Chapter 819
Smart Man
The three judicial departments have interrogated Sun Xin and other criminals. Evidence has been obtained that Prince Lu colluded with Japanese pirates and sold military equipment. The Northern Garrison Command has already dispatched the Embroidered Uniform Guard to Yanzhou.
The imperial censor inspecting Jiangnan heard rumors and reported them to the emperor, suspecting that the Prince of Lu was colluding with pirates to intercept and kill the delegation.
At this time, Lu Mingzhe, the prefect of Quanzhou, submitted a memorial stating that the pirate leaders who had gone missing in the fire at the Quanzhou prison earlier that year had been found. They confessed that the interception and killing of the delegation was carried out by Prince Lu, Earl of Huichang, Earl of Jingyuan, and other powerful families such as the Chen family in Fujian in order to prevent the court from lifting the sea ban.
When the memorial arrived in the capital, the entire court was astonished. Some believed it, some questioned it, but the vast majority watched on, just like Pan Yun, staring wide-eyed at the spectacle until they were stuffed.
But! Matters of national importance are always painful to think about, so while observing the situation, the court officials were both indignant and searching for solutions.
Ministers are human too, and human beings like to contradict others. The more you forbid them from doing something, the more they want to do it.
Seeing that these imperial relatives, powerful nobles, and local magnates did not want the court to lift the sea ban, they insisted on doing so!
Amidst the chaos and constant shifts in power, the case remained unsolved, but the policy of lifting the sea ban became increasingly secure, and more and more ports were opened.
Tianjin, which is adjacent to the capital, opened its port, established a Maritime Trade Office, and began to allow private ships to dock and trade.
Pan Yun watched the play with great interest, and her greatest hobby every day was to ask her father and her second senior brother about what was happening in the imperial court.
Yin Song happened to share the same hobby with her, and the two of them spent their days in a fulfilling and happy way.
Even Xue Shao became her source of intelligence, because his second uncle was the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, who, coincidentally, was the official in charge of this case.
The three judicial departments had far more evidence than Pan Yun had anticipated. They not only investigated both cases thoroughly, but also held two discussion meetings to discuss the root causes of the cases, all in order to prevent such cases from happening again.
Xue Xuan believed that "rule of law should focus on prevention, not just punishment for crimes, to instill fear and prevent people from committing crimes. Prevention should be comprehensive."
Among the three departments, many officials agreed with Xue Xuan's views, rather than getting caught up in a few power struggles like many onlookers.
Xue Xuan once again refused Wang Zhen's invitation to meet, and took away the three departments' handling opinions in an official document folder.
Lord Zhao hurriedly caught up and whispered, "Sir, this is the second time that Chief Secretary Wang has invited you to an audience. Are you really going to refuse to see him?"
Xue Xuan: "He is an official in the inner court, and I am an official in the outer court. Our duties do not overlap, so there is no point in meeting him."
Lord Zhao sighed inwardly at how stubborn his superior was, but he had no choice but to whisper a word of advice: "The two cases are almost solved. The Northern Garrison Command will soon secretly escort Prince Lu back to the capital. The fact that this matter is not made public shows that His Majesty still cares about the imperial family. If we don't cooperate with Wang Zhen, I'm afraid this matter will..."
"Let it go unresolved?" Xue Xuan interjected, his face ashen. "The punishment of Prince Lu is within the bounds of the law. If we were to cooperate with Wang Zhen just to get him punished, wouldn't that be forming cliques for personal gain?"
"How could it be considered personal gain if it was to ensure that the King of Lu received the punishment he deserved?"
"So you also admit that this is forming a faction?"
Lord Zhao choked and couldn't speak.
Xue Xuan said in a deep voice, "Since it is a deserved punishment, why do we need to form a faction to achieve it? We are standing by the broken bridge, not jumping into the river to cross it, but rather connecting the bridge and crossing over."
Lord Zhao: "Even if the bridge might not be able to be built?"
Xue Xuan: "If it can't be repaired, I'd rather die at the bridgehead than go into the polluted river."
