Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 195: The court was shaken, the censors were panicked, and the emperor’s power was greatly displayed!

"Your Majesty! My rebuttal is the duty of a cabinet minister to follow the example of ancient ministers in giving advice and remonstrances. What's wrong with that?"

Jiang Mian asked loudly at this time.

Zhu Houcong waved his hand to let the Jinyiwei not take him away, and only asked: "I want to ask you, is it the ancestral rule to confer titles on cabinet ministers?"

Jiang Mian was silent.

"Do you really think you are the Prime Minister?"

Zhu Houcong asked again with a sneer.

Jiang Mian opened his mouth to speak, but didn't know how to say it, and was extremely surprised.

then.

Zhu Houcong waved his hand and said, "Since Taizu abolished the prime minister system in our Ming Dynasty, the emperor has always ruled alone, and the government has been under the jurisdiction of the six ministries. He also ordered that future generations should not establish a prime minister system! The establishment of the cabinet later was just to let you follow the emperor's orders and prepare for the affairs of state."

"So, who gave you the power to rule in front of me?!"

Subsequently.

Zhu Houcong scolded and questioned Jiang Mian again.

Only then did Jiang Mian break out in a cold sweat, feel frightened, and his mind went blank.

"If it was Liang Chu who refuted me, that would be fine!"

"After all, he is the elder who was welcomed and appointed. He is also the first assistant minister who truly assisted me in launching a new policy after I ascended the throne."

Zhu Houcong continued to say a few more words, and then looked at Jiang Mian and asked with a sneer: "Touch your face, are you qualified?"

"It's not that you don't understand the principle of Xiao Gui Cao Sui. You should know whether you can be Xiao He or Cao Shen."

"Don't you even think about how many heads you have on your neck and whether they are enough for me to chop off? How dare you disobey the emperor's order!"

"Since you want to seize my power so much, why don't I just give you this position?"

Zhu Houcong pointed at his throne and spoke about Jiang Mian.

Jiang Mian burst into tears and said, "Your Majesty, what you said will make me die without a burial place! How dare I have the heart to usurp the imperial power!"

"You already dared!"

Zhu Houcong roared.

then.

Zhu Houcong half-lay on the chair again, and said calmly but coldly: "Lord Jiang, I know what you rely on, it's nothing more than installing a few pairs of eyes in my inner court, but don't you think about it, you are the only one who knows how to install eyes?"

When Zhu Houcong said this, he looked at Jiang Mian's face, which was beginning to look very strange, and asked with a smile, "What are you thinking about?"

"Are you wondering how I knew this?"

Zhu Houcong then asked.

immediately.

Zhu Houcong also asked other cabinet ministers: "Do you think he just violated the imperial authority and committed treason?!"

"Have!"

Mao Ji and others responded in unison.

At first, they were surprised by the emperor's sudden tough behavior, and they did not expect the emperor to suddenly become furious.

But then, the emperor's words made them shudder.

What do you mean you are the only one keeping an eye on the inner court?

And they have already heard what the emperor meant by this:

"You are the only ones who know how to install eyes, but I don't know how to install eyes?"

This made them suddenly realize that the emperor might have had other means of selecting concubines.

such as……

The emperor could ask a trusted minister to select a few reliable confidants in advance to serve as spies in the palace and keep an eye on anyone with suspicious behavior in the palace.

You know, the inner court has always had a strict system. Even an ordinary palace maid has her prescribed range of activities and routes, and cannot go anywhere she wants.

Only when one's status in the harem is higher can one move more conveniently, but one is still inevitably subject to various institutional restrictions.

Therefore, if the people in the palace really have connections with the outside world, and if the emperor also has spies in the inner court watching everywhere in secret, it would be very difficult to hide all clues.

So, these people all responded in this way.

There was no way out. They had already guessed that the emperor must have some leverage over Jiang Mian. If they continued to follow Jiang Mian in fighting against the emperor, they would end up being labeled as accomplices of the traitor.

"very good!"

"You can still distinguish right from wrong, and haven't been blinded by ambitions for power!"

Zhu Houcong praised these ministers, then waved his hand and said: "Put him in jail and ask him for treason!"

