Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

Liu Shouren’s idea is good. Chu Ning just wants to make Bingzhou his own territory!

Bingzhou is located on the border and is often harassed by the Zhao army. No prince would place his fief here, and the imperial court does not care about the people here, leaving them to fend for themselves.

But precisely because the imperial court did not take it seriously, Chu Ning set his sights here.

Deliberately asking the court for food was just waiting for the court to refuse, and then using this as a condition to propose exchange conditions to the court.

If he asked the court for Bingzhou's autonomy right from the beginning, the old stubborn people in the court would definitely not agree, and the princes would also find ways to refuse.

But it’s different now. You refused to allocate food and fodder, and still want others to be self-sufficient. Then there should be no problem in giving up Bingzhou’s autonomy, right?

As long as the imperial court agrees to this, Chu Ning's plan of allocating land tax can be implemented in Bingzhou.

However, just when Chu Ning received the imperial edict, the court also received news that Du Yuanji had been killed.

The murder of a county governor was a serious matter, so the angry prince brought up the matter in the court.

At the morning court session that day, the emperor sat on the dragon throne as usual, with civil and military officials standing on both sides, and the prince, with an angry face, stood in the middle of the court.

"Father, Chu Ning is too presumptuous. He relied on his military exploits to kill the governor at will. If he is not severely punished, I am afraid that others will follow suit in the future, causing the laws of our dynasty to become unbalanced!"

The prince was extremely angry at Chu Ning because his own people were killed.

I thought that with Du Yuanji in Bingzhou, he could secretly check and balance Chu Ning, but who would have thought that Chu Ning would be so bold and presumptuous as to kill Du Yuanji directly.

If justice is not sought for Du Yuanji in this matter, the people who follow him will probably be in a panic in the future.

I was just worrying about not having any way to target Chu Ning, but unexpectedly Chu Ning came to me on his own initiative!

This time, Chu Ning will definitely not have an easy time!

Sitting on the dragon throne, the emperor frowned and looked like he had a headache.

This kid Chu Ning really causes me trouble. He won a great victory one moment and then killed the imperial governor the next.

He was the prefect, a fourth-rank official. How could he be killed just like that?

Now, the prince has launched an uprising and is holding on to this matter.

I have a headache. What a headache.

The emperor held his forehead and sighed, "What the prince said is not without reason, but now that Chu Ning has returned victorious, if I punish him, it will inevitably be seen as destroying the bridge after crossing the river!"

After a pause, the emperor looked at the other ministers and asked, "How do you think this matter should be handled?"

Everyone looked at each other, and for a moment no one dared to stand up.

The emperor has clearly hinted that Chu Ning should not be touched at this time. If he jumps out at this moment, he will definitely be displeased by the emperor, and he may even make things difficult for him in the future.

The prince's face changed slightly when he saw this. He knew that he couldn't go on like this, otherwise today's event would end in failure.

He narrowed his eyes and immediately winked at his followers.

Immediately, a minister stood up and said loudly: "Your Majesty, I think what the Crown Prince said is absolutely right. The King of Chu is too arrogant and domineering. If he is not taught a lesson, he will probably become even more arrogant in the future."

Someone took the lead, and someone else immediately stood up to echo: "Your Majesty, a prefect of a county, a high position and power, was killed like this, which is bound to make people feel panic. The King of Chu must give an explanation for this matter."

Four or five officials came out to show their support, and the momentum on the prince's side instantly increased.

Seeing this, the other princes would certainly not miss this opportunity and immediately stood up to respond.

These princes each had his own faction, and soon many ministers came out to support them.

At one moment, most of the officials in the court stood out and wanted to denounce Chu Ning!

This scene made the emperor look a little ugly.

Although I knew that a group of princes were forming cliques in the court, I still did not expect that so many officials would be involved.

It seems that we have to thank Chu Ning for this. If Chu Ning hadn't caused this incident, I don't know why so many ministers would have joined this group of rebellious sons.

The emperor took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and pretended to be thoughtful and said: "Since all of you believe that Chu Ning should give an explanation for this matter, let the Minister of Justice investigate this matter."

The Minister of Justice Ling Haoran is the prince's father-in-law. I believe the prince will have no objection to letting this man investigate the matter.

As for the others, they were just bluffing. As long as the prince didn't make a fuss, what reason did the others have to stand up and fight Chu Ning to the death?

Du Yuanji is the prince's man. As long as the prince's mouth is shut, the others will naturally keep quiet.

At this moment, the prince narrowed his eyes and a hint of murderous intent flashed across his eyes.

This matter will be handed over to the Ministry of Justice for handling. I just need to give Ling Haoran a heads up, and Chu Ning will have a hard time.

Still want to come back and marry Shen Wanying?

Humph, I’m going to make your whole life a living hell!

The prince sneered in his heart, but on the surface he bowed and saluted: "Father, you are wise!"

Ling Haoran, the Minister of Justice, sighed. Although he didn't want to get involved in this matter, it was his son-in-law's business after all, and he couldn't just stand by and watch.

Ling Haoran stood up and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, rest assured, I will investigate this matter carefully!"

The emperor nodded slightly, stood up and shook his head, saying, "Okay, I'm tired, let's stop here for today, let's adjourn the court."

"Your Majesty, we respectfully bid farewell to you!" The ministers bowed and saluted.

The ministers dispersed, and for the next few days, the whole city of Kyoto was buzzing with discussions about the matter.

Some people think that Chu Ning was born a commoner with a low status and was lucky to win the battle, which is why he is so arrogant.

Some people also think that the court is trying to take the opportunity to weaken Chu Ning's influence.

Of course, more people still think that Chu Ning is arrogant and domineering, relying on his military achievements to act recklessly!

In just a few days, news of Chu Ning spread throughout the entire Kyoto city.

The emperor was of course well aware of the news, but he could do nothing about it now and could only wait for Chu Ning to return to the court and find out the truth.

And a few days later, the emperor finally received a reply from Chu Ning.

However, the letter did not contain details about Du Yuanji's death, but about food issues.

Inside the Yingwu Hall.

The emperor looked at the letter in his hand with a look of surprise on his face.

"Zhao Ming, why do you think Chu Ning wanted me to agree to hand over Bingzhou to him for governance, and even gave up the imperial court's allocation of grain for this?"

The emperor was puzzled and turned to Zhao Ming.

Zhao Ming laughed awkwardly, "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the King of Chu always does things beyond people's expectations. How could this old servant possibly know His Royal Highness's purpose?

However, this move can save your majesty a lot of food, and Bingzhou is located on the border, so you have no chance to govern it."

Although it was not stated explicitly, the attitude was very clear. At least for now, this was a good thing for the court.

The emperor thought about it and felt that what Zhao Ming said made sense, so he nodded slightly and said, "Well, since I have refused to allocate grain, it is not easy to refuse this matter!

Send a message to Chu Ning that I agree to his request and also agree to let Ni Heng become the governor of Shangjun, but he must set off and return to the court immediately!"

The incident of killing Du Yuanji is getting bigger and bigger, we must come back and solve it as soon as possible!