As soon as the proposal that the imperial court was preparing to confer a title of king to the British public was put forward, it immediately caused an uproar.

The officials immediately divided into two groups. One group was composed of military generals who had made great achievements and expressed their approval. The other group was composed of civil servants Qingliu who firmly opposed it.

The titles on the heads of each of the generals present were accumulated by killing enemies in battle, battle after battle. There were only two largest and most extensive knighthood activities in the Ming Dynasty, one was the founding of the country and the other was Jingnan.

Due to some unknown reasons, there are very few existing achievements in the founding of the country. Those who are still active in the court are led by the British Duke Zhang Fu, and most of them are after the Jingnan heroes.

Nowadays, Zhang Fu's status is no less than that of Xu Da, the king of Zhongshan County in the early Ming Dynasty. However, even a highly respected minister like Xu Da only received a posthumous title after his death. He never expected that the emperor would be so generous and immediately wanted to confer a title on him.

king.

Therefore, when Zhu Qiyu made this decision, Zhang Fu was stunned.

He even wondered if he was dead...

Wang Hailing, the censor of the right capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, stood up and said: "Under the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty, people with different surnames cannot be crowned kings. Doesn't this destroy the ancestral system?"

After hearing this, Chen Ying, the Marquis of Taining, immediately jumped out and said: "The British Lord has great military exploits, why can't he be crowned king?"

"The ancestral system is the ancestral system, and the ancestral system cannot be violated!"

"Then what do you think of the reward?"

"The British Duke is already a very human minister, so why not give him an additional annual salary of two thousand dan as a token of recognition?"

"How can such a great military achievement be spent with just a small salary? Wang Yushi, what do you think of the imperial court, and what do you think of us generals?"

Chen Ying argued hard not because of his deep friendship with the British public, but just to win a fight.

In the Ming Dynasty, scholars were selected through imperial examinations, and these scholars formed a group of civil servants. Although these people usually seemed to be benevolent, righteous, and moral, but compared to the rough and tumble men who only knew how to fight, they had more than a hundred times more in their hearts.

In the court, the struggle between civil servants and military officers has never stopped. As the ranks of civil servants become larger and larger, it is obvious that the latecomers will prevail.

Usually Zhang Fu takes the lead, but today as the person involved, he should avoid suspicion, so Chen Ying stepped up to take the lead.

Wang Hailing snorted with his nose and said: "You can give me the iron certificate of the elixir book, or you can be a favor to my descendants. In short, it must not violate the ancestral system!"

As the two people quarreled fiercely, more and more civil servants and military attachés joined the fight, and it was about to turn into a melee.

"The Emperor has arrived!"

The hall suddenly became quiet. Everyone knelt down and saluted, shouting long live.

Zhu Qizhen didn't even change into official uniform. He walked into the hall wearing regular clothes and sat on the dragon chair.

"Pingsheng!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Qizhen glanced around with a dark face and asked: "It's very lively, what's the noise about?"

Zhu Qiyu stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, I am discussing the matter of the British public reward."

Wang Hailing hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, I think that the British Duke has meritorious service in killing the enemy, so he should be rewarded. However, the ancestral system cannot be exceeded, and the matter of being crowned king needs to be carefully considered!"

"I second the proposal!"

"I second the proposal!"

Behind Wang Hailing, more than a dozen officials stood up one after another to express their support.

At this moment, Chen Ying couldn't help it any longer, and hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, your Majesty..."

Zhu Qizhen suddenly raised his hand and motioned for him to step aside first.

Chen Ying was a little confused, but had no choice but to retreat.

"Since it is a court meeting, everyone should express their opinions. However, I came here today for another matter!"

Zhu Qizhen looked at the ministers, smiled faintly, and continued: "There have been two robbery cases involving murder and robbery in the capital recently. You must have heard about it, right?"

Everyone immediately looked at each other, and Zhu Qiyu was even more confused. We are discussing such a big matter as being crowned king, and you came over to talk about the case?

