The film and television world begins with the battle for the throne in Kowloon

Chapter 697 Wei Zheng's Anger

As a well-known minister of remonstration in Chang'an, Wei Zheng's integrity and his willingness to enforce the law without fear of the powerful were almost common knowledge and praised by everyone.

Therefore, every day someone would send anonymous letters of accusation into his house. Some would tie them to stones and throw them into the yard, some would stuff them into the cracks of the door, and some would even be tied to arrows and shot into the house. In short, all kinds of strange methods emerged one after another.

Wei Zheng didn't care much about it. Besides, most of the owners of these letters of denunciation were ordinary people who had suffered injustice and had nowhere to turn to. There was nothing they could do since they came to him to file a complaint. He hoped that he could uphold justice for them and clear their names.

Wei Zheng was very sympathetic to these.

As long as it was relatively reliable, had evidence or was reasonable, Wei Zheng would hand it over to the special department of the Imperial Household Department for investigation.

Serious problems would be reported directly to the emperor.

When he was in the government office, he mostly dealt with these things. Wei Zheng would only pay attention to some hearsay and unfounded things in his heart.

After getting the envelope, Wei Zheng opened it skillfully and pulled out a piece of paper from it.

After just one glance, his eyes widened instantly, and his expression was extremely shocked and angry, as if he was frightened by the contents of the letter, and seemed to be unable to believe it. He closed his eyes and started reading again.

After a while, the old man, who was over fifty years old, had seen a lot of things in the world and was always calm no matter what happened, could no longer suppress his chest heaving, his face flushed, and he looked very angry.

Panting and trembling, Chen said angrily: "What a bastard, how unreasonable, how audacious."

"Sir, what happened?" Seeing that Wei Zheng's emotions were so volatile, Si Qu didn't bother to avoid him and asked hurriedly.

Wei Zheng's hand trembled, and the piece of paper slipped from his hand. Wei Zheng still had a look of heartache.

I didn't have time to think about it and quickly picked up the paper and started reading.

只扫了一眼，顿时脸上吓的一片煞白，只见信上写着：‘飞虎军军职内部售卖价格表：前卫中郎将胡礼贤10万贯、左卫中郎将梁思进10万贯、右卫中郎将周延德10万贯、中卫中郎将罗恩胜10万贯、后卫中郎将刘仁轨10万贯。’

Behind them were the generals, lieutenants, brigade commanders, team leaders, and fire captains. All the officers, both big and small, and even ordinary soldiers had prices marked on them, but the actual prices were ten times smaller. The total income of the Flying Tiger Army from selling military positions was less than two million strings of cash.

I don't know whether the whistleblower really didn't want to know the details, or was afraid that the amount was too huge, which frightened Wei Zheng and made him dare not intervene, so he deliberately reduced the scale to make it less conspicuous.

But even so, the final amount involved in the case is still an astronomical figure. If what is said is true, it would be the largest case since the founding of the Tang Dynasty.

This is especially horrifying as the case actually occurred in the Flying Tiger Army under the command of Li Chengqian, the crown prince of Tai Tang.

For some reason, although the report letter contained only a simple price list without any evidence attached, Wei Zheng subconsciously felt that it was true.

During this period, Wei Zheng always felt that the atmosphere in the court was not right every time he attended court. How could he explain it?

It makes people feel particularly heavy and depressed, as if there are some huge dark clouds looming over the sky of Chang'an City.

Normally, officials from all over the three provinces and six ministries would argue over trivial matters, but recently, especially in the past few days, everyone seemed to be in a particularly mild mood, and some matters that were originally supposed to be handled in the court were resolved within the departments.

All the decisions issued by Li Shimin were made with extremely high efficiency by all departments. They changed the previous perfunctory style and became efficient and effective.

Wei Zheng reported several general affairs of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel. Before the emperor held them accountable, the heads of the two ministries took the initiative to admit their mistakes and immediately ordered the staff below to make changes, as if they were afraid of being caught.

Wei Zheng was still wondering why the chief officers of various departments, who used to attack and argue with each other for no reason, were so good-tempered recently. He probably thought that everyone knew more or less that the Flying Tiger Army had such a mess, and everyone was afraid of being implicated, so they were all carefully avoiding disaster.

It seems that the storm is coming, and everyone is aware of the Flying Tigers.
Of course, there are certainly power struggles and intrigues behind the scenes among various forces and factions.

In the field of power, struggle is always the main theme!
Compared to the selling of official positions and titles in the Flying Tiger Army, Wei Zheng's eyes radiated a bone-piercing disappointment and sadness. He muttered to himself in a daze: "How could this happen? He is the crown prince! The whole world will belong to him in the future. What does he need so much money for?"

"Sir, please don't worry. There is no evidence in this letter of accusation. These things may not be true. They may be false accusations!" Si Qu couldn't bear to see Wei Zheng's distraught look, and said insincere words of comfort.

There was a loud bang!
Wei Zheng slammed his palm on the table, which was particularly eye-catching in the silent room.

Wei Zheng stood up and shouted angrily: "What a false accusation! It is clearly stated here that even ordinary soldiers have to pay 30 to 50 strings of cash to join the Flying Tiger Army. There are 10,000 soldiers in the Flying Tiger Army, and almost everyone is involved in the case. How can this be false?"

