Why was a court discussion supposed to be held, yet someone is being impeached?
Impeachment in open court was actually contrary to procedure; doing so essentially meant staking one's personal future or even one's very life to accomplish it.
Therefore, after he finished speaking these words, the entire Wuying Hall fell silent.
Having played the part of a mere figurehead for so long, Zhu Ci had no choice but to sit up straight, slightly lifting his chin. "Speak, you may proceed with your memorial."
Your servant impeaches the Grand Secretary, who uses the name of a mentor to act with the heart of a traitor, using public office for private gain, flattering the superior to seek personal interest, acting as a parasite to the state and a menace to the people. I earnestly beseech Your Majesty's holy judgment to expose his crimes and bring justice to ensure the stability of the state.
Hmm?
Zhu Ci's expression became somewhat more serious, but he did not interrupt the Left Vice Censor's impeachment in court.
The Left Vice Censor read them out one by one. It was clear that this memorial had been prepared by him long ago; it was nothing more than an accusation that Fu held too much power, dominated the Grand Secretariat, suppressed the other Grand Secretaries, besides that, an accusation that he personally controlled the lifeblood of the Great Ming's economy.
Furthermore, as a Grand Secretary, he failed to advise the Emperor, knowing only how to fawn and flatter, no different from the likes of Ma Shiying.
After speaking, the Left Vice Censor knelt on the ground, took off his official cap, placed it on the floor, kowtowed, saying, "This official knows his crime."
Zhu Ci said in a calm tone, "Rise, for it is your duty as a Censor to report based on rumors, you shall not be punished for your words."
The Left Vice Censor kowtowed again: "I thank Your Majesty for your immense grace."
Zhu Ci was just about to tell Fu to return and write a memorial for his self-defense.
This is the standard procedure; if you are accused, you must write a memorial for self-defense.
Of course, it depends on the situation. For issues like these, which are related to personal conduct, if they haven't reached the level of breaking the law, a memorial is submitted. But if they do reach the level of breaking the law, then I'm sorry.. you can wait for the Court of Judicial Review to investigate you.
Before Zhu Ci could even speak, someone said leisurely, "The Left Vice Censor is loyal to the country, but you keep insisting on impeaching the Grand Secretary; to my ears, it sounds no different from calling His Majesty muddled. You certainly have a lot of nerve."
Zhu Ci instantly wanted to facepalm. No, big brother, why are you expanding the battlefield here?
Zhu Ci also found it truly difficult to endure. In this current situation, even if you, Grand Secretary, succeed, once you are dismissed from your post, who will be able to pick up this mess?
As the Ministry of Rites, they are responsible for tasks that all require spending money.
Zhu Ci had truly been taught personally by Chongzhen, he knew that it was extremely difficult to get the Ministry of Revenue to approve any unexpected expenses.
Under these circumstances, as long as the Ministry of Rites kept its accounts clear, the Ministry of Revenue never caused any delays.
It could be said that Zhu Ci has been performing his duties as Minister of Rites with ease, Fu deserves some of the credit for that.
Yan Yingyuan stepped forward and said directly, "What does Your Highness Prince of Ning mean by that? It is precisely because His Majesty is wise and heroic that your servant dares to speak out and offer remonstrance."
Heh, so if he isn't wise and brave, you wouldn't dare speak? That makes sense; I didn't see any of you stepping forward to impeach Ma Shiying when Lingzong was around.
The officials??
Lingzong was the temple name of Zhu Yousong; when Zhu Ci becomes Emperor, he will certainly honor his father's memory.
However, Zhu Yousong's actions truly did not warrant a posthumous honorific. At that time, the officials intended to use a common posthumous name to save face for the Little Emperor, but the Little Emperor simply said, "Future generations will be watching."
In the end, it became Lingzong.
However, when they spoke of him, they all referred to him as the Late Emperor, but for Zhu Ci, the Late Emperor was Chongzhen.
Of course, that wasn't the point. The point was that during the Lingzong era, none of these people had been given any significant roles. They certainly wanted to curse, but did they even have the opportunity to do so?
Facing these people presenting facts and reasoning, Zhu Ci stated, "His Majesty has shown you great kindness, yet you dare to use these metaphors to insult him!"
When it came to silver-tongued arguments, these Censors were certainly superior to Zhu Ci, but Zhu Ci had seized the moral high ground right from the start.
