Not only Xu Xueshi, but also Fang Yingwu himself was a little lost. There were a thousand kinds of Fang Yingwu in the eyes of a thousand people, but he had never heard of such a comment as "upright". This word seemed a bit far away from him.
Jun Wu joked, since the emperor said he was upright, then he himself must be upright. Even if he is not upright, he has to act upright... Fang Yingwu thought to himself.
In addition, the emperor actually revealed his opinions about himself in person. This is a very rare phenomenon in the temple. It is probably because the emperor is inexperienced. Under normal circumstances, the superiors will never express their true opinions about people easily, otherwise
It's too easy to be taken advantage of by subordinates.
Aside from gossip, since the emperor allowed Fang Yingwu to speak, Fang Yingwu, who had been prepared for a long time, would naturally not be polite. Just because the emperor said the word "upright", Fang Yingwu's strategy also had a small impact.
Small changes.
I only heard Fang Yingwu come in and say: "Nowadays, mediocre people are in power, corpses are everywhere, and people in the world have been unhappy for a long time. Your Majesty, you have practiced Zuo and inherited the great treasure. Don't you want to clean up the temple and restore the Ming Dynasty to a bright and prosperous world?"
How could the emperor be so blind as to not know these issues mentioned by Fang Yingwu? It’s just that everyone understands the general principle and everyone can speak it, but how to do it specifically is not that simple.
The emperor also thought that the ability to respond to things should not be just a few words of truth, so he inquired: "I know very well about the long-term disadvantages, and I don't have a clue for a while. What do you have to say?"
The emperor really wanted to refresh politics. On the one hand, it was out of disgust for the paper-made three pavilions, the old clay statues and the six ministers; on the other hand, even if he wanted to reward the old people based on their merits and arrange for the old people in the East Palace to be promoted to officials, they had to let the old people go first.
They vacate their positions, otherwise why would we reward the meritorious officials? It’s just that the old people are clinging to their posts, and the emperor doesn’t want to quarrel with them, so they are temporarily frozen.
Fang Yingwu suggested: "Back then, the traitors and evildoers were in power, and the upright people were expelled from the capital one after another. Now they are scattered in the outer states and counties. Why don't your majesty rehabilitate them one by one? First recall the loyal and upright people to the capital?"
When Xu Pu and others heard Fang Yingwu's words, they couldn't help but think. Fang Yingwu really had ulterior motives! Although he sounded high-sounding, he seemed to be wholeheartedly speaking for Zhongliang, but anyone who knew a little bit about the court personnel knew that he was living in other places.
Among the ministers, the most powerful one is Wang Shu, and the second most powerful one is Fang Qingzhi!
And these two people, one is Fang Yingwu's cheap grandfather, and the other is Fang Yingwu's father! No wonder Fang Yingwu keeps saying he doesn't care about his official position. The drunkard doesn't care about drinking!
Even if Fang Yingwu himself is restored to the fifth rank at most, people like Wang Shu and Fang Qingzhi are famous all over the world and have accumulated rich qualifications. Once they return to the court, they will be reused. Of course, it is more important than Fang Yingwu to be restored to the fifth rank!
After others expressed their thoughts, the emperor said helplessly: "Zhongliang who is living abroad should be reused, but unfortunately there are not so many free important positions in the court now."
Fang Yingwu said that this was not a problem: "There must be important positions, but they are all occupied by mediocre people! Recalling the loyal and good ministers to the capital is your Majesty's determination to show the people of the world that they are determined to rectify their origins. At the same time, after these people return to the capital, it is naturally equivalent to paying homage to the people in the capital.
If a mediocre person exerts public pressure, it is best to force him to resign voluntarily!"
There is another point that Fang Yingwu did not say clearly. After these people return to Beijing, in order to restore their official positions or advance to a higher level, can they not take the initiative to find ways to eliminate the old people who are living on a vegetarian diet?
It is indeed a method. Even if it cannot solve the problem, it can at least promote the solution of the problem. The emperor praised: "This is a great idea. I feel enlightened! No one has thought of such a simple and easy idea before."
What he was waiting for was this moment. Fang Yingwu quickly seized the opportunity and said again: "I think it's not that no one thought of this idea. It's that the people around your majesty deceived the emperor and deliberately didn't mention it! Otherwise, it would be simple.
How can I not come up with ideas?"
As Fang Yingwu spoke, his eyes wandered back and forth on Xu Pu, Liu Jian and several others. The meaning is self-evident. Who else could the so-called people around His Majesty be besides these few? And the so-called people who deceived the Holy Listener,
Who else is there besides these?
Holy shit! The anger of Xu Pu, Liu Jian and others suddenly rose. This Fang Yingwu was acting unreasonably! It was enough to make slanderous remarks, but how could he say it to his face? How could such a blatant criticism be needed by a clean sect?
Have you lost face?
Regarding this issue, people like Xu Pu and Liu Jian still have some guilty consciences. Fang Yingwu can think of it, and of course they want it too, but they are not willing to recall the demoted ministers as soon as possible.
What they calculated was that after they took control of the court, in other words, after arranging their own people as much as possible, they would slowly recall the demoted ministers. Otherwise, after a large number of highly respected ministers quickly returned to Beijing, they would not be able to compete with them.
The ministers grabbed the position.
With this little thought in mind, Xu Xueshi and others naturally had no motivation to advise the emperor to recall the foreign ministers. As for others, they did not want to offend Xu Xueshi and others who were destined to join the cabinet for this trivial matter, so they kept silent.
It was only because of Fang Yingwu that he barbarically broke into the realm of his close ministers, breaking this tacit understanding.
However, Xu Xueshi and others felt guilty, but they could not tolerate Fang's use of excuses to slander him wantonly in front of the emperor! So Xu Pu Xun shouted sternly: "That's a bunch of nonsense!"
Fang Yingwu seemed to be frightened by Xu Xueshi. After being stunned, he quickly admitted his mistake and said: "Then I was wrong. I shouldn't have talked nonsense, and no one deceived the Holy Listener!"
Just when everyone was surprised by Fang Yingwu's sudden soft attitude, Fang Yingwu said again: "I don't know why no one has suggested it to Your Majesty. It is impossible that no one has thought of such a simple idea. Is it because of ignorance and incompetence?"
If you refuse to admit that you have deceived the saints, you will be accused of being stupid and incompetent? These are simply two unlucky choices. There is no perfect answer! Xu Xueshi and others were immediately ashamed that one Buddha was born and two Buddhas ascended to heaven. They really did not expect that Fang should
Things actually took advantage of this and made a big fuss about it. It really felt like it was impossible to guard against it.
The emperor saw the embarrassment of Xu Xueshi and others, and sighed secretly. People are not saints, and they all have selfish motives. The emperor could only express a certain degree of understanding. Then he came to the rescue and said: "Let's discuss the matter as it is, don't say any more."
"Your Majesty, this is not because I deliberately stir up trouble! It's just that I feel unhappy when I see something unfair!" Fang Yingwu shouted, and at the end he added:
"I am such an upright man! In the past few years, because I was so upright, I repeatedly offended powerful people, and was finally trapped in Ciren Temple to protect myself! To this day, I will still be like this, and will never be afraid of all powerful people, old and new.