No sooner had the emperor finished speaking than Liu Yanzong stepped forward: "Your Majesty, I have something to report!"
The emperor had already adjourned the court session, and the ministers were quite satisfied with the emperor's verdict, believing that the emperor was quite merciful. But at this very moment, someone still stood up.
Zhao Huan seemed unwilling to listen to Liu Yanzong continue and was about to leave in a hurry when Liu Yanzong shouted, "Your Majesty, please grant me death!"
As soon as he said this, the ministers all turned their attention to him, wondering what kind of trouble Liu Yanzong was up to now.
Zhao Huan also stopped and looked at Liu Yanzong, saying, "What crime has Minister Liu committed?"
"Your Majesty, as the Imperial Censor, I failed to uphold the law impartially in dealing with the Confucius Mansion. This is a dereliction of duty on my part, and I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"
Upon hearing Liu Yanzong's words, the ministers' hearts skipped a beat.
Damn! It seems the matter at the Confucius Mansion is not over yet!
You surnamed Liu, are you trying to wipe us all out?
Before anyone else could speak, Shi Xun stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I am also guilty! Please punish me!"
Zhao Huan feigned surprise: "What crime have you committed?"
Shi Xun said, "As a subject, I have failed to fulfill my duties; this is my fault."
"Why did you fail to fulfill your duties?"
"The Kong family has a long history of misdeeds, which I failed to mention in the Song Dynasty Gazette. This is my dereliction of duty."
Liu Yanzong meant that, "Your Majesty, we cannot make such a vague judgment on this matter; every single detail must be thoroughly investigated." Shi Xun meant that, "Your Majesty, once every detail has been thoroughly investigated, it must be made public so that the people of the land will be convinced."
He Ye hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I have also failed in my duty. As the Vice Censor-in-Chief, I failed to investigate the crimes of the Duke Yansheng. I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"
Zhao Huan looked very troubled, as if he didn't want to pursue the matter any further. The ministers, seeing the emperor's feigned difficulty, all cursed him inwardly, saying, "Your acting is so terrible! You were the one who instigated these three shameless people to stage a sequel, yet you're acting like a benevolent ruler!"
Zhao Huan sighed, reluctantly sat back down, and looked at the two prime ministers, his meaning clear: I have already been very merciful, but you cannot be merciful! Look at Shi Ziming, Liu Yanzong, and He Ye! That's true loyalty to the emperor and love for the country! If you don't give me an explanation now, I won't adjourn court today; you have all failed in your duties!
The courtiers had already cursed Liu Yanzong's ancestors for eighteen generations, regardless of whether his ancestor was Liu Bang or not; they were just cursing this guy for causing trouble.
Liu Yanzong was also inwardly groaning. "I didn't want this to happen either! The emperor is clearly trying to destroy the Kong family, but he won't say it outright. What can I do? I want to be a good person too!"
Liu Yanzong cursed Zhao Huan in his heart for being hypocritical, pretending to be a benevolent ruler when he clearly wanted to kill him!
Zhao Huan hesitated for a moment and then said, "Then, according to your suggestion, how should we deal with this?"
Liu Yanzong said, "Thoroughly investigate everyone in the Kong family mansion and deal with them according to the law!"
Shi Ziming then said, "Let the crimes of the people of the Confucius Mansion be proclaimed to the world!"
He Ye said, "I second that opinion!"
Zhao Huan then looked at the two prime ministers and the six ministers.
The ministers gasped. Liu Yanzong and the other two had already stated their dereliction of duty upfront. If the ministers of the two offices objected, wouldn't that also be considered dereliction of duty? Originally, the emperor was only lenient by not pursuing the matter because Kong Duancao's letter of treason had nothing to do with the ministers. But now, if the emperor charged them with dereliction of duty and brought up the old matter again, the ministers would be in real trouble.
Thinking of this, I truly hate Liu Yanzong, Shi Xun, and He Ye, those three wicked people, to the core.
Xu Churen said, "Your Majesty, this is how it should be!"
Alright, the Grand Chancellor has already expressed his opinion, and now it's time for the Privy Council to do the same. Li Gang added, "I second that opinion!"
With the top officials of the two prefectures setting an example, Wang Boyan immediately followed suit. He, Tang Ke, and others also began to set an example, none of them willing to be punished by the emperor for dereliction of duty. Next came the Six Ministries, the Hanlin Academy, the Censorate, including the Prefect of Kaifeng and the Three Departments.
"Your Majesty, please thoroughly investigate this matter and inform the world!"
A hint of pain seemed to linger between Zhao Huan's brows. He sighed and said, "It seems that all of you believe that Confucius has no connection with the Confucius family. The crimes of the Confucius family should be thoroughly investigated. I have no choice but to grant this decision."
"The Emperor is wise and sagacious!"
The courtiers bowed and shouted, but in their hearts, a thousand grass mud horses were roaring.
After accompanying the emperor through this performance, the next step was to deal with the Confucius Mansion. In order to minimize the resistance from Confucian scholars, all officials in the court were required to publicize the crimes of the Confucius Mansion to the people below, and local officials were required to reveal the truth of all the crimes.
Kong Duancao was drinking tea. Judging from the time, the ministers should have received his letter by now. The capital must be in an uproar, and the young emperor must be in a state of great distress.
Hehe, trying to play with me, little emperor? You're still too green!
Kong Deshun, an outstanding young man of the Kong family, said: "Second Master, the Confucian scholars outside are now smashing and destroying the official gazette of the Great Song Dynasty. It's almost over. With so many Confucian scholars opposing Shi Xun, and with Second Master writing letters to the ministers, as long as the ministers jointly pressure the emperor with the way of the sages, the emperor will surely dismiss Shi Xun. Otherwise, the Great Song Dynasty will have a new emperor!"
Kong Duancao chuckled: "It's good to let that little emperor know that I am a descendant of a sage, and even the emperor himself must show me respect!"
Having just conducted a thorough investigation of Xianyuan County, He Liming now had enough evidence of the Kong family's misdeeds to fill a small mountain. He led the Imperial Guards to the outside of the Duke Yansheng's mansion.
Lin Jinfeng said, "Oh my, you're saying that the descendants of Confucius are even more ruthless than Lao Tzu? It's such a waste that they're not in the Imperial City Guard!"
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