"The capital is under the emperor's feet, and there are still corvees, but what about the local government? Every year, all states in the world build city walls, dredge rivers, and transport grain and grass to border towns. Aren't they all farmers?"
In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Yunxi looked unkind. The dragon robe on his body still had stains from outside the city just now, and the boots on his feet were also stained with mud and water.
All the ministers bowed and stood in front of him, holding their breath for fear of offending the emperor.
"I have repeatedly said that as an official, you should be compassionate and cherish the power of the people. But just at the beginning of the new year, you let me choose a mausoleum. What is your intention? No matter how well-built my mausoleum is, what benefit will it have to the world?"
"The mausoleum of the First Emperor of the past is still there, and we can see the prosperous age of the Qin Dynasty. The mausoleum of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty is still there, and we can see the two Han Dynasties. The mausoleum of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty is so magnificent. The 289 years of the Tang Dynasty are said to be a glorious and prosperous age, but what did the people live? day?"
The ministers lowered their heads and did not dare to speak, and the atmosphere in the Qianqing Palace dropped to freezing point.
Zhu Yunxi's anger continued, "Xia Yuanji, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites!"
"I'm here!"
"Demoted three levels to stay in office, and fined salary for three years!" Zhu Yunxi said bitterly, "As a high official of the imperial court, if you give me any advice in the future, think about what you can and cannot say. If you don't understand, you official There’s no need to do it anymore!”
"I thank Heaven!" Xia Yuanji's back was soaked with cold sweat. It took ten years of hard work and twenty years for his official career to be what it is today, but it was ruined in one fell swoop. Although the emperor did not punish him too severely, it was obvious that he was tired of him. heart of.
Even if the emperor doesn't bother him, this is the biggest stain in his career, and there is no possibility of advancement.
"The same is true for you ministers in the South Study Room!" Zhu Yunxi continued to say in a hateful voice, "Do you still need to report to the emperor about this kind of thing?"
"I am waiting for death!" Several people in the south study quickly leaned over to apologize.
"Humph, I asked you to take the picture. Did it capture the horse's hooves?" As he leaned over, Li Jinglong looked at Xia Yuanji's side face and sneered, but the next second his eyes inadvertently fell on Zhang Yan, Hou Yong and others, and in his heart Suddenly woke up.
"That's right, Nan Shufang just refutes this kind of thing. It's not like Zhang Yan and the others don't know the emperor's thoughts!" He secretly thought about the scene in Nan Shufang in the morning.
Zhang Yan read the memorial sent by the General Secretary and said he was undecided, and then passed it on to others. Hou Yong, Rujun, Bao Zhao and others also said they were undecided, and finally a few of them said they would send it to the imperial court to invite the emperor. Decide.
Although Xie Jin objected, his words had no effect. He and Xu Huizu had never paid much attention to such matters and just followed the crowd.
"Ha, Xia Yuanji let a few people from the Nan Study Room play quietly!" Li Jinglong wanted to understand the connection and secretly laughed, "Haha, it's interesting. These civil servants are really damn capable. It’s so dark!”
Thinking of this in his mind, Li Jinglong raised his head slightly. The moment his eyes touched the emperor's face, his liver trembled violently, and he quickly lowered his head.
The angry emperor seemed to be carved from the same mold as the former emperor, and it was scary to look at him.
~~
All the ministers came out of Qianqing Palace with gloomy faces and their own concerns.
Many people glanced at the pale Xia Yuanji with complicated eyes, then sighed and shook their heads and walked away.
Xia Yuanji's lips were dry and he wanted to find someone to talk to, but he found that his former colleagues stayed away from him, as if they were afraid of getting into his bad luck.
He stood there for a long time, finally sighed and walked out listlessly with his hands behind his back. For a moment, he seemed much older.
Just like that, he walked out of Daming Gate and walked through the long thousand-step corridor. He blushed and was so impatient that he passed the yamen of the Ministry of Personnel and Hubu before returning to the Ministry of Rites.
He waved away the lower-level officials who wanted to report official business, and walked straight towards an official room on the right with an angry face.
Coincidentally, the official room was opening, revealing a rather elegant, smiling face in his forties.
"Weizhe, did you just come out of the palace?"
Seeing the man's smiling face, Xia Yuanji gritted his teeth and said, "Li Yixing, you've made me suffer so much!"
"This?" The official named Li Yixing was stunned, quickly looked around, pulled Xia Yuanji into his room, closed the door and asked, "What, something happened?"
