Han Shizu

Chapter 1809
After entering June, the weather really starts to get hot, and it directly breaks into the scorching heat.The wind from time to time can't blow away the dry heat in the air. There are some shirtless men in the wharfs and warehouses. The teahouses and ice drink stalls in the city are full of guests. The guard dogs on the street open their mouths and stick out their tongues. Shrouded in a fiery atmosphere, only the imperial city and the temples are still full of chilling and oppression.

The door of the Zichen Palace was opened wide, a group of officials were divided into two rows, and they filed in. There were quite a few people, at least more than a hundred people. All of them had solemn expressions and cautious movements. The face disappeared.

Zichen Palace has its own ice room to cool down, but it seems a bit too cold for the officials who just walked in from the scorching sun, one by one lined up in order of rank, stood upright, kept silent, Dare to make any changes, and many people still showed obvious apprehension on their faces.

Among these officials, there are no honorable clans, nor high-ranking officials. They are all middle- and lower-level officials, all selected from the three yamen of the Imperial City, Wude, and Judiciary.Among them, many people have never even met Emperor Liu, and even if they have, most of them have never talked to Emperor Liu.

Now, they were summoned to the Zichen Palace and received by Emperor Liu in person. Although the reason was unknown, most of them were both looking forward to it and nervous. Of course, it was inevitable that there was a trace of fear.

Kou Zhun, one of the supervisory censors of Guannei Road, was also among them, with his head bowed and his hands tied, in a respectful posture. There was little expression on his young face, but a little dignifiedness could be seen from his eyes.

In the past few months, under the central government's anti-corruption policy, everyone has been hit hard, and Kou Zhun can be said to have personally experienced the danger.After all, only in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, I witnessed with my own eyes that so many senior colleagues were taken down for questioning, those who were dismissed from office, those who were exiled, and those who were beheaded.For Kou Zhun, who just entered his official career, this is indeed a rare insight and experience. In ordinary times, there is no such "opportunity".

Of course, Kou Zhun was also under some pressure. For several months, he kept facing strange eyes from his colleagues in the DPRK and China.The news had already spread, and it was because of the second place in the new department that he boldly spoke out and uttered nonsense in front of Emperor Liu, which aroused His Majesty's wrath and set off a political turmoil that shocked all bureaucrats in the world.Even the prime ministers of the Zhengshitang and the chief officials of various ministries inevitably treated Kou Zhun differently.

However, under heavy pressure, Fang showed his true colors. Although Kou Zhun was a little apprehensive, he finally withstood it. He has already formed his own values. For the country and the public, for the king and the people, he has nothing to say!
It's just that, after that day's face-sacrifice, the wave of political frenzy that Emperor Liu set off, with its magnitude, scope, and seriousness, still exceeded Kou Zhun's expectations.His original intention was to remind Emperor Liu to strengthen the management of officials and suppress local powerful forces, but he did not expect that Emperor Liu's actions were so fierce and his methods were so ruthless. .

Of course, Kou Zhun didn't dare to think highly of himself. If Emperor Liu hadn't intended this long ago, how could he have made such an important decision in such a short period of time and pushed for its implementation quickly.In the final analysis, Kou Zhun was only a trivial introduction by chance, and the subsequent development of the situation had no in-depth connection with Kou Zhun.

Staying silently in the team, I also guessed in my heart why Emperor Liu summoned these low officials, no matter what it was, but judging from this posture, it was absolutely extraordinary.

While thinking about it, I suddenly heard a loud voice: "Your Majesty is here!"

Almost instinctively, everyone in the hall bent down subconsciously, their expressions and postures were like replicas, and everyone was neat and tidy.In the peripheral vision of all the ministers, Emperor Liu walked slowly through the gate of the palace, walking very slowly, every step was firmly stepped, followed by three people, Yan Tuo, Wang Ji'en and Wang Xuanzhen.Perhaps it was an illusion, but Emperor Liu seemed to be a little older again, the graying on his head did not increase, but the twilight look became more serious.

Slowly walked up the imperial steps, turned around and sat down, and all the officials bowed together.Emperor Liu glanced at it, his poor eyes were a little cloudy, he looked at it for a long time, and then said in a deep voice: "Pingshen!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The arrival of Emperor Liu made the atmosphere in Zichen Palace even more tense, and all the minor officials were trembling and restrained.After brewing for a while, Emperor Liu ordered: "Serve the wine!"

Yan Tuo responded, and then moved his hand outwards. Soon, two rows of maids entered with trays at a time, and each tray had several glasses of full-bodied wine on it.Although everyone was puzzled, they moved their hands very quickly, and each of them held a cup in their hands.