Seeing that continuing the argument was getting nowhere, Yan Yingyuan could only turn to Zhu Ci and say a single sentence: "I ask Your Majesty to see the truth."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Zhu Ci: I think my cousin is right. A cat gives Zhu Ci a thumbs up. jpg
It's the holidays! Are all you cuties out having fun? A spring outing red envelope drops in this chapter~
Next update at twelve noon~
Chapter 164
Zhu Ci felt somewhat helpless; originally, he hadn't even taken this matter to heart.
Let him impeach if he must; after all, he won't be replaced. Never mind him—even the Censorate likely wouldn't agree to let Fu abandon his post at this time.
Moreover, the Right Vice Censor had just said a great deal, yet from beginning to end, he didn't mention any serious crimes like corruption or causing loss of life, so there was absolutely no need to make such a scene.
But seeing Zhu Ci's attitude.. Zhu Ci suspected there was something else going on here that he didn't know about.
Zhu Ci glanced at Yan Yingyuan, feeling deeply that he truly lacked a Left Censor who could handle significant matters.
Whether it was an investigation or reaching a conclusion, it was the business of the Censorate; only after the results were obtained would they need to be reported to the Emperor, who would then make the final ruling.
Now, seeing that things were spiraling out of control, passing the buck to the Emperor—was that appropriate?
Yan Yingyuan felt a chill in his heart upon meeting the Emperor's gaze; back when the cases of Ma Gao and the other were being handled, the Emperor's gaze toward Huang Chunyao had been much the same.
He couldn't help but steal a glance at Huang Chunyao, only to see the disapproval in Huang Chunyao's eyes.
Yan Yingyuan thought carefully for a long time before realizing where he had gone wrong, he couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.
Zhu Ci had to speak up: "The Right Vice Censor just compared the Grand Secretary to Ma Shiying. If I am not mistaken, the Right Vice Censor had not yet entered the imperial court during the Hongguang Era, correct?"
The Right Vice Censor was momentarily stunned, then hurriedly said, "Your servant is ashamed; I indeed had not entered the imperial court back then."
Zhu Ci said, "Then do you know what Ma Shiying has done?"
The Right Vice Censor hesitated slightly: "Forming factions for personal gain, taking bribes and perverting the law, deceiving the Emperor, using a servile attitude to fawn upon the Late Emperor.."
Isn't this exactly what you said when you scolded Ma Shiying back then? Everyone heard it at the time.
Zhu Ci's expression was unreadable, but he gave a noncommittal hum and said, "Be more specific. Don't say things that everyone already knows. What exactly did he do, how did he do it, under what circumstances did he do it?"
The Right Vice Censor had a bad premonition in his heart: "This.. your servant.. your servant does not know."
You don't know.. You don't know, yet you dare to compare the Grand Secretary to the likes of Ma Shiying?
Before the Right Vice Censor could say anything, Zhu Ci spoke again, "Come, tell me, what do you consider to be sycophancy in your eyes? Must I refute everything you say for it not to be sycophancy? Must my imperial decrees fail to even leave Wuying Hall for it not to be considered sycophancy?"
As soon as he said this, everyone knelt down in a rush, crying out, "Your servant does not dare."
Zhu Ci also did not want to cause a major commotion over this matter, only to end up having to replace another Right Vice Censor. The Censorate had seen so many people come and go; he didn't want it to reach a point where people referred to the Censorate officials of the Guanglie Era as nothing more than consumables.
He stood up and said, "In the future, when accusing someone, remember to provide evidence and follow proper procedures. Unless you encounter a situation where the Censorate and the Grand Secretariat are in collusion, there is no need to submit a direct memorial. Court is adjourned!"
The Emperor's meaning was expressed very clearly: he was only interested in causing trouble every day and increasing his workload.
After the court session, Zhu Ci was not very happy; he had originally intended to keep Fu Youshu behind to ask about the progress of the submersible.
Previously, Fu had told him that it was already completed. Zhu Ci calculated that more than a month had passed since he had intended to fight Zheng Zhilong.
It sounded like a long time, but making a submersible in just over a month meant that the craftsmen had essentially worked themselves to death with overtime.
As for these recent days, the seas have instead been calm and peaceful; Zheng Zhilong has not attacked the Great Ming's fleets again, as if the previous frictions had never occurred.
