In the sixteenth year of Liyang, at the end of August

Mingjing

King Shun got down from his carriage, looked at the weather in Wulonglong, sighed, and stretched out his hand to be helped into the palace by Egao.

The sons of King Shun, who had already gotten the news, were waiting in the corridor in the front yard of the palace under the leadership of the eldest Leyun, and when they saw their father being supported by Egao, their faces seemed to be in pain, and they were shocked in their hearts, and hurriedly came to help.

"Father, what's going on with the court, how did you make you look like this?" Boss Leyun asked with a distressed face.

Who would have thought that it would be okay for Le Yun not to ask, as soon as he asked King Shun, he immediately held his breath and couldn't help complaining: "This king is unlucky, the Yushitai of the dog day knows how to make trouble, and the tired king has been kneeling for more than half an hour, and he knew that this was the case, so he couldn't go today." ”

King Shun scolded and scolded here, patronizing and angry, but he didn't explain the matter clearly, Le Yun looked anxious, so he asked his younger brother to support his father, and he pulled over the Egao next to him, and asked in a low voice.

"Commander E, what's going on?"

E Gao glanced at King Shun, and was stunned in his heart, thinking that this was not a secret matter, and he didn't hide it, so he opened his mouth and said it to Leyun.

"The last general is guarding the palace gate, the specific things are not very clear, only know that today's court meeting, several imperial historians of the imperial history platform jointly signed a letter, and participated in King Jing, King Duan, King Zhong and some other royal relatives of the clan, saying that they control the maritime merchants of the East China Sea and evade taxes.

His Majesty was furious, and ordered the Yushitai, Dali Temple, Long Xiaoxiao and the household department to jointly investigate, and reprimanded several princes and relatives, and also made them kneel at the door of the imperial study.

Originally, this matter had nothing to do with the prince, but I don't know who interjected, saying that the prince is the deputy Zongzheng of the Zongren Mansion, and the princes and emperors made mistakes, and the prince was responsible for negligence, so His Majesty punished the prince for kneeling.

When His Majesty let go of the kings, the prince's knees were almost swollen, and he was supported by several little eunuchs from the imperial study to the hands of the end of the palace gate. ”

…………

Hearing that his father was innocently implicated, Le Yun was distressed at first, and then heard clearly about the court meeting, and his eyelids jumped wildly in an instant, and his heart was a little shocked.

King Shun is the respect of the prince, although the real power is meager, but the status is on the table, naturally he knows the inside story of some royal princes, not to mention, only the maritime merchants under the command of the royal family evade taxes, Leyun has heard the rumors.

The Northern Jin Dynasty is close to the sea, and the coastal benefits are obtained, after the establishment of Taizu, the sea ban was set up in the early days because of the situation, and in the last years of Taizu, the domestic situation in the Northern Jin Dynasty was stable, and the sea ban was slowly relaxed.

After that, the first emperor Kang Hua Emperor succeeded to the throne, feeling that the treasury was not abundant, under the influence of some enlightened officials, he decided to open the sea and trade with overseas.

At first, only the official fleet was allowed to go to sea, but later, after the Northern Jin Dynasty gradually figured out the overseas forces, it slowly opened up its authority to the people.

At the beginning of Emperor Liyang's accession to the throne, he let his brother King Zhong be in charge of the Zongren Mansion, and King Zhong took the lead in uniting some imperial princes and grandmasters to form a fleet to trade at sea.

Originally, this was the method of winning over the loyal king, but it was just a small fight, and it was not taken to heart.

As a result, because of the smooth business, the profits of the fleet increased year by year, and the scale became larger and larger, and the Chung Wang and the clan made a lot of money and became fat, and they began to pay attention to this cornucopia-like fleet.

A few years ago, King Jing and King Duan emerged and began to emerge to seize the heir, and King Zhong in order to please the future prince, he made a decision to pull the two princes in and joined the fleet.

Going to sea to trade has gained a lot, and they can have a good relationship with their clansmen, so King Duan and King Jing naturally have no reason to refuse.

After the two kings joined, the fleet was covered by a group of princes, and the larger the momentum, in a short period of time, it became one of the few large fleets in the Northern Jin Dynasty.

…………

Originally, it was a good result to get to this point, with a backer to protect it, and its own funds were sufficient, as long as it did not suffer large-scale changes, the future business of the fleet would definitely be thriving, and they would also get a steady stream of dividends.

However, greed is not enough to swallow an elephant!

Because the imperial court collected too heavy taxes on maritime merchants, it was often able to draw two to three percent of the tax from the profits of the fleet going to sea, and occasionally in wartime or famine years, an additional "tax on protecting the country and loving the people" was levied to contribute to the imperial court.

