The turmoil in the Han court, under Emperor Liu's "lifting it up and letting it go with ease", finally came to an end smoothly and ended in peace. Of course, the so-called letting go gently was probably just what Emperor Liu thought of himself.
This investigation of officials in the inner court and the Shaofu affected almost all departments and bureaus in the palace. 377 people were involved, more than 200 people were held accountable and tortured, and 93 people were killed. people.
The emperor's majesty 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 person with the highest status who was taken down was undoubtedly the Young Mansion Supervisor Li Shaoying. This is 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 during his tenure as Shaofu Supervisor, and 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 family members. When they commit crimes, they are more sensational and unscrupulous than outsiders.
In the past many years, among the many corruption cases that have been dealt with, the amount of money reaching one million guan was extremely rare. According to Han law, officials who embezzled more than 500 guan could be directly sentenced to death.
Li Shaoying's case was enough to chop his head two thousand times. What was particularly serious was that he 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, recovered the stolen money, lost his family property, and exiled his family.
This incident obviously threw another thunderbolt into the not-so-peaceful imperial 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. As for the ministers, although they pretended to be indifferent, there were still some who were not silently paying attention.
The inner court and the outer court have never been completely isolated. When the situation in the palace changes, there are countless 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 shocked the internal and external ministers in no way.
This is a true relative of the emperor, and Emperor Liu seems to have no mercy or favoritism towards his relatives, so how can other people not weigh their own weight?
Because of Li Shaoying's case, his uncle Li Hongxin, who had been recuperating in Taiyuan, dragged his old body and rushed to Luoyang just to plead for his son.
Unfortunately, it was of no use. No matter how hard he begged or Xiaoli got emotional, Emperor Liu remained unmoved and even questioned and accused Li Shaoying of his crimes. In desperation, Li Hongxin asked to go to Kunming Hall again, but Empress Fu remained silent and tried her best to comfort Uncle Li Guo.
When Emperor Liu didn't want to beg for mercy, no one asked for mercy. Even if Li Hongxin ran around begging for mercy, it was just a pointless struggle. His appeal was fruitless, and when he left the palace, Li Hongxin just lamented: If Empress Xiaomingren was still alive, why would this happen?
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, in Emperor Liu's mind, the weight of everyone in the Li family was still too light. So far, among the dozens of people from three generations of the Li family, only Li Hongwei and Li Shaoyou are 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 is scheduled to be on the list of this year's autumn trial, and the execution will be scheduled. However, by then, perhaps a group of relatives of the emperor will be watching the execution.
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 memorials to plead for mercy, Duke Shou Li Shaoyou, who was closest to him and most trusted by him, did not submit petitions from beginning to end. Li Shaoying is his 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. It was too cruel, and he showed no mercy to his cousin. More importantly, from the beginning to the end, Emperor Liu acted too decisively, without any sign of wavering.
This incident really shocked many courtiers. Although many people kept it secret, they couldn't help but feel cold when they mentioned it in private.
Of course, for veterans who have really seen the world, this is nothing. It's rare but 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 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 clan genealogy.
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 could be released from the ban and reappear 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 unworthy. There will be the slightest bit of softness.
Although the shock in the palace subsided, the aftermath still needs time to calm down, and some of the anecdotes caused by it gradually spread and spread to the people, becoming many seriously distorted stories.
Of course, what is most talked about among the people is 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 eunuchs 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 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 remarkable. 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 Sanyajin guards who are on duty in Beijing all year round. Among these people, there are not 10,000 but 8,000 single people living alone. There are too many monks and not enough food.
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 purposes, but those who needed to be bought were the 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 an officer's point of view, this number has been greatly reduced. In addition, most of the personnel with military positions in the Han army are married. The higher the position, the more so. The court also needs them to have families. Only by being bound by each other can we work loyally and wholeheartedly.
Therefore, when the Ministry of War reported the final list, it found that it was not that there were not enough palace ladies, 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 with palace maids, they are more difficult to arrange. After all, they are rootless people. 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, it was Emperor Liu's personal decision before a final plan was made. Except for a part that was given to the East Palace and the palaces of the princes, the rest were given money, food, and officials. Those who could return home returned home, and those who had no home were arranged to live in the countryside.
Emperor Liu believed that these eunuchs were the most loyal and reverent people to the imperial power when they came to places, especially in rural areas where it was difficult for the imperial power to spread.
