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Chapter 458 Wang Family (I)

Bang!

With a crisp sound, a fine jade paperweight in the palace study fell to the ground and broke into two pieces.

The several staff members in the study all shrank their heads and remained silent.

Prime Minister Wang lost his usual composure and his eyes seemed to be spitting fire: "Wang Yi, this useless bastard! He couldn't even control the officials in the governor's mansion and was reported by his subordinates! The memorials have been sent to the capital! This bastard! This coward! How could I have given birth to such a useless son!"

Prime Minister Wang was so angry that he even swore.

The staff members exchanged glances quietly, and finally, they all looked at Staff Member Jiao.

Jiao Muliu had the most experience and was the most trusted by the Prime Minister. At this time, only Jiao Muliu had the courage and confidence to speak up and advise the Prime Minister.

Facing the trusting and pleading eyes of his colleagues, Jiao Muliao mustered up the courage to comfort the furious Prime Minister: "Prime Minister, please calm down. There must be a villain behind this, and you can't blame the eldest son entirely..."

"He's already 42 years old!" Prime Minister Wang cursed angrily, "He's also a grandfather, but he embezzled some money and couldn't clean it up properly, leaving behind so many glaring evidences. What's in his head? It's all water!"

Everything was clearly written on the memorial, and there was no way to deny it. It was really too stupid!

It was definitely not as simple as the embezzlement of a little silver as Prime Minister Wang said. Governor Wang had a big appetite. The figures listed in the memorial alone were an extremely shocking number. It was almost equivalent to the tax revenue of Daliang for half a year. It was enough to be called the first embezzlement case in Daliang.

Therefore, it is no wonder that the emperor looked unhappy and furious. The imperial treasury was empty, military spending had been cut again and again, and the palace had already begun to cut back on spending. However, Governor Wang was living a carefree and extravagant life in Jiangnan, which formed a sharp contrast.

How could Emperor Taihe not be angry? Not directly issuing an imperial decree to punish him at the court meeting today was already giving Prime Minister Wang some respect.

Jiao Muliu continued to persuade him, "Things have come to this point. It's useless to be angry now. Prime Minister, please think about how to deal with this situation."

Prime Minister Wang's face was livid. "How else can we deal with this? The incident with General Zuo hasn't been resolved yet, and this has popped up again. If I protect my own son, I will be condemned by thousands of people. How can I be the Prime Minister of Daliang in the future?"

The staff were all shocked when they heard the wrong tone. They looked up without caring about keeping a low profile and asked, "What do you mean by that, Prime Minister? Are you going to sacrifice your own family for the sake of justice?"

"This is absolutely unacceptable! The eldest son is the eldest son of the master, and he is also the one with the highest official position and the most promising among the male descendants of the Wang family. There must be no mistakes!"

"That's right. No matter how angry or upset you are, you can't just ignore it!"

Wang Yi was indeed incompetent, but he was the eldest son of Prime Minister Wang. According to the tradition of clan inheritance, Wang Yi should be the next patriarch of the Wang family.

However, Prime Minister Wang's dissatisfaction with his eldest son has been visible to the naked eye over the years. Everyone has secretly speculated that Prime Minister Wang prefers his smart and capable youngest son, and may pass the position of head of the family to Wang Jin in the future.

Prime Minister Wang is in good health, so he can easily survive another ten or eight years. By then, Wang Jin will be able to take on the important task.

People only dared to speculate about these things in private, and no one dared to speak out. Now that Wang Yi had caused a big disaster, Prime Minister Wang could not ignore his son. Once he intervened, he would be branded as someone who protected his son. It was indeed a dilemma.

Knock knock knock!
There was a sudden knock on the study door. At this time, there was only one person who had the courage to knock on the study door.

Sure enough, a familiar voice sounded outside the door: "Father, it's me."

The staff secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Staff member Jiao quickly stepped forward to open the door, and it was Wang Jin standing outside.

Wang Jin's face was not looking good either. After entering the study, he whispered, "My eldest brother was impeached by more than a dozen officials. The emperor was very angry. How does father plan to deal with this matter?"

Prime Minister Wang glanced around and his staff immediately bowed and left.

After the door was closed, only the father and son were left, and they spoke more directly.

"This is a trap set by Zheng's father and son," Prime Minister Wang said with a gloomy face and sneered, "The dozen officials who impeached your brother are all their people. Your eldest brother is useless, and even the governor's mansion has been planted with pawns. Now it suddenly breaks out and catches us off guard."

Wang Jin was silent for a moment, then responded in a low voice: "General Zhao, the defender of Pengcheng, defected in front of the battle, which led to the defeat of Pengcheng and the massacre of the people. The border troops were also defeated and retreated to Sizhou. Later, we could not find any trace of General Zhao. I always feel that this matter is also very strange."

Prime Minister Wang looked at his youngest son, who had a solemn expression on his face, and a trace of relief flashed in his eyes: "You can think of these things, which shows that you have been through a lot."

"Although there is no evidence, this matter does not need evidence. The defeat of the border army must be related to Zheng and his son."

Wang Jin's brows suddenly tightened, and his voice was full of anger: "The border army was defeated, tens of thousands of people died in Pengcheng, young men and women were abducted, and the border soldiers suffered heavy casualties. How could they do this! How dare they!"

Prime Minister Wang sneered, "Why can't I do that? Why can't I do that? Zuo Feng is my right-hand man. In order to deal with me, they have to cut off the Zuo family's arm."

"Now you can see that Zuo Feng has been convicted, and the entire Zuo family has been implicated. The power of the Prime Minister's Party has greatly weakened. Now some people dare to jointly impeach your brother."

"Xiang Zhuang's sword dance is aimed at Pei Gong. This memorial is directed at my father and me. Your brother did something improper and was caught red-handed. Now, I have to ignore it. If I save him, I will be involved in a lawsuit. What do you think, should I save him or not?"

Prime Minister Wang's eyes suddenly became sharp and he stared at Wang Jin closely.

Wang Jin's heart trembled.

When he was born, his elder brother Wang Yi had already married and had children. His nephew was five years older than him. He was the son born in old age and was deeply loved by his father. His elder brother also loved him very much.

Ten years ago, Wang Yi went to Jiangnan to serve as a governor. Over the years, the two brothers have been exchanging letters and have a very good relationship. Every year on his birthday, his elder brother would collect many valuable things and have them sent to the capital. Even on weekdays, he would often give him gold and silver to spend.

As brothers, he, as the younger brother, cannot ignore his elder brother's life or death.

But from the standpoint of the Secretary of the Central Secretariat, he has absolutely no good feelings towards the greedy and blood-sucking Governor Wang, and should agree to punish him severely in order to eradicate the corrupt and unhealthy tendencies and deter the officialdom in the south of the Yangtze River.

When his father asked this question, he was actually asking him what position he should take.

Is he the fourth son of the Wang family, or the emperor's secretary?