Chapter 154: Prince of Yan Zhu Di
Chapter 154: Prince of Yan Zhu Di

Although the evidence of Li Guodong's corruption case is solid, the incident happened suddenly after all.

The affiliation and handover between the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel had not been done yet, so Ye Xuan spent two or three days retrieving files from the Ministry of Revenue to check whether he had any crimes in the past. After all the details were confirmed, they would be transferred to the Ministry of Personnel for archiving.

Although the Jinyiwei had the power to make decisions independently, under normal circumstances, the Zhenfusi would try its best to follow the administrative system of the Ming Dynasty.

Although there were many messy procedures, Ye Xuan found that both the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel were extremely efficient in handling Li Guodong's case. Not only were they quick and efficient, they were even very respectful to Ye Xuan who came to do business with them.

This was something they had never encountered before, and both Wang Feihu and Song Zhenshan were flattered.

You have to know that although the Jinyiwei was very powerful, they basically targeted court officials, so no matter where they went they were met with a lot of contempt.

Not to mention it's a courtesy, being able to complete the procedures smoothly is already good enough.

There was even one time when Ye Xuan took Wang Feihu and Song Zhenshan to the Ministry of Revenue to transfer files, and accidentally ran into the Minister of Revenue Zhou Bin.

A second-rank official of the imperial court actually came forward to exchange a few words with Ye Xuan, and even took Ye Xuan to the imperial palace to retrieve Li Guodong's resume.

This shocked Wang Feihu and Song Zhenshan so much that on the way back they kept praising Zhou Bin for his good character.

After all the formalities were completed, Li Guodong was transferred to the Ministry of Justice prison, awaiting execution by imperial decree.

As for his family, since they were still in his hometown, the Ministry of Justice would naturally send a letter to the place to arrest his family.

When all the dust settled, Ye Xuan couldn't help but think of the people in Beishan Imperial Farm.

…………

Beiping, Prince Yan's Mansion.

On the parade ground outside the city, countless soldiers were training.

On the reviewing stand, Prince of Yan Zhu Di, who was only in his early twenties, was kneeling on the ground, receiving an imperial edict from a eunuch.

He said with a look of shock: "My Lord, you are not kidding, are you? How could my father take back my granted farmland?"

The eunuch from the Imperial Household Department who was delivering the imperial edict said flatteringly, "Your Highness, King of Hell, aren't all the reasons already explained in the imperial edict?"

"Alas, this is all because of that bastard Li Guodong, who was obsessed with profit. He took advantage of your lack of time to take care of Beishan Royal Manor and wantonly exploited the people in the Royal Manor. This is why you were implicated after the incident."

Zhu Di stood up and said with a heavy face, "After Father took back the farm, what did he do with it? Did he return it to the Ministry of Revenue or the Ministry of Internal Affairs?"

The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict was originally speaking up for Prince of Yan Zhu Di and cursing Li Guodong's greed and stupidity, but when he heard Zhu Di's question, his expression suddenly became strange.

Seeing this, Zhu Di hurriedly asked, "Did he give it to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, or to my other brothers?"

The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict hesitated for a long time, and finally answered under Zhu Di's questioning: "Prince Yan, please listen, I told you not to resent Your Majesty!"

Zhu Di's face changed, and he said directly: "What are you talking about, eunuch? The whole world belongs to the king. No matter which brother of mine the farm was awarded by my father, I have nothing to say. What's more, I was wrong in the first place."

Seeing that Zhu Di did not seem to be just speaking for the sake of politeness, but seemed to believe so sincerely, the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict breathed a sigh of relief, but said with a strange look: "The Beishan Imperial Farm was not awarded to the crown prince or other princes, but was left in vain..." "Left in vain?" Zhu Di felt much better when he heard that.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there has never been a case of taking back the land awarded to meritorious ministers.

It was the first time in the Ming Dynasty that Zhu Di's Beishan Imperial Farm was taken back. It was already embarrassing to make it public. If Zhu Yuanzhang transferred the farm to the crown prince or other princes, Zhu Di would lose even more face.

Now, being suspended is actually the best outcome.

However, the hesitant look of the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict made Zhu Di feel uneasy.

After further questioning, the eunuch who delivered the imperial decree stammered, "Although I did not give the Beishan Imperial Farm to anyone else, I violated the usual practice and gave the responsibility of managing the farm to a Jinyiwei."

"Are you saying that the emperor did not return Beishan Royal Manor to the Ministry of Revenue, but instead handed it over to a Jinyiwei? Eunuch, you are kidding me!"

When Zhu Di heard this, his face was filled with disbelief and his eyes widened.

The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict smiled bitterly upon hearing this, and said hurriedly: "Your Highness Prince Yan, how dare I joke with you."

"You haven't been in the capital for a while, there are some things you don't understand yet!"

After that, he told all the things that had happened in the capital during this period of time, such as the "sudden death of the crown prince's concubine", "Zhu Biao's recovery from back carbuncle", "Garden Poetry Meeting" and other things that had a huge impact on the capital.

And most importantly, Ye Xuan seems to be behind these events.

The eunuch who delivers the imperial eunuch's orders is a palace servant and is better informed than the court officials. Therefore, there are some things that others may not know, but the eunuch who delivers the imperial edict may know more inside information than others.

Among them, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, and even Empress Ma and Princess Anqing also mentioned their attitudes towards Ye Xuan.

After hearing the words of the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict, Prince Yan was speechless for a long time.

After a long while, he stroked his green beard and said, "Are you saying that recently there was a Jinyiwei named Ye Xuan in the capital, who is not only very capable in handling cases, but also won the respect of my father and the prince in a very short period of time?"

"And even in many major palace cases, it seems that this Jinyiwei was involved?"

The eunuch who delivered the imperial edict nodded and said, "And if it weren't for this Lord Ye Xuan, the incident with Li Guodong wouldn't have happened. To put it bluntly, if it weren't for Ye Xuan, your Beishan Royal Manor wouldn't have been taken away by His Majesty."

When the eunuch delivering the imperial edict said this, he couldn't help but think of the rumors that had been circulating in Yingtian Prefecture during this period. However, the rumor was too outrageous, even treasonous, so the eunuch thought about it for a while but still didn't say anything.

However, just these anecdotes about the capital brought by the eunuch were enough for Prince of Yan Zhu Di, who had stayed in Beiping for a long time, to reminisce for a long time.

As Zhu Di's own son, he naturally knew him very well.

It can be said that even he himself did not have the confidence to gain such trust from Zhu Yuanzhang.

While thinking about Ye Xuan in his mind, he nodded and said to himself: "It is indeed a strange thing to say so. It is really interesting to let a small Jinyiwei Qianhu manage the imperial farm."

"If there is a chance, I would really like to meet this guy."

(End of this chapter)