Chapter 100 The soldiers are eager for a new army...

"Your Majesty, please help me! This could never have been done by me. I am utterly loyal to Your Majesty, as witnessed by the sun, the moon, and the heavens and earth. How could I have done such a heinous and perverse act? Someone must be dissatisfied with the goodwill between the emperor and his subjects, and is trying to sow discord, hoping to get Your Majesty to abandon me!"

Gui Yang really wanted to cry in front of Shen Zhiwei to express his grief at the moment. He was filing a complaint against the person who impeached him.

Shen Zhiwei listened to Gui Yang's speeches one after another, holding the memorial that had caused Gui Yang to collapse so much in his hand, with an expressionless face.

He seemed to be thinking, but in fact he had been walking for a while.

It's a bit boring that this method was used on her. It can be seen that those nobles are really at their wit's end and are desperately trying all kinds of methods.

But I have to say, although this method is old-fashioned, it is really effective. Didn’t you see how scared Gui Yang was?

"Alright, why are you so cowardly? You've been by my side for so many years, and you've forgotten what my personality is like?"

After Shen Zhiwei came to her senses, she saw Gui Yang opening her mouth as if to start crying out about her innocence again, so she quickly interrupted her spell. She really didn't want to listen to Gui Yang's drama here.

Although he has a handsome face, he is extremely skilled in the skills of a treacherous minister. No matter how many times he sees it, Shen Zhiwei thinks Gui Yang is a talent.

Gui Yang smiled guiltily. He knew very well what the emperor was like in the past, but now that the world was settled, the emperor abolished feudal fiefdoms and slavery, and every time he went for the nobles. It was really hard to understand what he was thinking.

Gui Yang had no connection with the family for a long time, but he was indeed from a noble family, even a noble family of great rank. Every time the emperor took action against the nobles, a bunch of people would run to him to plead for mercy.

After hearing the same words so many times, it is inevitable to have doubts. Gui Yang is now a little suspicious. Does the emperor think that the group of people who followed her in the past are too successful and are a threat to his rule?

The issues of enfeoffment and slavery seem to have nothing to do with the meritorious officials, but don't forget that according to convention, meritorious officials who have conquered the world with the monarch must be made kings. After being made kings, slaves are also indispensable, and rewards of several thousand slaves must be given. Now there is no hope of being made kings, and slaves cannot be given to them. With no rewards left, how will the emperor view these meritorious officials?

Don't you really suspect that they are dissatisfied with the emperor?

It doesn’t matter whether they are dissatisfied with the emperor or not. What matters is whether the emperor will actually guess so!

Gui Yang smiled bitterly when he thought of this. He lived a happier life when the world was not yet unified.

But if Gui Yang really had to choose, he would actually prefer the present, a prosperous and peaceful time where he wouldn't have to worry every day about how to fight, how to win, which city was broken, and how many survivors remained in each city.

"what's on your mind?"

Seeing Gui Yang in a daze, Shen Zhiwei felt like laughing. It seemed that Gui Yang was a little bit abnormal today.

Could it be that he still cares about his reputation?

Shen Zhiwei lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on the memorial. Line after line of words criticized Gui Yang's character. Some of the evidence listed in it was untenable at first glance, while others were logically clear and looked very real.

Gui Yang shuddered and quickly came to his senses. He had been getting carried away recently and even dared to be distracted in front of the emperor.

He bowed and said solemnly, "I am thinking about how to make the emperor trust me. I have no second thoughts about the emperor or Dajing..."

"Okay, there's no need to express your loyalty over and over again. Loyalty or not is not determined by who speaks the nicest words." Shen Zhiwei interrupted Gui Yang's skills and threw the memorial on the table. The memorial spread out, and the words on it were exposed to Gui Yang's eyes. Gui Yang quickly lowered her head, not daring to look at it any more.

The impeachment memorial to himself was too curious in its content, which inevitably aroused the king's suspicion.

"Other crimes, even if you're guilty, are nothing to worry about. You'll just be like those corrupt officials, losing your job. According to the law, you'll have to fill the national treasury with silver to atone for your crimes." Shen Zhiwei spoke in a calm tone, seemingly without any emotion. "There's just one thing: colluding with the Western Barbarians, trafficking in illegal salt, and dealing in former princes and nobles. Gui Yang, if this charge is proven, do you know what awaits you?"

Shen Zhiwei looked at his beloved minister, who lowered his head deeply, as if he was frozen in fear, and spat out eight words: "For the crime of treason, the whole family shall be executed."

"Your Majesty! I will never collude with the Western Barbarians. I will never betray Dajing or the Emperor!"

Gui Yang's legs went weak and he knelt down. If he couldn't survive this disaster today, he would be doomed. He spent more than ten years climbing up, not to get a stigma and die unjustly!

"Stand up! There's no need to kneel for something you haven't done. You just said that the Minister of Personnel filed a memorial against you to slander you and sow discord between the emperor and his subjects. But the Minister of Personnel is about to retire. He and you served in the same court for over ten years, and you've always had a good relationship. Why would he create a powerful enemy for his descendants before leaving? Or does he have evidence that will bring you down?"

"This humble servant has done nothing. If there is evidence, it is fabricated. If the Minister of Personnel is the one who fabricated it, he is foolish. If he is fooled by fabricated evidence, he is even more foolish!"

After Gui Yang stood up, he seemed to have a little courage. It was Shen Zhiwei's calmness until now that gave him the courage.

