Chapter 1334 He must die!
At midnight, when everyone was asleep, Cui Shaozheng was sitting alone in his chair in the study of Cui's mansion.

Cui Shao has thought a lot since his son Cui Zibo passed away. He also wondered whether he had set too high expectations on Cui Zibo and whether he had put too much pressure on him.

Although he did not meet the standards he set for himself and had some minor flaws, Cui Zibo's performance was still pretty good among his peers. He was much better than those second-generation rich kids who only brought shame to the family and squandered the family fortune!

If I had not been so demanding of him in the first place and had given him more encouragement and tolerance, would he not have fallen into such depravity?
Whenever he thought of this, Cui Shao felt a little regretful that he had set too high expectations for Cui Zibo. If he could go back in time, Cui Shao would definitely be more tolerant towards Cui Zibo.

However, there is no "if" in this world and there is no regret medicine to buy. Cui Shao can only spend every day of his life with regret!
Before Cui Zibo passed away, Cui Shao was still full of energy. He felt that although he was not young anymore, he was in good health, and the Daqian Dynasty had just been established. He had great potential to make Cui Shao's name go down in history and be respected and remembered by future generations.

But since Cui Zibo's death, Cui Shao's morale has obviously dropped a lot. He has always been in good health, but he became seriously ill because of this. Although Cui Shao later recovered and returned to work under the treatment of many doctors in the medical school, he continued to shoulder the burden of the Ministry of Revenue.

However, after this incident, Cui Shao could clearly feel that his body was not as healthy as before!
Although his condition was not getting worse day by day, Cui Shao also realized that he didn't have much time left...

Ye Mingsheng's failure to keep his promise on the issue of the Cabinet's Prime Minister made Cui Shao lose interest in the government affairs. At this time, Cui Shao even remembered the advice his nephew Cui Hang had given him about retirement!
When Cui Shao heard the suggestion of retirement from Cui Hang, he was still a little hesitant. He felt that he still had a lot of things to do and retirement was still a long way off for him.

But now thinking back on this suggestion, Cui Shao felt that perhaps he should consider it carefully!

Since I followed the Fengwu Army out of the border, I haven’t returned to Liaoyang for many years!
When he was unable to make further progress in his official career due to his family background and had to be trapped in Liaoyang as an inspector, Cui Shao hated the cold and barrenness of Liaoyang in his heart. However, after being in the pass for so long, Cui Shao began to miss everything about Liaoyang.

Thinking of this, Cui Shao couldn't help but reveal a self-deprecating smile on his face. Although he had previously been stubborn and refused to admit his age and felt that he was still very young, now he really felt that he was old!

Maybe I should start thinking about retiring now, but before that I have to deal with that bastard Hu Ming first!
When he thought of this, a hint of murderous intent flashed in Cui Shao's eyes. For him, killing Hu Ming was the most important thing before him!
Although Cui Zibo died of syphilis, the main reason was Cui Zibo's self-degradation and his obsession with women...

But in this process, the bastard Hu Ming also played a role in fueling the flames!
What made Cui Shao most unacceptable was that before Cui Zibo passed away, he had muttered to himself several times, "Hu Ming has misled me, Hu Ming has misled me!"
When Cui Shao thought of Cui Zibo’s miserable condition at that time, his blood was dripping!

All no matter what the cost!
Cui Shao wanted Hu Ming to die! He wanted to use Hu Ming's head to sacrifice to Cui Zibo!
Cui Shao even felt that the death of Hu Ming alone was not enough to satisfy his hatred. He was considering whether to take action against the Hu family!

The Hu family has always been keen on colluding with GS. They have brought down many people through beauty, money, and other material and spiritual means. Cui Zibo is just one of their prey.

Although the Hu family has deep roots and connections in Jiangnan, they are still dwarfed by Cui Shao today!
As long as Cui Shao wants to do so, he can uproot them!

However, before dealing with the Hu family, Cui Shao first had to get rid of Hu Ming. After all, one has to eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time. If you walk too fast, you will easily fall.

This guy Hu Ming might have realized that Cui Shao would make trouble for him because of Cui Zibo!
Therefore, as early as when Ye Mingsheng was on his southern tour, Hu Ming, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, found an excuse to stay in Jiangnan in order to avoid Cui Shao's questioning.

