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

Chapter 503: One conspiracy after another (Subscribe!!)

"Brother-in-law, in my opinion, the emperor must be very angry at this time. It is definitely not a good thing for you to go to see him at this time!" Zhu Biao thought for a while and continued: "How about this... I and Eunuch Wang will go to see the emperor first and explain the matter to him. After the emperor's anger has subsided, you can go, brother-in-law."

"Your Highness, this won't do! His Majesty has given me a death order that Prince Consort Ouyang must be invited back, even if he has to be tied up!"

Wang Zhong said quickly.

"Eunuch Wang, I didn't say you couldn't let your brother-in-law go. Instead, I'll go with you to see the emperor first and talk to him to avoid misunderstandings between him and your brother-in-law!" Zhu Biao explained.

"Your Highness, this won't do! His Majesty mainly wants to see Prince Consort Ouyang, and seeing you is just a side job. You don't have to go, but Prince Consort Ouyang must go. If His Majesty only sees you and not Prince Consort Ouyang, he will definitely be furious!" Wang Zhong shook his head again.

“……” Zhu Biao was suddenly speechless.

Just as Zhu Biao and Wang Zhong were arguing, Ouyang Lun spoke up, "Brother-in-law of the Crown Prince and Eunuch Wang, stop arguing. I have a solution!"

"First, let's all go to the Hall of Supreme Harmony together. When we get there, Eunuch Wang and the Crown Prince's brother-in-law will go in first. Then my father-in-law, the Emperor, will definitely ask me why I didn't go." Ouyang Lun smiled and continued, "When the time comes, you can just say that I had to go to the bathroom. Isn't that all right?"

After hearing what Ouyang Lun said, Zhu Biao and Wang Zhong's eyes lit up and they both looked at Ouyang Lun with admiration.

"Brother-in-law, your idea is good! You can listen outside and make some preparations in advance!" Zhu Biao said, then looked at Wang Zhong and said, "Eunuch Wang, you don't object now, right?"

"Since there is such a good solution, I naturally agree!" After saying that, Wang Zhong looked at Ouyang Lun with gratitude and continued, "Prince Consort Ouyang has been very caring towards my family in the past. Naturally, I don't want Prince Consort Ouyang to get into trouble!"

Zhu Biao smiled and nodded: "In that case, let's go quickly, but we must not keep the emperor waiting for too long, otherwise the emperor will be angry."

"Yes, yes!" Wang Zhong nodded repeatedly.

After he finished speaking, Zhu Biao and Wang Zhong both looked at Ouyang Lun. After all, Ouyang Lun was the protagonist now.

"Why are you looking at me? Since you have made all the arrangements, let's go!"

Ouyang Lun was also quite speechless. According to his personality, he was too lazy to meet Zhu Yuanzhang, but the other party was the emperor and his father-in-law after all. The key point was that Zhu Biao cared so much about him, so he didn't want to make things difficult for Zhu Biao.

……

Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Zhu Yuanzhang was listening to Ji Gang's report with a gloomy expression.

"Ji Gang, according to what you said? Now officials from all over the country are reporting Ouyang Lun?!"

"That's right, Your Majesty. Most of these officials were demoted and dismissed because of the Prince Consort's party! They jointly wrote a letter to impeach Prince Consort Ouyang on the grounds that he formed a clique for personal gain and persecuted his colleagues! The number of officials who signed the letter is no less than a hundred!" Ji Gang bowed.

"So many people are reporting Ouyang Lun!? Why is there no one else reporting this to me except you, the Jinyiwei?" Zhu Yuanzhang's face became increasingly gloomy.

"Your Majesty, as far as I know, all the memorials impeaching Prince Consort Ouyang were intercepted by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, so..." Ji Gang did not finish his words, but his meaning was already very clear.

boom!
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang slammed the dragon table and said angrily: "The prince actually concealed it from me for Ouyang Lun. Good! It's really good!"

Just at this moment, Wang Zhong and Zhu Biao walked in.

"Your Majesty, I have invited His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" Wang Zhong said respectfully.

Um! ?

Seeing that only Ji Gang and Zhu Biao came in, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and asked in a deep voice: "Didn't Wang Zhong ask you to call Ouyang Lun?"

"Why didn't he come?! I told you... even if you have to tie Ouyang Lun up, you must bring him here!"

"Father, Eunuch Wang did call me and my brother-in-law, and we came here together. It's just that when we arrived outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, my brother-in-law felt sick in his stomach. He was afraid that the Hall of Supreme Harmony would be defiled, so he had to go to the bathroom urgently."

"Come to my Taiji Hall... because you have to go to the bathroom!" Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry when he heard this.

