amaotonovel Chapter 1470: Dramatic Changes in the Court
Chapter 1470: Dramatic Changes in the Court
Chapter 1470: Dramatic Changes in the Court
There are few officials who are not corrupt.
If you look closely, even Shen Yi himself, a considerable portion of his income in the officialdom over the years was obtained through illegal means.
For example, his brother-in-law in Fuzhou has been doing very well in recent years and his business is growing bigger and bigger. It is hard to say that he has not been influenced by Shen Yi.
And this brother-in-law came to Yanjing several times in the past ten years to visit his nephew and niece, and brought a lot of things to the Shen family. It is difficult to account for this money.
This is true for Shen Yi, and even more so for the entire court.
From Shen Yi onwards, including the prime ministers and minor officials of the eighth and ninth ranks, no one in the court could withstand it if a thorough investigation were conducted.
When everyone in the court is corrupt, anti-corruption will become a false proposition, or in other words, it will become a tool.
At this time, what matters is not whether you are greedy or not, but whether you are on the wrong side.
Of course, what we are talking about here is corruption within a normal range. For some extremely corrupt officials, even if His Majesty the Emperor turns a blind eye, it is difficult not to notice them. The downfall of these people has little to do with their stance on the right side.
In fact, most of the officials who are brought down for corruption are these corrupt officials.
But now, the Imperial Reporting Office has gone crazy and actually submitted a list to the Emperor to report corruption!
Before this list is published, it is equivalent to reporting all the officials in the court. After all, this list has not been published, and the emperor can use this as an excuse to deal with anyone he wants, and the three judicial officials can use this opportunity to investigate anyone they want!
This made these officials panic.
In fact, if Shen Yi had not made the final decision and said to hand it over to the three judicial officials, it would have been difficult for His Majesty the Emperor to push this matter forward on his own.
Because the emperor cannot stand against all officials.
The profession of emperor is essentially a job of a referee. Even if the referee has some tendencies and wants to do things of his own, he is most afraid of getting off the field and of competing with all the opponents on the field.
And at this time, only Shen Yi was qualified to say such powerful words as "hand it over to the three judges".
Of course, if Prime Minister Zhao Changping was still in the court, he would be able to say this, but Zhao Changping would most likely not be willing to put in such effort for the emperor and thus offend most of the scholars.
As for Shen Yi...
In fact, he no longer has much to do with the scholars. Whether he offends them or not, they will not say anything good about Shen Yi.
On the contrary, as the Shen family still controls the military, it would be beneficial to the Shen family if the scholar scolded Shen Yi.
This is also the reason why Shen Yi is willing to contribute.
Of course, the main reason was that the emperor spoke.
At this time, in this matter, if Shen Yi didn't help him, no one else could help him.
The officials of the three judicial departments knelt on the ground and all looked up at the emperor. Finally, the Minister of Justice Zhou Yuanlang kowtowed respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, please rest assured that we will get to the bottom of this matter."
His Majesty the Emperor sighed silently, stood up from the throne, shook his head and said, "When we were in Jiankang, I never tired of telling you earnestly that you must abandon greed. Over the past ten years, I thought that Dachen was enthusiastic and progressive, but I never thought..."
"That's all."
His Majesty the Emperor sighed deeply: "I... am really a little sad."
"Today's court meeting ends here. Let's disperse."
After saying this, he walked down the imperial steps silently.
Mr. Shen was the first to bow and salute: "Farewell, Your Majesty."
"Farewell to Your Majesty."
The court officials all bowed and saluted.
After the ceremony, the whole court meeting suddenly became noisy, like ants on a hot pan.
An official of the rank of Great Nine Ministers strode directly to Shen Yi, bowed and saluted, and then said, "My Lord, all of us colleagues are respectful to you when we see you on weekdays. We have never offended you. If anyone has annoyed you, just say a word and we will all come to your house to kowtow and apologize to you."
"Why did you sue everyone without making any noise?"
Those words aroused the response of countless people. Many people surrounded Shen Yi and responded loudly.
"That's right! Lord, if you feel uncomfortable, just say it directly. Why did you bring it to the grand court?"
Mr. Shen never had a smile on his face, and now his face turned dark. He shouted in a low voice: "Get out of the way."
