Chapter 218 The bigger the noise, the better
A term popular in the officialdom of the Dashun period was “Qingliu”. Most of Qingliu were composed of censors and scholars of the Han, Zhan, Ke, and Dao categories. “Han” refers to the Hanlin Academy, “Zhan” refers to the Zhanshi Palace, “Ke” refers to the Six Departments’ Censors, and “Dao” refers to the Censors of the Censorate.

The Qingliu group aims to “impeach ministers” and even considers it an honor to impeach officials above the third rank. The government affairs involved range from the military and national affairs of the court to the insignificant local officials. Although the Qingliu members do not hold high positions, they all kill people with their mouths and their power should not be underestimated.

During the reign of the Emperor, many cabinet ministers and noble generals fell under their attacks. For a long time, the cabinet and noble generals were almost terrified by the mention of the Qingliu.

Today, the clear streams gathered again.

The lobby of the Censorate was packed with censors from various regions and upright civil servants from the Hanlin Academy, the Chancellery, and the Imperial College, some standing and some sitting.

An imperial censor of the Censorate shouted passionately: “We must report him! Otherwise, our teacher Confucius will be disgraced! The morals of the Kong family must be impeccable!”

The Qingliu people all shouted: “Yes! Condemn him!”

An official from the Imperial College spoke up: “Kong Qingxiang is the legitimate grandson of Duke Yansheng.”

Everyone was silent.

In the crowd, a plump official in a green robe had a gleam of disdain in his eyes. Even though these upright people usually curse this and that, once they meet a tough guy, they all become cowards.

“Let’s all sign a joint impeachment petition!” someone shouted in the crowd.

Everyone started shouting again: “Yes, let’s submit a petition together!”

The plump official in green robe spoke up: “Who will sign the first name?”

Everyone fell silent again.

After a while, a young official spoke up: “Mei Hanlin, you are a senior Hanlin scholar, and we are the younger Jinshi scholars. How about you lead us?”

Everyone’s eyes were on Mei Hanlin.

The muscles on Mei Hanlin’s face began to twitch. He wanted to laugh, but couldn’t. After a long while, he forced a smile with an apologetic tone: “I just heard about it too. I was selected by the cabinet to be posted to the Canal Transport Office. The Ministry of Personnel will issue the letter of introduction today. I will meet His Majesty the day after tomorrow at the latest. I am already a foreign official, so it is not appropriate for me to get involved in this matter.”

He bowed to everyone and said, “I’m really sorry. Goodbye!” After that he turned and left, sneering in his heart, how can a swan stay in the same group with sparrows.

Behind him, there were pairs of eyes with different expressions:
Jealous eyes.

A look of slight dissatisfaction.

What is more is the resentment of betrayal and the look of deep humiliation!
The lobby was once again as silent as death.

An imperial censor from the Censorate coughed and said, “How about we ask those two to sign?”

The crowd of Qingliu were stunned at first, and all looked at the censor, suspecting that they had heard wrongly.

They are the clean stream, how can they be mixed with such a turbid stream!
There was a slight commotion behind the crowd, and many people looked back.

A patrolling censor came running over, panting.

He ran to the door of the lobby and the patrolling censor said, “No, it’s not good. Kong Qingxiang has set up a stall in front of the Taihe Building and is collecting evidence of the crimes of the two censors Zhou and Wu from the common people. The price starts from one or two taels of silver and there is no upper limit.” At this point, he swallowed and said, “He has collected more than ten pieces of evidence! He has also received many complaints from the common people!”

It was the two censors Zhou and Wu who impeached Kong Qingxiang, and they were also the turbid currents in the hearts of the clear streams.

All the clear streams were startled, and then broke out into a commotion.

An official in a red robe stood up, glanced at the crowd, and shouted, “Silence!”

The lobby soon became quiet.

The red-robed official sighed inwardly, this kid is really a piece of shit!
The red-robed official cleared his throat and said, “No matter what, Kong Qingxiang is the grandson of Duke Yansheng. Impeaching him would damage the family ethics of the Kong family.”

After a pause, he said, “Well, I will write a letter to Duke Yansheng, asking him to take care of it.”

