I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

Chapter 7 The Seven Deadly Sins! The Censors' Swift Firepower

Just after noon.

The reason why the young Emperor Wanli was punished to kneel spread throughout the government offices in the capital.

"Yesterday, the Emperor mistakenly entered the Inner Study Hall. Shen Nian, the Imperial Academy examiner and the Inner Study Hall instructor, may have made unorthodox remarks in an attempt to please the Emperor and induce him to speak carelessly."

The word "or" is used very cleverly, meaning "speaking irresponsibly".

Ma Ziqiang originally wanted Shen Nian to admit the mistake of "speaking without restraint and misleading the emperor", but in the blink of an eye, it was spread as the crime of "being deviant and trying to please the emperor".

Speaking without restraint means only saying the wrong thing; being heretical means saying things that go against the words of the sages.

The latter's sin is obviously much more serious than the former's.

……

Hanlin Academy, inside the Review Hall.

After Wang Zudi, Zhao Yongxian, Liu Kezheng and Liu Chuxian learned about this, they all felt very sympathetic towards Shen Nian, but were powerless to do anything.

If the emperor said, "Teaching should be like this," wouldn't that be a slap in the face of all the Japanese lecturers?
It must be that Shen Nian said something he shouldn't have said.

They didn't dare to ask.

asked.

It is possible to implicate yourself.

Shen Nian, on the other hand, looked calm and did what he had to do.

He is waiting.

Wait for the impeachment memorials from the censors, wait for these people to provide evidence of his guilt, and then he will refute it.

He did not write a letter of apology in advance.

On the one hand, they don’t want to fall into the trap of self-justification.

On the other hand, he felt that this matter was both a crisis and an opportunity. Perhaps by suppressing some "fawning censors", he could let the court see his excellence.

……

An hour later.

Yu Daen, a clerk in the Hanlin Academy, walked into the review room with a smile on his face and went straight towards Shen Nian.

He placed the document in his hand on Shen Nian's desk.

"Shen Jianchao, this was sent by Scholar Ma. I'll leave it to you to decide. You're the only one in our Hanlin Academy who has been impeached by thirteen officials!"

After finishing his sarcasm, Yu Daen left.

In his eyes, Shen Nian has fallen into a dead end and his career is most likely over.

When Wang Zudi and the other three heard that Shen Nian was jointly impeached by thirteen officials, they couldn't help but tremble in their hearts.

The so-called department officials are the officials of the six ministries and six departments, who are the emperor's close servants.

Official WeChat weight.

They are responsible for reviewing official documents, advising on politics, inspecting officials, and supervising officials.

Their daily routine is to find fault with officials, and there is no one in the court that they dare not impeach.

If you get involved with them, you will lose a lot of skin even if you are innocent.

Immediately.

Shen Nian opened the copied document.

After reading the contents and seeing that those who impeached him were the Left and Right Censors (rank seven) of the same rank as him, he could not help but smile bitterly.

"These officials are so full of themselves for their achievements. I didn't even know I had seven deadly sins!"

Hear this.

Wang Zudi and the other three also stood up, came to Shen Nian, and looked at the document.

In the document, the officials listed Shen Nian's seven deadly sins.

Crime 1: Deviant and trying to please the king.

They said that Shen Nian had recognized the emperor in the inner study long ago, and deliberately spoke unorthodox, strange and flattering words to attract the emperor's attention in order to seek fame and position.

The second crime is usurping power and exceeding authority, and offending the emperor.

For a seventh-rank Hanlin reviewer to give lectures to the emperor without any imperial order or assignment was in itself an act of usurpation.

Crime three: being lazy and negligent in doing one’s job, and resisting the performance appraisal system.

The crime was that they looked through the roll call book and found that Shen Nian had been leaving office on time every day for the past half month, and his working hours were far less than those of his colleagues, so they believed that he was resisting the performance evaluation system.

Crime 4: Bullying clerks and acting recklessly. This crime most likely stems from the accusation made by the clerk Yu Daen, who alleged that Shen Nian deliberately bullied clerks under the pretext of looking for books just before the clerks were dismissed. Only Shen Nian was mentioned in the accusation, not anyone else.

