"Oh? What do you mean?" Emperor Deqing asked with interest.
Zhao Junchen said slowly: "When the prince tried to handle the 'Southern Inspection Preparation Fraud Case', Huai'an was the hardest hit area. In addition to the prefect Li Xin, there was also a co-prefect, a general judge, and four county magistrates, all of whom were convicted.
He was also dismissed from office and imprisoned after being charged with corruption. Regarding these criminals, I took the time to check them out in the past two days and found that unlike Li Xin, they were all convicted with conclusive evidence, indefensible and had never been framed.
possible!"
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, Emperor Deqing's eyes lit up, and he seemed to have guessed what Zhao Junchen was thinking.
Zhao Junchen continued: "I think that if Your Majesty alone reduces Li Xin's guilt, it will definitely be very eye-catching, and it will also draw the attention of the world to the Crown Prince's original omissions, which will damage the reputation of His Highness, so you might as well transfer Huai'an to
All the prisoners involved in the "Southern Patrol Preparation Fraud Case" were put together and used their cases as cover. While focusing on the correctness of these cases, they also briefly mentioned Li Xin's matter and called Li Xin
Although there is a large amount of property with unknown origins, there is insufficient evidence of guilt and the charges are open to question, so the sentence is inevitably too harsh, so he is exempted from prison sentences and just dismissed from office to serve the people - in this way, Li Xin's handling results will not be eye-catching.
, when the time comes, people in the world will not focus on His Highness the Crown Prince’s omissions, let alone damage His Highness the Crown Prince’s reputation. After all, His Highness the Crown Prince has made some mistakes, but most of the results of the trial are correct. After all,
These shortcomings cannot be concealed, not to mention that Li Xin does have a large amount of property of unknown origin, and it is not certain that he is an upright and upright official."
On the sidelines, although Bao Wenjie's position was a little shaken, he still raised objections again and said: "Master Zhao, it seems that you have not grasped the point! This method of yours has certainly maintained the reputation of His Highness the Crown Prince, but the source of the huge wealth
Unknown charges have emerged after all, which will inevitably cause turmoil in the court! What's more, Li Xin is an upright official, and your statement still makes him wronged! How can all the officials be convinced by this? "
Zhao Junchen smiled slightly and explained in detail: "If I had changed my statement, then 'the unknown origin of a huge amount of property' would no longer be a 'crime', but would become a 'reason'! This is not only to maintain the prince's
The reason for the original judgment was also the reason why His Majesty reduced Li Xin's crime and punishment! After all, there is a difference between 'reason' and 'crime', and it will not cause panic among officials. After all, one official ransacked his home and confiscated nearly one hundred thousand taels.
Baiyin will inevitably cause various speculations, and it is difficult to win the trust of the people. Such a person is not suitable to serve as a local official, so we might as well use this as a reason to first exempt Li Xin from punishment, and then dismiss Li Xin from office.
People. From a side perspective, I think it is appropriate to uphold His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s original judgment.”
On the side, Huo Zhengyuan nodded repeatedly and said: "Master Zhao is really smart, but he just changed the way of saying it. But he has already covered everything. It is a safe and mature strategy to turn all hidden dangers into invisible."
On the other side, just when Bao Wenjie was hesitant, Emperor Deqing finally made his position clear.
"Junchen's method is very popular with me, and it is indeed feasible. In my opinion, let's make this decision." Emperor Deqing first looked at Zhao Junchen with admiration, then turned to Bao Wenjie and said: "Servant Bao, I
I know that you have an upright temperament, which is why I value you. However, as an important official of the imperial court, you must not let a leaf blind your eyes. In addition to your upright temperament, you also need to focus on the overall situation, have far-reaching plans, and be more flexible in your methods. Regarding these, you are not as good as Academician Huo.
I have already met Zhao Shangshu, so I might as well learn from them in the future, so that I can use you with more confidence."
"I...get it."
Now that Emperor Deqing had made the final decision, Bao Wenjie had no choice but to accept it although he had different views.
However, when answering, Bao Wenjie's expression was obviously dissatisfied, as if he was still dissatisfied.
On the contrary, Zhao Junchen on the side remained calm even though he had been praised by Emperor Deqing.
In fact, Emperor Deqing would eventually accept Zhao Junchen's suggestion, which was also expected by Zhao Junchen.
*
As mentioned above, once the crime of "huge amounts of property of unknown origin" is convicted, it will cause panic among officials and turmoil in the court, but it will also further increase the deterrent power of the imperial power. For Emperor Deqing, it can be said that it has mixed benefits and disadvantages, and it is difficult to
Trade-offs.
However, Zhao Junchen's method solved Emperor Deqing's troubles.
Turning "huge amounts of property of unknown origin" from a crime into a reason, with just a slight change of name, will not only reduce the attention and panic of officials, but also become a pathfinder for Emperor Deqing, allowing Deqing to
Emperor Qing used the outcome of this case to test the reaction of the officials. If the reaction of the officials was not so intense, Emperor Deqing would step by step establish "huge property with unknown origin" as a real crime and become an emperor.
A way to intimidate ministers!
Based on these considerations, it is not surprising that Emperor Deqing would eventually adopt Zhao Junchen's method - according to Zhao Junchen's method, Emperor Deqing not only had an explanation for Li Jiamin, but also preserved the reputation of the prince, and even more
Having one more means to expand imperial power can be described as "killing three birds with one stone".
Therefore, Emperor Deqing was very interested next time. Thinking of the hard work Zhao Junchen, Huo Zhengyuan and Bao Wenjie had put into investigating the case in the past few days, Emperor Deqing also deliberately praised them a few words. Among them, Zhao Junchen and Huo Zhengyuan
Because he guessed Emperor Deqing's thoughts correctly, Emperor Deqing selected some royal gifts from the palace as rewards for the two of them.
As a favorite of Emperor Deqing, Zhao Junchen often received awards and rewards from Emperor Deqing. Now he received awards and rewards from Emperor Deqing again. Although he looked grateful on the surface, he actually felt very grateful.
Very calm, just secretly thinking about his next plan - in fact, this suggestion is just the first step in Zhao Junchen's plan.
However, due to his personality, Huo Zhengyuan usually did not perform well in the temple and rarely received holy favors. This time, he was praised and rewarded by Emperor Deqing, so he was inevitably a little flattered.
In addition to being flattered, Huo Zhengyuan considered that the reason why he guessed Emperor Deqing's thoughts correctly this time was because of Zhao Junchen's reminder, and he felt even more grateful to Zhao Junchen in his heart. He even felt that if he took refuge in Zhao Junchen, he would also be a
Good choice.
After all, Zhao Junchen can at least "share the blessings", unlike Huang Yourong who monopolizes the favor.
Of course, such thoughts only passed by briefly, and these benefits alone were not enough to make Huo Zhengyuan change his stance.
However, Huo Zhengyuan's favorable impression of Zhao Junchen has indeed increased, and this favorable impression will also affect Huo Zhengyuan's final choice to a certain extent when Huang Yourong falls in the future.