Chapter 119 Drinking to death, you can't blame others
Li Qing asked Liu Qiang to sit down, poured him a glass of water, and said, "Speak slowly."
"Hey." Liu Qiang took the drink and drank it in one gulp, wiping his mouth, "Sir, the Prince Consort relied on his royal status to send his men and domestic slaves to purchase tea at a low price of less than half the market price, causing the tea farmers to
It's unspeakably painful and indirectly harmful to one's life.
After purchasing the tea at a low price, they then smuggled it outside the customs and made huge profits!"
Li Qing's eyes narrowed, "The government is not aware of such a big thing?"
"How could you not notice it?" Liu Qiang smiled bitterly, "The government is well-connected, but no one cares about it at all, or no one dares to care about it. Ouyang Lun is not an ordinary prince-in-law, Princess Anqing is the emperor's legitimate daughter!"
Li Qing frowned: "The tea farmers sue the government, but the government doesn't care?"
"Tea farmers who sue the government will either be slapped with a ban or imprisoned. After a long time, no one will dare to sue the government."
Li Qing suddenly felt a surge of anger in his heart, and then suppressed it forcefully. He knew that this was not the rule of law society of later generations.
"Go on."
Liu Qiang breathed a sigh of relief and continued: "Ouyang Lun's stall is huge. Every time he leaves the customs, there are dozens of carriages. He doesn't pay taxes and even forces his way through the checkpoints.
When encountering 'blind' inspection tax collectors, they were beaten directly, and more than a dozen of them were beaten to death, and the Chief Secretary officials dared not speak out in anger."
"Harming the people, killing officials, smuggling, anything can kill him." Li Qing was puzzled, "Why doesn't anyone dare to report to the court?"
Liu Qiang glanced at Li Qing in surprise and said calmly: "My lord, you don't really think that a prince who breaks the law is guilty of the same crime as the common people, are you?"
Li Qing was speechless and speechless.
Liu Qiang sighed, "The main reason why Jiuzhi has achieved so much in such a short period of time is that Ouyang Lun's crime was so great that he could not cover it up.
But with the emperor's relationship, no one dares to do anything to him, after all...
The emperor doesn’t want his daughter to be a widow, right?”
The Ming Dynasty respected Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism and was very harsh on women. Remarrying would be despised by the world, and the princess represented the royal face, so she could not remarry.
Even if they get married today, the prince-in-law will die tomorrow, and the princess cannot marry anyone else.
Ouyang Lun married the current emperor's legitimate daughter and the biological sister of Crown Prince Zhu Biao, and he indeed had the arrogance to do so.
Li Qing pondered: "If ordinary people sell tea secretly, how can they be judged guilty?"
Liu Qiang said: "Once discovered, no matter how many there are, the nine tribes will be killed!"
"So heavy?"
Li Qing was surprised. Later generations thought that in ancient times, the nine tribes were killed at every turn. In fact, this was not the case. In fact, in most cases, only one criminal was killed. The three Yi tribes were already extraordinary.
After all, the population in ancient times was not large, so how could the nine tribes be killed just because they disagreed.
Liu Qiang explained: "Sir, tea is an extremely important thing, much higher than salt and iron. It is the only way to restrict the barbarians outside the pass..."
After listening to Liu Qiang's explanation, Li Qing finally understood the importance of tea.
Tea has rich nutritional value and contains a large amount of vitamins, amino acids, minerals and other elements.
However, due to climate and altitude problems outside the customs, fruits and vegetables are difficult to survive. The only way to supplement the necessary nutrients for the human body is through tea.
When tea from the Ming Dynasty was brought outside the customs, it was not settled with Ming Dynasty treasure notes, not even gold and silver. Instead, it was traded mainly with horses, supplemented by cattle and sheep.
Therefore, it is also called tea-horse trading!
The Yi people outside the Guan Dynasty do not like to drink tea, but they need tea. They must rely on tea in order to survive better.
Oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea.
Tea is also a condiment. Add some when stewing beef and mutton. In addition to supplementing nutrients, it can also remove the fishy smell and make the meat more delicious.
To those outside the country, tea is as valuable as gold.
It can be said that tea is the best means to restrain the barbarians outside the Pass, even more effective than weapons.
After understanding this, Li Qing felt that Ouyang Lun's crime was so serious and unforgivable that it was not an exaggeration to say that he was collaborating with the enemy and treason.
Li Qing sneered: "There are often dozens of carriages transported out of the country. Just this one is enough to kill him ten times."
Such large-scale smuggling of strategic materials would not be tolerated by any emperor, let alone the decisive Zhu Yuanzhang.
Liu Qiang still had concerns, "Should I report this to the commander?"
"Is the evidence conclusive?"
"Yes." Liu Qiang took out the testimony, "These are the confessions of tea farmers and tax collectors. You can rest assured in terms of evidence. As long as the emperor allows a thorough investigation in the local area, a large amount of certified evidence will emerge immediately, and the prince consort cannot cover it up at all."
"Okay." Li Qing nodded, "I will report this matter to Commander Mao tomorrow."
