You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

Chapter 119 Witnesses Collectively Turn Against Each Other
Xie Sheng, the Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, stepped forward without hesitation: "This old minister is willing to testify that all eight major crimes impeached by Vice Minister Liu are true."

Instantly, an uproar erupted.

I hate Ning Wan, the Left Censor-in-Chief, so much that I grind my teeth in hatred. Xie Sheng is his deputy, and he actually dared to betray me at this time.

In official circles, this kind of behavior means four words: a fight to the death.

Xie Sheng also caught a glimpse of his superior's angry eyes, but he didn't care.

He knew very well that he had no choice. This was how it was when he took sides. People who wavered and hesitated would never have a good ending. Even standing firmly on a position that was destined to fail was better than taking a wavering position.

The reasons are subtle and will not be elaborated upon here.

……

"Besides Xie Sheng, are there any others?"

The hall was quiet, and Shunzhi's voice echoed throughout.

"Wu Liangfu, go and ask around in the other halls. We must get to the bottom of what happened today. I've given them a chance."

"The slave obeys the order."

Wu Liangfu, the chief eunuch and a trusted confidant of Emperor Shunzhi, hurriedly left the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

A shadow fell over everyone's hearts.

Stand in line!

The Emperor is making everyone who wants to take sides step forward!

Even Jiang Qingyun was greatly shocked. He suddenly realized that the young Emperor Shunzhi was more shrewd than he had expected, and that this open scheme was played quite brilliantly.

Fifteen minutes later, Wu Liangfu returned.

"Your Majesty, the ministers who support Minister Liu have all arrived. They are waiting outside the palace, totaling 16 people."

"it is good."

Emperor Shunzhi blurted out a sentence out of nowhere.

……

"Jiang Qingyun, do you want to defend yourself? Stand up and answer truthfully."

"The minister obeys the order."

Jiang Qingyun stood up and walked to the front of the three kings who governed.

"Your subject pays respects to the three princes."

No one paid any attention to them.

But it doesn't matter; it doesn't affect my ability to criticize others from afar.

Jiang Qingyun politely cupped his hands in greeting: "Your Majesty, do you support Minister Liu?"

The moment these words were spoken, the air in the hall seemed to grow colder.

Fan Wencheng thought to himself: This kid is too insidious! I knew I couldn't go against him!
Nikan was about to speak.

Suddenly, Bolo stood up.

"It's not a matter of supporting or opposing. If the impeachment is true, you should be subject to the law. If it's not true, it means that Vice Minister Liu is framing someone, and he should be subject to the law."

That's a very tactful response.

If this verbal exchange were described as a battle, the process would be something like this: Jiang Qingyun raised his three-zhang spear and thrust it forward. Bolo dodged to the side, and the spear grazed past his armor, sending sparks flying.

……

After a moment's thought, Jiang Qingyun changed his question:
"Your Highness is loyal and devoted to the country, which I greatly admire. However, I would like to ask Your Highness, were you aware of Minister Liu's impeachment of me beforehand?"

hiss~
The air inside the hall instantly dropped to freezing point.

Apart from the Mongolian princes, everyone else trembled with fear.

Ning Wanwo: Well done! You're the next leader of the Liaoning Party.

Fan Wencheng: Luckily I didn't join the anti-Chiang Kai-shek movement; I knew you couldn't win.

Feng Shuan: Hahaha, I am Imperial Censor Jiang's dog.

Sony: My illness won't get better anytime soon.

Ao Bai: Well done! You are indeed a comrade-in-arms who once fought alongside me to suppress the Zhenglan Banner.

Jiang Hede: My ribs are aching slightly.

Shunzhi: You understand me best.

……

Prince Boro took a deep breath and replied politely, "I was unaware of this beforehand."

Jiang Qingyun nodded.

Where is Prince Li?

Mandahai: "I don't know either."

"Where is Prince Jingjin?"

Nikan Teng stood up and threw a punch at Jiang Qingyun's chest. Due to the speed of the punch, Jiang Qingyun was knocked backward.

Emperor Shunzhi was enraged by this rude behavior.

"Nikan, what do you want to do?"

