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Chapter 157 Orders the Eastern Depot to search the Ministry of Justice's residence.

The Hall of Nourishing Heart.

Zhou Chen sat on the dragon throne, looking down at Cao Shaoqin.

Cao Shaoqin bowed and reported, "Your Majesty, the Fan family sent people to infiltrate the Eastern Depot in an attempt to rescue Fan Yongdou. The Eastern Depot has already executed all of them, and none of the Fan family members who secretly entered Luoyang escaped either..."

Cao Shaoqin truthfully reported the matter of the Fan family sending people to infiltrate the Eastern Depot and handed a memorial to Zhou Chen.

The document details how the Fan family sent people to infiltrate the Eastern Depot, and how the Eastern Depot exterminated these people from the Fan family.

Zhou Chen picked up the document, glanced at it, and couldn't help but sneer repeatedly.

The Fan family is truly audacious.

They were all people the court wanted to kill, yet they still dared to secretly enter Luoyang and even sneak into the Eastern Depot to rescue people?

Do you really think that once Cao Zhengchun left Luoyang, no one in the Eastern Depot could keep order and that anyone could infiltrate the Eastern Depot and act recklessly?
Zhou Chen put aside Zhou Tui and looked up at Cao Shaoqin, asking, "Is there anything else?"

Cao Shaoqin immediately spoke up: "Your Majesty, some captains and generals of the city defense battalion and some generals of the Divine Martial Guard outside the city have recently been acting strangely."

Oh!
Upon hearing this, Zhou Chen raised an eyebrow.

The city defense battalion was responsible for the defense of Luoyang's city gates and the security of the city, and consisted of 30,000 soldiers.

Needless to say, the Divine Martial Guard was an elite force that protected the capital and served as a deterrent to the entire nation.

The unusual movements of some generals in the city defense battalion and the Divine Martial Guard are no small matter.

If Zhou Chen's prediction is correct, the unusual movements of these generals should be inextricably linked to the plot between the three powerful families and the King of Shu.

Although the Divine Martial Guards outside the city had been cleared out, there were still some generals among them who had intricate connections with powerful and influential families.

Zhou Chen had no doubt about this.

Zhou Chen pondered for a moment, then said to Cao Shaoqin, "Keep a close eye on these generals for me, and immediately summon Du Ruhui and Liu Ye to me."

Zhou Chen knew that the three great families and the King of Shu must have begun to lay out their plans.

Now, Zhou Chen will begin the second step.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Cao Shaoqin bowed and accepted the order, then withdrew from the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

……

Half an hour later.

Du Ruhui and Liu Ye entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation together.

"Your subject, Du Ruhui."

"Your subject, Liu Ye."

"I have met His Majesty."

After Du Ruhui and Liu Ye entered the Hall of Mental Cultivation, they bowed respectfully to Zhou Chen on the dragon throne.

Zhou Chen glanced at the two of them, his gaze settling on Liu Ye; "Liu Ye, how's the Ministry of Revenue's investigation going?"

"Your Majesty, we have already investigated more than half of it."

"All the officials involved have been arrested and imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice prison."

"A large number of officials with ties to the three major families have also been removed from their posts."

"Among those who were available and officials who were willing to serve Your Majesty, I did not touch them."

Liu Ye bowed and said.

Liu Ye was ordered to investigate the Ministry of Revenue, but his real purpose was to purge the officials in the court who had intricate connections with the three powerful families.

Of course, investigating the Ministry of Revenue was also a major objective.

However, that wasn't the primary purpose.

Therefore, Liu Ye would try his best to implicate officials who had connections with the three major families, and then take them down under the guise of doing so.

Zhou Chen nodded after hearing this, then looked at Du Ruhui and asked, "Du Ruhui, what about you over there?"

"Have all the vacant official positions identified during the investigation been filled?"

Zhou Chen moved officials from the three powerful families by directly intervening in the Ministry of Revenue in order to avoid causing too much turmoil.

Once a few are identified, the vacant positions can be immediately filled by other officials.

This way, the normal operation of the imperial court will not be affected.

"Your Majesty, I have already instructed other officials to temporarily fill most of the vacant positions."

"There are still some vacant positions, and there are no suitable officials to be transferred yet."

"However, the vacancy of these officials will not affect the normal operation of the various government departments and the handling of government affairs."

Du Ruhui also bowed and said the same.

After listening to Du Ruhui's words, Zhou Chen nodded again; "That's good."

"Since everything is progressing smoothly, let's move on to the next step at tomorrow's morning court session!"

……

the next day.

The morning court begins.

Civil and military officials entered the Golden Palace in order of their rank.

"Long live your majesty."

After the officials entered the Golden Palace, they knelt down and shouted to Zhou Chen, who was already sitting high on the dragon throne.

Zhou Chen sat back on the dragon throne, looking down at the civil and military officials below, and said, "All of you, rise."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

The officials stood up.

Zhou Chen looked down at the civil and military officials below and saw that there were fewer people and some officials had been replaced.

