It wasn't that the emperor wanted to suppress Qin Dewei, nor did anyone want to deny Qin Dewei's achievements. The main reason was that the reward was too difficult to handle.
Qin Dewei is only twenty years old now and is already the third-in-command of the Hanlin Academy and the third-in-command of Zhan Shifu.
In order to continue to place Qin Dewei in the fifth-rank framework, the imperial court even dug out the special official position of Zuo Chunfang Grand Scholar from the pile of old papers and gave it to Qin Dewei. How else could he be promoted?
If you are promoted further, you should be a minister, which will cause great damage to the entire official structure of the court.
If the reward is just a flimsy thing, it won't mean much compared to Qin Dewei's contribution.
Two words, it’s difficult! Let’s put it aside for now!
Then Emperor Jiajing issued an order, ordering Wang Tingxiang, the minister of the Ministry of War, to be responsible for extinguishing the fire and surveying the fire scene. As for the officers and schools who participated in the rescue before tonight, they were given food and wine and allowed to rest.
Then he told everyone to stay one more day tomorrow and come back to see him again in the afternoon to continue discussing relevant matters.
Emperor Jiajing meant that he needed to take a rest, otherwise he would not be able to travel in this state.
Tao Zhongwen didn't live nearby that night, so he rushed over in a hurry, still calm and relaxed, as if everything was planned by God.
The ministers were discussing how to arrange the emperor's living arrangements. There were several alternative plans, and there was endless controversy.
Tao Zhongwen then told Emperor Jiajing: "There is Baiyun Pavilion in the north of the city, also known as Lu Zu Pavilion. It is a scenic spot. According to legend, it is the place where Lu Zu was promoted to immortality. Your Majesty may wish to go there."
When Emperor Jiajing, who was superstitious in cultivating immortals, heard this, he left with Tao Zhongwen, and the remaining eunuchs and maids also followed.
The ministers looked at each other. It seems that after tonight's fire, Emperor Jiajing's trust in Tao Laodao has been greatly increased.
There are also veterans who have rich life experience and are a little worried. Some people will become more superstitious after experiencing disasters. The same is true for the emperor.
In the original history, this fire prediction was one of the most glorious key points in Tao Zhongwen's life, comparable to "two dragons never meet".
As for why Tao Laodao in the original history could calculate it, Qin Dewei didn't know. He just copied the homework and exported it to domestic sales.
At this time, the sky was already dark, and Qin Dewei, who had "achieved nothing", was helpless and sighed, "Who is doing this hard work?"
When he returned to his place of residence, he saw Xu Miaojing lying on the bed recuperating. The place where he stayed next to the palace was burned down, so Xu Miaojing ran here.
At this moment, Qin Dewei had a doubt that had been lingering in his mind for half the night. He patted Xu Xiaodi awake and asked: "How did you get past Lu Bing and carry the emperor out?"
In history, it was Lu Bing who memorized the emperor. And between Xu Xiaodi and Lu Bing, the emperor must have trusted his brother Lu Bing more. Is this a butterfly effect?
Xu Miaojing rubbed her eyes and replied unnaturally: "Lu Bing, he accidentally fell on the stone steps and fell quite hard. The situation was urgent at that time, and I didn't care about Lu Bing, so I went first.
Help."
"Did you really fall?" Qin Dewei felt very complicated and looked at Xu Xiaodi with sharp eyes.
Xu Miaojing was embarrassed to look at her brother-in-law, lowered her head, and whispered: "I tripped."
Qin Dewei was really surprised and sighed repeatedly: "I can't believe that you, Xu Miaojing, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, have actually learned to fight for credit by any means."
Xu Miaojing couldn't help but ask: "What did I do wrong?"
Looking at the increasingly mature Xu Xiaodi, Qin Dewei couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Actually, I'm very happy to see that you still have a kind and innocent heart."
Xu Miaojing looked confused. Can this kind of behavior be called kind? Brother-in-law, do you have any misunderstanding about this word?
Qin Dewei chuckled and said: "If he was an inhumane and cruel villain, he would have directly hit Lu Bing who fell to the ground on the spot! It's not surprising that someone died in the sea of fire anyway, how could Lu Bing come out alive?"
Xu Miaojing: "."
For some reason, Xu Xiaodi suddenly broke out in layers of cold sweat on his back.
Qin Dewei continued to comment: "You didn't do that, which makes me very happy. It shows that you still have a bottom line and you are still a kind boy. Otherwise, I am afraid that even I will have to be careful in the future!"
Xu Miaojing didn't know what to say, so in the eyes of her brother-in-law, she had done the right thing and was still a good person?
Qin Dewei then criticized: "However, there is still something wrong with you. You should not be indifferent to Lu Bing."
Xu Miaojing was confused, "What's wrong? What do you mean by being indifferent to Lu Bing? Brother-in-law, do you still want me to touch up Lu Bing?"
