The speed of Li Pingtong's downfall was beyond the imagination of most people, and at first they thought that this was just like the investigation of Jiang Daoquan by the Inspectorate in November, that is, a few interrogations, and then it was almost the same, what should everyone do.

But who would have thought that as soon as Li Pingtong entered the gate of the Inspectorate, he never came out again.

Just in January 1872, when the cabinet and the military were already grinding their fists and preparing to start the most important annual budget allocation, Li Pingtong fell.

On January 8, Lin Zhe officially issued an order to dismiss Li Pingtong from his post as director of the Secretariat.

In the following two days, the Inspectorate formally filed a public prosecution with the Grand Court, jointly prosecuting him for dereliction of duty, embezzlement, and other crimes, and the Grand Court's verdict also came very quickly, and after three days of trial, the Grand Court formally sentenced Li Pingtong to death for multiple crimes and immediately executed him.

Along with the sentences, many officials related to the Li Pingtong case were sentenced to death, life imprisonment, or fixed-term imprisonment, and more than 20 officials were convicted.

In addition, more than 100 officials with close ties to Li Pingtong have been implicated, including a deputy director of the Secretariat, the head of the Personnel Section of the Secretariat, and the deputy chief of the Communications Section of the Secretariat.

The downfall of Li Pingtong is not only his personal downfall, but also the downfall of a political faction headed by him, and it is worth noting that the other people in the faction, Lin Zhe, did not directly do it, and did not even care much, but the officials of other factions in the imperial officialdom fell into the ground.

Beat up the water dogs. It has always been a favorite project of officials, with low risk and high return.

Please the emperor and don't say it. And so many Li officials have fallen, from the central to the local. How many powerful positions have been vacated, and there are a lot of people staring at each position.

It's good to be promoted when you have a position, and who doesn't like to be promoted!

The fallout of the Li officials may have a lasting impact for two or three months, mainly because people from other factions compete for the interests left after the fall of the Li officials, or the official hats.

Once there are vacant seats, everyone wants to come to power, and these are the things that other political factions need to fight for.

Just when the ministers outside are vying for the political interests left over from the fall of Li Pingtong. Lin Zhe also started other actions.

Although Li Pingtong was cleaned up on charges of corruption, dereliction of duty, and other crimes, it was not these that really led to his downfall, but that he, as the director of the Secretariat and the internal minister of the outsider's mouth, dared to secretly intervene in the affairs of the Legislative Reserve and raised this interference to the level of the cabinet struggle.

Contacting the harem and colluding with relatives in a vain attempt to interfere in the affairs of the prince, this is his way to death.

After cleaning up Li Pingtong, Lin Zhe did not stop his butcher's knife, this time he wanted to make those ambitious. Especially those relatives who look at it in front of their eyes, the struggle for the national capital of the empire is not something they can touch.

With the cooperation of the Imperial Intelligence Department, the Inspectorate also quickly set up a new front and quickly opened a case for investigation against a number of important members of the other family. Among them are Lin Zhe's uncle and several cousins.

Soon, Lin Zhe casually found a few names to get rid of the Fang family's patriarch, that is, the viscount title of the queen mother's brother. Several members of the family who held public office were also dismissed.

The Fang family, as the queen mother's maiden family and Fang Defei's maiden family, was originally the largest family of relatives in the contemporary empire. The head of the Fang family, that is, the elder brother of the Queen Mother, was given the title of viscount. A side branch of the Fang family. Concubine Fang De's father was also given the title of baron.

However, the two Fang families are not unified, because in the inner palace, the Queen Mother is the Queen Mother, and Concubine Fang De is Concubine Fang De, although they are a Fang family, the relationship between the Queen Mother and Concubine Fang De is not harmonious.

Why?

Because Concubine Fang De is the most favored concubine in the palace, Lin Zhe spends most of her time in the harem, so that the other concubines naturally get less time, which makes the queen mother, who has always wanted harmony in the harem, quite dissatisfied.

And what made the Queen Mother even more dissatisfied was that Concubine Fang De had no children!

Since Concubine Fang De gave birth to a daughter in her early years, although she has been with Lin Zhe for a very long time, she has never been pregnant, and according to the imperial doctors in the medical department, it should be that she fell ill when she gave birth to Princess Yirong, and it is difficult to get pregnant again.

This can't be pregnant anymore, and she still dominates the emperor every day, which not only makes the other concubines in the harem dissatisfied, but the queen mother is also quite complaining.

This time, the punishment of the other party's family was only limited to the Fang family's room, and as for the side branch of the Fang family where Concubine Fang Defei was, there was no action.

When the news of Fang's family's room being removed from the inner palace reached the inner palace, the queen mother did not ask Lin Zhe why, let alone use words such as filial piety to pressure Lin Zhe.

Although the Queen Mother is old, she is not stupid, and the woman who can join forces with Li Pingtong to plan the Lichu incident is also very sensitive to her political sense.

When Li Pingtong had an accident, she had already expected that something was wrong, but she didn't expect Lin Zhe to be so ruthless, not to punish her, not to dismiss her, but to directly strip her title.

In fact, after the Fang family's room was removed, Lin Zhe had never met the Queen Mother.

After waiting for a few days, the Queen Mother, who had not waited for Lin Zhe to come over, seemed to be many years old, although they were mother and son, but her son obviously didn't care about the so-called filial piety in the affairs of the country.

