Three whips break the father-son relationship, please call me prince

Chapter 141: They are collectively forcing the emperor to abdicate. Are they trying to rebel?

The hall was silent.

How could the Dali Temple, which was handling a case in Chang'an County, hide the truth? They did not hide it and investigated the case and arrested people in a high-profile manner.

The magistrate of Chang'an County, a fifth-rank official, was also thrown into the Dali Temple prison.

They almost knew everything involved.

"Your Highness, this is something that has never been heard of or seen before. It is extremely shocking."

Gao Shilian stood up and said, "I second the motion. Severe punishment is required!"

He knew that the Changsun family was involved and that his nephew was with His Majesty in the north.

We must stand up and express our attitude for him, and first determine the charges against him.

In addition, someone from the Changsun Mansion sent a letter saying that the people who should be dealt with had been dealt with.

This means that the matter temporarily involves the Chang'an County Magistrate.

As for how Changsun Wuji could explain himself to His Majesty, he could do nothing to help.

Fang Xuanling said, "The case has been investigated. Those who undermine national policy, damage the reputation of the court, and harm the people should be severely punished."

The ministers stood up and spoke.

In this palace, many officials come from aristocratic families.

"Your Highness, the matter is led by the Dali Temple, but does it still need to be investigated by the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate? No one is missed, and no one is wrongly accused."

An official said.

It was obvious that this person wanted to set fire to Changsun's family.

Li Chengqian glanced at him, ignored him, and shouted, "Grand Censor!"

"The minister is here."

Ma Zhou responded, and Li Chengqian asked, "What do you think?"

"Your Highness, I believe the case is clear and the facts are solid. The Censorate does not need to investigate further."

Ma Zhou said immediately.

"Xingbu!"

Li Chengqian asked again.

Liu Dewei, the Minister of Justice, was a military officer. He said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, I think there is no need to investigate."

"The Dali Temple's investigation is very clear and the Ministry of Justice has no objection."

The files have already stated that Wang Xian's backer, Chang Sun Liang and his family committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

It is very clear that the matter ends here.

There's no need for them to keep pursuing it. It's not a big problem here. Just follow the procedure.

The big problem is how to explain Changsun Wuji to His Majesty.

"Well, if that's the case, then let the three judges judge the crime and punish it severely and strictly."

Li Chengqian made the decision and said, "This case should be sent to government offices all over the country to inform officials so that they can learn from it and behave properly."

"National policy is the guarantee for the prosperity, strength and growth of our Tang Dynasty."

"A prosperous era requires population."

“When the population grows, the country will be rich and the people will be prosperous.”

"Anyone who dares to go against the national policy and undermine the national policy will be regarded as destroying the vision of a prosperous era and destroying your majesty's lofty ideal of creating a prosperous era."

He said in a bad tone: "This action is considered treason."

“We will deal with each one we find, and we will deal with each batch as we find them.”

"No mercy!"

Li Chengqian looked at them majestically as he scanned them one by one.

It can be said that it is just a clear warning to certain power groups present.

You want to exploit the people and amass wealth.

no problem.

But the Tang Dynasty is making the cake bigger. Do you want a small cake or a big cake?
Population is the basic base.

The more people there are, the more targets you will have for exploiting and bullying.

The prosperity of the people does not refer to the common people, but to the local wealthy families.

The country is in the state it is now, and you can all live happily and lawlessly.

If the country were stronger and had a larger population, wouldn't you be able to move up to a higher level?
Li Chengqian immediately wanted to make these people clear that population growth would bring them huge benefits.

The goal is to win over a group of people to support this national policy.

Then crack down on another group of people who try to make money by taking advantage of national policies.

Cotton, wool, grassland livestock, etc.

They all require a large population base in order to obtain greater rewards and benefits.

What he did to Li Xiaogong was equivalent to winning over the royal family and the Guanlong Group.

The wool was given to Changle to handle, but in fact it was to let Changsun Wuji distribute it to the big families in Shandong.

This group of forces stands on the side of national policy. Basically, the military is unshakable, and they also have a huge voice in the court.

They will naturally spare no effort to promote and crack down on anything that undermines national policy.

Li Chengqian's interest is to increase population, and their interests are actually the same.

The difference is that Li Chengqian needs to increase the population and obtain more civilian talents.

They want to gain benefits from the large population.

The ultimate goals are different, but the population needs are the same.

The two sides can stand together.

This is one of the reasons why Li Chengqian took the things out.

I am trying to win you over with benefits, but I want to accomplish what I want to accomplish more.

As long as it gets done, nothing else matters.

……

When the ministers heard Li Chengqian's words, they couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts.

The three divisions no longer have to worry.

The prince has regarded undermining national policy as treason.

What else is there to consider? Just treat him as guilty of treason.

"The problems in Chang'an County happened right under the feet of the emperor."

"If it's not at the foot of the emperor, what would the scene be like somewhere else?"

Li Chengqian called out, "Grand Censor!"

"Chen is here!"

Ma Zhou finally learned the power of the prince's few words.

It was not a very wise move for him to hold back on Chang'an.

He probably had something big to take on, otherwise the prince wouldn't have called on him so many times.

