Li Chengqian of the Tang Dynasty: Please say long live His Majesty

Chapter 157: Your Majesty, I Impeach the Crown Prince... (Second Update)
In the Liangyi Hall, all officials above the fifth rank in the court bowed with their tablets in hand.

The voice of the eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs came from the door of the east wing: "Your Majesty has arrived!"

Li Shimin, wearing a black robe with a golden dragon pattern and a black Yishan crown on his head, walked into the hall calmly.

Following behind him was Li Chengqian.

There was only Li Chengqian, no Li Tai, and no Li Zhi.

This situation has happened several times and the ministers have become accustomed to it.

The emperor sat down on the imperial couch, and Li Chengqian stood on the third step of the imperial throne, then bowed his head.

"Your Majesty, we are here to pay our respects. May Your Majesty live forever." All the ministers bowed and paid their respects to the emperor, holding their tablets.

"Please stand up, everyone." Li Shimin sat on the imperial couch and raised his hand without much concern.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

……

The emperor sat on the imperial couch, his eyes swept over the calm Li Chengqian, then looked at the ministers, Zhangsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling, Yang Shidao, but Wei Zheng was missing.

Li Shimin raised his hand slightly, and the eunuchs and the ceremonial officer immediately stepped forward and said, "If you have a certificate, please submit. If you don't, please leave the court."

"Your Majesty!" Changsun Wuji stepped out first, holding up a memorial and bowing. "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Personnel has already prepared the imperial examinations. The examination questions are listed. Your Majesty, please select from them."

The first test of the imperial examination is the Ministry of Personnel test.

All the examination questions were set by the Ministry of Personnel, which wrote them all into a memorial book. Finally, the emperor would select the question to be used for the imperial examination.

There are hundreds of various examination questions in the memorial.

Of course, it was impossible for the emperor to read all of them one by one.

In fact, the Ministry of Personnel also integrated some of the questions into test papers.

There were a total of twelve examination papers, which the emperor delivered to the examination hall the day before the examination.

On that day, all the examiners were already locked in the examination room.

In addition, the emperor would also write a policy essay on the day of the imperial examination and submit it to the examination room on the same day.

That strategy is the real core of scientific research.

"I understand." Li Shimin waved his hand, and Zhang Ananda immediately walked down, took the memorial, and placed it on the emperor's desk.

Changsun Wuji retreated back to the train.

"Your Majesty, I have a report." Dali Temple Minister Sun Fujia stepped forward, bowing and saying, "Your Majesty, the Dali Temple is investigating the case of Qi Yu, the Governor of Guangzhou, for treason. A few days ago, Dali Temple Junior Minister Hu Yan arrived in Guangzhou and was shocked to discover that Qi Yu had committed suicide out of fear of his guilt. He left behind a will stating that he alone bore all responsibility for the crime."

As he spoke, Sun Fujia handed the memorial in his hand to Zhang Ananda who was walking down from above.

Li Chengqian stood aside and watched calmly as the memorial was delivered to the emperor.

This news was not unexpected. In fact, the news had already been delivered to Chang'an before the tenth day.

But that is the channel of Qianniuwei and Baiqisi.

Today's memorial is the official document of the court.

Qi Yu, the governor of Guangzhou, committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

Even before the Hundred Cavalry Division arrived in Gwangju, Qi Yu had committed suicide out of fear of punishment.

In other words, someone had sent the message to Qi Yu before the Hundred Cavalry Division arrived in Gwangju.

As for who this person is, no one can tell for sure now, but the problem must be in Chang'an.

Once Qi Yu died, no matter how much the case was investigated, it would ultimately end with Yifeng Qi and would not be investigated further.

Qi Zhixuan was in the Qianniu Guard, and no matter how severely he was tortured, he would not open his mouth. His fate was already determined.

Li Chengqian raised his eyes slightly.

The emperor has already received the memorial. How will he deal with this matter?
……

Li Shimin calmly read the entire memorial, then spoke calmly, "I hereby order that Qi Yu, the governor of Guangzhou, be convicted of conspiracy to commit high treason. His son, father, brothers, grandfather, grandson, brother's son, grandfather's son's grandson, and all males over the age of sixteen shall be beheaded. All males under the age of fifteen, including mothers, daughters, wives, concubines, sisters, and retainers, as well as all property and lands, shall be confiscated."

