The Choice Between Benevolence and Severity
The court was somewhat chaotic after the great mourning.
The main hall of the Weiyang Palace was inhabited by people from Anle Palace, while the side halls and rear hall were inhabited by people from Changxin Palace.
Numerous newly appointed officials, granted special privileges, moved in and out of the palace, their faces practically screaming that they were being promoted and replaced.
Under such circumstances, one cannot expect the officials in the Weiyang Palace to do their jobs properly.
Most people arrived in a hurry early in the morning, and the meeting ended in a hurry again in the absence of Prime Minister Xu Chang.
Zhuang Qingdi submitted two memorials to the emperor to plead guilty, but despite his apologies, without the Anle Palace's overstepping authority to review them, his memorials received no reply, and he did not safely relinquish his position.
This was, as usual, a day that made Zhuang Qingdi uneasy.
"His Majesty has arrived!"
"The Empress Dowager has arrived!"
When the young eunuch shouted and the extremely orderly footsteps of the imperial guards outside the main hall reached their ears, the loosely seated officials in the Anle Palace hall suddenly straightened up.
The new emperor appeared unusually at the back door of the main hall, sitting on the dragon throne. Someone then brought over a screen, and only then did a graceful figure appear behind it.
"Speak if you have something to report; otherwise, the court is adjourned!"
The young eunuch shouted, and Zhuang Qingdi felt the voice was somewhat familiar. When he looked around, he saw Zhang Xuezhou dressed in a eunuch's robe shouting there.
Zhang Xuezhou was not a high-ranking official of the court, nor was he a bellwether for the court. However, the simultaneous arrival of the new emperor and the empress dowager meant that the internal negotiations within the royal family had ended, and the current task was to clear away obstacles together.
Official positions in the imperial court cannot be held by Zhuang Qingdi simply by clinging to them; countless officials who did not know when to advance or retreat were hacked to death.
Zhuang Qingdi is simply incompetent; he is not mentally ill or slow-witted.
Startled, and before the new emperor could even recover from his astonishment at Zhang Xuezhou's shouts, Zhuang Qingdi had already swiftly bowed in greeting.
"Your subject Xu Guangyuan impeaches Zhuang Qingdi Censor Zhuang Qingzhai. During the mourning period for the Empress Dowager, Zhuang Qingdi failed in his duties, allowing sorcerers to come and go freely without any effective countermeasure. Lord Zhuang is guilty!"
"Your subject Yan Yi impeaches Prime Minister Xu Chang. I personally witnessed Xu Chang being startled by the sorcerer's form, resulting in him wetting his trousers and behaving rudely in the main hall of Anle Palace. This is a grave offense!"
Zhuang Qingdi bowed with his hands clasped in greeting, but before he could even step forward, the people he had arranged had already stepped forward to impeach him, and the people Xu Chang Zhuang Qingdi arranged also appeared in the impeachment procession.
Everyone knew that Changxin Palace was sending officials back and forth to Chang'an City, and many officials in Anle Palace were also mentally prepared to be criticized and transferred. However, before they could even engage in heated debates, Zhuang Qingdi and Xu Chang, who led the group, had already arranged for their own people to impeach them.
Many officials were taken aback by this act of surrendering without any prior discussion, while many marquises showed signs of panic, since Zhuang Qingdi had never mentioned impeaching himself.
However, many people kept quiet, wanting to see just how severe the punishment would be for Zhuang Qingzhai and the Empress Dowager, and to judge their own situation based on the circumstances of Zhuang Qingdi and others.
Instead of waiting for Changxin Palace to find evidence to investigate them, Zhuang Qingdi and Xu Chang were directly given grounds for criticism.
"Your subject Zhuang Qingdi, is willing to remove his crown as an apology!"
Zhuang Qingdi steeled himself, confessed his guilt, removed his crown, and took out the seal of office from his waist.
"Censor Zhuang failed in his duties in handling the funeral, but with those elusive sorcerers, it would be difficult for anyone to manage it properly. Xu Guangyuan, you are being too harsh!"
Weiwei Cheng Bushi rarely intervened in court affairs, but he spoke up and said something fair, which immediately sparked a lot of discussion among the officials.
"Your subject, Xu Guangyuan, is merely stating the facts. If the person in charge of the funeral were Marquis of Wu'an, the truth might come to light!"
"Even with the invitation of Daoist Master Li Shaojun, Imperial Censor Zhuang couldn't uncover the criminal's background. Whom do you expect Marquis of Wu'an to invite for help?"
"Does our Great Han Dynasty lack capable ministers and officials, and can only rely on brute force to fight the enemy?"
"The four Sima Gates of Chang'an City are garrisoned with nearly 20,000 troops. If properly deployed, Anle Palace could practically become an impregnable fortress!"