At first, the size of the fleet was small, and the imperial court levied hundreds of thousands of taels, and everyone still lived there, but later the fleet became larger and larger, and tens of thousands of taels of silver were lost in one trip.

The kings watched the white flowers and silver flow to the household, and they were distressed, and this distress began to think of crooked ideas.

Don't look at them as clans, except for King Zhong and the two princes, they don't have any real power, but they live in the capital for half a hundred, and they have a wide range of contacts.

It didn't take long for everyone to find a way to reduce a large amount of taxes, and each family shared at least tens of thousands or even tens of thousands of taels of silver every year.

The maritime trade in the East China Sea is a big tax point in the Northern Jin Dynasty, and the Yushitai and the household department have always been very close, and if they pay so much less tax for others, they have long been stabbed.

But the imperial fleet was widely implicated, and there were also King Zhong and two princes as backers behind him, and no one dared to start a war with so many big people, so he hid this matter.

Until now, the truth was suddenly opened by the Yushitai, the court was shocked, the emperor was furious, and the loyal king couldn't hide their deal............

…………

Le Yun didn't have to worry about this matter, not to mention that King Shun was timid, and he never dared to mix with these illegal and undisciplined things.

It is said that when King Zhong formed a maritime fleet, because King Shun had always been the head of his horse, he did not think of using this to win over King Shun, and later the fleet became rich, and King Shun wanted to follow into a share, but King Zhong did not look down on this waste brother, and did not want to divide another sum of silver taels, so he did not straighten out the king's stubble at all.

At the beginning, King Shun was quite unhappy about this, and he muttered behind his back that the loyal king was not particular, and scolded him for making trouble and the black cauldron made him sad, but he didn't want to pull him for the good things of making a fortune, and he was dirty and rotten, and he would take revenge.

Unexpectedly, time has passed, but King Shun escaped because of this, and was not involved in the case of maritime tax evasion.

However, Le Yun had seen his father carry a lot of black pots for Uncle Zhong, so he didn't dare to relax completely, for fear that Uncle Zhong Wang's "righteousness" would pull his father in to eat and hang up.

Thinking of this, Le Yun's blood is almost cold, this case can shock the government and the opposition, it must be a big matter, I also know that the scale of the fleet is huge, and the accumulation of tax evasion for several years is probably million.

Such an astonishing amount, even if the imperial court intends to cover up, it has to launch a few people who can handle it to take the blame, King Jing and King Duan are the princes who are expected to save the throne, unless Emperor Liyang is disgusted, he will definitely not be a scapegoat.

And King Zhong is the younger brother of Emperor Liyang, and there is a queen mother in the palace to open his eyes for him, and the possibility of an accident is not great.

On the contrary, his father is obedient to the king, has the position of a prince, and has no real power, his grandmother does not love his uncle, and he is just enough and easy to dispose of, so he is one of the best candidates to take the blame.

As for whether King Shun is innocent, you don't have to care too much, which of the black cauldrons he thinks he carried for those loyal kings is true, the emperor agrees, can you still harden your bones and not bow your head?

…………

Le Yun panicked, for fear that this matter would come true, so he hurriedly discussed with his father that he couldn't carry this black cauldron no matter what.

Millions of taels of silver, this is enough to kill the head and rob the family, and the Shun Wangfu will definitely not be able to hold it............

So, when the younger brothers helped King Shun to the backyard bedroom, Le Yun took away a few small ones, leaving only the second brother Le Feng and the personal guard commander Egao, closed the door, told his worries, and then looked at King Shun with some nervousness.

"Father, Uncle Zhong won't really implicate you in this case, our palace can't afford it."

As soon as these words came out, King Shun didn't wait for anything, and the second master Lefeng changed color first, gritted his teeth and scolded.

"Leji (Zhongwang) he dares, it's just usual, this is a serious crime of raiding the house, and if he wants to return it to his father, it's too deceitful.

In a hurry, I went to beat the imperial drum and spread all his bad things in front of the civil and military officials, and the fish died and the net was broken. ”

King Shun was taken aback by the reaction of his second son, and scolded angrily: "What are you yelling about, look at what you can, and beat the imperial drum, you should go, if you really have the guts, Lao Tzu will give up the whole family to do it with you." ”

Le Feng was scolded by King Shun and couldn't raise his head, King Shun was cowardly and timid, and the sons he gave birth to were not promising.

The eldest son Leyun is okay, he can still do some serious things, and the second son Leyun is a lot worse, he only knows how to eat, drink and have fun, and his temperament is irritable and unwise.

