October 15th, morning court.
This morning's court session was clearly a big storm.
Because the news of the arrest of Lu Gongchuo and others had spread long ago.
Therefore, at the court meeting, officials from various departments all had their own ulterior motives and were waiting to see a good show.
Especially Xia Song, he originally thought that he had no hope of promotion, but he didn't expect that this case involved Lu Yijian who suppressed him. Now there is something interesting to watch.
As for the other large number of officials, they were also watching the excitement of Lu Yijian and others.
Before Fan Zhongyan launched the New Policies of the Qingli Period, the prime ministers of the Council of Political Affairs all stood on Fan Zhongyan's side. Now that the interests of the prime ministers are involved, it depends on how they resolve it.
The morning court session soon began.
Inside the Chuigong Hall, all civil and military officials stood in line.
Many prime ministers from the Constitutional Council stood at the front of the team, followed by more than one hundred people including the ministers, vice ministers, ministers-in-chief, secretaries, academies, cabinets, palace scholars, direct scholars, waiting officials, editors, and cabinet officials.
Together with the various censors, imperial censors, and palace secretaries, there were more than 200 people in total standing in the spacious hall. Looking from top to bottom, it seemed as if all one could see at a glance were densely packed heads.
It was early winter morning, and at four o'clock in the morning, the sky was dark. The beams on both sides, under the corridors, and on the side courtyards were all lit with candles.
The room was of varying brightness and darkness, a muddy yellow. The soft light of the candles shone on everyone's face, reflecting a mixture of black and white, with faces that were either expectant, serious, joyful, or full of complex emotions.
The hall was eerily quiet.
Like the calm before the storm.
A moment later, Zhao Zhen slowly walked in from the side hall.
"His Majesty has arrived!"
Wang Shouzhong shouted.
"Your Majesty!"
All officials saluted.
"No need to be polite!"
Zhao Zhen raised his hands.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
All officials stood up.
Zhao Zhen sat on the dragon throne and looked down at the ministers below.
Almost immediately after the palace chief official shouted, "If you have something to report, go out early; if you have nothing to report, draw the curtain and leave the court."
Zheng Jian, the Chief Censor, stepped forward and shouted, "Your Majesty, I impeach Lü Yijian, Sheng Du, Cheng Lin, and Li Zhang for colluding with Feng Shiyuan, a minor official in Kaifeng Prefecture, for corruption, perverting justice, collecting banned books, and selling official positions and titles."
In an instant, all officials changed color.
Zheng Jian continued, naming more than ten senior officials and citing multiple charges.
This case involves more than ten senior officials above the fourth rank and hundreds below the fifth rank, and these more than one hundred people are not even qualified to have their names reported.
Every time he read out the name of a senior official, expressions of horror appeared on the faces of the senior officials present.
Even though they had heard the rumors beforehand, they still felt frightened.
Especially Lu Yijian.
Zheng Jian was too ruthless. He did not approach him privately, but asked directly in front of everyone in the Censorate what to do about this matter?
With so many people watching, they could only handle the matter impartially, leaving no time for Lu Yijian to make arrangements.
In this way, even if he wanted to cover up the truth, he couldn't.
Things had already started to ferment yesterday, and I'm afraid it will explode completely during the parliamentary session this morning!
However, no one objected at this time.
Firstly, the evidence is solid, and secondly, as high-ranking officials, they will not be immediately removed.
"Your Majesty, I request that the new policy of the Kaocheng Law be abolished!"
Zhao Lianggui, Shaoqing of Taichang, interrupted Zheng Jian and fired the first shot.
He was the son of Zhao Anren. Lü Yijian was a Jinshi in the third year of Xianping (1000 AD). That year, Zhao Anren was in charge of the imperial examination, and Lü Yijian was his disciple.
At the same time, Zhao Lianggui also served as the Shaoqing of Taichang together with Zhang Yuxi. They were colleagues and he was also a good friend of Lu Gongchuo.
Zheng Jian looked at Zhao Lianggui with dissatisfaction and said, "Zhao Shaoqing, why are you interrupting me while I'm reporting something? Don't you have any manners at all?"
Zhao Lianggui ignored Zheng Jian and said, "Your Majesty, the new law is harsh, and officials are suffering greatly. Furthermore, it affects so many people. Thousands of officials and tens of thousands of clerks in the provinces surrounding the capital alone are affected. If this continues, I'm afraid officials across the country will be filled with anxiety."
"A gentleman is open and honest, while a villain is always worried."
Ouyang Xiu stood up and scolded him, "Isn't it the duty of officials to fulfill their duties and complete the tasks they are supposed to do every month? Since when did it become normal for officials to be lazy?"
This completely opened up the battlefield.
Qian Yannian, the editor of the Jixian Hall, said, "A gentleman should reflect on the nine virtues: when he sees virtue, he should think of righteousness. Your Majesty has entrusted the world's most virtuous people with this task, so you should trust them and not continue to use treacherous and evil people to command them. I think your Majesty will not do this."
What he meant was that the emperor should trust his ministers and should not arrange for people from the Censorate to supervise the ministers' work every day.
Cai Xiang spread his hands and said, "I haven't seen many talented people in this world, but there are many corrupt officials. I haven't seen the five beauties that the editor mentioned, but I have learned the four evils thoroughly. If the world is really like what the editor said, then what is the point of the Censorate and the Remonstration Office?"
“Hahahahahahahaha.”
In an instant, many colleagues in the Censorate burst into laughter.
The Censorate is now quite powerful. In the past, there was no direct supervision and it could only impeach after finding evidence.
Now, even if no leaks are discovered by the officials, we can always monitor whether they are working hard and whether they are lazy every day. Isn’t the authority established in this way?
Moreover, except for Zheng Jian, most of the censors in the Censorate were appointed by Fan Zhongyan and Zhao Jun. They were upright people whom they admired and were incorruptible.
When we see chaos, we will naturally criticize it fiercely and will never sit idly by.
"you!"
Qian Yannian was furious.
Others stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the performance evaluation system is a bad policy. If it continues, officials will only focus on their achievements and ignore the people's livelihood."
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