It would be better if we let Shuntian Mansion investigate this matter. Is it necessary to discuss it here in court?

"Wang Hailing!" Zhu Qizhen suddenly asked, "What is the relationship between the Qing family and Fan Ji Warehouse?"

Wang Hailing was suddenly called by name, and his expression suddenly changed, and he said: "Back to the emperor, I have never engaged in business activities, and I don't know that there is a Fanji Warehouse."

"Oh!" Zhu Qizhen nodded and said, "Since we don't know each other, then something happened at Fanji Warehouse, but you, the censor of Youdu, were busy in private. Why?"

Wang Hailing looked strange and said hesitantly: "Wei Chen... no... don't understand what the emperor is talking about..."

Zhu Qizhen was not in a hurry and said slowly: "Who did the Qing family meet last night? You should remember it, right?"

"Last night...last night..."

Wang Hailing's face was pale, beads of sweat continued to drip from his forehead, and he was speechless for a long time.

Last night, when I met those people, there was no one around!

Obviously, everyone was sent away, except for the mute who was sweeping the floor at home...

Is it the mute?

No, this man has been in the house for more than ten years. He is deaf and mute. He doesn't respond when you play the gong next to him. How could it be him?

"Why, you don't remember what happened last night? Do you want me to help you recall it?"

Wang Hailing fell to his knees and said tremblingly: "Weichen just negotiated a business deal with someone, but Weichen really doesn't know anything about Fan Ji Warehouse!"

With a faint smile on his face, Zhu Qizhen asked, "Didn't the Caiqing family just say that they had never engaged in business activities? Did I hear it wrong?"

Wang Hailing no longer dared to hide it, so he could only say: "I know my mistake, please forgive me!"

"Don't be too hasty to forgive me!" Zhu Qizhen asked again, "Tell me first, what kind of business are you talking about?"

"Weichen's hometown has some surplus grain, and he wants to sell it to get some money..."

"How much food is there?"

"About...about...five hundred stones..."

"Um?"

Zhu Qizhen frowned and his face became increasingly ugly.

Wang Hailing could only say: "Wei Chen remembered it wrong, it was about five thousand stones."

"I advise you to think about it before you speak!"

"Weichen remembered, it seems to be fifty thousand stones."

"Fifty thousand stones!" Zhu Qizhen nodded and asked, "Who are you selling it to?"

"Sold to...sold to...Caoji Warehouse."

"Then why did the Qing family help Fan Ji Warehouse? They even wrote a note to Shuntian Mansion. Why is that?"

As he spoke, Zhu Qizhen winked at Wynn who was standing aside. Wynn understood and took out a piece of paper and handed it over.

Wang Hailing only glanced at it, shaking like chaff, and said quickly: "Weichen also has some business dealings with Fanji Warehouse. Among the stolen goods this time was Weichen's fifty thousand stone grain. Weichen knew that he was in the court, so he shouldn't

When doing business, one should not use one's status to put pressure on Shuntian Mansion. I know I was wrong, so I beg the emperor to show mercy!"

Zhu Qizhen sneered: "That's all?"

"Weichen...Weichen...three months ago, he entrusted Fan Ji Warehouse to sell a batch of grain worth about 80,000 dan. Weichen knew he was wrong and will never dare to do it again!"

"I also want to ask you, why did you choose to cooperate with Fan Ji?"

"It's because..." At this point, Wang Hailing no longer dared to hide anything, so he had to tell the truth, "Because the shipping price of Fanji Warehouse is relatively high..."

Zhu Qizhen asked again: "Why is Fanji's shipping price so high?"

"This... weichen really doesn't know about the smuggling of goods..."

Zhu Qizhen suddenly stood up and asked with a dark face: "I will give you one last chance. Do you really not know?"

Wang Hailing shivered with fright, a stream of heat surged out from between his buttocks, and a strange smell suddenly filled the hall.
Chapter completed!