Huang Fenglin was born in Huanggang County, Jiangxia County, which is also Huanggang City, Hubei Province. The Huang family can be regarded as a traditional family in Huanggang County, but Chen Xiaoyi is not good enough. The family has long since declined. There is no big family named Chen in Hedong.
family.
But Chen Xiaoyi's mother moved into Hedong Pei as a widow. Although she was just a concubine, she was very favored, so Chen Xiaoyi had the opportunity to study in the Pei family.
This kid has a very good brain and has a photographic memory. Although he followed his mother to Pei's house, his stepfather did not let him change his surname and treated him kindly.
Perhaps because of his complete and happy childhood, Chen Xiaoyi developed an upright and kind-hearted character, and became famous among the scholars in Hedong area.
In fact, what the emperor likes most is a person like Chen Xiaoyi, who has both loyalty and filial piety, as well as talent.
The officialdom of the Sui Dynasty was like this, like a spider web. If you hold one end, you can connect to the other end. Huang Fenglin and the Shen family of Jiangling are relatives, and the Shen family is dependent on Yang Ming.
Chen Xiaoyi is more or less half a descendant of the Pei family, and Yang Ming is the son-in-law of Pei from Hedong.
It was so late and Chen Xiaoyi was still awake. It was not because he was dealing with official duties, but because he had diarrhea and couldn't sleep.
When he saw Yang Ming, he was also surprised:
"I wonder what your Highness's instructions are when he comes to my humble residence late at night?"
After Yang Ming sat down, he smiled and said: "I can't talk about it, I just want to chat with you casually."
"Your Highness, please speak. I am listening attentively," Chen Xiaoyi said.
Yang Ming looked around the room and said slowly: "Your mother is not in the capital?"
Although Chen Xiaoyi was a little puzzled by Yang Ming's opening remarks, she still answered honestly:
"My mother is in poor health and cannot bear the long journey. Moreover, she is unwilling to come to the capital. Elderly people do not like to leave their hometown."
Yang Ming nodded: "I heard that your stepfather died ten years ago. Was it you who sent him away?"
"Yes, my stepfather's two sons died young. As a stepson, I am grateful for the kindness of raising them, so I am responsible for the funeral arrangements," Chen Xiaoyi said.
Yang Ming smiled and said: "I often hear Fang Xuanling say that you are a filial person. Every year, you send your salary back to your hometown to support your mother. But you yourself are very poor and your daily meals are taken care of by the public servant?"
To put it bluntly, I ate and drank at the government office and ate the big pot of rice from the imperial city.
"Your Highness also saw when he came in that I only have four servants," Chen Xiaoyi said: "If we don't be more frugal, we won't even be able to support these four people."
Yang Ming nodded: "In that case, you won't be able to go back to worship your ancestors this year, so who should be in charge of the family?"
"I also have a younger brother who is in Hedong, accompanying my mother. Now that he is an adult, he can take charge of the affairs on his behalf," Chen Xiaoyi said.
His younger brother, whose surname is Pei, is his half-father.
Yang Ming nodded and said: "Yang Yue changed his route to worship his ancestors on his way back to the capital. What do you think of this matter?"
"It is in line with human ethics, but not in line with legal principles," Chen Xiaoyi said: "If Yang Zhongshu had not shouldered the will of offering sacrifices to the Ancestral Temple, then there would be nothing wrong with this matter. But since there is a holy decree in front of him, he cannot confuse the superiority and inferiority."
Yang Ming asked curiously:
"Then which one comes first, legal principles or human ethics? Xunzi explains it as follows: The sage is the one who completes the ethics, the king is the one who completes the control, and the one who completes both is enough to be the best in the world. Filial piety
Do you think His Majesty is a saint or a king?"
"Your Majesty is naturally a saint," Chen Xiaoyi probably guessed what Yang Ming wanted to do: "However, etiquette and law come first. Yang Zhongshu first violated etiquette and then violated law. Human ethics should not be used to excuse his sin."
Yang Ming smiled and said: "So, filial piety means that legal principles come first and human ethics comes second?"
"That's not the case. It needs to be judged based on the situation. People have five moral ethics, loyalty, filial piety, brotherhood, tolerance, and kindness. Loyalty comes first and filial piety comes last. It is a crime for Yang Zhongshu to be filial but not loyal," Chen Xiaoyi said.
It seems that he is a rigid person, that is, a stinky scholar who has read the books of saints and sages but uses them to do things but is of no use. The meaning of my words is already obvious, you are not enlightened.
You can't argue with him like this, otherwise he will argue with you all day long.
So Yang Ming nodded: "I asked Yang Yue, he didn't go to worship his ancestors, but Yang Xuanzang went. What do you think of filial piety?"
Chen Xiaoyi was stunned for a moment.
He was very smart. Although he was a bit arrogant, he had a good brain, so he understood that King Qin wanted to use peaches instead of plums to exonerate Yang Yue.
Before he could speak, Yang Ming said again: "Don't think that I am exonerating Yang Yue. I will find out whether he went or not. Of course I will not believe his family's words, but I will not allow him to be spread rumors.
Slander."
"Of course we need to find out," Chen Xiaoyi started to break into a cold sweat, and the warning was obvious.
Yang Ming sighed: "The filial piety makes me very disappointed. I thought you were the most filial person, but now it seems that it is just a false name. Your filial piety is filial piety, and Yang Yue's filial piety is a sin?"
Chen Xiaoyi was stunned and suddenly felt ashamed. In fact, he also knew that Yang Yue had nothing to say about worshiping his ancestors. It was reasonable and reasonable to pass by his ancestral grave and drop in to worship.
This kind of thing is a matter of turning a blind eye, but Pei Ji has been exposed, what can you do? You can only investigate this behavior from the perspective of the emperor.