"You probably haven't witnessed the ferocity of that old lion!"
"What old lion? Do you think a lion can withstand the swords and spears of thousands upon thousands of people?!"
"Every technique has its drawbacks. No matter how powerful a demon or cultivator is, they cannot run rampant. They will eventually get tired and need rest. They can also get injured. What can't they stop?"
If time could turn back, Zhuang Qingdi felt she would definitely ask Cheng Bushi speak up.
As the Imperial Censor, Zhuang Qingdi knew very well that the lightest punishment was to directly confess to a crime. The more arguments were made in court, the easier it was to expose various gains and losses, turning minor crimes into major ones, and eventually getting out of control.
He Cheng Bushi expected that Cheng Bushi, who usually disliked politics, would actually speak up for him.
The discussions among the court officials had not yet subsided, and the emperor in the court was waiting for everyone to finish speaking, while the empress dowager behind the screen remained silent.
Amidst the incessant noise, Zhuang Qingdi, clutching his official hat as Imperial Censor, felt his heart pounding with anxiety, unsure of the fate that awaited him.
One wrong move led to a series of mistakes, and he had never been so uncertain before.
What did Prime Minister Xu say?
The discussion and criticism of Zhuang Qingdi lasted for nearly ten minutes. Xu Guangyuan, who was responsible for bringing Zhuang Qingdi down, was scolded until his face turned red, which also made Zhuang Qingdi feel extremely bad.
After the noise in the court subsided, the emperor, his face expressionless, finally spoke and asked a question.
"Your subject Xu Anru reports: My father, Xu Chang, was seriously injured by a sorcerer's curse. He is deeply ashamed of his rudeness and says that he has neither the ability nor the face to step into the court again, and wishes to submit to Your Majesty's judgment!"
An elderly official stepped forward from among the court officials, holding up a Tongtian crown and a golden rope in his hands, and answered the new emperor's question with utmost respect.
When court infighting is punished, it doesn't simply involve just one person; it has a high probability of affecting the entire family.
Xu Chang did not come to the court, but Xu Chang son Xu Anru was present and expressed Xu Chang's wishes in a very prudent manner.
Like Zhuang Qingdi, Xu Chang at this time only hoped to escape the vortex of the court with a minor offense, while also maintaining the Xu family's hereditary marquis status.
As for whether the Empress Dowager and the new emperor will show leniency, that depends on whether they have prepared enough evidence and whether they are willing to use this impeachment to bring their case to a close.
"Xu Chang, Zhuang Qingdi!"
The new emperor was clearly surprised as well, and couldn't help but glance at the Empress Dowager behind the screen.
The handover in the court proceeded unexpectedly smoothly, with virtually no obstacles, no factional conflicts, and no need for the Imperial Guards to maintain order.
Before the people arranged by the Empress Dowager to come to the main hall for an audience and fight could even begin, Zhuang Qingdi and Xu Chang had already taken the initiative to back down.
This is almost identical to the abdication system of previous eras.
Leaving aside the distant past, when the former Imperial Censor Zhao Wan was impeached, he was imprisoned for many days. There were also many Confucian scholars who went around trying to persuade him, and people from all walks of life in the court who discussed and debated the matter. The turmoil lasted for nearly two months.
Zhuang Qingdi and others confessed their crimes and resigned from their posts willingly, and the matter could be quelled in almost a day.
The new emperor harbored resentment towards Zhuang Qingdi, after all, Zhao Wan and Wang Zang, who had been interrogated to death by Zhuang Qingdi, had been his Confucian teachers.
He harbored some resentment and even considered settling scores with Zhuang Qingdi in the future.
However, Zhuang Qingdi and Xu Chang, though incompetent, ultimately possessed some of the qualities of someone from a distinguished Aristocratic Clan.
With these two leading the way in removing the crown, if it weren't for the Changxin Palace being in control at this time, he could almost effortlessly take over the court's jurisdiction and command the officials.
The new emperor was torn between severely punishing the puppet ruler to establish his authority and setting an example for the officials of Changxin Palace.
Note: A brief explanation of the Great Han Dynasty can be made by comparing it to your family situation. When did your grandparents stop controlling the family? When did your parents stop interfering in your lives? And when did you maintain your relationships with relatives and society, with your parents acting as the central figure or were you able to maintain those relationships on your own?
Additionally: The major Sacred Land and kingdoms are all similar. The first one I wrote about Xieluosi River Holy Land the infighting between Zhu Jiuyin and Zhu Shiyin in the Yedie River Holy Land, the infighting between the dharmas and venerables in the Yedihe Holy Land, the conflict between the Buddhist disciples of the Western Sect, the disunity and exodus of people in the Kunlun Sacred Land, and the slow response of the immortals in the Immortal Court to minor matters, and their inability to handle major matters. Each place has its own affairs.