Chapter 22 Scolding

Political struggle is all about striking fast and not giving the enemy any breathing space. Only six or seven days after the young cabinet minister met the prince of Duke Mu, Zhou Zhicheng's younger brother, Zhou Zhizhong, the director of the Ministry of War's Qingli Division, came to the gate of Xu's mansion crying, knelt down and kowtowed:

"Uncle cousin, please save my brother!"

Seeing his own relatives coming to his house and begging like this, Lord Xu, who was struggling to comprehend the great principles of nature, finally could not sit still anymore. He was dressed in a Taoist robe, walked out of the secluded room, and ordered someone to help Zhou Zhizhong up:

"Why are you so impatient?"

Perhaps he really comprehended some great truth about the incarnation of a god from Master Feixuan's poems, or maybe he had some heavy metal poisoning from the golden elixirs he had taken in recent days, but Lord Xu's voice was ethereal and elegant, with a hint of the demeanor of a master. Zhou Zhizhong looked up in surprise, only to see his cousin uncle, in a loose robe and belt, appearing from behind the screen.

The head of the Qingli Division had no chance to meet the emperor, so of course he didn't know that this was the favorite outfit of the current Feixuan Zhenjun, Qingmiao Emperor and Wanshou Emperor, also known as the "Da Puleng Moth Style". Of course, Lord Xu did not dare to overstep his authority over the emperor. Even when he was meditating at home, he only wore a plain white linen robe without any extra patterns.

In other words, it's a funeral-style big moth flow.

Zhou Zhicheng had never seen much of the world, and was stunned by his cousin's outfit. It was not until Lord Xu walked slowly up to him that he finally reacted and burst into tears:

"Lord, my elder brother was murdered!"

Elder Xu was not impatient: "Why are you in such a hurry? There are always disturbances in the officialdom. Don't always say that someone has harmed you. It is not conducive to unity. What is the matter? Tell me first."

Perhaps because he didn't understand his cousin's hint, Zhou Zhizhong cried even harder:

"Your Excellency, you don't know that it was that evil villain Yan Donglou who personally took the lead, made wild accusations, and imprisoned my elder brother. He even said that he would report to the Imperial Household Department to punish him with a caning! They are so arrogant and domineering, and treat the people of integrity as nothing. They are not just slapping my elder brother's butt, but clearly slapping you in the face!"

Lord Xu: …………

Perhaps he had finally succeeded in his cultivation. Lord Xu took a long breath and actually suppressed the anger that was aroused by this unjust relative.

He asked dryly, "Did Yan Donglou do it? How did he do it?"

Zhou Zhizhong cried, "My cousin, you don't know that five days ago, the Ministry of Rites issued an official document saying that Emperor Taizong Wen's birthday is approaching, and ordered officials below the sixth rank in the court to write a poem to praise the great merits of the ancestors. Unexpectedly, yesterday Yan Donglou came to our door with the prince of Duke Mu, insisting that my brother was a traitor and slandered the emperor in his poems. How can the Zhou family afford such unfounded accusations!"

Lord Xu... Lord Xu sighed for the second time.

To be honest, if it was another Qingliu comrade who was accused in this way, he would probably be sure that it was the Yan Party who fabricated charges with ulterior motives and used literary inquisition to exclude dissidents; but when it came to his cousin, Lord Xu couldn't help but have some doubts:

Could it be that this grudge guy actually wrote something that could send his entire family to heaven?

No matter what, they are my relatives after all. Now that he was crying and begging in front of the whole family, Lord Xu couldn't refuse him sternly, so he could only say:

"You should tell me in detail what happened, so that I can understand it."

There were two big heads in the box around Zhou Zhicheng, and then he began to complain with snot and tears. According to him, his brother Zhou Zhicheng was loyal to the emperor and patriotic. After receiving the official document from the Ministry of Rites, he carefully pondered it (when he heard the word "carefully", Lord Xu's eyelids twitched again), and wrote two poems and submitted them. Unexpectedly, two or three days later, Yan Donglou brought people to the government office, and repeatedly denounced Zhou Zhicheng for his presumptuous behavior and allusions to the emperor. The absurd and rebellious words clearly showed that he sympathized with the remnants of Jianwen!

"My brother is loyal to the emperor and loves his country, how could he be related to the remnants of the Jianwen Dynasty!" Zhou Zhizhong cried out in indignation, "But the worst one is the prince of Duke Mu. I never thought that a nobleman could be so vicious! After Yan Donglou framed him, he actually took advantage of the situation and denied that my brother inquired about the tribute affairs of the Ministry of Rites and deliberately colluded with the Japanese pirates. His motives are not to be questioned!"

"My brother couldn't bear it any longer and could only speak out to refute, saying that it didn't matter if the prince scolded him, but such words might hurt the feelings of the friendly envoys. But, but the prince of Duke Mu was furious. First, he said something like, 'I just want to scold people today, so I don't want to scold you; but Mr. Zhou, the Sakula in your hometown has already opened, why don't you go back and take a look?', and then he said something like, 'Hurt your mother's head!', and then he threw a pen holder at him..."

