Han family achievements

Chapter 519 Big move

Three days later, Gongcao.

Chen Gong was sitting in the duty room, feeling the unprecedented quietness of the working area. He walked out quietly and stood at the door of the duty room.

The lobby, which was once crowded and noisy, is now only populated by a few kittens and is so quiet that you can hear a pin drop.

The three clerks saw their Shangshu and opened their mouths to say something, but no word came out.

Chen Gong wanted to say a few words of comfort, his expression changed, and then he walked back silently.

It was quiet, as if nothing had happened.

The Gongcao Yamen was quieter than ever before.

Chen Gong sat in his seat, silent, with a complicated look in his eyes.

After he took over the Gongcao, he replaced the people left by Wu Jing and selected them carefully. However, he did not expect that after the investigation by the Censorate, most of the Gongcao people were taken away, including the two assistant ministers on his left and right!
"If I were not His Majesty's man, I would have to go in too." Chen Gong whispered to himself, feeling the pressure on his shoulders like a mountain, making him unable to straighten his back.

Dong dong dong

Suddenly, there was an exceptionally crisp knock on the door, followed by a clerk saying, "Report to the Minister, Minister Huangfu from the Military Department is here."

Chen Gong's expression brightened, and he said, "Please come in."

Having said that, Chen Gong stood up and walked to the door.

Compared to Huangfu Jianshou, who was from the Huangfu family, Chen Gong's origin was much more "humble".

"Brother Huangfu, please!" Chen Gong looked at Huangfu Jianshou who was walking over, and even took the initiative to go out and pull Huangfu Jianshou, looking quite anxious.

Huangfu Jianshou could understand it, so he closed the door on his own initiative, and the two sat down opposite each other.

Chen Gong did not beat around the bush and sighed directly: "Brother Huangfu has seen that my position as Gongcao is almost empty. Who knows, the Censorate is already sending people to arrest me."

Huangfu Jianshou smiled, but a little stiffly, and said: "Brother Chen, don't joke. Even the Censorate has no right to question Minister Cao. It requires an imperial decree. I just came out of the palace, but I didn't hear that Minister Cao was going to be punished."

Chen Gong naturally knew that he was fine, and was just using this as an excuse to vent his repressed feelings. He smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "Brother Huangfu, before, when those people opposed the 'rectification of officialdom', I sneered at them. Now that it has happened to me, I know how difficult it is. If I were to go back to that time, I'm afraid I wouldn't have the courage to say such things anymore."

Huangfu Jianshou was startled and asked, "Brother Chen, are you so discouraged?"

Chen Gong quickly sat up a little straighter, trying to cheer himself up, and said with a smile: "It's just a momentary emotion. Brother Huangfu, please forgive me for making fun of you."

Huangfu Jianshou saw how depressed he was and said, "In fact, the situation in my military department is not much better. There is one assistant minister, two doctors, and more than 30 people below the level of deputy minister. Among the other departments, only the ritual department is better. Most of the household department and the personnel department have also been arrested."

Chen Gong was terrified and asked, "So many officials from the Household Department and the Personnel Department were also arrested?"

The Minister of Revenue has always been concurrently held by Prime Minister Xun Yu. How dare the Censorate take such ruthless action in this place?

The previous Minister of Personnel was You Pushe Xun You, and the current one is Wang Lang. One is the leader of the "Yingchuan Party" and the other is the leader of the "Yang Party". This Ministry of Personnel is simply a den of dragons and tigers. Has the Censorate gone crazy? !

Huangfu Jianshou knew more than Chen Gong. He pondered for a moment and said, "Brother Chen, there are many people in the Imperial Guards camp who are involved in the case. The Imperial Guards camp is quite special and the Censorate cannot intervene. His Majesty ordered me to handle it personally. I am afraid I will not be able to return to the capital for many days. Please take care of the military department."

Chen Gong no longer knew what his expression was, so he asked, "Imperial Army Camp?"

Huangfu Jianshou looked at his expression, shook his head helplessly, and said: "Although it is clearly prohibited and investigated repeatedly, it is still inevitable. I feel relieved when corruption and abuse of power are investigated, but the most terrifying thing is that there is no investigation."

Chen Gong understood and forced himself to cheer up. He said, "If we continue to investigate like this, the court will be mostly empty. Moreover, because the 'Grand Examination' was changed to the 'Imperial Examination', the local nobles have quite a lot of complaints. Many families have already joined forces to boycott the 'Imperial Examination'. If this continues, I am worried that the number of people taking the 'Imperial Examination' next year will drop sharply, which will severely damage the prestige of the court."

Huangfu Jianshou smiled and said, "Don't worry. I met Shangshu Wang in the palace. He and Xun Pushe assured Your Majesty that enough talents have been accumulated in the past few years to fill the vacancies. Moreover, the Prime Minister proposed to Your Majesty to recruit the virtuous people who were dismissed due to the party ban. The court will not be in a situation where there is no one available at the beginning of Your Majesty's accession to the throne."

