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

Ouyang Lun was too lazy to care too much about Zhu Yuanzhang's "dirty tricks".

After all, the old man doesn't have many years left to live. It would be unfair to myself to get angry with a man in his sixties. Being the general of the military cabinet is definitely more tiring than before, but at least I have more power.

Everything he did was to respect the elderly and love the young, and to promote the virtues of the Chinese nation.

In the Taiji Hall, under the magnificent dome, the ministers stood in a solemn atmosphere. Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon throne, his eyes like torches, scanning the civil and military officials in the hall. Zhu Biao stood on one side, his expression calm, but there was a hint of worry between his eyebrows. Ouyang Lun had just been appointed as the general of the military cabinet. The Huaixi Party generals looked gloomy, with dissatisfaction and resentment flashing in their eyes.

Zhou An stood in the hall, his hands trembling slightly, with complicated emotions surging in his heart. He took a deep breath, looked at Zhu Yuanzhang firmly, and said in a loud voice with a slight tremor that was not easily detected: "I have a memorial!"

The hall suddenly fell silent, and everyone's eyes were focused on Zhou An. Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, signaling him to continue.

Zhou An's heart beat like a drum, and the tragic scene of the Northern Expedition emerged in his mind - 40,000 troops were destroyed in the snow, and General Lan Yu was trapped in the siege, his life or death uncertain. And he was able to fight his way out of the chaos and survive by chance because of the alloy armor provided by Ouyang Lun. However, at this moment, he had to personally expose the benefactor who had saved his life.

But now he has only this one way to go. Everyone in the Huaixi Party is in danger because of Lan Yu's incident. If he doesn't stand up, the Huaixi Party will probably be finished. Even though Zhou An feels a little sorry for Ouyang Lun for doing so, he saw those trucks of alloy armor marching on the front line of the battlefield under Ouyang Lun's banner, which already explains a lot of problems.

Prince Consort Ouyang, although you saved my life, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, the Huaixi Party, and General Lan Yu, I, Zhou An, can only apologize!

"I report the son-in-law Ouyang Lun!" Zhou An's voice echoed in the hall, and every word was as sharp as a knife!

Hey!
When Zhou An said this, everyone in the Taiji Hall was shocked, and many eyes were cast towards Zhou An. Zhou An was just an ordinary military general, with a rank of only fourth rank, but he dared to directly impeach Ouyang Lun. At this moment, both the officials of the Huaixi Party and other officials felt that Zhou An was very brave!

Zhu Yuanzhang was also quite puzzled, but he nodded and said, "Tell me, why are you impeaching Ouyang Lun?"

"Your Majesty, the Emperor Emeritus, I impeach the consort Ouyang Lun for colluding with the Northern Yuan people during this expedition to the Northern Yuan Dynasty, smuggling alloy armor, and making a fortune in the national crisis! What's worse, I suspect that the reason why General Lan Yu was defeated was because Ouyang Lun secretly informed the enemy, causing our army to be ambushed by the Northern Yuan people and the 40,000-strong army to be annihilated!"

As soon as these words came out, the whole court was in an uproar. Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, and a cold light flashed in his eyes. Zhu Biao also looked shocked and asked in a low voice: "Are you serious?"

Zhou An lowered his head, not daring to look Zhu Yuanzhang in the eye. His heart was filled with contradictions and pain - Ouyang Lun had been his lifesaver, but the tragic defeat of General Lan Yu and the dead souls of 40,000 soldiers weighed on his heart like a mountain. He could no longer remain silent, nor could he turn a blind eye.

"Every word I said is true!" Zhou An raised his head, tears flashing in his eyes, his voice choked but firm, "I saw with my own eyes that Ouyang Lun sent people to secretly trade with the Beiyuan people, and those alloy armors were the evidence of his smuggling! General Lan Yu's failure was by no means accidental, but someone was behind it!"

The ministers in the hall were talking about something, and the discussion suddenly exploded like boiling water. The ministers whispered to each other, and the discussions came one after another. The originally solemn Taiji Hall suddenly became noisy.

"Is this true? How could Prince Consort Ouyang do such a treasonous thing?" Song Lian stroked his beard, frowned, and whispered to his colleague beside him.

"Hmph, you can never judge a person by his face! Although Ouyang Lun is an important official in the court, he has always been domineering and self-righteous. There is no guarantee that he will not collude with foreign enemies for personal gain!" Another general snorted coldly in a loud voice, expressing his dissatisfaction with Ouyang Lun without any hesitation.

"General Zhou An, do you have any evidence for what he said? Without any solid evidence, how can you arbitrarily frame an important official of the court?" Guo Zi stood up, his face serious and his tone questioning.

"Evidence? General Lan Yu's 40,000-man army was annihilated. Isn't that enough to prove the problem?" A Huaixi Party general angrily retorted, with suppressed anger in his voice, "If someone hadn't secretly interfered, how could General Lan have been defeated so miserably?"