Qin Dewei then ordered: "When you go to see His Majesty tomorrow to express your gratitude, mention Lu Bing a few more times and take the initiative to ask for credit for Lu Bing!
No matter what, Lu Bing also rushed into the sea of fire with you. There is no credit but hard work, how can he be ignored? As the only witness, you have to speak for Lu Bing!"
Xu Miaojing was speechless. Why do you feel that you, brother-in-law, are the worst?
"Study carefully! This is all about teaching you how to behave and do things!" Qin Dewei yawned and fell asleep.
When it was three o'clock in the morning, Qin Dewei woke up from hunger, and Xu Miaojing had no idea where he had gone.
After getting up, Qin Dewei saw Wang Tingxiang, the Minister of War, sitting outside the house, and didn't know what he was doing.
Before he could say hello, Wang Tingxiang waved again, and several followers came forward carrying food boxes.
Qin Dewei was very surprised and said: "Senior Wang suddenly showed his courtesy for nothing. What is his plan?"
Wang Tingxiang ignored Qin Dewei's teasing regardless of his superiority or inferiority, and said straight to the point: "I was ordered to investigate the fire scene. I don't know how to conclude, so I came to ask you for advice."
Qin Dewei sat down and said while eating: "It is what it is. Whatever is discovered in the investigation, that is what it is."
Being so familiar with Qin Dewei, there was no need to hide his thoughts. Wang Tingxiang said very honestly: "The key is that this is reported to the emperor."
The implication is obvious, I just want to ask for advice on how to fool the emperor and minimize the subsequent troubles.
Mainly in terms of fooling the emperor, Wang Tingxiang dared to believe that Qin Dewei was the most professional, so he had to humbly ask for advice.
Qin Dewei then asked: "Let's talk about the survey results first."
Wang Tingxiang replied: "First of all, after inquiries and visits, it was found that no one came in or out after the palace was closed last night, so it must not have been set on fire by outsiders.
Secondly, after comparing the remains and identifying people, it can be determined that the first place where the fire broke out was in the residence of the palace maid."
Qin Dewei raised his hand to interrupt Wang Tingxiang's statement and asked: "Whose maid is there? Is it the empress or the emperor?"
Wang Tingxiang recalled it and replied: "She should be a maid serving the emperor."
Qin Dewei's expression became very strange, and he shook his head subconsciously.
Wang Tingxiang asked in surprise: "What is your expression?"
Qin Dewei has a bold guess that may be very close to the historical truth, but he doesn’t want to say it and doesn’t dare to say it. Gu Xie
Perhaps the maid serving Emperor Jiajing set the fire deliberately?
If you want to explore further why, you should ask Emperor Jiajing why he had a habit of abusing his maids. Qin Dewei didn't dare to ask anyway.
Regarding the issue of palace maids, Emperor Jiajing was the only one since ancient times. Anyway, they were both pornographic and violent.
In the more famous "Renyin Palace Incident" three years later in history, a large group of palace maids could not bear the abuse, and they all collectively tried to strangle Emperor Jiajing, so setting a fire was nothing.
Qin Dewei's demeanor of "seeing through everything but not saying anything" made Wang Tingxiang feel like a hundred claws were scratching his heart.
Qin Dewei took the initiative to stop Wang Tingxiang's inquiry: "Stop asking! There are some things that are not suitable for a pure person like the old man to know."
Wang Tingxiang: "."
He, an old bureaucrat who is over sixty years old and has been in the officialdom for more than forty years, is actually called "pure" by a twenty-year-old?
So how pornographic is your inner world, Qin Dewei?
After Qin Dewei thought about it for a moment, he gave instructions: "The weather is dry and the wind is strong, so it is very easy to catch fire.
Among the people, it is often the case that fires are caused by careless handling of candles, and a neighborhood is often burned down.
So I guess that the palace maid carelessly discarded the unextinguished candles, causing the palace to catch fire. Apart from that, there is no other reason, and there was no thunder last night."
Wang Tingxiang asked further: "Is this how you report it? No problem?"
I felt that Qin Dewei's instructions were too simple, so simple that they were almost understatement, which made Wang Tingxiang a little uneasy.
Although the purpose is to fool the emperor, it should not look too fooling.
Qin Dewei said firmly: "It should be no problem, maybe His Majesty just wants to downplay it!"
Anyway, in the original history, this was recorded in official data, and the conclusion was that the palace maid accidentally threw candles around and caused the fire.
Moreover, this conclusion must have been approved by Emperor Jiajing before it could be included in official records.
Extrapolating from this, Emperor Jiajing must be satisfied with this conclusion. In other words, as long as the palace maids are mentioned, Emperor Jiajing is probably trying to downplay the cause of the fire.
If the mistreatment of the palace maids really led to the arson of the palace maids, Emperor Jiajing would certainly not be willing to make a public conclusion that the palace maids deliberately set the fire.
Otherwise, others will have a greedy mentality and make random guesses about the affairs of the emperor and the palace maids. If the desperate eunuch spreads gossip, Emperor Jiajing will lose his face again.
