Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 103 Closing the Net
On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the half-month-long holiday ended.

The imperial court also held its first court assembly of the new year.

Because the imperial court had been shut down for half a month, a lot of things had piled up, and all the government offices would be busy for a long time. At this time, the heads of the various government offices would inevitably have to report to the Grand Secretaries and His Majesty the Emperor.

Therefore, this morning assembly lasted for quite a long time, from the morning until the afternoon.

As the court session was about to end, Wang Han, a cabinet minister who was over sixty years old, stepped forward and bowed his head in greeting.

"Your Majesty, I have this memorial."

His words immediately drew the attention of all the court officials to this Minister Wang.

Although the Great Qi court established a cabinet and appointed Grand Secretaries to it, it never abolished the position of prime minister. Instead, it used a system of multiple prime ministers, with the Grand Secretaries of the cabinet serving as de facto prime ministers.

This Minister Wang is now the Second Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, second only to Minister Yuanfu in rank.

More importantly, he was also the current emperor's teacher. When the emperor was a prince, he was taught by this Minister Wang from a young age. After the emperor ascended the throne, this Minister Wang was naturally promoted to Grand Secretary and entered the cabinet to serve as prime minister.

This is an innate imperial lineage, deeply intertwined with the young emperor.

His Majesty the Emperor glanced at the old man, frowned slightly, but quickly relaxed.

"That's what the teacher says."

Minister Wang bowed his head in gratitude, then said, "Your Majesty, I have heard that Your Majesty issued an edict at the end of the year appointing the Prince of Zhou's heir to an official position."

He lowered his head and said, "For a hundred years, the princes and members of the imperial family have never held official positions in the court. This is an ancestral precedent. It is because of this precedent that our Great Qi has never experienced any turmoil within the imperial family in the past hundred years."

"This is good governance."

With his head bowed, Prime Minister Wang spoke firmly: "Your Majesty, please rescind your decree and allow the Prince of Zhou to return to his fiefdom."

The emperor on the pedestal sighed softly.

Before the old man even spoke, he had a rough idea of ​​what was going to happen, and now it seemed that he was indeed going to say these things.

Thinking of this, the emperor glanced at the Grand Secretary Yang Yuanfu not far away and narrowed his eyes slightly.

He had only recently assumed power, and among the cabinet chancellors, apart from Wang Han, who was promoted at the beginning of his reign, only one of the other chancellors was newly promoted last year.

In other words, of the five prime ministers in the cabinet, only two are current prime ministers, and of these two, one, Wang Han, has already begun to stand up and oppose his appointment.

His Majesty the Emperor raised an eyebrow and said, “Teacher, the Yiluan Division is not in the court; it is my personal guard. The court has never interfered with the official positions of the Yiluan Division.”

"Why is the Cabinet inquiring about the Imperial Ceremonial Affairs Office today?"

Although the emperor was young, he was very clever. He did not say that Wang Han had interfered with the Imperial Ceremonial Office, but instead directly placed the matter on the Grand Secretariat.

Minister Wang bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, this old minister would never dare to interfere with the personnel of the Imperial Guard. How the Imperial Guard appoints personnel is entirely up to Your Majesty. However, this old minister believes that it is fine for anyone to serve in the Imperial Guard, but members of the imperial clan cannot serve in the Imperial Guard!"

"Your Majesty, please consider the established laws of our ancestors!"

After saying this, he knelt down and kowtowed to the emperor.

As the emperor's tutor, this act of kneeling carries immense weight.

Grand Secretary Yang Yuanfu, who was nearly sixty years old this year, also stepped forward, knelt behind Prime Minister Wang, and said, "Please, Your Majesty, rescind your decree."

The two prime ministers knelt down, and everyone else followed suit, their voices ringing out in unison.

The emperor couldn't help but stand up, and when he looked at the officials kneeling before him, his expression immediately turned rather unpleasant.

After a while, he finally spoke, saying, "I haven't even mentioned the matters concerning the New Year, yet you ministers seem to know them all so quickly."

At this point, His Majesty the Emperor grunted, "Let's set aside this matter for now and consider it for a few days."

After saying this, the young emperor turned and left, leaving a group of court officials looking at each other in bewilderment in the hall.

Yang Yuanfu, the Grand Secretary, stood up first, then helped Wang Xianggong up beside him, and sighed, "Brother Wenhua, it seems His Majesty isn't listening to us."

Wang Han nodded silently at first, then said, "It was a bit too hasty. I should advise His Majesty privately."