However, Hu Ming underestimated Cui Shao. He thought that he could escape disaster by hiding back in his hometown in Jiangnan. But in fact, as long as he was still alive, Cui Shao's revenge would follow him even if he hid to the ends of the earth...

Cui Shao had already made plans to forge evidence. He had disciples and subordinates everywhere from the Youyan Censorate to the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, and the Censorate. As long as he had the idea, he could do it all in one go!

Even if Hu Ming had not done something, Cui Shao could still force it on him and make it an ironclad case so that Hu Ming would be killed without a burial place!
But after further investigation, Cui Shao found that he didn't need to do so at all!

As long as he sorted out everything Hu Ming had done, one by one, and let everyone know how Hu Ming colluded with D for personal gain, colluded with GS, disregarded human life, and regarded the laws of the court as nothing, he could get rid of Hu Ming!

Cui Shao had already sorted out all this evidence half a month ago. He had wanted to take action at that moment. Getting rid of Hu Ming as soon as possible would also help him get rid of a worry!
However, the case of Ye Dong and Chu Zhiyi broke out suddenly, which disrupted Cui Shao's deployment. Because the case involved so many people, Cui Shao postponed his attack in order to avoid unnecessary complications.

By the time of today's grand court meeting, when Ye Mingsheng learned about Ye Dong and Chu Zhiyi's affairs, Cui Shao could no longer control his temper, so he instructed his disciple Zhu Xiaowen to impeach Hu Ming and make the evidence of Hu Ming's crimes public.

Because Cui Shao had prepared these evidences for a long time, the chain of evidence was very complete, and the witnesses and evidence were very detailed, so Cui Shao originally thought that Ye Mingsheng would give him face and directly send people to Jiangnan to capture Hu Ming and bring him to justice.

However, Ye Mingsheng did not do so. Instead, he handed the case over to Li Jian and let Li Jian, the Minister of Justice, be responsible for the trial of the case.

Although Cui Shao was a little surprised by Ye Mingsheng's behavior, Cui Shao was very confident in the evidence in his hands. As long as Li Jian didn't have the guts to go against him deliberately, Hu Ming would definitely be doomed...

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The grand court meeting was held in Youyan Provincial Government, in an antique room.

Zhang Zhiwen, the governor, and Liu Ning, the prefect of Yijing, were sitting opposite each other. On the table in front of them was a memorial. The two high-ranking officials of the Yijing court looked serious, as if they were about to make an important decision. Liu Ning looked at the memorial on the table, then at Zhang Zhiwen in front of him, and said bitterly:

"Master Zhang, do you really want to do this?"

Facing Liu Ning's question, Zhang Zhiwen smiled bitterly and said:

"Prefect Liu, do we have any other choice now?"

Hearing what Zhang Zhiwen said, Liu Ning wanted to say something but in the end he couldn't say it and could only lower his head and sigh.

Regarding the case of Ye Dong and Chu Zhiyi, Zhang Zhiwen, Liu Ning, and Zhuang Shanhe were the first three people to impeach Chu Zhiyi, and they were also the three people who rushed to the front.

Although there was collusion among the Ye family clan members, the fundamental reason was that Zhang Zhiwen, Liu Ning and Zhuang Shanhe were deeply dissatisfied with Chu Zhiyi!

Since Chu Zhiyi came to Yijing to take over the position of Left Censor-in-Chief, he was well aware of Ye Mingsheng's intention to promote him. So in order to live up to Ye Mingsheng's expectations of him and realize his own ambitions, he was full of energy!

He first dealt with Liu Zhen and his gang, and then began to eliminate the corrupt officials in the court. As Youyan and Yijing were under the emperor's feet, they were inevitably the first to be hit...

Among them, Zhang Zhiwen suffered a great setback because of Zheng Ping, and almost lost his position as governor!
Although Zheng Ping was the culprit in this incident, Zhang Zhiwen secretly hated Chu Zhiyi in his heart. Zhang Zhiwen believed that he and Chu Zhiyi had no fate on New Year's Day and no grudge against each other in recent days, so why did Chu Zhiyi choose to launch impeachment when he recommended Zheng Ping?

Although Zheng Ping is guilty of heinous crimes, it is natural for you as the censor to impeach him, but why couldn't you inform me before impeaching him?
As long as Chu Zhiyi greeted me or hinted at me for a while, I would have many remedial measures at that time. The situation would not be so passive at that time, and I would not offend the Minister of Personnel Gu Sansi!

