The place where ministers go to court is called the Yizheng Hall, while the Jingyi Hall is the side hall. On weekdays, the new king Chang Chengyou would approve memorials or summon ministers in this side hall.
The emperor was expressionless as he sat behind the desk, a secret message less than one finger long spinning on his fingertips.
The emperor was only in his early thirties and had not long since ascended the throne, but he had already become proficient in his thunderous methods and the art of controlling his subordinates.
Three ministers were sitting cross-legged. They were all officials of the Ministry of Industry. They were Liu Xun, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Kuang Haishang, the right minister, and Chu Wensheng, the left minister.
Liu Xungui was a minister in charge of civil engineering and construction in the world. He was also a veteran of two dynasties, but he did not dare to breathe in front of this new king.
The right servant, Hiroshi Shang, was even more unbearable, his back was wet with cold sweat, and his face turned pale.
Only Chu Wensheng was better. He just lowered his head and said nothing. Even if he noticed the emperor's glance, he looked neither arrogant nor humble.
Many people say privately that they are old ministers, and the emperor will give them a bit of treatment, but when they are in front of the new emperor, they are like quails.
There are also people who say they are scared to death of the new king. They wish they could kneel in front of the new king and call him daddy. It can be seen that when they see the new king, they are neither arrogant nor humble, and they are calm and calm.
Liu Xun, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Guang Haishang, the right minister, are the former. On the contrary, Chu Wensheng, who has the smallest official position, has a normal face.
"Zhengxing, Zheng, Zhengfa, selecting virtuous people, correcting the country and dynasty, and prospering, creating and prospering, this is the first year of Zhengxing..."
Emperor Chang Chengyou's eyes swept over the faces of the three of them one by one, and he snorted slightly: "The Ministry of Industry has given me a great gift."
Hiroshi Shang was the first to be unable to bear the pressure and quickly stood up and knelt on the ground: "I know I was wrong."
Liu Xun sighed, stood up and bowed: "Old minister, your sin is unforgivable, and I hope your Majesty will punish you."
Both the first-in-command and the second-in-command admitted their mistake. Chu Wensheng also stood up instead of kneeling down. He just followed Liu Xun's example and bowed expressionlessly and saluted: "I am at fault."
Chang Chengyou stared at Chu Wensheng: "Is it just a fault?"
Chu Wensheng didn't say a word and kept the gesture of saluting and apologizing.
"The fault you are talking about is harming my people, the people of Dachang." Chang Chengyou said calmly: "At the end of last year, the granaries in the three cities and six counties of Weijiang were all built by the Ministry of Industry. A few months ago, there was a locust plague.
At that time, Pinglong City wanted to adjust grain to provide disaster relief, but disasters never come singly. Three granaries coincided with floods. This flood... was really ridiculous. The city wall was not destroyed, and the residences were not destroyed. Even the lower county was not affected to the slightest extent. On the contrary, it was built by the Ministry of Industry.
The Jiazi granary collapsed, and tens of thousands of stones and new rice were lost."
Liu Xun and Heng Haishang were sweating profusely, and just as they were about to apologize again, the emperor suddenly showed a smile and changed the topic: "Sir, I heard that your young master is very talented in literary and eloquent speech. He is indeed a leader. Your son
, the teaching is good.”
The three of them, including Chu Wensheng, were stunned and looked confused.
The emperor stood up, put away his smile, and seemed to be saying to himself: "I have been immersed in papers all day, and I feel a little tired. Let me go out and get some fresh air, and I will be back in a moment."
After finishing speaking, accompanied by an old eunuch, the emperor stepped out of the Jingyi Hall.
As soon as the emperor left, Liu Xun smiled bitterly: "You two, I understand what the emperor meant."
Chu Wensheng nodded expressionlessly.
Of course I understand. Calling three people is nothing more than choosing one of the three to take the blame. The three of them will discuss it and come up with the result. When the emperor comes back later, who will take the initiative to take the blame.
Normally speaking, the person who takes the blame should be the right servant Lang Haishang. After all, he supervised the renovation of several granaries in Weijiang last year.
But just before the emperor left, he suddenly mentioned the literary talent of Hiroshi Shang's son, which was a bit thought-provoking.
Although the emperor was born as a general, he could be regarded as both civil and military. After he ascended the throne, he created a persona with a cool literary style. The sudden mention of this clearly showed that he had a good impression of Hiroshi, and it undoubtedly sent a signal.
Sure enough, Liu Xun looked at Chu Wensheng, looking like he was hesitant to speak.
"Wu An, I'm afraid you will be responsible for this matter."
Wu'an is the name of Chu Wensheng. Liu Xun rarely calls Chu Wensheng this way.
Usually when a leader is particularly friendly, he basically wants you to take the blame.
Chu Wensheng's face was full of hesitation. This hesitation made Liu Xun look suspicious.
You must know that even Chu Wensheng himself was shouting in the government office of the Ministry of Industry that he would be dismissed sooner or later, and he looked like he had already resigned himself to his fate.
It was precisely because of this that Liu Xun thought Chu Wen would accept it calmly.
Seeing that Chu Wensheng was silent, Hong Haishang suddenly became anxious: "Chu Wensheng, Mr. Liu asked you a question, why didn't you answer it?"
