The turmoil in the Han court, under Emperor Liu's "lifting up and letting go", finally came to an end smoothly and ended in peace. Of course, the so-called "let go down gently" was probably what Emperor Liu thought of himself.
This investigation of the officials of the inner court and the young government affected almost all the palace departments and bureaus, involving 377 people, more than 200 people were held accountable and tortured, and 93 people were killed.
people.
The majesty of the emperor and the strictness of the palace were also poured out with the blood of these servants and officials. The heads were rolling, the blood was flowing, and they were alluring and terrifying.
Most of the people being traced were chamberlain officials with a certain rank, which vacated a large number of positions within the Han Palace, giving others a chance to advance.
After danger, there is opportunity. A group of people die unluckily, and a group of people are lucky. This is probably the most realistic portrayal.
The one who was deprived of the highest status was undoubtedly Li Shaoying, the young eunuch. This was a relative of the emperor, Emperor Liu's cousin, and the eldest son of Yulin County Duke Li Hongxin.
This is also Zhang Dejun's biggest "achievement" this time. According to his investigation, Li Shaoying was embezzled and enriched himself during his tenure as Shaofu Supervisor. The amount of stolen money amounted to millions. The amount involved was huge, the circumstances were extremely serious, and the impact was particularly bad.
Of course, when Emperor Liu learned about the situation, he only said coldly: These are his own people, and when they commit crimes, they are more sensational and fearless than outsiders.
In the past many years, among the many corruption cases that have been dealt with, those involving amounts exceeding one million guan were extremely rare. According to Chinese law, officials who embezzle more than 500 guan can be directly sentenced to death.
Li Shaoying's case was enough to chop his head two thousand times. What's especially serious is that this was poaching the royal family and stealing Emperor Liu's family property. This kind of family thief who betrayed the emperor's trust sometimes makes people even more angry.
For Li Shaoying, the furious Emperor Liu showed no mercy at all. He was imprisoned, executed, the stolen money was recovered, his family property was confiscated, and his family was exiled.
This incident obviously threw another thunderbolt into the not-so-peaceful court, shaking everyone to their cores. It also reminded many people of the official earthquake last winter.
Since ancient times, the palace has been a place where rumors are easy to arise. When Emperor Liu was cleaning up his family, he couldn't hide it. Of course, he didn't want to cover up his shortcomings and deliberately kept it secret. However, although the ministers pretended to be indifferent,
, but who is not watching silently?
The inner court and the outer court have never been completely isolated. When the situation in the palace changes, there are also many people outside the palace who are worried and fearful, for fear of being implicated and affecting themselves.
Fortunately, Emperor Liu's target was only within the palace. Compared with the thinking about officialdom and the repair of aristocratic bureaucracy caused by the Huazhou case, the Li Shaoying case did not shock the internal and external ministers at all.
These were real relatives of the emperor, and Emperor Liu didn't seem to show any mercy or favoritism towards his relatives. How could other people not weigh their own weight?
Because of the Li Shaoying case, the uncle Li Hongxin, who had been recuperating in Taiyuan, dragged his old body and rushed to Luoyang just to ask for a favor for his son.
Unfortunately, it was of no use. No matter how hard he begged and Xiaoli got emotional, Emperor Liu remained unmoved and even questioned and accused Li Shaoying of his crimes. In desperation, Li Hongxin went to Kunming Hall again and asked about this.
, Empress Fu also remained silent and tried her best to comfort Uncle Li Guo.
When Emperor Liu didn't want to show mercy, no one asked for mercy. Even Li Hongxin ran around begging for mercy, which was just a pointless struggle. His pleas were fruitless. When leaving the palace, Li Hongxin just lamented: If Empress Xiaomingren is still here, why?
As for this?
In fact, this is indeed the case. If Empress Dowager Li was still alive, Emperor Liu might really hesitate a little more, at least it would not be impossible to consider saving Li Shaoying's life.
However, the weight of the Li family in Emperor Liu's mind was still too light. So far, among dozens of people from three generations of the Li family, only Li Hongwei and Li Shaoyou were interested in Emperor Liu.
After the death of Empress Dowager Li, Emperor Liu really had no worries anymore. Even Empress Fu, Emperor Liu respected her, and she only gave advice from time to time. Whether she listened or not depended on Emperor Liu's mood.
But no matter what, Li Shaoying was scheduled to be on the list for this year's autumn trial, and he was scheduled to be sentenced. However, by then, perhaps those watching the execution would be a group of royal relatives.
