Shen Duan was about to stake his wager on "military authority stirring the emperor's heart."
Whenever military authority was involved, the sovereign was bound to grow suspicious.
Once that suspicion arose, they naturally could not give him time to ponder...
And so, just as this thought stirred in the emperor's mind, from the ranks of the Censorate,
Right Associate Censor-in-Chief Yao Zhen strode forward, allowing the imperial will not a moment to shift.
"Your Majesty, I have something to say!"
Sure enough, seeing that the performance was not yet over, Emperor Jing of Zhou did not stop it. He nodded for him to proceed.
With the emperor's permission, Yao Zhen fixed his gaze on Shen Duan.
"Chancellor Shen just said that for Wei Zi'an, 'acting as an Imperial Envoy, investigating the temples already overstepped his bounds.'"
Yao Zhen's voice rang through the hall.
"But the Imperial Envoy was commanded to conduct the Arrears Investigation. Do temple lands have any connection to those arrears?
Of the lands occupied by the temples of Suzhou, how much is tax-exempt?
How much was swallowed up from the common people's holdings?
If these lands should have paid grain taxes but did not, does that count as 'arrears'?"
Yao Zhen's voice rose higher. "If it does, then Wei Zi'an is simply performing his duty by investigating them. Where is this 'overstepping'?
If it does not, I ask Chancellor Shen to explain: what is the fixed acreage limit for tax-exempt temple lands?
What crime is committed when holdings exceed that limit and grain taxes remain unpaid?"
Pressed by Yao Zhen's questions, Shen Duan's expression remained unchanged. He said calmly,
"Censor Yao's questions fall within the Ministry of Revenue's remit.
I am not the Minister of Revenue. It would be improper for me to take over another man's