Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 347: Beheading the Left Censor-in-Chief

"If Hou Lu was really instructed by Gao Zhong, why did Hou Lu refuse to confess in the imperial prison? This is the first question;

If Gao Zhong wanted to frame Xu Jin, why did he go to so much trouble? Why didn't he secretly send spies from the Western Factory to plant firearms in his mansion to falsely accuse him of treason? This is the second question.
Gao Zhong is not the Prime Minister of the Imperial Household Department, and Xu Jin is not the Prime Minister of the Cabinet. Why can't the two get along? Moreover, I am not dead yet. Is it necessary for the Imperial Household Department or the Cabinet to kill each other? This is the third question;"

After Zhu Houzhao asked three questions, he looked at Ni Song.

Ni Song smiled and said, "Nothing escapes your majesty's scrutiny. I also think there are many suspicious points in this matter. Lu Kai impeached the eunuchs based on rumors and Hai Rui's statement that the Imperial Ming Newspaper exposed the fraud in the imperial elections as evidence of the Western Factory. It was really hasty. I have already reprimanded him."

"Hai Rui?"

Zhu Houzhao secretly became suspicious, thinking that from what Ni Song said, it was Hai Rui who spread the rumor that the Western Factory was framing the cabinet minister Xu Jin? When did Hai Rui have such a mind, and when did he follow the lead of the entire civil service group?
When Ni Song saw Zhu Houzhao's unhappy face, he knew that the emperor had heard his last words and began to doubt Hai Rui. He thought, Hai Rui, an official who does not understand the rules of officialdom and does not know how to tell his superior civil servants about the emperor's will first and then execute it, can forget about being reused by the emperor!
"The next step will naturally be to demote Hai Rui," Ni Song laughed secretly.

In fact, Zhu Houzhao did not confirm that Hai Rui was really the rumor maker and the person who intended to stir up struggles in the outer and inner courts. Instead, he was wondering why Hai Rui, who was a famous upright minister in history and had never been tolerated by the civil service group, became a villain who stirred up trouble behind the scenes in the eyes of Ni Song?

Zhu Houzhao suddenly looked up at Ni Song. Seeing a smug look in Ni Song's eyes, he put aside the matter of Hai Rui for the time being and said with a smile, "My dear Ni, you seem to be in a good mood. Recently, there have been a lot of discussions about businessmen interfering in politics and why the poor are poor. I would like to hear your opinion."

Ni Song didn't know why the emperor suddenly mentioned this, but he couldn't ask any more questions, so he just bit the bullet and replied, "Your Majesty, our dynasty selects people with outstanding talents and abilities, and there has never been a saying that people who are good at doing business are appointed as officials. Naturally, there is no saying that businessmen interfere in politics. The reason why the poor are poor is probably because they are lazy and don't work hard enough."

Zhu Houzhao just smiled and nodded after hearing this: "Well, I understand. You can leave now. You should reject Lu Kai's memorial and warn him not to speak nonsense. If you really believe that the eunuch framed the loyal officials, it would be better to have direct evidence. The conclusion that it was the Western Factory that exposed the incident can only show that the Western Factory played a positive role in maintaining the imperial power, but it cannot prove that Gao Zhong was suspected of framing Xu Gelao."

"I understand! I'll take my leave now!"

Ni Song retreated. He did not expect that the Emperor would punish Gao Zhong because of Lu Kai's memorial. After all, he knew that the Emperor was not a foolish monarch and would not let the Emperor punish Gao Zhong, the governor of the Western Factory, based on some rumors and inferences.

He did this simply to complete the task assigned by Xu Jin and to show Gao Zhong, so that Gao Zhong would understand that we civil servants are very unhappy that the Western Factory listens to His Majesty so much.

Gao Zhong did find out about this very quickly, and he was so angry that he slammed the table on the spot: "What on earth do these civil servants from the Censorate want to do? The Western Factory exposed this matter on His Majesty's orders! If they want to frame them, it was His Majesty who wanted to frame them!"

"Eunuch, please be careful with your words. You can't say that. This is Lord Xu warning you. The implication is that as the governor of the Western Factory, you can't just focus on His Majesty. You have to give face to the civil servants as well," Gao Zhong's own retainer hurriedly advised.

Gao Zhong finally understood after hearing this and couldn't help but say, "Is this world the emperor's world or the world of the civil officials? Why should I give them face?"

"Doesn't the Outline of the Constitution state that the people are the masters of the Ming Dynasty, and the scholars are the real people of the Ming Dynasty? These civil servants are all scholars, so naturally they cannot be offended," the Qingke added.

Gao Zhong couldn't help but sigh after hearing this: "It's a difficult job to be the head of the Imperial Household Department! Not only do you have to serve His Majesty well, but you also have to be careful of these scholars!"

……

It was May, and the sky was sunny at first, but then a storm came. Zhu Houzhao had to hurriedly run from the plum forest in the West Garden to a pavilion to take shelter from the rain.

"Have any new memorials arrived from the Censorate recently?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

Meng Jin quickly replied, "Your Majesty, no."

