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

Chapter 505: The Ministers Are Outraged

The first grand court meeting in the sixteenth year of Hongzhi was very turbulent.

This morning, as soon as the grand court meeting began, the censors of various departments, inspecting censors, and censors of the Censorate were already gearing up for action.

When Emperor Hongzhi arrived at the Fengtian Hall, several imperial censors and imperial secretaries came out one after another and said righteously, "Your Majesty, we impeach Chen Ce, Marquis of Tai'an!"

"During the time when Marquis Tai'an was staying in Qingzhou, the White Lotus Sect of Qingzhou was in turmoil. The White Lotus evildoers cut off the food supply of Qingzhou Prefecture, and Qingzhou fell into a food shortage crisis. The countermeasures taken by Marquis Tai'an were really... really, aiding and abetting the tyrant, committing evil, and he will not die a good death, and he has put the court in an unjust position!"

"Not only did he not open the warehouses to release the grain, he even asked the Qingzhou government to raise the price of the grain and sell it to the common people in the Qingzhou market!"

"Your Majesty, this is worse than that of an animal! I even suspect that Chen Ce is a member of the White Lotus Sect, otherwise he would never do such a heartless and ungrateful thing!"

"Now the people of Qingzhou are full of resentment. It is only a matter of time before they rebel. All this is thanks to Chen Ce."

"Yes, we are aware of all the contributions that Marquis Tai'an has made to the Ming Dynasty. We also know that Chen Ce is in poor health. The emperor is grateful for what Chen Ce has done for the Ming Dynasty, and we understand that."

"But he is only relying on the emperor's favor to pretend in the capital. Once he leaves the capital, the things he does are simply unforgivable!"

"Your Majesty, it's time to punish Marquis Tai'an. If we continue to let him do such evil things, what credibility will the Ming Dynasty have?"

"Will the people of the two capitals and thirteen provinces still trust the imperial court? It is really outrageous that such a dark thing can happen in the bright and clear world of our Ming Dynasty!"

"Your Majesty, please immediately send the Imperial Censorate to bring Chen Ce back to the capital, and have the three judicial departments jointly investigate Chen Ce!"

When this group of censors made public what Chen Ce had done in Qingzhou, there was an uproar in the hall and everyone was excited!
unacceptable!

He is making money out of the national crisis. He is so rampant in the local area, relying on the emperor's favor. He pretended to be elegant and easy-going in the court the other day, but he showed his fangs immediately after leaving the capital. If this is not dealt with, who can control him in the future? !

Emperor Hongzhi knew that Chen Ce was definitely not such a person, and he must have his own purpose in doing so.

So Emperor Hongzhi asked, "Why did he raise the price of grain in Qingzhou?"

"What's your reason?"

An imperial censor said righteously: "Your Majesty, please understand. What other difficulties can he have at this time? No matter how great the difficulties are, he cannot hurt the people like this."

"The people are like water to the Ming Dynasty. If the water level rises, how long can the Ming Dynasty ship sail?"

"In my opinion, this boy has been spoiled by the emperor. When he arrived at the local area, he regarded himself as a local emperor. He openly committed crimes with the emperor's handwritten order. This is really too much!"

"Your Majesty, people's hearts can change!"

The censors impeached Chen Ce one after another, saying that he relied on his own merits, so he became so arrogant after leaving the capital, treating the people as pigs and dogs and the bureaucrats as slaves!
He has had a smooth life, so why would he be so cautious and timid?

The reason is that Chen Ce has too much power and you, Emperor Hongzhi, dote on him too much, which has led to such a situation!
Looking at the indignant expressions of the officials, they vowed not to give up until Chen Ce was executed on the spot today.

"The people of Qingzhou are now full of resentment, and the officials of Qingzhou dare not speak out. Isn't Chen Ce's move pushing the people into the White Lotus Sect?!" "Your Majesty, please quickly reprimand Tai'an Marquis Chen Ce."

To be honest, Emperor Hongzhi is also a little hesitant now.

This group of censors were so capable of misleading people. It was true that he trusted Chen Ce, otherwise he would not have given Chen Ce such great power. The power of execution first and reporting later and the imperial authorization all showed that Emperor Hongzhi had deep trust in Chen Ce.

He knew that Chen Ce would not act recklessly, and if he was given enough power, he would not do anything wrong.

But now the facts are before him, and Emperor Hongzhi doesn't quite understand what happened in Qingzhou, so he naturally can't be sure whether Chen Ce has changed his mind.

He is the emperor, the Son of Heaven of the Ming Dynasty. Everything is based on the Ming Dynasty. No matter how much he trusts Chen Ce, he cannot rule out the possibility that Chen Ce will change his mind.

With so many officials instigating him, how could Emperor Hongzhi not be wavering?
Qin Hong was silent for a moment, then stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, I don't know what happened in Qingzhou. If we reprimand Tai'an Hou hastily, and if we find out that he has his own reasons for doing so, wouldn't that be wronging a good man?"

"I suggest that we first investigate the cause and then discuss it."

This is the advantage of having someone in the court. If no one stood up to speak for Chen Ce today, the eloquent tongues of this group of censors alone would really be able to confuse the judgment of Emperor Hongzhi.

Li Hang, the Imperial Censor of Shandong Province, said sternly, "What do you mean, Lord Qin? The facts are all in front of us. These are the facts stated in the letter personally submitted by the Shandong Provincial Government. How can this be false?"

"No matter how difficult it is for Chen Ce, he should not raise the price of Qingzhou's grain in the name of the government at this critical moment of national crisis, right?"

"This move is tantamount to framing the imperial court in an unjust manner and causing the people of Qingzhou to lose trust in the government!"

"Lord Li," the inspector of the Censorate said to Li Dongyang, "Shouldn't your cabinet say something and express its stance on this matter?"

Li Dongyang is now the acting prime minister of the cabinet, but he does not want to get involved in Chen Ce's affairs, nor does he want to conflict with this group of censors.

Who knew that the Censorate would suddenly turn its guns around and start naming the cabinet directly.

Li Dongyang had no choice but to step out. He said, "If Chen Ce really did such a heinous thing, the court must reprimand him and deal with him severely. The results of the handling must be announced to the world so that the people can regain their trust in the court."

Emperor Hongzhi frowned slightly.

Li Dongyang certainly knew that Emperor Hongzhi would not deal with Chen Ce easily. When Chen Ce went to the Japanese island, he killed a vassal king, but Emperor Hongzhi chose to make a big deal out of a small matter.

At that time, Li Dongyang knew how important Chen Ce was in the heart of Emperor Hongzhi!
He changed the subject and continued, "But now, we haven't figured out the whole story and why Chen Ce did such an abnormal thing. If we hastily convict Chen Ce, it seems unfair to him. If we find out Chen Ce's difficulties in the end, who can be held responsible for arresting him by mistake?"

"So my advice is that once the situation becomes clear, we can discuss how to deal with it."

Isn't this clearly giving Chen Ce enough time to deal with the aftermath?
Good! You, Li Dongyang, are such a cowardly coward. You, Li Dongyang, are afraid of trouble, but we in the Procuratorate are not afraid!
Patrol Censor Li Hang said sternly: "When will we investigate? Will we investigate until Chen Ce has eliminated all the evidence? How can we interrogate him then?!"

"Your cabinet is afraid of taking responsibility? Fine! I am not afraid of the Censorate! I will take responsibility for this matter!"

(End of this chapter)