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

Chapter 490

"These scholars are all thinking about how to pull strings. If this trend continues, won't the imperial examination become a joke? The imperial examination is supposed to be a grand ceremony for selecting talent. If everyone does it like this, won't all the officials of our Great Ming be incompetent?"

Jiajing looked at the assembled officials and rebuked them angrily.

Jiajing did not pursue Mao Ji relentlessly. After all, Mao Ji was a Grand Secretary. Once he reached that position, he would always cover up his actions cleanly, no matter what he did. Even if Yang Lian confessed everything, there was no concrete evidence pointing to Mao Ji. Mao Ji was always meticulous in his work and would tacitly approve or imply Yang Lian's actions.

Even if Yang Lian's testimony really pointed to this Grand Secretary, the Emperor and others would not use such a charge to bring down Mao Ji.

Once someone enters the cabinet, even if they are impeached and charged with many offenses, most will retire and return to their hometown.

Officials in the Ming Dynasty were always divided into two categories: those who were in the cabinet and those who were not.

Since the Ming Dynasty, or rather, since the emergence of the cabinet, there has never been a case of a Grand Secretary being killed, except for Xia Yan in the original history of Zhou Chu.

This shows that Xia Yan's repeated attempts to set fire to Jiajing's palace thoroughly enraged the emperor.

However, this time Zhou Chu was not prepared to let Mao Ji off the hook.

Zhou Chu knew very well that the reason why these officials of the Ming Dynasty dared to be so unscrupulous was that Xu Jie, who had become the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, had taken over almost all the land in Huating County within a few years. The thought of hundreds of thousands of acres of land was terrifying.

This shows how unscrupulous Xu Jie was when he was in power. He didn't even bother to hide it, and the Xu family members were eager to make money at all times.

The reason why Xu Jie and the Xu family had such confidence was that as long as the Grand Secretary was not as ignorant as Xia Yan and tried to assassinate the emperor multiple times, he would basically die a peaceful death. Given that, what psychological pressure did they have?

To put it bluntly, the Ming Dynasty was far too lenient with these civil officials, especially those who had entered the cabinet. This excessive leniency and indulgence did not result in gratitude, but rather in unbridled behavior.

Jiajing was initially hesitant about how to deal with Mao Ji, but after listening to Zhou Chu's explanation, he realized the seriousness of the problem.

Jiajing then realized that tolerance could not make these civil officials honest.

However, Jiajing also understood that it was not very realistic to bring down Mao Ji through the case of cheating in the imperial examinations.

Jiajing's words silenced all the civil and military officials, who dared not utter a sound. Everyone knew that the emperor was merely using this as an excuse to warn them. Anyone who dared to provoke him would face his wrath.

Seeing that no one spoke, Jiajing was quite satisfied.

"Your Majesty, I wish to impeach Grand Secretary Yang Yingning. Yang Yingning has been privately mobilizing the Northern Garrison Command's troops to arrest people everywhere. The colleagues who impeached him a few days ago were all arrested by the Northern Garrison Command. Does Yang Yingning intend to monopolize the court?"

Seeing that Jiajing's anger had subsided, Mao Ji stepped forward and spoke.

Mao was good at labeling people. He once slapped the label of "rule of the court by force," and most people couldn't handle it. They were thrown into chaos.

But Yang Yiqing was no ordinary person; he didn't even glance at Mao Ji.

"Oh? Is that so? I only know that Yang Fangzhen has been arrested. I don't know anything about the others. These days I have been bathing and burning incense to pray for the people of the world, so I haven't paid much attention."

Jiajing looked surprised.

"Shi Cong, is this true?"

As Jiajing spoke, he turned to look at Yang Yiqing and asked.

Upon hearing this, Yang Yiqing slowly stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, this is indeed the case. However, I dare not presume to make decisions on behalf of the court. I have only found out that these officials are seriously corrupt, abusing their power, and bending the law for personal gain. The Northern Garrison has investigated all of these cases and the evidence is sufficient. As the Grand Secretary, I naturally have to purge the parasites of my Great Ming Dynasty. That is why I borrowed the Northern Garrison's troops from Lord Zhou."