Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 395 The truth comes out
The atmosphere in the hall became a little weird, and Chen Ce once again became the focus of the crowd.

Emperor Hongzhi glanced at Chen Ce and said, "Chen Ce, don't keep me in suspense. Just tell me what you want to say."

Chen Ce smiled and said, "Yes, Your Majesty is modest and low-key, I admire you."

Emperor Hongzhi: “?”

What does this have to do with me?
Naturally, the officials in the hall were also curious about what this had to do with the emperor.

Chen Ce said, "Since the Hongzhi Reform, the national finances have improved initially. However, after every natural disaster, there are always children who are displaced, or even abandoned by their parents and become beggars."

"The eunuch Li Guang, who holds the seal of the inner palace, found me and asked me to build an orphanage in the name of the emperor's treasury."

"Since the establishment of Shuntian Welfare House, it has taken in more than 50 displaced children. The people of Shuntian know about the court's kindness and are grateful for the grace of heaven. The scholars and scholars are even praising the court."

After a pause, Chen Ce glanced at the Imperial Censor Shi Lin and asked, "If you insist on saying that I am colluding with the Empress, I have nothing to say. Let's just say that I am colluding with the Empress."

"If you want to impeach me for this crime and have the Ministry of Justice arrest me, I will accept it."

Chen Ce thought for a moment, then bowed to Emperor Hongzhi and said, "Your Majesty has devoted all his energy to the country. I'm afraid you have forgotten this little thing."

Emperor Hongzhi thought to himself, when have I ever done such a thing? Why build a welfare home? And why use my own money?

After Chen Ce finished speaking, the hall suddenly became quiet.

No one dared to question whether Chen Ce was colluding with the Empress. Shuntian Welfare Institute was responsible for adopting and raising abandoned children for free. This was a great act of kindness and a manifestation of the court's grace.

Didn’t you hear? The scholars outside have already spread the news and are all grateful to the court.

If anyone wants to capture Chen Ce now, won’t he be scolded to death by the scholars and Confucian scholars outside?
Shi Lin was a civil servant and an imperial censor. He valued his reputation too much to dare to hold on to the evidence of Chen Ce's collusion with the Empress.

Chen Ce asked Shi Lin suspiciously, "You are the Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate. Don't you usually pay attention to what's going on outside?"

Shi Lin was speechless, "This, this..."

Chen Ce looked disappointed and said, "The imperial censors have the power to report rumors, but these things can be known as long as you investigate them carefully."

"Or have you been away from the people for too long and are no longer concerned about their affairs?"

These words are so heartbreaking!

Too arrogant! Especially with Chen Ce's disappointed expression, overlooking the entire court of civil servants, it was simply not very harmful, but extremely insulting.

Shi Lin angrily said, "Chen Ce! Stop making trouble. Do you want to make enemies with all the officials?"

Qin Hong hurriedly stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, I have not formed a party."

At this time, all the officials suddenly realized that what Censor Shi said was simply brainless!
What do you mean by being an enemy of all officials? Aren't you dragging everyone into your camp? Chen Ce is saying that you are out of touch with the people, but you are dragging all the civil servants into this. Who would want this?

Shi Lin was now also confused by Chen Ce's anger. He suddenly came to his senses and quickly explained, "Your Majesty, I didn't mean that!"

Chen Ce asked, "Then why did you say just now that I want to be an enemy of all officials?"

Shi Lin: “…”

Chen Ce said no more. He cupped his hands and said to Emperor Hongzhi: "Your Majesty, the Shuntianfu Welfare House is indeed a benevolent act of your Majesty and a manifestation of Hongzhi's benevolent government. However, it is not a solution to always rely on the treasury for future financial expenditures. I request that your Majesty include this project in the Ministry of Revenue's appropriations."

Emperor Hongzhi asked the cabinet, "What do the three ministers think?"

The three cabinet elders would naturally not object. Since this welfare house was a good deed led by the emperor to benefit the people, how could the cabinet dare to refute it? The Ministry of Revenue naturally did not object either.

Emperor Hongzhi stared coldly at Shi Lin again and said, "Master Chen is right. As a high-ranking official in the court, you must stay away from the people. Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it. You should go to the people to investigate more."

"I am sending you to inspect the people's livelihood and economy in the various departments in the southwest."

Shi Lin: "Your Majesty, I…"

Going to the southwest again, the environment in the southwest is harsh, who would be willing to go to the southwest to suffer? Emperor Hongzhi was obviously trying to punish Shi Lin.

The court was adjourned. Today, all the officials had their first contact with Chen Ce and had a thorough understanding of him.

On the surface, he appears to be as gentle as jade and a modest gentleman, but he is extremely aggressive and good at debating. A simple sentence can send his opponent to hell. This guy should not be underestimated!
Chen Ce did not leave but waited outside the hall.

After all the officials left, Emperor Hongzhi found Chen Ce and asked him bluntly, "What on earth are you and Li Guang doing?"

"When will I use the treasury to build a welfare home?!"

Chen Ce shook his head and said, "No, I paid all the money. As for the money Li Guang gave me, he owed me."

Emperor Hongzhi said unhappily, "So you deliberately dragged me into this in the hall just now?"

Chen Ce nodded and said, "Yes, such a good deed and benevolent policy can only be the grace of the emperor. I am wholeheartedly considering it for the emperor. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Emperor Hongzhi always felt that every word Chen Ce said was a lie, but he could not find any evidence!
In fact, what he thought was not wrong. Chen Ce was indeed talking nonsense. The money for building the welfare home was not paid by him, but by Li Guang.

But Li Guang knew that the money was all embezzled, so he didn't dare to say anything. Therefore, Li Guang would not expose Chen Ce's lies.

Emperor Hongzhi stared at Chen Ce and sneered, "You're thinking about me? I think you're thinking about the displaced children in the world!"

"You can't afford the orphanage, so you have to find a way to bring this project within the scope of the court's funding."

"So that's why you're saying that I did these good deeds, is that true or not?"

Chen Ce said honestly: "Yes, the country has become rich and powerful, so we should build some welfare facilities to give back to the people."

Emperor Hongzhi agreed with this view, but soon he stared at Chen Ce in shock and suddenly asked, "Did you predict that this would happen?"

Chen Ce asked in confusion: "Why does the emperor ask this?"

Emperor Hongzhi sneered, "Do you think I'm a fool? Why didn't you publish such a big event about the orphanage in the newspaper?"

If it was published in the newspaper, would the Censorate not know what Chen Ce was doing? This was enough to show that Chen Ce had anticipated what would happen today, and deliberately used this incident to perfectly pull the welfare home into the list of financial subsidies from the Ministry of Households!
amount.

Chen Ce said embarrassedly: "Your Majesty is wise. I have indeed calculated everything that will happen today."

Since he was exposed by Emperor Hongzhi, Chen Ce admitted it honestly.

"You!" Emperor Hongzhi sneered, clenched his fists, and angrily said, "If the Ming Dynasty had a new emperor, you would have been sent to hell long ago. You are just taking advantage of my kindness, right?"

Chen Ce shook his head and said, "No, the emperor is a wise ruler. I only dared to be so presumptuous during the Hongzhi reign, because I knew that the emperor was not a tyrant who could not distinguish right from wrong, but a wise ruler who was the best in history."

Emperor Hongzhi: “…”

These words sounded pleasant, but when they came out of Chen Ce's mouth, he always felt that Chen Ce was teasing him. For some reason, this feeling was very strong.

Besides...he is so perfunctory!
(End of this chapter)