Chapter 418: The Officials' Resentment Soars to the Heavens

One month later.

Jingsheng Year 10, August 1st.

Shenjing City.

At this time, Shenjing City, compared with a month earlier, was engulfed in a terrifying sea of blood and carnage; people's hearts were unsettled and rumors spread.

In just about a month, over two hundred civil and military officials in Shenjing City were seized by Zhang Tingyu on suspicion of the "Factional Plot to Coerce the Palace and Disrupt Governance case" and thrown into Zhao Yu.

House confiscations, executions, dismissals, exiles—each carried out to the fullest.

In an instant, the whole of Shenjing City was filled with clamorous rumors, every tree and blade of grass seemed like a soldier, and the populace was in panic!

Countless officials submitted memorials to impeach Zhang Tingyu, attacking him for "using the name of factions to eliminate dissenters in fact," "recklessly raising a massive prison and causing excessive killings," "undermining ancestral rites and the Cabinet's overreach," "colluding openly and secretly with Duke Jingguo to sideline imperial authority," "harshly damaging harmony and disrupting heavenly order," and so on.

In short, Zhang Tingyu was impeached from every angle—court system, moral conduct, celestial phenomena, and all other aspects!

The once‑respected, good‑natured Zhang Tingyu in the court suddenly turned into a notorious traitor that everyone in the court shouted to strike down!

Some imperial censors even produced documents titled "Memorial of Ten Major Crimes of Zhang Tingyu" and "Memorial of Twenty‑four Major Crimes of Zhang Tingyu," practically branding him a "criminal for all ages"!

Even some of Zhang Tingyu's fellow townsfolk, peers of the same age, schoolmates, and relatives rushed to his residence several times, urging him to think of his family and legacy and to cease his harsh actions!

But Zhang Tingyu seemed to have a heart of iron, refusing to spare anyone's face; he kept it up for a full month before finally easing his actions.

At this moment, before the officials of Shenjing City could breathe a sigh of relief, another earth‑shattering announcement rippled through the court, causing every resident of Shenjing City to turn their heads in shock!

The Capital Inspection has begun! Moreover, it is an entirely new method of Capital Inspection unlike any before.

What used to be an assessment held once every six years has become a continuous evaluation, and now assessment replaces education, pressuring officials and holding them accountable for their deeds!

When news that this proposal was being trialed appeared in the court's official gazette, the entire Shenjing City fell silent!

The officials were like beasts and draft animals suddenly burdened with countless assessment KPIs; in an instant they boiled over, erupting in chaos!

This monthly registration and quarterly review system, recording every trivial and major matter in the assessment books, leaves officials with no room to survive!

If implemented this way, the carefree days of listening to lilting songs, discussing antiquity, then music and dance every day would be gone forever!

Zhang Tingyu truly is a treacherous minister rarely seen throughout history!

The most vocal were those usually idle, upright civil officials from places like the Hanlin Academy and the Censorate.

They are all esteemed officials, and now this assessment has been imposed upon them—how can that be just?

Thus, in these past few days, they have been the fiercest critics attacking Zhang Tingyu, the secondary minister.

Countless impeachment memorials fluttered into the palace like snowflakes, vowing to purge this treacherous minister from the court!

But no matter how they impeached, once the memorials were submitted they sank like stones, not even a ripple rose.

Seeing impeachment proved useless, secret currents surged in Shenjing City, and countless officials gathered privately to discuss countermeasures.

After several discussions, the officials dared not again storm the Meridian Gate to pressure the palace; instead, they resolved to meet at Zhang Tingyu's residence and block his front gate!

If we can't kill him, at least we can shame him thoroughly!

The scorching August sun baked the bluestone slabs in front of Zhang Tingyu's house until they were hot to the touch.

From the hour of Mao (5 a. m.) onward, shadows of people began to gather here.

At first they came in small groups, but by around noon the alley at the gate was packed with people.

Those in scarlet robes, azure robes, and green robes, squeezed together according to rank, formed a mass like a pot of porridge simmering over a gentle flame—bubbling with heat yet never coming to a boil.

In groups of three or five they chatted, some discussing the aftermath of the faction case, others the upcoming Capital Inspection.

"Did you hear? Another one… this morning they seized another."

"Who?"

"Liu Zhu Shi of the Ministry of Works' Colonization Office. The incident last night is said to be linked to the faction case involving Xu Zhuo, Lu Shengnan and others."