Liu Qiang breathed a sigh of relief. One thousand households in Jinyi couldn't handle such a big event. He and Li Qing were closely related, and he really didn't want to see anything happen to Li Qing.
"By the way, did you alert Ouyang Lun during the investigation?"
"This..." Liu Qiang said sarcastically: "I can't guarantee it even in a humble position."
Li Qing thought for a while and said, "You have to work harder and go to the princess's mansion to guard it later. If there is any situation, report it to me immediately."
"yes."
…
The next day, Zhenfusi.
When Mao Xiang saw the evidence presented by Li Qing, he couldn't help but change his face in shock.
He knew that no matter whether they were relatives of the emperor or nobles, few would be clean if they really wanted to investigate, but he never expected that the consort Ouyang Lun would be so arrogant.
Li Qing cupped his hands and said, "Master Commander, what should we do now?"
Mao Xiang was silent for a moment, then turned around and said, "Go and call all the Qianhu, officials, colleagues, and governors in Beijing."
"Yes." Several guards said yes and turned to leave.
In the lobby, only Li Qing and Mao Xiang were left.
After a long silence, Mao Xiang slowly breathed out, "This time things are serious!"
"The evidence is conclusive, why don't you go to Datian to hear it?"
"..." Mao Xiang said angrily, "Did I fail to explain it to the emperor?"
After a pause, he said, "That Ouyang Lun is the emperor's son-in-law after all. It concerns the royal family's reputation and must be treated with caution.
You go back immediately and put on Feiyu clothes, we will discuss a suitable solution later, and we will jointly submit the report!"
Li Qing nodded, "Okay, I'll go right away."
He understood that Mao Xiang was planning to rope in everyone to carry him.
An hour later, four members of the Qianhu family, a minister, a fellow magistrate, and two governors gathered in the lobby, looking over the evidence.
After everyone read the evidence of the crime, all their eyes turned to Li Qing.
In their eyes, Li Qing was just a stupid young man who always criticized the emperor's relatives and his relatives, and he didn't know what the world was up to.
Ouyang Lun was not only the Prince Consort, but also represented the group of royal relatives.
Taking action against Ouyang Lun this time is tantamount to indicating that Jin Yiwei is going to war against the emperor's relatives. The stakes in this can be imagined.
Princess Lin'an, married to Li Qi, the eldest son of Korean Duke Li Shanchang;
Princess Ningguo, married to Mei Yin, nephew of Hou Mei Sizu of Runan;
Princess Runing, married to Lu Xian, son of Lu Zhongheng, the Marquis of Ji'an;
The daimyo princess married Li Jian, the son of Li Ying, the commander of the Qianqiu Guards. After the marriage, Li Jian was named the former military governor's official.
The Prince Consort's lineup is staggeringly arrogant and has no clear holy will. At this stage, the Jinyiwei do not want to and do not dare to provoke them.
Zhang Heng, the governor of the town, said: "What is Li Qianhu's advice?"
Li Qing clasped his fists and said: "I think it is a humble duty. Now that it has been found out, it is natural to go to heaven to hear it. Otherwise, how can we, the Jin Yiwei, bear the crime of deceiving the emperor?"
Zhang Heng asked back: "We?"
Li Qing secretly smiled bitterly and did not talk to him again, but looked at Mao Xiang.
Mao Xiang sighed, "He can't handle it alone. Let's play together later."
Liu Ming, the minister, frowned and said, "Sir, regardless of the offending of those relatives of the emperor, Ouyang Lun committed such a serious crime and tarnished the emperor's saintliness.
Once this matter is revealed, the emperor will be disgraced. Although the Jin Yiwei has done a good job in handling the case, it will still make the emperor unhappy. After all, the emperor did not let us investigate the consort.
Moreover, the civil and military officials in the DPRK have always had a grudge against the Jinyiwei, and now they are enmity against the royal family...
The future of Jinyiwei is worrying!"
"Liu Ming, what do you mean... conceal it and not report it?" Mao Xiang's face darkened, "Jin Yiwei cannot afford the crime of not reporting it after knowing it."
"I don't dare to do this in a humble position."
Liu Ming quickly explained, "Being humble means... dragging down a group of officials from Bashu and dragging them down together, so that they can share the firepower."
"I agree with Liu Qianshi's strategy." Zhang Heng said, "You can't hide the truth from the emperor, but everything can be flexible. Ouyang Lun committed such a serious crime, and they still want to stay out of it. How can it be such a good thing?
Furthermore, once the consort's crimes are made public, those officials will also be in trouble. Now let them carry it with the Jin Yiwei. When the liquidation is carried out afterwards, their crimes will be reduced by part, and those people will definitely not refuse."
Mao Xiang's expression calmed down and he thought this was a good idea.
"Then let's do it, Zhang Jing, you take the Jin Yiwei to Bashu..."
As soon as he was halfway through his words, Liu Qiang rushed in and said breathlessly: "My lord... your consort... Captain Ouyang Lun has entered the palace with Princess Anqing."