How powerful could an impeachment memorial from a small sixth-rank official be? And the impeachment target of this memorial was backed by the party of the cabinet's chief minister.
That was definitely like an ant trying to shake a tree, ridiculous and overestimating one's own ability. In people's eyes, it was impossible to succeed, and people were waiting to see the joke of this junior sixth-rank official.
However, the facts left people stunned.
Within one day
One official of the third rank, one official of the fifth rank, and two officials of the sixth rank were demoted to common people and taken to the Meridian Gate to be beaten with a stick; one official of the seventh rank was demoted to common people and exiled to the army; and another official of the fifth rank was deprived of his life according to law and executed immediately, to be carried out in the autumn.
All in all, one official of the third rank, two officials of the fifth rank, two officials of the sixth rank, and one official of the seventh rank, a total of six officials, all fell at the feet of this small official of the sixth rank.
and
It was just because of a memorial from this sixth-rank official.
This kind of efficiency made the Ming Dynasty's censors, including the Censors of the Censorate and the Six Ministries, ashamed. To them, their entire life as censors, their achievements could not compare to the results of a single memorial submitted by this small sixth-rank official.
Two cousins, Luo Jiabin, an official in the Censorate's Office, and Zhang Hujiang, a member of the Household Department's Office, were drinking at home and couldn't help but talk about the matter.
"The rat that gnawed at the foundation of the imperial court was actually caught by a puppy. Doesn't it make us cats seem so useless?" Luo Jiabin clinked glasses with his cousin Zhang Hujiang and said leisurely after drinking.
"If it was just one rat, it wouldn't be a big deal. The key is that this is a nest of six big rats, including a rat spirit..." Zhang Hujiang said with emotion. When he first heard the news, he was completely stunned.
Luo Jiabin pondered for a moment, shook his head and sighed, "I am so ashamed. Many cats cannot catch so many big mice in their lifetime, let alone the rat spirits. We should work hard, otherwise we will be useless."
"Yes." Zhang Hujiang nodded, then looked at Luo Jiabin.
"It's better to do it now than to wait for a day... We have been eyeing that rat hole for long enough." Luo Jiabin narrowed his eyes.
So, the two cousins chatted and took advantage of the wine to draft a memorial, which was full of passionate words and looked like a beautiful article, and then signed their names neatly. Without any delay, they sent someone to deliver it.
It is said that the number of impeachment memorials received by the Tongzhengsi Yamen today is several times more than usual, leaving the officials of the Tongzhengsi Yamen confused. They don't understand why these censors are so crazy and are impeaching...
Today, there was a private gathering at the residence of Left Deputy Censor-in-Chief Yan Maoqing. There were not many people present, and those present were all good friends of Yan Maoqing, including Vice Minister of Justice Wang Xueyi, Right Censor-in-Chief Zhang Guangzheng, and Vice Minister of Works Zhao Wenhua.
It can be said that everyone sitting at this table is at the vice-ministerial level. Of course, they also have one thing in common, that is, they are all members of the Yan Party.
The table was filled with delicacies from land and sea, and fine wines. Yan Maoqing and others at the table were drinking and chatting about today's events.
They know more inside information about the Zhao Daying case.
"If the case of Zhao Daying had not alarmed His Majesty, Zhao Qiu and others would not have ended up like this..." Wang Xueyi, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, poured a glass of wine for everyone present and said with regret.
Wang Xueyi sat in the lower position. In fact, his official position was not much different from that of Yan Maoqing and others. He was even one level higher than the Right Censor-in-Chief Zhang Guangzheng. However, in terms of seniority in the Yan Party, Wang Xueyi was far behind.
There is no need to talk about Zhao Wenhua. He is Yan Song's godson. When he was studying at the National Academy, he recognized Yan Song, who was then the chief academic officer, as his adoptive father, and it has been more than 10 or 20 years. There is no need to talk about Yan Maoqing either. When he took office as an official, he followed the lead of Yan Song and Yan Shifan, father and son, and it has been more than 10 years. Zhang Guangzheng is also a veteran of the Yan Party, but due to his limited ability, his promotion to official position was slower than that of Yan Maoqing, Zhao Wenhua and others.
Wang Xueyi only joined the Yan Party circle in recent years and has much less experience in the Party.
However, seniority is very important in the Yan Party. With seniority, promotion is only a matter of time, so Wang Xueyi was ranked last.
"Zhao Daying deserves it. He actually dared to take credit for killing an innocent person and deceived Lord Yan, causing Lord Yan to apologize to the emperor. Fortunately, the emperor is very perceptive and not only did he not blame the prime minister, but he also praised the prime minister for his responsible spirit." Zhang Guangzheng shook his head and sneered, showing a bit of gloating over the fate of Zhao Daying's uncle and nephew and others.
Zhao Wenhua glanced at Zhang Guangzheng and said nothing. Zhang Guangzheng's attitude was actually not difficult to investigate. The Yan Party was not a monolithic entity and there were factional disputes.
Not only did Zhang Guangzheng and Zhao Qiu belong to two different factions, but they also competed for the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. Zhang Guangzheng did not compete with Zhao Qiu at that time.
Therefore, Zhang Guangzheng was so happy to see Zhao Qiu being demoted to a commoner. I asked you to compete with me back then. Now, I didn't win you, but now I am still the Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief, and you have been demoted to the lowest position, and you can't even be an official. When Yan Maoqing was in charge of the salt administration of Liangzhe, Lianghuai, Changlu, and Hedong, the position of Left Deputy Censor-in-Chief was mine. The one who laughs last is the winner.
"How can we guess the emperor's will?" Yan Maoqing picked up the teacup, scraped it twice, and said lightly.
"Of course, although Zhao Daying deserved the punishment, this little thief Zhu Ping'an was too rampant. He knew very well that Zhao Daying was rewarded by Lord Yan, but he still did this..." Wang Xueyi, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, was still brooding over Zhu Ping'an's words and deeds when he made his petition. He felt itchy when he thought of the scenes of him being repeatedly humiliated by Zhu Ping'an when he made his petition.
“Haha, young people who achieve success at a young age have this problem. They don’t realize that they still have a long way to go in life.” Yan Maoqing took a sip of tea and smiled disdainfully.
"Life is still a long way to go, young people should not be too arrogant..." Zhang Guangzheng added, following up on Yan Maoqing's words.
hehe
Upon hearing this, Yan Maoqing and Zhang Guangzheng smiled at each other, feeling that they were great thinkers.
"Haha, Lord Yan and Lord Zhang have great ideas. There are so many cases of Zhongyong being hurt in history, and Zhu Ping'an is no exception." Wang Xueyi sneered, as if he had foreseen that Zhu Ping'an would be in trouble.
Zhao Wenhua at the table looked at the few people, nodded with a smile, picked up the teacup and took a sip, hiding the disdain on the corner of his mouth.
How can the word "arrogant" be enough to bring down Zhao Qiu and his nephew in front of you
If Zhu Ping'an was a fool like Shang Zhongyong, why would I have asked someone to find him a son-in-law
How could a young man who passed the imperial examination at the age of thirteen and became the top scorer in the imperial examination at the age of fourteen, and who could write such a strategy for dealing with Japan, be someone he could easily associate with
The last person who passed the imperial examination at the age of thirteen was Prime Minister Yang, who held great power for three dynasties.