The Ministry of Personnel, the Office of Transmission
The carriage soon arrived at the palace gates.
The two alighted from the carriage and looked back. The Supreme Court Chancellor's carriage had yet to arrive; he was probably still pulling out the rope.
Judge Yu intended to follow his father into the palace.
However, Vice Chancellor Yu said, "You don't have to go in with me."
"Father?"
"You stay here. When the Chancellor of the Supreme Court arrives, you have to do everything you can to stop him from entering the palace. If you can't stop him, then drag it out. The longer the better. You have to drag it out until I finish reporting to the Emperor."
Although Judge Yu felt that the task was difficult, he still nodded. "Yes, this child will do his best to stop him. However, Father, you must hurry. This child is only a judge after all. In terms of authority, I have no right to stop the Supreme Court Chancellor."
"I know, but Prince Rong's plan cannot be ruined in my hands." Vice Chancellor Yu looked determined.
Then, he quickly took the report and entered the palace.
Fuyang Hall.
Qi Zhen Emperor was reading through memorials. On the table was a memorial from the Ministry of Personnel.
When his eyes fell on the last word —
Bang!
He slammed it shut.
Qi Zhen Emperor clenched his fists and slammed them on the table.
Eunuch Zhang Quan watched from the side and bowed slightly. "Your Majesty, please don't let your anger affect your health. Why don't this servant order the imperial kitchen to make some ginseng soup for Your Majesty to warm your stomach? You can read it after a short rest."
Clang!
Just as he finished speaking, the Qizhen Emperor swept all the memorials on the table to the ground.
Zhang Quan was not surprised by this. He stood there calmly with his body bowed. His eyes glanced at the memorials from the Ministry of Personnel on the ground.
"Your Majesty, is this about Prince Rong?"
Qi Zhen retorted angrily, "All the memorials that have been submitted these days are all about Jing Rong interfering in the transfer of officials from the Ministry of Personnel. First, he dismissed Shanhuai County Magistrate Zhang Huanping, then he dismissed Anfu County Magistrate Liu Zhiliang. Just now, in this memorial, he even wants to replace Jinjiang County Magistrate with the original Liu Qingping. What a farce! The Ministry of Personnel transfers and reviews officials every six months, but he keeps interfering, forcing the Ministry of Personnel to reevaluate officials and rearrange new ones. We ordered him to investigate the disaster relief funds, not to review local officials."
With a wave of his sleeve, his broad palm slammed heavily on the table.
On the way to Yufu, Jing Rong and the others investigated many officials. These officials were either incompetent, harmed others and themselves, or took bribes and perverted the law. As a result, the Ministry of Personnel was badly battered. It was as if the entire Ministry of Personnel was under the control of a prince with no real power!
More importantly, he was a fallen prince who had been "exiled" by the emperor.
He, the Minister of Personnel, Peng Yuanhai, naturally couldn't take this lying down. He submitted a memorial three times to appease his resentment.
As the saying goes, when a son causes trouble, the father should be informed!
The reason why Qi Zhen Emperor was so angry was because he had sent Jing Rong away from the capital to investigate the case of the disaster relief funds. He wanted Jing Rong to stay away from the court and not involve himself in the internal strife. However, Jing Rong had not been idling along the way. First, he had borrowed Marquis Kang's troops to suppress bandits in Shanhuai County. In the end, blood had flowed like a river. In the end, he had no choice but to give the Golden Woven Armor to Marquis Kang as repayment to settle the matter. Qi Zhen Emperor thought that would be the end of the matter. Who would have thought that Jing Rong would continue to dismiss officials and extend his hand into the Ministry of Personnel?
At this sensitive time when the position of Crown Prince was vacant, a prince was openly interfering in the affairs of the six ministries. What would the already suspicious emperor think?
Naturally, he would overthink it!
However, Zhang Quan said, "Your Majesty, although it is inappropriate for Prince Rong to use his personal power to dismiss officials, those local officials have indeed made mistakes. The Ministry of Personnel may be in charge, but it cannot control the end. Moreover, the capital is far away from the capital. If the local officials were harmed and Prince Rong removed them, it would be for the sake of the court."
"Are you speaking up for Jing Rong?"
"This servant wouldn't dare. I only spoke out of turn. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
"Then tell me, how should we deal with this matter?"
"Your Majesty naturally has an appropriate way to deal with it. This servant is only a servant and doesn't dare to speak out of turn."
Qi Zhen Emperor glanced at Zhang Quan from the corner of his eyes and saw the old man standing there respectfully. Then, he thought about what Zhang Quan had said just now.
He pondered for a moment and looked at the memorials he had swept to the ground. In his heart, he guessed what Zhang Quan meant. He frowned and said, "What you said is not unreasonable, but we suddenly thought … the memorials were all screened by the Office of Transmission before they were submitted. Almost all of the memorials submitted recently were about Jing Rong. Could it be that the Office of Transmission only wanted us to see these things?"
He was starting to be suspicious again.
Zhang Quan had been by his side for many years and seemed to understand the emperor's meaning. He walked to the table with the horsetail whisk in his hand and knelt on the ground. As he tidied up the messy memorials, he lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, you mean to say that … the Office of Transmission intentionally submitted all the memorials about Prince Rong?"
His words hit the nail on the head!
Qi Zhen Emperor clenched his fists. As he pondered in his heart, he softly muttered, "Office of Transmission, Office of Transmission …"
Suddenly —
His expression was dignified as he ordered Zhang Quan, "Go and investigate in secret who has been close to the Ministry of Personnel and the Office of Transmission recently. Also, find out if there's anything going on between the Ministry of Personnel and the Office of Transmission regarding Jing Rong's accusation."
"Yes, this servant will do as you say."
Zhang Quan acknowledged and picked up all the memorials on the ground and placed them back on the table.
At this time, a eunuch bowed and entered.
He reported, "Your Majesty, the Vice-Chancellor of the Supreme Court, Lord Yu, requests an audience."
Vice-Chancellor Yu?
Qi Zhen Emperor thought that the people from the Supreme Court must have come for the assassination of Jing Rong.
He waved his hand, "Let him in."
"Yes."
The eunuch retreated. After a short while, Vice-Chancellor Yu entered.
He knelt on the ground and saluted, "This subject greets Your Majesty."
"Rise."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Vice-Chancellor Yu rose.
Qi Zhen Emperor asked, "Vice-Chancellor Yu, why did you come to the palace at this time?"
Still asking despite knowing the answer!
Vice-Chancellor Yu unhurriedly took out the document hidden in his sleeve and handed it over to Zhang Quan.
He said, "Your Majesty, this subject has come to the palace regarding the assassination of Prince Rong."
Qi Zhen Emperor's expression was stern as he flipped through the document. After reading it from the beginning, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper.
Then, he closed the document.
He questioned Vice-Chancellor Yu, "The assassin is dead?"
Vice-Chancellor Yu lowered his head, "Yes."
Slap!
Qi Zhen Emperor slammed his palm on the table once again.
"How does the Supreme Court handle its affairs? You can't even keep an eye on an assassin. "He rebuked.
Vice-Chancellor Yu immediately bowed, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty. This matter was unexpected. This subject did not expect the assassin to die on the second day after being sent to prison."
Qi Zhen Emperor curled his fingers and heavily knocked on the document a few times.
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