"The corruption of officials in Chang'an and their collusion with local authorities to harm the people has definitely been going on for a long time. I had to wait until I inspected the implementation of national policies before I discovered it."

"You are in charge of monitoring all officials in the Imperial Censorate. As the Imperial Censor, you are not aware of such a tragic incident happening under the emperor's feet." Li Chengqian asked sternly, "Don't you know anything about it?"

"What on earth does the Censorate do?"

"I will now question you, the Censorate."

"Doctor Yushi, please answer clearly!"

Swish!
In silence.

All the officials present stood with their backs straight, holding their tablets in both hands, sitting upright and looking straight ahead.

Gao Shilian and Fang Xuanling also perked up their spirits, their faces solemn, not daring to act casually.

Ma Zhou hurriedly stood up, walked quickly to the center of the hall, bowed and said respectfully: "The Censorate's supervision was not strict, which led to such corruption and collusion between officials and local officials under the emperor's feet."

"I know my crime, please punish me, Your Highness!"

Looking for excuses?

Want to defend yourself?

Ma Zhou had no such idea at all and accepted the questioning calmly.

Chang'an County is at the feet of the emperor. No matter what, the Censorate cannot escape the blame for lax supervision and dereliction of duty.

His sophistry will only make people think that he is making specious arguments and shirking responsibility.

If you fail to please the Crown Prince, you will be disliked by His Majesty.

After all, the responsibility of the Censorate is there. If you can't even supervise the officials under the emperor, how can you supervise officials all over the world?

Do you, Ma Zhou, have the ability to sit in the position of Chief Censor?

"I will not punish you."

"After reporting this to His Majesty, His Majesty will make the decision."

Li Chengqian nodded and said, "You know your crime, but you don't know your mistake."

Ok?
Ma Zhou's forehead jumped, wondering what the prince meant.

I know my sin, but doesn’t that mean I know I’m wrong?
Gao Shilian and Fang Xuanling looked calm, but they understood everything in their hearts.

Now Ma Zhou is in trouble.

"The crime is that the supervision is not strict, but the fault is, did your Censorate take any supervisory action after the national policy was issued?"

Li Chengqian asked, "I want to ask you, has the Censorate ever thought about whether local officials are negligent in implementing the law?"

"Have you come up with a supervisory plan? When formulating national policies, can you, the Imperial Censor, propose the responsibilities that the Imperial Censorate should fulfill?"

"This mistake is due to your incompetence, Imperial Censor!"

Ma Zhou's face turned red. You could say he was wrong and guilty.

But in the court meeting, he was said to be incompetent.

This is absolutely unacceptable.

"Your Highness, I am not."

Ma Zhou shouted.

"Well, tell me, how can the Censorate ensure the smooth implementation of national policies?"

Li Chengqian showed him no mercy. "What's the plan? Have the censors been sent out?"

"After the national policy was promulgated, did you, the Imperial Censor, personally visit the people to see it?"

Bang!
He slammed the table and said sternly, "Answer me clearly!"

"Your Highness!"

At this time, Gao Shilian stood up and said loudly: "I want to impeach the Imperial Censor..."

As soon as he spoke, everyone was stunned. Was he trying to add insult to injury?
But Li Chengqian said in a deep voice:

"Duke Shen, sit down!"

In formal occasions, Li Chengqian did not give his uncle any face and just asked him to sit down.

Gao Shilian didn't think there was anything wrong and he sat back calmly.

Ma Zhou's complexion was already pale, and now it was even paler.

He knelt on the ground, holding the tablet tightly with both hands.

"I didn't...!"

"No?"

Li Chengqian said coldly: "It's good to know."

"I once said, don't just sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor, waiting for others to feed you."

"The Ministry of Revenue is one, and the Ministry of Works is also one."

Zhang Liang was there too, and when he heard this, he looked very unnatural.

Although the Ministry of Revenue was also scolded that time.

But the two palaces held the two departments accountable, causing both departments to lose all face.

This time it is the turn of the Censorate.

"I really doubt whether the Censorate is full of people who are just sitting there doing nothing."

This sentence has a wide impact.

The officials of the Censorate were already restless when they saw their boss being criticized, so who could remain calm now?

"Your Highness, I do not surrender!"

"Your Highness, I object."

"Your Highness, even though we have failed to monitor properly, we are definitely not the kind of people who just sit there doing nothing. Please take back what you just said."

The censors had to stand up. If they didn't, they would be branded as people who were doing nothing, and they would never be able to wash it off.

Ma Zhou never imagined that things would develop to this point.

He felt bitter.

I haven't offended the prince.

How come I ended up with the same treatment as Hou Junji?

"presumptuous!"

"Be bold!"

Gao Shilian, Fang Xuanling and other ministers immediately shouted, stood up and pointed at the censors, and asked angrily: "Are you trying to force the emperor to abdicate?"

Li Xiaogong remained silent and watched the situation develop.

Before His Majesty left, he told him to wait and see how things developed, and if the Crown Prince could not handle the situation, he would step in.

"It's really brave."

Li Xiaogong stood up, looked at him coldly, and asked, "Did the prince say anything wrong?"

"Do you still feel wronged?"

"The facts are clearly laid out here."

"I'll say a few words to you and force you to abdicate collectively."

He shouted angrily, "Are you going to rebel?"

(End of this chapter)