If Shen Zhiwei believed this, she would have been furious long ago. How could she tolerate him defending himself? After all, Gui Yang had been by Shen Zhiwei's side for several years, and he believed that he knew Shen Zhiwei very well.

"There are many fools in the court. Congratulations on seeing through one of them." Shen Zhi raised his eyebrows slightly, smiled, and pushed the scattered memorials on the table away. "Let's take a closer look at what crimes these fools have fabricated against you. Those that are obviously false can be ignored. However, this matter of selling illegal salt requires a thorough investigation. The salt fields on the shores of the East China Sea were originally recaptured by you. Many people there are still grateful for your kindness. If you investigate, they will be willing to tell the truth."

"Yes! I will definitely clear my name!"

"Your innocence rests with you. What you need to do is to find out the person who is not innocent and punish him severely."

When Gui Yang heard this, he knew that Shen Zhiwei would not punish him. He breathed a sigh of relief and wanted to lie on the ground and kowtow to Shen Zhiwei. The emperor trusted his subjects so much, how could he not be grateful for his kindness?

After Gui Yang left the palace, Shen Zhiwei immediately summoned the Minister of Personnel into the palace, took the memorial and scolded him, and told the Minister of Personnel that if he continued to fabricate charges and slander important officials of the court with such nonsense, he should go back to his clan as soon as possible to make room for someone with brains to take charge of the Ministry of Personnel.

The Minister of Personnel was insulted by the emperor and was extremely angry, but he did not dare to hate Shen Zhiwei. After leaving the palace, he quickly went to find those who asked him to impeach Gui Yang. I don't know how the conversation went on, but in the end, the old scandal between Gui Yang and the emperor was dug up again. Not only that, in this rumor, Gui Yang became a treacherous villain who brought disaster to the country and the people. If he was not the prime minister with outstanding political achievements, he would probably have been labeled as a top-notch male favorite and become the monster who bewitched the king.

Gui Yang was determined to find out what happened at the salt field, so he left Shengdu that day and headed for the Donghai Salt Field. He had not heard of these arrangements, and his followers and subordinates were extremely anxious, not knowing how to clarify such a romantic affair. They had no choice but to suppress the rumors from spreading out of Shengdu while trying to contact Gui Yang to go back and deal with it.

As soon as the Guiyang people arrived at the salt field, a letter from their subordinates came.

Between reputation and true innocence, Gui Yang gritted his teeth and chose the latter. He had to get to the bottom of the matter at the salt field before going back!

As for those rumors, the emperor himself may not be happy to hear them. Even if he doesn't care, the emperor will suppress them.

Facts have proved that this is indeed the case. The reason why Shen Zhiwei showed his preference for Gui Yang was to make the people behind the scenes have other ideas, such as thinking that Gui Yang was a treacherous flatterer, and a flatterer who was very favored by the emperor. By tempting her with money, perhaps they could get her on the same boat.

At that time, we will have an extra umbrella of protection, and we will be able to prove Gui Yang's guilt and hold the evidence against her, which is the best of both worlds.

Who knew that those idiots would just keep leading the conversation to sex matters, and this was the most widely spread rumor. Shen Zhiwei was really speechless. It seemed that everyone liked to gossip, and they didn't forget to gossip while engaging in political struggles.

Lian Wentao and Qiongyu, who had just returned to Shengdu, came to Shen Zhiwei and asked indirectly whether the Prime Minister was the empress who had been vacant until now.

It's okay for her to be an imperial maid in the harem instead of being an empress. The prince is already over five years old, and there's no one in the harem yet. What if the prince becomes as pure and unselfish as the emperor in the future? What should she do?

Shen Zhiwei said that we are just the king and his subjects, you have crossed the line.

There's a crown prince, there's an emperor, but although there's no empress, there are countless female officials in the harem. Could it be that the court can still come to a standstill because there's no empress? As a minister, don't always keep an eye on the emperor's harem. If you're really bored, go out and investigate. Find out which idiot is still in Dajing who's so attached to his old master and still colluding with them.

Once you have found out, report the list back immediately. Dajing hasn't fought a war for more than a year, and the soldiers in the barracks are all waiting to make military achievements!

Now Shen Zhiwei's reforms have not yet extended to the military, because the military's system of conferring titles based on military merit is still the most unimpeded channel for advancement in this era, which cannot be compared with the imperial examination. Moreover, there are still large tracts of territory waiting for the soldiers outside, so there is no need to worry about having no enemies to fight for the time being.

Due to communication limitations, places far away from Shengdu may not be smoothly incorporated into the territory of Dajing. Shen Zhiwei has some expectations for this. If those places are conquered and then restored, the soldiers will have more military merits.

It was a disaster for the local people, but a good thing for the emperor and the entire country. Shen Zhiwei thought that when the time comes, she could relocate those people from other countries to other places. For those who really didn't want to leave, they could live and die with the old country, which would be considered as fulfilling their wish.

Shen Zhiwei assigned a new task, and the court became busy again. The male protagonist of the rumor never showed up, and Shen Zhiwei deliberately suppressed it. Within three days, the rumor no longer appeared in the street discussions, and everyone started to eat some gossip about some high-ranking officials in the newspapers again.

Those officials who spread the rumors could no longer continue to spread them, because their rumors had already spread throughout the city and were much more popular than Gui Yang's incident.