The struggle for the throne among nine princes—I really don't want to be the crown prince.

Chapter 308 Offending the Emperor Above and Enraging the Ministers Below

As Zhao Youzhi was taken away, many people gasped in shock.

Everyone knew in their hearts that Zhao Youzhi had completely failed this time!
Now, what they hope for most is that this matter will not involve them.

Just as they were praying silently, Shen Ye continued, "Father, those scholars lured their classmates into gambling and swindled them out of their money. They even dared to carry someone's coffin to the Confucius Temple. There must be someone behind this."

"Otherwise, where would they get such audacity?"

"After all, doing this would do them nothing but harm!"

"Your Majesty, I believe that the person behind this is doing so to incite unrest in the court and the public, with the intention of overthrowing the government!"

"Otherwise, their actions simply don't make sense."

"Therefore, Your Majesty, I request that you thoroughly investigate all the scholars who participated in carrying the coffin to the Confucius Temple, and find out who exactly instructed them?"

"And those ministers who submitted memorials, many of them probably harbor resentment towards the previous dynasty, otherwise, why would they speak so earnestly for a gambler!"

Upon hearing the Crown Prince's words, Chen Tingjing couldn't help but shudder.

He had no objection whatsoever to the thorough investigation of Feng Xiucai's classmates.

Judging from the current situation, Feng Lichuan's classmates are definitely problematic.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have carried Feng Lichuan's coffin to the Confucius Temple to cause trouble.

However, the Crown Prince said that those officials who submitted memorials "had their hearts set on the previous dynasty." If this were to be investigated, these people would be severely punished, if not killed.

At the very least, they will be sidelined and no longer reused.

Of the ministers who submitted these memorials, more than half were from his Censorate. If the Crown Prince's wishes were followed, the Censorate would essentially become an empty shell.

This was something he, as the Left Censor-in-Chief, could not accept!

"Your Majesty, I cannot agree with His Highness the Crown Prince's words!" Chen Tingjing quickly stepped forward and said.

"I wholeheartedly agree that Feng Xiucai's classmates have ulterior motives."

"However, I believe that these officials who submitted the memorials have only been temporarily misled."

"They were so loyal to the court and the country that they risked their lives for it."

"If people are punished for their words, who will dare to speak out for justice in the court in the future?"

"Your Majesty, please understand!"

Emperor Qianxi understood the meaning behind Chen Tingjing's words.

The job of censors is to file complaints. If you punish them, who will dare to file complaints in the future?
The emperor kept censors for the purpose of having them file complaints.

Emperor Qianxi felt that Chen Tingjing's words made some sense.

However, he also knew that some of the officials who attacked the crown prince had ulterior motives and were determined to bring him down.

However, it is not easy to find these people one by one.

However, once the label of "punished for speaking out" is firmly attached to him, it will not be a good thing for either the court or Emperor Qianxi.

“Your Highness, Chen Tingjing’s words are not without merit.”

"This matter can be handed over to the Dali Temple for investigation first."

"If there are truly malicious individuals, they should be killed or spared. As for the others, a reprimand will suffice."

The words of the Qianxi Emperor were considered imperial edicts.

Shen Ye clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty's decree is my duty."

"However, I think that since these officials are so eager to help others, there is no need to reprimand them. Instead, we can pair them up with those officials who borrowed money from the Ministry of Revenue."

"These adults will be in charge of supervising and ensuring that officials who owe the Ministry of Revenue money pay off their debts within half a month."

"Otherwise, the person who urges the debtor will be punished the same as the debtor."

"Your subject believes that these officials, having a heart dedicated to saving the world and its people, would certainly not refuse such a task."

Upon hearing Shen Ye's words, the expressions of the censors who had submitted memorials and the scholars of the Hanlin Academy immediately changed drastically.

With the exception of a very few impoverished officials, most of these officials who owed the Ministry of Revenue were deeply entrenched and difficult to deal with.

Why would they ask me to urge them to repay the money? Wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?

However, none of them dared to utter a word of excuses, after all, when they impeached the Crown Prince before, they had already proclaimed themselves as "unafraid of power and wholeheartedly serving the people."

Making excuses now is simply giving the Crown Prince a pretext to deal with them.

So at this moment, they all kept their mouths shut and dared not speak.

Emperor Qianxi originally intended to repay the Ministry of Revenue's debts in installments, but the matter of Yuqing Bank and the petitions from these people that forced him to abdicate truly enraged him.

Therefore, upon hearing the Crown Prince's suggestion, and finding no reason to object, he said to Ma Qi and Chen Tingjing, "Let's proceed according to the Crown Prince's proposal. The Ministry of Revenue and the Censorate will be responsible for finalizing the list and reporting it to me."

Having said that, he said in a deep voice, "If there is nothing else, let's adjourn the court."

From Emperor Qianxi's expression, Shen Ye could tell that the emperor no longer wanted to make a fuss about this matter.

Since I haven't suffered any losses, I'm prepared to step back for now.

Just then, a deep voice was heard: "Your Majesty, I, Yu Chenglong, have something to report!"

Upon hearing Yu Chenglong's voice, Emperor Qianxi's heart skipped a beat.

Yu Chenglong has always been a man of action and responsibility, so his sudden appearance at this time is definitely not a good thing.

However, even in this regular court session, he could not prevent a governor from speaking.

He immediately turned to Yu Chenglong and said, "Minister Yu, please speak."

"Your Majesty, I hereby impeach you for the mediocre abilities of Minister of Revenue Ma Qi, which has led to an empty granary and a strained court. I earnestly request Your Majesty to dismiss him from his post and select a more capable and virtuous man."