When recounting the various crimes that Yan Donglou had accused his elder brother of, Zhou Zhizhong's words were vague and ambiguous; but when recounting the various insults hurled by the Prince of Duke Mu, his recollection was exact and vivid, and it was obvious that he had a deep impression of them - after all, when it comes to political struggles, there must be gags and highlights to catch people's attention. The Qingliu Yan party members are full of empty talk with each other, and what they write is long and boring, full of quotations from classics, and it doesn't attract the slightest attention except to make people pee. But the struggle initiated by the Prince of Duke Mu is different. Isn’t this simple sentence “hurt your mother’s head” more eye-catching than millions of allusions?

People in the court may not remember the brilliant remarks made by Yan Xiaoge Lao when he angrily rebuked his political enemies, but no matter what, this “hurt your mother’s head” will definitely follow Zhou Jieshi Zhong for the rest of his life and become an indelible shadow in his life!

In this case, it is not difficult to understand why the Zhou family was so grief-stricken and angry. What censors depend on is their reputation. How can they govern the country without it? If this joke is really deeply rooted in people's minds, then in the future, as long as there is the word "injury" in Zhou Jieshi Zhong's memorials, I'm afraid that the ministers watching will immediately add the heads of the entire Zhou family in their minds!

How can we govern and work after this? How can I write letters to criticize others after this? So even though Zhou Zhicheng was detained in the government office, he privately sent his younger brother to ask the Xu family for help, insisting that his cousin fight back severely.

But after listening to this, Lord Xu remained silent for a long time. To be honest, Xu Shaohu has been in the court for decades, and his skills in officialdom are truly perfect. Even with Feixuan Zhenjun, who has cultivated a rough human form, above his head, he can still move forward and backward with ease. No matter what struggles and difficulties there are in the court, there is nothing he cannot handle.

——But the key point is that in the officialdom, everyone fights openly and secretly, but generally no one will just start by saying "hurt your mother's head"!

Officials who have been in office for a long time can be entangled in any kind of chess game. But as for the secret technique of the Prince of Duke Mu, who carried a chessboard and smashed people's heads, which was similar to that of Emperor Xiaojing, Lord Xu might have lived in a life of luxury for too long and had not seen much of it in recent years.

A mad man is a mad man. Once a husky who is generally recognized to be a fool possesses the golden ticket of immunity from death of the Duke's Mansion, he is basically invincible. Lord Xu can quote from classics in the court to refer to the Duke Mu's Mansion in a sarcastic way, but for the prince, he basically can't understand and it will do zero harm. And if he wants to scold him face to face in words that the prince can understand...how can a dignified Lord and leader of the Qingliu have the face to lose?

The image of Duke Mu's Mansion is already heading down a downward spiral, but Xu Shaohu still has to save his dignity!

Therefore, Lord Xu was really in a difficult situation. But he didn't want to show his weakness in front of his relatives. Although he had already decided to cut ties with the Zhou family, he couldn't let Yan Dang jump on his face, so he was silent for a moment and then spoke again:

"You know that the prince of Duke Mu has always had this temper... Never mind. I'll write a letter to the Ministry of Rites and ask them to take another look at the poem written by your elder brother."

As a big shot of the Qingliu, Lord Xu also has connections in the Ministry of Rites, and can also confront the Yan party on the issue of characterization; words are understood in different ways, and when one reaches a certain level, any interpretation makes sense. As long as Zhou Zhicheng is not stupid enough to write "The Yan rebels should be executed" and "Heaven will destroy the fourth brother" in his poems, the Qingliu can try to save him a little; it is hard to say whether he can get away with it unscathed, but at least he can keep his head.

This relative of mine can't really be that stupid...right?

The most interesting thing is that Yan Donglou would be fine, but with the literary level of the Prince of Mu, there is absolutely no way he can interrupt in such a high-level game. As long as we can get rid of this crazy critic, wouldn't the situation return to Lord Xu's comfort zone, where he is like a fish in water and can achieve great results with little effort?

After thinking about it for a while, Lord Xu felt that there was nothing wrong with the plan, and he felt a little better. He asked one more question:

"Anything else?"

Zhou Zhizhong was overjoyed and kowtowed quickly: "Thank you, uncle, for rescuing me! My family is very grateful for your kindness... But my brother also asked me to ask my uncle for a favor - Prince Mu is too rude. Even if we can't refute him, we should try to clear his nonsense and slander. It's not a big deal that my elder brother has been wronged, but pointing fingers at friendly countries and cursing them is tantamount to throwing dirty water on the court, which should be cleared up."

Lord Xu nodded slightly and was about to agree casually, but when he heard the last tearful plea, his heart sank and he lowered his head and stared straight at the resentful relative who was crawling on the ground!

Wait, since this person started learning, he has mentioned "Japan" several times intentionally or unintentionally, right?

