Xie Shaoling's overwhelming victory in Jizhou Prefecture silenced the voices in the court impeaching him for a few days.
A few days later, impeachment memorials sprang up like mushrooms after rain, densely packed together.
There are suspicions that his victory in the impeachment battle was suspicious, and that Jiang Zhonghe was let go, leading to suspicions that the two had colluded beforehand.
The fact that he disappeared for several days during the march must be malicious.
Others impeached him for looting the Jiang family and enriching himself after conquering Jizhou County.
Even worse, some accused him of harboring malicious intentions and being suspected of treason.
However, not only were there many memorials impeaching him, but there were also just as many petitions requesting praise and rewards for him.
In the imperial court, the two sides held their own opinions and argued endlessly.
After the court session, the emperor still had to face a mountain of memorials.
For several days in a row, all I heard and saw was Xie Shaoling.
This caused the emperor to dream of Xie Shaoling every night!
After being awakened by a nightmare in which Xie Shaoling appeared, the emperor was furious and immediately summoned those who had most frequently and vehemently impeached Xie Shaoling to the Chongzheng Hall for a meeting.
Although it was called a meeting, these officials were not stupid; even a fool would not have the opportunity to stand in the Golden Palace and impeach someone.
The emperor summoned them alone, not others, to discuss matters; the meaning was quite clear.
Since his ascension to the throne, the current emperor has not been very enthusiastic about the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.
If the Duke of Zhenguo's family were civil officials, it wouldn't be a big deal if they weren't very enthusiastic. But since they are military generals, and command the strongest army in Dayuan and guard the border, the emperor's attitude is quite intriguing.
The previous joint trial, riddled with doubts and ending in a dismal failure, also confirmed the emperor's attitude for those with ulterior motives.
So this time, even though Xie Shaoling had won the battle, and the emperor did not show much joy, many officials, in order to curry favor with the emperor, began to impeach Xie Shaoling in court.
And it was precisely this group of people who were the most active.
This meeting was essentially a personal denunciation session against Xie Shaoling.
The emperor remained silent, watching as those people passionately recounted Xie Shaoling's various crimes before him.
When they had run out of things to say, the emperor casually asked, "Prince Xie has just won a battle, and the people's hearts are full of joy. Aren't you afraid of being condemned and accused of harming loyal officials when you impeach him?"
His question caused several people to look embarrassed.
After all, they themselves didn't think Xie Shaoling had done anything wrong; impeaching him was purely to curry favor with the emperor.
The emperor could tell what they were thinking just by looking at their expressions, and dismissed them.
What he's doing isn't anything honorable; he'll only resort to pandering, and his mental fortitude is clearly lacking—he's obviously unsuitable.
Of the remaining few, the Minister of Justice held the highest official position, and the others implicitly followed his lead.
The reason these people impeached Xie Shaoling was either because they genuinely disliked or couldn't stand him, or they were henchmen of powerful families.
The emperor knew very well.
However, sometimes these henchmen can also be used by him. As long as the goal can be achieved, the means and process are not important.
The emperor's decision to send Xie Shaoling to quell the rebellion was largely due to the persuasion of the Minister of Justice.
It was also the Minister of Justice who suggested using this suppression of the rebellion to test Xie Shaoling's loyalty.
But the emperor's intentions went beyond just testing the waters.
He wanted to confirm the matter.
His feelings towards Xie Shaoling were complex, and the more outstanding Xie Shaoling's performance was, the more complex his feelings became.
On the one hand, he believed in Xie Shaoling's abilities, admired them, and even wanted to rely on them!
On the other hand, he was always bothered by Xie Shaoling's comment that he was "not the prime minister of a wise ruler".
He tried so hard to befriend Xie Shaoling, humbling himself and catering to his tastes, even going so far as to offend other powerful officials and nobles for his sake. He did all that, yet Xie Shaoling not only showed no gratitude but also humiliated him!
He often thought that as an emperor, to be so humiliated to his face by his subjects, he could still tolerate them jumping around until now. He was truly broad-minded and magnanimous!
It's time for Xie Shaoling to die.
The Minister of Justice, surnamed Zhang, came from a poor family and was exceptionally talented in solving cases.
At the beginning of the emperor's reign, he served as the Vice Minister of Justice and was valued by the emperor for solving several long-standing cases, thus replacing the old Minister who had made no achievements.
As the saying goes, "A new emperor brings a new court," and after he ascended the throne, the Ministry of Justice was the first of the six ministries to be taken into his hands.
For this reason, among the six ministers, he trusted the Minister of Justice the most.
The Minister of Justice never hid his dislike for Xie Shaoling in front of him.
It is difficult for a poor family to produce a successful person. Minister Zhang, who had studied hard for decades and spent more than ten years navigating the ups and downs of officialdom, would naturally despise someone like Xie Shaoling, who was born into a noble family and whose life was already at its peak.
"Minister Zhang, regarding the method of testing you mentioned before, what do you think should be used?" the emperor asked kindly.
"Xie Shaoling is currently enjoying great popularity. Unless he makes a mistake on his own, it will be difficult for us to punish him with those fabricated charges! Moreover, the northern border still needs the Xie family army to guard it. If Your Majesty wants to deal with him, you must have a legitimate reason so that the Duke of Zhenguo and the people of the world have nothing to say." Minister Zhang looked confident.
"How can we make him go astray?" the emperor asked.
"As the saying goes, if you want to destroy someone, first make them arrogant! Xie Shaoling is an arrogant and conceited person. He has just won a battle, and he must be at his most complacent right now. To deal with him, two words are enough." Minister Zhang kept everyone in suspense.
"Which two words?" the emperor asked impatiently.
"Praise to death!" Minister Zhang uttered these two words, one word at a time.
The emperor seemed to be deep in thought.
Xie Shaoling was indeed more likely to do some surprising things when he was in a good mood.
Although the war in Jizhou Prefecture has been quelled, Xie Shaoling still needs to guard the prefecture before the imperial court sends someone to take over.
In Jizhou County today, besides the more than 50,000 guards led by Xie Shaoling, there are also 30,000 to 40,000 surrendered soldiers.
Xie Shaoling had already submitted a memorial to the emperor, asking how to deal with these surrendered soldiers, but the emperor suppressed the memorial and did not reply.
Xie Shaoling's memorial was meant to plead for the surrendered soldiers. Knowing Xie Shaoling well, the emperor knew that he would not stand idly by and watch these more than 30,000 surrendered soldiers be executed. Therefore, these surrendered soldiers were also a means to restrain and pressure Xie Shaoling.
In addition, there is the current situation of Jizhou County.
Although this battle was a great victory, Xie Shaoling allowed the head of the Jiang family to escape. According to the information sent back by Sun Yan, Jiang Zhonghe not only escaped with a portion of his private army, but also the Jiang family's properties in Jizhou County had already been mostly transferred.
This shows that the Jiang family had planned all of this long ago.
However, the royal family and nobles in the capital who had long coveted the Jiang family's business were unaware of this, and even if they knew, they would not admit it.
If they can't get any benefits from the Jiang family, they'll definitely try to make up for it from Xie Shaoling.
How will Xie Shaoling respond then?
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