It was unclear whether Annan Hou could return to Lingnan safely after his trip to Beijing. Shen Tian's anger at Gu Yun for calling him by name and scolding him also subsided a lot.
Liu Cifu suddenly spoke up, "Your Majesty, just as Lord Shen said, although Young Marquis Gu has committed mistakes, he has also made great contributions. It would be unfair to punish him only for his crimes. In my opinion, Young Marquis Gu's merits and demerits are equal, so he should not be punished so severely."
Grand Secretary Shen and several civil servants said, "Although Young Marquis Gu acted rashly, he has a pure heart. Your Majesty, please make a decision again."
Upon seeing this, Shen Tian and his party started arguing again. Emperor Mingzheng felt a headache and frowned. He knew that if he allowed them to continue arguing like this, today's morning court would be delayed for several hours.
"Forget it. You are still responsible for Gu Yun, the commander of the Wucheng Bingmasi. It is a serious matter to mobilize troops privately. It is better to confiscate the tiger talisman. When you calm down, I will give you the tiger talisman." Emperor Mingzheng came up with a compromise. As long as the tiger talisman was confiscated, Gu Yun would still serve as the commander of the Wucheng Bingmasi and would no longer be able to mobilize troops.
Not wanting to hear any more nonsense, Emperor Mingzheng made the final decision, "Okay, do you have anything else to report? If not, I am tired, and you can all go away."
"I have a report to make. The northern region suffered a disaster. Although the granaries were opened to release grain, Danzhou was hit particularly hard. Countless houses collapsed, fertile fields were flooded, and many refugees needed to be properly resettled." The Vice Minister of the Secretariat said, "The national treasury was previously in deficit, but the official silver used to clear the silt in Jiangbei has been recovered, which can be used to provide disaster relief in Jiangbei and comfort the people affected by the disaster."
It is said that the people are more important than the emperor, but not all emperors care about the people. They sit on the dragon throne more because it represents supreme power, above everyone else.
If he was the legitimate successor of the late emperor, he would have been trained as a wise ruler since childhood and would have worked hard to govern the country, respected Heaven and protected the people. However, Emperor Mingzheng did not come to the throne in a legitimate way, nor was he the crown prince designated by the late emperor. He sat on the dragon throne just for the enormous power, so how could he love the people like his own children? Otherwise, he would not have sat on the throne to build a temple and diverted funds for dredging the river north, which affected the lives of millions of people.
This money has not yet entered the national treasury, but it is about to be given to those ignorant people. Emperor Ming Zheng is extremely unwilling to do so.
However, even if it was deposited into the national treasury, it would be registered. Although Emperor Mingzheng was the emperor, he could not secretly use such a large amount of treasury silver.
Thinking of this, Emperor Mingzheng's face looked better. "The disaster victims in Jiangbei need to be properly resettled. After the dirty silver is counted and listed, we will discuss it again at the morning court tomorrow. Send a reliable person to Jiangbei to provide disaster relief."
Emperor Mingzheng winked at the young eunuch who was serving him. The young eunuch pinched his throat and shouted in a shrill voice, "Dismiss the court."
"Farewell to His Majesty." His Highness and all the ministers said in unison.
After the court session, a group of people surrounded Shen Tian and walked out. Someone said flatteringly, "Lord, that Gu Yun is young and arrogant. You should not argue with him. You will get angry and hurt yourself."
Shen Tian watched Gu Yun leave Fengtian Hall, a smirk appeared on the corner of his lips, "Let him be arrogant, young people will always fall when they are full of vigor."
Several people couldn't help but shudder when they saw the sycophantic smile on Shen Tian's face.
Gu Yun left the palace and saw Grand Secretary Shen talking to Liu Ci Fu. He walked over and said, "I would like to thank Liu Ci Fu and Grand Secretary Shen for their help in the palace just now."
Grand Scholar Shen hurriedly returned the greeting, "Young Marquis Gu, you are too polite."
Liu Ci Fu looked at Gu Yun, sighed softly, and said, "It is also thanks to Young Marquis Gu that Qin Huaiyuan has been my disciple for many years. I was wrong about him."
"People's hearts are fickle. Liu Ci Fu doesn't have to be so upset about such a person." Gu Yun said, "I just happened to be going to the mansion to find Zi Qi, so I'll go with you."
Grand Scholar Shen said with a smile, "I heard Young Marquis Gu mention Young Master Liu, so I would like to ask you a question. The Spring Examination is approaching, I wonder if Young Master Liu will take the test next year?"
Shen Jinchun and Qin Huaiyuan were both Jinshi in the same class. Liu Ci Fu was the chief examiner that year. All the students of the same year who served as officials in the court worshipped Liu Ci Fu as their tutor. However, after becoming officials, their minds became unclear and many of them joined the Shen Party. There were few people in the Qingliu faction, and those who were close to Liu Ci Fu were mostly children from poor families who had been promoted by him.
Scholar Shen often visited Liu's house. He watched Liu Ziqi grow up and was very familiar with his talents. He always felt sorry for Liu Ziqi's reluctance to take the imperial examinations.
"It depends on Ziqi's mind. You and I are both in officialdom and know the difficulties involved. If Ziqi is unwilling to serve as an official in the court, I think it is a good thing." Liu Ci Fu said.
Scholar Shen smiled and said, "Teacher, you see clearly. Ziqi is extremely talented. Even if he doesn't enter the officialdom, he can still thrive like a fish in water."
Liu Ci Fu smiled and said, "The Spring Examination is approaching, and the matter of the chief examiner needs to be discussed carefully."
The three of them got on the carriage, and Gu Yun asked the servant to drive the carriage to Liu's mansion. This case was just as Ziqi had expected, and Cheng Ying was not involved at all. When Gu Yun met Emperor Mingzheng, he bluntly said that it was Cheng Ying who instructed the smelting of Yongle official silver, and even Qin Huaiyuan was only instructed by Cheng Ying. However, Emperor Mingzheng did not mention Cheng Ying at all in the court, and only said that Qin Huaiyuan was the main culprit. His intention to cover up was obvious.
Before entering the palace, Gu Yun received instruction from Liu Ziqi and did not go against Emperor Mingzheng. She openly exposed Cheng Ying in the court.
Emperor Mingzheng's indulgence of him was limited to minor insolence. If Gu Yun really did not know his limits and openly targeted Cheng Ying in the court, even if he could drag Cheng Ying into the water, I'm afraid he would not be able to escape unscathed.
Yu Qizhe and Liuzi waited outside the Dali Temple for most of the day and finally waited for Lu Jin to come out. After the Ministry of Justice took over the case, it did not drag its feet. It directly asked the Dali Temple to release officials like Xu Youzhi and Lu Jin who were framed, while Li Xiu, who was involved in the case, was taken to the Ministry of Justice's prison.
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