A mere seventh-rank official who came to beg for mercy and humble service, instead of feeling pity for his buttocks which were about to come into close contact with the imperial cane, actually felt pity for Japan which had a silver mine at home?

When did our family produce such a saint with a broad mind? How come I don’t know? !

What's your relationship like? Why do I look abnormal?

Lord Xu remained expressionless, but his heart was filled with turmoil. He stared at his resentful relative for a moment and spoke slowly:

"Speaking of which, the Imperial Censor is a censor who has the duty to correct the discipline of the court. Didn't your elder brother's colleagues say a few words to help?"

Zhou Zhizhong didn't understand and was indignant: "My cousin knows that those people are fence-sitters who bully the weak and fear the strong. How dare they mess with Yan Donglou and the Duke's son! The Mu guy cursed so badly, and they still laughed..."

Upon hearing this, Lord Xu's expression froze and he almost fainted for a moment!

Were the censors of the Da'an Dynasty "fence-sitters who bully the weak and fear the strong"? According to the old system of the dynasty, censors were allowed to report rumors and get advance notice of state affairs. Although their official positions were low, they were arrogant and were known as "mad dogs". This group of guys probably only stayed quiet for a few decades under the iron fist of Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong. Over the next dozen or so emperors, they have been criticizing everyone from the six ministers to the cabinet ministers. When have they ever been afraid of the big guys above them? Xu Shaohu himself had his face washed with saliva more than ten times, so how could he not know that censors tend to bully the weak and fear the strong!

To be honest, with the mad dog-like behavior of these censors, how could they allow nobles to come and bully their colleagues? Even if he is temporarily at a disadvantage in terms of fighting and kicking, and dares not seek justice from the prince in person, he should fight back in the future and use memorials to criticize the Duke's Mansion. The only way they could watch so calmly was unless - unless this colleague was so hated by everyone that he would spit at even a passing dog.

I'm just a bad-mouthed person, not a bad person. Do I really want to follow you and lick the Japanese's dick?

——Damn it, it seems that what Prince Mu of Duke Mu said was true!

Lord Xu was torn apart!

The cracked face of Lord Xu was distorted in an instant, and he almost couldn't help but greet the heads of the Zhou family. But after all, he was a well-educated university scholar. Although the Nine Clans' danger radar was beeping, he still took a deep breath, forced himself to calm the turmoil in his heart, and slowly spoke:

"Really? In that case, go back and listen to my letter."

Zhou Zhizhong was very happy, but he kowtowed again: "Please hurry up, cousin. I heard that Yan's party and the Imperial Household Department have colluded and will issue the Red Court Cane in the next two days! My eldest brother is not in good health, how can he withstand this?"

Elder Xu just glanced at him calmly:

"...Okay, I'll do it as soon as possible."

·

After seeing Zhou Zhizhong off, Lord Xu immediately summoned the housekeeper of the mansion and ordered him to find out the news as soon as possible, especially to find out what was unusual about the Zhou family over the past ten days. The information the butler gathered was not surprising - the Zhou family had suddenly become wealthy in the past few days, and had actually spent lavishly on buying a lot of precious toys and servants, with their expenses running like water.

Where does this money come from? After reading the news, Xu Shaohu's expression was indescribable - he had been so absorbed in practicing Taoism at home recently that he had even forgotten to care about the mind of his resentful relative!

Perhaps because he had received a lot of favors from the Zhou brothers on weekdays, the butler still plucked up the courage to advise:

"Master, actually collecting money from the Japanese is nothing. There are more than one or two people in the capital who are collecting money..."

The corners of Xu Shaohu's mouth twitched. Of course he knew how the officials in the capital behaved. Because Emperor Gaozu was very stingy and haggard, the salaries of most officials in the capital were only enough to maintain basic vital signs. Now that the old Taoist priest was making elixirs so much that the national treasury was in deficit, the salaries of many officials in the capital were simply converted into banknotes that were not even hard enough to wipe one's butt. Prominent ministers receive gifts and tributes from other places, but low-ranking officials are short-sighted, so it doesn't seem like a big deal to accept some funds from the Japanese, right?

Master Fei Xuan retired to the West Garden to concentrate on cultivating Taoism, which made him so exhausted that he could not even think of day and night reversal. Now he is too lazy to care about such trivial matters. The lax discipline has led to the following example, and there is actually a reason why the housekeeper interceded for him.

But, after all, Lao Deng was just posing, not dead. If what the Heavenly Book says is true, once Master Fei Xuan knows about the huge silver mine in Japan, the enthusiasm for making money that arises from the bottom of his heart will probably be -

Xu Shaohu twitched his lips and immediately made up his mind.

"In that case, please take the trouble to find the Jinyiwei who beat Zhou Zhicheng in the court and help him pass on a message for me."

The butler bowed respectfully: "What message do you want to convey, Lord?"

Xu Shaohu paused for a moment and slowly said:

"Tell them not to listen to any rumors and just fight!"