"I am a commoner who was able to become an official because of the grace of the saints. I hope that Your Highness can understand my difficulties," Chen Xiaoyi said with a look of helplessness.
Yang Ming sneered and shook his head: "I have misjudged the wrong person. You just pretend you haven't seen me tonight."
After saying that, Yang Ming stood up and left.
Chen Xiaoyi suddenly fell into a dilemma. He was a grateful person. Without Fang Xuanling, he would not have the chance to become the candidate of Hedong County, and without King Qin, Fang Xuanling would not be qualified to recommend him.
After all, without King Qin, there would be no him.
So he hurriedly said: "Your Highness, please stay. Even if I have the intention to help with Yang Zhongshu's matter, in the end, it's just a man's words. If the other three don't let go, I can't help myself."
Yang Ming ignored him at all and walked straight away without stopping.
This made Chen Xiaoyi very frustrated, feeling that he had completely offended King Qin today.
Yang Ming wants to create this sense of crisis for the other party, because in this way, the other party will make a choice. If Chen Xiaoyi makes the wrong choice, Yang Ming will find opportunities to deal with him in the future.
If others offend him and he does not retaliate, then no one will be afraid of offending him.
The next day at the court meeting, Yang Yue directly fought with Pei Ji in Wanchun Hall.
Yang Yue's performance made many people really think that Pei Ji was slandering him. Only a few people knew in their hearts that Yang Yue's acting skills were already very good. You couldn't tell whether it was true or not.
He was furious, blowing his beard and glaring, rolled up his sleeves, raised a few eucalyptus sticks and threw them at Pei Ji:
"How dare you spread rumors and slander the Pei family?"
"I have physical evidence, how can Zhongshu confuse right and wrong?" Pei Ji hid in a hurry, not daring to fight back.
How big an official is Pei Ji? From the sixth rank, Yang Yue is the boss of the Internal History Department of the third rank, and he is also a close official of the emperor. Pei Ji can only hide.
Yang Ming was completely silent about this, as if watching a show. His posture meant that no one came to break up the fight.
It wasn't until Pei Ji's head was bleeding from being hit that Yang Ming raised his hand and said calmly:
"Okay, okay, is it Yang Zhongshu who is lying, or Pei Ji just doesn't figure it out? Send someone to conduct a thorough investigation, won't there be results? You two don't have to fight each other in the court."
Is it a mutual beating? This is obviously a one-sided beating. Now anyone can see that Yang Ming is favoring Yang Yue.
Yang Yue then let go and saluted Yang Ming: "Your Highness, please send someone to investigate thoroughly and clear my name."
"This is natural," Yang Ming nodded and looked at the spectator Yang Xiong:
"King Guan, who does he think should be sent to investigate this matter?"
Yang Xiong didn't understand Yang Ming's meaning for a while. After thinking about it, he tentatively said:
"Yang Zhongshu is a third-rank official. We need to be cautious in selecting candidates. According to the system, the inspection should be carried out by the third department. What do you think, Your Highness?"
"Inappropriate!" Yang Ming frowned and said, "Yang Zhongshu bears the important responsibility of offering sacrifices to the Imperial Ancestral Temple. The three departments will review it, which will miss the important event of offering sacrifices."
That's right, no matter how big the matter is, it's not as big as offering sacrifices to the Ancestral Temple, right? Yang Xiong understood now, so he said:
"Then I'll be responsible."
Yang Ming nodded: "Then it's King Lao Guan. You will be responsible for this matter. The matter was reported by the Yushitai, so the Yushitai will also need someone, so Huang Fenglin will assist in the investigation."
Huang Fenglin also stood up and said: "I will definitely assist King Guan to investigate this matter thoroughly."
It's over. Chen Xiaoyi, who was sitting at the bottom, couldn't help but swallowed. It looked like he had been abandoned?
This made him very panicked.
There was no time to think too much, so Chen Xiaoyi also stood up quickly:
"Please help me investigate together."
When this man showed up, Yang Yue was dumbfounded. This kid was famous for his uprightness. He had argued with Su Wei earlier and was praised by His Majesty as being loyal and upright. If he got involved, it would be detrimental to him.
Unexpectedly, Yang Ming nodded and said:
"Filial piety is upright and strict. With your cooperation in handling it, I will feel more at ease."
Now, Yang Yue was relieved, because Yang Ming dared to nod this way, which meant that he had already taken care of things privately. It was amazing, even this rigid and dogmatic nerd could make sense?
Pei Ji, who was still flustered at first, was relieved. He thought that Chen Xiaoyi was doing him a favor by volunteering.
At this time, Yang Ming turned his eyes to Pei Ji. History books proved that this person was a pickpocket and unreliable.
It was he and Li Shimin who encouraged Li Yuan to rebel.
"How is it appropriate to splatter blood in the court? Wipe up all the blood on the floor."
What could Pei Ji say? He could only break his teeth and swallow. He covered his forehead that was still bleeding. He took out the cloth in his arms and started wiping the floor with a look of aggrievedness.
No one would speak for him, because speaking for him would offend Yang Yue.
Facts have proven time and again that those who offend Yang Yue will not get any good results.
On the surface, Yang Ming would exonerate Yang Yue, but secretly, he would report to Yang Guang, but he would never say that Yang Yue went to worship his ancestors, but just added some new soil to Yang Su's grave along the way.
.
This is called minimizing a major issue. If the public report and Yang Ming's secret report are read together, Yang Guang will definitely think that the facts are what Yang Ming said, but they were amplified by the people at the Yushitai.
.
Yang Ming did this to protect Yang Yue and prevent his father from becoming suspicious of him.
If Yang Yue was simply being sued, Yang Guang would be damned if he didn't doubt it.
When you think of others as fools, the real fool is you.