Emperor Liu got up, holding a cup too, standing on the edge of Danji, leaning on the railing with his left hand, looking down at the ministers and saying: "This wine, let me see you off!"

Although Emperor Liu was old, but at this moment, his voice was full of energy and majesty.As soon as the words fell, there was a clear cracking sound in the hall, which attracted everyone's attention. In the queue, a figure lay on the ground in embarrassment, kowtowed, and said in panic: "Your Majesty, forgive me! Your Majesty forgive me! "

But it was this person, who was so nervous that he couldn't hold it with trembling hands, knocked over the wine glass, and spilled the wine all over the floor.Seeing this, Emperor Liu narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at this person, and walked down slowly, with every step, every sound seemed to be stepping on the hearts of all the officials in the palace.

It wasn't until Emperor Liu walked in front of him that he stopped kowtowing and said in fear, "Your Majesty has committed a serious crime, please forgive me!"

Emperor Liu looked down at this person for a while, a small official of the sixth grade, who is from some yamen, probably in his 30s, but his bewilderment did not have the demeanor that a big bureaucrat should have.

Looking at the overturned wine glass, Emperor Liu said indifferently: "Don't you think that these are poisoned wine?"

"No, no!" The man shivered, and hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty's majesty, I am deeply shocked, and in a trance, I spilled the cup of disrespect."

But he couldn't continue speaking, his face became extremely pale, and his body trembled even more. People standing near him noticed his abnormality, because the pungent smell was really obvious.

peed
However, no one expressed contempt or disgust, not even much pity and sympathy, but carefully paid attention to Emperor Liu's face and reaction.Emperor Liu was obviously a little surprised by this person's unbearable behavior, and even hesitated for a while, before pointing at him and asking Wang Ji'en: "Who is this? What official and what position?"

Wang Jien's face was very serious, he stared at this person bitterly, and said: "Go back to the official's house, this is Zhu Bo, Prime Minister of Dali Temple."

"Is this the elite soldier you selected for me? With such a performance, can you take on heavy responsibilities?" Emperor Liu asked.

Faced with some severe questions from Emperor Liu, before Wang Jien could answer, the kneeling Zhu Bo collapsed to the ground, his face turned from white to red, and he couldn't breathe, as if he was about to suffocate.

Wang Jien suppressed the disgust in his heart, and explained to Emperor Liu: "The official, I checked the official book, and saw that this person has a solid resume and is good at punishment and prison, so he was selected for this errand dispatch. It's just that he didn't Thinking about how unbearable this person is, it may be because he was promoted not long ago, and when he first met the saint, he lost his position and lost his manners in the palace. It's a young man who doesn't know people well, so I ask the officials to punish him!"

Hearing his words, Emperor Liu's frowning brows eased, and he looked down at Zhu Bo again, muttering, "Are you a hungry tiger that wants to eat people?"

No one answered this question, but the expressions of many people said everything.After all, Emperor Liu didn't take the disrespectful Sicheng to operate, but ordered to Yantuo: "Take this Sicheng Zhu down and change into robes!"

"Officials, this person is bold and absurd, and he is disrespectful in front of the palace, how should we deal with it?" Yan Tuo asked softly.

Emperor Liu shook his head: "It's true to be disrespectful, but it's not necessarily bold. I don't care about it!"

After a small episode, the atmosphere in the hall eased up a bit. It seems that Emperor Liu's murderous nature is not serious today. Otherwise, no one would sympathize with killing him because of his frightening performance in front of the imperial court.

Soon, Emperor Liu continued to talk about the business, and said to more than a hundred officials in His Royal Highness: "You are all officials selected from the Imperial City, Wude and the Three Law Departments, and they are all experts who are familiar with criminal laws. It is a heavy responsibility to call you together.

After today, you will be the envoys of the imperial court, and go to all the state capitals in the world to check the officials and the people's livelihood for me. You have only one task, and that is to give me those corrupt officials who bully the emperor and the local tyrants and evil gentry who harm the people. Get them out and deal with them one by one.

There are too many silverfish in the big man, if you don't clean it up, the country will be unstable, and the people will be in trouble!Your responsibilities are more important than Mount Tai. For the country and the people, you should not hesitate to do righteous deeds!

Not long ago, I lost a princess because of the government's clarification of officials and punishment of lawlessness, but I have absolutely no regrets!Through your actions, I want to tell the people of the world that for the long-term stability of the country and for the people to live and work in peace and contentment, any relatives of the emperor, noble ministers, and ministers who violate the law will not be tolerated!

I and those silverfish parasitic on the body of a big man suck blood and extract marrow, we cannot live together! "

After a farewell party, a larger-scale purge of officials has just begun. Compared with that, what happened in Xijing in the past few months can only be regarded as minor incidents.

(End of this chapter)