

This is indeed a doubtful point.

The eyes of the masses are sharp.

Although when a storm of public opinion forms, everyone's attention can easily be biased and collective dementia may occur, there are always smart people among the crowd.

"Could it be that Zhao Zhikun is not the mastermind at all, and there are other people behind this incident?"

When the first voice of doubt appeared, many people soon woke up.

That’s right~ Who doesn’t know that Zhao Zhikun is a die-hard supporter of King Kang? Since he himself is not really short of money, isn't it obvious who he is smuggling to make money for?

Only Prince Kang needs massive financial support for the fight between emperor and son and to win over people's hearts.

In normal times, even if someone was aware of this, it would be impossible for such remarks to spread. After all, the battle between emperor and son is about the hearts of the people and prestige. How could King Kang not understand the importance of controlling public opinion?

The "Daybreak" organization is not just for free.

In fact, as soon as they realized that the wind was going in the wrong direction, "Breaking Dawn" had already secretly taken action, trying to guide the direction of public opinion and prevent everyone from focusing their attention on Prince Kang.

However, what Li Xiao faces this time is the cooperation between "Tianque" and "Luoxian Palace".

Even though Li Xiao tried his best, he could not save the situation, and the direction of public opinion was still moving in the intended direction little by little.

More and more small and medium-sized aristocratic families and ordinary people are realizing that this matter is probably closely related to Prince Kang. Zhao Zhikun, maybe he was unlucky enough to be pushed out to take the blame.

Those third- and fourth-grade aristocratic families have already guessed the truth of the matter, and may even have guessed that there may be one or several forces behind this matter that are leading the direction of public opinion.

They just don't say it.

The so-called matter has nothing to do with oneself, it is hung up high, and it does not involve themselves, so they can just watch the excitement.

Of course, maybe they themselves are also adding fuel to the flames.

After all, with Prince Kang's behavior, he had gone all out to win over people in his fight for the position of emperor and son, so it was normal for any aristocratic family to dislike him.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk~ This Zhao Zhikun is so pitiful~" In the teahouse, while sitting and drinking tea, a member of the small and medium-sized aristocratic family couldn't help but sigh, "I thought he had followed that person for so many years, and then... The qualifications of the great genius must be taken seriously, but I didn’t expect that one would give up right away.”

"This Prince Kang is really cool."

"I really didn't expect that Prince Kang could be such a person. I thought he was a good person. After all, he has been donating money for disaster relief and fighting overseas in recent years, and his reputation among the government and the public is pretty good. . It seems that I had little knowledge and made a mistake." Some people felt that they were blind and saw the wrong person, and their emotions were quite complicated. "On the other hand, this Zhao Zhikun, although he has no bottom line, is still quite loyal. He was so surprised. One person took all the blame."

"Yes, yes~ and he is really courageous. Where is the cannon fodder camp? I already feel scared just thinking about it, but he agreed immediately. I heard that even his expression changed. I haven’t changed a bit. I’m really tough!”

"I heard that he is still imprisoned, and he has not been able to tell the story to Prince Kang. To say he is "iron and loyal" is not an exaggeration."

Similar remarks were quietly circulated in private, and for a while, the nickname "Iron-courage and Loyal Zhao Zhikun" was strangely spread in Shangjing City.

I just don’t know if when these people say these words, the meaning of their words is more sarcastic or more complimentary.

These rumors were passed to the ears of Prince Kang on the battlefield outside the territory in the fastest possible way.

Hearing this, Prince Kang almost spit out a mouthful of blood.

Who is spreading "rumors" behind the scenes?

At this moment, how could he stay on the battlefield outside the territory? He had no time to spare and could only rush back to Dragon City as quickly as possible to quell the rumors himself.

……

Same time period.

In Daqian Wang’s Four Seasons Garden.

Prince Anjun is sitting opposite Wang Shouzhe.

Prince An used a lot of strength to restrain himself from looking at the two women serving beside Wang Shouzhe... one of them was also the leader of "his" intelligence organization "Tianque" One, Fairy Tianyan.

"Shou Zhe did a great job in this battle. As you expected, Prince Kang can no longer sit still and will return to Dragon City as quickly as possible." Prince An drank the spiritual tea and said, He said with emotion, "Now that the Zhao family has been pushed to the forefront of the storm, it is difficult to protect herself, so she can only keep her tail low. If Prince Kang falls again, there will be no suspense about the battle between the emperor and his son this time."

"It's just that there is something unclear about Mingyuan. The current situation of the Zhao family can only come back if we protect Prince Kang." Prince An said with solemn eyes and doubts, "Even if Prince Kang returns to Dragon City, what do you have?" How to make the Zhao family turn against Prince Kang?"

"Rebellion or not, let's not mention it for the moment. I just believe in the principle that everyone should fly away when disaster strikes. In a few days, the court meeting will be held. Is Your Highness ready for the final blow?" Wang Shouzhe said while drinking spiritual tea.

"Don't worry, Shouzhe, Ming Yuan will not hold you back." King An said with a serious face.

After a pause, he said with some doubts: "Shouzhe, I heard that His Majesty has lost his temper several times... He scolded you in private for being disrespectful. According to Eunuch Yao, Your Majesty still wants to see you. You But he ignored the hint several times, which made His Majesty very angry."

"This..." Wang Shouzhe said with an innocent face, "Shouzhe has always been dull and has never understood this information. Your Majesty wants to see me very much, why don't I know? Why doesn't Your Majesty issue an order to summon me?"

King An Jun held his forehead and was extremely helpless towards Wang Shouzhe.

You dare to ignore His Majesty's hints. No wonder His Majesty bangs the table and scolds you every day.

"Shouzhe, there is one thing I still don't understand. How can you be sure that Prince Kang is a cold-blooded person who would burn bridges when crossing rivers?" Prince An still couldn't figure this out and was very surprised. After all, King Kang seems to be very reliable on the surface.

Wang Shouzhe took a sip of spiritual tea and said slowly: "The specific reason is a bit complicated to explain. To put it simply, if he is not such a cold-blooded person, but a person who values ​​love and justice, has ideals and beliefs, People..."

"I have accepted his solicitation a long time ago. Where will it be His Highness Mingyuan's turn?"

"Uh..."

A drop of cold sweat from King An made him sound so nervous.

Then if King Kang was reliable, wouldn't he have nothing to do?

……