"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!"
Seeing that the emperor was so determined, Xu Jie could no longer refuse, so he had to suppress the ecstasy in his heart and bow to Jiajing.
"Well, get up. As I said before, I have never been stingy in rewarding those who have made meritorious deeds in the court!"
After Jiajing finished speaking, he glanced at everyone present and said slowly.
"Okay, it's taken me so long, let's start now."
After Jiajing finished speaking, he knocked on the jade rock next to him.
"Your Majesty, I have my own personal report!"
After a moment, Yan Shifan stood up, raised the memorial in his hand high above his head, and said in a deep voice.
"Oh, Yan Shifan, what do you have to report to me?"
Jiajing looked at Yan Shifan who was the first to come out, and couldn't help but feel a little surprised, then raised his eyebrows and asked.
"Your Majesty, I want to impeach these officials on the list, and the crimes they have committed are recorded in detail! Black sheep like this must be eliminated from the ranks of officials in our Ming Dynasty."
After Yan Shifan finished speaking, his expression became more respectful.
"Oh, is there anything else? Lu Fang, bring me the memorial."
Jiajing then turned his eyes to Lu Fang and ordered.
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
After Lu Fang responded, he went straight to Yan Shifan, took the memorial, and then respectfully handed it to Jiajing.
Jiajing opened the memorial and saw that the names above were all famous corrupt officials in the court, and they were the kind that were so corrupt that they would arouse public outrage.
Jiajing was just about to find a reason to deal with them, but Yan Shifan was so considerate that he directly sent the evidence of the crime, which saved a lot of effort.
"Well, Yan Shifan, you have done a good job in this matter! I am deeply gratified to have you here in the staff department."
Jiajing closed the memorial in his hand and couldn't help but sigh.
"Your Majesty, I am just fulfilling my duties as a minister."
When Yan Shifan saw this, he quickly humbled himself.
"It's pretty good that you can do this! On the other hand, many ministers in the court can't even do the most basic duties of a courtier."
"All day long, I only know how to fight for the unity of the party and the opposition of different parties, which makes the whole court a mess!"
After Jiajing finished speaking, he picked up the teacup on the side and took a sip.
The emperor's words made everyone present feel a little embarrassed: "Parties are united and opposed to different parties? Doesn't this refer to these people present?"
Seeing this, Xu Jie on the side quickly put on a righteous expression and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I also feel that in the imperial court, the phenomenon of party-to-party opposition to different parties has been repeatedly prohibited, which is quite detrimental to the government's situation! "
Xu Jie's words made Yan Shifan feel Xu Jie's shamelessness again, and he couldn't help but think: "Little Xu Jie, can't you hear it? Your Majesty is talking about us! You are so shameless. Thick."
"As a dignified deputy minister of the cabinet, I just do project supervision to please His Majesty, but you are so shameless. It seems that His Majesty's comments about you earlier are indeed right. Mr. Xu Jie, never Use it!"
Yan Shifan thought so in his heart, and calmly distanced himself from Xu Jie.
Jiajing took in the righteous expression on Xu Jie's face, then nodded and said casually: "Well, Mr. Xu Ge's words are reasonable. The phenomenon of party-to-party opposition in the court must be curbed. This important task, I’ll leave it to everyone here!”
"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. I will obey your orders."
Seeing that Jiajing had already given the order, everyone responded in unison with various thoughts.
"By the way, Zhang Juzheng, how is the construction work of the imperial court's second navy currently going? How is the progress?"
Jiajing then turned his eyes to Zhang Juzheng and asked.
"Your Majesty, everything is going well so far! As for the shipyard, ten warships have been built so far."
When Zhang Juzheng heard that Jiajing asked about the progress of the navy, he quickly organized his words and responded respectfully.
"Well, that's good, keep it up! If you encounter any problems in the process, just report it to me. Whether you are short of money or short of people, I will find a way to solve it for you."
"There is only one thing, that is, we must ensure the smooth construction of the Navy. Do you understand? If anything goes wrong in the process, I will ask you!"
Jiajing seemed uneasy about this, and then warned him like this.
"Thanks to your majesty's trust, I will do my best to ensure the construction of the navy! If anything goes wrong, your majesty will punish me."
Seeing that the emperor was so concerned about the navy, Zhang Juzheng immediately responded sternly.
"Well, I am very relieved to leave such an important matter to you."
After listening to Zhang Juzheng's report, Jiajing nodded, recognizing what Zhang Juzheng said.
At this moment, there was a rush of footsteps from outside, and a clerk rushed into the cabinet. Before he could take a breath, he raised the envelope in his hand high above his head.
"Your Majesty, this... this is an urgent letter from Yan Maoqing, the censor of the left deputy capital, eight hundred miles away!"
"What, Yan Maoqing? Eight hundred miles urgent!"
"Did Yan Maoqing encounter an accident when he was collecting salt tax? Or did he say something else?"
When everyone present heard the news, their thoughts were racing.
"Lu Fang, bring me the envelope!"
When Jiajing heard this, he immediately ordered Lu Fang in a deep voice.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
After Lu Fang responded, he quickly stepped forward, took the envelope, and handed it to Jiajing.
Jiajing also opened the envelope very quickly. When he saw the content on it, he slammed the table and said in a deep voice: "Are these officials trying to rebel?"
Everyone present was startled by the emperor's sudden reaction. They quickly knelt on the ground and said in unison: "Your Majesty, please calm down."
"Your Majesty, what happened? Why did Yan Maoqing use 800 miles to rush?"
After that, Yan Song stood up first and asked Jiajing.
"Well, see for yourself, these officials are really lawless! Not only did they falsify the salt tax account books, they even dared to burn down the inn."
After Jiajing finished speaking, he glanced at Lu Fang, who quickly understood and handed the envelope to Yan Song.
Yan Song shakily put on his reading glasses, and when he read the contents recorded on the envelope, he was also shocked.
"Your Majesty, these officials in Nanzhili are so rampant and dare to use such methods. They clearly do not take the court seriously. Therefore, I implore your Majesty to severely punish the officials involved!"
After Yan Song read the contents of the letter, he also passed it to Xu Jie who was standing aside.
After a while, everyone in the cabinet finished reading the contents of the letter, and then knelt on the ground with Yan Song and asked Jiajing.
"Wei Chen implores your Majesty to severely punish these officials involved!"
"Well, I do have this intention. It's time to deal with these disobedient officials."
After listening to everyone's requests, Jiajing nodded and agreed with their suggestions.
"These short-sighted officials are really tired of life! Not only did they mess with the salt tax, which Your Majesty attaches great importance to, they actually dared to burn down the inn! This is a huge challenge to the authority of the imperial court and a serious crime of beheading. It is also His Majesty’s reverse scale, if you touch it you will die!”
At this moment, Yan Song, who was kneeling on the ground, was thinking so.
"According to my decree, Yan Maoqing is given the power to make decisions immediately, and he is asked to investigate the case thoroughly immediately. If necessary, he can kill first and report later! And the local guard station must unconditionally obey Yan Maoqing's instructions. Anyone who shirks and refuses will be killed without mercy!"
"All officials involved in this case, no matter how guilty they are, will be killed without mercy!"
After Jiajing finished speaking, he stood up from the dragon chair and looked around at the ministers present.
"I obey, my emperor, long live, long live, long live!"
Everyone present was shocked by the emperor's aura and responded with great respect.
"The officialdom in Anhui is going to be in a big earthquake next! From the governor down to the county magistrate, I'm afraid not many people will be able to escape."
Yan Song thought so in his heart, and then slowly stood up from the ground.
(End of chapter)
