Chapter 241 The situation calmed down temporarily.

The whole court was staring at each other in amazement.

Isn't it over now? Why is Your Majesty still planning to settle the score later?

Fan Jian did not make any excuses nor explain to the ministers. This was the tacit understanding between him and Emperor Qing.

At this moment, Fan Jian looked very old. Although he was still a few years younger than Emperor Qing, he had to pretend to be so.

"I know the crime!"

Emperor Qing nodded with satisfaction and said, "It goes without saying how important the Ministry of Revenue is to the country. Now that such a big mess has happened in the Ministry of Revenue, you, as the Minister of Revenue, cannot escape blame! Even if you are not the main person responsible, you also failed to supervise!"

Fan Jian bowed again and said, "Your Majesty! I admit my guilt!"

"What is the crime of negligence?"

Emperor Qing turned his gaze to the Grand Secretary Hu on his left, and saw the Grand Secretary hurriedly step out and salute the emperor on the stage.

"Your Majesty, I don't think Lord Fan has committed any crime!"

"Oh?" Emperor Qing raised his eyebrows. Obviously, this was something he had not expected.

"From the beginning of the year to the summer, the river flooded, and now the river works are becoming increasingly tight! This matter is not only the responsibility of the Ministry of Works, but the Ministry of Revenue is also involved. Although the transfer of silver and various shortfalls were all handled by Lord Fan, they also passed through the hands of many people. In my opinion, if Lord Fan had not handled it properly, the current situation would be even worse!"

When Grand Secretary Hu said this, all the officials in the court nodded from time to time.

Unexpectedly, his next sentence was like lighting a powder keg, leaving people in a state of uncertainty!

"Afterwards, the memorial approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs was sent to the Ministry of Revenue, so I know about the Ministry of Revenue's transfer of silver for Jiangnan and river engineering projects!"

With these words, Academician Hu undoubtedly tied himself and Fan Jian together in this incident!
The court officials didn't know why Grand Secretary Hu wanted to involve himself with the Fan family. Even Fan Jian, who was standing by, was slightly stunned and found it a little unbelievable.

On the other side of Fan Jian, Prince Jing showed a look of surprise and said, "Your Majesty, I also think that Lord Fan is innocent! Not only is he innocent, but he has made great contributions to the country!"

Prince Jing has not attended court for many years. It seems that he came to court today unexpectedly, but he came for Fan Jian!

Willing to take great risks to make a clear distinction.

The appearance of these two people seemed to send out some kind of signal. Many officials who were previously implicated and who were observing the risks on the side came out one after another to support Fan Jian.

For a moment, the entire court was filled with voices speaking well of Fan Jian!

Emperor Qing frowned slightly, then suddenly smiled and said, "Prince, what do you think about this?"

The prince was suddenly called out and was a little flustered. He had no choice but to lower his head and said in a deep voice: "No matter what the Shangshu's starting point is, if there is a mistake, it is also a negligence! As for the punishment for the crime of negligence, I don't know. I have to ask the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple about this matter. They know the Qing law best."

"Your Highness, this is inappropriate!"

Although Hu Daxueshi knew that His Majesty did not like the Ministry of Internal Affairs to interfere in the affairs of the six ministries, he still spoke forcefully: "Lord Fan's transfer of silver to the Jiangnan River project was public interest. Although he did not write to His Majesty, it was approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which shows his loyalty to His Majesty. What's wrong with that?"

The prince was choked, but surprisingly did not refute.

When Academician Hu saw that the Crown Prince didn't say anything, he breathed a sigh of relief. He turned his head slightly to glance at the Minister of Personnel Yan Shuxing, and saw that Yan Shuxing was silent and just standing quietly to the side like a sculpture. He secretly thought that it was bad luck.

Emperor Qing saw that the momentum was shifting in Fan Jian's favor, smiled slightly, and once again turned his gaze to the Second Prince.

"Chengze, what do you think?"

The Second Prince smiled slightly, stepped out slowly and said, "In my opinion, this matter is still unimportant to the Ministry of Revenue." "Oh?" Emperor Qing smiled inexplicably and said, "Go on."

"Since this matter has already happened and is beneficial to the country, there is no need to pursue it further. However, the Ministry of Revenue submitted a memorial to the Ministry of Internal Affairs but did not report it to the emperor. This is their sin!"

"So in your opinion, what is the crime?" Emperor Qing asked with a smile.

The second prince thought for a moment and then said, "It's a crime of deceiving the emperor!"

The officials who were sitting on the fence were really enjoying the scene!
In the past, the entire court was ruled by His Majesty, so how could they have witnessed such a scene? Before, they had not yet reflected the changes in the court, but now they felt it, and they all straightened their bodies and became more cautious.

Other officials involved were talking about it.

They had not expected that the Second Prince would use this to attack the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Although the threat was no longer above their heads, they still felt a buzz in their heads.

For a moment, the entire court was in chaos.

The conversation did not stop until the emperor spoke again with interest. Fan Jian kept his head down and said nothing the whole time.

"Then how should Zhongshu be punished?"

The second prince lowered his body again and said in a deep voice: "Resign from office!"

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince looked at the Second Prince in surprise. He did not expect his brother to be so cruel. Although he knew that his father would not really take away several Grand Secretaries from the Ministry of Personnel and the Secretariat for the silver, he became more and more wary of the Second Prince.

The second prince did not think there was anything wrong with what he said. Since his father asked, he told the truth, as if doing his job.

This can be considered as his way of expressing his attitude and counterattacking his father!
"The whole court is devoted to the country and is sincere and open-minded. I am very pleased!"

Emperor Qing was surprisingly evasive and said, "When the Northern Qi Imperial Master was still in Qing, he said this in Luming Academy: Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. I wonder what you all think of this?"

The court officials looked at each other, waiting in tacit understanding for His Majesty's next words.

On the contrary, Hu Daxueshi said calmly: "To convict someone of a crime, one must understand the principle and the situation. If one understands one's heart and knows the principle and the situation, the law is nothing but the principle."

Emperor Qing saw that his goal had been achieved, so he concluded: "The Qing Law is here. If it is not handled according to the law, how can we stop the people from talking about it?"

The Grand Secretary wanted to say one more thing: there is no need to stop the people in the world from talking nonsense, but he pursed his lips and did not say it out loud.

"All the civil and military officials in the court are guilty of this matter, so they shall all be beaten with fifty sticks!"

"The officials involved will be fined two years' salary and fined to make up the shortfall. As for those with huge amounts, there will be no mercy."

Whether it is confiscating the property or exterminating the whole family, it makes no difference!
Everyone was startled. Although it was said that one could not hold everyone responsible, even for the sake of the normal operation of the Qing court, Emperor Qing had undoubtedly given in.

But to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, a few chickens must fall into the hands of Emperor Qing.
They could also understand what His Majesty said. His Majesty was implicitly announcing the result of the matter. It seemed that the corruption case that caused the huge deficit of the Ministry of Revenue had finally come to an end!

"Fan Jian, the Minister of Revenue, is stripped of his second-level title, fined, and remains in office."

In the end, Fan Jian came through it. As for the concealment of the secrets by the Secretariat, they were the eyes and ears of Emperor Qing, so everyone tacitly chose to keep silent about it.

The emperor thought about it, then nodded slowly.

He stood up, looking a little tired, but his eyes were somewhat bright when he looked at the Second Prince.

The newly appointed eunuch Hong Zhu shouted in a sharp voice: "Dismiss the court!"

Everyone bowed in unison and watched His Majesty leave, except for Fan Jian, who had a smile on his face as he lowered his head!
(End of this chapter)