Chapter 366: Chapter 366: Intimidating the Ministers!
The letter in Mu Yan’s hand fell to the ground, and Liu Hanlin felt as if his dignity was being trampled upon by Mu Yan.
After all, he was a veteran courtier, and yet Mu Yan dared to treat him this way!
Among the courtiers, so frowned, so were terrified, so secretly rejoiced, and so felt a sense of satisfaction.
But being long accustod to court life had turned them all into cunning foxes, and none revealed their true emotions.
The Crown Prince felt as though Mu Yan had slapped him in the face publicly since Liu Hanlin was one of his supporters.
Liu Hanlin’s aged face could no longer hide his displeasure; veins bulging in his trembling hand, he pointed at Mu Yan’s nose and scolded: “Mu Yan, you dare…”
Mu Yan’s icy gaze bore down as he looked towards Liu Hanlin: “Why would I not dare? After all these years, I thought Pri Minister Liu understood my way of doing things.”
Liu Hanlin’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his blood boiling, almost to the point of being infuriated to death by Mu Yan.
Mu Yan ordered the eunuch: “Pick it up and show it to Pri Minister Liu.”
The eunuch imdiately went to pick up the letter respectfully and handed it to Pri Minister Liu.
After opening the letter, Pri Minister Liu’s pupils dilated suddenly.
By the ti he saw the third letter, his face had already turned pale as death.
In front of so many courtiers, he couldn’t possibly destroy the evidence and could only listen to what Mu Yan had to say next.
All the courtiers glanced over, wondering what Pri Minister Liu had done to change his complexion so drastically and remain silent.
Liu Hanlin’s hands shook as he held the letter, unable to keep a steady grip, and the letter scattered on the ground; the eunuch picked it up again and handed it back to Mu Yan.
Mu Yan, holding the letter, declared: “The Wu Family has been so arrogant in Helin County because they have the protection of a high-ranking court official like Liu Hanlin, who is also the Chief Minister. Every year, the Wu Family pays him fifty thousand taels of silver in tribute for his patronage!”
Mu Yan’s voice echoed in the hall, making it hard for anyone to even breathe, “Three years ago, when the Wu Family gained the rights to construct the Helin Reservoir, they paid Pri Minister Liu three hundred thousand taels of silver. The shoddy construction led to the collapse of the reservoir, and thousands of people’s houses and fertile fields were flooded. Pri Minister Liu, is this not true?”
Liu Hanlin stood in place, silent; he hadn’t expected that the accounts would be uncovered, including secret letters from the Wu Family and evidence from a hidden room in his own house.
All the courtiers were shocked – Liu Hanlin was such a man!
All along, Liu Hanlin was famous for his frugality; the most well-known example was how he kept wearing clothes for many years, nding patches rather than throwing them away.
Emperor Xuanwu even praised him as a model of thriftiness for all officials.
Now, it seems that this was not the case at all. Liu Hanlin had been trading power for money all along; he just hid it well!
Mu Yan continued: “Pri Minister Liu has been very cautious in selling official positions over the years. Here is the evidence from the Tingyu Tower raid. Those of you who are clients of Pri Minister Liu, go and investigate yourselves in the Cabinet!”
This statent hit the Crown Prince like a heavy punch to the face; the Cabinet, led by Pri Minister Liu, supported him.
Mu Yan wants to reform the Cabinet?
Upon hearing Mu Yan’s words, the Cabinet Ministers looked at each other, so of them wondering: who among them was actually one of Pri Minister Liu’s clients who had spent a large sum of silver to get into the Cabinet?
The gaze of the Cabinet Ministers fell upon two individuals whose abilities actually did not qualify them for the Cabinet, but Pri Minister Liu claid they were feigning ignorance, hiding their cleverness.
Now, it seems certain that these two had indeed paid silver to enter the Cabinet; though their ranks were not high, they were Pri Minister Liu’s close confidants and right-hand n!
Si Jun stood in the hall, listening to Mu Yan thodically dismantle Liu Hanlin.
He felt secretly elated and thought to himself: Could it be that Mu Yan is now targeting the Crown Prince?
This was sothing he would be delighted to see!
Gasping for breath, Pri Minister Liu said: “Your Highness, this old official is feeling unwell. May I be excused to return ho?”
The Crown Prince was about to speak when Mu Yan looked towards Liu Hanlin and said: “Ho?”