Father and son, brothers, grandfather and grandson, brother's son, brother's grandson, within three generations (Qin theory), all will be beheaded.

No hanging, no exile three thousand miles away.

Anyone over sixteen years old will be beheaded.

"Yes!" Sun Fuga, the Minister of Dali Temple, bowed and accepted the order.

The Zhenguan Law was lenient, but the Wude Law was strict.

The Wude Code was the first code used at the beginning of the Zhenguan period.

The emperor looked at his ministers indifferently, and no one had any objection.

If Wei Zheng were still alive, he might have come out to fight for it, but not now.

"And more." The emperor continued, looking up, "His wife's father, brother, and descendants; his mother's father, brother, and descendants; his son-in-law's father, brother, and descendants; his daughter-in-law's father, brother, and descendants; all shall be dismissed from office. No official position shall be granted within three generations, and no imperial examinations shall be taken."

"Your Majesty!" Zhangsun Wuji couldn't help but stand up and said with a salutation, "Your Majesty, this punishment is too severe. I beg you to be cautious."

No one is allowed to be appointed as an official or take the imperial examination within three generations, which means that within twenty years, no one in the relevant family will have a career in officialdom.

Even if more of their descendants take the imperial examinations in the future, the Ministry of Personnel will not grant them any qualifications when reviewing their qualifications because of this period.

This means that all direct male descendants of Qi Yu within three generations will be beheaded, and any family that has married into his family for three generations will be ruined within three generations.

If this continues, it will be difficult to recover within five generations.

The entire family will be completely destroyed, even annihilated. It seems to be an understatement, but in fact it is extremely cruel.

Li Shimin looked at Zhangsun Wuji calmly, then turned to look at Li Chengqian and asked, "Prince, what do you say?"

Li Chengqian stood up and said, "Father, the charge is indeed a bit severe. I ask if I can file a complaint. I ask if his wife, mother, son-in-law, and daughter-in-law's family can report whether anyone is conspiring with Qi Yu to rebel. If the complaint is proven, the entire family will be pardoned."

The emperor nodded in understanding and said, "What the Crown Prince said makes sense. So be it."

"Thank you, father." Li Chengqian bowed calmly and walked back to his seat.

Occasionally, when he looked up, he could see the coldness in his eyes.

As cold as the emperor.

Chai Lingwu thought that if he ordered Qi Yu to commit suicide, he could stop them from continuing their investigation. He was dreaming.

After Qi Yu died, there must be someone who knew something about his father, brothers, relatives within three generations, and families through marriage within three generations.

Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, the emperor was killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, and the same was true for Li Chengqian.

Both father and son felt that someone was seriously challenging the imperial power.

If the crime of treason is settled with suicide in the future, there will be more people committing treason. We must give them a serious warning to prevent such a thing from happening in the future.

"Alright!" Li Shimin looked up and said, "Let's continue talking!"

"Here!"

……

Liu Dewei, the Minister of Justice, stood in the hall, bowing to the emperor with a serious expression, saying, "Your Majesty, there are currently 234 exiled prisoners in the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple. The Ministry of Justice plans to depart for Gaochang in early February. Your Majesty, please give your instructions."

Li Shimin nodded, sighed softly, and said, "The people are suffering. Liu Qing, select forty-nine people with minor crimes and demote them to a lower level. For all vacancies, select those on death row and spare their lives, but exile them to the Western Regions."

"Yes!" Liu Dewei breathed a sigh of relief, then bowed and said, "Your Majesty is benevolent!"

Everyone in the hall breathed a sigh of relief and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty is so kind!"

Normally, there was no need to tell the emperor about the departure of criminals for exile, but this was basically an opportunity for the emperor to show his grace.

And today, after the emperor severely punished the Qi family half an hour ago, some of the frightened ministers finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This is especially true for Chai Lingwu. He has been waiting for today's plan for several days. If Wang An is frightened by what happened just now and dares not impeach him, then if he waits any longer, who knows when he will do so.