Lord Zhao had nothing to say and bowed as he withdrew.
Their conversation reached Wang Zhen's ears. Wang Zhen laughed in anger, scoffing, "Hmph, who does Xue Xuan think he is? Do you think I, the Grand Master, can't do without him?"
On February 12th, the Prince of Lu and his son were secretly escorted to the capital. Wang Tianyi was also imprisoned in the imperial prison, where he met Sun Chao.
Wang Tianyi was somewhat surprised: "Why are you still in the imperial prison?"
Sun Chao's face was grim as he glanced at Wang Tianyi: "If you hadn't committed suicide in the middle of the city and almost hit the Prince of Xiang, I would have been released from prison and returned to my hometown long ago."
He glared at Wang Tianyi with resentment: "It's all because of you! The emperor had already shown leniency and let our three families go, only targeting the powerful families like the Chen family in Fujian. But the Prince of Xiang wouldn't let go of the reason for your suicide, and the case of intercepting the delegation has become a hot topic again. That's why I'm imprisoned here! Wang Tianyi, if you wanted to die, there were nowhere else to go but to jump off the Taotie Tower. Are you fucking crazy?"
Wang Tianyi lowered his eyes and remained silent.
Sun Chao sneered, "Trying to drag us down with you? Let me tell you, you'll suffer the most. Just you wait and see who will still protect your Wang family!"
Wang Tianyi's face turned pale.
No sooner had Prince Lu entered the imperial prison than he was summoned to the palace by the emperor.
Upon meeting, the fifty-something Prince Lu knelt down and grabbed the teenage emperor, crying. The young emperor was both angry and soft-hearted.
Prince Lu said he knew he was wrong and should not have colluded with the Japanese pirates, but he and the Crown Prince were truly unaware of the ambush of the delegation.
He shifted all the blame onto Sun Xin: "Your Majesty, I am a descendant of the Zhu family. Intercepting and killing the delegation is tantamount to rebellion. Would I rebel against my own family? You say I colluded with Japanese pirates and sold them swords, I admit it! They are just a group of villagers, separated by a vast sea. They would never come over to rebel against us. I was greedy and only agreed to sell them swords under the instigation of Yang Ji and the commander of Quanzhou Guard in order to earn a little pocket money."
The young emperor's face was ashen: "That's not what Jiang Fangzheng said. Sun Xin also said that the matter of selling Hengdao was first brought up by the Prince of Lu's mansion."
“Your Majesty, Sun Xin is the chief secretary of the Prince’s Palace. He betrayed me and is afraid that I will retaliate against him, so naturally he will push all the dirty and smelly things onto me. You can’t believe their one-sided story.”
“It’s not just one side of the story,” the young emperor said, tossing down a few sheets of paper. “These are the records Xue Xuan found out: the Lu Prince’s Mansion colluded with the Yanzhou garrison to privately manufacture swords. You had already finished making the swords before Sun Xin went to Ji’an!”
King Lu bowed his head.
Seeing his silence, the young emperor asked again, "And what about the Northern Hu?"
The Prince of Lu perked up and immediately said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report!"
He shouted, "The Northern Hu Oirat have rebellious intentions. Under the guise of trade, I sent people to investigate their inner workings and uncovered quite a bit of information..."
Prince Lu stayed in the emperor's study for more than two hours until it was completely dark before he was sent out of the palace and to the adjacent imperial prison.
Although not very clever, Wang Zhen, who knew the emperor's character well, could tell at a glance how these two cases would be judged.
He immediately took tea to comfort the emperor and sent a message to Xue Xuan: "If he is unwilling to enter my river, he can only stay on the shore for the rest of his life. He can't even stand on the bridge, let alone cross the river."
The clever Yin Song, who knew the Emperor and Wang Zhen's temperaments well, went straight back to his junior sister as soon as he got off work, telling her to leave the capital immediately: "Whether you go back to the academy to study, go to Quanzhou, or go to Japan, it doesn't matter, just don't stay in the capital." (End of this chapter)