"Has Ni Song really suppressed these imperial censors and prevented them from getting angry? Even if he really did, is it possible that there are really few heroes in this world who dare to fight against the powerful? Wouldn't my efforts to popularize education be in vain? Have the scholars who were born among workers and peasants really forgotten their beliefs?"

Zhu Houzhao asked curiously.

But just when Zhu Houzhao was secretly puzzled, Gao Zhong came running in in a panic in the rain: "Your Majesty, the Supervisory Censor Yang Jisheng knelt outside the palace gate to impeach the Left Censor-in-Chief Ni Song, saying that Ni Song repeatedly concealed illegal activities and deceived his superiors and subordinates, and the recent court election fraud was suppressed by him for several days, causing Your Majesty to be deceived by the powerful ministers!"

"Yang Jisheng?"

Zhu Houzhao's pent-up frustration was washed away by a heavy rain in the sultry day, and he hurried to the palace gate.

That day, Zhu Houzhao summoned Yang Jisheng and asked, "Tell me, why did you impeach the Left Censor-in-Chief Ni Song?"

“Reporting to Your Majesty, I have solid evidence that the revelation of the imperial election fraud in the Huangming Daily has clearly aroused public indignation, but the Chief Censor Ni Song suppressed our memorial on the grounds that the revelation in the Huangming Daily was unclear.

However, the Huangming Daily is the official newspaper of the imperial court, so it would not be false. However, Ni Song doubted its authenticity, which shows that he had bad intentions! We, the censors, are angry at his lack of justice and have jointly impeached the Left Censor-in-Chief Ni Song! Your Majesty, please make a wise decision! "

Yang Jisheng replied.

"Approve the request of Yang Jisheng, the Censor of the Censorate, and order the Eastern Depot Inspectorate to immediately arrest Ni Song and remove him from his post as the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate!" Zhu Houzhao approved Yang Jisheng's request without hesitation.

Because Zhu Houzhao had been waiting for a civil servant who dared to uphold justice to come forward and impeach Ni Song, so when Yang Jisheng did so, he naturally did not hesitate.

At this time, Ni Song also knew about this and could not help but rush to the imperial city: "What does Yang Jisheng want to do! I am the director of the Censorate, and he didn't report to me in advance. Who gave him the courage to go directly to the palace gate to cause trouble? What a bastard!"

Ni Song was very angry. He really didn't expect that such a reckless civil servant would dare to do this and disobey the established rules of the entire officialdom.

After cursing for a few times, Ni Song threatened: "Does he not want his career anymore?!"

However, at this moment, the East Factory Inspectorate also happened to arrive and surrounded Ni Song in the center.

"General Ni, please come with us," said the people from the East Factory Inspectorate as they dragged Ni Song away on the spot.

Ni Song struggled: "What are you doing? Let me go, I want to see His Majesty! I want to impeach Yang Jisheng. Yang Jisheng does not do things according to the rules. As an imperial censor, he did not report his memorials to the emperor first, but he made trouble at the palace gate without authorization! You should arrest him!" The East Factory Inspectorate ignored him.

In fact, Zhu Houzhao also clearly stated that if the Left Censor-in-Chief did anything illegal, the Censor-in-Chief could come directly to the palace gate and report it to his superiors.

Therefore, Yang Jisheng's actions were not considered to be against the rules.

"Your Majesty, Ni Song confessed the reason why he suppressed the censor's report of fraud in the court, because he did not want the matter to become a big deal," East Factory Governor Lu Long reported to Zhu Houzhao shortly afterwards.

Zhu Houzhao said: "This is not a reason for him to obstruct public opinion. Interfering with the government affairs of the court is a crime that harms the country. He should be beheaded! The Ministry of Justice shall execute him immediately!"

Ni Song never dreamed that he would be executed so soon. He couldn't believe it for a moment and shouted to the eunuch who announced the decree: "No, this is impossible! How could His Majesty be willing to kill me like this! I didn't obstruct the speech, I just postponed it a little, just a postponement!"

The eunuch who announced the decree ignored him and just left with the imperial edict.

Ni Song was soon escorted to the execution ground and beheaded in public.

……

"Is President Ni abandoned like this?"

Xu Jin said with some surprise, and then he couldn't help but touch the back of his neck. He naturally knew why the emperor wanted to kill Ni Song. It was because Ni Song abused his power and touched the emperor's reverse scale. As the Left Censor-in-Chief, he should have reported it immediately after knowing it, instead of thinking about suppressing it. After all, it was the emperor who instructed to expose the fraud in the court, but you, Ni Song, dragged your feet and did not report it, obviously wanting to save some people.

"This is the consequence of disobeying the Emperor's will! His Majesty is still so ruthless and decisive! It's a pity for Mr. Ni, he died for us civil servants. If he hadn't delayed for a while, I might have died too."

Xu Jin secretly sighed in his heart, then he couldn't help but slam the table and said viciously: "Hai Rui hasn't been eliminated yet, and now there's Yang Jisheng! What on earth do these people want to do! How can they be so ignorant of the rules!"

