Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 1081 1076 [The Most Understanding Person]

Great court meeting.

Li Hanzhang sat upright in the front row, holding a tablet in his hand, with an expressionless face.

The emperor kept all the impeachment memorials and gave a reason: wait until the case is fully investigated.

Another twenty days passed, and the case information that should have been kept confidential was transmitted to Luoyang one by one.

No telegraph was used, only water transport was used.

Yesterday, Zhu Ming began to arrange Huainan's job transfer, which means that the officials involved in the case were officially dismissed.

Zhang Su's "temporary post of the Left Governor of Huainan" was changed to the real "Left Governor of Huainan". Another official named Cao Zhengbang was transferred to take over as the Right Governor of Huainan.

The Huainan Censor, the Commander-in-Chief... were all replaced.

Even the Minister of Personnel was not qualified to directly appoint the head of the provincial three-department yamen. He had to be nominated by the ministers of the ministry, then submitted to the cabinet for a vote, and finally approved by the emperor.

Of course, the emperor can also appoint directly.

Zhu Ming's power at this time far exceeded that of Zhu Yuanzhang before he abolished the prime minister system. This was the result of the emperor's centralization brought about by the cabinet system.

The newly appointed chief of the Huainan Three Divisions was divided among various factions!

During the nomination and decision-making process of officials, Li Hanzhang did not express his opinion from beginning to end. The emperor had already given him the lowdown and confirmed his punishment, so how could Li Hanzhang react?
A tall tree attracts the wind and is the target of public criticism. Li Hanzhang must make concessions.

"Do you have anything else to report?"

"I have something to report!"

The first person to step forward was the censor Xu Liangneng, who was already in his forties but had been an official for less than ten years.

Although he was an imperial censor, he was not from the "Imperial Censor faction" but a thorough "Jiangxi faction".

Historically, Xu Liangneng was an honest and capable official, who was awarded the title of baron entirely based on his political achievements.

Xu Liangneng stood up holding a tablet and launched a fierce attack on Li Hanzhang: "Your Majesty, the so-called division of the family since the establishment of the county system is nothing more than the division of property and households. How can the people who migrated cut off their incense? They all opened a hall and established a clan for their descendants. Prime Minister Li cut off his relationship with the Chuzhou Li family with a single blow, which is unfilial!"

"Knowing that your nephew is doing evil in your hometown and not correcting him is unfilial. If you really can't correct him, you should report it to the court, otherwise it would be disloyalty. Sitting back and watching the people of your hometown being bullied and doing nothing is truly unkind."

"How can such an unfilial, unfraternal, disloyal and unkind person hold the position of Prime Minister? If the Prime Minister behaves like this, won't officials all over the world follow suit?"

The attack was so harsh that Zhu Ming, the emperor, could not help but sit up straight.

The other officials also looked sideways.

Li Hanzhang naturally couldn't sit still, so he stood up and said, "Migration and division of the family is in accordance with Zhou Li, and it is not unfilial. I have sent people back to the hometown many times to reprimand the nephew, hoping that he can change his ways, and it is not unfilial. As for being disloyal and unkind, I really don't dare to bear this crime, I was just covering up for my relatives."

Xu Liangneng sneered: "If your people rebel, will you also hide it for yourselves?"

Li Hanzhang said: "Your Majesty, if any of my clansmen are really plotting a rebellion, I will certainly kill my own relatives for the sake of justice."

"Only you have relatives, but those people who are being bullied have no relatives? Your Excellency is hiding the truth for your relatives, so where do you put the people of Chuzhou?" Xu Liangneng said, "If you are an ordinary scholar, it is understandable to hide the truth for your relatives. But you are the prime minister of this dynasty, so you should have the responsibility to make the emperor as great as Yao and Shun. How can the emperor be as great as Yao and Shun when the officials of Chuzhou are so cruel and oppressive to the people? You are making the emperor appear unkind!"

The hats are worn one by one, bigger than the other.