Together with the following little ones who have not yet grown up, King Shun of all his sons hates the impulsive and brainless character of the second son, who dares to speak and dare not act.

On weekdays, he has to reprimand a few words, but today he knelt at the door of the imperial study for most of the hour, and the fire in his heart was nowhere to go, Le Feng hit the muzzle of the gun, and was immediately sprayed by King Shun.

When the scolding was over, King Shun's anger rested for a while, and just now he looked back at his eldest son Le Yun, who was the most angry with him, and his tone became much gentler.

"Don't worry, this matter is clean in Yushitai, and King Zhong is the initiator, they have been doing maritime business for so many years, who in the capital doesn't know that the fleet is his family's business, the evidence is conclusive, and he can't get out of it.

Of course, with Her Majesty the Queen Mother under his protection, it will definitely not be his turn to raid the house and destroy the door, at most he will be degraded to avoid the limelight, not to mention that the matter is so big, King Zhong is stared at by everyone, and he has no energy to climb me again.

I estimate that in the end, the king of Bacheng will be demoted, and then two of the clans participating in the shares will be selected to take part of the crimes, and then let them make up the taxes, and some more will be fined. ”

……………

Le Yun nodded, hearing that it had nothing to do with his family, he was much more relieved, and he also had the heart to inquire about the inside story of this matter.

"Father, it's not that the people of Yushitai and Hubu have let Uncle Zhong take care of them, they have been safe and quiet for the past few years, why are they suddenly poked out now."

When King Shun heard this, a gloating smile appeared on his face, and he grinned as happy as Maitreya Buddha.

"It is also their bad luck, the previous Jin and Zhou national wars and the Qingnan war, the household treasury has long been empty, and later the Western Zhou Dynasty lost some silver, but the soldiers were paid for the pension and reward, and they were spent when they got it, plus Hongyang counterinsurgency and border army maintenance, which were a lot of expenses.

Since the beginning of the year, the silver deposited in the treasury has not exceeded 100,000 taels, and every time the household department is in the court, the frown can be pinched to death.

At this time, you are loyal to the prince and uncle, and they are escaping hundreds of thousands of taels of taxes a year, can you not be targeted? ”

"So it's said that Qian Shangshu of the household department has done it?"

Le Yun was a little surprised, the Hubu Shangshu who was smiling all day long, and grew up with the same fat rich man in the countryside, had such great courage.

"More than that."

King Shun waved his hand and said with a bright smile: "The household has no money, and Your Majesty is also panicked, and he orders Long Xiaoxiao to find money for the court every day."

Although King Zhong and others are in high positions, they can't frighten the gang of fanatics like Long Xiaoxiao, and there are also a group of Zhengchen who ignore the powerful in Yushitai, and several parties hit it off and staged such a good show together.

It is also for the sake of the silver, Your Majesty will let us go to the imperial study to kneel, in fact, the intention behind it is to point out with the loyal king, this matter is agreed by him, let the loyal king and they quickly give the money. ”

……………

It turns out that there are so many ways behind this.

Le Yun suddenly realized, and looked at his father with some reverence, full of admiration.

Yes, his father was timid and cowardly, and he was always looked down upon by outsiders, and some clans even scolded him behind his back for being ashamed of the Yan family.

But in Le Yun's view, although his father is not bold and has been mediocre for half his life, he is an out-and-out smart person, especially those two tricks, his eyesight is amazing, and he can see through the essence behind the court, and then seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.

King Shun can come to the present, it seems that the situation is average, but to compare with those princes who died early in Emperor Kanghua, he has both children and daughters, a group of wives and concubines, fine clothes and food, although he has no real power, but his status is noble, and his life is very comfortable.

Le Yun has no ambitions, his goal is to be like his father, rich and prosperous for the rest of his life, and all disasters will not be invaded.

However, from the current point of view, Le Yun is still short of some Taoism of the king, and he is secretly determined to learn from his father and inherit this family heirloom.

King Shun didn't know these thoughts in his eldest son's heart, otherwise he would definitely be very pleased, and his mind at this time was still on the maritime tax evasion case.

"Although this matter can't involve us for the time being, it is about so many clans in Beijing, and it really wants to make a big fuss, I'm afraid that I, the deputy sect, can't avoid it, so I think that this capital can't live in the near future.

Boss, go back and tell your mother, pack up your things, our family will go to Zhuangzi on the outskirts of Beijing to hide, and when the limelight is over, we will come back. King Shun said.