What kind of temperament is the son born and raised, Mrs. Lin knows very well, her son is a ruthless person, and traditional filial piety and the like are useless to him, although her son has been respectful to her in etiquette over the years, but as a mother, she can also feel it.

I'm estranged from him!

Although the empire has always admired Confucian filial piety, these are just casual words, and there are many things in history where the sons of the Han dynasty seized the throne of Lao Tzu, and these are still public, as for the private affairs, there are even more.

Lin Zhe didn't come to see the Queen Mother, he already made his attitude clear!

After sighing, the Queen Mother sent the eldest prince Lin Xuan, who had been brought for thirteen years, to Concubine Li Hui.

At that time, the queen mother wanted to protect Lin Xuan, the eldest grandson, from all kinds of assassinations in the palace. was taken away by the Queen Mother when he was born, and has been raised until now. As for Concubine Li Hui, although she was named a 'concubine' because she gave birth to Lin Xuan. But even if she is Lin Xuan's biological mother, her status in internal strength has always been relatively low.

Except for the collective activities of the royal family, she basically can't see Lin Zhe, and she can't say a few words to Lin Zhe all year round.

Maybe this is a bit cruel for a woman, but this is just Lin Zhe's personal preference, he doesn't like to stay with Concubine Li Hui.

Now Lin Xuan is thirteen years old, and at this age, in an ordinary peasant family, he is the main labor force of the family, even in the upper class. They are all relatively mature people.

Contemporary people are generally precocious, marrying early, and a lot of them are married at the age of fifteen or sixteen.

It is not uncommon for thirteen-year-old men to get married, and even more so to be betrothed.

After sending Lin Xuan back to Concubine Li Hui, the Queen Mother lived in the Buddhist hall, reciting scriptures every day and no longer participating in political affairs outside the palace, in fact, she couldn't participate.

At the same time as the removal of the title of Fang Patriarch's Office, Lin Zhe changed all the maids and female officials of the Yiluan Palace, and several of them were lynched by the palace intelligence department. This is basically equivalent to cutting off the connection between the Queen Mother and the outside of the palace.

Knowing that the Queen Mother lived in the Buddha Hall, Lin Zhe's heart was also relieved, if the Queen Mother and him really fell out, I am afraid that it will not end well. After all, filial piety, once mixed with politics, is still too lethal.

Now the Queen Mother took the initiative to back down. He doesn't have to take on too much pressure.

Two days later, Lin Zhecai went to the Buddhist hall in the palace to see the Queen Mother.

The mother and son met. But there are not many words, because everything is silent. Lin Zhe found out that she was meddling in the affairs of the Lichu, and she also used Li Pingtong, such a major event is related to the foundation of the empire, and it is naturally impossible to be good.

In front of the foundation of the empire, the so-called filial piety or family affection is a fart!

The mother and son greeted each other twice, and then fell silent, and after a while, Mrs. Lin said, "If you have time, the emperor will go to test Xuan'er's homework!" ”

After that, she didn't wait for Lin Zhe to answer, she just waved her hand: "The mourning family is tired, the emperor should go back!" ”

Even if she had already admitted defeat, the Queen Mother still did not give up supporting Lin Xuan.

This eldest grandson who has been raised for thirteen years, the Queen Mother's feelings for Lin Xuan are much deeper than those for Lin Zhe!

Why?

Because Lin Zhe is not like a son, he is an emperor!

After Lin Zhe ascended the throne, Lin Zhe didn't play the matter of asking for peace every day, he was so busy with affairs every day, and if he went to the Yiluan Hall every day to ask for peace, how much time would he have to waste every day.

Therefore, Lin Zhe rarely meets the Queen Mother in his daily life.

This son can't see him many times a year, but this eldest grandson is by his side every day, it can be said that Lin Xuan is a combination of son and grandson in the heart of the Queen Mother, and to a certain extent, he has replaced Lin Zhe's position.

Compared with the huge waves caused by the fall of Li Pingtong, the removal of the Fang family and the queen mother's residence in the Buddhist hall are not eye-catching.

But what happened next caught the attention of the ministers, because the 1872 budget allocation month had just passed, and in February, that is, the Spring Festival was approaching.

Lin Zhe suddenly announced that all princes who officially entered the school were not allowed to continue to live in the harem, and they were all moved to the prince's house, and the living was taken care of by the personnel sent by the Imperial Household Agency, and the teachers of Pingrentang were responsible for education.

The official age of the prince is seven years old, that is, after the age of seven, the prince must move out of the harem and then live in the prince's house.

For this reason, Lin Zhe also made three Western-style western-style buildings near Pingrentang vacate for the three princes who have already entered the school to live, as for the youngest fourth prince is now five years old, and there are still two years before entering the school.

This means not only living independently, but more importantly, they will be out of direct contact with their respective concubines.

Before, he didn't think that there was anything to keep the prince in the harem and continue to live with the concubines, the family, he had to live together.

But after the queen mother's incident, he found that it is not a good thing for the prince, especially the prince who has the potential to become the prince, to have too deep feelings with the concubines of the harem or the queen mother, and if one is not done well, it will cause a change in the palace.

Let them move out after entering the school, which can eliminate interference from the harem to the greatest extent.

As for whether this will deprive the princes of their childhood or maternal love, Lin Zhe doesn't care, born in the royal family, since he enjoys the glory and wealth that others don't have, and even supreme power, then he needs to pay a price.

The emperor is a loner, and this prince, especially the future prince, can also only be alone. (To be continued.) )