Daming: I can’t kill such a greedy prince-in-law?

Chapter 487 The Huaixi Party's entire army attacks (Please subscribe!!)
"I have summoned you all here today because I have something to discuss with you all."

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke slowly, paused for a moment, looked at Ouyang Lun, and continued, "Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, I have warned all officials not to be greedy, especially not to be greedy for the people's money!"

"Over the years, I have killed at least 8,000 corrupt officials."

"We catch a lot of borers every time!"

"Many of the corrupt officials who were killed were heroes who had made great contributions to the founding of the country and were capable ministers in governing the country. But so what? As long as you dare to be corrupt, I will kill you, no matter who you are!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's words echoed in the hall, and his words were full of murderous intent.

The officials in the hall all felt a chill, especially around their necks, as if a huge knife was hanging above their heads, ready to chop down at any second.

From what Your Majesty said, it is clear that there is a corrupt official in the Ming Dynasty! And he is a big corrupt official.

This corrupt official is among this group of people.

Swish--

The officials in the hall all turned their eyes to Ouyang Lun. Obviously, among all the officials in the hall, Ouyang Lun was the most likely one.

No one present is a fool.

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about the wrong publication in the newspaper. They have also heard that Ouyang Lun's men were involved in the incident. A few days ago, they heard that the Ministry of Justice and the Embroidered Uniform Guard went to Guangxi Province to investigate, one openly and one secretly. This shows the seriousness of the matter.

You're simply looking for death!

Just as the officials in the hall were speculating.

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice sounded again.

"The development of the Ming Dynasty in the past two years is indeed good. The people are prosperous, the court is rich, and everything is prosperous. But because of this, some people have become numb!"

"You think I won't investigate corruption any more, so you dare to take action!"

"Then he is totally wrong!"

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke in a cold voice.

The officials in the hall were shocked and felt extremely uncomfortable. This was really too uncomfortable.

However, before the officials could calm down, Zhu Yuanzhang spoke again.

"Prince, please tell them what you have found out."

"Yes, Father."

Zhu Biao nodded and took a step forward.

"My dear ministers, I was ordered by my father to investigate the case of false reports in the Guangxi provincial newspaper. I originally thought it was just a simple mistake, but I didn't expect that after an in-depth investigation, I discovered a corruption case involving a huge amount of money!"

"Li Deli, the magistrate of Huai'an County in Guangxi Province, embezzled 19 million yuan in demolition funds from residents of 18 villages including Hanjia Village!"

Ho!
When people heard the news, there was an uproar at the scene.

It is absolutely outrageous that a county magistrate embezzled nearly 20 million yuan.

"Li Deli, the magistrate of Huaian County? If I remember correctly, he seems to be from Northern Zhili, and was a subordinate of Prince Consort Ouyang when he was the governor of Northern Zhili!" Li Shanchang spoke slowly.

Swish--

After these words were spoken, the officials looked at Ouyang Lun with complicated expressions. They finally understood everything at this time.

No wonder Duke Lan Yu of Liang mentioned the problems of Ouyang Lun’s subordinates at the beginning!
"This Li Deli is not only Prince Consort Ouyang's former subordinate. After Li Deli came to Guangxi Province as a county magistrate, he publicly declared many times that he was Prince Consort Ouyang's party. It seems that Li Deli is really Prince Consort Ouyang's capable general!" Liang Guogong Lan Yu sneered, "A county magistrate embezzled nearly 20 million. Tsk tsk, this is indeed Prince Consort Ouyang's style!"

"Duke Liang, please be careful with your words!" Guo Zi immediately stepped forward and said.

"How is Li Deli's corruption related to Prince Consort Ouyang? If there is no evidence, it is slander!" Wu Jinzhi also stood up and said.

"Don't throw dirty water on Prince Consort Ouyang!"

"What does Li Deli's corruption and bribery have to do with Prince Consort Ouyang?"

Officials from the Prince Consort's party began to speak up.

"Hmph! You are all Ouyang Lun's vassals, so naturally you speak for him!" Duke of Liang Lan Yu said in a deep voice.

"You, the Prince Consort Party, are a bunch of corrupt people! Not only Li Deli, you guys probably have problems too!"

"I really should investigate each of you thoroughly!"

"Catch you all!"

Officials from the Huaixi Party also responded directly.

For a moment, the people in the Hall of Supreme Harmony were divided into three groups: one group was the Huaixi Party, one group was the Prince Consort Party, and one group of neutral officials remained silent. Apart from watching the Huaixi Party and the Prince Consort Party quarreling with each other, they looked at Zhu Yuanzhang from time to time, paying attention to the changes in Zhu Yuanzhang's expression.

