All Heavens: From Joy of Life to The Great Feng Night Watchman

Page 186

"Your Majesty, I have never seen such a strange request before. I have no choice but to punish you lightly!"

Emperor Qing sneered, "I know!"

"What you're interested in is my throne!"

Chapter 133 Fan Xian: I respect the law as I would my sword! Lai Mingcheng: Bah! You're entrapping me!

Having overheard the conversation between Emperor Qing and Prince Yong, the officials in the hall truly witnessed Prince Yong's arrogance.

You hit the crown prince, and then you blame him for giving you the throne, as if you had a legitimate reason to hit him.

"Your Majesty, I am filled with trepidation!"

Li Chang'an shouted out a greeting, which was a way of expressing his respect for the emperor.

The prince gritted his teeth, half of his face was already swollen, and he had begun to harbor resentment in his heart.

Emperor Qing saw this and was very pleased.

He enjoyed fighting, he enjoyed the fighting between his ministers, and he also enjoyed the fighting between his successors.

Disputes are necessary for checks and balances, to demonstrate the majesty of imperial power, and to prevent the emperor from being sidelined by his subordinates.

Emperor Qing was clearly unwilling to bring up the matter again, so he began the court assembly according to established procedures.

The first report was about the border war. Qin Ye was old, so Qu Xiangdong, the deputy envoy of the Privy Council, reported it on his behalf.

"The borders of Northern Qi have been peaceful recently, but rebellions have broken out in the vassal states within Northern Qi."

"Half a month ago, the Western Qin state suddenly raised an army and declared itself independent, and has now annexed five of the Northern Qi vassal states."

"The Northern Qi dispatched an army of 100,000, but the Western Qin general Han Xin defeated them all with a smaller force!"

Upon hearing this news, the officials of Nanqing began to gloat, since war occurring in an enemy country was a cause for celebration!

"After the fall of the Northern Wei, there were more than a dozen other vassal states besides the Northern Qi, and those vassal states all became vassal states of the Northern Qi."

"The entire Northern Qi army numbered around 500,000; 100,000 troops would be enough to cripple them!"

"The five states that Western Qin destroyed were all relatively powerful. As for the remaining smaller states, they were easily crushed!"

"That's not necessarily true. Northern Qi had a Grandmaster, Ku He, who slaughtered the Western Qin royal family in a fit of rage, and Western Qin perished in the blink of an eye!"

Fan Xian had heard of Han Xin's name while he was in the Supervisory Council, and he also knew that Li Chang'an's personal eunuch was named Zhao Gao.

He had always assumed it was just a coincidence of names, since he had even heard the crown prince's name in his previous life's history.

Emperor Qing said, "Let's wait and see. The Grandmaster of Northern Qi should not stand idly by."

Li Chang'an thought to himself that if he hadn't fought with Ku He, Ku He would definitely have made a move.

But for now, Kuhe probably still needs to recover from his injury.

After discussing the border affairs, Lin Ruofu reported on the major events of the Six Ministries. A full hour later, it was time for the court meeting.

After Eunuch Hou announced, "If there is anything to report, present it; otherwise, the court is adjourned," the officials knew that the main event of the day was about to begin.

Li Chengze had prepared a self-defense document, but after receiving news from various sources, he simply gave up and abandoned the idea.

All the government departments have prepared irrefutable evidence of the smuggling case, so there's no point in trying to defend it anymore.

The eyes of the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review and the Minister of Justice were both on Lai Mingcheng.

Both of them were the Crown Prince's men, but the Crown Prince had instructed that Lai Mingcheng should lead the charge.

After all, the Second Young Master Cui went to the Censorate to turn himself in and report the crime, and Lai Mingcheng has always been outspoken, so it was most appropriate to let him take the lead.

Sure enough, under everyone's watchful eyes, Lai Ming walked to the center of the hall as if he were going to battle.

"Your Majesty, I have a plan to tell you!"

Emperor Qing was not at all surprised by Lai Mingcheng's departure from the imperial examination.

"Lai Mingcheng, who are you going to impeach today?"

Lai Mingcheng straightened his back and said emphatically, "I have many people I want to impeach!"

"The first one to be impeached is the Imperial Palace Inspection Office!"

Emperor Qing said, "The Imperial Household Department is responsible for overseeing the procurement of ingredients for the palace. Why are you impeaching them?"

Lai Mingcheng replied, "The Censorate has the power to report on rumors and the responsibility to impeach officials!"

I recently heard rumors that Eunuch Dai, the head of the Inspection and Censorate, publicly accepted bribes. I find him incredibly audacious!

"Since they dare to offer bribes in public, it means that offering and accepting bribes in private has become the norm!"

Therefore, the Inspectorate conducted a thorough investigation and has uncovered the crimes of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics!

"Dai Gonggong was blinded by greed and unscrupulous in his methods. He would do anything to embezzle and extort bribes from vegetable farmers!"