Needless to say, Lord Shen had accumulated so much prestige over the years. He only said two words and everyone made way for him, not daring to stop him.
Mr. Shen walked silently to the entrance of the hall, then turned around to look at the officials following him, and said expressionlessly: "Everyone, Mr. Shen only has three points to say."
"First, the Imperial Report Department has not been under the jurisdiction of Shen for more than ten years. It is the Imperial Report Department that is suing you today, not me, Shen Yi."
"You all have climbed up the ladder to be able to participate in the court meeting. If your former yamen gets into trouble one day, will they be able to trace it back to you?"
"second."
Mr. Shen said slowly: "Secondly, since an official has handed over the evidence, and it involves an official, it is a common practice in Dachen to hand it over to the Three Law Courts for investigation. You should all be aware of this."
"third."
Shen Yi said expressionlessly, "Third, since the 13th year of Hongde, Your Majesty has worked hard to strengthen the country, and finally drove out Zhu Li Zhenren in the 19th year of Hongde and unified the country. But ask yourselves, from the 19th year of Hongde to now, have your hands been clean?"
"Or let me ask more bluntly. In the past ten years, have you all been more aggressive in reaching out for help?"
Master Shen said coldly: "Did I, Shen Qi, fight with countless soldiers on the front line to conquer half of the country? Was it for you guys?"
"Today, is it Shen Yi who wants to investigate you, or is it the court who wants to investigate you? You all know it very well. There is no need for me to say more. I, Shen Yi, will only say one thing!"
"Please check your conscience and speak to Mr. Shen only if you can do it with a clear conscience."
After saying that, Mr. Shen turned around and left.
The entire hall suddenly became quiet.
Prime Minister Song Yuan, standing behind the crowd, turned his head to look at the newly appointed Prime Minister Zhang Jian, sighed silently, and whispered: "Prime Minister Zhang, what is going on? You have to give us colleagues some fresh air..."
Zhang Xianggong smiled bitterly and said, "I am still confused, how can I breathe?"
After saying this, Mr. Zhang clasped his hands in front of him and let out a long sigh.
"However, the affairs of the imperial court do not have much to do with Lord Shen..."
As he said this, he looked at Zhou Yuanlang and said with a smile, "Minister Zhou, don't you think so?"
Zhou Yuanlang bowed his head respectfully.
"To reply to Prime Minister Zhang, Lord Shen has led troops for many years and his involvement with the court is indeed not deep."
Zhang Xianggong smiled meaningfully and said, "Then the three judicial officials should take the trouble to investigate this matter thoroughly."
The officials of the Three Law Departments nodded silently.
"Yes."
…………
On the other side, Shen Yi came to the outside of the palace gate and saw Luo Yong, whose buttocks had been beaten to pieces.
The torturers were internal security guards, and their techniques were very sophisticated. The wound looks scary, but it will heal after seven or eight days of lying down at home.
It's just a superficial wound.
Master Shen glanced at Luo Yong, then squatted down and shook his head slightly, "You asked them to beat you like this, didn't you?"
Luo Yong lowered his head and whispered, "Yes, I have offended too many people. I want to beat him up more severely so that the adults can vent their anger."
"stupid."
Master Shen shook his head slightly and sighed: "You must not be beaten badly at this time. It is not good to look miserable. It is best to be unscathed! Before they come, you should put on your clothes and go home immediately. Don't let them see your miserable state."
"otherwise…"
"You're in trouble."
Luo Yong was a smart man after all. He quickly understood what was going on. He couldn't help but shudder, then struggled to get up and limped away.
Although he was limping, his walking speed was even faster than usual.
Shen Yi silently watched him go away, then turned around to look at the officials who were slowly walking out and sighed.
The court was about to experience the first dramatic change after the capital was moved.
The final decision on how serious this earthquake in the officialdom would be lies with the emperor, but the ones who actually took action were Zhou Yuanlang and others.
Luo Yong started this.
With Zhou Yuanlang's ability, he would make this matter a big deal in a month at most.
Until one day, Emperor Hongde thought that the balance in the court had been completely achieved.
When Shen Yi was lost in thought, a respectful voice sounded behind him.
"My Lord, His Majesty invites you to come over and speak."
Mr. Shen nodded silently.
"understood."
(End of this chapter)