Grace Yue's Silent Strength: The Pillar of Henry Yuan's Guar Chapter 172

When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. The decline of Xie Zhongren was like the death of Yan Zilian, which dragged his entire party into the abyss.

The trial of Xie Zhongren was still ongoing, and the purge of the eunuch party had already begun in both the capital and the local areas. The gentry, who had been persecuted and oppressed three years ago, had fought back desperately. Impeachment and remonstrances flew into the capital like snowflakes every day. The documents in Wenyuan Pavilion were piled up like a wall, and there were countless documents waiting for the emperor's review.

Emperor Zhaowu could not handle government affairs without the eunuch who held the seal of the Imperial Household Department. He intended to promote Yu Ji, but Yu Ji was illiterate and he could not find a suitable candidate for the time being. So he summoned Crown Prince Chen Chun, who had already started to participate in politics, to share the burden with him. Only then was he able to take a breather from the overwhelming government affairs.

This was against the law, but no one cared about it now. The court was almost in chaos, with the eunuch party and the gentry attacking each other, as if things had returned to three years ago overnight.

Meng Duo knew that the court could not afford chaos as it was facing internal and external troubles. After discussing with several important ministers, they advised Emperor Zhaowu to punish only the main culprits and not punish the many officials who followed them. This move was firstly for the sake of the overall situation, secondly to win people's hearts, and thirdly, they would have the handles on these officials in their hands and could control them at will without worrying about the power falling into the wrong hands.