Another Jinshi named Gong Maoliang came forward. He was only in his twenties and had served as the prime minister as the chief councilor in history.

Moreover, Gong Maoliang does not belong to any faction, at least not for the time being.

He actually stood up to stir up trouble: "Yang An, the former Left Governor of Huainan, watched the officials under his jurisdiction take bribes and abuse the people, but never reported it to the court for investigation. Whoever nominated Yang An to be transferred to Huainan should be held accountable for his negligence in the recommendation!"

These words almost made Zhu Ming laugh, and he remembered the name of the young censor on the spot.

A few years ago, Yang An was transferred to Huainan as the Left Provincial Governor. This was probably a trap set by Li Hanzhang's political enemies. Gong Maoliang was very stubborn and directly brought up this matter, instantly offending a large group of important officials.

Zhu Ming glanced at the ministers in the cabinet and found that they all sat in the court without saying a word, looking straight ahead.

It is obvious that these important officials are very cautious and unwilling to make any statement, leaving the middle and low-level officials to lead the charge.

One after another, several mid-level officials began to criticize Prime Minister Li Hanzhang.

Several of Li Hanzhang's direct subordinates also stood up, but because they were in the wrong, they were gradually silenced.

Finally, a direct descendant of Li Hanzhang named Cui Henian turned the gun around and dragged Zhang Guangdao into the water: "Huainan Commander Guo Xiong is a former subordinate of Zhang Shangshu of the Ministry of War. This person was transferred to Huainan and was also nominated by Zhang Shangshu. He should also be held accountable for the crime of negligence in recommending him!"

Zhang Guangdao stood up and said, "I don't know how to judge people. I ask Your Majesty to punish me."

Zhu Ming asked: "How should we punish him?"

No one answered.

Civil servants from various factions intended to focus their fire on Li Hanzhang, and were unwilling to drag Zhang Guangdao into the mix.

Zhu Ming called out by name and asked, "Liang Yi, tell me."

Liang Yi stood up reluctantly and said, "Just deduct three months' salary."

Zhu Ming glanced at the other ministers and waited for a long time until no one spoke. He then added, "Deduct three months' salary and demote him one level of military honor."

"I accept the punishment!" Zhang Guangdao stepped back and sat down with his tablet in hand.

Zhu Ming added: "Ministers of the Cabinet and the Ministry who agree to dismiss the Prime Minister, please line up. If more than half agree, I will dismiss the Prime Minister."

Liang Yi had just stepped out to answer questions, and now he was standing there waiting. He found that no important officials supported the dismissal of the prime minister, so he quickly retreated and sat down. The minions attacked for a long time, but the important officials of the cabinet and the ministry were scared.

This time they were only engaging in a tentative struggle, launching a non-aligned siege against the prime minister, and without knowing the emperor's attitude, no one dared to really draw their sword.

Suddenly, Chen Dong stood up.

Everyone was shocked, and some people even looked happy.

Chen Dong said, "I do not agree with the removal of the Prime Minister."

"Then why are you standing up?" Zhu Ming asked.

Chen Dong said: "I request that the six inspection systems of the former Song Dynasty be restored."

When these words were spoken, all the ministers were shocked and looked at Chen Dong in astonishment.

Chen Dong continued, "Although the Imperial Censorate can supervise the officials in the capital, it does not have full-time supervisors. Especially the officials in the court, each of them is in a high position and has great power. If the six-inspection system is not restored, I am afraid that no censor will dare to inspect the important officials."

The Song Dynasty inherited the Tang system.

There were two types of censors in the Tang Dynasty: "inspector of ten regions" and "inspector of six departments".

The ten inspection tours were to go to the local areas for inspection.

The Six Departments of the Ministry of Shangshu were responsible for supervising the six departments of the Shangshu Province. In the Song Dynasty, it directly became an institution for supervising all the departments in the capital.

Once the Six-Inspection System was restored, the power of the Supervisory Office would increase dramatically. However, officials who had been the Left Censor-in-Chief would probably no longer have a chance to become prime minister.