Li Hongxin was also left in the capital. Emperor Liu's original plan was for him to attend the execution, but later he heard that he was ill, so he gave up the idea.
What made Emperor Liu slightly satisfied was that unlike the members of the Li family who successively submitted petitions to plead for mercy, Li Shaoyou, the Duke of Shou who was closest to him and most trusted by him, did not submit petitions from beginning to end. Li Shaoying, but his relative
elder brother.
The conclusion of the Li Shaoying case has a far-reaching impact. The most intuitive point is that it made the courtiers more in awe of Emperor Liu. He was so ruthless that he showed no mercy to his cousins. More importantly, from the beginning to the end, Liu
The emperor acted too decisively and showed no signs of wavering.
This incident really shocked many courtiers. Although many people kept it secret, they couldn't help but feel cold when mentioned in private.
Of course, for veterans who have really seen the world, this is nothing. It is rare and strange. Although Li Shaoying is a relative of the emperor, his surname is Li after all.
Think about more than 20 years ago, and how Emperor Liu dealt with his two imperial uncles. Liu Xin was imprisoned until his death. If not for the intercession of King Xu Liu Chengyun, his descendants might have been removed from the family tree.
Liu Chong also did not die a happy death, and died of depression. His descendants were also imprisoned for nearly twenty years. They had to die and get sick before they were released from the ban and reappeared on the political stage of the Han Dynasty.
With these two cases in mind, what does a mere Li Shaoying mean? For some veterans, this incident can only prove that Emperor Liu's bottom line is still clear. He is still the same Emperor Liu. When he should be merciless, he is really shameless.
There will be the slightest bit of softness.
Although the turmoil in the palace subsided, the aftermath still needs time to calm down, and some anecdotes caused by it gradually spread to the people and became many seriously distorted novels.
Of course, the most talked-about thing among the people was Emperor Liu's act of releasing the palace officials. After packaging and publicity, many people regarded this event as a label of Ming Jun and Holy Lord.
After careful consideration, the queen finally decided to leave 1,920 people in the palace to serve as bureaucracy, fill the palace, and maintain the daily life of the palace.
It was much more than the 700 people mentioned by Emperor Liu. Even so, nearly 60% of the personnel were cut off based on the original number.
The Queen's leadership also made proper arrangements for the more than 3,000 palace maids to be released in batches. Of the more than 1,700 palace maids, only more than 300 were able to return home with compensation and documents.
Except for a small part of the rest, which were assigned to serve in the princes' mansions, the rest were all assigned to the guards and soldiers in the imperial army. To put it bluntly, this was Emperor Liu's division of women, and the effect was significant. , the morale of the military is greatly boosted, and the popularity is boiling.
Of course, it is certain that this benefit is not available to everyone. You must know that there are more than 50,000 Suwei and Sanyaban guards who are on duty in Beijing all year round. Among these people, there are many who live alone. There are not ten thousand, but eight thousand. There are too many monks and not enough rice to share.
Therefore, it is unrealistic to engage in egalitarianism. On the other hand, buying the morale of the military was certainly one of Emperor Liu's goals, but those who needed to be bribed were those officers who had certain interpretation rights in the military.
There is a saying that ordinary sergeants are not qualified. There are cheaper and more effective ways to bribe them. From the perspective of officers, this number has been greatly reduced. In addition, those who have military positions in the Han army Most of the personnel are married, and the higher the position, the more so. The court also needs them to have family connections in order to be loyal and dedicated to their lives.
Therefore, when the Ministry of War submitted the final list, it found that it was not that there were not enough palace maidens, but that there were not enough qualified officers and soldiers, so a new round of screening was launched, this time extending to the entire Gyeonggi garrison.
And overall, this is a gift to the grassroots commanding officers.
In addition to the palace maids, the eunuchs also put a lot of thought into their arrangements. Compared to the palace maids, they are also more difficult to arrange. After all, they are rootless people, and they will be despised and looked down upon when they leave the palace.
There were thousands of people who left the palace in the Qing Dynasty. In the end, Emperor Liu made his own decision before the final plan was made. In addition to dividing some of them with the East Palace and the palaces of the princes, the rest were given money, food, and rank officials. Those who can return home will do so, and those who are homeless will be arranged to live in the countryside.
Emperor Liu believed that when he went to places, especially those rural areas where it was difficult for the imperial power to come down, these eunuchs were also the group of people who were most respectful and loyal to the imperial power.