"To prevent incompetent people from making mistakes and causing serious problems!"

As Yu Chenglong spoke, he took out a memorial and handed it to Emperor Qianxi.

Being impeached as a minister is not an uncommon occurrence.

As a powerful Minister of Revenue, Ma Qi was impeached quite a few times.

However, Emperor Qianxi's trust allowed him to escape danger on several occasions. But this time, Ma Qi's expression turned extremely ugly.

Not only because this was a face-to-face impeachment, but also because the person impeaching him was Yu Chenglong, a high-ranking official of the second rank.

Furthermore, just now, the fact that the Ministry of Revenue's lack of funds triggered the Yuqing Bank incident has been clearly presented to everyone, and he has no reason to argue about it.

Emperor Qianxi had no intention of replacing Ma Qi.

He can only feel completely at ease if he has control over the Ministry of Revenue.

Replacing Ma Qi would be Emperor Qianxi creating trouble for himself.

He hesitated for a moment, then said to Yu Chenglong, "Although the Ministry of Revenue has encountered some problems, Ma Qi has still done a lot."

"We'll talk about this later."

"Retreat!"

After saying this, Emperor Qianxi turned and left.

Shen Ye glanced at Yu Chenglong, who had a serious expression, and gently shook his head.

The appointment of Ma Qi was not arranged by Shen Ye for Yu Chenglong.

This was probably done spontaneously by Yu Chenglong.

Yu Chenglong didn't impeach anyone else, but only Ma Qi. From this point of view, Shen Ye still greatly admired Yu Chenglong.

Yu Chenglong met Shen Ye's gaze but said nothing.

With Emperor Qianxi's protection, Ma Qi finally felt much relieved.

He looked at Yu Chenglong standing not far away and said calmly, "Lord Yu, although you impeached me, I know that you are selfless and devoted to the public good, so I will never hold a grudge against you."

Ma Qi said this in a very serious tone, as if to say, "I won't stoop to your level."

Yu Chenglong smiled at Ma Qi and said, "Lord Ma Qi, since I dare to impeach Lord Yu, I am not afraid that Lord Yu will hold a grudge."

“Yu is dedicated to public service, but you are indeed no longer suitable to serve as Minister of Revenue.”

As he spoke, Yu Chenglong turned and left.

After the grand court assembly ended, Emperor Qianxi did not even continue the routine of holding court at the palace gates, but went directly back to the Qianqing Palace.

As for the others, they left the Hall of Supreme Harmony with varying feelings.

The Eighth Prince was feeling somewhat depressed.

He never expected that what he thought would at least embarrass the Crown Prince would turn out to be a half-cooked mess.

The Crown Prince kept pressing the issue of the Ministry of Revenue's debts, making Emperor Qianxi hesitant to act rashly.

That... that dead scholar Feng actually became a gambler!
A gambler who was driven to ruin and death!
While such a person may be somewhat pitiful, most people find him hateful!

He returned to his duty room at the Ministry of Justice and immediately had Ren Bo'an summoned.

Ren Bo'an still had a smile on his face, looking completely unconcerned.

Seeing Ren Bo'an's expression, the Eighth Prince couldn't help but ask, "Lord Ren, are you so happy because the Crown Prince escaped a calamity?"

"I am not happy for the Crown Prince, but for the Eighth Prince," Ren Bo'an said with a smile.

The Eighth Prince snorted coldly and said, "Does Lord Ren think that Yun Si is young and easy to bully? This time, not only did his memorial fail to achieve the desired effect, but it also caused such a mess. What is there to be happy about?"

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince has decisively shifted the blame to the Ministry of Revenue this time, making Zhao Youzhi's attempt to steal a chicken backfire!"

"But that's not important."

"The important thing is that the Crown Prince used His Majesty as a shield and brought up the fact that His Majesty spent the three million taels of silver directly in court."

"What does Your Majesty think of this behavior?"

"His Majesty will have a problem with the Crown Prince!"

The Eighth Prince's expression gradually improved.

After careful consideration, he admired Ren Bo'an even more.

Ren Bo'an continued, "This time, it seems that the Crown Prince has won, allowing Yuqing Bank to survive the public criticism."

"However, he has offended both His Majesty and his ministers, which means he has essentially made himself an isolated official."

"A crown prince like this will only find his path narrower and narrower in the future."

"So, Your Highness, what you need to do now is to remain calm and patient!"

The Eighth Prince clasped his hands in a fist salute to Ren Bo'an and said, "Brother Bo'an is a man of great talent; he sees further than I do."

"With Brother Bo'an's support, Yun Si has nothing to worry about!"

Looking at Yun Si's sentimental expression, Ren Bo'an smiled and said, "The Eighth Prince is kind and loving, supported by the ministers, and valued by His Majesty. Great things are not far off!"

After leaving the Eighth Prince's office, Ren Bo'an gently wiped his forehead.

Although he appeared to have everything under control in front of the Eighth Prince, the way things turned out this time was indeed a bit unexpected for him.

The Crown Prince is indeed not easy to deal with!

He really dared to drag Emperor Qianxi into the fire pit with him!

His move made Ma Qi and the others hesitant to act rashly, and they dared not deny some things.

However, doing so would also cause Emperor Qianxi to harbor resentment towards him.

Their analysis, along with that of the Eighth Prince, wasn't entirely wrong.

It's a pity that I can only stand behind the Eighth Prince; the Crown Prince doesn't know me.

With a hint of displeasure in his heart, Ren Bo'an slowly walked towards his duty room.

However, what he didn't know was that while he was figuring out his next move, a plan targeting him had already quietly begun.

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(End of this chapter)