Chapter One Hundred and Ninety-fifth: Who Is Provoking Who?
All the ministers looked at Chen Yi, which made him smile bitterly.
It is very difficult for him to be the censor of Zuodu!
Obviously he can't control the censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, but every time something happens to these censors, he will be blamed in the end.
It was like this last time at the Great Court Meeting, and it's like this again this time.
He provokes whomever he provokes!
With his many years of experience in officialdom, Chen Yi could clearly tell that there was something wrong with the emperor's words.
Not sure, just waiting for him to come forward to defend...
However, even if he knew in his heart that there was a pit ahead, he still had to jump.
This matter involves the authority issue of the entire Kedao.
As the head of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Chen Yi could not escape, and he could not even have any confusion about his position.
We must stand unswervingly on the censor's side.
So, Mr. Chen sighed in his heart, stepped forward, and said in a deep voice.
"Your Majesty, our government has set up a scientific road and emphasized the road of speech, which is to ensure the clarity of government affairs and to curb the corruption of officials. The basis of smooth communication is the foundation of smooth speech. Taiyuan remonstrates with officials who may have rectified and impeached misconduct, but
Because of this, officials in the imperial court were alert and did not dare to slack off."
"Since Emperor Taizu established the Six Sections and Thirteen Ways, officials in Fengxiantaiyuan have often heard about things and offended Yan Zhijian, which is a real offense. However, the emperors and His Majesty of the past generations have been sage, wise and graceful, and have given up their selfishness and encouraged their opinions for the sake of the country.
, only then can there be a scene of political purity and harmony.”
"It is certainly wrong for Wei An to rush to impeach the Ministry of Household Affairs, but it is still within the scope of what has been heard, and there are no words or deeds that exceed the rules. Therefore, I sincerely request your Majesty to take back the previous order and change it to a reprimand."
It should be said that Chen Yi is still very smart.
Although his stance cannot be changed, his way of speaking can.
As soon as he came up, he first explained the importance of the hearsay to the imperial censor, so that he could be chosen first, and he tactfully clarified that he was not deliberately going against the emperor.
Then he gave the emperor a good compliment, and finally explained his own views. This was considered as taking the emperor's face into consideration and standing firm at the same time.
If it were normal times, Zhu Qiyu might as well let him go. After all, Mr. Chen has such a strong desire to survive that it would not be good to hold on to him.
But this time it's different.
Zhu Qiyu naturally knew the importance of being a censor.
There is nothing wrong with gossip.
As Chen Yi said, gossip is the foundation for smooth communication.
Six subjects and thirteen paths, six subjects suppress the upper part, and thirteen paths suppress the lower part.
These admonishers held the power of supervision and impeachment, and kept an eye on every government operation of the court.
Precisely because their impeachment does not require any evidence, court officials will be cautious when doing things and try their best to follow the rules of the court.
After all, no one wants to be caught by the censors and then investigate severely.
But the problem is.
Since the Great Chao Hui, Yanguan's power has become a little too active.
This is not to say that this kind of activity is not good, but it is a terrible thing to lose the power of the Yanguan to supervise all officials.
After pondering for a moment, Zhu Qiyu slowly spoke.
"The words of the general constitution are reasonable, and there is nothing wrong with what I have heard about the incident. Being punished for what I said is not the behavior of a wise king, but I have to punish you for today's incident!"
Depending on where you are, your way of speaking will naturally be different.
Chen Yi is a subordinate, so he is accustomed to giving reasons first and then conclusions, which will be more convincing.
But as a king, Zhu Qiyu is accustomed to stating conclusions first and reasons second.
So as soon as he opened his mouth, he set the tone.
He will not change his decision.
Seeing a few more censors below, they couldn't hold back and wanted to get out of the queue.
Zhu Qiyu looked calm and continued to speak.
"There is nothing wrong with the censor's impeachment, but what I want to ask is, are you doing this impeachment out of public motives, or are you venting your private anger?"
This sentence made Wei An's face turn red, and many censors also lowered their heads and stopped being aggressive.
Zhu Qiyu sat at the top, paused briefly, glanced at the gazes of the ministers below, and spoke in a calm voice.
"Last time, the Ministry of Revenue proposed that peppercorns be used to reduce the salary, and many imperial censors expressed their opposition. I tentatively think that you are worried that there are still many low-level officials in the capital who need to live on their salaries, so they spoke uprightly."
"But for the construction of the city this time, the Ministry of Revenue refused to allocate the money and put the construction on hold. Secondly, it misappropriated the money for improper purposes. It was only temporarily allocated due to the tightness of the national treasury. What is wrong with this?"
"Furthermore, this matter has been discussed by the ministry beforehand, and then by the court. The allocation of silver from the Ministry of Household Affairs has been submitted to the Department of General Affairs for verification."
"Even if there is really something wrong, you should first clarify the reasons and tell where too much money has been allocated, which has hindered the construction of the new city. Now, without asking the reason, you are impeaching the Ministry of Household Affairs and demanding that the money be allocated immediately to build the new city. How can it be said?
What is the official duty?"
The emperor's tone was calm, without the slightest hint of accusation, as if he was just describing a plain fact.
But at this moment, all the courtiers in the palace, especially the imperial censors, could not help but sweat dripping from their heads.
Chen Yi, who was standing in front, was not so nervous, but he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Tell you to do it!
I really thought the emperor was easy to control.
In fact, as the censor of Zuodu, he had long been aware of the excessive activity of the censors recently.
Since the Wang Zhen incident, although the censors were punished, they were also encouraged and gradually understood the importance of the supervisory power in their hands.
The country is currently in troubled times, and most of these censors have just been promoted and are at the peak of their vigor.
In addition, although the current emperor has powerful methods, he is often only exposed in high-level discussions.
In court meetings and on most occasions, he is a kind and benevolent monarch who listens to advice and accepts advice.
Therefore, the participation of these censors in the government affairs has greatly increased.
If you participate more, you will naturally become more and more unruly and forget your own duties.
It's not like Chen Yi never thought of stopping it.
But the Metropolitan Procuratorate is different from other yamen. Another sign of the style of science and education is its strong independence.
Although the Thirteen Censors are only in the seventh rank, they can participate in the morning court as an exception, and each of them has the right to directly report.
As the chief official of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, although he has the power to evaluate these censors, he cannot really use this to threaten them.
Otherwise, even he himself would be impeached, so he could only try his best to cover them up in the court and in front of the emperor.
But after all, there will be a day when we can't protect it.
Finally, we got to this point...
Above, the emperor's voice was still calm, but there was a hint of coldness, which made people subconsciously not dare to raise their heads.
"The imperial court gives preferential treatment to Ke Dao because you and others are picketing hundreds of officials and doing errands that offend others. I give you and others the right to report things after hearing the news, in order to ensure smooth government affairs and clean and bright administration."
"But now, under the guise of having the power to report on rumors, you have criticized the Seven Ministers, disrupted the affairs of the court, used the court's good looks as a talisman, unscrupulously abused your power to vent your private anger, and used the official weapons of the court to seek your own selfish interests. You actually dare to ask for my forgiveness.
?”
This is a serious statement!
A group of censors who had just jumped out immediately knelt down, kowtowed deeply and did not dare to raise their heads.
The entire palace was silent, no one dared to say a word.
but……
Again, others may not say anything, but as the chief officer of the Sixth Section and Thirteenth Road, and as the censor of Zuodu, Chen Yi cannot escape no matter what.