Chu Wensheng gritted his teeth and replied: "The matter of the granary has nothing to do with Xianguan. Not only that, at the beginning of the construction, Xianguan said that the stone should not be transported from the capital. One of the reasons is that the loss will be huge. The other is that it is inevitable.
have…"
"Shut up!" Hong Haishang's expression changed drastically: "The emperor is already dissatisfied with you, but even if this matter had not happened, you would not be able to protect your official status. Could it be that you are still delusional and think that after this matter, you can sit back and relax."
Chu Wensheng said nothing.
Two days ago, he would definitely take the blame. Anyway, it would be the same sooner or later, so it would be better to sell Liu Xun a favor.
But today is different from the past. My eldest son is favored by Master Wei, the Minister of Household Affairs. There is still room for this matter. If I resign first, even if Wei Changfeng comes to the palace to intercede for him, it will be too late.
"Master Liu." Hong Haishang was deeply afraid that he would take the blame, so he looked at Liu Xun and said hurriedly: "You just heard that the emperor praised the official for teaching his son well, and said that Quanzi has great literary talent. It is clear that..."
"I heard it." Liu Xun nodded slightly and looked at Chu Wensheng: "Although the repair of the granary was supervised by the right servant, you, the left servant, also approved the note. Wu An, you are a military commander.
, I have not been good at the official duties of the government office for many years, why not just retire and return to my hometown to avoid the whirlpool of the court and retire unscathed? "
Han Haishang breathed a sigh of relief and echoed: "It should be like this. You, Zuo Shilang, are not as good as ordinary ministers. You are in your position but do not plan your affairs. I don't know how much delay you have..."
"Shut up!" Liu Xun snorted coldly, glared at Guang Haishang, and then looked at Chu Wensheng again, with a bit of shame on his face: "I will tell you one thing or two when I meet the emperor.
I'll keep you safe."
Chu Wensheng's face had a normal expression. Although he was full of anger, he did not show it.
If I don't accept this responsibility, I will hold on to it and wait for Wei Changfeng to plead with me.
At the same time, outside the Palace of Political Affairs, Emperor Chang Chengyou was strolling on the jade steps.
"Sun An."
The emperor stopped and called out softly. The white-faced and beardless old eunuch next to him lowered his head and said, "I'm here, old slave."
"I dare to say that when I return to the palace, Liu Xun will definitely kill General Chu..."
Having said this, Chang Chengyou chuckled: "Looking at my memory, I always call the wrong official position."
The old eunuch named Sun An said: "Not only your Majesty, but also the old slave standing aside can feel Master Chu's murderous spirit. Wearing the official robe of a civil servant, he always looks like a general on the battlefield.
.”
"Yes, I was still young at that time, and I slipped out of the fiefdom without knowing the depth and was kidnapped by the mob. If Master Chu had not led his personal followers to kill and regain Yazhou, I would have encountered an accident long ago. Even today,
I will always think of the bravery of Chu Wensheng riding into the formation that day."
Sighing slightly, Chang Chengyou sighed with emotion: "The unrivaled general is surrounded by stone and wood all day long, and he has no knowledge of officialdom. This arrangement by the father seems to have found a good match for Chu Wensheng."
The end result was that the beautiful jade was covered in dust."
Sun An glanced at Chang Chengyou's face and hesitated, as if he had something to say.
Noticing Sun An's appearance, Chang Chengyou smiled and said: "But I don't understand, I don't understand that Chu Wensheng is kind to me, but I don't understand it, and I don't understand why I don't reuse him even though I clearly appreciate his talent, right?"
"How dare I try to figure out His Majesty's intentions?"
It would be a lie to say that he is not curious. How could the old eunuch not be curious?
Others didn't know it clearly, but he understood that the emperor was a person who valued friendship and loyalty. Chu Wensheng had inadvertently saved the emperor's life back then. The emperor never mentioned it to anyone. Even Chu Wensheng didn't know about this opportunity.
But the emperor clearly thought about this kindness in his heart, but he showed a signal that he wanted to remove Chu Wensheng.
"There is nothing to speculate on. Chu Wensheng has great talents and great talents in military strategy. He should be reused, but not as a civil servant, but as a military general. No, he should be reused by me as a commander-in-chief!"
Sun An's pupils shrank.
You must know that there is a difference between a general and a commander. There are many generals and soldiers. Even a ninth-grade deputy lieutenant can also be called a general, but a commander is not. At least he is a third-grade general Yunhui or even a general.
Only generals of Guide are qualified to be called commanders, because only generals from the third rank can be called "commanders" if they can command at least one army or eight battalions of soldiers.
Looking at the various disciplines, as long as they are generals from the third rank and above, who is not a master who stomps his feet and makes the ground shake? This Chu Wensheng is about to become prosperous.
"Go back, I want to see if this old man Chu Wensheng can still be as 'proud' as before."
Sun An couldn't help but smile bitterly.
On weekdays, the emperor would always summon officials from the Ministry of Works, including Chu Wensheng.
Chu Wensheng was quite respectful in front of the emperor, but his respect was too perfunctory. This was the main reason why the prince always wanted to beat this guy.