All the nobles became excited: “Yes! Please ask the Duke of Yansheng to supervise us!”

An official sedan stopped at the gate of the Hanlin Academy. The curtain was lifted and Mei Hanlin came out.

Mei Hanlin was in an unusually good mood, and he walked much more briskly than usual.

Before he reached the gate, a familiar-looking Hanlin came out, gave him a strange look, and left in a hurry. Mei Hanlin was stunned for a moment, then continued to walk in.

As soon as he entered the gate, officials from the Hanlin Academy, clerks, and clerks all looked at him with strange eyes.

Mei Hanlin stopped and looked down at his official robes. He found nothing wrong. Then he walked over to a familiar Hanlin and asked, “What’s wrong?”

The Hanlin hesitated for a moment and said, “You, have you offended someone?”

Mei Hanlin was surprised: “Offend someone? What do you mean?”

The Hanlin said: “The list of officials sent out from the Hanlin Academy has come out, and your name is not on it!”

Mei Hanlin’s mind buzzed: “What? What did you say?”

The Hanlin said: “I heard from the Ministry of Personnel that your resume was submitted together with the final confirmation list, but your resume was not included.”

Mei Hanlin was a little confused: “How could this happen?”

Another Hanlin spoke up: “Think carefully, have you ever offended anyone?”

Mei Hanlin stood there in a daze, muttering, “I’ve offended someone, I’ve offended someone.”

The Hanlin said: “The doctor of the Ministry of Personnel’s Examination Department is named Jia, and he is a descendant of the Rongguo Mansion. Have you ever offended anyone from the Jia family?”

Mei Hanlin’s mind buzzed. Rongguo Mansion, Xue Family, how could it be possible? How could they stand up for a poor merchant’s daughter?! Besides, he just didn’t meet the people sent by the second branch of the Xue Family to pay their respects with gifts, and they ruined his future. How cruel!

Seeing this, everyone understood that Mei Hanlin had offended the Rongguo Mansion.

The more Mei Hanlin thought about it, the angrier he became. He turned around and walked out. If Jia Lian didn’t give him an explanation, he would submit a memorial to impeach him!

Just as he walked out of the gate of Hanlin Academy, he heard a burst of hurried horse hooves sounds, and Mei Hanlin looked over subconsciously.

A middle-aged man dressed as a butler came galloping towards this side on his horse. When he reached the end of the corridor, he pulled the reins hard and jumped off the horse, shouting “Master!” while running towards Mei Hanlin.

When Mei Hanlin walked down the stone steps, the middle-aged man had already run up to him and knelt down.

Mei Hanlin’s face darkened: “What’s the matter? Why are you so flustered?”

The middle-aged man said, “The young master was captured by the Southern Pacification Division!”

Mei Hanlin’s expression changed drastically: “What’s going on?”

The middle-aged man looked around and said, “That old man has sued the young master.”

Mei Hanlin: “Isn’t that case closed?!”

The middle-aged man: “That old man has submitted a complaint to the Southern Pacification Office.”

Mei Hanlin was stunned at first, then walked towards the sedan chair in a rage: “This is simply nonsense! This case has been concluded and reported to the Ministry of Justice. The court has laws and will not allow them to act recklessly.”

The Fourth Prince escorted the Crown Prince’s sedan chair to the foot of the imperial city. After watching the sedan chair enter, he turned and walked towards the Ministry of Revenue.

Before he approached the Ministry of Revenue, the Fourth Prince saw his confidant standing on the stone steps of the gate.

The confidant hurried down the stone steps and came to greet him.

The Fourth Prince: “What’s the matter?”

The confidant said: “Kong Qingxiang went to the palace to ask for an imperial decree.”

The fourth prince nodded. The censors were the emperor’s eyes and ears and in charge of discipline. Anything involving the censors had to be approved.

The confidant said: “Kong Qingxiang has also accepted many petitions from ordinary people. The Southern Pacification Office is arresting people everywhere now!”

The fourth prince’s eyes lit up. This kid is really capable of making trouble! Go ahead and make a fuss. The bigger the better! It would be best if he could turn the capital upside down and make everyone in the capital restless!

(End of this chapter)