Zhu Yuanzhang glared at Zhu Biao and continued, "Since Ouyang Lun is in a hurry to go to the bathroom, let me talk about you first!"

"Biao'er, I just heard from the Jinyiwei that you intercepted all the memorials impeaching Ouyang Lun? What are you going to do?"

In response to Zhu Yuanzhang's questioning, Zhu Biao did not give any explanation and just knelt down in front of Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Father, you are very observant. I know I was wrong!"

"However, the reason why I intercepted those memorials impeaching Brother-in-law Ouyang is mainly because I think the value of them is quite questionable, and I want to investigate it first!"

"I absolutely do not have any intention of deceiving my father. I hope my father will understand!"

Seeing Zhu Biao kneeling down, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression was somewhat moved. He did not dare to question him anymore, but waved his hand, "Biao'er, get up. Your father is worried about you too. Don't let yourself be fooled by Ouyang Lun!"

"Father, I know Brother-in-law Ouyang well. Although there are indeed many officials in the court who are close to him and call themselves the Prince Consort Party, they gather together to do better for the Ming Dynasty! All the previous policies were implemented well, all thanks to these Prince Consort Party officials. There is absolutely no suspicion of forming a clique for personal gain. As for those who say that Brother-in-law Ouyang persecuted other officials, it is even more nonsense!"

"I have already inquired about it. Those officials who were punished were punished because they were not clean. They just held a grudge against them and took the opportunity to take revenge on Brother-in-law Ouyang!"

Zhu Biao finished speaking, clasped his fists and saluted Zhu Yuanzhang, "If your father relies solely on these memorials to deal with Brother-in-law Ouyang, it will surely be a great loss to the relatives and a great joy to the enemies!"

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and fell into thought. After a moment, he seemed to have thought of something and said unhappily, "Has Ouyang Lun been in such a hurry for so long? Hurry up and tell him to roll over to me. I want to hear his personal explanation!"

"Your Majesty, your son-in-law is here?" Ouyang Lun's voice rang out.

……

at the same time.

Beijing.

Huang Bowen and some businessmen appeared in an inn in the capital.

"Mr. Huang, this is the capital. Will your method really work?"

A wealthy businessman asked nervously.

After hearing this question, the other wealthy businessmen all looked at Huang Bowen.

Huang Bowen calmly picked up the teacup, took a sip, and then said, "You are all well-known wealthy businessmen. I believe Duke Liang has already told you what to do!"

"We naturally dare not neglect the instructions given by Duke Liang. Duke Liang asked us to follow your arrangements, Mr. Huang. On our way to the capital, we have always followed your lead, Mr. Huang!"

A wealthy businessman said quickly.

"Boss Feng is right. We will definitely listen to you, Mr. Huang. However... we are not sure. Please tell us why we are doing this, Mr. Huang!"

Another wealthy businessman followed up, "Mr. Huang, what Boss Li and Boss Feng said is exactly what we feel. This is the capital, under the feet of the emperor. If we, as businessmen, act recklessly, we may suffer some physical pain, or even lose our lives! And I heard that hundreds of officials have already reported Ouyang Lun. This time Ouyang Lun will definitely fall. It feels unnecessary for us to do this!"

After listening to the words of these wealthy businessmen, Huang Bowen continued to drink his tea calmly. He put down his teacup only after all the businessmen had finished speaking.

"Do you think Ouyang Lun is so easy to get rid of?"

"If Ouyang Lun was so easy to deal with, would Lord Li and the Duke of Liang wait until now?"

"To tell you the truth, relying on the joint report of the hundred officials alone can't hurt Ouyang Lun at all. As long as the emperor asks the Royal Guards to conduct a detailed investigation, they will know that those officials who reported Ouyang Lun are problematic themselves!"

After saying that, Huang Bowen smiled and continued, "You will definitely ask again, why do you still do this if you know it won't have any impact on Ouyang Lun?"

"Hundreds of officials impeached Ouyang Lun. This was just a smokescreen. Although it could not have any impact on Ouyang Lun, it would make Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang re-evaluate Ouyang Lun. If there was more bad news about Ouyang Lun at this time, what do you think the emperor would think?"

After hearing this, these businessmen suddenly realized.

"If this is the case, the emperor will definitely be extremely annoyed with Ouyang Lun and may even punish him!"

"In this way, no matter how Ouyang Lun explains, his image in the emperor's mind will be shattered!"

“I didn’t expect that what we did would mean so much!”

Huang Bowen nodded slowly, "Yes, that's right. This time our actions against Ouyang Lun are a series of actions, one after another, pushing Ouyang Lun into the abyss step by step!"

