Chapter 2778 Reason
After the celebration banquet, the atmosphere in the court immediately became strange.
It was clearly the New Year, a time for joy, but the emperor first issued an edict to demote Gong Hanlin and Ban Shilang, and then ordered the Censorate to conduct a thorough investigation into the local government affairs and official conduct in the areas where grain and fodder passed through during this expedition to the east.
At the same time, the local officials they brought back when they returned to the capital were investigated one by one. Except for two who were demoted due to the support of local powerful families, the rest of the officials were either exiled or beheaded.
Three officials were directly imprisoned. I heard that not only would they be convicted, but their families would also be implicated.
The Imperial Medical Bureau has not been very busy recently, and Manbao has been spending more time with his students in the Imperial Medical Bureau to summarize the situation. Everyone has gained a lot in medical skills during this campaign to the east.
Immersed in academics, she tended to neglect some things. When she realized that the atmosphere was not right, it was because of the grand court meeting.
Manbao greeted everyone with a smile as usual, then sat in his seat and waited for the emperor to arrive.
Lord Tang glanced at her and sat down on her left side near the door.
Manbao felt that his colleagues were unusually quiet today. Although they weren't usually noisy, they weren't as solemn as they were today. They always greeted each other early in the morning and chatted about everything from big things like official business to small things like whether they had breakfast when they came in this morning, what they had, and how it tasted...
But today, everyone was silent. When they met, they just nodded and sat quietly in their seats without even saying a word.
Seeing this, Manbao turned around and looked for Lord Tang, lowering his voice and asking, "What happened?"
Lord Tang: "Don't you know? The decrees for demotion, confiscation of property, and arrest of people these past few days were all written by your Bai Shan himself."
Manbao: “…I don’t know.”
Lord Tang thought for a moment and said, "That's right. This matter is related to your Imperial Medical Bureau, but it's not very related. It's not related at all, but it's somewhat related. Whether you say it or not, your Imperial Medical Bureau can't change anything."
Manbao was very curious, "What on earth is going on?"
"Your Majesty has arrested and held accountable all the local officials who caused the delay of food, grass, and medicine during this Eastern Expedition."
Man Bao said calmly, "I know about this. They captured him when we returned to the capital. We all know this matter cannot be resolved peacefully. Many wounded soldiers died on the front line because of their delay in supplying medicine."
Lord Tang glanced at her and said, "But your majesty has punished three of them particularly harshly. Not only have they been sentenced to death, but their property has also been confiscated. The Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice are currently reviewing the case. Your majesty intends to exile their families to Liaodong."
The reason why Tang He knew so much was because he was seconded by the Ministry of Justice to investigate the case. He knew more secret things, and these things could not be said out loud, at least not in such a public place.
Manbao looked at Lord Tang, and after leaving the court in the afternoon, he waited at the palace gate to pick up Bai Shan.
Bai Shan was flattered to be picked up on such a rare occasion. "You are in the Imperial Hospital today, not the Imperial Medical Bureau?"
"I came here specially from the Imperial Medical Bureau to pick you up."
Bai Shan then took her hand and smiled: "Shall we go out to eat today?"
Manbao wanted to go home and eat, and after he was full, he would hide away and talk in private.
But meeting Bai Shan's surprised look, she was a little embarrassed to speak, so she could only nod, "Okay, what do you want to eat?"
They could eat anything, as long as it was just the two of them.
Bai Shan took Manbao's hand and got into the car, and asked Daji to drive the car to the market first. They were not very hungry at this time, so they could take their time looking for food.
Manbao was originally anxious to know more about the inside story, but when he walked hand in hand with Bai Shan in the crowd, that anxiety disappeared and he happily went shopping with him.
The two of them walked around the street in their official uniforms for half a day, and only returned home when the sun was about to set.
Both families had already eaten, and some food was left for them, but the two of them didn't eat it. Instead, they strolled back to their room.
After they finished washing up and lay down on the bed, Manbao asked him quietly, "Brother Tang said that His Majesty's punishment of a few people was particularly severe. Why is that?"
Bai Shan also lowered his voice and said, "When the food and medicine were delayed, Duke Zhao was furious and had the logistics officer executed. His Majesty also issued an edict to reprimand the local officials along the way. Some people panicked and felt guilty, so they brought large amounts of money to the capital to seek support."
This is understandable. Manbao was puzzled. "So, Your Majesty thinks they are corrupt and accepting bribes, so he is angry?"
"No, if it was just bribery, Your Majesty would not harm the other party's family." The emperor only punished the officials who embezzled food, grass and medical supplies, so how could he deliberately harm the other party?
"It's just that some people are particularly bold. After realizing they couldn't persuade His Majesty, they came up with other methods." Bai Shan's eyes were deep. "Of course, there are also selfish motives involved."
"What method?"
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince led the Imperial Guards and the ministers to Taiyuan to welcome Your Majesty. Someone sent a secret memorial to Your Majesty in advance, accusing the Crown Prince of secretly dispatching troops to Taiyuan, most likely intending to ambush Your Majesty at the city gates."
Manbao was startled when he heard this, and he got up from the bed and looked at him, "Are you saying that we almost got into a fight when we entered Taiyuan?"
Bai Shan said, "If Your Majesty had even a little doubt about the Crown Prince, a scene of father and son killing each other might have occurred."
This kind of thing has happened in history.
He said, "Isn't it the same with Emperor Wu of Han and Prince Li?"
Emperor Wu of Han really wronged Prince Li, but why did the ministers still give him the posthumous title "Li" after his grandson ascended the throne?
Isn't it because after being wrongly accused, he didn't think of defending himself or reflecting on himself, but instead started a rebellion and confirmed the false accusation?
Given the prince's previous character, if he was wronged and the emperor believed it, there was no guarantee that he would not go with the flow and rebel like Prince Li did.
Even if it is later discovered that the prince was wrongly accused, the father and son have already killed each other, and it is difficult to mend the broken mirror. If the prince rebels, he will most likely end up like the prince Li.
Manbao thought about it carefully, "Your Majesty didn't react at all at that time."
Bai Shan raised his hand and tapped her forehead, saying, "It would be terrible if there was a reaction. At that time, we were all following His Majesty's left side. If a conflict broke out, we, the close ministers, would be the first to suffer."
Man Bao was furious. "These people are worthy of death. Not only do they want to protect corrupt officials, they also want to disrupt the government!"
Bai Shan nodded in agreement. "Not many people know about this. Gong Hanlin and Lord Ban are currently being jointly tried by the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice. Aside from the heads of the two ministries, only Lord Yin, Brother Tang, and Lord Wei know something. Even Duke Zhao and his men haven't let anyone know."
Manbao immediately understood: "I will definitely not tell anyone."
Bai Shan smiled at her, and the two of them whispered under the covers, "This matter is not small, and the court may be in turmoil for a while, so I plan to keep the ceremony as simple as possible and not invite many people to watch."
Manbao: "What about asking for leave?"
"I'll go and invite him after I'm done with this." He took Manbao's hand and placed it on his abdomen, chuckling softly, "Don't think His Majesty is angry now. I think he'll be happy after a while."
See you at 8pm
(End of this chapter)
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