"Please calm down, Lord. Hai Rui, Yang Jisheng and the others are not the same kind of people as us. They are humble officials who always put the interests of workers and farmers above the gentry. They are also deeply poisoned by the theory of the holy class. They think that we are the spokespersons of the merchant class and the representatives of collusion between officials and businessmen! Therefore, from the beginning, they regarded us as enemies. Why should we regard them as friends? Now that he has killed my father, I will make him pay for his blood debt with blood!"

Ni Yuanlin said with gritted teeth.

Xu Jin couldn't help but sigh when he heard what Ni Yuanlin said: "This is all the root of the evil caused by your majesty's previous universal education. The more scholars there are, the more divided they are. This is really not a good thing for the literati!"

……

At this time, Xia Yan also learned that Yang Jisheng impeached Ni Song, which led to Ni Song being executed within three days. He clapped his hands and said, "Ni Song's death is not unjust! As the Left Censor-in-Chief, he was willing to be a lowly official and a running dog of the cabinet ministers. Now that he has been executed, it is enough to show how wise and decisive Your Majesty is!"

The cabinet minister that Xia Yan was referring to was naturally Xu Jin. Although he did not have solid evidence, with his many years of experience in the court, he guessed that Ni Song must have been in collusion with Xu Jin. Otherwise, he would not have asked the Left Censor-in-Chief Ni Song to immediately report to the Emperor just because of a rumor that the Western Factory had framed Xu Jin.

While Xia Yan secretly congratulated himself on his emperor's insight into the current situation, he also couldn't help but lament the vacancies in important posts in the Ministry of Personnel and other ministries. In addition, the post of Left Censor-in-Chief was now vacant due to the beheading of Ni Song, making it a most urgent matter to appoint new officials to these important posts as soon as possible.

However, because the current procedure for selecting officials is to be recommended by the court, Xia Yan had to once again submit a memorial to the emperor to suggest that he reform the system of recommendation by the court.

Zhu Houzhao also knew that the official positions such as the Minister of Personnel, the Left and Right Vice Ministers of the Ministry of Personnel, and the Left Censor-in-Chief had to be determined, and that the court recommendation system did need to be changed, not only to concentrate power and improve efficiency, but also to prevent businessmen from interfering in politics.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao decided to adopt Xia Yan's previous proposal and issued an edict to appoint the Chief Minister of the Cabinet Xia Yan, the Second Minister of the Cabinet Xu Jin, the Privy Councilor of the Imperial Guards and Duke of England Zhang Rong, and the Deputy Privy Councilor of the Imperial Guards Jiang Dong as ministers of state affairs, set up a council office to decide on the recommendation of officials in the court.

When this decree was issued, the whole country was in an uproar.

Of course, it would take some time for the imperial edict to be issued and for the people of the world to know about it and start making trouble. During this period of time, Zhu Houzhao and these officials had already started a new form of court nomination meetings and began to decide on the selection of new officials.

Zhu Houzhao asked Xia Yan to temporarily take charge of the post of Minister of Personnel and be responsible for nominating candidate officials.

Naturally, Xu Jin was very averse to this kind of new court promotion, where only the emperor and a few important ministers decided who would be promoted.

Because he knew that this would mean that most civil servants would lose the opportunity to influence the government, and would not be able to become dignitaries by accumulating fame. However, he knew that since the emperor had already made the decision, there was no point in him opposing it. However, he believed that many civil servants behind him would certainly not agree to the emperor's behavior of allowing important state affairs to be decided by only a few people.

However, what Xu Jin did not expect was that His Majesty the Emperor would let military officials and nobles serve as ministers of state affairs!

When Xu Jin saw Duke Yingguo Zhang Rong and Jiang Dongwei of the Imperial Guard standing in line and walking into the hall wearing the newly bestowed dragon robes like himself, he was astonished as if he was struck by lightning!

"Why and when did His Majesty want military officials to make important decisions? Wouldn't this completely put military men and scholars on an equal footing?"

Not only Xu Jin was shocked, but even Xia Yan did not expect that although His Majesty the Emperor adopted his proposal to set up the Council of State and establish the system of council ministers, he did not make all the council ministers civil servants.

However, although Xia Yan was also a civil official, he had led troops before and was not opposed to the military. Moreover, if you look closely, except for Duke of England Zhang Rong, Jiang Dong could not be considered a military officer. At most, he could be considered a civil official in charge of the empire's military affairs. Moreover, even Duke of England Zhang Rong graduated from a regular school and his knowledge was no worse than that of a literati.

Therefore, Xia Yan did not say much. Moreover, Xia Yan also knew that it was the emperor's power to appoint ministers of state affairs. If he wanted to interfere with the emperor's appointment of ministers of state affairs, it would be tantamount to usurpation of power. Zhu Houzhao had every reason to kill him directly.

In fact, Xia Yan could also guess why the emperor did this. It was certainly not to let military officials rule the country. After all, it did not say that civil officials were not allowed to become ministers of state affairs. The emperor did this simply to allow the empire to continue to expand militarily and to prevent the empire from becoming completely useless.

Thanks to my book friend zjayct for the 100 starting coins reward. Thank you to my book friend Yi Jin Bai Tang for the 100 starting coins reward.

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(End of this chapter)