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

The next day, the palace.

In the majestic hall, nine dragon pillars stand tall, on which are exquisitely carved birds and beasts, exuding a majestic atmosphere.

As usual, the ministers of the court were lined up on the left and right sides of the hall.

However, there was a strange atmosphere in the court today. A group of officials were whispering to each other, completely losing their usual calmness.

At this moment, a shrill voice came: "Your Majesty has arrived!"

"See Your Majesty!"

As his ministers bowed and saluted to greet him, the emperor, wearing a bright yellow dragon robe, stepped in from the side hall.

"My dear ministers, there is no need to be so polite!"

The emperor lifted the hem of his dragon robe with both hands, slowly sat on the dragon chair, and said calmly: "If you have something to say, please report it early. If you have nothing to say, please leave the court."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes were focused on the Minister of Revenue Chen Guowei.

This man stood out of the line with a serious face and said in a deep voice: "Your humble servant, I have something important to report to Your Majesty!"

The emperor narrowed his eyes.

finally coming!

More than a dozen officials from the Ministry of Revenue were arrested yesterday. As the Minister of Revenue, Chen Guowei couldn't help but take action!

"What's the important matter, Lord Chen?" The emperor pretended to be surprised.

Chen Guowei said with a serious face: "Your Majesty, I have received a report that His Royal Highness the King of Chu has reclaimed all the land in Bingzhou and contracted it out to the local people, which has caused complaints from the local wealthy families.

During this spring ploughing season, all the land owned by the wealthy families was taken away, leaving them without any land.

Now all the noble families in Bingzhou have stated that they will no longer pay taxes to the court this year, nor will they donate grain to the court. "

After saying that, Chen Guowei took out a letter written in blood and showed it to everyone.

"Your Majesty, please read this. This is a blood letter written by all the wealthy families in Bingzhou. It describes everything the King of Chu did in Bingzhou!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the ministers around him changed.

The princes looked like they were watching a show, hoping that Chen Guowei would take the opportunity to overthrow Chu Ning.

The ministers looked at each other, some showed a look of determination, while others were worried.

Targeting a prince, and a prince who has just made military achievements on the front line, is no small matter.

Can they really succeed?

At this moment, the emperor on the dragon throne narrowed his eyes and a strange color flashed across his eyes.

Chen Guowei made a move, and the target was actually Chu Ning.

This move really draws blood!

If Chu Ning was overthrown, the Ministry of Justice would certainly not dare to investigate the Ministry of Revenue's affairs any further.

However, if he wants to take direct action against Chu Ning, it depends on whether Chen Guowei has enough evidence!

Thinking of this, the emperor narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice: "Is there such a thing? Come, present the blood letter!"

The eunuch chief Zhao Ming came to the prince in person, took the blood letter and brought it to the emperor.

The emperor took the blood letter and just glanced at it, his face suddenly looked a little ugly.

The emperor looked at him coldly and snorted, "Lord Chen, is what is written in this blood letter the truth?"

Chen Guowei bowed quickly and said, "If your majesty doesn't believe me, you can summon a witness. All the noble families in Bingzhou have sent a witness, and they are waiting outside the palace now."

This is coming prepared.

The emperor narrowed his eyes.

Although he knew that Chen Guowei would fight back and use the power of the family, he did not expect that his counterattack would come so quickly.

Chu Ning had just targeted the Ministry of Revenue, and the next day this person brought people from the Bingzhou family here to sue Chu Ning.

It seems that these people have been in Kyoto City for a long time and have been in contact with Chen Guowei for a long time.

However, since the people from the Bingzhou family were already in Kyoto City, why didn't they submit the memorial earlier, but chose to do so at this time?

Many thoughts flashed through the emperor's mind, but they finally converged into one sentence: "Let them come in and talk!"

"Announce, the people from the Bingzhou family are here to see you!"

As the eunuch's shrill voice sounded, the people from the Bingzhou family who were waiting outside the palace were summoned into the hall.

Soon, eight people came into the hall.

"Common people see you, Your Majesty!"

The eight people knelt on the ground and shouted: "Your Majesty, please make a decision for our Bingzhou family!"

The emperor glanced at the eight people and found three old men, two middle-aged men, two young men and a young girl.

"Who are you and why did Chu Ning treat you so harshly in Bingzhou?" the emperor asked with a frown.

The eight people introduced their identities one after another.

The three old men are the heads of the He, Li, and Liu families respectively; the two middle-aged men are the heads of the Zhang and Cheng families; and the two young men are the young heads of the Zhou and Lin families.

The only girl was the eldest daughter of the Xie family - Xie Yuwei.

He Yangping, the head of the He family, is highly respected. The He family is also the largest and most powerful family in Bingzhou. He said with tears in his eyes:

"Your Majesty, the land contract system formulated by the King of Chu is completely aimed at my aristocratic family.

The King of Chu asked us to hand over our land. If we refused, his troops would come to trouble us from afar, making it impossible for them to carry out spring ploughing.

At the same time, Di Wenyao, the prefect of Dingxiang County, took the opportunity to incite the people to refuse spring ploughing for the wealthy families and even contracted the land to these people.

Today, all the farmland in Bingzhou has fallen into the hands of the common people, and noble families like us don’t even have an acre of land.

Not only that, because all the people went to do spring ploughing, there was a shortage of manpower in the entire Bingzhou, and the industry was declining. We couldn't hire anyone for the business we depended on for survival.

Your Highness, the King of Chu is trying to torture us to death!"

These words made all the officials present tremble with fear.

If this is true, the wealthy families in Bingzhou will be in a very difficult situation at this moment.

The land will be taken away, and the business will be shut down due to lack of manpower, so the income will be cut off.

Once the wealthy families lose their source of income, the common people will be even less respectful of them.

No wonder the Bingzhou family personally sent people here to file a complaint. They were completely forced into a desperate situation by Chu Ning.

Even the emperor on the main throne couldn't help showing surprise when he heard this.

Chu Ning is such a cruel guy, he wants to uproot the aristocratic family from Bingzhou!

But has this kid ever thought about the consequences of doing this?

This is going to anger the public!

A hint of hesitation flashed across the emperor's face.

The matter has become so serious that if it is not dealt with, the other families will definitely not agree.

When it comes to the interests of the aristocratic families, all the aristocratic families will unite.

While thinking, Chen Guowei said in a cold voice: "Your Majesty, you handed Bingzhou to the King of Chu to manage, that was based on your trust in the King of Chu!

But now the King of Chu has taken action against the wealthy families in Bingzhou and even made such a ridiculous policy. If the King of Chu is allowed to continue his mischief, Bingzhou will surely be in chaos!

Please order the King of Chu to take back his autonomy over Bingzhou. At the same time, arrest the King of Chu and punish him, and give an explanation to the wealthy families in Bingzhou!"

As soon as the words fell, officials from the Ministry of Revenue stood up one after another and said loudly: "Your Majesty, please arrest the King of Chu and punish him!"

Immediately afterwards, the forces behind these people also stood up and said in unison: "Your Majesty, please arrest the King of Chu and punish him!"

Half of the officials in the hall stood up.

The emperor's face suddenly looked a little ugly.

But at this moment, a guard came to report: "Your Majesty, many people from aristocratic families have gathered at the palace gate, and they ask Your Majesty to arrest the King of Chu and punish him!"

It's time to come, it's coming.

All the wealthy and powerful families unite to target Chu Ning!

The emperor took a deep breath and made a prompt decision: "Come here, go and invite the King of Chu to discuss this matter!"