He looked towards Xiao Chen who was coming quickly from outside the hall and said, “Mr. Xiao, how did the search go at Pri Minister Liu’s house?”
Xiao Chen stopped and reported, “The walls of the Chief Minister’s house were demolished, inside there were one hundred thousand taels of gold, and additionally, silver notes totaling two million taels were discovered.”
Liu Hanlin angrily retorted, “Mu Yan, you’re deliberately framing !”
With a cold laugh, Mu Yan responded, “Pri Minister Liu, didn’t you notice that none of the people from the Three Agencies were around today? Since you arrived at the Golden Throne Hall, they have all been at your house, and by now your wife and son should be undergoing interrogation.”
Dilation of Liu Hanlin’s pupils showed shock; he never expected Mu Yan to have prepared so much.
He had just returned yesterday, when exactly did he arrange all this!
Although Mu Yan was absent from the court, his people have now spread throughout it.
Liu Hanlin’s cold sweat poured down, soaking his back.
Everyone saw Liu Hanlin’s nervousness.
“Take Liu Hanlin away!” Mu Yan commanded in a deep voice.
“Yes!” people from the Ministry of Justice stepped forward to apprehend him.
Liu Hanlin shouted, “Mu Yan, I’m not the only official in Nanjin who does this, why don’t you investigate? Who is really clean?”
Mu Yan was waiting just for these words, he turned to the ministers and said, “The cris committed by the Wu Family causing the flood are unforgivable, worthy of the punishnt of nine kin; Liu Hanlin’s case reminds us, the internal parasites are gnawing at the foundations of Nanjin!”
His gaze swept over the officials, his voice conveying a sense of oppression as he declared, “Starting today, the Three Agencies will oversee all officials; those who are found guilty of corruption, bribery, or violating the law will be completely uprooted from this court, with no leniency!”
Mu Yan turned to the Crown Prince and asked, “Your Highness, Crown Prince, what are your thoughts?”
As Liu Hanlin was being taken away, the Crown Prince swallowed nervously, first glancing towards Grand Secretary Lu Zhong, who was keeping his head down, refusing to et his gaze.
Facing Mu Yan’s eyes, the Crown Prince lost his composure; what could he say when Mu Yan was pushing him into a corner like this?
The evidence against Liu Hanlin was incontrovertible; if he were to shield him, and by any chance implicate himself, it would give Si Jun, Prince Qi, and Prince Xian an opportunity to exploit, which would be troubleso.
Amplifying his voice, the Crown Prince exclaid, “The Regent King has already discussed this matter with my palace yesterday, and his views are indeed the sa as mine.”
To regain so dignity, the Crown Prince told a blatant lie, leading the courtiers to believe that he and Mu Yan had jointly discussed the outco.
The Ministry of Justice, Dali Temple, and Imperial Examination Hall joined forces to oversee all officials; the leaders of the Three Agencies bowed to Mu Yan and acknowledged, “Yes!”
Original responsibilities of the Ministry of Justice were to conduct trials, Dali Temple to review them, while the Supervision Bureau oversaw the trial process.
But now the Three Agencies held another function, that of overseeing all officials!
Si Jun’s brow furrowed; he had underestimated Mu Yan. It seed that Mu Yan was using Pri Minister Liu’s corruption case as an excuse to overtly inspect the assets and backgrounds of all current officials.
This was the ostensible goal, but in reality, Mu Yan was probably planning to overhaul the entire Nanjin court.
Mu Yan intended to gradually kick out those in the court who were either aligned with the Crown Prince Faction or replace them gradually with fresh blood or his own trusted followers!
By removing Liu Hanlin, a key official of the Crown Prince Faction, Mu Yan might next slowly and painfully excise the Crown Prince and the other princes like a blunt knife cutting into flesh!
Si Jun’s brow tightened as he thought to himself: Mu Yan’s sches run deep!
Since Mu Yan was set to significantly transform the court, he was bound to make enemies!
As he rubbed his sleeve, Si Jun pondered in his mind: He must seek to align with Prince Qi and Prince Xian, to huddle together for warmth!
The courtiers looked at each other; so were confident, so felt guilty, others were greatly exhilarated!
Mu Yan’s actions served as a deterrent to the officials. Grand Secretary Lu Zhong, staring at his fingers with an intense gaze, understood: from today onward, the order of Nanjin’s court might slowly begin to change!
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