Thief Emperor

Chapter 1077 Iron-Faced Yet Impartial
Since the Wu Rebellion in Luoyang, the Nine Departments have successively handed over dozens of wanted criminals to the Three Judicial Departments. Led by Minister Du and Minister Xu, the Three Judicial Departments devoted almost all their energy to this case in a short period of time.

These dozens of criminals were imprisoned in the Dali Temple prison, while the officials they implicated or implicated were imprisoned in the Dali Temple prison if they were of high rank, and in the Ministry of Justice prison and the Jingzhao Prefecture prison if they were of lower rank.

In just seven or eight days, hundreds of people were implicated.

These hundreds of people were not all government officials, nor were they all involved with the Wu rebels. Only a small portion were government officials, while the majority were their family members.

Of these officials, only a portion were in cahoots with Wu Zetian, while the rest were indirect contact with him.

For example, Yang Hong, the Crown Prince's Chamberlain, had never had any contact with Wu Zetian, but his nephew Yang Ling had colluded with Wu Zetian, and the evidence was conclusive.

In addition, some of these officials did have some contact with Wu Zetian without their knowledge, so it cannot be said that they had any intention to rebel.

However, that's how the laws were in this era. His Majesty was furious, and several prime ministers wanted to punish him severely to vent his anger, so the matter naturally escalated.

In fact, the officials of the Zhangwu era had already exercised considerable restraint, knowing that such expansion could have continued indefinitely.

You accuse me, I point the finger at you.

Once the instruments of torture are brought to the Dali Temple prison, even distant relatives and aunts may be implicated.

The Hongwu case in another world came about in this way, eventually involving tens of thousands of people. In comparison, the expansion of the Zhangwu case can be described as a "living bodhisattva model".

Even so, after a few days, the people of Luoyang were in a state of panic. Many people were running around trying to find out what had happened and what the court was trying to do.

However, at this critical juncture, high-ranking officials and nobles dared not get involved, and no one dared to go to the Ganlu Hall to ask His Majesty the Emperor what he wanted to do. As a result, all the prominent families, including the Xue family of the Empress Dowager, closed their doors and refused to see guests.

Fei Xuan, the former Minister of Justice, is nearly seventy years old this year. In just a few days, he has been so busy that he has no time to rest. Seeing the overcrowded prison of the Ministry of Justice, this Minister of Justice, who came from the old Zhou Dynasty, could not help but frown.

That morning, the old minister finally could not hold back any longer. Holding his court tablet, he rushed into the palace, barged all the way to the entrance of the Ganlu Hall, knelt down in front of the door, kowtowed and said, "Your subject, Fei Xuan, Minister of Justice, requests an audience with Your Majesty!"

After saying this, Fei Xuan simply knelt down and refused to get up.

He knelt for a moment, and then a palace attendant named Gu Chang carefully stepped forward and helped him up, saying, "Old Minister, please get up quickly, please get up quickly."

"His Majesty invites you in for a talk."

Minister Fei shook off Gu Chang's support and said, "Thank you, Eunuch Gu, but I can still manage."

Having said that, he took a deep breath and went into the Ganlu Hall. When he saw Emperor Li sitting at an angle and reading a book, Minister Fei knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying, "Your subject Fei Xuan pays his respects to Your Majesty."

His Majesty the Emperor glanced at him, put down the book in his hand, and asked, "Why are you so angry, Master Fei?"

Minister Fei bowed his head and kowtowed, saying, "Your subject requests to resign from the position of Minister of Justice and begs to retire to his hometown."

His Majesty the Emperor then sat up straight and looked at him: "Although the old Minister is old, I have heard that he is in good health. Why is he about to retire?"

Minister Fei looked up at Li Yun, his face full of determination: "Because I am a former official of the Wu Zhou dynasty."

"I dare not remain in the court any longer."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Li felt a surge of anger, but he took several deep breaths to suppress it. He stared at Fei Xuan silently for a long time before letting out a muffled groan: "No wonder people call you Fei the Iron-Faced. You are truly upright and fearless in offending anyone."

Minister Fei looked at Li Yun, then lowered his head and said, "This old minister is only speaking the truth. If Your Majesty feels that this old minister has offended Your Majesty..."

He bowed his head and kowtowed, saying, "Your subject will go to the Dali Temple prison to await punishment!"

Seeing that he was still arguing with him, the emperor was really annoyed. He slapped the low table next to him and said coldly, "I was assassinated on my fortieth birthday. After investigation, it turns out that it was done by officials in the court who colluded with the traitors. Is it not allowed to investigate?"

Minister Fei bowed his head and kowtowed, but spoke loudly: "Your Majesty! Investigating traitors is investigating traitors, and it is only right to investigate whoever is involved. However, nowadays, the ministers are only concerned with arresting people in order to curry favor with the emperor. The Dali Temple prison, the Ministry of Justice prison, and the Jingzhao Prefecture prison are all overcrowded! The two ministers are now preparing to use the military camps vacated by the Imperial Guards as temporary prisons!"