"If you want evidence, just pick up a soldier from the Flying Tiger Army and you can confirm it. Even if they falsely accuse you, it's not this outrageous."

Wei Zheng hysterically roared at the roof of the room: "Is this the crown prince of my Tang Dynasty? Is this the future emperor of my Tang Dynasty? If so, what is the point of us fighting so hard?"

"Sir, keep your voice down. Be careful of ears!" "Humph, what am I afraid of? No matter how important the life and death of one person is, it is not as important as the great Tang Dynasty and the millions of people."

Wei Zheng said angrily: "I can tolerate his cowardice and his stupidity, but I cannot accept his greed and selfishness. Tomorrow I will report him. Even if the king of heaven comes, I will poke a hole in the sky."

"The country and people of the Tang Dynasty will never be handed over to such a person."

At this time, Wei Zheng was full of righteousness, and his awe-inspiring power seemed to be able to shock countless evil spirits. The sense of responsibility that he shouldered the safety of the world and would go forward even if there were tens of thousands of people against him made Si Qu swallow all the words he wanted to say to dissuade him.

All he could see was the worry about his master getting involved in such a huge political vortex and the unpredictable risks in the future.

Siqu hurried to the door and wanted to close it, but saw the old servant who had just handed him the letter come back again. He frowned and was about to scold him.

The old servant said in a panic, "Butler, someone wants to see the master."

Bian Siqu unconsciously looked up at the silver plate hanging high in the sky, and then thought of Wei Zheng who was losing his temper in the room, his face turned cold: "Don't you see what time it is now? No matter who comes, I won't see them. Turn them away."

"Can not be done!"

The old servant said something subconsciously, and when Bian Siqu was about to get angry, the old servant quickly handed him a token. Bian Siqu took it and looked at it, and his pupils suddenly shrank.

The token is only the size of a palm and is made of pure gold. There are dragons and phoenixes carved on the back and four small ancient seal characters on the front.

The Crown Prince of Tang Dynasty!

Bian Si reached out and, as an experienced official, he knew that this token was a special token of Crown Prince Li Chengqian.

Second only to the emperor, I am here in person
Bian Siqu asked hurriedly: "What does the visitor look like?"

"The man was wearing a black cloak, and he was completely covered up. He just handed me this token and asked to see our master. I saw that the token was made of pure gold, and I knew that the person who dared to use this token in Chang'an City was extraordinary, so I didn't dare to delay for a moment."

The old servant tried his best to describe the information of the visitor, hoping to give his housekeeper a clear judgment: "The visitor is not tall, thin, like a teenager, and his voice is childish and a little hoarse, as if he has just entered the voice change period of a teenager."

"Moreover, the other party spoke in a righteous and confident manner, with an air of superiority, as if our master would definitely meet him as long as he saw the token."

As the servant spoke, the image of a handsome young man emerged in Bian Siqu's mind. Shouldn't this man be staying in the East Palace at this time?

What is he doing here so late at night?
Even though Bian Siqu had just looked extremely disappointed with the crown prince when he and Wei Zheng were in the study, he couldn't help feeling a little timid when the crown prince really came to him.

After all, he had been the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty for more than three years and had an extremely noble status. He was not a boy next door who allowed himself to be criticized.

Bian Siqu hurriedly walked into the room, handed over the token, repeated what the old servant had said, and then said, "Master, it is most likely that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has come in person. How should we deal with it? Can you think of a solution quickly?"

Wei Zheng held the token in his hand and slowly calmed down. He said angrily, "If an enemy comes, we will stop him. If a flood comes, we will drown it. What is there to be afraid of? I will go to meet the emperor right away."

Seeing that Wei Zheng had lost his composure, Siqu quickly reminded him, "Master, the prince came late at night and hid himself, so he must not want others to know. Maybe he has something confidential that he needs to ask you about. Why don't I go to greet him and you can meet him in the study? This would be more appropriate."

Well.
Makes sense!
"Well, Siqu, go and greet them and bring them here. Don't let the servants in the mansion know."

Upon hearing this, Wei Zheng looked at Bian Si with admiration. He had experienced too many things today. Seeing the weakness of the prince in the Flying Tiger Army's tent, as well as those dirty things that had just happened, made him lose control of his emotions and was too angry.

Some people feel sorry for their misfortune and angry at their lack of resistance, and even forget the most basic common sense.

Thinking of this, Wei Zheng slowly calmed down and returned to the state that a key official of a great country should be in.

After a while, Bian Siqu brought a young man in a black cloak to Wei Zheng's study.

"Your Highness, the master is waiting for you inside, I will not go in!" When he reached the door, Bian Si opened it, stood at the door himself, and let Li Yan in.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince arrived so late at night and acted in a sneaky manner, which must be a big deal.

Based on the principle that knowing too much is a disaster rather than a blessing, Bian Si chose to protect himself. In the name of protection, he sent the old servant away and stood guard at the door himself.

As for the matter of serving tea and water, Wei Zheng did not invite him, and he would never meddle in other people's business. He thought that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince came to visit his master in this way at this time, not to drink tea and chat.

(End of this chapter)