Ouyang Lun and Li Shanchang, who were in the vortex, remained quite calm.

"enough!"

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke in a deep voice.

The hall suddenly became quiet.

"You all know about it now. You must be shocked. I am also shocked!"

"I didn't expect that there are still such greedy people in the Ming Dynasty today!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's words were full of disappointment.

The officials also lowered their heads. There have indeed been fewer cases of corruption this year. Even if there were corrupt officials, they were only minor ones, and they were not as sensational and shocking as today.

Although the amount of embezzlement in the Guo Heng case was much larger this time, it was a series of officials who were involved in corruption. Several officials above the third rank were involved, and there were even more officials below the third rank. But this time it was only a county magistrate who was involved in corruption!
"Humph! This isn't what makes me angry the most. The only reason I was able to find out about Li Deli was because the people reported the newspaper reports as false!"

"Are you all just eating dry food?"

"what!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was furious.

All the officials were trembling with fear.

"Your Majesty, please calm down!"

Li Shanchang was the first to take the lead and kneel down.

"Your Majesty, please calm down!"

Someone took the lead, and other officials also knelt down.

After a while, Ouyang Lun was the only one standing in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Huh!?

The other officials were all shocked to see that Ouyang Lun was still standing and looked calm.

Hey!
Your Majesty, the Emperor is very angry now!

Whether it's errors in newspaper reports or corrupt officials, it's all related to you, Ouyang Lun!
Aren't you the one who should be most anxious now?
For a while, the officials felt that the emperor was not anxious, but the eunuchs were. Of course, they were the eunuchs.
Li Shanchang, Lan Yu and other Huaixi Party members were shocked and sneered when they saw that Ouyang Lun was still standing.

This guy Ouyang Lun is really too arrogant!

But it’s better this way. The more this happens, the more likely His Majesty will take action against Ouyang Lun. They just need to fan the flames a little, and maybe they can completely get rid of this great enemy Ouyang Lun today!

Li Shanchang glanced at and observed Zhu Yuanzhang, and the latter's eyes indeed changed!
Haha, there’s going to be something interesting to watch next.

Thinking of this, Li Shanchang decided to add fuel to the fire.

"Your Majesty, I think this matter has nothing to do with Prince Consort Ouyang. It is most likely the private actions of Prince Consort Ouyang's subordinate Li Deli. Prince Consort Ouyang has made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty. Prince Consort Ouyang must not be punished for this!!"

"If Your Majesty deals with Prince Consort Ouyang in this way, it will surely make many officials, businessmen, and common people dissatisfied! At that time, there will even be chaos in the world!"

Li Shanchang's words echoed in the hall with great emotion, as if he was really speaking for Ouyang Lun.

But everyone at the scene knew that Li Shanchang's words were not meant to help Ouyang Lun at all. On the contrary, he was harming Ouyang Lun.

There are many meanings in Li Shanchang's words. First of all, it directly confirmed that Li Deli was Ouyang Lun's subordinate. Secondly, it was reminding Zhu Yuanzhang that Ouyang Lun was already more powerful than his master. If he was dealt with, the officials of the prince consort's party, the businessmen following Ouyang Lun, and the people who had received favors from Ouyang Lun would definitely riot!
This is telling Zhu Yuanzhang that he must act quickly, accurately and ruthlessly against Ouyang Lun!
brush--

Zhu Yuanzhang's gaze finally fell on Ouyang Lun.

"Ouyang Lun and the others have all knelt, why don't you kneel?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked quite calmly.

"I have nothing to hide, so why should I kneel? Don't accuse me of not knowing etiquette. When Your Majesty came in just now, I saluted." Ouyang Lun spread his hands, "Your Majesty, instead of asking why I didn't kneel, you might as well ask why Lord Li knelt so quickly. Is it because his legs are weak?"

"Ouyang Lun, you are talking nonsense! You are slandering me!" Li Shanchang said angrily.

Ouyang Lun simply rolled his eyes and didn't bother to pay any attention.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, "Ouyang Lun, this Li Deli was your subordinate in the past. He followed you when you were in Northern Zhili and always considered himself your subordinate. Don't you have anything to explain?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was low and intimidating. All the officials in the hall did not dare to speak and were extremely nervous.

Even Li Shanchang and other Huaixi Party officials were watching silently with a mixture of nervousness and excitement. They did not dare to add fuel to the fire any further, because if they did so at this moment, they would most likely be affected by Zhu Yuanzhang's anger, and that would be counterproductive.

Facing Zhu Yuanzhang's questioning, Ouyang Lun remained quite calm.

He spread his hands again, "To reply to your Majesty, I have no knowledge of this matter."

