Chapter 63: Upside Down
Sitting on the dragon bed and causing it to collapse is certainly not a decent thing, but it is also difficult to conceal such a thing. Because the palace quickly summoned the most famous doctor in the Imperial Hospital who was good at traumatic injuries to apply ointment on Master Feixuan's swollen dragon buttocks. After applying the medicine, Zhenjun's daily life became even more inconvenient. He could only lie on the bed with his butt sticking up and not move. His anger was unimaginable!
Early the next morning, the Prince of Mu, who held a high position and great power, received the news from the palace. Of course, it is not appropriate for the outside court to ask about such an embarrassing and secret illness. The prince thought about it carefully, and asked someone to invite Zhang Taiyue, who had been on duty in the Hanlin Academy these days, and asked him to help him write a memorial.
"The general idea is here." The prince handed over a draft: "Please help me polish it, Taiyue."
Zhang Taiyue took over the manuscript, and found it to be the familiar nonsense with no literary grace. But after Zhang Taiyue looked up and down a few times, he couldn't help but widen his eyes a little - this article was more like a manifesto than a memorial. It started with the Yin Wang rebellion case and swept through all the vassal states in Henan and several surrounding provinces. The words he chose were vicious and the metaphors were harsh. Except for the fact that he could not use swear words directly, this article probably exhausted the rhetorical level of the Prince of Mu.
A drowning dog will be beaten by everyone. It would have been fine if it had just been scolded, but the memorial also severely criticized the vassal system since Emperor Taizong. The pen was sharp and the wording was sharp, as if he was going to make a big move against the current royal family system!
Since Emperor Wuzong, reforming the vassal system has actually become a consensus among scholars all over the world and has been repeatedly put on the agenda of the court. However, due to various obstacles of ancestral family laws and the emperor's intentional or unintentional protection, Yang Ting and Zhang Cong all failed at the last minute and wasted a huge amount of political resources. Today, the Prince of Duke Mu has some power in charge of affairs, but wouldn't it be too presumptuous for him to suddenly challenge such a difficult problem when he is still struggling to gain a firm foothold?
Zhang Taiyue thought about it again and again, and finally said tactfully: "Of course this is a good thing, but after all, there are precedents. Can we take it step by step?"
Even if one is the chief minister of the cabinet, if one fails to push through policies, his prestige will be greatly damaged and it will be difficult for him to survive in the court. Zhang Cong retired to the countryside for this reason and never interfered in state affairs again. Of course, the prince may be thick-skinned and not care about this shame, but why bother to run into trouble?
Faced with such sincere advice, the prince just smiled:
"Mr. Zhang may not understand. Getting things done requires the right time, right place, and right people. My ability is certainly not as good as that of the famous prime ministers of past dynasties, but the opportunity now is a coincidence, and there is no time to waste."
Because the matter involved confidential information, Zhang Taiyue was not qualified to inquire about the fatal confession made by Chan Yunzi. But as the instigator, Mu Qi was very aware of the power of this confession - considering the basic principles of journalism and Lao Deng's IQ, he did not directly fabricate the testimony, but only instructed Can Yunzi to select some explosive news heard from idle royal family members, intending to use this as raw material for some artistic processing.
But the facts proved that the madness of the idle royal family members far exceeded the wildest imagination of Prince Mu, so much so that after he got the materials and reviewed them several times, he was shocked to find that he could not even find room to add fuel to the fire - probably because of their similar backgrounds, these idle royal family members were jealous of the current emperor, and especially resented the emperor's luck in picking up the throne out of thin air, so they mocked and ridiculed him in every way, and their insults were particularly vicious and vulgar. Can Yunzi confessed that when he went out with Prince Yin to preach evil doctrines and mislead people, he had personally seen members of the royal family who were familiar with Prince Yin tie a kind of firecracker called "yuanbao" to a rabbit, light it and watch the rabbit jump for fun, which was called "the plague rabbit picked up a treasure" or "the Hubei rabbit got a treasure."
...Oh, by the way, the current emperor’s zodiac sign is rabbit.
In addition, when the emperor had just ascended the throne and had not yet given birth to a son, these royal family members liked to carry a male rabbit with them, and the greetings when they met each other would be: "Has your rabbit given birth? No? If not, what's the use of it!", "If it can't give birth to babies, you might as well peel off its skin and make a coat, instead of standing there doing nothing" - and so on and so forth - these are extremely rebellious and sarcastic remarks that are meant to lead to the lower world - and this is only a small part of what is less explicit and can be shown. Can Yunzi was quite trusted among the princes and vassals for his sorcery and magic tricks, but the outrageous remarks he heard at private banquets were at least ten times more aggressive than these few words of gossip!
How to say it, Mu Qi has been pua for a long time, and he hates Lao Deng so much that he can't let it go. But even with his resentment, after reading these horrific atrocities one by one, he had to get out of bed in the middle of the night:
No, these people are sick, right?
In the historical record, when Shanghai Gangfeng wrote "A Memorial on Public Security", he was praised for his "brilliant talent and brilliant judgment" and "incomparable wisdom and insight". If Feixuan Zhenjun Wanshou Emperor could hold back such vicious remarks that directly cursed at one's mother, then his temple name should not be Emperor Shizong Su, but should be changed to Emperor Renzong Cowardly and Useless!
True Lord Feixuan is certainly not such a coward. It's just that he's now bedridden, and has no way to beat up his resentful relatives, so he urgently needs a mouthpiece, and it can't be some crap full of flowery quotations from classics - at this juncture, the dirtier the curse, the better, and the more exciting the action, the better. In order to vent his anger and get his thoughts across, Lao Deng is determined not to care about the royal family's reputation.
