The scholar had already lowered his head and dared not raise it again.

But Zhao Jiu still didn't stop, just continued to sigh in front of many Southeast scholars and celebrities: "As for the two saints... do you think it's a good thing to welcome them back to Tokyo? Go and ask Emperor Yuansheng now, if he dares to go back to Tokyo with me? You said you wanted to ask for a favor for Ye Mengde, why did you make such a big fuss?"

The scholar could hardly stand.

"Well, although he has committed a crime, his original intention is still desirable. The country is going to march north, and we should also pardon him a little to show our unity and reconciliation. Let the emperor draft an imperial decree to pardon Ye Mengde and let him return to his hometown in Chuzhou to write his poems."

Following Emperor Zhao's calm words, Ye Mengde, the student who originally thought that he had harmed his teacher, suddenly felt that things had taken a sudden turn for the better. He was filled with joy and sorrow, and quickly bowed his head to express his gratitude.

Xu Jingheng, who had been silent, suddenly stood up, bowed to express his gratitude on behalf of Ye Mengde, and praised the emperor's virtue. This attracted countless people who came to him for consultation and he also received sneers from the other two officials.

The people below didn’t know, so how could these two not know?

Ye Mengde was convicted because the court had just settled down in Nanyang, and he could not wait to stir up a dispute between the new and old parties and raise the banner of the old party. At that time, his actions were supported by Lü Haowen and Xu Jingheng. In the end, in order to maintain the stability of the court, the government let Lü Haowen and Xu Jingheng go, but severely punished Ye Mengde. In essence, it was to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, and by the way, let Ye Mengde take the blame for Lü and Xu.

In this case, Mr. Xu was certainly relieved that Ye Mengde was pardoned today.

Seeing this, Zhao Jiu still shook his head and decided to make it clear: "I have pardoned him, but I must make one thing clear to you... Ye Mengde was convicted because he was impatient and wanted to stir up a dispute between the new and old parties. I pardoned him today to reduce internal friction and eliminate resentment before the Northern Expedition, but it does not mean that I admit his injustice... When he comes back, you can let him take care of himself. As for Huang Qianshan, don't even mention him!"

Ye Mengde's student had experienced many ups and downs, and finally got the result for his teacher. He was already overjoyed, so why would he care about these things? He just kowtowed and thanked him continuously, and then hurriedly left to wait for the Hanlin scholar to draft, easily forgetting about the two saints, the royal relatives, and Huang Qianshan.

However, no matter what, Ye Mengde's students' first attempt to touch upon sensitive practical issues actually worked, and it aroused the joy and encouragement of those who came after them.

Next, several more people came on stage and also achieved many "gains".

For example, someone pointed out to the emperor in person that the government should not use relatives to contract out national debts, as this might be seen as private transactions.

Others pointed out that the emperor claimed to be studious, but he did not often hold imperial lectures, which made people doubt whether Emperor Zhao was really studious.

In addition, some people accused Emperor Zhao of not restoring the historians for a long time; some people publicly impeached that some temples and monasteries had begun to use forced loans, which was bound to become a huge evil policy; some people accused Emperor Zhao of writing novels at random, causing political chaos, to the point that ministers had to guess the emperor's intentions by reading novels; some people accused Emperor Zhao of not having enough confidentiality measures, which led to the Jurchens starting to try to build their own hot air balloons; there were also a lot of people who hoped that Emperor Zhao would uphold the Confucian way of filial piety and allow the two saints to return to Beijing.

Even more so, just as someone came and said that Emperor Zhao should take the Emperor Taishang Daojun as a warning and never learn Taoism, someone else came up and pointed at a group of bald men who had donated money nearby and said that Emperor Zhao was a sycophantic Buddhist, which scared a large group of monks who were there "for consultation"!

Regarding these, Zhao Jiu fully acted out the attitude of a sage monarch to the extreme. Anyone who came to scold him would basically be told to "nod and agree, and then I will change." He would also encourage them on the spot, give them a seat, and add them to the ranks of "for consultation."

As for any accusations against specific things and people, they must be investigated immediately and the stance must be made clear first, but the major policies of the imperial court will never be compromised... Of course, no one has directly touched on the major policies of the imperial court.

The only person involved in this major policy was a scholar from Xuancheng, Jiangdong. This person publicly pointed out that the Prime Minister Yuwen Xu Zhong, the Prime Minister Zhang Jun, and the former treacherous Prime Minister Cai Jing were related by marriage, and that Zhao Ding, Zhang Jun, and Hu Yin had an old friendship. Liu Ziwu, Hu Yin, Lin Jingmo, and Li Gang who was present were all fellow villagers who settled in Fujian... They said they were tolerating each other for the sake of the country, but in fact they were in collusion with each other and were suspected of forming a party. They should all be removed from their posts!

After hearing these words, everyone knew that the man was seeking fame, but Emperor Zhao still responded with a smile. He first criticized the other party, but still allowed him to sit down for consultation.

The attitude is really good.

Of course, as more and more advice and petitions came in, several close ministers gradually became aware of Emperor Zhao’s anxiety and impatience… He seemed to have been forcing himself to endure, and waiting for something to appear.

In public, everyone has their own understanding, but it is difficult to speak out.

Finally, with the arrival of afternoon, the appearance of a name cheered up the whole audience, including Emperor Zhao and the three husbands, who all perked up again.

The guard Shao Chengzhang shouted clearly that Zhang Jiuchen, a local commoner scholar from Hangzhou Prefecture, had come to the palace to request an audience and to write a letter to present his opinion.

It is said that Zhang Jiuchen or Zhang Wugui is a native of Yanguan County, Hangzhou. He is about forty years old this year and is a recognized role model of folk scholars in the southeast. Emperor Zhao had heard of this person's name before he came to the southeast, and he heard of him again and again after he came to the southeast. Even Lu Yihao directly recommended this person to Emperor Zhao, saying that although he studied under Yang Shi of Luoxue, his own virtue and knowledge are first-class and he is definitely a talent for being a prime minister.

When the martial arts conference was held, this person had the advantage of being at home, but he was still lingering in the West Lake. Although he was surrounded by Taoist scholars and had constant letters, he never came to the palace, as if he was hesitating and preparing. When everyone started to invite friends and friends two days ago, this person suddenly disappeared. At that time, everyone concluded that he was either from a Taoist background, like other Taoist masters, and simply gave up the idea of ​​making suggestions, or he was preparing to make a big move to show his "strong spirit" to Emperor Zhao.

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