hsntnovel Chapter 2649 The Brother-in-Law Who Scammed His Brother-in-Law
Chapter 2649 The Brother-in-Law Who Scammed His Brother-in-Law
Princess Pingyang's eldest son, Chai Zhewei, entered officialdom early through family connections. Because his mother was Li Shimin's half-sister, Li Shimin took good care of him.
He entered officialdom at a very young age and rose rapidly through the ranks, starting from an extremely high point.
Upon reaching adulthood, he directly inherited his father's title of Duke of Qiao and joined the Imperial Guard as the Right Battalion General, responsible for guarding the palace and protecting the emperor, earning Li Shimin's deep trust.
His past was typical of the path taken by sons of noble families to enter officialdom during the early Tang Dynasty.
Li Shen had a fairly good impression of Chai Zhewei, after all, Chai Zhewei was considered a member of their top aristocratic circle.
It's just that Chai Zhewei is too old and can't get along with Li Shen and the others.
In addition, Chai Lingwu, that fool, had angered Li Shen and was almost beaten to death by him, so they had almost no contact with each other on a daily basis.
Li Shen therefore did not know much about Chai Zhewei.
"Father, what did his brother-in-law do wrong?" Li Shen asked curiously. Judging from the expressions of the others, Li Chengqian and Li Tai seemed to know about this matter.
Why do they all live in Chang'an? I didn't even know.
Li Shimin sighed and said slowly:
"Alas, Zhewei is actually very much like your aunt Pingyang. He has the same demeanor as his mother back then, acting decisively and showing great talent in military affairs."
However, this child is not good at managing a household.
If it weren't for your aunt's sake, he would have at least been dismissed from his post and stripped of his title that time.
"That serious?" Li Shen was somewhat surprised. When nobles committed crimes, they usually tried to downplay the severity of the matter.
For things like bullying ordinary people, the punishment is usually just a few words of reprimand or a couple of curses. If it's something more serious, the punishment is a salary reduction or demotion.
To be dismissed from office and stripped of one's title would be a capital offense.
"Father, let me tell you," Li Chengqian interjected, as there were some things his father couldn't say.
"Tenth Brother, this matter is actually very simple, just as you said—corruption."
Chai Zhewei had a brother-in-law who worked at the Imperial Stud, in charge of purchasing alfalfa for the temple. However, this fellow was bewitched.
He abused his position to falsely report quantities and pocket the price difference, and also colluded with soldiers to sell warhorses for profit, a practice that lasted for several years.
He embezzled tens of thousands of strings of cash.
"But what does this have to do with Chai Zhewei? Could it be some kind of collective punishment scheme?"
Upon hearing this, Li Shen glanced at Li Shimin. Ever since he came to the Tang Dynasty, he had discovered that the Tang Dynasty had a strong tradition of collective punishment.
Even if someone has nothing to do with this matter, they can still be implicated if they are closely related to someone else.
"Of course it's not a case of collective punishment. This matter originally had nothing to do with Chai Zhewei, but his brother-in-law was contacting people in the military in his name."
You should know that selling warhorses without authorization is a capital offense. Even after the trial, he himself didn't know how many he had sold.
More importantly, he would send money to Chai Zhewei's family every year; this was all embezzled money. Although Chai Zhewei was unaware that it was money from the sale of warhorses,
However, he learned that his brother-in-law was falsifying the quantity and price of purchases made by the Imperial Stud, but he thought it was a minor matter and did not ask any further questions.
He only found out after the incident that it was money from selling warhorses.
Aye ordered the prisoner to be severely punished according to the law, but considering that Chai Zhewei was a descendant of Pingyang's aunt, he only gave him a warning and did not punish him severely.
With Li Chengqian's arrival, Li Shen finally understood the whole story, realizing that Chai Zhewei was not wronged at all.
He knew that his brother-in-law was embezzling money at the Imperial Stud, but he did not advise him to stop.
