"Where is Shen Nian?"
Shen Nian, who had been slacking off with his head lowered, felt his heart skip a beat when he heard the Emperor call him.
He slowly walked out of the formation and bowed respectfully." Your Majesty, I'm here."”
Shangguan Lin smiled." Lord Shen is the Grand Scribe. He is proficient in astronomical calculations and Yin-Yang Taoism. He must have done a lot of research on the Dao of Dream Interpretation.”
"I ask you, how do you explain my dream?”
Shen Nian glanced at the officials around him and noticed that many of them had cold sweat on their faces.
This dream was too simple. Even those who didn't understand Yin and Yang Taoism knew its true meaning.
Shen Nian could not lie to the Emperor, so he could only bite the bullet and speak bluntly.
"Your Majesty."
"I believe that Your Majesty's dream has a deeper meaning.”
"Rats are thieves. They are used to doing things in the dark corners and sewers.”
"Your Majesty is wise and wise. How could you raise a mouse?”
"This dream is a warning to His Majesty that among the people His Majesty keeps, there are thieves, like rats in the gutter.”
"Oh?"
Shangguan Lin pretended to be puzzled." Then who is this rat?"”
"Zhen has raised all knowledgeable civil and military officials, all capable of governing the world. How could they be that thieving rat?”
"My dear minister, you must be wrong.”
Hearing Shangguan Lin's words, the ministers who were feeling guilty did not feel at ease. Instead, they felt even more desperate.
The Emperor's mockery was already very straightforward. He was just short of pointing at his nose and cursing that there were rats in the court.
If the rat stole the gold and silver, it meant that there were corrupt officials who were greedy for gold and silver.
The Emperor's intention was to punish the corrupt officials severely.
Shen Nian naturally knew this, and all the officials knew that there were corrupt officials in the court.
He had already said the beginning, so he couldn't say anything else. Otherwise, he could forget about being in the imperial court in the future.
Therefore, he did not answer Shangguan Lin's second question. He just kept his head down and pretended to be deep in thought.
Shangguan Lin naturally understood what Shen Nian was thinking and did not intend to make things difficult for him. He only restrained his smile and swept his cold eyes across the hundreds of officials in the hall.
Shangguan Lin's cold gaze swept across all the officials, making them feel as if they were being stabbed in the back.
Some of them were already drenched in sweat, and some of them had trembling legs and could no longer stand.
"Just now, Lord Right Prime Minister Wang said something very reasonable.”
Shangguan Lin looked at Right Prime Minister Wang Hongxuan and said,""There must be accomplices in the matter of Feng Shaojie's corruption and bribery.”
"That's why the East Chamber interrogated him overnight last night, causing him to recruit a lot of rats.”
"Your Majesty, I don't think the East Chamber can be trusted.”
Chief Li Wenbo quickly stepped forward and reported," As everyone knows, the East Chamber is cruel. They only know how to extort confessions through torture.”
"That is why I think that we must be cautious in this matter. We cannot easily believe the testimony of the East Chamber, Your Majesty.”
"That's right, Your Majesty. The eunuchs of the East Chamber are the best at deceiving Your Majesty. The East Chamber's testimony must be a false accusation.”
"Your Majesty, please investigate!"
“......”
More than 20 officials walked out of the ranks, crying and shouting, telling the evil deeds of the East Hall one by one.
In short, the East Chamber was deceiving the emperor.
Shangguan Lin glanced at the dozen ministers who had stepped out and sneered in his heart.
These people's names were all on the list that Cao Zhengchun had submitted.
"You said that the East Chamber is deceiving the emperor, but what about you?”
Shangguan Lin's voice was cold." You're not lying to the emperor?”
"We are loyal and devoted to the country. Please."
"Shut up!"
Shangguan Lin interrupted Li Wenbo's words and looked at the twenty ministers kneeling on the ground.
"Actually, I don't care if you occasionally deceive the emperor once or twice.”
"There are many officials in the court who have deceived the emperor.”
"As long as it's not too much and can do things, I can tolerate it.”
"But…"
Shangguan Lin's tone changed." I will never tolerate those rats who only know how to deceive the emperor and do nothing. There is only one word for them. Kill them!”
"Wang Wen, read it to the ministers and see how precious these people's loyalty is.”
"Yes."
Next to him, Wang Wen took out Drew's confession and read it aloud in the throne room.
"Jingtai 3rd year, 6th month, 7th day, Minister of Justice Tian Huaiyi gifted me a set of Jiangnan brocade robe. There were 100,000 taels of silver hidden in the robe. He asked me to help him."
"In the middle of the ninth month of the third year of Jingtai, Minister of Personnel Liu Qing came to the manor at night and presented me with eighty thousand taels of silver, begging me to cover up the matter of my son bullying the palace maids.”
"Jingtai 4th year, 3rd month, 18th day, this subject conspired with the current dynasty's chief minister, Li Wenbo, to resell Xianyu Country's tribute and obtain 700,000 taels of silver. I took 200,000 taels, Li Wenbo took 300,000 taels, and the rest were used to bribe the upper and lower levels.”
"Jingtai Fifth Year, September"
One scandal after another was revealed by Wang Wen in public.
The time, place, people, and what happened were all clear. It could be said that there was no way to refute it.
It took Wang Wen an hour to finish reading out Drew's testimony, which involved 26 ministers.
Of course, these twenty-six were all standing in the throne room.
There were even more minor officials who were not qualified to attend the court.
If all of them were added together, no less than a hundred officials were involved.
"Your Majesty, this is all slander.”
Chief Assistant Li Wenbo was the first to refute.
............
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