Jiuxi

Chapter 818: 816 [Surge]

The capital city, the Ministry of Personnel office.

The officials of the Ministry of Personnel, who usually have a sense of superiority, have been extra cautious these days. This is because the Beijing inspection this year caused too much trouble, and many Beijing officials are secretly cursing them with gritted teeth.

In the duty room, Li Shizhi looked at the memorial in his hand with a calm expression.

The Left Vice Minister Qu Hongyi and the Right Vice Minister Lou Huanzhang looked at the Shangshu's calm demeanor and naturally admired him very much.

Li Shizhi ultimately did not choose to back down, nor did he deliberately ignore the evidence of those officials' guilt. Although he did not continue to expand the scope, there had never been such an exaggerated scene in all the previous Beijing inspections.

If the emperor did not issue a special decree of leniency, as many as 43 officials in the capital would have been dismissed or demoted as a result of this inspection.

No matter when and where, such a result would be enough to cause a shock in the court. Facing the foreseeable retaliation of some officials, Li Shizhi could still remain as steady as a mountain. It must be said that his determination was truly strong.

"Do you have any objections to the results of this inspection?"

Li Shizhi put down the memorial in his hand and looked at the two assistant ministers.

Qu Hongyi and Lou Huanzhang said in unison: "This subordinate has no objection."

"it is good."

Li Shizhi said calmly, "Then I will present this memorial to the emperor and let His Majesty make the decision."

"I will obey your orders, sir."

The two assistant ministers then bowed and left.

Li Shizhi asked someone to send the memorial to the Ministry of Public Security. This time he did not go to the palace in person as usual.

When he walked out of the government office, Li Shizhi looked back. No matter how calm and indifferent he seemed on the surface, he was naturally not so relaxed in his heart. He knew that after submitting this memorial, there would be a bloody storm at tomorrow's grand court meeting.

But that's how the world is, how can it be smooth sailing?
Li Shizhi thought so and got on the carriage back home.

After nightfall, in the study room in the inner courtyard of the Shangshu Mansion.

"Brother, do we really have to do this?"

The new upstart in the court, the Minister of Revenue Jing Qingshan, asked with a worried look on his face.

Li Shizhi took a sip of tea and said calmly, "What else can we do? If we carry out the imperial examination to the end, we will indeed offend a large part of the power in the court. They will definitely keep a close eye on my mistakes in the future, and they may embarrass me in public at any time, just like our people criticized Zhong Cheng in the past. But if we abandon the imperial examination halfway, His Majesty's suspicion of me will deepen, which is undoubtedly the worst result."

Jing Qingshan couldn't help but sigh.

Li Shizhi continued, "This is Lu Chen's conspiracy. It puts me in a dilemma. No matter which way I choose to deal with it, I will suffer certain losses in the end. I can only choose the lesser of two evils."

Jing Qingshan said solemnly: "It is really unexpected that this Duke Qin is not only good at leading troops in battle, but also knows the art of court struggle."

Li Shizhi smiled slightly, indicating that he didn't need to worry too much, and said calmly: "In fact, this is not entirely a bad thing. First, Lu Chen's strength in the capital is limited after all. This time it has been basically exposed, and we can be better prepared in the future. Secondly, His Majesty will come to his senses sooner or later, and when that time comes, he will be more determined to weaken Lu Chen's power."

Jing Qingshan nodded and said earnestly: "I'm just worried that my brother will become the target of public criticism this time."

"Not expected."

Li Shizhi said calmly: "If I am upright, I have nothing to fear. Even if those people attack me in groups, I have ways to deal with them."

Seeing that he was so confident, Jing Qingshan said no more.

The two talked secretly for another half an hour. Jing Qingshan stood up to leave, and Li Shizhi personally sent him out of the corner gate.

He slept soundly that night.

At three quarters past three in the morning, Li Shizhi got up, packed up briefly, and boarded a carriage to go to the palace to attend today's grand court meeting.

During the time they were waiting in the square for the palace gates to open, the attitudes of the civil and military officials towards the Minister of Personnel were not much different from usual. Even though the Beijing inspection led by the Ministry of Personnel had caused panic among the people, many officials had directly impeached Li Shizhi for excluding dissidents and covering up everything. But at least when they met him in person, no one dared to speak bluntly and ridicule him in front of the leader of the Jiangnan clan.

When entering the Duancheng Hall, the court meeting officially began, and the emperor started talking about the imperial examination, Li Shizhi still did not notice anything strange around him.

"My dear friends."

Li Zongben held the memorial written by Li Shizhi in his hand and said expressionlessly: "According to the results of the evaluation of the Ministry of Personnel, 24 officials from various departments were listed as greedy, lazy, and careless, and 19 officials were listed as impetuous, weak, and inactive. Do you have any objections?"

No one said anything.

Li Zongben looked around at his ministers and his gaze stopped on Li Shizhi. Looking at this minister who spared no effort to help him with advice, the doubts in his heart gradually dispelled.

Regardless of whether Li Shizhi's original intention was appropriate, he did not change his mind and did not evade responsibility. In the end, he was willing to risk offending many forces to ensure that this imperial inspection had a beginning and an end. This was obviously a very responsible performance. Moreover, because of this imperial inspection, Li Shizhi could not continue to manipulate power, and his enmity with many court officials could also prevent him from monopolizing power. For Li Zongben, this was actually an acceptable result.

Thinking of this, he slowed down his tone and said, "Minister Li."

"The minister is here."

Li Shizhi responded and left the class.

Li Zongben said calmly: "Regarding these 43 officials who failed the assessment, the Ministry of Personnel needs to formulate a disposal proposal as soon as possible."

"The minister obeys the order!"