Yang Yuanfu shook his head slightly and said, "We must make this matter clear and let all the court officials know about it, otherwise things will be even more difficult to handle."

He looked at the empty throne and said, "We can't start this bad trend. If we start it, it will begin with the Imperial Ceremonial Office, and then members of the imperial family might enter the court. This dynasty might be fine, but who knows what will happen in the future?"

"We cannot allow any future troubles to arise during our cabinet term." Prime Minister Wang nodded first, then sighed, "His Majesty may have been frightened."

He spoke very softly, so that only the two of them could hear him. After hearing this, Yang Xiangong's expression changed slightly, and then he spoke.

“No one other than the Jiang family could possibly ascend the throne. Your Majesty should trust those with different surnames.”

Wang Xiangong nodded silently.

"Tomorrow, I will go to the palace to persuade His Majesty."

…………

In the inner palace, in the emperor's study.

His Majesty the Emperor's face was grim, while the Commander of the Imperial Guard, the Deputy Commander, the Commander of the Garrison Command, Tang Zhenfu, and the Commander of the Thousand Households, Yan Cong, all knelt on the ground, trembling with fear.

His Majesty the Emperor glanced at them, slammed his hand on the table, and said, "I haven't told anyone outside the court about sending Jiang Chu to the Imperial Ceremonial Office. It's only been a few days, and people in the outer court already know!"

He said fiercely, "The Yiluan Division must be thoroughly investigated. Anyone who dares to betray us should be killed on the spot. Don't bother asking me!"

The commander and deputy commander of the Yiluan Division both lowered their heads and answered with a trembling "Yes."

The emperor then looked at the two men from the Garrison Command and said coldly, "What did the Garrison Command say?"

Tang Can, from the Zhenfu Division, kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, after I return, I will definitely investigate the Zhenfu Division thoroughly!"

"If anyone is eating His Majesty's imperial food and colluding with people from outside the court, I will not let him off!"

The emperor nodded expressionlessly and said, "I will trust you one more time. If something like this happens again, I will no longer consider you as my own people."

The group of people trembled with fear and kowtowed in agreement.

Finally, the emperor turned his gaze to Commander Yan and said, "Yan Hu."

Commander Yan bowed his head and said, "Your subject is here."

The emperor stood up, put his hands behind his back, and said, "Originally, this matter wasn't in such a hurry. The Zhenfu Division had plenty of time to take their time to complete it. But now that the people in the outer court know about it, those old men will definitely bother me every day. The things I asked you to do before will have to be done ahead of schedule."

"At least we need to get most of this done before the next court assembly, so I'll have the confidence to continue arguing with them, understand?"

Commander Yan quickly bowed his head and kowtowed, saying, "Your subject understands. I will begin making arrangements immediately upon returning."

He bowed his head and said, "I will definitely get things done before the next court assembly!"

"Well."

The emperor waved his hand: "Go, all of you. Get things done, and catch the traitors."

He snorted angrily: "If this matter isn't resolved, none of you should work anymore. Go home and take care of your children."

While the emperor might need to consult with the ministers of the outer court regarding appointments, the appointment of officials in the Imperial Ceremonial Office was entirely up to him.

Upon hearing this, the group trembled with fear and bowed their heads in agreement.

When the bigwigs of the Imperial Guard walked out of the Emperor's study, their legs were a little weak. The commander of the Imperial Guard called his three subordinates together, gave them a few instructions, and then looked at Commander Yan and patted him on the shoulder: "Old Yan, you must handle things well, otherwise we will really have no way to explain ourselves."

Commander Yan bowed and clasped his hands in obeisance: "Your humble servant obeys!"

Soon, the two chief officials of the Imperial Guard left one after the other. Tang Can, the garrison commander, tugged at Yan Hu's sleeve and said with a wry smile, "Brother, I'm counting on you. If you handle things well, I can give an account to His Majesty."

Commander Yan took a deep breath and bowed his head, saying, "Don't worry, Lord Zhen, my men are ready to close the net at any time."

He paused, then said in a low voice, "Lord Zhen, shouldn't the Zhenfu Division also arrest a few traitors to help His Majesty vent his anger?"

Tang Can thought for a moment and shook his head slightly: "We work in the Imperial Prison. If our people leak information, will His Majesty still trust us?"

"Let the people from the Imperial Ceremonial Office do the work."

Tang Can said in a deep voice, "We just need to do our job well. Lao Yan, you go and prepare to close the net. I will go and start to reorganize the Zhenfu Division."

Yan Hu lowered his head.

"I obey my orders."

(End of this chapter)