Chapter 13 Impeachment of the Zhao Family
Chapter 13
Early in the morning, when it was still dark outside, Lu Desheng got up. After washing up, he took out a set of court robes that was placed in a special cabinet.
Mrs. Lu Jiang also stood up and helped him put on his court robes. "Are you ready?"
Lu Desheng nodded solemnly. He had only a quick meat pie for breakfast, fearing he'd fall asleep if he ate too much.
Before leaving, Lu Desheng carefully reviewed the impeachment memorial he had written and said, "It's fine. Let's go!"
When he went out, he looked up at the dark sky and sighed to himself, thinking that it was really hard. Normally, he could still sleep for another quarter of an hour at this time. It was all the Zhao family's fault!
After getting into his family's shabby carriage, he closed his eyes and began to rest, his mind already beginning to rehearse the scene of him fighting with the Zhao family faction.
When Lü Desheng arrived at the palace, the Imperial Censor Zhou Chengzhong had already arrived. When Zhou Chengzhong saw him in such an outfit, his eyelids twitched.
Lu Desheng ignored him and found a seat to sit down and close his eyes to rest.
Zhou Chengzhong looked at him twice more. He always felt that something bad was going to happen, but Lu Desheng obviously didn't want to say anything. He could only think about it in his heart while waiting for his subordinates to arrive.
The Chief Censor is the head of the Censorate, and Zhou Chengzhong is usually the first person to arrive at the Censorate. There is no other way, as he has to unify everyone's will during every court session and try not to be caught off guard.
There are several factions among the censors in their Censorate, but the factions can still occasionally communicate with each other.
When everyone has a common target, they can attack them collectively. When their factions fight each other, they can just lash out at each other. The emperor can't do anything to them anyway. If the emperor dares to order them to be caned, even better! If he executes them in anger, that would be the prelude to their names being recorded in history.
Their Censorate has always maintained this atmosphere that is sometimes friendly and sometimes competitive.
Until later, a bad apple appeared in their team - Lu Desheng! This man was so uncontrollable! And yet, the emperor protected him the most! Jealous!
Zhou Chengzhong thought so much as his eyes moved.
Soon, several other censors arrived. Seeing everyone's attire, he was pleased. Their court robes were all very well-worn, some even patched in "secret" places. It had to be done. Censors, after all, were responsible for impeaching people. Only those who were poor enough could afford to criticize others.
Whether they were truly poor or just pretending to be, they had to act like they were poor. This was considered a fine practice of the Censorate. From the Chief Censor down, they all maintained a consistent formation. However, there was one outlier in their ranks: that guy, Lü Desheng. He usually wore nice clothes, which made them look a bit fake. Forget it, let's not talk about him anymore.
Several imperial censors, wearing old court robes, walked towards Zhou Chengzhong proudly.
"Good morning, Lord Zhou."
"Master Zhou, you are still here early."
They quickly spotted Lü Desheng's presence. His court robes were so new they nearly blinded them. Someone quickly recognized them as a gift from the Emperor two years prior, a gift he'd received for his significant contributions. He'd always been reluctant to wear them, except for certain formal occasions and whenever he was about to make a big move.
After a few whispers, the censors all looked serious. So, was Lü Desheng going to cause trouble again? Who was he going to criticize?
"I might know who he's going to impeach." Someone whispered.
"who?"
"Zhao Wenkuan, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites."
"Hiss, this madman!"
"Hasn't he never touched the Zhao family?"
"Things are different now. This time the Zhao family has offended him severely."
"What's going on?"
"I know about this, let me tell you..."
…
After a burst of gossip, everyone knew how the Zhao family had offended the mad dog Lu Desheng.
Not long after, the morning court bell rang, and the civil and military officials entered the Golden Palace in two columns, left and right.
The morning court discussed major national issues, from the shortage of rations for soldiers at the border to the need to relocate victims from the previous floods in the south, to reports of bandits wreaking havoc in the countryside. Each of these issues was a headache. Emperor Kang Cheng was also deeply troubled. The treasury was running low, and the court couldn't come up with a good solution. When asked for advice, his ministers would simply ask the emperor to make the final decision.
The annoyed Emperor Kang Cheng signaled to the eunuch Wan Quan beside him that it was almost time to leave the court.
Wan Quan understood and was about to shout out the classic line, "If you have a memorial, proceed with your report. If you don't, leave the court."
Lu Desheng stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report."
He had been feeling rather listless, but once Lü Desheng appeared, Emperor Kang Cheng perked up. He knew from Lü Desheng's expression that something big was about to happen. Had something big happened recently? Perhaps his beloved minister had grown a bit lazy with age? Or perhaps his mindset had calmed down, becoming somewhat quiet.
Emperor Kang Cheng straightened his back and said, "My dear minister, please report!"
Lu Desheng opened the first page first. "I would like to impeach the Minister of Rites, Zhao Wenkuan, for laziness, dereliction of duty, lax discipline, incompetence in household management, and for shielding his relatives from bullying the people and dominating the market!"
The eyes of all the ministers were on him at this moment. When they saw his thick memorial, a thought came to their minds: Is Lu Desheng going to kill Zhao Wenkuan?
Emperor Kang Cheng: Oh, you want to criticize Zhao Wenkuan. This guy has been very dishonest in recent years. He needs to be taught a lesson.
The more Emperor Kangcheng thought about it, the happier he became. Lü Desheng was a perfect name, a name that symbolized repeated victories and held a profound meaning. He had initially chosen Lü Desheng because of his name and his unique ability to argue, and had, despite popular opinion, promoted him from a sixth-rank official to the Censorate. He truly felt that he had a keen eye. Ever since Lü Desheng arrived at the Censorate, he had been helping the emperor with his worries and troubles, proving to be quite useful.
He also knew that Lü Desheng and the censors at the Censorate had a terrible relationship, and that Lü Desheng often pissed off the old men like Zhou Chengzhong. Whenever he thought of the pain he'd suffered at the hands of those stubborn old men, and then imagined them being pissed off to death by Lü Desheng, he felt incredibly relieved. They deserved it!
Zhao Wenkuan's forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat. In the October weather, he felt very hot all over. He hurriedly stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, Lu Desheng and I have a personal grudge. He is seeking revenge for my personal gain. His words cannot be trusted." In fact, their Zhao family was on guard against Lu Desheng, but they did not expect him to act so quickly.
Lu Desheng sneered, "Sir Zhao, I haven't even produced the evidence yet, why are you in such a hurry?" He was not in a hurry. It was obvious that the emperor supported the person he was going to criticize this time.
Emperor Kangcheng: "Lord Zhao, while Censor Lü's words may be crude, they are nonetheless true. Furthermore, as Censor Lü, you have the responsibility to oversee all officials. Let's hear what he has to say."
Hearing this, Zhao Wenkuan was completely confused. The emperor was either dissatisfied with him or the Zhao family, and was tacitly approving Lu Desheng's actions.
Next is Lu Desheng’s performance time.
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