Thief Emperor

Chapter 1016 Strict Law
Something did happen with Meng Qing.

About six or seven days ago, the Khitans somehow found out that General Deng Yang of Taiyuan was transferred to Nanjing to serve as General of Nanjing.

As a result, almost all the Khitans in Youzhou went out.

The Khitans outside the Great Wall, led by Yelu Yi himself, together with the remnants of the Khitans in Youzhou, attacked the Tang army near Yumen Pass, which was Meng Qing's main force.

At this time, Meng Qing's main force near Yuguan had about 60,000 to 70,000 people, and the two sides fought fiercely in Yuguan for several days.

Meng Qing's troops lost over 10,000 soldiers in their desperate attempt to defend Yuguan.

The Khitan casualties were less than those of the Tang army. After failing to capture Yingzhou, these Khitans turned around and launched a surprise attack on Jizhou, looting a considerable amount of food and grass from Jizhou.

The Khitans outside the Great Wall also retreated gracefully.

Li Yun started paying attention to this war since he returned to Luoyang, but at that time, there was still no result. This morning, just as he got up to prepare for the court meeting, the "result" was delivered to him by Jiusi.

The Emperor was furious when he saw this.

He also knew that the Khitans were a powerful enemy. It was impossible to wipe out all the tens of thousands of Khitans in Youyan. According to Li Yun's own estimation, it would take another three to five years to completely eliminate the Khitans in Youyan and ensure that there would be no Khitans causing trouble inside the pass.

But now, the war in the past few days has been going a bit badly.

What made him even more uncomfortable was that the baggage of Jizhou was robbed. There was no shortage of gunpowder and firearms in these baggage. If they were transported to Youzhou City, the difficulty of taking Youzhou City later would probably increase suddenly.

Even though most of these Khitans were light cavalrymen who could not carry away heavy firearms such as cannons, the fact that they took away a batch of gunpowder and equipment such as telescopes was enough to make His Majesty the Emperor very angry.

In Li Yun's opinion, there were many reasons for this small defeat.

There were reasons of Meng Qing's poor command, leakage of internal information, and also due to Liu Bo's departure, the Nine Departments failed to coordinate in a timely manner.

In fact, the Nine Departments of Youyan and Hebei Road did not have many staff, and most of their energy was focused on dealing with the Khitans outside the Great Wall.

In addition, there have been no major wars for seven or eight years, and these nine departments may not have the same coordination capabilities as they did in the past.

The nine officials at that time rode their horses non-stop every day, and they could even coordinate the several Jiangdong armies within a few hundred miles seamlessly and control them as if they were at the same arm.

And now, almost ten years later, does Ji Ri still have this ability, or how much of this ability is left?

It's hard to say.

What made His Majesty the Emperor even more angry was that this time his rhythm was "interrupted" by the Khitans. If he wanted to move forward step by step in the future, it would no longer be as smooth as before.

Perhaps the morale of the Khitan people, whose morale was low, would be boosted again because of this incident.

If this is the case, the progress of completely wiping out these Khitans may be pushed back for a long time.

Thinking about the Emperor of Liaodong all the way, he came to the front hall of Taiji Palace with a gloomy face. He strode up to the imperial steps, stepped onto the dragon throne, and sat down directly.

At this time, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister Du had returned to their original positions. Led by them, all the ministers knelt down and kowtowed in obeisance.

After three cheers of "Long live the emperor", His Majesty raised his hand and said expressionlessly: "Everyone stand up."

Although according to the rules, ministers cannot look up at the emperor, but the emperor's emotional state at this time still makes these ministers in the court can't help but look up and secretly glance at the emperor, and then quickly retract their gazes, for fear of being seen by the emperor.

After all the officials stood up, Emperor Li exhaled and said, "Today is called the Grand Court Meeting. You should have known some things. Since you know them, I will not say more, Gu Chang."

His Majesty the Emperor looked at Gu Chang standing beside him and said calmly, "Read the imperial edict."

Gu Chang quickly responded with a "yes" and unfolded the imperial edict that he had held in his hands for a long time. As the six words "The Emperor, By the Mandate of Heaven" came out of his mouth, all the civil and military officials knelt on the ground again.

Eunuch Gu glanced at the ministers kneeling in front of him and felt somewhat proud, but there was no expression on his face. He remained very serious as he read out the last two words at the beginning.

"The edict said."

"I have inherited the great mandate to rule the world. The imperial examination is a grand ceremony for selecting talents for the country. Studying hard is the right way for scholars to establish themselves. In the seventh year of Zhangwu, the spring imperial examination was corrupted! Now the three judicial departments have concluded the trial, and more than 50 traitors have been proven guilty. These people have disrespected the royal order, tarnished the culture, disrupted the rules of the Imperial Examination Hall, and blocked the way for talents. I was furious when I heard the news, and my heart was burning. If I don't punish them severely, how can I clean up the Jade Palace?"

