Fu Shanhe

Chapter 25: Imperial Power
The sky gradually darkened, and still no news came.

Yue Shufeng realized that the situation was not good and just as he stood up to leave, he was blocked by the Dongchang soldiers who broke in.

This scene is all too familiar.

This is how his close associates were captured a few days ago.

"Master Yue, please come with us!"

The leading eunuch said in a mocking tone.

No matter how prominent your status was in the past, once you fall into the hands of the East Factory, you will immediately become a prisoner.

"Asshole!
I am the Left Censor-in-Chief of this dynasty, how can I be controlled by a bunch of villains like you!
Even if we want to punish him, it must be approved by the cabinet and His Majesty."

Yue Shufeng shouted angrily with disdain.

As a high-ranking official of the second rank, he controls the Censorate, which has the most powerful verbal skills in the Dayu Dynasty. His power is comparable to that of the Shangshu, who is ranked lower among the six ministries.

Although the party struggles were so fierce before, the fire did not burn him. That was because there was an unspoken rule in Dayu that doctors should not be punished.

If you flip back to the history book, you will find that the title of Zuodu Yushi in ancient times was Dashi Yushi, which happened to be one of those who enjoyed privileges.

"Master Yue, please calm down. We are not here to accuse you of anything, but to investigate a case that requires your cooperation.

And it’s a major case of treason!”

The young eunuch said with a wry smile.

Once the bottom line is broken once, it can be broken a second time.

Ordinary crimes could not bring harm to the powerful Zuodu Yushi, but treason was an exception.

Looking at the officials of the second rank and above who were killed in the Dayu Dynasty, they were basically all related to treason.

It doesn’t matter whether there is anyone plotting a rebellion or not. The key is that the eunuch party now needs a rebellion to deal a heavy blow to the Qingliu party.

"You...you are framing a loyal person!"

Yue Shufeng was so angry that his face turned blue and he couldn't speak as fluently as before.

Anyone convicted of treason will be put to death.

He admitted that he had done a lot of bad things, many of which had harmed national interests, but he had never thought of rebelling.

"Master Yue, this is not something you can say carelessly.

We just asked you to cooperate with the investigation, but we didn't say you were involved in treason, so how can you say you were framed?"

The young eunuch's words made Yue Shufeng so angry that he stamped his feet.

Talking nonsense has always been his strong point, but he never imagined that one day he would be able to be breached by just a few simple words from others.

The Imperial Prison, he knew very well what that hellish place was like.

No matter how innocent a person is, once he or she is in jail, the charges against him or her are entirely up to others.

Now the only ones who can save him are a few ministers and the emperor.

As long as these people open their mouths, the East Factory will not dare to torture them, and there is still room for maneuver.

After thinking about it for a while, Yue Shufeng's fantasy was shattered.

Among the five ministers in the cabinet, the Qingliu Party and the Eunuch Party each occupied two seats, and there was one who was neutral.

The eunuch party and the neutral ministers would definitely not come to save him.

Elder Pang from his own faction is currently in a coma.

No matter whether he is really unconscious or just pretending to be sick, since he has jumped out of the vortex of the storm, he will not be drawn in again.

The two sides had a conflict with another cabinet minister from the Qingliu Party because of the dispute over joining the cabinet two years ago.

Not adding insult to injury at a time like this would be for the sake of the overall situation.

It is obviously impossible to expect others to risk their political future and lend him a hand.

Several cabinet ministers will not take action, let alone the emperor.

Just think about how many memorials he submitted cursing the emperor during his tenure as Left Censor-in-Chief, and you will know what impression Emperor Tianyuan had of him.

……

In the palace, Zuo Guangen was kneeling on the ground and apologizing to Emperor Tianyuan.

The East Factory seemed to have handled the day's events effectively, but in fact, it still left many hidden dangers. "Calling a deer a horse" suppressed the petition of the scholars and prevented a major disturbance.

It would have been a great achievement, but this thing itself is taboo.

The subsequent arrest of Yue Shufeng was even more brutal.

He cleared out two-thirds of the officials in the Censorate, even taking down the Left Censor-in-Chief.

The average workload per person has tripled, and they also have to clean up the mess left by their colleagues.

For a long time to come, the Censorate will not be able to work normally.

Attacks of this level have long gone beyond the scope of party disputes.

"Humph!"

"You are quite courageous. You have ruined my Censorate.

Now you even dare to arrest the Left Censor-in-Chief, will you also send the Minister of State to prison in a few days?"

Emperor Tianyuan seemed to be very angry, but he was not really angry.

Disrupting other government offices would endanger the country. Destroying the Censorate would give him some peace and quiet for a few days.

If he wanted to stop it, he would have intervened long ago. He would not have waited until the Eastern Depot arrested the Left Censor-in-Chief and put him in prison before calling Zuo Guangen in to reprimand him.

"Your Majesty, I am innocent!"

"Not only do those censors take the court's salary for nothing, they also do nothing all day long.

I dare not say that all the people I have arrested deserve the death penalty.

But if we deal with them according to the "Dayu Law", we can drag them all out and chop them into pieces, and there will be absolutely no injustice.

These people claim to be moral gentlemen on the surface, but secretly engage in clique-based activities for personal gain. They are truly the biggest cancer of our dynasty.

The stolen money I found amounted to more than four million taels of silver.

There were also more than 200,000 taels of gold, more than 2.8 million acres of farmland, tens of thousands of shops and houses, and countless ancient calligraphy and paintings, rare treasures and precious items.

The Imperial Household Department made a rough estimate and confiscated all the stolen money, and the total value was no less than the court's annual income.

With their little salary, even if they work for three thousand years, they can't accumulate so much wealth!"

After hearing the amount of stolen money, Emperor Tianyuan lost his temper.

If he had known that these people were so greedy, he should have released the eunuchs earlier, so that he would not have to suffer from financial shortages for a long time.

"Get up!"

"It's hard for you, Guangen!"

Emperor Tianyuan said in a softened tone.

With this money, the foreign invasion problems faced by the court were easily solved.

Even though Liaodong suffered a heavy defeat, as long as there is money, it is possible to raise another army.

The combat effectiveness of the Dayu army has always been linked to money and food. As long as enough money is given, the combat effectiveness will increase rapidly.

The huge amount of stolen money was mainly due to the fact that the East Factory had no habit of distinguishing between legal and illegal property when handling cases.

No matter whether it is the ancestral property of the criminal official or the land registered under his name by his neighbors, it has all become stolen money here.

The huge amount of stolen money became the favorable evidence to hammer the criminal officials to death. Even if someone wants to help them overturn the case in the future, the huge amount of stolen money is still an obstacle that cannot be avoided.

Emperor Tianyuan was no fool, so he naturally knew the inside story, but he could not resist the temptation of money.

It's a solid case, so be it.

Sacrificing a group of corrupt officials who only know how to engage in party struggles to save the imperial finances that are on the verge of bankruptcy is worth it no matter how you look at it.

As an emperor, he must be confused when necessary.

Anyway, it was the eunuchs who did it and the stolen money went into the national treasury. What does it have to do with him, the emperor?

"Your Majesty, these are what a servant should do."

Knowing that he had passed this hurdle, Zuo Guangen breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of this chapter)