In Zhang Zhiwen's opinion, Chu Zhiyi did this!
He wanted to establish his authority by stepping on himself, the governor of Youyan, and establish Chu Zhiyi's prestige in the Censorate and even the entire court!

Although Zhang Zhiwen didn't say anything about it, he was worried that Chu Zhiyi was still very angry about it, and he secretly made up his mind to repay Chu Zhiyi many times over if he had the chance!
Although Liu Ning and Zhuang Shanhe did not suffer a big setback like Zhang Zhiwen because of Chu Zhiyi, several of their subordinates were sent to jail by Chu Zhiyi. They were in a state of panic and looked very ugly.

Although everyone was very unhappy with Chu Zhiyi, Chu Zhiyi had sufficient evidence in his hands, and Chu Zhiyi himself had basically no handle. In addition, Chu Zhiyi was favored by His Majesty, so everyone could do nothing about him.

Therefore, when Chu Zhiyi revealed his weakness this time, everyone saw the opportunity to get rid of him, so they were all ready to make a move...
What's even more rare is that Chu Zhiyi offended the Ye clan this time, so the Ye clan is also actively working together to connect with each other. In this case, if you impeach Chu Zhiyi, it is equivalent to making friends with the Ye clan and making these royal relatives of Daqian owe you a favor.

Therefore, if you can both avenge yourself and gain favor from others, why not do it?

In such a context, impeaching Chu Zhiyi became a common choice!

In fact, this matter is also related to Zhang Zhiwen, Zhuang Shanhe and Liu Ning. After all, this incident happened in Yijing, and one of them is the highest XZ commander of Youyan, one is the highest SF commander of Youyan, and one is the prefect of Yijing. They have no shirking their responsibilities in this matter.

After the three of them impeached Chu Zhiyi, Liu Zhen's gang followed suit, and then the two assistant ministers of the Ministry of Justice, Gongsun Hao and Zhang Mang, also joined the ranks. There were also many people in the court who followed suit. Seeing so many people impeaching Chu Zhiyi, those who had been waiting and watching also followed the trend.

Originally, everyone thought that with so many people signing their names to impeach him, this guy named Chu would definitely be put to death this time. As long as this cruel official who was causing trouble everywhere was killed, everyone could return to the peaceful state of the past, and everything would be good for you, me, and everyone!
And this time, at the grand court meeting, everyone was gearing up to launch the final fierce attack and escort Chu Zhiyi to the execution ground...

However, Ye Mingsheng used a firm attitude to make his ministers understand that they had made a wrong calculation!

Chu Zhiyi was demoted from Left Censor-in-Chief to Vice Minister of Rites, which was definitely a setback in his career. Not only did his official rank decline, but more importantly, he left the cabinet. As the highest power structure of the Daqian court, being in it was a symbol of status!
Even if you don't have a particularly high say in it, just being there means you have the power to report directly to His Majesty, which is something many people dream of but is out of reach.

Although Chu Zhiyi paid a heavy price for this incident, considering that so many people impeached him and wanted to put him to death, Ye Mingsheng did not take him down under pressure, but continued to let him serve as the Minister of Rites. This was not just a lenient sentence, but could be seen as a kind of protection for Chu Zhiyi by Ye Mingsheng!
Maybe when the storm is over and Chu Zhiyi stays in the position of Minister of Rites for a year or two, this cruel official of Daqian will be reinstated!

Everyone in the court is well-read, so everyone understands the principle that if you don't kill the tiger, you will suffer the consequences!

And this time Chu Zhiyi was not killed. Once Chu Zhiyi is able to turn things around, what will be waiting for everyone?

So Liu Zhen's gang jumped out, and Ye Mingsheng was well prepared. He directly asked Wang Huaiyi to produce the evidence of Liu Zhen and others' crimes and arrest them directly. This move was undoubtedly killing the chicken to scare the monkeys, which not only demonstrated his determination but also served as a warning to others.

After seeing Liu Zhen’s fate, although Zhang Zhiwen, Liu Ning and others were somewhat unwilling, they did not continue to impeach him. They thought that the matter would come to an end here, but they never expected that after the grand court meeting, Ye Mingsheng called them to the imperial study...