Daqin Zhentiansi

Chapter 512 Ladies and gentlemen, times have changed.

After the Fifth Prince finished speaking, he turned around and walked straight into the mansion.

Guo Wenhua quickly followed.

Holding the sword with both hands, Mo Xuan said loudly, "This humble servant will certainly convey the message."

After saying that, he moved and disappeared in a blur.

This scene sent chills down the spines of the Fifth Prince's retainers.

This powerful figure from the Demon Suppression Division is unmatched by any of them!
Outside the Fifth Prince's residence, Xu Wenyuan sighed softly, looking at Chen Zhengyi lying in a pool of blood, a feeling of sorrow rising in his heart.

From the initial high spirits of plotting against the Zhen Tian Si, to the current state of affairs where some are imprisoned and others have died, it has become a chaotic mess.

"Entering the mansion to arrest people, delivering knives to kill—is the Fifth Prince truly so despised in the eyes of the Marquis of Qingyang?" Li Wenyuan whispered beside Xu Wenyuan.

“Brother Li, in the eyes of the Fifth Prince and His Majesty, this is the true fine sword of the Zhen Tian Division and the Qingyang Marquis…” Xu Wenyuan looked at the Fifth Prince and Guo Wenhua walking in the mansion, his expression complicated.

Neither Xu Wenyuan, nor Chen Zhengyi who died at the hands of the Fifth Prince, nor Zhao Fuguo who was imprisoned, were people the Fifth Prince truly valued.

In the eyes of the Fifth Prince, even the Marquis of Qingyang, who was his enemy, was more important.

"Your Highness, this is His Majesty's sword." In the mansion, Guo Wenhua, who was following behind the Fifth Prince, spoke in a low voice.

His Majesty's sword.

The Heavenly Guard and the Marquis of Qingyang are both His Majesty's swords.

The Marquis of Qingyang's delivery of the knife represents not only himself, but also the Emperor of Qin!
In the Emperor's eyes, the Fifth Prince's actions in the Imperial City after the First Prince went to Qingtianzhou were excessive!

The Fifth Prince nodded, his eyes gleaming.

"Very well, let the officials conduct their own investigations. I'll take the first step and use it to clear my name."

"So, it seems that Marquis Qingyang does not truly intend to be my enemy."

At this point, he paused, a look of excitement appearing on his face.

"It is truly a fine knife."

The Black Ice Platform of the Heavenly Suppression Bureau is a sword in the hands of emperors.

For an emperor, the sharper the knife, the better.

Now that Ying Li is the fifth prince, this blade is gleaming and seems poised to harm him.

But what if one day Ying Li is no longer just the fifth prince and is qualified to hold this sword in his hand?
How delightful it is to have such a fine knife in hand!
“Select a few fine swords from the manor and send them to the Marquis of Qingyang’s residence.”

The voices of the Five Emperors rang out.

------------------

It only takes one day.

After years of silence, the Zhen Tian Division has returned to the sight of the people of the imperial city.

kill.

What does it mean to have the privilege of imperial power to kill without consequence?
Marquis Qingyang, wielding a knife, fought his way from the Dali Temple to the Ministry of Justice, killing both seventh-rank and fifth-rank officials.

Civil officials were killed, and military officials were also killed.

Not only did they kill, but they also blocked the entrance to the Qianyang Hall of the Imperial Palace and killed people there. They even sent the knife to the Fifth Prince's residence, telling the Fifth Prince to kill himself.

The imperial city is so vast, yet very few people have actually seen the Marquis of Qingyang.

But the only thing being discussed in the entire capital right now is one sentence.

Marquis Qingyang dares to kill.

Because the story of Qingyang Marquis killing someone with a knife became a hot topic among the people, no one cared about the fact that the Zhentian Division had arrested hundreds of people from the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice and confiscated the property of dozens of officials.

Even though the Zhen Tian Si (a powerful military organization) captured hundreds of students from the Imperial Academy to teach and imprisoned the Minister of Justice, few people paid any attention to it.

Originally, such a matter would have inevitably caused a huge uproar in public opinion, and the Censorate would probably have had to mobilize all its staff, with memorials pouring in like snowflakes.

But now, neither the Censorate, the Ministry of Rites, nor even the officials in the court have time to deal with outside affairs.

They can't even protect themselves!
The Privy Council issued three imperial edicts in one day, and three of the six ministers were kept in the Imperial Study.

The three departments joined forces, and all officials conducted self-examinations.

The newly appointed Imperial Censor Cao Yue posted a list of all his family's assets on the bulletin board outside Donghua Gate, stating that he had an additional tael of silver in addition to the list and was willing to resign and retire.

The imperial city is in chaos.

This chaos is not war, but disorder.

