Thief Emperor

Chapter 984: Cutting and Hitting
This sentence made Zhuo Guangrui, who was already bowing his head, tremble all over and almost lost his balance. Fortunately, he had been a prime minister for so many years, so he tried to calm himself down. After taking a deep breath, he knelt on the ground, bowed his head and kowtowed, saying: "Your Majesty, I beg you to forgive me."

Li Yun looked at him and asked, "Do you know where your crime lies?"

Zhuo Guangrui knelt on the ground, lowered his head and smiled bitterly, "I have been in the court for many years, and I know some people. Now that so many people in the Ministry of Rites have been arrested, I can naturally guess that there was a problem with last year's imperial examination."

He took a deep breath and whispered, "Last year, your majesty trusted me to be the chief examiner of the imperial examination. I should be responsible for all the problems that arise from this examination."

The Emperor stood up, folded his hands over his chest, looked at him, and asked, "Someone has reported you, saying that during the imperial examination last year, you, the chief examiner, left the examination room twice."

"What have you been doing?"

"Have a meal."

Zhuo Guangrui made a bitter face and lowered his head to answer.

"Have a meal?"

His Majesty the Emperor frowned and asked, "So simple?"

"Yes."

Zhuo Guangrui took a deep breath and bowed his head, saying, "Your Majesty... you have known me for so many years, so you should know me a little bit. I come from a wealthy family, and I have never had any big hobbies since I was a child."

He looked down at his slightly fat body and said with a wry smile: "My biggest hobby is eating."

"Especially after arriving in Luoyang, the local food does not suit my taste."

"During the imperial examination last year, one of the two deputy examiners from the Ministry of Rites was also from Wu County. He said he brought back a cook from Wu County who cooked the local dishes of Wu County very well."

"At that time, the imperial examination had ended and the papers were being graded. He wanted to take me to eat the food from my hometown. I had been in the examination hall for several days..."

"I was confused for a moment, so I went out to eat with him twice."

At this point, Zhuo Guangrui bowed his head and kowtowed, saying, "At that time, I thought that the imperial examination had ended, and no one would be so bold as to do something like this, so, so..."

He bowed his head deeply and said, "I was confused for a moment. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

His Majesty the Emperor put his hands behind his back and looked at him seriously. After squinting his eyes, he said, "I've heard that you are good at eating, but don't you have a chef from Wujun at home?"

Zhuo Guangrui lowered his head and said in a trembling voice: "The Minister of Rites said that he invited a famous chef from Wu County..."

His Majesty the Emperor sneered: "Is it you who wants to win over those people, so you deliberately turn a blind eye?"

"Or did those people promise you some benefits and promise to follow your orders in the future?"

Zhuo Guangrui was appointed prime minister very early.

However, he was appointed prime minister in the early years of the founding of the country, so his foundation was not as strong as that of Du and Yao.

After all, officials from aristocratic families are naturally close to Du Qian, while people from humble backgrounds are close to Mr. Yao.

The people around Prime Minister Zhuo were often local gentry from the southeast. However, there were not many outstanding figures among the gentry of this era, especially after the founding of the country.

In comparison, with the three phase kilometers, he can be said to have a weak foundation.

Of course, this can only be regarded as Li Yun's guess. With Zhuo Guangrui's intelligence, he would never and would not leave any evidence in this matter.

This Minister Zhuo knelt on the ground, bowed his head deeply and said: "Your Majesty, if I have even the slightest thought of this, my whole family is willing to follow me and suffer the punishment of heaven!"

After hearing this, Emperor Li was silent for a long time before he reached out and helped him up.

When Zhuo Guangrui stood up, the Emperor said in a muffled voice: "If I really wanted to ask you about this crime, I wouldn't tell you in private."

At this point, His Majesty the Emperor closed his eyes and said, "No matter what you think, even if the court finds out that you had no involvement at all, you still cannot escape the guilt of negligence in this matter."

Zhuo Guangrui bowed his head deeply and said: "I understand, Your Majesty is protecting me..."

The Emperor opened his eyes and looked at him again: "You are a meritorious official of the court and have followed me for so many years. If it is an ordinary crime of negligence, the most you can do is to be fined. But this matter is not a trivial matter. I need it, and the court also needs to use this matter to establish its authority."

Zhuo Guangrui turned pale upon hearing this, and bowed his head and said, "I understand, I am willing to die..."

