Chapter 1252 This Fourth Brother is Too Insidious

"I want to impeach the Fourth Prince. He cannot lead troops to fight!"

The person who stood up was Xu Chao, the new Han Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Xu Chao has served in important positions such as Vice Minister of Works, Vice Minister of Justice, and Governor of Henan.

Some time ago, Han Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites passed away, and Kangxi transferred Li Zhenyu, Han Shangshu of the Ministry of Revenue, to the Ministry of Rites to serve as Han Shangshu.

Not long after that, Kangxi transferred Xu Chao, who was serving as governor of Henan, to the capital to serve as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Now, Xu Chao suddenly impeached Su Mingzhe. Kangxi felt it was incredible and could not help but remind him:
"Lord Xu, you are the Minister of Revenue, not the Left Censor-in-Chief. You cannot report things based on hearsay. If you make random accusations against the prince without any real evidence, you are committing a serious slander!"

After Kangxi reminded him, he continued in a heavy tone:

"Of course, if what you impeached is true, the prince has broken the law and is guilty of the same crime as the common people!"

"I do want to impeach the Fourth Prince for forming a clique for personal gain!"

As Xu Chao spoke, he walked to the imperial steps and raised the memorial he had written long ago above his head.

Li Dequan quickly took it and presented it to Kangxi.

Kangxi only took a quick look before his eyes went dark and his heart almost stopped beating:
"Xu Chao, are all of what you wrote true?"

Xu Chao continued:

"When I was the governor of Henan, I had already been secretly investigating this case, but I didn't dare to make it public because it implicated so many people! After arriving in the capital, I finally found the real evidence. Your Majesty can immediately arrest the criminals according to the list and find out whether it is true or not. I have already brought the evidence to the outside of the palace!"

"Good, good, good!"

Kangxi's old eyes, which were already cloudy, suddenly emitted a fierce and powerful look:
"Li Dequan, bring your men immediately and arrest the people on the list in this memorial. I want to try this case in person!"

"Whoo!"

When Li Dequan and all the civil and military officials in the court saw how furious Kangxi was, some were secretly happy while others were secretly worried.

However, there were also some people who, seeing Su Mingzhe standing there calmly and not looking panicked at all, could not help but admire him.

"The fourth one is still the most determined! The cowardly prince cried so hard that his nose and tears flowed when he was deposed!"

The eldest prince looked at Su Mingzhe with admiration, and then secretly cast an approving look at the eighth prince Yinsi:
"Eighth Brother, it was you who did it. You abolished the crown prince and took care of the fourth brother right after!"

"It seems that the one who will compete with me for the position of crown prince must be this old eighth one!"

Unlike the eldest prince, the eighth prince Yinsi was secretly shocked:
"It is said that a biting dog never barks. This eldest prince is always noisy and looks like a fool, but he managed to take down the newly appointed Minister of Finance Xu Chao without making a sound, and even asked him to impeach the fourth prince! It seems that this is a strong enemy, and we must be on guard!"

The eldest prince Yinzhen and the eighth prince Yinsi both thought Xu Chao was the other's man.

Only Su Mingzhe stood where he was, closing his eyes slightly and opening his mind. He saw Li Dequan arresting the 'criminals who formed cliques for personal gain' one by one and bringing in the evidence found by Xu Chao. Only then did he show a hint of joy on his face.

The Six Departments were not too far away to begin with, and soon members of the "Four Masters' Party" began to be arrested.

However, as more and more ministers were arrested, Yinxiang, who was originally worried about Su Mingzhe, had a strange look on his face:
"This Ren Bo'an seems to be a disciple of the ninth prince Yin'er, and this Xu Yuanmeng is a bondservant of the eighth prince, and this Bahai's sister is the ninth prince's concubine..." Not only Yinxiang discovered the problem, but Yinsi and Yin'er, as well as Yin'e and Yin'zhi, all discovered the problem.

The faces of the four men all turned pale, their legs became weak, and they stood stiffly in place, not daring to move at all!

Only Yinzhen looked at the increasing number of civil and military officials being brought in, and his mouth was almost crooked with joy:
"Old Four, Old Four, I never thought that you, a hidden talent, could gather so many people without anyone noticing! Fortunately, Old Eight is more skilled and directly exposed you. Let's see how arrogant you can be!"

About half an hour passed.

Li Dequan finally ran back and reported:
"Your Majesty, Lord Xu's memorial impeached a total of 327 people, including 105 officials in Beijing, all of whom have been brought here. The other 222 people from other provinces, salt roads, river roads, and grain roads cannot be brought here for the time being. We need Your Majesty to issue an order to hand them over to the relevant government offices for processing!"

Kangxi, who was already furious, could not help but ask Su Mingzhe below:
"Old Four, now that these people have been brought here, what else do you have to say?"

"Father, I am innocent!"

Su Mingzhe knew it was his turn to perform, and he immediately revealed a bewildered expression, bowed to Kangxi on the dragon throne, and complained:

"Father Emperor, I have absolutely nothing to do with these people!"

"Like this Ren Bo'an, although he is the head of the Ministry of Personnel, he is a disciple of my ninth brother. A few years ago, my ninth brother said that he was quite capable and asked me to help arrange something for him. I evaluated him and found that he was indeed capable, so I gave him a position as the head. And this Xu Yuanmeng, he is a bondservant of my eighth brother. My eighth brother recommended him and said that... this Bahai is..."

Su Mingzhe casually mentioned a few people and his evaluation of them, and then, with an innocent look on his face, he said:

"Father Emperor, although I was ordered to assist the Ministry of Personnel, I have never formed a clique with anyone for personal gain! I am completely confused as to why Xu Zhongtang slandered me! I ask Xu Zhongtang to confront these people!"

Kangxi was not a fool.

As Su Mingzhe introduced the identities of several people, Kangxi immediately noticed something was wrong and immediately turned his eyes to the Eighth Prince Yinsi and others:

"Old Eight, Old Nine, Old Ten, Old Fourteen, tell me, is what Old Four said true or false? Are these people yours, or Old Four's people?"

When the four princes heard their names being called, they all collapsed to the ground in fear, and crawled to the emperor's presence, saying in panic:
"Father, I am innocent!"

Kangxi had already vaguely guessed the truth of the matter, but at this point, with all the civil and military officials in the court watching, he could only continue to ask:

"Mr. Xu, you said these people were in league with the Fourth Brother, but the Fourth Brother said these people were the Eighth Brother's men. Now both sides have their own opinions. Where is the real evidence you said?"

"I have evidence!"

Xu Chao was not a fool. After hearing Su Mingzhe's explanation and seeing Yinsi, Yin'er, Yin'e and Yin'zhen all paralyzed with fear, he immediately realized that he might have become someone else's pawn.

However, at this point, it was not Xu Chao's turn to hesitate.

After he gritted his teeth and tore open the seal of one of the wooden boxes and took out the key to open it, Xu Chao picked out a few books at random and asked Li Dequan to present them to the emperor, saying:

"Your Majesty, I found these account books in a Wanyong pawnshop. They record the secrets and illegal activities of more than 300 court officials. In my humble opinion, the person who has the opportunity and power to collect so many secrets of court officials must have been in the court for many years... I would like to speculate that these things were done by the Fourth Prince!"

At the end, Xu Chao's legs softened and he also knelt on the ground:

"I have slandered the prince, and I deserve death. Please punish me, Your Majesty!"

(End of this chapter)