klisemfg Chapter 207 Eastern Tour - Debate (1)
Chapter 207 Eastern Tour - Debate (1)
The next morning, the sun shone through the clouds onto Kuaiji City.
The First Emperor got up early. It seemed that the climate in the south was nourishing, and the First Emperor's complexion looked much better.
Immediately afterwards, the First Emperor summoned all the civil and military officials accompanying him to the prefectural governor's mansion in Kuaiji City to discuss and handle government affairs.
Although he was on an eastern tour, memorials from all over the country continued to flow into Xianyang. After being summarized, they were delivered to the First Emperor as quickly as possible for review, and then returned to Xianyang for execution.
As time goes by, government affairs processing gradually comes to an end.
Zhao Gao stepped out of the line, bowed respectfully, and then spoke loudly, "Your Majesty, I wish to report the Chief Censor Meng Yi. He dared to disregard the law and privately released the prisoners involved in the recent Xianyang Juxian Hall case. This is truly audacious! Those two prisoners had special status and should have been dealt with according to the law. However, Meng Yi acted arbitrarily and released them. This behavior seriously violated the majesty of the law. If he is not severely punished, I am afraid it will be difficult to convince the public!"
Yesterday, after Zhao Ping left, he hurried all the way to Zhao Gao's residence and reported to Zhao Gao in detail about the scene of encountering Meng Yi on the street.
At that time, Meng Yi suddenly appeared on the street and stopped Zhao Ping directly. He forced Zhao Ping to let go of the two suspects in a tough attitude. His tone was full of unquestionable orders. Zhao Ping had no choice but to act according to Meng Yi's request.
After hearing this, Zhao Gao's face turned gloomy, and a barely perceptible murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
He sat quietly in the chair, his hands folded on his knees, thinking secretly in his mind how to deal with this matter.
Zhao Gao knew very well that this matter must not be let go. He had to take advantage of the situation and make a big fuss about it so that he could use it to attack Meng Yi and bring down this thorn in his side.
Zhao Gao understood that the matter of Juxian Hall concerned Prince Fusu, and it was like a sharp thorn that pierced deeply into the heart of the First Emperor, constantly stinging his sensitive and suspicious nerves.
Originally, the First Emperor had high hopes for Prince Fusu and regarded him as the future heir to the throne.
Fusu was kind-hearted by nature and was deeply influenced by Confucianism. He advocated governing the country with benevolence and righteousness, and implemented the feudal system, trying to change the First Emperor's long-standing Legalist philosophy of governing the country.
In the eyes of the First Emperor, this practice was tantamount to shaking the foundation of the Qin Empire and was a great threat to his own rule.
Therefore, the Confucian scholars behind Fusu and the people in the Juxian Hall constantly slandered Fusu in front of the First Emperor, instigating Fusu to oppose them, which undoubtedly made the First Emperor increasingly dissatisfied with Fusu.
Finally, after a fierce quarrel, the First Emperor, unable to bear it any longer, expelled Fusu from Xianyang and sent him to the distant southern border, hoping to punish Fusu in this way and also warn those who opposed him.
Therefore, Zhao Gao, with his greedy and cunning heart, tried to dig up the old events that had long been buried by time and stir up the matter of Juxiantang again, using it as a weapon to deal with Meng Yi.
This behavior was undoubtedly like cutting a new wound on the Emperor Qin Shi Huang's already scarred and painful heart, making the past pain resurface vividly.
It has to be said that Zhao Gao's ability to guess the First Emperor's thoughts can really be said to have reached a superb level. He was able to directly see into the First Emperor's deepest thoughts and emotions.
At this moment, in the governor's mansion in Kuaiji City, the First Emperor was sitting on a chair above the meeting hall.
When the First Emperor heard the three words "Juxian Hall", it was as if a huge rock was thrown into the calm lake.
Suddenly, ripples appeared, and his face became as gloomy as the sky before a storm, as if a thick dark cloud was quickly covering him, making him feel breathless.
The First Emperor said in a deep voice, "Meng Yi, is what Zhao Gao said true?" His stern gaze shot straight at Meng Yi like a sharp sword.
Meng Yi hurried forward upon seeing this, bowed and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, when I was touring the city yesterday, I happened to see the commander of the imperial guards, Zhao Ping, leading the huge imperial guards everywhere, arresting the people of Chu. I was greatly shocked, so I hurried forward to ask the reason. I never thought that he had no imperial edict in hand and mobilized the imperial guards without authorization. Such lawless and daring behavior is a blatant contempt for the laws of our great Qin State, and it is a heinous crime!" After speaking, he raised his head and waited for the First Emperor's decision.
After a brief pause, Meng Yi continued, "I, your humble servant, Meng Yi, as the Chief Censor, have the power of supervision and impeachment. Today, I have come to impeach the commander of the Imperial Guards for the crime of arbitrarily mobilizing the Imperial Guards. Your Majesty, please examine this matter."
Zhao Gao, observing this, quickly stepped forward and explained, "Your Majesty, yesterday I happened to notice that the behavior of those two men bore some resemblance to those implicated in the Juxiantang case. This alarmed me, and I immediately dispatched Zhao Ping to apprehend them. The situation was truly urgent, and I hope Your Majesty will be able to discern this and understand my good intentions."
Just as Kuai Che analyzed last night, the First Emperor had always doted on and trusted Zhao Gao to the utmost.
As expected, upon hearing this, the First Emperor did not fly into a rage or hold Zhao Gao accountable for such a serious matter as secretly instructing Zhao Ping to mobilize the Imperial Guards. Instead, his expression changed slightly. He then turned to Meng Yi and asked sternly, "Meng Yi, Minister Zhao claims that you secretly released two suspects in the Juxiantang case. Is this true?"
When Meng Yi heard this, his mind became clear as a mirror. He knew that it was useless to continue to argue with the reason of secretly mobilizing the imperial guards. He immediately decided to proceed according to the method he and Kuai Che had discussed the night before.
Meng Yi bowed respectfully and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, yesterday I thoroughly investigated the two suspects. They are simply ordinary people from Chu and have never been to Xianyang. Furthermore, I heard that the reason Lord Zhao is so fixated on these two is because they beat him mercilessly in the Juxian Hall. It's because of this that Lord Zhao has such a deep impression of them, and he still remembers them to this day."
Hearing Meng Yi's words, all the ministers in the originally silent conference room couldn't help but smile slightly, and they seemed to be laughing secretly to each other tacitly.
Zhao Gao, upon seeing this, was instantly enraged, his hair standing on end. Unable to contain his inner anxiety and rage, he hurried forward, saying anxiously, "Your Majesty, I truly am not as Meng Yi said! This matter..."
.