Crime 5: Abuse of power, corruption and bribery.

This crime was caused by Shen Nian eating and drinking the snacks and tea offered by the young eunuchs in the inner study hall. The officials believed that Shen Nian forced the young eunuchs to bribe him.

Crime 6: Making friends with eunuchs and cultivating personal power.

This is because the young eunuchs in the inner library said that Shen Nian did not say anything inappropriate, and the officials believed that Shen Nian had formed a alliance with some of them.

Sin No. 7: Being disobedient and making a fool of oneself, and having no dignity as a teacher.

This refers to the fact that when Shen Nian was teaching in the inner study hall, his expressions were exaggerated and his body movements were too many, which lost the dignity of a teacher.

……

Wang Zudi, Zhao Yongxian, Liu Kezheng and Liu Chuxian were all stunned after watching it.

It really proves the saying: If you want to accuse someone of a crime, you can always find a pretext!

If we give those officials two more days.

Maybe he could come up with eighteen sins for Shen Nian, or even twenty-four or thirty-six sins.

Wang Zudi straightened his chest and said sternly, "Who leaked that the plan to search for books in the government office was from Ziheng? How shameless!"

Hearing this, Liu Chuxian subconsciously lowered his head.

"Ziheng, don't worry. As long as we know the inside story, we will never let you suffer any injustice!" Zhao Yongxian also spoke.

"Yes, Ziheng, we will help if we can!" Liu Chuxian looked at Shen Nian.

"Ziheng, I will write a memorial right now to impeach these officials for talking nonsense!" Liu Kezhen said angrily.

Shen Nian smiled and bowed to the four people.

"Thank you very much!"

"This matter has not yet been concluded. These officials are merely reporting on hearsay. Scholar Ma asked me to read this document so that I can defend myself. I believe the court will not wrongly accuse me. When your testimony is needed, please step forward."

The four of them nodded slightly and immediately returned to their workstations.

They didn't expect Shen Nian to be so calm.

If this kind of thing happened to them, they would have probably collapsed mentally long ago.

More than ten years of hard study may be ruined by this incident.

Immediately.

Shen Nian picked up his pen and dipped it in ink, preparing to write a memorial of defense.

He didn't blame the officials.

These people have no grudge against Shen Nian, nor do they want to harm Shen Nian, but are trying to relieve the emperor's worries.

To be precise, it was to relieve the worries of Empress Dowager Li, Prime Minister Zhang, and Feng Bao.

The crux of the problem is that the little emperor refuses to admit his mistake.

As for Shen Nian's career, no one cares.

It doesn't matter at all.

At that moment, the Ming Dynasty lost Shen Nian, just like a brick was missing from the front of the Meridian Gate, a fish was missing from the Taiye Pond, or a coarse porcelain bowl was broken by the Shangshenjian. It was insignificant at all.

Shen Nian thought about it and decided not to explain too much about these seven deadly sins. If the higher-ups investigated, they would easily find out the truth and clear his name.

What he has to do is to solve the situation.

Resolve the situation where the little emperor refuses to admit his mistakes.

As long as Shen Nian can get his memorial recognized by Zhang Juzheng and let him see his own value.

Then these seven deadly sins are no longer sins.

The little emperor refused to admit his mistake, which showed that he was very interested in Shen Nian's teaching method.

This is Shen Nian’s greatest reliance.

Based on his understanding of Zhang Juzheng, the latter would never severely punish someone who helped the young emperor with his studies.

Shen Nian thought about it, then immediately picked up the pen and started writing.

This matter was a big hurdle for him, but also an opportunity for him to make a big leap forward.

……

Note: The six departments are Personnel, Household, Rites, Punishments, Works, and Military. The officials include Chief Censor, Left Censor, and Right Censor. The fixed number of staff is maintained at around 58 people. Together with the censors of the Censorate, they are collectively called: Censors of the Departments.

(End of this chapter)