Li Shizhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He knew the emperor's temperament very well. Through this brief conversation, he was sure that the emperor had no grudges in his heart. This was the situation he wanted to see. As for the resentment of some officials towards him, it could only be resolved over time.

At this moment, an official with a tall stature stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, I have a memorial to make."

Li Zongben looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was Wang Ding, Assistant Censor of the Censorate.

He had a deep impression of this man, who was one of the officials promoted by the previous emperor after the rebellion in the capital, so he said gently: "Tell me."

Wang Ding looked straight ahead and said with emotion: "I want to impeach the Minister of Personnel Li Shizhi."

Li Shizhi's face remained calm, as if he had expected this.

Li Zongben was a little uncomfortable, but he did not deprive the censor of his authority in public, and asked, "What's the matter?"

Wang Ding responded, "Your Majesty, the imperial examination is a major event for the country and has always had strict rules. According to past practice, the imperial examination will start in mid-March and end in mid-June, which will last for three months. However, this year's imperial examination was hastily concluded in less than two months, which is quite puzzling to me. Minister Li is well aware of the rules, how could he end the imperial examination so hastily?"

That's what happened.

Li Zongben felt relieved. In fact, not only he, the emperor, but all the ministers in the palace didn't know the reason why the imperial inspection ended so hastily.
It has only been over a month and the uproar has become so intense that it is difficult to resolve. If it continues, who can ensure that more officials will not be implicated?

What if everyone is found guilty in the end, wouldn’t this imperial inspection become a joke?
Wang Ding's questioning certainly did not faze Li Shizhi. He said calmly, "Censor Wang, although there are fixed rules for the Beijing inspection, the ultimate goal is to evaluate the performance of Beijing officials in the past three years. The time can be long or short. As long as all the work is completed, why bother about two months or three months? During this period, the Ministry of Personnel has worked day and night to live up to your majesty's expectations and completed all the work ahead of schedule. Except for the 43 officials your majesty just mentioned, the evaluation of the remaining Beijing officials has been completed."

Wang Ding asked calmly, "What Minister Li meant was that this inspection has not been completely completed, but the officials in the Ministry of Personnel have completed their work at a certain stage, and there is still a possibility of filling in the gaps?"

Li Shizhi would not make final statements in front of the emperor and all the officials, so he nodded and said, "That's right."

"That's good."

Wang Ding turned to look at the emperor on the dragon throne, bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, I am willing to investigate and fill in the gaps for my colleagues in the Ministry of Personnel and impeach the Dali Temple Minister Qi Weili for all his illegal acts!"

As soon as this statement came out, the officials were excited.

Li Shizhi's expression changed slightly, and a panic suddenly surged in his heart.

Li Zongben had a headache. He glanced at Qi Weili, who looked very unnatural in the distance, and said slowly, "Tell me in detail."

"The minister obeys the order."

Wang Ding stood tall and proud, and every word he spoke was powerful.

"I accuse Qi Weili of privately accepting 4,500 taels of silver and six pairs of precious porcelain from Hou Wenjian, and promoting him to the position of temple chief."

"I accuse Qi Weili of accepting 7,000 taels of silver from Du Wen, a wealthy merchant in the capital, a farm outside the city, and 2,000 acres of good farmland, for distorting the facts and erasing evidence in the murder case of his son Du Li, and for colluding with Zhu Fang, a doctor in the Ministry of Justice, to modify the verdict."

"I impeach..."

Only Wang Ding's resonant voice echoed in the hall.

He listed every incident one by one, even the details were described very clearly, which was definitely not the hearsay that the censors used to do when impeaching court officials.

Qi Weili's face became paler and paler. At this moment, he no longer cared about attracting other people's attention and looked at Li Shizhi in panic.

However, Li Shizhi just lowered his head and looked at the ground. No one could see that his hands were quietly clenched in his sleeves.

After Wang Ding finished explaining the evidence he had, he said solemnly, "Your Majesty has worked hard to govern the country and clean up the atmosphere in the court. This is a blessing for the Great Qi! During this time of inspection, we should eliminate the parasites in the court. All officials have the responsibility! How can we allow corrupt officials like Qi Weili to continue to occupy high positions! I dare to ask Your Majesty to punish this person, so as to correct the views of the court and the people and bring peace to the people of the world!"

As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of ministers said in unison: "I second the motion!"

Such momentum is truly rare.

Li Zongben looked coldly at the trembling Dali Temple official and said angrily, "Qi Weili!"

Qi Weili was so frightened that he knelt on the ground with a plop and said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, your subject...your subject..."

In the end, he couldn't even utter a complete sentence. After all, Wang Ding had investigated him almost thoroughly, and facing those accusations with solid evidence, it was useless even if he spoke eloquently.

Li Zongben said coldly: "Remove all of Qi Weili's official positions and honors, and hand him over to the Ministry of Justice for detention. We will make a decision after all the evidence is found."

"Your Majesty, spare my life..."

Qi Weili was shaking like a sieve, but fortunately he still had a little bit of rationality and did not drag Li Shizhi into the water.

Soon, the court guards dragged away the once high-spirited Qi Weili. Li Shizhi didn't even look at him from beginning to end.

Li Zongben had already realized at this moment that today's grand court meeting might not end easily. However, before he could change the subject, two more ministers stood up at the same time.

"Your Majesty, I, the Minister of the Imperial Academy, Shen Wanzhang, impeach the chief priest Pei Fangyuan for illegal activities!"

"Your Majesty, I, the Minister of the Imperial Censorate, Kong Qingwen, impeach the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Lou Huanzhang, for illegal activities!"

The court at this moment was like a pot of boiling hot water, suddenly emitting countless hot steam.

After Wang Ding took the lead, several ministers stepped forward one after another. Their sharp words were like sharp arrows, bypassing the officials they impeached and piercing Li Shizhi's heart!

(End of this chapter)