Chen Gong suddenly came to his senses after listening to Huangfu Jianshou's words. He looked at Huangfu Jianshou suspiciously and said, "Brother Huangfu, you didn't come here to ask me to take over the military department, but to relieve my worries?"

Huangfu Jianshou smiled more and said, "Brother Chen, I am the first one to come here. I have to go to the Honglu Temple later."

Upon hearing this, Chen Gong calmed down and was no longer so nervous.

Since Huangfu Jianshou came to "relieve worries", it means that the court has no further intentions.

But Chen Gong was still worried and uneasy, saying: "Brother Huangfu, please tell me the truth, how far will the court go?"

Chen Gong had been in the court for quite some time, and this was the first time he had seen a "purge" of this scale. Looking through history books, he could not find a second example.

Naturally, he did not experience the period when Liu Bian first ascended the throne.

Huangfu Jianshou could naturally see his trepidation, and said straightforwardly, "That's it, no further. You know that His Majesty is furious. Just now in the palace, His Majesty gave a death order to the Shangshutai and the Sanfasi, requiring them not to expand the case further, and not to allow the chief officials of the six ministries and nine temples, as well as the governors, generals, and lieutenant generals of the state to be involved in the case. Stop here."

Chen Gong smiled a little after hearing this. He glanced at the closed door and breathed a sigh of relief. He said, "I can finally give them an explanation."

Huangfu Jianshou just smiled and said nothing to Chen Gong. He pretended to be silent and said, "I heard that the Huangmen Beisi Prison also secretly arrested some people. Brother Chen, do you have any news?"

Chen Gong's eyes suddenly changed, and then he immediately returned to calm.

But at this moment, Huangfu Jianshou still captured it clearly, and said with a frank smile: "Brother Chen, Luoyang City is very big, but also very small. It seems to have many secrets, but it is not so secret."

Chen Gong and Huangfu Jianshou looked at each other for a while and nodded silently.

This was a secret he didn't want to mention. He originally thought that only Zuo Li and the palace knew this secret, but he never expected that Huangfu Jianshou knew it.

If Huangfu Jianshou knew about it, that means more people might know about it.

Chen Gong reached out and picked up the teacup, took a sip, and then said to Huangfu Jianshou: "It is indeed not a secret. I was brought to Luoyang by Concubine Zuo from Yanzhou. We have a personal relationship, but we are not very close. In recent years, Concubine Zuo and I have deliberately kept a distance and have not had much contact. Who does Brother Huangfu want to know? I can try to ask."

Huangfu Jianshou saw that Chen Gong looked calm and honest. He thought for a moment and said, "My father had some concerns. I was originally placed in Luoyang to live out my life. I didn't expect him to suddenly disappear. People in the palace said that he was taken away by a group of people in purple clothes. I think it was the Huangmen Beisi Prison. I would like to ask Brother Chen for me. If, if the crime is not serious, I am willing to offer money for redemption."

Chen Gong understood and said, "Okay, I'll make an appointment tonight and let Brother Huangfu know whether there is any result or not."

Huangfu Jianshou stood up, raised his hand solemnly and said, "Thank you, Brother Chen."

Chen Gong quickly stood up and raised his hand, saying, "You and I are colleagues, Brother Huangfu, please don't do this."

...Taichang Temple.

Kong Rong, the Minister of Rites, has also had a hard time recently.

Not only were many people arrested by the Censorate in the Taichang Temple, the key point was that there was a "dropout wave" in the Imperial Academy. Some were afraid of being implicated and ran away early, some were required by their clans, and some were due to their own "moral requirements."

In short, the Imperial College originally had 3,000 students, but now almost half of them are vacant.

Being attacked from both sides, Kong Rong's hair turned white with worry.

The Right Prime Minister of the Imperial Academy, who was in charge of the Imperial Academy, said to Kong Rong in a cheerful tone: "Mr. Kong, change your mind. With so many people leaving, we are relieved and have fewer worries."

Kong Rong had a wooden face and snorted coldly, saying, "Easy? More than 1,300 people dropped out. How will the court see me? How will His Majesty see me? How will the scholars see me? I can refuse to take the position of Minister of Rites, but can I go back? If I go back, can I still leave the house?"

The Right Prime Minister smiled bitterly and said, "What can we do? The Censorate has such detailed evidence, we can't protect it even if we want to. As for the students dropping out of school, it's probably because the exam was changed to the imperial examination, and it has little to do with Confucius."

Kong Rong's fat face kept shaking, his small eyes flickered, and countless thoughts were flying in his mind.

No matter how the imperial court reformed or how the Censorate investigated officialdom, it was all based on reason and evidence, not a misrule, so they did not have the confidence to oppose it.

What's more, the administration of officials is a decision made by the imperial court, and the palace has repeatedly demanded that the impact be reduced and that it not be arbitrarily punished or expanded without limit.

