Yang Fan returned to the Heavenly Magistrate's office. Suppressing his worries and the pain of losing his young daughter, he concentrated on sorting out the preliminary list of officials.
He had the right to screen but not the final decision. Therefore, the number of people on the list was three times the number of Southern Border officials needed. Only by reporting it to the Political Affairs Hall could the Prime Ministers have room to choose. But in the list of officials for every position, Wu Sansi and Li Zhaode's people were the absolute majority.
After lunch, Yang Fan carefully checked again and the final list was finally out. Yang Fan called: "Li Lingshi!"
Li Zhenghu, who was pretending to be diligent, hurriedly came forward. Yang Fan handed Li Zhenghu the name list, which was dotted with dots and ink, to Li Zhenghu and said, "This is the list of officials that I have preliminarily selected. Make a copy of it. After I check it, you must hand it to the Political Affairs Hall before the yamen is dismissed today!"
"Yes!"
Li Zhenghu quickly took the list with both hands. Yang Fan solemnly said: "I will go out for a while. Make a copy of it carefully. Remember, this is a serious matter. Do not spread it out!"
Li Zhenghu said with a terrified face: "I dare not. Doctor, please rest assured!"
In the past dynasties, the lightest punishment for officials who leaked government decrees and other confidential information was demoted and exiled. However, the leaking of government decrees and policies had never stopped. It was just that no one spread the news publicly without compensation. Instead, they had their own specialties and secretly leaked the news to the nobles they were attached to.
Yang Fan left the Heavenly Magistrate's office and went to the Ministry of Justice. The six ministries were all on the same street to facilitate the official exchanges between the ministries.
Riding on the horse, Yang Fan asked his subordinates: "Have our people been completely separated from Taoist Si Fang and the old nun of Hanoi?"
One of them answered: "Ever since we received the headmaster's order, our people have retreated at full speed regardless of the losses. Relying on the protection of those three people can provide us with many conveniences. Therefore, there are many people who are willing to take over. Our losses have mostly been compensated by these people."
Yang Fan smiled and said, "These losses are nothing. What's important is that our people have been stripped clean. I originally wanted to delay it for a few more days, but unfortunately, the situation has changed, and I have no choice but to act in advance. Our people have already left, and that's for the best! "
Yang Fan turned around and said to another guard, "Go to the Golden Grain Garden's Purple Lake Garden and tell Her Royal Highness that … everything is ready, and we can start as promised!"
"Yes!"
The guard galloped his horse in the opposite direction.
The guard who had just spoken to Yang Fan was obviously the leader of the guards, so he knew more inside information and was qualified to speak to Yang Fan. He lowered his voice and said, "Sect Master, our people … don't need to move?"
Yang Fan gently shook his head and said, "There is no one that Young Master Jiang doesn't know about our people. As long as we make a move, he will notice my intentions. Therefore, this time, we cannot move a single one of them. Don't worry, I have my own arrangements for this! "
"Yes, Sir!"
Li Zhenghu first quickly copied a list of names, and with it in his sleeves, he went to the side room of the recording room. Seeing that there was no one else besides the servant in charge of grinding ink and serving water, he immediately passed the list to him and hurriedly ordered, "Go! Send it to the Wei Wang Residence immediately! "
This servant was the son of one of his family servants, and he used his connections to get him to work as a servant in the yamen. He more or less received a salary to supplement his family's income, and thus became his most trusted errand boy. The manservant took the list and quickly put it away, then rushed out. Li Zhenghu heaved a sigh of relief, then returned to the recording room and began to copy the second copy. This time, he was meticulous, and his brush was extremely serious …
…
Zhao Gan was the Imperial Official's Sifeng Officer. Sifeng Officer was mainly in charge of conferring titles of nobility. Titles of nobility were not easily conferred. It was either the death of the father, and the natural succession was only a normal procedure to go through at the Imperial Official's Residence. Or, it was for military merits, or for many years of loyalty to the country, and the Emperor rewarded them with a title of nobility.
And there was no room for Sifeng Officer to maneuver, and there was no profit to be made. Therefore, although Zhao Gan had served in the Imperial Official's Residence for many years, he had always been an insignificant official. Compared to the hot and powerful examiners, when it came to New Year's Day, generous gifts would be piled up like a mountain. It could be said that he was extremely poor.
However, Zhao Gan was a man of great forbearance. He had been doing his job dutifully, unlike his predecessors who used their connections in the Ministry of Personnel to transfer people to other government offices, or to prepare a generous gift and ask the Assistant Minister for help to transfer them to the local government offices. Otherwise, he would prepare a generous gift and ask the Assistant Minister for help to transfer them to a position with real power.
As a result, because he had not been transferred for many years, he became the most senior official in the Imperial Official's Residence. Because of his outstanding reputation, he had never had any serious conflicts with his colleagues, so his popularity and reputation were well known.
Now, this Doctor Zhao, who had always been respected in the Heavenly Official's office, was sitting upright in his usually quiet room, where there was rarely a document to be sent in at the end of the day. He pinched his fingers and listened to the 'crack crack crack' sounds made by his joints. His nervous mood gradually eased, but on his cheeks that were as sharp as a knife, a touch of excitement did not fade.
