Political battles in the imperial court were often fought from one point to the whole area. They would use all their strength to attack a single point in order to achieve a breakthrough. Once the breakthrough was achieved, they would immediately take over that point.
But once the strength was dispersed and attacked a large area at the same time, the effect... was basically guaranteed to be that no one could break through.
The reason was simple, because the law does not punish the masses.
Could it be that all the officials in Yuezhou, Yuanjing, and Taiyang were fired at the same time?
If that was the case, then it would be a huge scandal in the imperial court!
Moreover, the most shocking thing was that Liu Qingqi was a member of the Crown Prince's faction. He was Zhang Datong's student!
Zhang Datong did not have any real power, but he had presided over the imperial examinations five times, and was the chief examiner for all of them!
According to the unspoken rules of the imperial court, any successful scholar could be said to be Zhang Datong's student without exception. Not only was Liu Qingqi one in theory, but he was also a scholar who took the initiative to approach the Crown Prince's faction. He was quite famous among the imperial censors, known for his arrogance and fearlessness. As long as his superiors gave him the permission, he would bite anyone!
However … Taiyang Prefecture Chief Li Tian was an official of the Crown Prince's faction. Moreover, Li Tian had committed a heinous crime in the entire Taiyang incident and the Crown Prince's assassination. This was also why the officials of the Fourth Prince's faction had been relentlessly pursuing him.
Now, why did the Crown Prince's faction turn around and shoot him?
Li Chengfeng did not understand the complicated relationships between these officials, but there were many old foxes in the imperial court. They quickly looked towards the main leaders of the Crown Prince's faction: Zhang Datong, Gu Cangping, and the others.
Zhang Datong was extremely shrewd, his wrinkled face was as calm as an ancient well. No movement could be seen, but Gu Cangping could not help but smirk, looking very pleased.
The smart officials quickly used their brains to think and immediately understood!
This was Gu Cangping's' Squid Tactic '!
The first shot was not only aimed at the enemy, but also at himself!
But because of the wide range, the damage caused was very limited. But the goal was to smear everyone's name!
As long as everyone was smeared, then Prefecture Chief Li Tian's' reputation 'would not seem so bad anymore!
If the Crown Prince kept harping on Li Tian's crimes, then sorry, the Crown Prince would start harping on the dereliction of duty of Yuezhou and Governor Yuan Jing.
Li Chengfeng watched as Liu Qingqi presented the memorial. Before Zhao Bairen could even read it, a middle-aged official of the seventh rank stepped out from the crowd and announced loudly, "I accuse the Supervising Censor Liu Qingqi of misconduct and inhumane conduct. He has committed adultery with his wife and attempted to silence her. He is a despicable person and should be stripped of his position and punished severely as a warning to others!"
When the crowd heard this, there was another uproar!
Liu Qingqi was the Supervising Imperial Censor, and he held the terrifying authority to supervise the public opinion of the hundreds of officials. It was precisely because of the uniqueness of his own position that he had high standards for his own conduct. Otherwise, if he were to point fingers at others while his buttocks were full of dirt, it would be hard for others to not be satisfied.
And the person who came out to impeach Liu Qingqi was the Directorate Registrar.
The Registrar was a position that could be found in almost every department of the government. It was mainly responsible for the management of documents, equivalent to a secretary.
But the Directorate Registrar was different. The Directorate Registrar was in charge of the official seal of the Directorate, and at the same time, was in charge of supervising the Directorate's many officials and prospective officials.
In other words, this position had the authority to supervise all the Directorate's officials!
Not all officials had graduated from the Imperial College, but … all of the supervising imperial censors had graduated from the Imperial College!
In other words, the Supervising Imperial Censors had the authority to impeach the hundreds of officials, but the Directorate Registrar had the authority to impeach Liu Qingqi, the Supervising Imperial Censor!
This was the official version of 'Tiger, Stick, Chicken, and Tiger'.
Gu Cangping was a little smug at first, but when he heard the counterattack, his expression changed drastically. He immediately raised his head to look at Zhang Datong, almost shouting 'There's a traitor!'
If there was no traitor, how could the other party have a handle on Liu Qingqi and wait for them here?
Zhang Datong did not even lift his eyelids. He only sighed in his heart that the Fourth Prince's brain was so good that he could find a way to deal with it in an instant and immediately destroy Liu Qingqi!
This' squid tactic 'had smeared a lot of people's names, making people hesitate to take action. But the other party was even more ruthless, directly attacking Liu Qingqi on a moral level, completely smearing his name!
This person had been smeared, so naturally, his memorials had no credibility!
Just as this official registrar of the Directorate had said, how could such a person with such a bad character be trusted with his grandstanding?