Under such circumstances, the court officials could not go to the palace to make trouble, and they were not in the right in the Secretariat. There was no other good way except to respond in silence.

Kong Rong really couldn't think of a solution, so he said helplessly: "Next year is the first year of the imperial examination. The palace and the government are all looking forward to it. If only a thousand or eight hundred people come, we might as well die in front of the gate of Maoyuan to thank the world."

The corner of the Right Prime Minister's face twitched violently, and he said bitterly, "There are only two survivors in the Taichang Temple, me and Mr. Kong. We were killed in Maoyuan, and there is no one left in the Taichang Temple."

Kong Rong gave him a displeased look, his expression gloomy, and continued to ponder.

The Right Prime Minister glanced at the empty door, waited for a while, and whispered anxiously: "Mr. Kong, what should we do now?"

Kong Rong snorted, raised his head, and said, "What else can I do? I'll risk my reputation and visit all the major families."

The Right Prime Minister was immediately delighted and said, "Given Mr. Kong's reputation, I'm sure the major families will support him. As long as they send young people from their families to the Imperial College, they will be able to make up for the deficit, and next year's imperial examination will not be too embarrassing."

Kong Rong sneered and said, "If they were so easy to talk to, why would there be a wave of students dropping out of school?"

The Right Prime Minister's face froze, and he was speechless, but in a flash he said with surprise: "Mr. Kong, there is also the Hongdu School. They have little to do with the aristocratic families, so they can be used to fill the gap."

Kong Rong was stunned for a moment and looked at him as if he were an idiot.

The corner of the Right Prime Minister's mouth twitched, and he said awkwardly: "It was I who was confused."

Kong Rong was generous. He waved his hand and sighed, "I don't blame you for trying anything when you are desperate. Come with me to the Shangshutai tomorrow. We will go to the Shangshutai again. We can save as many people as possible. We can't just ignore them."

You Cheng nodded silently.

As for the Hongdu School, he knew Kong Rong's attitude.

Kong Rong did not like the Hongdu School. In his opinion, the students there were all common people. These people had not been enlightened and had no family influence. They were either stubborn or like rotten wood and were difficult to educate.

At the same time, the Censorate's arrest operation continued.

After the six ministries and nine temples were arrested, other large and small institutions, such as Luoyang Prefecture, which originally belonged to the Shaofu and is now part of the palace, and the Censorate were not spared.

The streets of Luoyang City were full of Yulin Army.

Wherever the Yulin Army went, there were voices cursing Tian Feng.

It can be said that during this period, Tian Feng's name irrigated Luoyang City and was resounding throughout the world.

The headquarters of the Three Judicial Departments was surrounded by people who were "crying out for justice", "petitioning" and "lobbying", and the shouting continued.

The doors of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Justice, and the Censorate were tightly closed and were only opened when the Imperial Guards entered or left.

Xu You and Xi Zhicai were extremely busy. They needed to review the case files that kept coming in from the Censorate to ensure that there was sufficient evidence, and they also needed to prepare for the trials in a timely manner to conclude the cases as soon as possible.

However, the Censorate acted too big and too fast, which overwhelmed the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court. Although their people had not been arrested yet, the workload was too heavy. They had to work overtime, and there was a steady stream of case files sent to them.

Faced with the surging "public sentiment", Xu You and Xi Zhicai both hid themselves from the public and buried their heads in handling official business.

At this moment, Tian Feng was in the Shangshu Terrace.

The three ministers of the Secretariat are also in a dilemma. They have been feeling unprecedented pressure recently.

Those who were arrested, those who were not arrested, the family members of those who were arrested, and the family members of those who were not arrested, the surging pressure swept in like a huge wave hitting the shore, making it difficult for them to bear.

Tian Feng sat below and reported in detail. None of the three people in the Shangshu Tai could remain calm while listening to Tian Feng's plan.

Xun You couldn't help but interrupt him and said, "You mean, you have almost captured the people, and you are going to leave the city and go to Yanzhou today?"

"no!"

Zhong Yao rejected the idea outright, saying, "You have arrested thousands of people in three days, and the prison is no longer big enough to hold them. You want to leave Beijing now, so what will happen next?"

Xun Yu followed up and said in a deep voice: "Minister Tian, ​​you cannot leave the capital until the case in Luoyang is over!"

Facing the will of the three ministers of the Shangshutai, Tian Feng remained calm and said, "Prime Minister, this is what you promised me before, and in front of His Majesty."

Xun You said with a gloomy face, "That's because the Prime Minister doesn't know that you are so generous!"

Zhong Yao said with a serious face: "Minister Tian, ​​you know how many people the Censorate has arrested and how serious the case is. We must close the case as soon as possible to reassure the people of the world. At this time, no one from the Three Judicial Departments is allowed to leave the capital! Even if His Majesty agrees to this, we will not agree!"

Tian Feng still looked calm and said, "When the three judicial departments try cases, the Shangshutai should be the main one."

(End of this chapter)