Seeing Qianlong's reaction, Wu Shulai, who had never seen Qianlong lose his temper like this, trembled again and said,"Then what does Your Majesty mean?"
Qian Long looked at Wu Shulai coldly, his eyes filled with a bone-chilling coldness."I trusted Li Hanhai before, so I appointed him as the president of this exam. Who knew that he would bend the law for personal gain? Then there's no need for him to exist as the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites.”
Seeing Qianlong's gaze, Wu Shulai's heart turned cold. For the first time, he knew that the emperor's thoughts were unpredictable…
The next day was the Qing Dynasty. It was dawn.
Forbidden City, Palace of Heavenly Purity.
The ministers who came to court had already lined up in four rows and were waiting here.
"The Emperor has arrived!"
Not long after, the eunuch's voice echoed throughout the entire palace. With a long and shrill voice, Emperor Qianlong, who was wearing a Golden Emperor Dragon Robe and a Xia Emperor's crown, walked into the hall, followed by two palace maids and more than ten eunuchs.
"Long live our emperor!"
Seeing the Emperor sit on the throne, the officials in the palace knelt down and shouted.
However, the five people standing at the very front were spared the courtesy. When they saw Emperor Qianlong arrive, they still stood there calmly and only nodded slightly.
They were the Qing Dynasty, Oboi, Longkeduo, Sushun, Nalanmingzhu, Soertu, and other powerful officials. Nian Gengyao was the governor of Sichuan and the general of Fuyuan. He was a major official of the border and was stationed in Chengdu, Sichuan. He was not in the capital all year round, so he rarely went to court.
Emperor Qianlong sat on his throne and looked at the ministers kneeling down. He was in a good mood. However, when his gaze moved to Ao Bai and the others, his face suddenly turned cold, especially Nalan Mingzhu.
"Everyone, please rise."
Qianlong suppressed the anger in his heart and tried his best to sound calm.
When the kneeling ministers stood up, Qianlong said directly,"Let's postpone the other matters for today. Let's discuss something first. Where is Li Hanhai, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites?"
An old man with a white goatee stood out from the ministers and bowed. He was wearing a flowery official hat and a golden pheasant official robe."Your Majesty, I'm here."
Qianlong suddenly flew into a rage without warning. He stood up and pointed at Li Hanhai with his right hand."Assistant Minister Li, how dare you bend the law for personal gain, deliberately referring to Juren He Shen and kicking his original essay that had the qualifications to be a Huiyuan out of the high school rankings.”
The atmosphere in the Qianqiu Palace, which had been very relaxed just a moment ago, instantly froze.
The ministers, who rarely saw Emperor Qianlong's anger, immediately controlled their breathing, afraid that their unnecessary actions would attract the emperor's attention. The entire Palace of Heavenly Purity was silent for a moment.
Li Hanhai was stunned by Qianlong's sudden anger. He did not expect that what he had done would be exposed so quickly, and the Emperor was furious.
Plop.
Li Hanhai knelt on the ground. He didn't quibble. He just buried his head and shook his skinny butt that was sticking up high. He shouted,"I'm innocent! Your Majesty. This old minister is wronged! Your Majesty."
Qianlong retracted his right hand that was pointing at Li Hanhai. The anger on his face had not disappeared. He sneered and said,"Assistant Minister Li, it seems that you won't shed tears until you see the coffin!”
Then, he called Wu Shulai, who was standing at his feet, and said,"Book, bring Heshen's exam paper and read it out to all the beloved ministers.”
Qianlong did not fight unprepared battles. Since he was preparing to launch an attack in the morning court today, he had ordered Wu Shulai to order the people in the stick office to go to Li Hanhai's study and get Heshen's examination papers.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Wu Shulai took out the "He Shen" exam paper that he had prepared earlier and stood in the middle of the hall, reading it out in front of everyone.
The examination paper was very long. It took Wu Shulai an hour to finish reading the paper.
After listening to Wu Shulai's recitation, the officials who were standing could basically tell that He Shen's answers were extremely shocking and brilliant. Whether it was the eight-legged essay on the Four Books and Five Classics, the historical theory, or the final ancient poem, He Shen's answers could be said to have reached the peak.
Especially those three ancient poems, each of them was a famous poem that could be famous for thousands of years.
In the past exams, it was at least enough to be in the top three of the exams, not to mention the top three.
However, such a good answer sheet actually failed in the general exams hosted by Li Hanhai this year. He didn't even get a place as an ordinary tribute scholar.
"Your Majesty, please show mercy. I believe Vice Minister Li did this because he was confused.”
"That's right. Assistant Minister Li is a second-rank official of the imperial court. If we punish Assistant Minister Li, it will damage the dignity of the imperial court!”
"Assistant Minister Li is conscientious and conscientious in his position as the Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Rites. Even if he has no merit, he has worked hard.”
……
Although it was indeed Assistant Minister Li's fault, after the ministers fell silent, a large number of them stood up to plead for Li Hanhai.
It was not that they really thought that Li Hanhai had contributed to the imperial court, but that they were like Li Hanhai, officials who belonged to the powerful ministers such as Nalan Mingzhu and Ao Bai.
They belonged to the same faction. Now that Li Hanhai was in trouble, if they did not help, no one would help them in the future.
"There's no need to say anymore. I've already decided that Li Hanhai has neglected his duty and removed him from his official position. He will be dragged out of the Meridian Gate and beheaded. I will personally supervise the beheading. His family will be exiled to the border.”
However, Qianlong was determined to punish Li Hanhai this time. His cold gaze swept across the ministers standing below. None of the ministers dared to look at Qianlong directly and returned to their ranks one after another.
The reason why they had helped just now was that it would not harm their own interests. If they had to die with Li Hanhai, then forget it.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He begged for everything.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。