Impeach Gu HuaiJiang (Part Three)
After Emperor Ning recovered from his illness, he favored his top general over his prime minister, and everyone in court understood this.
This was also something that ought to be the case.
Back when Yin Yan was still around, not even he could be compared to Gu HuaiJiang, much less someone like Yin Shuo from the younger generation?
Even if there were plenty of people praising him for his steady demeanor, modest personality, and patience, in the end, his age was still a problem.
Moreover, Gu HuaiJiang had kneeled for the sake of saving Emperor Ning…
Not that he actually managed to kneel, but his intentions were earnest.
However, court was not a battlefield. This place was a place that should have belonged to the civil officials, but there were quite a few civil officials who did not dare to say a word.
They were waiting to see if this prime minister would have the courage to speak up.
They figured that he would not dare. Given his young age and lack of sturdy roots in court and how he immediately went to Marquis Gu’s Manor to apologize after taking his position, how could he possibly dare to move against Marquis Gu’s Manor?
Who knew that not only would he make a move, but it would also be an incredibly bold one.
“This subject moves to indict Marquis and Head General Gu HuaiJiang. During a time of peace, he moved troops without permission and without proper consideration. With Western Kun and our Eastern Ling having reached an accord and their princess coming to unite our two countries through marriage, this could sour the relations between our countries. His intentions are clearly impure!”
“This subject concurs!”
The ones to step forward were two members of the imperial censorate. One was surnamed Xia, and the other was surnamed Dong. Both were veteran members.
To dare to speak out in front of Emperor Ning against Gu HuaiJiang when his stock was at its highest would not be possible without the two of them.
Censor Ji DaoGong remained in his original position with his back straight. He kept his head down, and it looked as if he would simply keep to himself.
This matter was indeed unrelated to him. He was the chief official of the Imperial Censorate, but the two censors who had stepped forward to impeach Gu HuaiJiang had not reported this matter to him.
If he had not done it, who was it that gave the two of them the courage to do this?
Ji DaoGong quickly glanced up at where the top civil officials stood but did not say a word.
Emperor Ning immediately lost his temper upon hearing the idea of impeaching Gu HuaiJiang, for he thought that someone in court was jealous of him granting Marquis Gu’s Manor with many rewards. After hearing the rest of the accusation, he furrowed his brow.
Moving the army around without permission was not a small crime, and the two censors spoke with certainty. It did not seem like they were casually trying to frame him.
Emperor Ning’s gaze landed on Gu HuaiJiang, “Marquis Gu, what do you have to say?”
Gu HuaiJiang was not surprised, steadily stepping forward and cupping his hands in salute, “Responding to Your Majesty, those words are pure fiction. How could this subject not know about the movements of my own border army?”
Based on Emperor Ning’s understanding of Gu HuaiJiang, if he said that it did not happen, it did not happen.
“Impudence!”
Emperor Ning furiously said: “As imperial censors, you two might have the right to work based on hearsay, you can’t just bring up any nonsense that you hear up to Us! Marquis Gu is the dignified standard first rank marquis and general, yet you two dared to spout such impudent words in front of Us without a proper investigation?!”
The two censors immediately lowered their heads and cupped their hands. After Emperor Ning finished speaking, they hastily said: “Your Majesty, the two of us did not immediately report it after hearing about it. We do indeed have evidence!”
Evidence?
Gu HuaiJiang was already very surprised by the impeachment, yet these two now said that they had evidence?
If the evidence was sufficient, the punishment for moving an army without authorization would be the execution of the entire clan…
The second prince lowered his head and turned to look at Yin Shuo.
Was this the return gift that he was talking about?
Shit, by moving to deal with Gu HuaiJiang, Yin Shuo would be the one to benefit. What sort of return gift could this be considered?
Censor Xia pulled out a scroll from his sleeve and bowed, bringing it forward. Eunuch Gao retrieved it from his hands and brought it to Emperor Ning’s desk.
Emperor Ning had already made up his mind that the two censors were in the wrong, as he irritatedly opened up the scroll. In an instant, his expression rapidly changed. It was as if he was tasting all manners of different flavors.
He cast a complicated look at Gu HuaiJiang.
