The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 621

"Your Majesty, a couple of days ago, someone blew up the railway. After Lord Zhou arrested these people, the Northern Garrison Command interrogated them and found the mastermind behind it. The mastermind was not one person, but a group of court officials."

At the start of the court session, Yang Yiqing immediately produced the memorial proposing the punishment and spoke.

These words caused an uproar among the officials and civil servants in the court. They had not expected the court meeting to be so explosive. Many people began to look around and found that many familiar faces were indeed missing from the court.

"This is outrageous! Why would these people bomb the railway? They are completely disregarding the laws of the imperial court!"

Jiajing said loudly.

"Your Majesty, let Lord Zhou speak. It's Lord Zhou who handled the case."

Yang Yiqing said.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chu stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, these people are colluding with the salt guild. They fear that once the trains are fully operational, the court will use them to transport salt, which would make no profit for the salt guild and themselves. These people have colluded with the salt guild and embezzled 80% of the profits from salt transportation. It's simply outrageous and lawless!"

Zhou Chu said.

Zhou Chu's words caused another uproar in the court. They never expected that the Salt Gang and these officials would be so audacious as to embezzle so much.

"Everyone, silence!"

Huang Jin shouted.

Upon hearing Huang Jin's words, the imperial court fell silent.

"Your Majesty, Lord Zhou ordered the Northern Garrison to arrest these officials without using torture. They have confessed to their crimes. This is the Cabinet's proposed punishment report, which Your Majesty is requested to review."

As Yang Yiqing spoke, he handed the memorial in his hand to Huang Jin, who then handed it to Jiajing.

Jiajing opened the document, glanced at it, and nodded. Most of the people's crimes were not problematic. A few were less serious, but they were insignificant and would not affect the overall situation.

"Huang Jin, read it aloud."

After reading it, Jiajing did not find anything wrong with it, and then handed the memorial to Huang Jin, who opened it and began to read it aloud.

Upon hearing that most of the crimes listed in the memorials were punishable by execution in the autumn and a few by exile, the civil and military officials in the court were terrified.

Only then did they truly realize that the current emperor was not only skilled in governing the country, but also ruthless in dealing with officials. This frightened many people who had been harboring greed, causing them to shrink back.

The reason why the cabinet proposed such harsh punishments was mainly because of Yang Yiqing and Yang Shen.

Yang Shen, in particular, did not need to consider any social niceties, nor would he make exceptions for these people in order to leave himself a way out. When it came to proposing the crimes, those who would be executed in the autumn were basically all proposed by him. Xia Yan objected, Yang Yiqing agreed, and Jia Yong mostly abstained from voting.

Yang Yiqing agreed because at his age, he didn't need to think about too many things. He knew very well that he could only work for another year or two at most before he had to retire and return to his hometown. You have to know that Yang Yiqing is now seventy-three years old. It is rare in history for someone to work until he is this old.

Moreover, Yang Shengzhai is no longer in the imperial court or pursuing an official career, so Yang Yiqing doesn't need to worry about paving the way for his grandson.

Yang Yiqing knew very well that the path his grandson would take was completely different from his own. The intricacies of officialdom and the complexities of interpersonal relationships would have no impact on his grandson.

Therefore, when Yang Yiqing was proposing crimes against these people, he would generally agree to whatever Yang Shen suggested.

Yang Yiqing would only be more lenient on a few minor, inconsequential cases.

Yang Yiqing knew very well who he should be pleasing now: Zhou Chu and the Emperor. As for others, they were not within his consideration.

"My esteemed ministers, do you have any objections to the Cabinet's proposed charges?"

Emperor Jiajing looked at all the officials in the court and asked.

"Your Majesty, isn't this proposed punishment a bit too harsh?"

An official from the Ministry of Rites stepped forward.

"Yes, Your Majesty. According to past practice, most of them should be exiled."

Another official echoed this.

"Standard practice? What precedent? Hasn't there been a precedent of executing prisoners after the autumn harvest?"

Han Jie stepped forward and retorted.

"These people, as officials of the imperial court, not only fail to repay the emperor's favor, but have also embezzled so much national property and even attempted to blow up the railway. What is the railway? Gentlemen, I don't need to elaborate, do I? I don't need to say more about the importance of the railway to our Great Ming Dynasty, do I?"

As soon as Han Jie said this, before anyone else could speak, Wang Xian, the Minister of War, stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, these people deserve to die. In my opinion, executing them in the autumn is too lenient. They should be executed immediately and their entire families wiped out. The railway is related to the long-term development of our Great Ming Dynasty. These people want to destroy the railway, which is tantamount to treason."

Wang Xian said angrily.

When Wang Xian learned that the railway had been bombed, his blood pressure spiked, and he has only just recovered.

"What are you people thinking, speaking up for these people who deserve to die? Do you think they are guilty and don't deserve punishment?"

Wang Xian turned around and glared at those people, and said.

At this moment, Wang Xian was like a furious lion, and those who dared to provoke him all fell silent.

People only get angry when it concerns their own vital interests, and Wang Xian was clearly like that. If the train operation was suspended because of this, wouldn't their Ministry of War's battle plan have been made for nothing? They had even finalized the selection of the envoy to the Yarkand Khanate in the past two days, and everything was ready. Now that they learned that someone wanted to blow up the railway, how could Wang Xian not be furious?

Not only Wang Xian, but all the officials in the Ministry of War were extremely angry. If anyone dared to stand up and speak for these people, the officials in the Ministry of War would wipe them out without anyone else even needing to do so.

Clearly, this drew attention to the expressions of the Ministry of War officials, and those who had originally intended to step forward all backed down.

"My dear minister, you've gone a bit too far. Let's proceed as the cabinet has proposed. I understand your intentions. Rest assured, the campaign against the Yarkand Khanate is inevitable. Has your Ministry of War selected the envoy to the Yarkand Khanate?"

Jiajing looked at the furious Wang Xian and changed the subject.

Sure enough, Wang Xian perked up immediately upon hearing this.

"Your Majesty, the choice has been made!"