nucmednet Chapter 419: The Ledger
Chapter 419: The Ledger
“And I’ve looked at each of your ledgers countless times.”
Li Jingyang's words startled the ministers, causing them to tremble uncontrollably.
"If you think I'm slandering you, why don't you bring out the ledgers and compare them?"
Li Jingyang hung his head, appearing unusually nonchalant, but the words he uttered were enough to shock the entire court.
After all, the ministers that Li Jingyang just named were known for their integrity.
Their daily lifestyle is also quite frugal.
There's really no way it could be related to the embezzlement and bribery that Li Jingyang mentioned.
"Is what the Crown Prince said truly true?"
"This... I went out with Lord Zhang just a few days ago, and I didn't see him being extravagant at all..."
"Is that really true...?"
……
The ministers started whispering among themselves again.
Clearly, they couldn't believe what Li Jingyang said, since there was no evidence in front of them.
But little did they expect that Li Jingyang had also anticipated this moment.
He simply beckoned with his finger, signaling the guard beside him to go and fetch the evidence.
In less than half an incense stick's time, the guards came over carrying a tall stack of account books.
The ministers who saw these account books turned green with rage.
They really didn't expect that Li Jingyang would be able to do this.
That's so cruel.
"This...this..."
Minister Liu, who was at the head of the group, was the first to panic. Looking at the account books, all the ministers were also stunned.
Even those ministers who had just doubted the veracity of Li Jingyang's words fell silent.
“These ledgers are right in front of you. If anyone still doesn’t believe them, they are welcome to come forward and take a look.”
Li Jingyang's voice resounded throughout the entire hall.
The emperor, sitting on his high throne, watched all of this with amusement, making no attempt to stop it.
"If none of you want to watch, then I will personally expose this so-called gentleman."
Every word Li Jingyang uttered sent shivers down the spines of these ministers.
But still, no one dared to speak recklessly.
And so, Li Jingyang opened those ledgers in front of everyone.
He also had three or five eunuchs stand by and check each of the account books.
About an hour later.
The eunuchs were also in a flurry of activity, and sweat poured down their foreheads.
But in the end, they managed to reconcile three or five accounts.
The rest were also fabricated by these ministers.
"You have seen these ledgers now, and you can see how many are true and how many are false. I did not tamper with them."
After all, these eunuchs were people close to the emperor.
However, the other ministers also witnessed it firsthand.
"These people appear to be upright gentlemen, but in reality, they are rotten to the core."
Li Jingyang's words made even the ministers feel ashamed.
Soon, the adults were trembling with fear, so frightened that they couldn't stand up and knelt down on the ground.
But at that moment, the emperor suddenly burst out laughing.
"What I see here is absolutely amazing!"
After the emperor finished speaking, he yawned.
"But I am tired now, so I will leave the rest to the Crown Prince."
The emperor's words undoubtedly made things worse for the ministers.
However, Lord Zhang and Lord Li, who were kneeling below, did not think so.
"This is clearly a frame-up by the Crown Prince, a deliberate attempt to smear us!"
"Your humble servant is an honest and upright official, and has not been extravagant or wasteful for many years!"
"I hope everyone here can see this clearly!"
……
After Lord Zhang finished speaking, Lord Li, not to be outdone, continued his sermon.
"Yes, if you don't believe me, go and see for yourselves. We're practically penniless now."
"It's clearly just that the Crown Prince is jealous of us."
"We know that Your Highness loves your Crown Princess, and we will never say such foolish things again. Please forgive us."
……
However, Li Jingyang just sneered after hearing these words.
Looking at the ministers in the hall.
"You seem to be true; you won't give up until you see the Yellow River."
So, immediately after Li Jingyang finished speaking, Bie found the evidence.
And this evidence is found among these ledgers.
Looking at the evidence before him, Li Jingyang raised an eyebrow and sneered at the crowd in front of him.
"It seems that none of you ministers are any outstanding individuals."
"After all, the problems are right in front of you, but you're not in a hurry to deal with them."
"On the contrary, they only care about these trivial interests."
Li Jingyang held the ledger in his hand, grinning like a fox.
This made the ministers in front of him afraid to even breathe loudly.
They hung their heads, looking dejected and disheveled.
"It seems you are unaware of the current situation and are only thinking about these petty gains, even persecuting the people."
"Why don't you take a look at the latest news I've received?"
Li Jingyang's words caused the ministers to raise their heads in a submissive manner.
They all looked at Li Jingyang with trepidation.
Li Jingyang also took out a letter.
"What I'm holding in my hand is the latest battle report."
Upon hearing this, everyone became tense.
Because what they least wanted was the start of war.
"Why is it war again...?"
"Yes, the war was only recently quelled..."
"I wonder how long this fight will last..."
……
The ministers below were instantly thrown into a panic, whispering among themselves and discussing the matter.
But Li Jingyang found nothing surprising about what he was seeing.
He continued, "Our neighboring country is now eyeing our nation covetously, wanting to start a war to seize our northern resources."
"Not only that, the front lines are heavily guarded and ready to go to war at any time."
After saying this, Li Jingyang paused for a moment and observed the crowd below.
But they discovered that every single one of them was afraid.
"Moreover, war is about to begin. There are countless things to deal with in various places."
"But nowadays, some people seem to have a lot of free time."
"Take our Lord Mi for example."
As Li Jingyang was speaking, his eyes suddenly narrowed sharply.
They then turned their final criticism towards the Mi family.
However, Li Jingyang has not been able to produce any conclusive evidence at the moment.
If evidence can be presented, then the entire Mi family could likely be convicted right here in the imperial court.
But now, this is the only way we can enlighten them.
After all, the rumors about Lin Rusi this time were also caused by Mi Lingjun.
Moreover, it was probably the Mi family that took the lead in spreading this news.
Therefore, Li Jingyang always harbored resentment.
Since the Mi family is going to harm Lin Rusi like this, how can Li Jingyang let them have an easy time?