"Immediately."

"The chief examiner Zhuo Guangrui, the deputy chief examiners Chen Linqiu and Zhou Moting, and seven other officials from the Ministry of Rites indulged in personal relationships, disregarded laws and discipline, and colluded with connections, committing crimes as serious as deceiving God." "They will be taken to the city government immediately and punished according to the law. Their heads will be displayed to the public for three days. Except for Zhuo Guangrui, whose family members were exempted from punishment due to his meritorious service, the property of the other six people will be confiscated by the government, and their three generations will not be allowed to take the exam."

"More than 20 clerks, copyists, and inspectors were involved in the case. Some sold the exam questions and leaked the papers, while others protected and condoned the case. They were tattooed with the words "蠹" on their faces, exiled 3,000 miles, and imprisoned in Lingnan for life. They would not be pardoned even if pardoned."

"The candidates involved in the case are guilty of the same crime."

"For all the above crimes, your descendants will be banned from taking the imperial examinations for five generations."

After reading this, Gu Chang looked at the officials below who had all turned pale, coughed, and continued reading: "The then Minister of Rites Tao Wenyuan, although not involved in the incident, was also guilty of negligence. He was fined three years' salary and demoted three levels to remain as a secretary."

"In addition, the Ministry of Rites was ordered to revise the "Fifteen Rules for Preventing Corruption in the Imperial Examinations", to send more imperial censors to patrol the examinations, to have all examination papers sealed and transcribed, and to hold a special imperial examination in the autumn of this year, allowing the damaged scholars to take the exam again, with all expenses paid from the stolen money."

At this point, the imperial edict had been read out. Gu Chang stood on a high place and sang "This is authorized" at the end.

All the civil and military officials bowed and shouted "Long live the emperor".

Du Qian, Du He and others, after kneeling, were about to go out to plead for Prime Minister Zhuo. Before they could say anything, they saw His Majesty the Emperor had already stood up, looked at the important officials in the hall, and said in a deep voice.

"The imperial examination is the foundation of the new dynasty and the foundation of future generations. No one should be allowed to interfere with it."

"This time, considering that the situation is relatively minor and the fraud is not serious, I have already given a light punishment."

The emperor looked at everyone and spoke sternly.

"I heard it all!"

"From now on, anyone who repeats this mistake will be torn to pieces by a chariot, and the accomplice will be beheaded. Hold me three feet high, and the law will never allow the light of a firefly to pollute the bright world again!"

All the civil and military officials knelt down and kowtowed to His Majesty the Emperor once again. The Emperor sat back in his seat, took a deep breath, and said silently: "Everyone stand up."

Everyone stood up, and Du Xianggong stood up again, knelt in front of the emperor, kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, Xiang Zhuo was only guilty of negligence. No matter what, he is not guilty of death. I guarantee with my life that Xiang Zhuo is not the mastermind, and he must not let him be the mastermind."

He kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, please give me some leniency."

Xu Wangxianggong also came out, knelt on the ground, bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, I also think that Xianggong Zhuo has done something wrong, but it is not punishable by death. I beg Your Majesty to show some leniency, at least..."

"At least leave Mr. Zhuo a way out."

Mr. Yao Zhongyao also sighed, knelt on the ground, kowtowed to the emperor, and pleaded for Zhuo Guangrui.

At this time, there were few officials in the court who did not know Zhuo Guangrui. Seeing that the three prime ministers had already knelt down, the rest of the people also knelt down and pleaded for Prime Minister Zhuo.

The Minister of Revenue, Du He, knelt on the ground and bowed his head deeply: "Your Majesty, I beg Your Majesty to spare the life of Minister Zhuo!"

"I am willing to use my life, property, and position as a minister to guarantee the services of Prime Minister Zhuo!"

His Majesty the Emperor slapped the armrest of his chair fiercely and glared at his ministers: "What? Are you going to attack us in unison?"

As he cursed and yelled, he looked out of the hall, feeling a little anxious.

The boy from Zhuo family...

Emperor Li frowned inwardly.

Why haven't you come yet?
If he doesn't come, it will be difficult for him to continue this play.

At this point, as the emperor, he had already spoken and could not go back on his word, let alone give in at this time.

Otherwise, where is the emperor’s majesty?
Prime Minister Du knelt on the ground and begged, "Your Majesty, don't you remember Prime Minister Zhuo's contributions and the twenty years of relationship between you and your majesty?"

As soon as he said this, His Majesty sighed and was about to speak when a palace servant's voice came from outside: "Duke Ying's son Zhuo Zhong wants to see Your Majesty."

His Majesty the Emperor breathed a sigh of relief, but his brows were furrowed.

"Let him in."

(End of this chapter)