The scroll contained a military report. Emperor Ning recognized Gu HuaiJiang’s handwriting.
“Transfer thirty thousand of the Gu family’s army’s troops from the Zhu Pass to Weizhou.”
Gu HuaiJiang noticed the look that Emperor Ning had given him. The military officials looked around for a while, and the civil officials stood around nervously while waiting for an outcome.
After a long time, Emperor Ning handed the scroll to Eunuch Gao, “Bring it to Marquis Gu to take a look at.”
Gu HuaiJiang received the scroll and merely glanced at it before smiling.
Emperor Ning said: “Marquis Gu, take a close look. Has someone written this by copying your handwriting?”
Gu HuaiJiang did not answer directly, “Does Your Majesty remember when the special envoy from Western Kun came to the capital, and the military reports were nearly stolen from this subject’s manor? At that time, this subject discussed a method with Your Majesty. Whenever orders were sent, there would be real orders and fake orders sent at the same time via multiple routes. Do you still remember?”
Emperor Ning thought about it for a moment. There was indeed such a suggestion, “At that time, We were worried that the real and fake reports could be mixed up, but you said that it would be fine. The real reports would have a marking that only the members of the Gu family’s army would recognize. There would definitely be no mistakes.”
Gu HuaiJiang nodded and raised the scroll that he held, “This order to move troops was indeed written by this subject, but it does not have the special Gu family’s marking. It’s a report meant to deceive the enemy.”
He turned around and calmly looked at the two imperial censors, “Who knew that rather than deceiving the enemy, it ended up deceiving the imperial censors. May I ask, however, how did the imperial censorate get its hands on these fake orders meant for my Gu family’s army?”
Fake?
The looks on the two imperial censors’ faces changed wildly.
Yin Shuo very slightly furrowed his brow and secretly gave the two a look.
The two imperial censors were officials who had served for many years, and they were people who had much support, thus they quickly calmed down.
“Lord Marquis Gu, you said that this mark would only be recognized by the Gu family’s army, so it’s natural that we would not recognize it. Then whether this report is real or fake, would it not just be up to Lord Marquis Gu to decide?”
Impeach Gu HuaiJiang (Part Three)
After Emperor Ning recovered from his illness, he favored his top general over his prime minister, and everyone in court understood this.
This was also something that ought to be the case.
Back when Yin Yan was still around, not even he could be compared to Gu HuaiJiang, much less someone like Yin Shuo from the younger generation?
Even if there were plenty of people praising him for his steady demeanor, modest personality, and patience, in the end, his age was still a problem.
Moreover, Gu HuaiJiang had kneeled for the sake of saving Emperor Ning…
Not that he actually managed to kneel, but his intentions were earnest.
However, court was not a battlefield. This place was a place that should have belonged to the civil officials, but there were quite a few civil officials who did not dare to say a word.
They were waiting to see if this prime minister would have the courage to speak up.
They figured that he would not dare. Given his young age and lack of sturdy roots in court and how he immediately went to Marquis Gu’s Manor to apologize after taking his position, how could he possibly dare to move against Marquis Gu’s Manor?
Who knew that not only would he make a move, but it would also be an incredibly bold one.
“This subject moves to indict Marquis and Head General Gu HuaiJiang. During a time of peace, he moved troops without permission and without proper consideration. With Western Kun and our Eastern Ling having reached an accord and their princess coming to unite our two countries through marriage, this could sour the relations between our countries. His intentions are clearly impure!”
“This subject concurs!”
The ones to step forward were two members of the imperial censorate. One was surnamed Xia, and the other was surnamed Dong. Both were veteran members.
To dare to speak out in front of Emperor Ning against Gu HuaiJiang when his stock was at its highest would not be possible without the two of them.
Censor Ji DaoGong remained in his original position with his back straight. He kept his head down, and it looked as if he would simply keep to himself.
This matter was indeed unrelated to him. He was the chief official of the Imperial Censorate, but the two censors who had stepped forward to impeach Gu HuaiJiang had not reported this matter to him.
If he had not done it, who was it that gave the two of them the courage to do this?
Ji DaoGong quickly glanced up at where the top civil officials stood but did not say a word.