After Qin Dewei finished lunch, he and Wang Tingxiang went to Baiyun Pavilion in the north of the city. At this time, many ministers had gathered here, waiting for the court meeting.
Around the time of Shen, a eunuch came out to deliver a message to the courtiers.
Emperor Jiajing was sitting on the temporary golden throne, and Xu Miaojing, the royal guard in royal robes, had already begun to stand under the throne, becoming one of the people closest to the emperor.
After the ministers had finished dancing and worshiping, Emperor Jiajing took the initiative to ask Wang Tingxiang about the results.
Wang Tingxiang then reported the investigation situation that "the fire started in the palace maid's residence", and according to Qin Dewei's intention, he said that the palace maid may have accidentally thrown candles and caused the fire.
If it weren't for his superstition of Qin Dewei, Wang Tingxiang would never dare to report so casually.
After Emperor Jiajing was silent for a moment, he said lightly: "That's probably the case. Let's take this as a conclusion and there is no need to go into details."
No one else paid any attention to it, just treating it as an ordinary report and an ordinary accidental fire. At most, they were surprised that the emperor was occasionally generous and merciful.
Only Wang Tingxiang was secretly shocked that Qin Dewei had such an accurate grasp of the emperor's psychology!
What was even more frightening was that he had no idea what the emperor was thinking and what Qin Dewei was thinking.
For a moment, I felt that my career in officialdom for more than forty years had been in vain.
Then we will continue to discuss matters after the fire, such as burning a large number of magical artifacts and treasures, and issuing decrees to distribute them to the governments along the way to try their best to replace them.
Another example is that they were still discussing whether to reward the official school who put out the fire last night. During this period, Xu Miaojing took the initiative to contribute to Lu Bing.
"Lu Bing and his ministers went into the sea of fire together and had the same intention to die. Although I succeeded in the end, Lu Bing's character is still commendable. I sincerely ask your Majesty to be kind to your relatives and ministers!"
Emperor Jiajing followed suit and promoted his brother-in-law Lu Bing to the position of commander, but Lu Bing's face was not very good-looking.
Qin Dewei, who stood at the end of the group of ministers and ministers, craned his neck and almost raised his hand to signal, but he still didn't get what he wanted.
"Start tomorrow!" Emperor Jiajing ordered his ministers and then withdrew.
Continuing south from Weihui Mansion, we soon arrived at the Yellow River. At this time, the Yellow River had no bridges, so large groups of people began to cross the river one by one.
Emperor Jiajing stood on the royal boat and stared at the surface of the Yellow River, wondering what he was thinking.
The famous poet Qin Xueshi, who was also accompanying the boat, crowded over and presented a poem composed on behalf of the emperor.
The words "More than a thousand miles away from the sacred capital, the road passed by the river and drove six fishes", and the words "In the past, Jiang Fu obeyed the imperial edict, and today the yellow robe is caressing the four nobles" were all tailor-made for Emperor Jiajing.
After crossing the river, it is still the plain farmland, with endless spring wheat fields everywhere you look.
Emperor Jiajing casually said a few words about farming in the imperial carriage, and the famous poet Qin Xueshi squeezed over and presented a poem written on behalf of the emperor.
The words "horses cover the roadside and seedlings grow, and wheat ears are spotted by the roadside", and "the wind blows with the clouds, and the sun shines brightly in the green mist", they are absolutely suitable for the scene and definitely reflect the emperor's sentiments.
There were also elders doing spring plowing kneeling on the roadside to greet them. Emperor Jiajing got out of his car symbolically to persuade the farmers and made a show of gesture.
The famous poet Qin Xueshi came over again and presented a poem written on behalf of the emperor. The line "If you wish to fulfill your wish to fill the belly of our people, you must receive spiritual anointing from the emperor", it was absolutely suitable for the occasion and absolutely reflected the emperor's compassion for nature and humanity.
While staying in the palace at night and chatting with ministers, Emperor Jiajing suddenly felt sad because of the death of his parents.
The famous poet Qin Xueshi crowded over again and presented a few poems composed on behalf of him, such as "Although there are ministers and neighbors on the altar to help, I would rather not think about my mother in the palace", and "The long journey has touched my sorrow many times, and I am sad for my father and son."
"True" can definitely express the meaning of missing relatives.
Emperor Jiajing: "."
Although I am a literary youth and am very interested in literature and art, you, Qin Dewei, have contributed dozens of ghostwritten poems in two or three days. Isn't this a bit too much?
He has to write a poem every time he eats, sleeps, gets in or out of the car, and Zhu Houcong is not an emperor who aspires to publish tens of thousands of poems in his lifetime!
At this time, there was a memorandum sent from the capital on the imperial desk. Cui Mian, the young master of Zhanshi (fourth grade) who had just been appointed as the second-in-command of Zhanshi Mansion, suddenly fell seriously ill and requested to resign because of his old age.
All the ministers sighed together, what is the number of days? What is fate?