I want to ruin the country

When he took it and looked at it, sweat broke out on his forehead. It turned out that these were two memorials impeaching him.

One was an accusation from Yuan Jiasan, the Imperial Censor, who accused Zaiquan of abusing his power to recruit followers and form cliques for personal gain.

Another memorial was submitted by Wu Jingzhong, the censor of the Censorate, who reported that Zaiquan's subordinate Song Ren had used his power to seize the fertile land of Wang Ergou's family.

After watching it again, I broke out in a sweat!

Yining asked,

"Do you have any explanation for the memorial?"

"Your Majesty, it is true. I am old and incompetent, and I have been lazy and thoughtless. I have given people a reason to criticize me. I acknowledge my guilt! Please punish me!"

Yining asked again,

"Are you still smoking opium?"

Zaiquan fell to his knees, tears in his eyes.

"I was careless and became addicted to smoking. Your Majesty, I quit smoking, and I also quit smoking at home. However, I have failed to quit after several attempts. Please punish me together with your Majesty!"

Yining pondered for a while and said,

"Since that's the case, I'm not an unrighteous king. If anyone impeaches you at court tomorrow, I'll take the blame for you!"

When Zaiquan heard that the emperor was going to take responsibility for him, he had no reason to refuse and quickly thanked him.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for forgiving this servant!"

Yining Road,

"However, you must focus on quitting smoking. If you can't truly quit, I will punish you with two crimes in one!"

Zaiquan kowtowed "bang bang bang", the emperor is really affectionate and righteous!

Although the new work system has not yet been formally implemented, Yining has instructed that

"Morning meeting starts at eight o'clock!"

The emperor has issued an order, so how could the ministers not be happy? Who would be willing to run to the palace in the middle of the night?

Before eight o'clock the next morning, everyone arrived outside the Qianqing Gate.

Because it was a grand court meeting, all officials above the fourth rank in the capital came. There were so many people that even the court rooms could not accommodate them, so everyone stood in the courtyard waiting.

Those who are on good terms with each other would gather in groups of three or two and whisper to each other.

But today there are two new faces, Lin Zexu and You Zongtang.

No one knows You Zongtang, but Lin Zexu is very famous. This time the emperor has appointed him in a high-profile manner, so who doesn’t know him!

Everyone has also heard that he is not only the Minister of Justice, but also in charge of the Censorate. He is truly in a high position of power!

Lin Zexu had many old acquaintances, and they all came to pay their respects and say hello!

Lin Zexu was not a high-profile person. He greeted everyone with a smile and was not at all arrogant.

However, people did not see the regent and chief military minister Mu Zhang'a in the crowd.

Those who knew something about the matter were whispering and discussing it.

At exactly eight o'clock, Yining arrived. After three silent whip sounds, everyone knelt down and kowtowed, shouting "Long live the king!"

After the process was completed, Yining solemnly introduced Lin Zexu to everyone.

"My dear ministers, this is the newly appointed Minister of Justice and Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, His Excellency Lin Zexu.

Even if you don't know him, you should have heard of Lord Lin's name. I won't say much here. Lord Lin's main responsibilities in the future will be to fight corruption and ban smoking. I hope everyone can cooperate!

Everyone congratulated each other, greeted each other, and stood in their respective groups.

Yining Road,

"Today is the last time this type of court meeting will take place. From now on, officials from all ministries and agencies will only be responsible to their superiors and will no longer attend court meetings!

As for how to implement it specifically, detailed guidelines will be issued in the future, and everyone can just follow them!

Everyone said yes.

Most people are very happy not to come to court. Some people get up early and go to bed late every day just to make up the numbers. They cannot be found when important matters occur, and small matters cannot be discussed at the court meeting. Some may not even say a word at the court meeting year after year!

That’s good now, I’m finally free!

Yining continued,

Since the last court meeting, I have asked all my officials to conduct self-examination and self-correction, but until now no one has come to see me!"

There was complete silence below!

Yining stood up, with his hands behind his back.

"Should I be happy or disappointed?"

Still no one spoke!

Yining Road,

"Normally, my ministers have done nothing illegal or disorderly. I should be happy, but why can't I be happy?"

He glanced majestically at the people below, his eyes lingering on the faces of several important officials for a few seconds. Most people lowered their heads and dared not look at him.

He went on to say,

"Why can't I be happy? Because the real situation is not like this, but everyone thinks I can be bullied!

Has our civil service system reached the point where everyone is an honest official and there are no mistakes, big or small?

If that is the case, I am willing to open the treasury and reward each of you with 10,000 taels of silver!"

If I ask you one by one now, I wonder how many of you can pat your chest and answer me with confidence that you are an honest official, a good official, who has not been corrupt, has not taken advantage of others, has not engaged in malpractices for personal gain, and has not formed a clique!

Is there anybody who can tell me? "

Still no one said anything.

Yining Road,

"Well, since you all think of yourselves as honest and good officials, I will treat you all as honest and good officials!

You should pray to all the gods and Buddhas to protect you so that no one will report you and your crime will never be exposed!"

As soon as the words fell, a voice said,

"Your Majesty, I will submit a report to you!"

Everyone was stunned when they heard this. "Accusing himself? Who is this person? Is he crazy?"

It turned out to be the regent, Prince Ding Zaiquan.

He fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face, and recounted the two charges that Yuan Jiasan and Wu Jingzhong had brought against him.

Finally,

"As a minister of state, I hold a high position and great power, yet I betrayed the grace of the Emperor. I formed a clique, disregarded the prohibitions, engaged in selfish activities, failed to discipline my followers strictly, and allowed evil slaves to oppress the good and seize land. These crimes are truly heinous. Please punish me, Your Majesty!"

After saying that, he prostrated himself on the ground and burst into tears!

Yining asked,

"Now that you know the guilt you committed, how will you deal with it?"

"The faction was my misconduct, not my intentional selfishness. The good farmland I had seized has been returned, and the victims have been compensated!

"Song Ren, the slave, was beaten to death by me yesterday. His body is outside the palace. Please ask the Dali Temple to inspect it!"

Everyone was shocked when they heard this. Prince Ding was cruel enough. It would have been fine if he had reported himself, but he actually beat Song Ren to death, who was his closest relative!

Yining Road,

"Yuan Jiasan reported that Prince Ding had acknowledged his mistake regarding Zai Quan's clique and requested punishment.

I have said that as long as you recognize your mistakes and speak out, I will not pursue them relentlessly. My purpose is to punish past mistakes to prevent future ones and to cure diseases and save lives.

Wu Jingzhong's report has also been investigated. It was because the servant deceived the master that the occupied fertile land has been returned, and the servant Song Ren was also beaten to death.

Considering that he is truly repentant and has not yet made any serious mistakes, I will remove him from other official posts and retain his position as the commander of the infantry. I will let him reflect on his mistakes in seclusion and see how he performs!

Although the beating of Song Ren to death had its reasons, it was against the law. No matter who it is, anyone who commits a crime should be punished by law, and lynching is strictly prohibited!

As a result of this incident, Zaiquan was fined three months' salary and ordered to compensate Song Ren's family with 500 taels of silver!

Since Song Ren is dead, he will no longer be held accountable and his body will be taken back by his family for burial!

What do you think of this approach? "