Luo An said yes and asked someone to take Jiang Mian away.

Jiang Mian's legs were weak at this time, and he was dragged away as if he had lost his parents.

"Listen!"

Mao Ji and others immediately knelt down.

Zhu Houcong also stood up at this time, with his hands behind his back, and walked in front of them:
"Jiang Mian, Junior Tutor, Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, and Grand Secretary of the Huagai Palace, has been raising assassins, spying on the inner court, and even harboring the intention to usurp power and deceive the emperor. This is treasonous, so he is dismissed from his post and punished!"

"Appoint Mao Ji, Junior Tutor, Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, and Grand Secretary of the Jinshen Palace, as Junior Tutor, Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, and Grand Secretary of the Huagai Palace!"

"His brother, Right Censor Jiang Sheng, is suspected of being an accomplice and should be dismissed and questioned as well!"

"I accept the order and thank you!"

Mao Ji accepted the order with a slight tremor.

He now didn't dare to follow the example of the ancient ministers and decline the offer three times.

He was afraid that His Majesty would find out something about him and put him in jail as well.

"Everyone, get up."

At this time.

Zhu Houcong had already sat back down, and after the ministers stood up, he looked at Mao Ji and said, "Lord Mao, you are now the Prime Minister. Do you think we should issue an order for the son-in-law to review the land survey?"

"Return to your majesty!"

"Of course an order should be issued!"

"The ancestral rules do not say that a son-in-law cannot do the land survey, so whether it is possible or not is entirely up to the emperor's will."

Mao Ji replied.

"Then go and draft the decree."

Zhu Houcong said. Mao Ji bowed and said yes.

This is the end.

The decree was issued to let the prince consort and other royal relatives be responsible for reviewing the land survey.

The Prime Minister was replaced again in a very short period of time.

This was naturally a panic-inducing earthquake for the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty.

The Right Censor-in-Chief Jiang Sheng, who was unaware of this, was still immersed in the joy of his brother becoming the Prime Minister.

According to his elder brother's instructions, he was instructing Yang En, Su Han and other imperial censors, "His Majesty has issued a decree to have the consort take the imperial attendants and the Imperial Academy students to review the land survey. This news should be spread as soon as possible."

Yang En was shocked when he heard this and said hurriedly, "How can this decree be carried out? The prince consort has never had any connection with the court officials. Asking them to review the land survey will only lead to bad consequences!"

Let’s talk.

Ever since Zhu Houcong asked Zhou Shangwen to develop farmers' and workers' cooperatives in Nanzhi, preventing the Nanzhi gentry from inciting the people to resist taxes by crying in temples, and suppressed the rebels organized in Nanzhi in the name of suppressing the rebellion, the big landlords and bureaucrats in Nanzhi completely gave up on blocking the court's tax reform policy and the land survey policy implemented in some parts of the southeast.

then……

After they colluded with some corrupt officials and falsified the results of the land survey, they stopped exposing these corrupt officials and in this way forced the court to give up the land survey.

They began to choose to continue to collude with corrupt officials in secret, continue to falsify the results, and even drag some people in the Weiwu Camp who were responsible for the survey into the water.

By doing this, these big landlords and bureaucrats were actually dealing with the survey by sabotaging it. They also bribed court ministers, including the chief minister Jiang Mian, to send only civil servants who did not support the survey to review the results. In this way, the fraud in the survey could be concealed.

It is worth mentioning that.

Cabinet ministers such as Jiang Mian and Mao Ji, like Yang Tinghe, had a good reputation in history but were not honest.

Because according to Li Zhi's account, the only cabinet ministers in the Zhengde Dynasty who did not accept bribes from Prince Ning were Liang Chu and Wang Qiong, and in history, Jiang Mian was also impeached by the censor Zhang Peng for being unvirtuous.

of course.

There were not many honest officials in this era. Even Yang Tinghe, who had a better reputation than Jiang Mian in history, was involved in corruption.

Therefore, Jiang Mian's cashiering and handling of affairs might just be a side job. After all, he and Yang Tinghe were in the same party and did not support the reform.

