Chapter 335: More Powerful Than a Tiger
The Imperial Palace.
The morning court session had just ended. His Majesty had been in poor health recently and did not appear at the court session, so the meeting was presided over by Prince Sheng.
King Sheng has been in the limelight recently.
Three months ago, the situation among the four princes was still a three-way stalemate.
At that time, King Sheng was not even a foot and was ignored.
But only three months later, the three princes had to join forces to deal with him.
At today's morning court session, the eldest prince was the first to speak out, and the second and third princes immediately followed suit, impeaching several officials in the court on several charges.
It was no secret in the court that these officials were all supporters of King Sheng.
Originally, Prince Sheng could have ignored this matter because it was the business of the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple.
But because of his previous outstanding performance in criminal law, the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple are now under his charge, and he cannot remain silent.
The court officials thought that King Sheng would take the matter lightly and let it go.
Unexpectedly, he actually asked the Dali Temple to investigate the case thoroughly and handle it impartially.
That's not like his character.
He enforced the law impartially and sacrificed his relatives for the sake of justice. After the news spread, King Sheng's reputation among the people naturally became higher.
The voices criticizing him before also became much quieter.
However, this is not a good thing for King Sheng's supporters.
Obviously, the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple were controlled by Prince Sheng, but instead of helping his own people, he tried to gain fame by punishing them.
How much have they done for King Sheng, how much money have they received, and who of them doesn't have some leverage in King Sheng's hands. If King Sheng can give up those people this time, can't he give them up at any time in the future if necessary?
The officials who were originally neutral and had already leaned towards King Sheng in their hearts began to feel uneasy.
Whether a master who doesn't even protect his own people is worthy of loyalty remains to be discussed.
But no matter what they think in their hearts, from the perspective of justice, there is nothing wrong with what King Sheng did. Everyone has to praise him for enforcing the law impartially and he is truly a role model that all officials should learn from.
Because the evidence was conclusive, those officials were convicted and punished by the Dali Temple at the morning court the next day.
Listening to the admiration of the officials, King Sheng glanced at the other three princes, raised his chin, and walked away.
The three princes looked at each other and saw surprise in each other's eyes.
They originally just wanted to slow down King Sheng's momentum through this matter.
Because of what the Sixth Princess did, his reputation among the people is too high. They can no longer watch him go on like this. If he chooses to cover up, it will inevitably affect his reputation.
They were sure that King Sheng would cover up for them.
But unexpectedly, he actually dealt with those people.
Although he saved his intangible reputation, he lost actual support and votes. Which strategist gave him this idea? Wasn't there any other strategist in Prince Sheng's Palace who tried to stop him?
Inside Prince Sheng’s Palace.
As His Highness was determined to deal with his own people, the palace's retainers and advisers tried their best to stop him at the beginning.
But I don’t know what kind of love potion Mr. Lin gave to His Highness to make him obey his words. Now in Prince Sheng’s Mansion, it is Lin Han who has the final say.
Some advisers originally wanted to persuade Mr. Lin.
But after some discussion, they were all convinced by Mr. Lin.
In the current Sheng Palace, Mr. Lin is undoubtedly the top strategist, and the other retainers and strategists follow his lead...
Princess Palace.
Li Nuo couldn't understand King Sheng's inconsistent actions.
However, he didn't have time to care about King Sheng.
He only has three months left.
So far, he has only secured three votes from the Imperial Medical Service.
The chief imperial physician and two deputy imperial physicians have been using medical methods to try to extract some effective ingredients from Artemisia annua. In addition to Doctor Sun, Li Nuo has added three deputy editors to the medical manual.
In addition to the Imperial Medical Service, there are nearly two hundred officials with voting rights in the three provinces, six ministries, nine temples, and some other departments.
Of course, we don't need to win over all of these two hundred officials, and it is impossible to win over all of them.
But to be on the safe side, we have to get more than 70 votes for the Sixth Princess to have a chance of defeating others.
Among them, three provinces had thirty-six votes.
Each of the six departments has eight votes, for a total of forty-eight votes.
The nine temples each have five votes, for a total of forty-five votes.
The remaining dozens of votes were scattered among the hands of officials such as the Censorate, the Imperial Medical Service, and local officials in the capital.
The votes in these places can be given up directly.
Firstly, the time was too short and he had no time to manage it. Secondly, the four princes had been operating in these places for a long time, and these places were their strongholds of votes. Even if they put in a lot of effort, they might not get anything good.