"Not only your actions, we have also planned other actions. No matter how powerful Ouyang Lun is, no matter how eloquent he is, this time he will be speechless!"

"As long as Ouyang Lun is dealt with, Li Gelao, Duke Liang and the others will naturally have solved their biggest enemy in the officialdom, and our Confucianism will be able to return to its peak. You businessmen who have been suppressed by Ouyang Lun will also have great opportunities!"

Hearing Huang Bowen's words, the eyes of several businessmen at the scene began to light up.

"Thank you Mr. Huang for your advice. We'll go now!"

"Mr. Huang, just wait for our good news!"

"go!"

Looking at the impatient businessmen, Huang Bowen warned them, "Remember, try to make this as big as possible. The bigger the impact, the better. This way, the news will reach the ears of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang sooner."

"understand!"

"okay!"

"Just watch it!"

After saying that, the businessmen walked out of the private room.

Arrived on the streets of Beijing.

Boss Li, Boss Feng and others looked at each other, then squatted down, smeared dust on their faces with their hands, and messed up their hair, making them look very embarrassed.

Then everyone took out a large piece of white cloth from their pockets, on which a complaint was written in blood!
Finally, he sat down on the ground and wailed.

"Come and have a look, have a look!"

"The treacherous minister Ouyang Lun took the money and did nothing! He caused my family to be destroyed!"

"Officials protect each other. Ordinary people like us have nowhere to file a lawsuit. We can only come to the capital to file a lawsuit with the emperor!"

As these businessmen began to wail, they immediately attracted many people to come and watch the fun.

After all, Ouyang Lun was a household name in the Ming Dynasty, and if someone wanted to sue him, it would be a big deal.

Soon, these businessmen were surrounded by curious people in three layers, and there was no way to get through!
Seeing so many people coming, several businessmen were delighted in their hearts, but their outward wailing became even louder.

"Everyone, before this, we were all well-known wealthy businessmen in the Ming Dynasty, but the treacherous minister Ouyang Lun and his gang blackmailed us and used various means to bankrupt us!"

"We are just ordinary people. Our family has worked hard for generations to build up some wealth, but it was taken away by the treacherous minister Ouyang Lun and his gang! It's so tragic!"

"Please don't think we are talking nonsense. What we said is true, and it has been reported in the newspaper. We have the newspaper here, you can take a look."

In order to make the people around them believe what they said, businessmen such as Boss Feng and Boss Li took out newspapers and distributed them on the spot.

Many literate people took the newspaper and read it, and then started discussing it.

"It's true. The newspaper said that in order to make money, the officials of the Prince Consort Party forced businessmen to sell their assets at extremely low prices!"

"Yes, it's also said here that the officials of the Prince Consort Party plundered a large amount of wealth from the businessmen through bribery and other means!"

"There is a report in this newspaper that specifically interviews the Prince Consort Ouyang Lun. It says that Prince Consort Ouyang once said that wealthy businessmen are actually fat pigs that can be killed after being fattened up!"

"I always thought that Prince Consort Ouyang Lun was a good man, but I never thought he would be such a person!"

"These businessmen are so miserable. They were harmed by Ouyang Lun and the Prince Consort Party."

"Not only did he harm businessmen, the newspaper also said that Ouyang Lun also harmed officials and ordinary people!"

"Officials? He even harms officials? Isn't Ouyang Lun too overbearing?"

"No wonder so many officials have signed a petition to denounce Ouyang Lun recently. It seems that Ouyang Lun is persecuting them!"

"The newspaper said that the officials persecuted by Ouyang Lun were all good officials. They were persecuted by Ouyang Lun and the Prince Consort Party just because they were unwilling to join the Prince Consort Party and become corrupt with Ouyang Lun!"

"Bah! I thought Ouyang Lun was a good official, but now it seems that Ouyang Lun is simply the "Qin Hui" of our Ming Dynasty!"

Listening to the discussions of the people, businessmen such as Boss Feng and Boss Li felt even happier. After all, judging from the current situation, their action was very successful. As long as the news continued to spread, it wouldn't be long before Ouyang Lun's reputation among the people would be completely ruined.

Ouyang Lun, who has been abandoned by the people, will have his strength greatly reduced!

However, before Boss Li, Boss Feng and other businessmen could be happy for long, some different voices were heard among the onlookers.

"What kind of newspaper is this? The New Confucian Newspaper? How come I have never heard of it?"

“Eh!? Isn’t this the People’s Daily? The schedules are so similar, I thought it was the People’s Daily!”

"If it's not the People's Daily, but some unknown small newspaper, then the content of this newspaper needs to be questioned!"

(End of this chapter)