Chai Lingwu glanced behind him and saw the fifty-year-old Censor Wang An.

As if he noticed Chai Lingwu's gaze, Wang An's face tightened. Then, after thinking for a while, at the moment when Liu Dewei returned to the train, Wang An stood up.

As he stepped forward, Wang An's expression became solemn. "Your Majesty, I have a memorial to report."

"Tell me!" Li Shimin smiled calmly, as if the person who had cruelly killed three clans of others before was not him.

In Wang An's eyes, he had already forgotten that part. The emperor in front of him was still the emperor with a broad mind and who was willing to accept advice.

Wang An breathed a sigh of relief, then bowed earnestly and said, "Your Majesty, I wish to impeach Xu En, the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple; Dai Zhide, the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple; and Li Anyan, the Prince's Household Officer. These three have secretly transferred death row prisoners to serve as a tool for the evildoer cultivating his evil magic outside the city. Their cunning, vicious, cold-blooded cruelty is unheard of in the world. Your Majesty, please investigate."

As Wang An spoke to the end, his words became more and more righteous, his brows brows wide and his eyes wide with anger.

The emperor leaned forward slightly, and the ministers in the hall looked confused.

What is this? The Prince's Household Manager Li Anyan, the Dali Temple Chief Dai Zhide, and the Dali Temple Prison Chief Xu En secretly transferred death row prisoners from the Dali Temple to cultivate evil magic outside the city. What is this?

Although they could understand every word Wang An said, when they put them all together, it felt like something from another world.

Li Shimin raised his head, glanced at Li Chengqian, who remained calm, then looked at the ministers and said directly, "Mr. Dai, Mr. Li, please tell me, is this true?"

Dai Zhide couldn't help but stand up. He glared at Wang An with immense anger, then turned to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, this is nonsense. The Dali Temple currently has 71 death row prisoners, all of whom are currently imprisoned. How could there be any secret transfers? As for the allegation of cultivating evil shamanism outside the city, I have no idea."

"Sun Qing!" The emperor looked at Sun Fujia and asked, "You are in charge of the Dali Temple. Now go to the Dali Temple prison and count the number of death row prisoners and verify their identities."

"Yes!" Sun Fujia bowed seriously, then turned and left. However, when his eyes fell on Wang An, he felt a sense of absurdity.

He is the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple. If such a big thing happened in the Dali Temple and he didn't know about it, he, as the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple, would have been derelict in his duty to the point of being damned.

"Mr. Li." Li Shimin looked at Li Anyan.

Li Anyan bowed earnestly and said, "Your Majesty, the Eastern Palace does have a manor outside the palace, but it is borrowed for Sun Zhenren to temporarily reside in. At the same time, it can also allow him to study bone setting methods to treat the crown prince..."

The ministers in the hall couldn't help but burst into an uproar.

Now he understood everything Wang An said.

He was saying that the Crown Prince had Dai Zhide retrieve death row prisoners from the Dali Temple and then send them to a manor outside the city, so that the Taoist priest Sun Simiao could use these prisoners to study bone-setting methods.

"...As for the matter of the death row prisoners the Imperial Censor mentioned, I honestly have no idea. The Immortal Master is indeed using people for research, but they are only soldiers who lost legs during the Battle of Mobei. And the Immortal Master has already helped more than a dozen soldiers with broken legs recover. I honestly don't know what the so-called death row prisoners at the Dali Temple are all about."

Li Anyan bowed and said, "The manor is located on the bank of the Wei River, three miles west of Chang'an City. I request Your Majesty to send someone to investigate."

Li Shimin glanced at Li Chengqian, but Li Chengqian remained silent.

"General Qiu Xinggong of the Right Jinwu Guard." The emperor turned his head and looked at the generals on the other side.

Qiu Xinggong stood up and said, "I am here."

"Send someone to investigate." After a brief pause, the emperor said, "If Master Sun is treating soldiers, do not disturb him."

"Yes!" Qiu Xinggong immediately clasped his fists, then quickly turned around and left.

Li Shimin then turned to look at Li Chengqian and asked, "Prince, what is your opinion on this matter?"

For a moment, all the ministers in the hall looked at Li Chengqian.

(End of this chapter)