As for the officials of the central court, because they were close to the emperor, the princes did not have much room for maneuver and most of them remained neutral.
Li Nuo chose the Censorate as his next target.
Compared with the Imperial Medical Service, the Censorate is more important.
One Grand Censor, two Deputy Censors, and four Assistant Censors held seven votes, only one vote less than the six ministries.
This time, Prince Sheng sacrificed his own family for the sake of justice, probably because he wanted to gain the support of the Censorate.
If you want to be an official in the Censorate of Zhao State, cultivating a righteous character is a hard requirement, which is the same as in Daxia.
There is no doubt that every single one of the officials in the Censorate are honest people who are dedicated to serving the public.
Li Nuo didn't need to say anything or do anything. As long as the Sixth Princess's noble spirit was revealed, they would understand everything.
After leaving the government office, Li Nuo and Zhao Zhiyi went out together.
The Imperial Censor had just returned home, taken off his official robe and changed into casual clothes, when a servant reported that the Sixth Princess wanted to see her.
The old man with white hair and beard raised his eyebrows, thought for a moment, and said, "Let the princess in."
At such a sensitive moment, if it were the four princes' men, he would not let them into the palace at all.
But he saw everything the Sixth Princess did for the people.
If any of those four princes had half of the six princesses, he would not have been undecided until now about who to vote for.
Even if he disliked the Fourth Prince, he had to give face to the Sixth Princess.
A moment later, two figures walked into the courtyard.
The old man glanced over the young couple, bowed to Zhao Zhiyi, and said, "Meet the Sixth Princess."
Zhao Zhiyi smiled and said, "Doctor Wang, there is no need to be so polite."
The three of them walked into the room and a servant served them hot tea.
The Imperial Censor asked directly, "I wonder why the Sixth Princess has come here?"
Zhao Zhiyi looked at him and said without hiding anything, "To be honest with you, Lord Wang, I came here for the ballot in your hand."
The Imperial Censor said bluntly, "Since Your Highness is here, I have something to say. Among the four princes, Prince Sheng is the worst in terms of talent and character. I would vote for anyone else, not Prince Sheng."
After saying this, he picked up the teacup and took a sip, obviously intending to see the guest off.
At this time, Zhao Zhiyi shook his head and said, "Doctor Wang has misunderstood. This ticket is not for my brother."
The Imperial Censor looked at her with a puzzled look on his face and asked, "Is that for..."
Zhao Zhiyi's expression was calm, but his tone was extremely firm. He said, "Give it to me."
As the words fell, a breath emerged from her body.
“Cough cough cough!”
Feeling this breath, the Imperial Censor almost choked up. He widened his eyes and looked at Zhao Zhiyi in shock.
Of course, he was very familiar with the noble spirit.
What shocked him was that the Sixth Princess actually had such a noble spirit.
This shows that she is not like the other princes who just put on a hypocritical show to gain the support of the people. She really cares about the people.
Other things can deceive people, but the great spirit cannot be faked.
After he calmed down, he finally realized something.
Confucianism has always served the imperial power.
It has never been an imperial power.
An emperor with a righteous spirit is undoubtedly a blessing to the people and the world, and also a blessing to the few Confucian officials in the court who have a righteous spirit.
When he thought of this, he couldn't suppress his excitement. Even though he had a thousand words in his heart, he just laughed and said, "Okay, okay, okay!"
…
Prince Sheng's Palace.
Prince Sheng had just received a report from his subordinates that within one day, the Sixth Princess and Li Nuo visited seven officials of the Censorate, including the residence of the Chief Censor, and stayed in their homes for a long time.
For several princes, the Censorate was undoubtedly the toughest nut to crack.
The officials there are of great integrity and uprightness. No matter how much you try to coerce, bribe or buy them off with money, it won't work.
Even if a knife is placed on their heads, they may not choose them.
During these days, several princes, including Prince Sheng, did good deeds every day. In addition to improving their reputation among the people, they also tried their best to win over the officials of the Censorate.
Before, their people couldn’t even enter the Censor’s mansion.
This time, could it be because I dealt with those officials?
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but be convinced, and murmured to himself: "Fortunately, I listened to Mr. Lin and didn't act on my own..."
If he had chosen to cover up at that time, Zhiyi might not have been able to enter the Censor's house.
King Sheng sat on the chair and closed his eyes, as if he had already sat on the dragon throne.
With six top scorers outside and Mr. Lin inside, we are like a tiger with wings. Why worry about not achieving great things?
[ps: The number of words is not enough, there is more in the early morning. ]
(End of this chapter)
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