Chapter 72 The Right Prime Minister is Impeached
Gao Hongchen's counterattack today was already expected by Li Yueyao and Feng Shenyu.
Li Yueyao sat at the top and said nothing, just observing.
The person responsible for the impeachment was from the Censorate, and there were also some people who agreed with it. The two ministers of the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Personnel did not move, but their subordinates joined in.
Among the Nine Ministers, the four ministers of Taifu Temple, Honglu Temple, Guanglu Temple, and Taichang Temple are all included.
Li Yueyao took note of it secretly.
Look at Feng Shenyu standing below, holding the tablet, standing calmly, as if the person impeaching in the court was not him.
The emperor, sitting at the head of the table, said, "The Right Prime Minister is the pillar of the state. Since you are making this complaint, do you have any concrete evidence?"
At this time, Lu Xian, the Chief Censor, stepped forward and said, "As censors, we report to the emperor upon hearing any news. This is our duty. No actual evidence is needed."
Li Yueyao laughed and said, "Oh, if that's the case, what do the Right Prime Minister and Minister Song say?"
Song Yinian stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this is completely false.
When I and the Right Prime Minister were studying in the past, we both studied under the old Grand Tutor.
So we have a lot of interactions with each other, and these things are well known to people in the court.
I wonder what your intention is in bringing this up today?"
The emperor nodded and said, "Well, I know about this."
The emperor looked at Fengshenyu again and asked, "Does the Right Prime Minister have anything to say?"
Feng Shenyu heard this and said, "If you want to accuse someone of something, you can always find a pretext."
The emperor was very puzzled. They could easily find out the truth about these things with just a simple investigation, so why did they still have to impeach?
The worst outcome of this impeachment is that Feng Shenyu will stay at home for two days and not attend court. Is this what they want?
Gao Hongchen saw that the emperor was lost in thought, so he walked out and said:
"Your Majesty, after the imperial examination last year, Feng Shenyu retained a group of newly minted scholars in the Hanlin Academy under the pretext of compiling history.
These people were all selected by him, and now he arranged them all into the Ministry of Revenue through Minister Song, in order to take over the entire Ministry.
If this isn't forming a clique for personal gain and abusing power for personal gain, what is it?"
Before the emperor could speak, Li Yueyao said:
"Then according to the Left Prime Minister's suggestion, how should this matter be handled?"
"Feng Shenyu has caused such trouble in the imperial court. He should be thrown into the Heavenly Prison immediately and then handed over to the Three Courts for a joint trial."
Li Yueyao heard this and said, "The Minister of Revenue has neglected his duties to such an extent that His Majesty has ordered him to remain at home and await investigation.
"The Right Prime Minister is just reporting to the Imperial Censorate, without any actual evidence, yet you're sending him to prison. This makes it seem like Your Majesty is partial to one and not the other."
The emperor heard it and said, "That's right."
Li Yueyao then continued, "As for the three-division joint trial mentioned by the Left Prime Minister, the matter was exposed by the Censorate, so it would be inappropriate for them to continue the trial.
The Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice can conduct a joint investigation."
After saying this, he turned to look at the emperor and asked, "What do you think, Your Majesty?"
The emperor nodded and said: "Then let's hand this matter over to the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice for a joint investigation.
The Right Prime Minister will rest at home first, and we will take further action after the matter is fully investigated."
Feng Shenyu stood below and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, I will obey your majesty's orders."
After the court was dismissed, Gao Hongchen bowed towards Fengshenyu and said, "I accept the appointment as Right Prime Minister."
Feng Shenyu looked at him with a smile and said nothing.
After the court session, the emperor and Li Yueyao discussed things together.
The emperor took a sip of tea and said:
"Today, in addition to the Censorate, there are also people involved in the Imperial Household Department, the Honglu Department, the Guanglu Department, the Taichang Department, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Rites."
Li Yueyao nodded: "It seems that the Left Prime Minister has a lot of people in his hands."
The emperor nodded after hearing this and said: "No wonder the royal grandfather in the dream said that there are people in the court who have rebellious intentions. It seems that this is the case recently."
"But I don't understand Gao Hongchen's behavior today. The most he can do is for the Right Prime Minister to stay at home and not attend court for a few days.
What good can he gain from this?"
Li Yueyao asked.