"When there is something going on, we will start, and when there is nothing going on, we will retreat."

A sharp voice rang out.

The person who shouted these words was none other than Cao Shaoqin.

With Cao Zhengchun absent, Cao Shaoqin naturally took his place and attended court alongside Emperor Zhou Chen.

Upon hearing Cao Shaoqin's sharp voice, all the civil and military officials below secretly glanced at him.

They had already seen Cao Zhengchun, the Grand Supervisor of the Eastern Depot.

However, they had only ever heard of Cao Shaoqin, the second supervisor of the Eastern Depot, but had never actually seen him.

Today they finally saw the true face of Cao Shaoqin, the second-in-command of the Eastern Depot.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report."

As soon as Cao Shaoqin finished speaking, Liu Ye, the Minister of Works, stood up and spoke loudly.

The other civil and military officials were slightly surprised to see Liu Ye, the Minister of Works, being the first to step forward and present his report.

In the past, many officials wouldn't have paid much attention to the Minister of Works' reports.

Although the Minister of Works was one of the six ministers, compared to the other five ministers, the matters reported by the Minister of Works generally did not attract the attention of the officials.

But things are different now; Liu Ye, the Minister of Works, is in charge of investigating the Ministry of Revenue.

In the past few days, many officials have been arrested and imprisoned by Liu Ye, the Minister of Works.

Among them are some important veteran officials.

Therefore, no one would underestimate the matter that Liu Ye, the Minister of Works, had stepped forward to report.

"Liu Ye, what do you have to report?"

Zhou Chen looked at Liu Ye and asked calmly.

"Your Majesty, your subject and Minister of Justice Zheng have been ordered to conduct a thorough investigation of the Ministry of Revenue."

"In the past few days, I have investigated quite a few officials."

"Some of the officials implicated Lord Zheng."

"I never expected that Minister Zheng of the Ministry of Justice would also be one of those corrupt officials, embezzling and breaking the law."

"These are some pieces of evidence that I have uncovered regarding Lord Zheng's crimes of embezzlement and abuse of power."

"Your Majesty, please review this."

Liu Ye produced a piece of evidence and said loudly.

All the civil and military officials in the hall changed their expressions upon hearing Liu Ye's words.

To everyone's surprise, Liu Ye actually uncovered the involvement of the Minister of Justice, who was also in charge of investigating the Ministry of Revenue.

This is truly astonishing.

Even Prime Minister Yuan Bo's expression changed slightly.

Fan Yongdou, the Minister of Revenue, has already been imprisoned because of this matter. If the Minister of Justice is also removed from office for corruption, then the plans of the three great families and the Prince of Shu will be left to be supported by only the Prime Minister.

The Minister of Justice, who was directly involved in the incident, changed his expression drastically upon hearing Liu Ye's words.

"Liu Ye, stop making baseless accusations." "I was in charge of investigating the Ministry of Revenue with you, how come I didn't know that any official had implicated me as an accomplice?"

"Don't even think about framing me."

The Minister of Justice glared at Liu Ye and spoke loudly.

then.

The Minister of Justice cried out to Zhou Chen, who was seated on the dragon throne, "Your Majesty, I am innocent!"

"Liu Ye wanted to frame Chen."

"Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly."

As the Minister of Justice spoke, he knelt down on the ground with a thud.

Zhou Chen, seated on the dragon throne, ignored the Minister of Justice's protests and said expressionlessly, "Bring him here."

Cao Shaoqin, who was standing nearby, immediately stepped down, took the evidence from Liu Ye's hand, and turned back to present it to Zhou Chen.

Zhou Chen took the evidence Liu Ye had handed over from Cao Shaoqin and glanced at it.

Zhou Chen didn't need to look at the contents in detail.

Because this was something Zhou Chen had Liu Ye prepare for the Minister of Justice.

After glancing at the contents of the incriminating evidence, Zhou Chen raised his head and looked at the Minister of Justice kneeling below with a cold smile.

"Lord Zheng."

"My Minister of Justice."

"You say you're innocent, you say Liu Ye framed you."

"Then take a look at these things yourself. Is Liu Ye wronging you, or is Liu Ye really framing you?"

Zhou Chen closed the incriminating document in his hand and slammed it down in front of the kneeling Minister of Justice.

When the Minister of Justice heard Zhou Chen's sarcastic tone on the dragon throne, his heart skipped a beat, and a bad premonition arose in his heart.

The Minister of Justice immediately picked up the incriminating evidence that Zhou Chen had thrown down and began to read it.

The contents of the incriminating evidence plunged the Minister of Justice into despair.

The document not only contains evidence of the Minister of Justice's embezzlement, but also records of his acceptance of bribes, wrongful convictions, and other crimes.

In an instant, the Minister of Justice understood.

Liu Ye's so-called investigation of the Ministry of Revenue, with officials implicating him as the Minister of Justice, is all nonsense.

The real issue is that Emperor Zhou Chen wants to take action against him, the Minister of Justice.

