xymnovel Chapter 105: Taking Advantage of the Situation
Chapter 105: Taking Advantage of the Situation
After Yang Qinyi finished speaking, everyone in the hall fell silent, their eyes filled with surprise and astonishment.
They were all intelligent people, so in just a moment they understood the meaning behind Yang Qinyi's words.
Now, because of Guo Zhongwen's case, the Emperor is clearly angered, and if he is not careful, this anger may fall on Yang Qinyi, the Right Vice-Governor.
But unfortunately, he couldn't shirk this responsibility no matter how hard he tried.
Therefore, the only course of action now is for the gecko to cut off its tail and preemptively state its position.
The reason the emperor was so angry this time was simply because Guo Zhongwen, with such a sensitive identity, had such a big incident, yet his subordinates had all kept it a secret.
But what's done is done, and no amount of explanation will change that.
Therefore, the best way to appease the sage's anger is to quickly make amends for one's mistakes.
Therefore, the most important thing to do at this time is to make a firm statement.
Regardless of how the emperor intends to handle this case, Yang Qinyi, as the governor, must demonstrate a proactive attitude of cooperation.
As expected, after he finished speaking, the expression on the face of the Supreme Sage visibly softened.
Li Ang was definitely angry after such an incident.
However, his anger was far less severe than he appeared. This was because, as a figure at the heart of politics, emotions were sometimes a weapon to achieve his goals.
After all, what's done is done, and there's no use getting angry. What Li Ang should really be considering is how to use the current situation to gain greater benefits for himself.
For example, he is very satisfied with Yang Qinyi's statement now...
What do you think?
Li Ang frowned and pondered, then turned to look at Li Deyu and Liu Hongyi beside him.
After a moment of silence, Liu Hongyi hesitated before tentatively saying, "Your Majesty, Guo Zhongwen is, after all, the Empress Dowager's nephew. If we were to thoroughly investigate this case, I'm afraid the Empress Dowager would be displeased..."
Clearly, Liu Hongyi still holds a relatively conservative attitude on this matter.
Compared to him, Li Deyu was more radical, saying, "Your Majesty implemented the Shence Reforms in order to eliminate long-standing problems and boost the Shence Army's combat power. I believe that this case should be thoroughly investigated precisely because Guo Zhongwen is from the Empress Dowager's maternal family."
"Only in this way will the court see Your Majesty's determination and truly curb the disarray of discipline in the army. Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has always been a person of great principle. I believe that she will not protect such a descendant who has disgraced Lord Guo's family. I beg Your Majesty to issue an edict to thoroughly investigate this case!"
Li Deyu's attitude was firm, and Xue Yuanshang naturally followed suit immediately.
"Your Majesty, I am willing to personally handle this case. With the cooperation of Governor Yang and Governor Liu, I am confident that we can make this case airtight, leaving no room for criticism from the court or the public."
The atmosphere in the hall suddenly changed drastically. The initial timidity and reluctance to get involved immediately transformed into a radical approach.
This brought a bitter smile to Liu Hongyi's face. Now that things had come to this, if he continued to object, he would truly become the target of public criticism.
Well then, since Guo Zhongwen isn't one of his men in the Left Army, why should he bother to get involved?
Silently shaking his head, Liu Hongyi no longer insisted and said, "Your Majesty, I second your opinion and request a thorough investigation of this case."
In just a short moment, everyone quickly reached a consensus.
Seeing this, Li Ang nodded and said, "In that case, let's investigate. Whether it involves relatives of the empress or meritorious generals, we must investigate it thoroughly. From now on, every morning at court, the Prefect of the Capital can report the details of the investigation into the private loans in the army to all civil and military officials. All official documents concerning these cases, after being signed by the Council of State Affairs, must be reported to the palace before they can be implemented."
At the end, Li Ang gave Li Deyu a deep look, but the latter lowered his head and remained silent.
"We, your humble servants, take our leave..."
After stepping out of the palace gates, the group finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Standing under the eaves in front of the hall, Liu Hongyi looked at Li Deyu, who had a calm expression on his face, and finally couldn't help but speak.
"Lord Li, your move was truly brilliant, but isn't it a bit too risky to even scheme against a sage?"
What differs slightly from what was said in the hall is that those present did indeed know about Guo Zhongwen's case.
At the same time, as the official document was sent to the Hall of State Affairs, a copy was also sent to the Shence Military Governor's Office in accordance with the previous imperial edict.
Because there have been many cases of private lending within the military these days, Li Deyu inevitably had to communicate with Liu Hongyi and others to inform them which cases should be investigated and which should not.
When Liu Hongyi and his companion first saw the document, they advocated that it be presented to the palace first before a decision was made.
However, Li Deyu rejected the proposal at the time. He believed that it was not appropriate to make such a big fuss without concrete evidence. Therefore, he suggested that the Jingzhao Prefecture should first collect evidence privately. If there was indeed concrete evidence to prove that Guo Zhongwen was involved, it would not be too late to report to the Emperor.
Since it involved the Empress Dowager's nephew, Liu Hongyi and his companion were hesitant, so in the end, they accepted Li Deyu's proposal.
But now it seems that Li Deyu's move was a trap.
Some even suspected that everything that happened today was intentionally orchestrated by Li Deyu.
After all, judging from the current outcome, in order to quell the emperor's anger, the Shence Palace had no choice but to release all the cases that it originally intended to suppress at once.
Many of these people were their own trusted confidants, whom they had promoted themselves, but now they had no choice but to give them up along with Guo Zhongwen.
Faced with Liu Hongyi's questioning, Li Deyu remained calm and said...
"Your Excellency speaks too harshly. How could I, Li, dare to scheme against the Emperor? Putting aside everything else, what information the Eastern Depot has uncovered is none of my concern."
"Guo Zhongwen's case was purely accidental. Today in front of the Emperor, not only was His Majesty dissatisfied with the two of you, but he also didn't give me a very friendly look, did he?"
After he finished speaking, everyone present fell silent.
At this moment, the square in the distance had returned to silence, and several eunuchs were washing the bloodstains on the ground with clean water.
It is foreseeable that by tomorrow morning, when the sun rises, no one will be able to tell that a dignified commander of the Eastern Depot was beaten to death right here.
"What Minister Li said is best to be true... Farewell."
Finally, Liu Hongyi broke the silence. He sneered, cupped his hands in greeting, and then turned and left cleanly.
Then, Yang Qinyi's face also showed some bitterness. He seemed to hesitate for a long time before he sighed.
"Lord Li, today's matter is over, but it's best to prevent the same thing from happening again. Farewell."
Having said that, he didn't say anything more, but turned and left as well, leaving Li Deyu and Xue Yuanshang standing there, both with complicated expressions...