flstandardbreds Chapter 495 Coming for the Money
Chapter 495 Coming for the Money
A resentful and unfavored prince and a cunning prince—these two together are nothing short of a menace.
Lu Yangyang finally understood why, even though the person behind him was so well hidden and no one knew who he was, no one dared to touch him after arriving in Yuzhou.
This is something that neither His Highness nor an ordinary prince could do.
However, no one dared to expose the fact that a prince looked exactly like the emperor.
Having a face like the emperor's, and being a prince, yet still alive and well, there's only one possibility: the emperor doesn't want to touch him.
His face speaks volumes; to oppose him is tantamount to opposing the emperor.
This is why Yuzhou has been in such a chaotic state due to the turmoil caused by Prince Shun in recent years, and why the county magistrates have all fled without daring to utter a word. How many lives do they have to speak up? Do you think they don't know what's going on?
Even the Yingzhou government, how could they not know that those pirates were problematic? But what could they do? They couldn't do anything about it, so they could only drag their feet and deal with it perfunctorily. As for the sacrifice of a few civilians, that was the work of the pirates, and the government was powerless to do anything about it.
If His Highness hadn't forced the Yingzhou navy to send troops that time, the casualties at Yingzhou docks would have been nothing more than casualties.
Lu Yangyang's fists hardened.
"Does he want to rebel? If he's going to rebel, why would he build himself a mausoleum?"
Prefect Ling also found it strange. Judging from Prince Shun's rampant accumulation of wealth, it seemed like he was about to rebel. But why would someone who was really going to rebel build a mausoleum for himself in a place like Yuming Mountain?
Zong Que looked at Prefect Ling and asked, "How much gold and silver did you find in Yuming Mountain?"
Prefect Ling was stunned for a moment, and then immediately realized: "There should only be a dozen or twenty boxes, but that doesn't add up. There can't possibly be only this many!"
While building mausoleums and palaces certainly cost money, Prince Shun used the Taoist priest Shangqing to amass wealth. The elixirs alone bleed the merchants of Yuzhou dry, not to mention the elixirs secretly sold to Yingzhou. The wealthy merchants of Yingzhou made a fortune from this, and they also raised pirates to plunder the seas near Yingzhou. Over the years, their wealth became incalculable.
This is all that has been found so far, so it's obvious that the bulk of the money isn't here.
Prefect Ling looked at Lu Yangyang, and the two spoke in unison: "Your Highness!"
The money was taken by the Crown Prince.
“Prince Shun himself did not want to rebel, but he wanted to see the Great Zhao Dynasty thrown into chaos, to see the country shattered, and to see the empire in ruins under his father’s rule. So he colluded with Zong Ke, hoping that one day he could mock his father’s incompetence and be scorned by the world. Or, if Zong Ke really had the ability to take over the capital, he could take his place and enjoy the life he had imagined.” Zong Que shook his head slightly: “But whatever his true purpose was, from the moment he entered the game, he had already become a sinner for all time.”
Regardless of Prince Shun's motives, the events in Yuzhou cannot erase the sins he committed.
Prefect Ling frowned: "Then... how should this case be closed?"
At this time, it is absolutely crucial not to mention Prince Shun. If mentioning Prince Shun attracts the attention of the capital, not only might Zong Que's whereabouts be exposed, but even Prefect Ling himself would be implicated. In that case, all their actions in Yuzhou would be in vain, and the people of Yuzhou might once again be plunged into misery.
Prefect Ling was in a dilemma.
"Regarding the case of the Jade Prefecture Elixir, record the true actions of Prince Shun, Zong Yujing. For now, seal the case file. When the time is right in the future, reveal his crimes to the world in their entirety, word for word," Zong Que said.
Zong Yujing's lifelong desire was not to be Zong Lin's shadow, and he fulfilled that desire.
"This matter involves royal secrets and even the late emperor. Should we..." Prefect Ling was somewhat uncertain. If Zong Yujing's crimes were to be recorded in their entirety, wouldn't it also mean revealing his background? The royal family went to great lengths to hide this matter. If it were to be exposed, wouldn't that be a slap in the face to the late emperor?
However, without the original records, many of the things that Prince Shun did would not stand up to scrutiny.
"The idea that twins are an omen of misfortune is utter nonsense," Zong Que said.
Prefect Ling immediately understood his meaning.
Throughout history, the royal family has secretly disposed of countless twins; this rule should have been abolished long ago.
"Your subject understands," Prefect Ling said, bowing.
After Prefect Ling left, leaving only Lu Yangyang and Zong Que, Lu Yangyang couldn't help but ask him, "Your Highness, did you know about coming to Yuzhou...?"
Lu Yangyang had always been curious as to why His Highness insisted on coming to Yuzhou. When they were in Yingzhou, she wondered if it was because of maritime trade. After arriving in Yuzhou and encountering this incident, she even wondered if he knew about His Highness's secret actions. But that didn't make sense. If that was the case, why did he have to come to Yuzhou?
"For maritime trade." Zong Que chuckled and patiently explained to her, "I don't have any ability to predict the future, but there will inevitably be a war between Northern Yan and Great Zhao. The marriage alliance can be seen as a signal of testing. Within a few years, this great war will be unavoidable. For Great Zhao, military strength is one issue, and secondly, internal stability must precede external defense. The Eastern Navy is under my father's control, so it's not entirely secure. That's why I left Sheng Junyi in Jiangnan to monitor the Eastern Navy. Secondly, there's maritime trade. Part of the money from maritime trade goes to the national treasury, part goes to my father's private treasury, and part goes to the relevant officials. Even so, this money is still considerable, which is why Zong Ke came up with the dirty trick of raising pirates to make money."
Lu Yangyang's eyes widened: "So you actually came here for the money?"
Zong Que coughed twice and replied, "Yes, this money will be the biggest backing when the two countries go to war in the future. The grain and fodder can solve most of the problems."
Lu Yangyang understood. This was the real reason why His Highness insisted on coming to Yuzhou. His fundamental purpose was to stabilize Yingzhou's maritime trade. As long as the maritime trade was stable, he would have a steady stream of money to ensure that his future would not be cut off.
Similarly, "What about the Crown Prince? Is he amassed wealth to recruit soldiers and then... rebel?"
“It’s hard to say. With his current methods, he seems to be insanely eager to create chaos. Whether he intends to rebel or not, we must deal with him as soon as possible. So after we finish dealing with things in Yuzhou, we need to set off for the southwest as soon as possible. Zong Ke is there, and I’m worried that Yan Yue will be in trouble.” Zong Que’s voice deepened slightly.
Speaking of this, Lu Yangyang recalled something: "Our initial guess was correct. The person behind that Fairy Shangshan is none other than the Crown Prince. Daoist Shangqing and Fairy Shangshan are fellow disciples, and their methods are exactly the same. A bunch of damned charlatans, they deserve to go to the deepest hell. The palace maid beside the Crown Prince is named Xueyan, she is from Miao territory. Nalan Yunyan said that he was going to find Fairy Doctor Xiaoyi to cure his illness. There were rumors that Fairy Doctor Xiaoyi was in the southwest, so the Crown Prince must have gone to Miao territory."