"This Li Deli, the minister, has no influence at all. If we follow the principle that the subordinates at that time are corrupt subordinates, then what happened in the four southern provinces, isn't Lord Li's crime greater than that of the minister?"

Li Shanchang: Damn it, can you please stop mentioning me!
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Li Shanchang indifferently and said nothing.

Ouyang Lun continued, "Li Deli was corrupt and took bribes, harming the people. We should deal with him as we should. I am only the Minister of Revenue now. It is not my responsibility to deal with corrupt officials, right?"

Ouyang Lun's answer was logically clear and without any panic.

As Ouyang Lun finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang did not speak immediately, but began to think.

This made Li Shanchang anxious. He had worked hard to plan and add fuel to the fire, but it absolutely could not end like this.

"Your Majesty, Prince Consort Ouyang's remarks are nothing but a clever and eloquent sophistry!"

"According to what I know, Li Deli has always been Ouyang Lun's man. In addition to claiming to be Ouyang Lun's man, someone has also seen Li Deli appear outside the clan residence. Li Deli also paid an entry fee to Ouyang Lun!!"

"I also heard that Li Deli built no less than ten longevity temples of Ouyang Lun in the counties under his jurisdiction! They are worshipped by the people, and every important festival, Li Deli will personally preside over the sacrifices!"

"All these are enough to prove the relationship between Ouyang Lun and Li Deli. Otherwise, no matter how cunning Li Deli is, he would never be able to covet nearly 20 million taels of silver!!"

"Not only Li Deli's corruption case, but also the Guangxi provincial newspaper's report errors should be blamed on Ouyang Lun. Li Deli is just a scapegoat!"

"Your Majesty, please take a closer look!"

After Li Shanchang's passionate speech, he simply stopped pretending. He was going to deal with Ouyang Lun today!

At the same time, it was also telling Zhu Yuanzhang and other ministers that Ouyang Lun was behind Li Deli and that Ouyang Lun was the mastermind behind the corruption.

With Li Shanchang leading the charge, the other members of the Huaixi Party no longer pretended.

"Your Majesty, Ouyang Lun has been managing Northern Zhili for several years and has a strong power. Even after he was promoted to the capital, his influence in Northern Zhili is still great. Not only that, officials from Northern Zhili continue to radiate to other provinces, occupying a large number of county magistrates, prefects and other local chief positions. Li Deli is just one of the tentacles, and how many tentacles Ouyang Lun has is absolutely shocking!"

"Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly!"

"We should have checked Ouyang Lun a long time ago!"

"Most of the officials who have been attached to Ouyang Lun over the years hold important positions. Li Deli alone dared to embezzle so much, so what about other officials?"

"I suggest that all officials who have any connection with Ouyang Lun should be investigated!"

"Not only that, until the truth is uncovered, any official who has any connection with Ouyang Lun will not be allowed to be promoted!"

Huaixi Party officials began to speak up.

Long before they came, Li Shanchang had already told them that today was the best opportunity to deal with Ouyang Lun. They had been holding back for too long, so they would definitely not let it go this time.

Although there were officials such as Guo Zi and Wu Jinzhi on the side of the Prince Consort's Party, Zhu Yuanzhang only called in officials above the third rank. Although the Prince Consort's Party rose relatively quickly, there were very few officials above the third rank.

Even though Guo Zi and Wu Jinzhi spoke up and argued for Ouyang Lun.

But after all, two fists are no match for four hands. At the moment, the situation in the hall is that Ouyang Lun and several officials from the Prince Consort's party are being besieged by the Huaixi Party. The situation is quite bad!

Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon throne, calmly watching Li Shanchang and Lan Yu lead the Huaixi Party officials to "besiege" Ouyang Lun and others. He did not stop them and seemed to be still thinking about something.

Crown Prince Zhu Biao was standing next to Zhu Yuanzhang. Seeing Ouyang Lun trapped in the "siege", he was naturally quite anxious. He turned to look at Zhu Yuanzhang and wanted to plead with Zhu Yuanzhang, but seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's expressionless and cold look, he did not dare to speak after all.

"Cough cough."

After a while, Zhu Yuanzhang coughed twice.

The debate in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, which had been extremely heated, suddenly became quiet. No matter how excited they were, no one dared to disobey Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang first looked at Ouyang Lun and said calmly: "Ouyang Lun, from what you said, you are completely unaware of this matter?"

"That's right." Ouyang Lun nodded. "If any county magistrate in the Ming Dynasty was found to have embezzled money, then my position would be too dangerous!"

"Your Majesty, Ouyang Lun must be lying!" Lan Yu shouted.

"Lan Yu, did I ask you to speak?" Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Lan Yu with a sharp gaze, scaring the latter so much that he immediately shut up and lowered his head.

(End of this chapter)