Of the two Imperial Guards, one was taken by Yang Xi to escort the Crown Prince on his eastern tour, leaving one military camp vacant.

"Is this still investigating a case?!"

Minister Fei kept his head down and said angrily, "This old minister is one of the three judicial departments. I have also read the case files. Many of these people were implicated for no reason. Some important officials were inexplicably brought to the Dali Temple for questioning. This old minister has read them in detail and they are almost all former officials of the Wu Zhou dynasty!"

"This old minister went to ask the two ministers in charge, but both of them refused to say anything!" Fei Xuan looked up at Li Yun, his face ashen: "Since they want to take down the former officials of the Wu Zhou dynasty, then this old minister is also a former official of the Wu Zhou dynasty, so naturally I should avoid suspicion and resign from the position of Minister of Justice!"

Emperor Li glared at Fei Xuan, about to lash out, but suddenly stopped, frowning deeply.

Fei Xuan was indeed a former official of the Wu Zhou dynasty, and in a sense, Emperor Li was also a former official of the Wu Zhou dynasty.

Back then, when Li Yun was serving in Yuezhou and Wuzhou, Fei Xuan was appointed as the Jiangdong Inspector, and was Emperor Li's superior.

After calming himself down, Emperor Li took a deep breath, walked over to Fei Xuan, helped this old minister, who was almost the oldest in the court, to his feet, and pointed to the chair next to him with a stern face, indicating that he should sit down and talk.

After he sat down, Emperor Li said with a dark face, "I have said this more than once. There is no such thing as a former official of the Wu Zhou dynasty in the court, even if there were."

His Majesty the Emperor slowly said, "Those who entered the court before the Jiangdong army took control of the Central Plains cannot be considered former officials of the Wu Zhou dynasty. On the contrary, they are the founding ministers of the new dynasty. Go and see for yourself, Du Xu and the others arrested people. Which of those former officials of the Wu Zhou dynasty that you mentioned submitted to us before we entered the Central Plains?"

This is the difference between placing a bet and not placing a bet.

For Li Yun, or rather for the new dynasty, those who joined before the Jiangdong army entered the Central Plains all took on certain risks. Taking risks naturally brings corresponding rewards, and these are the people who are truly on their side.

Of course, among these people, there are different levels. Simply put, the earlier you joined, the higher your seniority and the louder your voice. The loudest voices are naturally from the anti-theft team.

Regardless, these people all possessed a certain amount of "original shares," and Emperor Li would be more tolerant of them.

Those who joined Li Yun's team after he took control of the Central Plains cannot be said to have invested, because at that time there was almost no risk to speak of, and those who joined had all sorts of ulterior motives.

This dividing line is the boundary that Li Yun, Du Qian, and others all agree on.

Therefore, Fei Xuan's disturbance displeased Emperor Li, but out of consideration for their past relationship and Fei Xuan's contributions over the years, especially his role in establishing the legal system, Emperor Li tolerated it.

He looked at Fei Xuan and continued, "Not all those who are captured will necessarily die. Du and Xu are already interrogating Wu Heng, the traitor. This matter will naturally become clear in time..."

His Majesty the Emperor said expressionlessly, "Those who deserve to be beheaded will be beheaded, and those who deserve to be exiled will be exiled. But even if we don't kill them, the three judicial departments have arrested everyone today."

Li Yun tapped the table and said, "For the next five generations, none of them shall serve as officials in the court, nor shall they be allowed to take the imperial examinations."

Minister Fei paused for a moment, then looked up at Li Yun, lowered his head again, and said quietly, "This old minister just feels that right and wrong should be clearly distinguished, and guilt or innocence should not be divided into circles or groups."

He bowed his head and said, "I was a little disrespectful just now and offended Your Majesty. Please forgive me."

The emperor waved his hand and grunted, "Fortunately, I've had a better temper these past few years."

He looked at Fei Xuan and asked, "Do you still want to resign?"

Minister Fei hesitated for a moment, then shook his head slightly: "Even if I resign, I will wait until the three judicial departments have closed this case. If I resign, no one in the Ministry of Justice will be able to handle this matter."

Li Yun looked at him, shook his head slightly, and said, "Master Fei, at this time, you must be able to distinguish between friend and foe. They have used all sorts of assassination methods and have even colluded with the remnants of the previous dynasty."

"If someone wants to kill me, I will naturally kill someone in return."

Emperor Li said slowly, "Otherwise, how can we talk about the majesty of the Son of Heaven?"

Fei Xuan lowered his head and remained silent.

Emperor Li stood up, looked at Fei Xuan, and after a while, he said, "I heard that you have several beautiful granddaughters?"

Upon hearing this, Fei Xuan suddenly looked up at Li Yun, somewhat taken aback.

His Majesty the Emperor glanced at him and said irritably, "What are you looking at me for?"

“In a few days, I will send the King of Yue to your home to visit you.”

Upon hearing this, Minister Fei hesitated for a long time before lowering his head and speaking.

"Your humble servant obeys."

(End of this chapter)