"Hide out? Do you need to be so careful? Le Feng was reluctant to let go of the prosperity of the capital, and muttered in a low voice.

King Shun didn't look down on him the most, and as soon as his eyebrows were raised, he was about to get angry, but fortunately he was stopped in time by Le Yun, who saw that the situation was wrong.

"Father, dissipate your anger, the second child is young and careless, I don't know what is powerful inside, I'll just talk to him."

Le Yun appeased his father, looked at his second brother, and taught: "Second brother, this matter is not as simple as you think, my father, as one of the five princes of the Great Jin Dynasty, is a matter of making mistakes in the clan, and he can speak."

Although Uncle Zhong Wang can't help us because he is being stared at, Duanwang and King Jing are different, they have been invested for a short time and have little involvement in this matter, but because of their valuable status, they get a lot of dividends.

Uncle Zhong was stared at, but these two could come out to do this, if they didn't want to spit out the money they had eaten, racked their brains against His Majesty, and came to the door to ask their father to help.

Can we afford to offend these two princes, or do we have the courage to argue with Your Majesty? Hiding out and avoiding the wind is the best choice. ”

…………

After listening to the analysis of the eldest son, King Shun was relieved that he had a successor.

Although Le Yun is still a little immature, he can see some of the ways behind him, which means that he has this talent.

Unlike the second son Lefeng, Sensei said that he could figure it out, but his eldest brother broke it and crumpled it and said, looking at his ignorant eyes, he didn't know how much he could understand.

King Shun didn't bother to pay attention to this unfortunate thing, looked at his eldest son with a pleasant face, and said with a smile.

"You're right, but you're missing a key."

Le Yun knew that King Shun was instructing him, and he was very happy: "Please also ask my father for advice." ”

King Shun nodded: "It's not wrong for you to analyze it from the perspective of our palace, but it's a little narrower, and you have to consider the overall situation when looking at the problem."

What is the current situation, when the two kings are at their most intense, the two sides don't even let go of a cup of tea and a word, attacking each other, looking for each other's mistakes.

With such a big and serious case as the maritime case, can they not make a big fuss about it? If some key evidence is brought out and thrown on the opponent, wouldn't it be a great help to the situation of seizing the heir?

It can be expected that for a period of time in the future, the maritime case will definitely be an important point for the two parties to compete for the crown prince, and the two sides will inevitably break out a vicious fight around it, and even King Zhong will be a chess piece in it.

If our family is involved in this case, there is still a chance to turn around, and the top of the sky is to win the title for the people, but it is different to participate in the battle for succession. ”

Having said that, there is no need for King Shun to say more, Le Yun and Le Feng both understood the risk of this matter, and they didn't dare to stay longer, so they immediately went to inform the family to pack up their things.

Even the cautious Leyun felt that it was not safe to go to the suburbs of Beijing, and their family had a separate courtyard in Gyeongju, so it was better to go there to hide, and say to the outside world that they were going to visit relatives.

King Shun thought about it and felt that it was not wrong to be cautious, so he nodded and responded to the matter, the Leyun brothers left to prepare, and King Shun explained to Egao.

"Send someone to send a message to Mr. Gong, asking him to inform General Yan of this matter, so that he can be on guard."

Egao was puzzled, although Yan Kui was in the frontier, it was not without news channels, but on the side, the general Di Yi would definitely not hide it from him, such a major event in the court, I am afraid that the Di family would have sent someone to Xiao Guan to inform them, and their palace would send a letter again, wouldn't it be a superfluous move.

King Shun didn't bother to explain to this fool, but after thinking about it, he still mentioned a few words: "Yan Kui is a military general at a young age, and he is very hopeful that he will continue to be promoted in the future.

Of course, this king knows that Yan Kui will learn about this from him, but it does not prevent us from sending a letter to him, and this letter is delivered, even if he does not accept our favor, he also knows that this king is sincere in befriending him.

In addition, the two of us will do business together, so we will have to communicate more, and in the future, similar news from the capital will be sent to Xiao Guan, and after a long time, the relationship between our palace and him will naturally be close. ”

Egao nodded, understood King Shun's intentions, and hurriedly went out to arrange for someone to deliver the letter.

The next day, King Shun greeted the palace and went to Gyeongju with his family.

Because he was afraid of being approached by King Duan, King Shun was in a hurry, and he didn't even have time to pack his luggage, so he took people on the road first, leaving the housekeeper to pack up the rest of his things, and then hurried to catch up with them.

When King Shun just left Beijing, many officials secretly laughed at him for being cowardly, but after a few days, the two parties of King Duan and King Jing broke out, and the court was in chaos.........