"General Lan Yu has fought against the Northern Yuan many times, and he has won most of them, with only a few defeats. He is very familiar with the Northern Yuan people's methods. How could he fall into their trap?"

"I've long felt that this matter was odd. It turns out there's a traitor among us!"

"This seems like something Ouyang Lun would do!"

"Ridiculous! Lan Yu was defeated because of the cunning of the Northern Yuan people. How can we blame General Ouyang?" Mao Youde was not willing to be outdone and directly confronted the generals of the Huaixi Party.

"Cunning? If someone hadn't tipped off the Northern Yuan, how could the Northern Yuan set up an ambush in advance?" The Huaixi Party general's eyes widened with anger, and his voice was like thunder. "General Zhou An personally experienced the battlefield, isn't his word enough to be trusted?"

"Although General Zhou An has made great contributions, this matter is of great importance. How can we rely on just one side's words?" A civil official shook his head and sighed, with a cautious tone, "If there is no solid evidence, it may damage the foundation of the court if we rashly convict him!"

"The foundation of the court? Aren't the lives of 40,000 soldiers the foundation?" A young general of the Huaixi Party suddenly slammed the table and stood up, his eyes full of grief and indignation. "General Lan Yu went to war for the country and fought hard against the enemy, but 40,000 soldiers were buried in a foreign land, and General Lan Yu was imprisoned. If this matter is not thoroughly investigated, how can we comfort the spirits of the heroes? How can we be worthy of the soldiers who fought for the Ming Dynasty?"

"A thorough investigation? How can we conduct a thorough investigation? Are we going to shake the important officials of the court because of the words of one person?" Wu Jingzhi sneered, with a sarcastic tone in his voice, "If everyone can make false accusations at will, wouldn't the court be in chaos?"

"False accusation? General Zhou An risked his life to expose this matter, is it just for false accusation?" The general of the Huaixi Party was furious, and his voice almost shook the roof of the palace. "Are you afraid that you will be investigated?"

"How dare you! How can you be so rude in the court!" An old minister shouted harshly, his face livid.

"Disrespectful? Compared to those who collude with foreign enemies and harm their comrades, my disrespect is nothing." The Huaixi Party general did not give in. His tone was full of sarcasm and anger, but also an eagerness to turn defeat into victory.

The debate in the hall intensified, with both sides holding their own opinions and using heated words, and some people even almost wanted to fight. Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon throne with a gloomy face, his eyes swept through the crowd like a knife, but he did not stop it immediately. Zhu Biao stood aside with a frown on his face, obviously also feeling that the situation was difficult.

Zhou An stood in the center of the hall, listening to the arguments around him, feeling mixed emotions. He knew that his words had already caused a huge uproar, and this uproar was probably just beginning, and the situation was no longer under his control.

Zhou An looked at Ouyang Lun cautiously, hoping to see something on Ouyang Lun's face, but he was destined to be disappointed.

Ouyang Lun stood aside, his expression calm, turned his head and looked at Zhou An calmly, with a smile on his lips: "General Zhou, do you have any evidence?" Zhou An's heart tightened and he clenched his fists. He knew that he had no conclusive evidence in his hands, but he believed in his own judgment and believed that those dead soldiers would not sacrifice in vain.

"Although I have no hard evidence, this matter concerns the fate of the country and the lives of 40,000 soldiers. I dare not conceal it!" Zhou An's voice was sonorous and powerful, and his eyes were full of determination.

"The more than 4,000 sets of alloy armor I seized on the battlefield, as well as the seals of the Northern Yuan nobles and the flag with the three characters "Ouyang Lun" written on it left at the scene are evidence. There were also a few people escorting these armors, but unfortunately they escaped!"

After saying that, Zhou An took out the evidence that he had prepared long ago.

Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a moment, his eyes swept back and forth between Zhou An and Ouyang Lun, and finally spoke slowly: "This matter is of great importance, I will investigate it thoroughly. If it is true as Zhou An said, I will never tolerate it; if someone falsely accuses me, I will never let it go easily!"

The entire Taiji Hall fell silent. Although the evidence Zhou An produced was not enough to prove that Ouyang Lun really colluded with the Northern Yuan people and betrayed the Ming Dynasty, it was enough to make people speculate in this direction!

The atmosphere in the Taiji Hall was so solemn that it was almost suffocating. As soon as Zhou An finished speaking, Ouyang Lun looked calm, with a slight smile on his face, as if he had expected all this. He slowly took out a memorial from his sleeve, held it up with both hands, bowed forward a step, and said in a steady and clear voice: "Your Majesty, the Retired Emperor, I am also thinking of impeaching someone today!"

When these words were spoken, all the civil and military officials in the court were stunned. Even Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao couldn't help but look at each other, with a hint of doubt in their eyes.