He simply didn't know that his brother-in-law was secretly selling warhorses in his name while in the army.
In this era, warhorses were comparable to weapons, and selling weapons privately was a capital offense.
"The Imperial Stud..." Li Shen murmured the name again. One of the Nine Temples, a centrally administered department, primarily responsible for carriages, horses, livestock, and horse administration.
Its functions included managing royal carriages, horse husbandry, and the national pastoral system to ensure military and transportation needs.
Besides managing the emperor's carriages, even the carriages and palanquins of princes and princesses like Li Shen were supplied by the Imperial Stud, wielding immense power and reaping enormous profits.
Li Shen almost wanted to acquire the Imperial Stud and use it as his breeding farm.
Later, considering that he might not be able to take a beating, he didn't dare to say anything.
"It seems Chai Zhewei has no complaints, and his character isn't much better. If you ask me, he should be stripped of his title and dismissed from office," Li Shen said after a moment's thought, his tone tinged with disappointment.
Indeed, none of the nobles in feudal society were good people.
"Tenth Brother, please don't say that. Although Chai Zhewei made a mistake, he was deceived and his crime doesn't warrant this punishment."
Furthermore, Chai Zhewei is, in any case, the son of my aunt from Pingyang. Since my aunt is no longer alive, we should naturally treat her widow well.
Upon hearing Li Shen's words, Li Chengqian quickly stopped him, as he couldn't let Li Shen continue speaking, both morally and logically, since it was his father who had handled this matter.
If Li Shen is wrong, wouldn't that mean their father is wrong?
Li Shen scoffed at this, saying it sounded nice, but it was all shown in TV dramas. Chai Zhewei was stripped of his title and exiled to Lingnan, while Chai Lingwu committed suicide.
What a load of bull! Treating widows well is bullshit.
Li Shen simply couldn't say it aloud.
"Yes, Aunt Pingyang is indeed admirable, and I admire her even more. It's just a pity that such a heroine as Aunt Pingyang has two good-for-nothing sons."
"You can't blame the two children. Your aunt passed away early, when they were still young. Sichang was busy with affairs and didn't have time to teach them."
Actually, Zhewei is quite talented; with proper guidance, he will surely succeed.
Li Shimin spoke slowly, saying that Chai Zhewei and Chai Lingwu were his nephews, and that his sister had passed away long ago, so Li Shimin was naturally a little sad.
He had a very good relationship with his sister since childhood. She doted on him when he was young, and after he grew up, she married Chai Shao and served under him.
Li Shimin was feeling sad, but Li Shen was somewhat unwilling.
"Father, it's fine to keep him by your side. Why send him to Xizhou? What if he turns out to be like Guo Xiaoke?"
Li Shen didn't care about Xizhou Prefecture; what he cared about was his cotton industry and his grand plan.
To ensure that all the people of the Tang Dynasty could stay warm and that no one would freeze to death.
The current cotton planting area is still too small, not enough for the entire Tang Dynasty population.
"You scoundrel! How dare you make decisions about the affairs of the court? Just send Chai Zhewei, what can you do about it?"
Li Shimin's eyes widened.
"Me!..." Li Shen was immediately furious, his temper about to explode.
Upon seeing this, Li Chengqian quickly interrupted:
"Tenth Brother, rest assured, Chai Zhewei has been keeping to his duties ever since that incident, and nothing has happened again in recent years."
"I've been observing him for a long time. That incident was just his brother-in-law using his name; it had nothing to do with him."
Li Chengqian sometimes couldn't understand why his younger brother knew he would suffer if he went against their father, and indeed, he always did.
But he just loves to go against his father. Could it be that he's addicted to getting beaten up?
"Well... since you say so, I'll trust you this once. If he has any problems in Xizhou, don't blame me for being ruthless towards him."
If anyone targets my cotton workshops in Xizhou Prefecture again, I will unleash a massacre.
(Note: This story about Chai Zhewei is documented and not made up. Boxers, please don't criticize.)