Chen Dong suddenly came out and said this, which was equivalent to him completely giving up his qualifications to be prime minister in exchange for the Inspectorate having more power to supervise the officials in the capital!

At the same time, Chen Dong was also expressing his position to the emperor: "Imperial Censorate" officials did not collude with any faction and were all die-hard imperial party members.

Wei Liangchen sighed inwardly. He still wanted to be prime minister in the future, but now he probably had no hope.

Zhu Ming asked: "Who is against restoring the Six Inspections?"

No one objected.

Whoever opposes has something to hide - if you are innocent, are you afraid of the censor's investigation?

Zhu Ming smiled and nodded: "Since no one objects, then let's restore the six-inspection system and set up the 'Six-Inspection Department' in the Supervisory Office."

Then he said, "I was also wrong, and I will correct it from today. From now on, those who have served as the Minister of Personnel or the Left Censor-in-Chief shall not be appointed as Prime Minister, and can only be promoted to Vice Prime Minister at most."

The reason why Li Hanzhang was besieged by various factions this time was that he served as the Minister of Personnel and the Prime Minister, and the combination of the two made his power too great.

Zhu Ming's reform of the official promotion system was equivalent to giving an explanation to officials from various factions.

Removing the Prime Minister, certainly not.

Because there is no replacement, no matter who is chosen to succeed the prime minister, it will not convince the public, which will lead to more chaotic factional struggles.

The division of power in Huainan Province among officials from various factions dealt a severe blow to Li Hanzhang's faction and completely drove Li Hanzhang's disciples and former officials out of Huainan Province.

Zhu Ming finally announced: "Prime Minister Li Hanzhang failed to supervise his subordinates, was lax in his management, and allowed his people to do whatever they wanted without reporting it. All his official titles and positions will be stripped, and he will be temporarily suspended for observation. If he commits the same offense again, he will be removed from his position as Prime Minister!"

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

All the ministers shouted in unison, expressing their satisfaction.

Li Hanzhang also stood up to accept the punishment, looking trembling with fear.

The meeting dispersed.

Hu Anguo was speechless, he was just an innocent victim this time.

Of course, he also had his own small circle, and after he became a cabinet minister, more and more officials came to him. Just as he was about to gain full power, the system was suddenly changed, and those who had served as ministers of the Ministry of Personnel were no longer allowed to serve as prime ministers.

God have pity on him, he hadn't been the Minister of Personnel for long, but he was implicated and lost his qualifications as prime minister.

The culprit is Chen Dong, and Hu Anguo is very dissatisfied with Chen Dong now!
Wei Liangchen and Chen Dong left together. After leaving the hall, they couldn't help but sigh: "Brother, why did you do this? Everyone was besieging Li Xiang, and now that you have stepped out, everyone hates you."

Chen Dong asked with a smile: "Brother, you are also blaming me, right? I have ruined your career."

"I am a little unhappy." Wei Liangchen told the truth.

Chen Dong said: "The emperor is happy."

Wei Liangchen was stunned when he heard this, as if he had just met Chen Dong today, and looked at him carefully.

Chen Dong has always been known for his uprightness and integrity, but this time he was extremely smart. While offending countless officials, he completely became the emperor's most trusted confidant.

He saw that the emperor did not want to dismiss the prime minister, that he wanted to investigate the central government officials, and that he hated the alliance of various civil servant factions. So he took the initiative to step forward and take on all the things the emperor wanted to do, transferring the officials' dissatisfaction with the emperor to himself.

Give up the qualification of Prime Minister and offend all the officials in the court in exchange for an indestructible golden body!
If Chen Dong died of illness in the future, he would probably be given the posthumous title of "Wen Zhong".

Chen Dong sighed with his hands behind his back: "Being an official is just like being a human being. The most frightening thing is to think too much and to want too much. I have no other skills and my knowledge is very mediocre. I only know four words: no desires, then you are strong!"

Wei Liangchen bowed and said, "Thank you for your teachings, brother."

(End of this chapter)