Zhou An's heart tightened and he felt vaguely uneasy.

Ouyang Lun raised his head, his eyes like torches, and pointed directly at Zhou An: "The one I impeached is General Zhou An! During the Northern Expedition, he robbed the army's supply convoy, causing insufficient supplies at the front line and demoralization of the army. And that convoy was specially arranged by me to transport emergency supplies to the front line!"

Zhou An's face suddenly changed when he heard this. He took a step forward in a hurry and said in a hurried and excited voice: "Ouyang Lun! You are slandering me! How do you explain that there is a seal of the Northern Yuan people on the convoy? If you are not colluding with the Northern Yuan people, how can you have their seal?"

"That was clearly a caravan, not emergency supplies for the front line! You... you are clearly quibbling, you are the bad guy making the first complaint!!"

Ouyang Lun sneered, then calmly took out another document from his sleeve and handed it to the eunuch beside him, "Your Majesty, please have a look. The seal of the Northern Yuan Dynasty on this caravan was obtained by me through the rebellion of the Northern Yuan nobles. They have secretly surrendered to our Ming Dynasty and are willing to provide intelligence and supplies to our army. General Zhou An hijacked the caravan without asking any questions, and almost ruined the whole thing! This booklet records all the information about this trip, please have a look, Your Majesty!"

"Fortunately, that truckload of supplies was intended for General Zhou An. Otherwise, how could the soldiers under General Zhou An each have a set of alloy armor?!"

"General Zhou An, if you have any questions or doubts, you could have verified them with me at that time. If you don't trust me, you could have gone to His Majesty to report it. But you didn't say anything, and chose to say it only at this time. I have to doubt your intentions!"

"I...you...this..." Zhou An already felt guilty, and when he heard Ouyang Lun say that, he immediately panicked.

Zhu Yuanzhang took the document and read it carefully, his brows gradually relaxed, while Zhu Biao also took a closer look, with a glimmer of approval in his eyes. Seeing this, the ministers in the hall whispered, some were surprised, and some suddenly realized.

"Zhou An, it is indeed written very clearly in this booklet, and it is also stamped with the seals of the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War. Do you have anything else to say?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked slowly.

Zhou An was stunned, his face turned from red to white, and beads of sweat oozed from his forehead. He suddenly knelt on the ground, his voice trembling: "Your Majesty, I...I am stupid and failed to find out the truth. I wrongly accused Prince Consort Ouyang! I deserve death!" After he finished speaking, he kowtowed heavily, his forehead touching the ground, and he did not get up for a long time.

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Zhou An and snorted coldly: "Zhou An, although you are loyal, you acted rashly and almost made a big mistake! I will punish you to reflect on your mistakes for three months to serve as a warning to others!"

Zhou An hurriedly thanked him, his voice choking with sobs: "I obey your order, thank you for your forgiveness, Your Majesty!"

Just when everyone thought that the matter was over, Ouyang Lun spoke again, his voice low but powerful: "Your Majesty, I have something else to report."

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyes to look at him, frowning slightly: "Speak."

Ouyang Lun bowed and said, "Recently, rumors have spread among the people, saying that General Lan Yu was ambushed and that this was done by me in secret collusion with the Northern Yuan people. This rumor is a distortion of right and wrong, not only slandering my innocence, but also damaging the prestige of the court and the emperor! Although I am not afraid of rumors, if this matter is not thoroughly investigated, it may shake the foundation of the country!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's face suddenly darkened. He slammed the armrest of the dragon throne and shouted angrily, "How could this happen?! Ji Gang!"

Jinyiwei Commander Ji Gang immediately stepped out and knelt on one knee: "I am here!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said sternly: "Where did this rumor come from? Investigate it thoroughly for me!"

Ji Gang bowed his head and replied: "Replying to the Supreme Emperor, I have found out that this rumor was first spread from the Duke of Korea's Mansion."

"Li Shanchang?!" Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes flashed coldly, and his voice was as angry as thunder, "How dare he be so presumptuous!"

The officials of the Huaixi Party in the palace panicked upon hearing this. An elderly official stepped out in a hurry and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, calm down! Duke Hanguo has always been loyal, there must be a misunderstanding!"

Another Huaixi Party general also knelt down and pleaded: "Your Majesty, Duke Han is old, and perhaps he has been deceived by a villain. Please be clear about this!"

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, his eyes sweeping across the crowd like a knife: "Misunderstanding? Deceived? I think he is arrogant and has forgotten his duty! Ji Gang, immediately take people to thoroughly investigate the Korean Duke's Mansion. If there is any misconduct, punish them severely!"

Ji Gang took the order and left. The officials of the Huaixi Party in the hall looked at each other in bewilderment, their faces pale, but no one dared to say anything more. (End of this chapter)