For a moment, everyone's eyes fell on Liu Qingqi, only to see his face turn green and then red, his whole body trembling.
Zhao Bairen sat high on the Dragon Throne, squinting at him and said lightly, "Is there such a thing?"
Liu Qingqi immediately knelt down and shouted in a sharp and strange voice, "There is absolutely no such thing!
This is slander! "He pointed at the Directorate Registrar and said in a sharp voice," Shen Yun, you are slandering me!! "
Liu Qingqi quickly argued, "My sister-in-law is widowed at home, and I was entrusted by the clan leader to help her, but I did not expect to fall into the eyes of this lowly person!
Your Majesty, the innocent are innocent, the corrupted are corrupted. I did not do such a thing, Your Majesty, please investigate clearly! "
Liu Qingqi kowtowed towards the end, snot and tears streaming down his face.
Reputation was the most precious thing among scholars. Once one's reputation was tarnished, this person's life would be over. Not only would his life in the officialdom end, but he would also be pointed at wherever he went, unable to lift his head.
At this moment, Gu Cangping turned his head slightly and quickly glanced at an official in the crowd. The official immediately understood and stepped forward with the ceremonial tablet, saying sternly, "Your Majesty, I accuse the lowly person Shen Yun of forming a clique for personal gain, abusing his power, secretly spying, prying into private matters, holding hundreds of officials hostage, and having ill intentions!"
Everyone gasped when they heard this!
If Shen Yun's shot was to destroy Liu Qingqi's political life, then the shot fired by this official was to take Shen Yun's life!
Moreover, the evidence was ready-made!
Liu Qingqi had just jumped out and fired a shot, and this official immediately attacked Liu Qingqi's privacy. And the attack was so accurate, it meant that he had been spying on Liu Qingqi.
Moreover, there were so many Imperial Censors and hundreds of officials in the court, who knew who fired the first shot?
Who could be so accurate and definitely attack the person who fired the first shot?
To be able to do it so accurately, he must have been secretly spying on hundreds of officials, prying into their privacy, and then waiting for an opportunity to act!
This kind of behavior could only be done by the Emperor, but anyone else would be courting death!
You even secretly spied on hundreds of officials, what are you trying to do?
Are you trying to rebel?
Although Zhao Bairen was muddle-headed, he was not ambiguous about the Emperor's authority. His expression immediately changed, and he stared at Shen Yun gloomily, saying, "Is there such a thing?"
Shen Yun seemed to have expected that the other party would attack him like this. He calmly kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, this is Liu Qingqi's desperate attempt to bite back!
The reason why I know about this matter is because his sister-in-law's maid found out that the two of them were in cahoots. She was killed by Liu Qingqi, but she did not die. I saw her dying at the entrance of the Hidden God Street, so I brought her back and found out about this crazy and heartless matter! "
Everyone started to talk about it, and the way they looked at Liu Qingqi was very strange.
Liu Qingqi kowtowed desperately and cried, "Your Majesty, there is no such thing, there is no such thing!
This maid's name is Cui Yun. She used to bully and humiliate her sister-in-law because she was widowed. I have taught her a few lessons, so she hates me. This is slander!
Your Majesty, please investigate, investigate! "
Zhao Bairen sneered, "Shen Yun, what a coincidence that you met her?"
Shen Yun kowtowed and said, "It is all thanks to your Majesty's wisdom that heaven's net has a long way to go!"
This answer was sly and cunning, but no one could find fault with it.
What a coincidence that you met her?
Yes, it was a coincidence. What about it?
Immediately, there were officials who stood up and accused Shen Yun of plotting against the law, spreading lies to deceive the public, and trying to deceive the Emperor. They even brought out evidence of him forming a clique for personal gain!
But this evidence was nothing more than the people he usually drank with, or had private gatherings with. It was all trivial matters.
When this kind of thing started arguing, the court immediately turned into a noisy market. Low-ranking officials on both sides rolled up their sleeves, spittle flying, and argued loudly.
Li Chengfeng watched as the court suddenly turned into a 'Luosheng Gate' incident, and he laughed in his heart.
But at this time, Gu Cangping could not hold it in anymore. Just as Zhao Bairen was about to explode, he stood up and said loudly, "Your Majesty, I have something to report!"
When everyone heard this, they immediately turned solemn!
The fight in the court just now was only a fight between low-ranking officials. The middle-ranking and high-ranking officials stood by and did not participate in the fight. However, Gu Cangping was a middle-ranking official, and a core official of the Crown Prince's faction. His participation directly announced the escalation of this fight!
After Gu Cangping kowtowed, he said loudly, "I request Your Majesty to investigate the leak of the Crown Prince's whereabouts, and investigate the mastermind colluding with Jue Wuji and the Thundercloud Demon to assassinate the Crown Prince!"