Over the years, the people of Qin have become accustomed to the extravagant spending of officials and the grand mansions of powerful families.

In the eyes of the soldiers who received a salary of five taels of silver, officials should be fat and wealthy, with no shortage of gold and silver. But Cao Yue completely overturned the perceptions of the common people and low-ranking martial artists, officers and soldiers.

In the Great Qin Dynasty, there truly were officials who were incorruptible!
This Qin Dynasty truly has officials who care for the country and its people!
Such an official should be given an important position by the emperor!

The Emperor is wise and has appointed Cao Yue as Imperial Censor!
The Emperor is wise; he has appointed the Marquis of Qingyang, who dared to kill, as the head of the Martial Guard!
The imperial city fell silent for a moment.

Everyone is waiting, waiting for the results of the officials' self-examination.

Jingzhao Mansion.

Xiao Lou, dressed in a gray-blue scholar's robe, sat in the back hall, with more than a dozen officials from the Jingzhao Prefecture in front of him.

This is the back hall, and none of the people here are wearing official robes.

These officials included most of the officials from the Jingzhao Prefecture, and a few from the Ministry of Personnel.

Xiao Lou's father-in-law was Sima Qingguang, the Minister of Personnel, and he was quite familiar with the officials in the Ministry of Personnel.

Xiao Lou looked at everyone, his expression calm.

"My colleagues and I, Xiao Lou, have worked together for several years and should know my character well."

"The reason for summoning everyone to the mansion overnight is to discuss the matter of officials conducting self-examination."

Xiao Lou glanced around and said in a low voice, "Minister Sima is currently detained in the palace, and the Ministry of Personnel is unable to keep track of the information of the officials or promote self-investigation."

"This was His Majesty's intention, and it was also Minister Sima's way of protecting himself."

"Minister Sima is my father-in-law, so I'll make things clear."

"This time, the Ministry of Rites led the self-inspection, and most of the civil officials in the Ministry of Rites were honest and upright. Even if the officials in the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Jingzhao Prefecture were clean, they could not compare with the people in the Ministry of Rites and the Censorate."

“If this matter is investigated further, the Ministry of Rites and the Censorate will surely be supported by the people, while the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, and other officials will probably be despised by the world.”

Xiao Lou looked at everyone, a hint of complexity in his expression.

"I was shocked that Cao Yue publicly disclosed his family assets."

"Looking back, our wealth is more than a thousand times, ten thousand times greater than theirs."

"What will the people think of us?"

Silence fell over the hall.

Having served as officials for a long time, everyone understood Xiao Lou's thoughts.

Sima Qingguang was the Minister of Personnel and should have been the most likely candidate to become a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet and the prime minister.

However, this time the Ministry of Rites participated in the self-examination of all officials, and most of the officials in the Ministry of Rites were of noble birth.

Once the self-investigation results are released, Sima Qingguang will be lucky to escape being implicated, let alone join the cabinet.

The Ministry of Personnel was the most lucrative of the six ministries, even more so than the Ministry of Revenue.

Xiao Lou's search for them now is undoubtedly paving the way for Sima Qingguang.

"Your Excellency, is His Majesty truly determined to investigate this time?" The fifty-year-old man standing in front of Xiao Lou narrowed his eyes. "In the capital, if a true investigation is conducted, how many people are truly clean?"

“That’s right. If all the officials are dismissed, who will work for the Qin Dynasty?” another civil official in his early forties, wearing a blue robe, said in a low voice.

The others looked at each other and nodded slightly.

D.

If this kind of self-inspection is really thoroughly investigated, it will probably end up as a mess.

"You don't understand."

Xiao Lou shook his head and waved his hand gently.

“You think that the Great Qin cannot function without officials, but you forget that there are plenty of people from all over the country who are willing to come to the capital to serve as officials.”

“You think that officials in the Great Qin need to be deeply versed in Confucianism and Taoism and be proficient in all kinds of laws, but you have forgotten that there are plenty of Confucian and Taoist practitioners on Qingtian Continent.”

Xiao Lou's voice stunned everyone.

"The disgraced official was exiled to Chenzhou, and a great Confucian scholar from Qingtianzhou was summoned to the court. Today, the Heavenly Way is flourishing, and many young people have potential and passion, not seeking fame or fortune, but only for the Great Qin."

Have you heard their slogans?

"If it is beneficial to the country, I will not avoid it because of misfortune or fortune."

"Everyone, times have changed."

Xiao Lou's gaze slowly fell on the people in front of him, and he said softly, "If His Majesty is not satisfied with the results of the officials' self-examination, there is also the Zhen Tian Si, and the Qingyang Marquis."

"The knife in Qingyang Marquis's hand is very sharp."

(End of this chapter)