Liu Ye's investigation of the Ministry of Revenue, and the officials' confessions, were merely an excuse for Emperor Zhou Chen to take action against him, the Minister of Justice.

Otherwise, it's impossible that such evidence could have been uncovered from just one investigation of the Ministry of Revenue and the confessions of its officials, revealing so much about this Minister of Justice.

This clearly shows that they had been preparing to take action against him, the Minister of Justice, for a long time.

It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision, but rather a premeditated plan.

After the Minister of Justice finished reading the evidence in his hands, he collapsed to his knees, utterly exhausted.

He knew that his position as Minister of Justice was over.

Like Fan Yongdou, the Minister of Revenue, he, the Minister of Justice, will soon follow in Fan Yongdou's footsteps as the Minister of Revenue.

After the Minister of Justice finished reviewing the evidence, Zhou Chen, sitting on the dragon throne, looked down at the kneeling Minister of Justice with a blank expression and said, "Do you have anything else to say?"

"I have nothing more to say."

"I am guilty."

The Minister of Justice's eyes flickered, and he bowed his head to the ground.

The evidence is here; it is irrefutable.

What else could he possibly say?

A hint of surprise flashed in Zhou Chen's eyes as he sat on the dragon throne at the Minister of Justice's attitude.

Zhou Chen had originally thought that the Minister of Justice would try to argue his case, or at least shout that he was wronged.

Unexpectedly, the Minister of Justice did not try to argue or complain at all, and simply admitted his innocence.

This was somewhat unexpected for Zhou Chen.

However, Zhou Chen felt it didn't matter why the Minister of Justice complied so readily and didn't try to argue or protest his innocence.

The important thing is that the Minister of Justice has acknowledged it.

This will save you the trouble.

"Someone is coming."

"Drag him out and throw him into the Eastern Depot prison."

"Order the Eastern Depot to immediately search and confiscate the residence of the Minister of Justice."

Zhou Chen didn't say anything more and simply waved his hand.

Two imperial guards entered, grabbed the Minister of Justice, and dragged him outside.

The Minister of Justice offered no resistance whatsoever, not even a struggle.

And so, the Minister of Justice was dragged out by the Imperial Guards.

The Minister of Justice is different from the Minister of Revenue; he will not do anything excessive.

Now, their plans have begun to be implemented.

The Minister of Justice knew that as long as he confessed to these crimes and held on until the time came for a change of dynasty, he would be able to see the light of day again.

If he does anything excessive now, he will be the one who suffers in the end.

Just like Fan Yongdou, the Minister of Revenue, even if the change of government is successful now, the Minister of Revenue will be completely ruined.

The Minister of Justice did not want to follow in Fan Yongdou's footsteps.

That's why the Minister of Justice didn't try to argue or protest his innocence, or even resist or struggle, allowing the Imperial Guards to easily drag him out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

After the Minister of Justice was dragged out.

The atmosphere inside the main hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

No one expected that the Minister of Revenue would first have his family property confiscated and his entire clan exterminated, including nine generations of his relatives.

Now, the Minister of Justice has also been removed from office for investigating corruption within the Ministry of Revenue.

Within just a few days, two high-ranking officials fell from power.

This put a lot of pressure on the civil and military officials in the hall.

Prime Minister Yuan Bo was also quite heavy-hearted, as the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Justice were his most important partners and allies.

Now, not only has Fan Yongdou, the Minister of Revenue, had his family raided and his clan exterminated, but the Minister of Justice has also been taken down.

Only Yuan Bo remained.

This whole thing is eerily strange.

Especially at this crucial juncture of changing the dynasty, did the person on the dragon throne really remove the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Justice simply because of corruption?

Prime Minister Yuan Bo began to ponder this.

Zhou Chen, sitting on the dragon throne, coldly surveyed the civil and military officials below and said, "I did not expect that the investigation of the Ministry of Revenue has only just begun, and so many officials have already been investigated."

"Two high-ranking officials, including ministers, were involved."

"It's almost unbelievable to me."

"Have the officials of my Great Zhou Dynasty become so corrupt?"

Under Zhou Chen's sharp, eagle-like gaze, all the civil and military officials lowered their heads, not daring to even breathe.

After scanning the room, Zhou Chen said sternly to Liu Ye, "Liu Ye."

"Continue the investigation for me."

"I want to see just how many parasites are still in my Great Zhou court."

As soon as these words came out.

The hearts of all the civil and military officials in the hall trembled involuntarily.

The investigation into the Ministry of Revenue over the past few days has uncovered many officials, and today even the Minister of Justice was removed from office.

The investigation needs to continue.

Is His Majesty really planning to thoroughly purge the entire court?

Even the Eighth Prince Zhou Xian and the Minister of War had their brows furrowed, their hearts filled with worry.

Such a large-scale investigation could cause all officials to feel insecure.

"The minister obeys the order."

Liu Ye bowed and accepted the order.

……

(End of this chapter)