He set a trap by manipulating vegetable prices, forcing many vegetable farmers to sell their children!

"This man has purchased three luxury houses outside the city, far exceeding his salary! The evil deeds of the Inspectorate have aroused the wrath of both heaven and man!"

"The common people privately call the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics the Bureau of Blood and Flesh! The Bureau of Investigation and Statistics not only embezzles and perverts the law, but also ruins the royal family's reputation among the people!"

Lai Mingcheng gave a long and eloquent speech, and Emperor Qing then consulted the Dali Temple for their opinion.

The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review replied, "The Department of Investigation and Verification is under the jurisdiction of the inner palace; this case should be decided by His Majesty!"

So Emperor Qing ordered his men to drag the limp, muddy eunuch Dai up.

Eunuch Dai knew that the Second Prince was almost finished, let alone a nobody like him.

Emperor Qing said to Lai Mingcheng, "Show him the evidence of his crimes."

Eunuch Dai looked at the memorial that Lai Mingcheng had thrown in front of him, which listed the evidence of crimes in great detail.

Eunuch Dai, who usually bullied vegetable farmers and eunuchs, had never seen such a scene before.

Eunuch Dai nearly collapsed from his knees, his voice trembling as he said, "This old servant was wrong!"

"Your Majesty, please have mercy!"

At this moment, Eunuch Hou said to Emperor Qing, "Your Majesty, he has confessed his guilt."

Emperor Qing didn't even bother to utter another word of nonsense, simply declaring, "To be reduced to ashes!"

So, the two imperial guards dragged Eunuch Dai out.

As he was being dragged away, Grandpa Dai continued to scream pitifully.

"Your Majesty, please have mercy! This old servant is willing to give up everything he owns to atone for his sins!"

"Your Majesty, please have mercy!"

After Eunuch Dai was dragged away, Eunuch Hou said, "Imperial Censor Lai, please continue."

Upon hearing Eunuch Hou's words, Li Chengze took a deep breath and waited for Lai Mingcheng to fire at him.

However, Lai Mingcheng said, "Your Majesty, the second person I wish to impeach is Fan Xian, the Director of the Surveillance Bureau and concurrently the head of a division!"

Just now, Lai Mingcheng mentioned that Eunuch Dai had accepted bribes in public, and many people thought that Lai Mingcheng was going to let the matter drop.

Fan Xian solicited bribes in public, and Eunuch Dai offered bribes in public; this was a fact known to almost everyone in official circles.

After all, Fan Xian was an illegitimate prince, and the silver notes had been torn up by Li Chengze, so it was understandable that Lai Mingcheng would not participate.

Emperor Qing also became interested, "Lai Mingcheng, what's your reason for impeaching Fan Xian?"

Lai Mingcheng held up two fingers and said, "Two charges: first, soliciting and accepting bribes; second, arrogance and perverting the law!"

Emperor Qing looked at Fan Xian, who had just come out of his post, and said, "Fan Xian, do you know your crime?"

Fan Xian said loudly, "Your Majesty, I do not know, Your Majesty, I am innocent!"

As for the so-called soliciting and accepting bribes, arrogance and perversion of the law, I don't know where to begin!

Lai Mingcheng then pulled out another memorial, saying, "Fan Xian openly solicited and accepted bribes. Many people witnessed it at the time, and there are numerous witnesses. The testimonies are here, Fan Xian, you can't deny it!"

Fan Xian shrugged and said, "That's definitely not true. How can I admit it?"

Lai Mingcheng immediately cupped his hands and said to Emperor Qing, "Your Majesty, since Fan Xian refuses to admit it, I request that a witness be brought in!"

At this moment, Li Chengze stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I am the witness!"

Li Chengze remained calm, and Emperor Qing then said, "Li Chengze, tell me about the situation at that time."

"At that time, when the Supervisory Bureau sealed off a document inspection office, Fan Xian publicly hinted at soliciting bribes."

Later, he directly took the three thousand taels of silver notes given to him by Eunuch Dai, and even counted them in front of everyone..."

Li Chengze recounted the situation, and Fan Xian said, "The silver notes were torn up, so how can you talk about bribery?"

Lai Mingcheng shook his head helplessly, "Back then, His Highness Prince Yong was accused by the emperor because he did not understand criminal law and legal principles."

Today, Fan Xian, you are just as ignorant!

Li Chang'an looked at Lai Mingcheng helplessly. "Do you still need to call me out at this point? Is it really necessary?"

Fan Xian asked curiously, "Imperial Censor Lai, could it be that I accepted a bribe without my knowledge?"

Lai Mingcheng said righteously, "Fan Xian, after you accept the silver notes, order the First Division of the Surveillance Bureau to withdraw and let the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics go."

"At this point, the power-money transaction was completed. Eunuch Dai's three thousand taels of silver notes were exchanged for your relinquishment of control over the Inspection and Records Bureau. You accepted money and did things accordingly. The bribery was complete!"