~~
This Li Yixing's real name was Li Zhigang, and he was the right minister of the Ministry of Rites.
In the Ming Dynasty, Zuo was respected, so his official rank was half a rank lower than Xia Yuanji's, which meant that he was the third person in the Ministry of Rites.
In his early years, after becoming a Jinshi in high school, he was recommended to study in the East Palace to serve the late Prince Zhu Biao. Later, he was sent to another place because of his mistakes. He then served in the local area and served as the right counselor of the Central Plains Province, and now serves as the right minister of the Ministry of Rites.
This person has talent and knowledge, but he is too focused on making camp, and he is also very relaxed. Although he is only half a level lower than Xia Yuanji, he always follows the opponent's lead and makes suggestions.
Xia Yuanji's memorial this time was actually written by him. The reason was just as Zhu Yunxi thought. The Minister of Rites was replaced by Ren Hengtai. The two of them could only stay put, so they wanted to write a letter to seek favor with the emperor.
"You have tricked me!" Xia Yuanji gritted his teeth and recounted what happened in the court.
When Li Zhigang heard this, his expression suddenly changed and he stood there blankly.
"Why did I believe what you said?" Xia Yuanji stamped his feet, "I have lost all my face in my life today..."
"Wait a minute, Wei Zhe! We've been fooled!" Li Zhigang said bitterly, pressing Xia Yuanji down on his seat, "Think about it, if this deal reaches the emperor directly, even if the emperor doesn't agree with it, wouldn't he?
Wouldn’t you go to such great lengths to fight?”
Xia Yuanji was startled, thinking about it, this is really the truth.
At most, the emperor summoned him privately and scolded him a few words. How could he be like today, with no face left for him in front of the civil and military officials inside and outside the imperial city.
"Our memorial should be sent directly to the emperor. It must be those people in the south study who read it first and then deliberately brought it to the emperor to make irresponsible remarks, which made Long Yan furious!" Li Zhigang whispered again, "Our original intention,
We only wrote the excerpt because we knew that the emperor would not repair the mausoleum at this time. When the time comes, the emperor will say a few words in a polite way, and we will publish the excerpt again to praise the saint's grace. In this way, the emperor understands our loyalty, and he will naturally look at us with admiration."
His plan was not unwise. He found an excuse to let Zhu Yunxi say a few words, and then wrote a letter to praise his virtues, and then everyone in the government and the public praised the sage monarch...
"They saw your and my intentions and deliberately interfered with it!"
"Hiss!" Xia Yuanji's eyes were secretly filled with hatred. He stroked his long beard and frowned. After so many years of ups and downs in the officialdom, he was not completely devoid of scheming. It was just that he had been frightened and didn't think so much. Now he was pushed back by Li Zhigang.
, it suddenly dawned on me.
"But, those people in the south study room... there is no reason to do this! We are all ministers of the same court, why do we do this?"
Li Zhigang sighed for a while, "I was negligent. Hou Yong is in the south study room. When I worked with him in Henan, we often got into trouble." As he said this, he said in a hateful voice, "It must be him, hum.
!" Then he whispered again, "It's impossible to say that he has other thoughts!"
"More?" Xia Yuanji became more and more surprised.
"Our new minister of the Ministry of Rites, Ren Gong Zhuangyuanlang, is the same year as the imperial censor Yan Zhenzhi. Yan Zhenzhi and others, as well as Hou Yong Baozhao and others, were all disciples of the old scholar Ling. You must know that my predecessor
The reason why Mr. Zheng, the Minister of Finance, resigned was because of Old Scholar Ling... Wei Zhe, you have always been close to Zheng Butang..."
Xia Yuanji frowned deeply, "What do you mean? It can't be done, right?" After saying that, he paused and said, "This bend is too big. Although I'm not familiar with them, it's not..."
"Hey, you are such a humble gentleman, how could you imagine that people's hearts are evil? You and I are running the Ministry of Rites, and that minister is being held up by us now. They naturally regard us as enemies, and we are blocking their way!" Li Zhigang was heartbroken.
road.
"This..." Xia Yuanji smiled bitterly, "There are so many enemies inexplicably?"
"There is no perfect path for man!" Li Zhigang whispered.
“What’s the wisdom of Yi Xing?”
"Didn't Bachelor Xie enter the Nan Study Room? He and I have always been close friends!" Li Zhigang suddenly smiled.