"I can't kill you."

Emperor Li shook his head expressionlessly and said, "There are no outsiders here, only you and me, the emperor and his subject. I will tell you clearly."

"In the future, you will accompany me to inspect the disaster area. If you do a good job in disaster relief this time, then your contribution will be used to offset your mistakes."

"But it still cannot make up for your negligence in scientific research."

"listen."

His Majesty the Emperor said, "If you were merely negligent and have done a good job in providing disaster relief, I will give you a lighter punishment this time and only strip you of your title of Duke of Ying, and will not investigate further."

"Are you convinced?" In the imperial decree in the early years of the founding of the country, Zhuo Guangrui was one of the few dukes and was granted the title of Duke of Ying.

The reward was that he responded to the country's crisis and donated generously, so he was given the title of Duke of Ying.

However, his title of Duke is not hereditary, nor is it passed down from generation to generation. In other words, the next generation of the Zhuo family will not only no longer inherit the title of Duke, but they will not even be eligible to inherit the nobility.

Even so, having this title stripped away is a severe punishment.

Zhuo Guangrui lowered his head, his voice trembling: "I thank your majesty for your grace..."

"besides."

The Emperor glanced at him and said silently, "The Jiangdong Salt Administration that was originally managed by your family will also be taken back by the imperial court. It will no longer be managed by your family for generations."

"Just consider it as the punishment I give to your family."

This is why Zhuo Guangrui was not given a hereditary title even though he made great contributions in the past.

Because when he was in Jiangdong, Li Yun had already promised him a treasure that could be passed down from generation to generation.

That is the salt road of Jiangdong.

Jiangdong Salt Road is one of the two important salt producing areas in the world. In addition to Jiangdong Salt Field, the other is the well salt from Xichuan in Jiannan Road.

Salt is one of the most important daily necessities, and no one can avoid it. When Emperor Li granted the salt road to the Zhuo family, he gave the Zhuo family an era of wealth.

And he is very rich and powerful.

After hearing what Li Yun said, Mr. Zhuo took a deep breath and his face turned pale.

Li Yun looked at his expression, touched his chin and said, "If you are dissatisfied, you can say it now."

"There are only you and me here. If you speak up now, we are old friends and can discuss it."

"If you don't tell me."

Li Yun said sternly, "Once we get out of this door, this matter is settled. If you are dissatisfied in the future, Brother Zhuo, you want to go against me."

"Then we'll see you there."

Zhuo Guangrui fell to his knees in front of Emperor Li with a thud, bowed his head and said: "I... would never dare to have such thoughts even if I die, it is just my fault..."

He trembled and said, "It seems, it seems..."

"It seems that it shouldn't affect the Zhuo family of Wujun?"

Upon hearing this, Zhuo Guangrui lowered his head and said nothing.

Emperor Li smiled and did not elaborate on Wujun Zhuo's family. Instead, he said, "Well, considering our long-term friendship, I will now give you another way."

"Because of the imperial examination fraud case, the court has dismissed all your positions and titles and demoted you to be the salt administrator of Jiangdong."

"As long as you don't make any more serious mistakes, you can pass this position on to your son or grandson in the future."

At this point, the emperor's face turned cold: "If you choose this option, our friendship over the years will be over, and I will never see you again."

After saying this, His Majesty the Emperor said calmly: "But don't worry, if I have any accounts, as long as they are settled in person, I will not settle them later."

"If you choose the latter path, the court will not trouble you anymore."

He looked at Zhuo Guangrui and said, "You choose."

Emperor Li paused, and then said: "If you want to return to Jiangdong to serve as the salt administrator, I will not give up your title of Duke of Ying."

His Majesty the Emperor has said so. Unless you are too stupid, you will make a reasonable choice.

Zhuo Guangrui was no fool. He bowed his head, kowtowed, and said with tears in his eyes, "Your Majesty, I choose the first option."

"it is good."

His Majesty the Emperor helped him up again. Seeing that Prime Minister Zhuo was crying sadly, His Majesty the Emperor was silent for a while and said lightly: "You stay in Xingyang for one night. We will set off tomorrow and start to inspect the disaster area."

"If you do a good job in disaster relief this time."

The Emperor was silent for a while, but finally said with some relief: "Maybe it can help to atone for some of your sins."

Upon hearing this, Zhuo Guangrui bowed his head deeply.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace."

(End of this chapter)