And because the big landlords and bureaucrats in the south wanted to let the civil servants who did not support the survey to review the survey, but the result was that the emperor wanted to send the prince consort and the groom to review the survey, Yang En was very surprised and said that doing so would be a bad thing.

Imperial Censor Su Han also said, "Yes, besides, we have never been kind to these princes-in-law, and they have to rely on this once-in-a-decade opportunity to earn merit."

talking.

Su Han brushed off his sleeves and stood up, saying, "How could your majesty come up with such a vicious plan!"

According to the Shuangxi Miscellaneous Notes, Li Kun, the Left Censor-in-Chief, who was a disciple of Yang Tinghe, along with Jiang Mian and Peng Ze, also said at the first seat on the left in the main hall of the Metropolitan Procuratorate: "This is to prepare for a thorough survey of the land in the world in the future. As long as this system is established, it will only be a matter of time before the land in the world is thoroughly surveyed!"

"You should persuade the Prime Minister to stop this decree from being issued!"

Li Kun then bowed to Jiang Sheng and gave him instructions.

Jiang Sheng returned the gift and said, "Of course I will persuade you. In fact, my brother has already intended to stop this order!"

"Right Censor Jiang Sheng, I have ordered that you be dismissed from your post and thrown into prison, to be tried together with your brother!"

At this time.

Jinyiwei Zhenfu Qiao Jian came over, and after saying this, he arrested Jiang Sheng and drove him out.

"I will be held responsible together with my brother!"

"Did my brother offend the emperor?"

Jiang Sheng was stunned on the spot and couldn't help but complain inwardly.

Yang En and Su Han were shocked when they saw this.

The Left Censor-in-Chief Li Kun even walked up to the Jinyiwei and asked, "What crime are you asking about?"

"The great crime of treason!"

"The president is very close to him?"

After Qiao Jian answered, he asked about Li Kun tentatively.

Li Kun was stunned for a moment, then quickly smiled and said, "We are not close friends, but colleagues. I am not that familiar with him!"

"is it?"

Here.

Jiang Sheng fainted after hearing that he was involved in treason.

Because he knew that Jiang had really done something extremely treasonous.

But he didn't expect that his Jiang family would be investigated. After all, it was not only his Jiang family that did this. There were even big families from outside the court who had been planting people in the palace for a long time.

After Jiang Sheng was taken away, Yang En and Su Han asked Li Kun: "General, why are they suspected of treason?"

"Don't ask about what's going on in the court!"

"All you need to know is that this is most likely because of Yuan Zonggao."

Li Kun replied.

"Yuan Zonggao?"

"That's right!"

After Li Kun answered with his back to the two, he asked in a cold voice, "Could it be Liang Shunde?"

"But only they can find people among the people who can serve as the emperor's eyes!"

"Because eunuchs can't do this! Eunuchs don't have the foundation, and it's easy for people to detect them. The warriors of the Jinyiwei can't do things that require reasoning and emotion."

"Liang Shunde can't possibly be that energetic. As the Prime Minister before, he didn't have that much energy. Only Yuan Zonggao has that energy!"

"So, it seems that now, we can't stop the matter of asking the Prince Consort to review the land survey."

Yang En and Su Han were very surprised after hearing this, which made them think of the time when they had ridiculed Shen Xueli in front of him before.

result.

Now, Shen Xueli is going to the southeast to review and survey the land. Unfortunately, the two of them are from Yingtian Prefecture and have offended Shen Xueli. Shen Xueli will definitely carefully review whether their family's land was falsely divided among the common people during the survey.

And next.

After leaving the Censorate, Yang En and Su Han actually saw an article in the newspaper about an imperial decree that ordered the son-in-law Cui Yuan and the son-in-law Shen Xueli to lead people to review the land survey and to serve as the governor and assistant respectively.

The two of them looked even uglier because of this.

Coincidentally, at this time, Cui Yuan and Shen Xueli, who were about to ride to the Daming Practical School to select trainees, ran into the two men head-on.

Yang En and Su Han put aside their former arrogance and took the initiative to bow to the two men: "Greetings, the two princes-in-law!"

I wish you all a happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

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(End of this chapter)