"Wasn't the faction case already concluded?"

"Concluded? It's up to people to decide. Look at the current situation—ah! Treachery reigns, petty men hold power…"

At the alley entrance a few more shadows swayed; someone lifted a foot to step inside but was grabbed by a companion's sleeve.

Everyone waited for Zhang Tingyu to emerge, to ask what he was truly thinking.

Why does he repeatedly accept the divine mandate to handle such heinous cases and tyrannical policies! Is he mad? Or does he intend to cut himself off from the court, the scholar class, and the world!

Kong Ying, a senior officer of the Ministry of War, stood at the front of the crowd. He wore a half‑worn scarlet robe, its embroidered brocade chicken vivid, highlighting his square, stern face.

Born of the Kong family, whenever the court enacted policies that harmed the people or perverted destiny, he would always rush to the front to speak for the scholars of the world!

For example, last time he led the push to abolish the New Policies, overthrow Gong Dingzi at the Meridian Gate, and now he spearheads the questioning of Zhang Tingyu!

At this moment, he was loudly debating with several imperial censors beside him.

"Tomorrow marks the start of autumn; traditionally we would present seasonal gifts, but who has the mind for that this year? First came the massive faction case, slaughtering countless loyal ministers, and now the Capital Inspection using the assessment method. Zhang Tingyu, as secondary minister of the Cabinet, also wields departmental and academy authority. He raises a great prison without consulting the Ministry of Punishments, dismisses officials without the Ministry of Personnel, and the assessment method monopolizes the Cabinet while the Six Ministries become mere shells. What on earth is he planning?"

"What? He wants to become the Chief Assistant! Now that Chief Assistant Chen is aging, he can ride the wind, seek imperial favor, and climb higher!"

"Climbing the ladder costs so many lives? Tong Chengzi's cruelty has gone too far—does he intend to use our blood to dye his black silk hat red? Yet if that black silk turns red, is it still a minister's hat?"

"He is on the same vine as that brute from the Jia Mansion! That brute killed people in the Twelfth Regiment Camp, and Zhang Tingyu kills in Shenjing City. When that brute proposed the great prison and Capital Inspection, Zhang Tingyu accepted without hesitation. One scholar, one warrior, colluding treacherously, persecuting the loyal—whose realm is the Da Han court truly?"

"It's an absolute scandal! We have toiled for decades under the lamp, finally reaching the court, changing our posts—what for? Now the assessment method turns the Cabinet into an accounting office, the Six Ministries into supervisors; aren't we reduced to mere laborers like the mud‑legged ones? What use are the sage classics then? Should we abandon the ancestral system that nurtured scholars?"

"Indeed! We are all esteemed officials; this is trampling us. With deceitful hearts, they deserve punishment! First the New Policies, then the great case, now the Capital Inspection—he aims to undermine the very foundation of the Da Han dynasty!"

"No wonder this year the drought demons ravage, locusts swarm, and summer grain fails. I have studied the annals: whenever the court imposes excessive punishments, wrongful prisons, or tyrannical policies, Heaven sends warnings through calamities. Now Tong Chengzi has raised a massive wrongful prison, killing over two hundred, breeding resentment that upsets heavenly harmony. If this continues, the realm may be overturned!"

"Then we must stop him from implementing it. Every official here has their own duties—tax affairs, military records, engineering files—not something Zhang Tingyu can weigh with a single decree. If he truly tries to use the Capital Inspection to cut us, we need not kneel at the Meridian Gate; we can simply slow our work, muddle the records, and he'll see the assessment method cannot proceed."

"We fear he can endure it. In that earlier massive prison, countless begged for mercy, tried to dissuade him; I heard even his brother Zhang Tinglu broke ties with him over it, and some even threw dung at his gate at night, thinking he couldn't bear it—yet he persisted. Tong Chengzi's heart is vicious, eagle‑eyes and wolf‑like, truly a living Huo Guang or Wang Mang! If he doesn't stop, retribution will surely come!"

"Exactly! Kong Gong, you are the exemplar of our scholarly pure stream, a descendant of the Sage‑Emperor; we are counting on you now!"

"Right, don't lose face! Later we'll give Tong Chengzi a taste of our might, properly shame him!"

"Alas! Stop it, stop it, he's coming out..."