Emperor Ning immediately lost his temper upon hearing the idea of impeaching Gu HuaiJiang, for he thought that someone in court was jealous of him granting Marquis Gu’s Manor with many rewards. After hearing the rest of the accusation, he furrowed his brow.
Moving the army around without permission was not a small crime, and the two censors spoke with certainty. It did not seem like they were casually trying to frame him.
Emperor Ning’s gaze landed on Gu HuaiJiang, “Marquis Gu, what do you have to say?”
Gu HuaiJiang was not surprised, steadily stepping forward and cupping his hands in salute, “Responding to Your Majesty, those words are pure fiction. How could this subject not know about the movements of my own border army?”
Based on Emperor Ning’s understanding of Gu HuaiJiang, if he said that it did not happen, it did not happen.
“Impudence!”
Emperor Ning furiously said: “As imperial censors, you two might have the right to work based on hearsay, you can’t just bring up any nonsense that you hear up to Us! Marquis Gu is the dignified standard first rank marquis and general, yet you two dared to spout such impudent words in front of Us without a proper investigation?!”
The two censors immediately lowered their heads and cupped their hands. After Emperor Ning finished speaking, they hastily said: “Your Majesty, the two of us did not immediately report it after hearing about it. We do indeed have evidence!”
Evidence?
Gu HuaiJiang was already very surprised by the impeachment, yet these two now said that they had evidence?
If the evidence was sufficient, the punishment for moving an army without authorization would be the execution of the entire clan…
The second prince lowered his head and turned to look at Yin Shuo.
Was this the return gift that he was talking about?
Shit, by moving to deal with Gu HuaiJiang, Yin Shuo would be the one to benefit. What sort of return gift could this be considered?
Censor Xia pulled out a scroll from his sleeve and bowed, bringing it forward. Eunuch Gao retrieved it from his hands and brought it to Emperor Ning’s desk.
Emperor Ning had already made up his mind that the two censors were in the wrong, as he irritatedly opened up the scroll. In an instant, his expression rapidly changed. It was as if he was tasting all manners of different flavors.
He cast a complicated look at Gu HuaiJiang.
The scroll contained a military report. Emperor Ning recognized Gu HuaiJiang’s handwriting.
“Transfer thirty thousand of the Gu family’s army’s troops from the Zhu Pass to Weizhou.”
Gu HuaiJiang noticed the look that Emperor Ning had given him. The military officials looked around for a while, and the civil officials stood around nervously while waiting for an outcome.
After a long time, Emperor Ning handed the scroll to Eunuch Gao, “Bring it to Marquis Gu to take a look at.”
Gu HuaiJiang received the scroll and merely glanced at it before smiling.
Emperor Ning said: “Marquis Gu, take a close look. Has someone written this by copying your handwriting?”
Gu HuaiJiang did not answer directly, “Does Your Majesty remember when the special envoy from Western Kun came to the capital, and the military reports were nearly stolen from this subject’s manor? At that time, this subject discussed a method with Your Majesty. Whenever orders were sent, there would be real orders and fake orders sent at the same time via multiple routes. Do you still remember?”
Emperor Ning thought about it for a moment. There was indeed such a suggestion, “At that time, We were worried that the real and fake reports could be mixed up, but you said that it would be fine. The real reports would have a marking that only the members of the Gu family’s army would recognize. There would definitely be no mistakes.”
Gu HuaiJiang nodded and raised the scroll that he held, “This order to move troops was indeed written by this subject, but it does not have the special Gu family’s marking. It’s a report meant to deceive the enemy.”
He turned around and calmly looked at the two imperial censors, “Who knew that rather than deceiving the enemy, it ended up deceiving the imperial censors. May I ask, however, how did the imperial censorate get its hands on these fake orders meant for my Gu family’s army?”
Fake?
The looks on the two imperial censors’ faces changed wildly.
Yin Shuo very slightly furrowed his brow and secretly gave the two a look.
The two imperial censors were officials who had served for many years, and they were people who had much support, thus they quickly calmed down.
“Lord Marquis Gu, you said that this mark would only be recognized by the Gu family’s army, so it’s natural that we would not recognize it. Then whether this report is real or fake, would it not just be up to Lord Marquis Gu to decide?”