Of course, it could also be that the wars on land made him afraid to provoke anyone on the sea so easily.
After all, after this wave of fighting, they were left with only the three prefectures of Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Zhangzhou.
Whether it was Zheng Zhilong or Zhu Yujian, both were likely already exhausted from dealing with these matters.
As a result of being impeached, Fu had to restrain himself.
Zhu Ci returned to the Imperial Study somewhat displeased. He looked at Jiang Xueyan and asked, "In the eyes of outsiders, does the Grand Secretary truly seem like a treacherous official?"
Zhu Ci certainly did not think Fu was a treacherous official, but then again, those treacherous officials in history all behaved perfectly in front of the emperors, the emperors never thought there was anything wrong with them.
Zhu Ci did not dare to claim he was much better than those foolish rulers of history, so sometimes it was necessary to examine his ministers from a different perspective.
But after thinking it over from every angle, he couldn't find anything wrong with it.
So-called treacherous officials must always have ulterior motives; in this world, all one can scheme for is money and power. As for wine and lust, once one possesses money and power, how could those things be lacking?
But Fu has already obtained everything; he has reached the pinnacle of officialdom. As for money.. he was already incredibly wealthy to begin with, wasn't he? Now, his assets might even be shrinking compared to before.
After all, Zhu Ci himself felt like a money-swallowing beast, constantly dealing with this and that every single day.
Weapons and equipment require a vast amount of money to manufacture.
Who else could be such a treacherous official?
Zhu Ci could not make sense of it, so he simply planned to ask others to see what kind of person Fu was in their eyes.
Jiang Xueyan said bluntly, "They are merely jealous that they cannot be as close to His Majesty as the Grand Secretary is. If they had the chance, they might even try to impeach me as well."
Jiang Xueyan now held a position as a female official, so she naturally changed how she referred to herself as well.
Zhu Ci listened thoughtfully, "Is it that obvious?"
His question was abrupt, but Jiang Xueyan understood his meaning and said very objectively, "It is indeed different. Aside from Grand Secretary Fu, His Majesty has not allowed any other high-ranking officials to stay overnight, he rarely summons them for private audiences."
Before Zhu Ci could reflect on his own thoughts, Wu Xia, who was standing nearby, said, "But Lord Fu is the Grand Secretary, there isn't a single capable person in the Censorate right now. Should the Emperor be blamed for this? They resent the Emperor in their hearts, but they don't dare say it to his face, so they go and impeach Lord Fu instead."
Zhu Ci smiled slightly after hearing this. "You all certainly favor Grand Secretary Fu."
Wu Xia was startled and did not dare to say anything more, only looking toward Jiang Xueyan.
Originally, Zhu Ci didn't think it was anything special; Fu Qingsheng often submitted memorials alone, both Wu Xia and Jiang Xueyan had contact with him, while they didn't know much about the remaining officials, so it was normal to favor Fu Qingsheng.
However, seeing Wu Xia's guilty expression, Zhu Ci couldn't help but wonder if she had taken a liking to Fu.
He wasn't surprised; as long as he knew the reason behind Fu's appearance, he wouldn't fear it. With looks like that, Fu could easily seduce young girls.
Young, high-ranking, handsome, wealthy, single—he was the perfect catch.
Compared to Wu Xia, Jiang Xueyan was very calm: "Lord Fu is a very good person."
Fu was generous; he would give rewards whenever he entered the palace, at least half of Jiang Xueyan's small private treasury was contributed by the Grand Secretary.
Moreover, Fu truly has no airs about him. Outsiders always look down on these female officials, not just outsiders—even the eunuchs who passed the examinations look down on them, constantly causing them trouble and implying that the female official examinations are relatively easy and that their abilities are inferior to theirs.
In this situation, Fu had always been very polite to them, so Jiang Xueyan naturally had a better impression of Fu.
Zhu Ci said nothing, feeling that perhaps he should listen to what others had to say.
Sigh, at least the Grand Secretariat has Fu to shoulder the heavy lifting, the newcomers Huang Daozhou and He Tengjiao are both quite capable, so why is it so difficult for the Censorate to find someone?
Yan Yingyuan certainly lacked experience, but.. it might still be worth hearing what he has to say.
He lacks experience, but his character is beyond reproach, so I suppose he'll do.