He was born of the Han family, and when Wu Zetian vigorously promoted the Han officials to fight against the aristocrats of Shandong, he entered the Imperial Official's Residence with the title of Ming Jing. However, the ratio of entering the Imperial Official's Residence was generally ten to one, while the ratio of entering the Imperial Official's Residence was generally 100 to one. There was a huge difference between the two, so the Imperial Official's Residence was not very valued.
Therefore, when he entered the Imperial Official's Residence, his starting position was one level lower than his colleagues. In addition, he had always been an official, and it was difficult for him to show any outstanding performance. Therefore, when he was in his early forties, there was no possibility for him to go further, and he stopped at the position of Lantian County Registrar.
If there were no accidents, he would probably be squatting there like Zhang Jianzhi. If he did not live as long as Zhang Jianzhi, he would have to squat in the position of County Registrar until he died.
However, at this time, a noble person took a fancy to him and gave him a helping hand. This noble person was Madam Dugu of Chang 'an. Madam Dugu used the power of her family to help Zhao Gan settle the complicated relationships in Lantian County, provided him with various conveniences, and helped him to create achievements. Finally, he was able to become an official in the capital.
From then on, he squatted in the Imperial Official's Residence for another ten years. From the position of Manager, Minister Counsellor, all the way to Doctor, he was always doing the most leisurely and least profitable job. He had also thought of working hard to let go of a foreign official position, but Madam Dugu did not agree.
If he lost Madam Dugu's support, he would not be able to keep his current position without any connections or background. Fortunately, Madam Dugu was subsidizing his family. Even in Luoyang, his family's life was not considered poor. He had no choice but to suppress his temper and obediently work as a Doctor of Sifeng. Until today …
Today, Madam Dugu, who sent rice and silver to his family on time every month without saying a word, finally gave him a mission: to impeach Yang Fan!
He squatted in the Imperial Official's Residence for ten years, and finally received an order.
This matter did not excite him. What excited him was the second sentence that the messenger said, "If you do well, the position of Examiner will be yours!"
He was already in his early fifties, and there were already some white hairs on his temples. He had thought that his career had come to an end, but now there was hope!
He entered officialdom at the age of thirty. For the first ten years, he moved around as a minor official in various prefectures. For the second ten years, he squatted in Lantian County. For the third ten years, he was the most inconspicuous official in the Imperial Official's Residence, the most prominent yamen. The power was always close to him, but it never belonged to him.
Ten years was a cycle, and now, the opportunity had finally come!
Zhao Gan took a deep breath and tried hard to calm his excitement. He carefully thought about every detail of the entire matter that Master Dugu had instructed him to do. He could not miss this opportunity, so he had to do his best and firmly grasp this opportunity!
…
The list of candidate officials was sent to the Political Affairs Hall on the same day, appearing on Li Zhaode's desk.
At the same time, the list of candidate officials that Yang Fan had concocted also appeared on Wu Chengsi's desk. There were very few people on the list that belonged to Wu Chengsi, and this had far exceeded his tolerance limit. Wu Chengsi finally could not hold back any longer.
Wu Chengsi's hair stood up in anger, and he punched the table, shaking a high-quality inkstone to the ground and shattering it!
Since there was no room for discussion, then let's fight!
The next morning, Long Shang Guo Yi presented the Great Treatise to the Emperor. It was a voluminous speech of thousands of words, sharp and impassioned, describing Li Zhaode's domineering and tyrannical behavior, comparing him to a rat who stole the imperial court's power to fulfill his own selfish desires. Feng Hongmin and Zhang Jiafu of the Phoenix Pavilion immediately seconded the motion and impeached Li Zhaode.
Yang Fan?
Yang Fan was just a small lackey under Li Zhaode's tutelage. Killing him would not affect the overall situation. Moreover, the list of Southern Border officials had not been finalized, and it had not been announced to the public yet. Logically speaking, Wu Chengsi should not even know the details of the impeachment.
Moreover, what kind of person was Wu Chengsi? He was the Empress's nephew, and he was the head of the Wu clan. If he fought with Yang Fan, he would lose his status. If he wanted to fight, he would fight the big tiger.
Therefore, Wu Chengsi's spearhead was pointed at Li Zhaode, and he cleverly used Li Zhaode's harsh and domineering manner to arouse dissatisfaction among the civil and military officials in the imperial court. He only impeached Li Zhaode for abusing his power and acting like a tyrant. As for the Southern Border officials, Wu Chengsi did not mention a word about it.
The three people's continuous impeachments were like a storm, lightning, and thunder.
Li Zhaode did not expect that with his great imperial favor, there would still be people who dared to impeach him. The civil and military officials of the imperial court also did not expect that there would be people who dared to openly challenge Li Zhaode in such an unbridled manner, even though the mastermind behind these impeachers was also a domineering and insufferably arrogant person.
There were two types of impeachment in the imperial court: "impeachment by revealing the seal" and "impeachment by sealing the seal". In this type of impeachment, no matter how high the official position was, no matter whether the person was guilty or not, he had to immediately remove his hat, bow, and leave the office. He had to bow respectfully below the imperial steps and await punishment.
Li Zhaode forcefully suppressed his anger, removed his hat, and bowed before the Pill Emperor. He lowered his head that was always held high. Ever since he took sole control of the imperial court, he had never been in such a sorry state!
…
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