At the beginning, I became a county magistrate with greed of 500 million. The empress asked me to be

On the throne, murderous intent flashed in the empress's eyes.

The Jiangnan officialdom is so bold!

She asked herself whether she had been tolerant enough towards the officials under her over the years.

Even though news had been sent back from Jiangnan before, some officials were obstructing the distribution of potatoes as disaster relief food.

She never thought of killing people.

Until this moment, she could no longer tolerate it!

However, just as the empress was about to issue an order, a minister walked out from the right side of the court and spoke before the empress.

"I have something to report!"

As the old minister began to speak, he fell to his knees in the center of the hall with a plop.

"What do you want to report?"

Looking at the minister who suddenly stepped out, the empress temporarily suppressed her anger, but the gloom on her face did not diminish in the slightest.

The minister kneeling in the center of the hall at this moment was Wei Zili, the Minister of Works of the imperial court and a member of the cabinet.

"Your Majesty, last night the cabinet received a report from Zhejiang that the Zhejiang Provincial Administration Office has raised 200,000 dan of disaster relief grain, which will arrive in Zhejiang soon to alleviate the emergency of the famine."

Wei Zili spoke out the contents of the report slowly and calmly.

Oh?

The empress raised her eyebrows slightly.

Just as the Censor of the Inspectorate submitted a memorial to impeach the Zhejiang Provincial Governor Zuo Anning, Wei Zili suddenly stood up and reported that the Zhejiang Provincial Governor had raised 200,000 dan of grain.

This seems... too much of a coincidence.

The empress immediately turned her head and looked at a minister who was leading the left side of the court.

"Lord Xu, is what Minister Wei said true?"

The empress spoke in a deep voice.

The minister who could be ranked first among the ministers in the Daliang court was the chief minister of the cabinet, Xu Jinsong.

Hearing this, Xu Jinsong, who had been silent in the court, had to walk out of the ranks of ministers.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the Cabinet did receive an urgent report from Zhejiang yesterday, which was sent 800 miles away. Not only that, there was also an urgent report from Nanzhili, which was sent 800 miles away."

"These two reports were handled by Lord Wei."

Xu Jinsong responded calmly.

"Another report?"

The empress's gaze immediately shifted back to Wei Zili.

"Your Majesty, it is true. Wang Lunyu, the governor of Nanzhili, has reported to the emperor that an illegal merchant from Southeast Asia has been arrested. This man harbored evil intentions and deceived the government. He has been imprisoned and is awaiting your Majesty's order at any time."

Wei Zili took over the conversation and started talking immediately.

When things developed to this point, even a fool could feel the turbulent atmosphere in the court.

The censors in the Inspectorate were even more furious at this moment.

They had just impeached officials from Zhejiang and Nanzhili provinces, and Wei Zili immediately reported the achievements of the officials from the two provinces.

This is clearly going against them.

And the other party must have planned it in advance.

"Your Majesty, I think that the famine in Jiangnan has not yet subsided, and the court should focus on stabilizing the situation. If a major case is launched at this time, it may be detrimental to the country."

As the situation in the court continued to heat up, another red-robed minister stepped forward.

This person was none other than the Minister of Revenue Pei Yan who had met the emperor in the Southern Study yesterday.

Like Wei Zili, Pei Yan was also a member of the cabinet.

"If I remember correctly, the Zhejiang Provincial Governor Zuo Anning and the Southern Zhili Provincial Governor Zhang Sen were recommended by Lord Wei and Lord Pei last year."

"According to Daliang's laws, those who are recommended for office are guilty of a crime, and those who recommend them should be punished for negligence!"

"Master Pei, Master Wei, am I right?"

Seeing that the situation was about to go beyond expectations, the Imperial Censor suddenly spoke.

As soon as these words were spoken, anyone could feel the tense atmosphere in the court.

The empress watched the fight in the court with cold eyes.

The murderous intent in my heart continued to rise.

In fact, the Imperial Censor had not yet finished speaking.

Pei Yan and Wei Zili did not just recommend Zuo Anning and Zhang Sen.

Moreover, the birthplaces of these four people are all from Zhejiang and Nanzhili.

Some of the sayings circulating among the people call them Jiangnan Party officials.

"Your Excellency the Censor is wrong."

"Let's not talk about whether Zuo Anning and Zhang Sen are guilty or not. The appointment of these two people was decided by His Majesty the Emperor."

"Is it possible that His Majesty is also guilty?"

Wei Zili's voice suddenly rose several tones, so that all the ministers present could clearly hear the argument between the people.

At this time, more and more officials from Jiangnan region came out to support the movement.

"Master Wei is right. The court is where ministers present their reports and discuss matters. Why is Master Yushi trying to accuse me of a crime?"

"Since the famine in Jiangnan, Lord Zuo and Lord Zhang have worked tirelessly and have always been on the front line of disaster relief. Why would the Inspectorate fabricate charges against them?!"

"Your Majesty, I have a petition to impeach the Chief Censor of the Inspectorate and a group of other censors. At this time of national crisis, the Inspectorate has not thought about repaying the emperor's grace, but instead wants to frame the ministers who are your right hands. This is really a sinister plot!"

"..."

In just a dozen breaths, the entire court was in chaos.

Especially the officials from Jiangnan area, some of them even impeached the entire Inspectorate on the spot.

The situation is quite lively.

As for the censors of the Inspectorate, they were all filled with anger, and they kept arguing in the chaotic and noisy atmosphere.

The empress's cold gaze swept over everyone, and the depths of her pupils, which no one noticed, were filled with endless murderous intent.

Most of the censors in the Inspectorate are old officials left over from the previous emperor's reign.

Although these imperial censors often criticized the emperor on a daily basis, they generally enforced the law in a law-abiding manner.

Over the years, there have been very few mistakes in any case reported by the Inspectorate.

Because of this, the actions of Pei Yan and other Jiangnan officials seemed to be against the Inspectorate, but in fact they were challenging the imperial power!

This kind of behavior has exceeded the tolerance of the empress.

However, just as the empress was thinking about whether to send people to arrest the officials who were causing trouble, the chief minister of the cabinet, Xu Jinsong, spoke again.

"This is the imperial court. Your Majesty is still on the throne. How can you be allowed to rebel here?!"

There was a hint of rebuke in Xu Jinsong's voice.

As expected, as soon as the Prime Minister spoke, the ministers who were about to fight quickly regained their composure.

Only when everyone had completely stopped making noise did Xu Jinsong turn to the empress again.

"Your Majesty, I think that since the famine in Jiangnan has not yet ended, you can first order the Governor-General of Zhejiang Province, Lei Zhenning, to take charge of disaster relief affairs. After the famine is over, we can investigate the corruption and crimes of officials in Zhejiang Province."

Xu Jinsong spoke respectfully and lowered his head as he spoke.

Hearing this, the empress did not answer.

Just because Xu Jinsong's hometown was Hangzhou, Zhejiang, he was regarded as the leader of the Jiangnan Party officials in the court.

After dozens of breaths had passed, the image of a bastard suddenly emerged in the empress's mind.