“Your Majesty, how dare this Han Chinese servant question a prince to his face? He is truly outrageous. I beg Your Majesty to order his execution.” “Nikan, listen carefully. It is I. I want you to answer truthfully.”

Nikan's face flushed red, and he clenched his fists.

"answer!!"

The atmosphere inside the hall turned icy again.

……

Nikan's eyes were red, and he forced out two words: "I don't know."

Jiang Qingyun took a step back and bowed respectfully to Nikan, but this action almost provoked Nikan to overturn the table.

So far~
Jiang Qingyun achieved his first step, successfully excluding the three kings of the ruling class from the conflict. A simple "I was unaware" deprived them of any possibility of intervening to support him or even taking sides.

Next, I can focus on dealing with the Northern Party led by Liu Zhengzong and Xie Sheng.

Court intrigue and battlefield combat have many things in common: concentrate superior forces as much as possible, fight annihilation battles against small groups of enemies, and it is better to cut off one finger than to injure all ten.

Jiang Qingyun's attitude was very firm:
“Minister Liu, I do not admit to any of the eight charges you have leveled against me; they are pure slander.”

"is it?"

Liu Zhengzong sneered and walked towards Wu Sangui, the Prince of Pingxi.

“Prince Pingxi, please step forward and vouch for me.”

"Prove what?"

Liu Zhengzong was immediately stunned, his vision went black, and he almost fell over.

"Your Highness, your heir has been besieged by Imperial Censor Jiang's troops, and the heir has been taken hostage. Don't you feel wronged?"

"How could I not know? When did this happen?"

Wu Sangui was shocked.

Shunzhi spoke up: "Go and invite the heir of the Prince of Pingxi over."

Not long after~
Wu Yingxiong has arrived.

After listening to the whole story with a blank expression, he said firmly, "It's pure fabrication, completely unfounded."

Losing his composure, Liu Zhengzong grabbed his sleeve.

"Your Highness, one must be honest."

Wu Yingxiong pushed him away.

"Minister Liu, in which brothel or in which woman's bed did you hear this story?"

……

"Ying Xiong, this is before the Emperor; you mustn't be rude. Quickly, apologize!"

"Yes."

Wu Yingxiong apologized with a look of resentment.

"Your Excellency, I have been rude."

Liu Zhengzong couldn't care less about anything else. In his panic, he tried to grasp at the next straw—Kong Youde.

"Prince Dingnan, Imperial Censor Jiang led the city patrol soldiers to surround and beat the meritorious soldiers of the Tianyou Army in the street. Many people witnessed this. I beg you to stand up and seek justice for the soldiers."

Just as Wu Yingxiong vehemently denied it, Kong Youde realized something was wrong and quickly revised his original plan.

He stood up.

"Your Majesty, this is what happened."

"Some of my soldiers had a price dispute with merchants in the southern part of the city because of the language barrier. They thought the prices in the capital were too high and they almost came to blows because they thought they had encountered a shady shop. Later, the Five Cities Garrison arrived, understood the facts, and cleared up the misunderstanding. That's what happened."

Liu Zhengzong collapsed to the ground instantly, weeping bitterly.

“Prince Dingnan, that’s not what you said before. You can’t go back on your word like this. We clearly agreed on this beforehand.”

An uproar erupted inside the hall.

Kong Youde was seething with hatred. "You didn't say that back then!"

What happened to the promise of a righteous and prosperous court?

What happened to the saying "the righteous will receive much help"?

What happened to the powerful backer we were promised?

What happened to the promised collective overthrow of Chiang Kai-shek?
Fuck you!

……

Kong Youde took a deep breath and spoke with reason and evidence:
“Minister Liu, you visited me at the post station that day and inquired about the conflict. I thought that there were no trivial matters under the emperor's nose, so I told you everything and even agreed to let you write it into a memorial to the emperor. But you can't just make up stories! If you want to stir up factional strife, why drag me into it?”

As soon as these words came out.

Liu Zhengzong, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was completely devastated. He pointed at Wu Sangui and Kong Youde, about to say something.

Thump~
It fell straight backward.

Another commotion broke out inside the hall.

Shunzhi waved his hand dismissively: "Send him to the Imperial Hospital for treatment first, then to the Ministry of Justice prison."

(End of this chapter)