The emperor heard this and said, "Perhaps what they want is to prevent the Right Prime Minister from attending court for the next few days."
"Are you saying that they are going to make a big move in the next few days, and are trying to get Fengshenyu out of the court?"
"It should be." The emperor put down the teacup and said.
A small court meeting was being held at the Right Prime Minister's residence.
People from the Ministry of Personnel, the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of War, and the Imperial Academy were all there.
A group of people happened to be talking about this and were also speculating about the intentions of the Left Prime Minister.
Suddenly Feng Shenyu asked, "Has anyone noticed the King of Jin today?"
Minister of War Fan Yong, a big and strong man, replied without even sitting down:
"I noticed him. Prince Jin kept his head down the entire time. He didn't speak or make any movements."
Song Yinian frowned and said, "You mean... Prince Jin is the mastermind behind this game?"
"What's his purpose?"
Fan Yong asked while biting a piece of cake, and the cake crumbs in his mouth sprayed far away as he spoke.
Even though there was a flower hall between him and Song Yinian, he still stepped back when he saw this.
Seeing this, Song Yinian frowned and said, "Old Fan, can't you be more particular?"
Fan Yong laughed and said, "Alas... Old Song, I'm a rough man, I don't have so many requirements."
Then he took the remaining half piece of cake in his hand and said, "Go on, go on."
Song Yinian turned to look at Fengshenyu with disdain and helplessness and said:
"Of course it's for the Ministry of Revenue."
"Old Song, according to what you said, the Left Prime Minister and the Prince of Jin are in cahoots?" said the Minister of Justice Kong Jiayan.
Dali Temple Minister Shen Zhengming considered for a moment and said:
"That's not necessarily the case. I haven't heard of any personal relationship between them before. Judging from the current situation, they should be in a cooperative relationship."
Song Yinian concluded: "Whether it's the Prince of Jin wanting the Ministry of Revenue to cooperate with Gao Hongchen, or Gao Hongchen wanting the Ministry of Revenue to cooperate with the Prince of Jin, there are problems in between.
At least, the King of Jin is not what we see on the surface."
Fan Yong stuffed the remaining cakes in his hand into his mouth and said:
"Nonsense, who among the royal family would show their appearance openly?"
Li Chengkun, the Prince of Wu and Deputy Chief of the Zongzheng Temple, smiled and said:
"Minister Fan is wrong. At least the King of Qin has no second thoughts."
Fan Yong grinned, his teeth stained with cake crumbs, and nodded.
"Well, the King of Qin isn't smart enough to have second thoughts."
Feng Shenyu sat at the head of the table, listening to the chatter of these people, and then said:
“What if they asked me to leave the court temporarily in order to take control of the Ministry of Revenue?
So what will they do next?"
Song Yi scoffed and said, "What else can we do? Eliminate dissidents and place our own people in positions."
"Then let me take you into the trap?"
The Minister of Justice Kong Jiayan spoke.
Feng Shenyu nodded and said, "Well, whoever they change, we will keep an eye on.
Of course, Zuo Xiang is our main target.
But now that Prince Jin has appeared, we need to focus on investigating him."
Then he looked at Fan Yong and said, "Okay, don't eat it. If you really like it, take it home and eat it later.
Send someone to investigate Prince Jin, and everyone around him."
Fan Yong listened, still eating and nodded, "No problem. Leave it to me."
Feng Shenyu looked at Song Yinian again and said, "Brother, please help me keep an eye on the personnel changes in the Ministry of Revenue.
When I discovered the personnel changes, I gave the list to Fan Yong and asked him to send someone to check."
Song Yinian nodded.
Feng Shenyu looked at the Ministry of Justice and said, "Just send someone to investigate my case normally, and don't take any other action."
"Over at the Dali Temple, according to the plan, we're starting to target the people from the Censorate. We'll start with Lu Xian, the Chief Censor."
After hearing this, Shen Siqing said, "Lu Xian is Rongpin's father, and he also has a seventh prince. This..."
Feng Shenyu snorted coldly: "I already have the evidence against Concubine Rong in my hands, so the Seventh Prince doesn't have to worry about her anymore.
You will suffer the consequences if you do evil. The Lu family has already chosen a dead end.
You can do it with confidence and courage."
Seeing Feng Shenyu's sincere promise, Shen Zhengming said, "If that's the case, then I'm relieved."
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