"This is the best time." Mu Qi said slowly, "As soon as this memorial is submitted, His Majesty will immediately take advantage of it and help us solve the biggest and most troublesome problem... As long as we lose the protection of the imperial power, the vassal state will be just that."
It's funny to say that in Da'an's current political structure, civil officials, military generals and nobles are all good at their own things; only the royal family and vassal states are outside the three realms and are considered the most useless, weakest and least threatening force, but they are also arrogant and domineering, and with the connivance of the imperial power, they have aroused unanimous disgust from ministers and nobles. If we had not clearly known the true attitudes of emperors of all dynasties from later historical books, we might have thought that they were using the same strategy as Duke Zheng of Zheng defeated Duan Yuyan, and were plotting some kind of flattery-to-death strategy - a soft persimmon that is hated by everyone but also has a lot of oil and water, of course everyone wants to pinch it. Over the past few decades, the idea of reforming the royal family system has actually been brewing to a very mature level, and the prince only needs to copy it.
Of course, the newbie Zhang Taiyue didn’t quite understand all these twists and turns and was still full of doubts. But after dozens of days of getting along, basic trust still exists; judging from the prince's daily performance, although he is indeed crazy and unreasonable, he has never delayed his climb up. How could he, a mere sixth-rank Hanlin editor, be qualified to instruct a big boss who was in charge of confidential matters before he even reached twenty years old?
So he had no choice but to shut up, pack up his manuscript and go back to think about it.
Prince Mu, who had an overall view of the situation, sat on the recliner for a while and suddenly spoke again:
"In the past few days, I have seen many scholars from the Hanlin Academy submitting memorials. Some of them are righteous reports of rebellion, while others are heartfelt statements of loyalty to the emperor. It's very lively. But after counting them, why haven't I seen any memorials from you, Mr. Zhang, expressing your loyalty?"
Zhang Taiyue bowed slightly and said, "I am new here, my words are not taken seriously, I should learn about government affairs, how dare I write a letter and make irresponsible comments on government affairs."
Being able to draft the most important imperial edict of this dynasty in decades just five days after entering the officialdom was a starting point that was too high and too glorious, so glorious that even Zhang Taiyue himself was a little scared. A tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind. He had no choice but to suppress himself and keep a low profile.
"Think twice before being an official!" The prince sighed, "Taiyue really knows how to advance and retreat in the officialdom... With so many people working hard, it may not be a good thing. It is wise not to get involved. Since you have already entered the Hanlin Academy, you should focus on your work and revise the "History of Yuan Dynasty" and "The Emperor's Quotations" first."
Compiling the "History of Yuan Dynasty" was to clean up the mess of the Hanlin Academy of all dynasties, and compiling the "Quotations Presented to the Emperor" was to flatter his dead father, Fei Xuan Zhenjun. Both are brilliant resumes specially arranged by the Crown Prince for the future Regent. The clues are long and the benefits will come naturally if you keep doing it.
Zhang Taiyue certainly understood this truth, but there were also some practical difficulties that required cabinet coordination, especially the approval of the big boss:
"To answer your question, the progress of the History of Yuan Dynasty is not a problem, but the work on the Quotations from the Emperor is short of manpower, so I'm afraid it will be delayed for some time."
"History of Yuan Dynasty" was an official matter approved by the imperial court, and all resources could be allocated publicly, so there was certainly no problem. The "Quotations" was a private work secretly discussed by the Crown Prince and the Junior Minister, and it could not be seen in public before completion, which caused considerable trouble in terms of funding.
The prince had obviously anticipated this, so he just said "oh" and then, in the name of the chief confidential person, gave the instructions that he had prepared for a long time:
"What's the problem? Isn't there a budget prepared for Emperor Yingzong? You can just transfer it all over!"
Zhang Taiyue was a little surprised: "In this case, the progress of Emperor Yingzong is probably..."
Since His Majesty ascended the throne, the Hanlin Academy and the National History Museum have basically merged their offices. In order to revise the official records of the dynasty, each generation of emperors has prepared a special history project team. Previously, in order to raise funds, the Crown Prince and the Junior Minister had instructed their subordinates to embezzle a lot of resources from the Yingzong project. However, they relied on the fact that this was an old and difficult project that had been going on for more than 80 years and no one would care, so they just dealt with it perfunctorily.
But once all the existing funds are transferred away, the existing progress will collapse immediately, leaving a huge unfinished spectacle standing in the Hanlin Academy. Even a fool can see that something is wrong!
If you write a novel with a bad ending, you'll just get a few criticisms, but if you write a national history story with a bad ending, you'll really be criticized by everyone!
"Then let's just end it." The prince said calmly: "The historical materials on Emperor Yingzong have been compiled for such a long time that the general framework has already been worked out. At most, it's just a matter of polishing the details. Give it a few more months to wrap it up, and it can be regarded as a major event in the past eighty years."
Zhang Taiyue was stunned: "...Ah?"
No, it’s okay for other emperors, but can the historical data of Emperor Yingzong be ended casually? With the personification of Yingzong's personality and the abstraction of his life experiences, if you compare them one by one at the end, it will be like a complete collection of Da'an's hell jokes and boomerangs!
Is this public history? You are slapping the emperor in the face!
Even Zhang Taiyue, who was very shrewd, was so frightened that he stuttered for a moment: "Please think twice, my lord! If - if I end it right away, it will probably damage the reputation of Emperor Yingzong and greatly anger the current emperor -"
There is certainly no room for the holy name of Emperor Yingzong to be damaged any further, but the imperial court respected the gods and their ancestors, and emperors of all generations had to cover up for their ancestors. By directly throwing out historical materials and scolding the emperor's great-grandfather, isn't he afraid that Master Feixuan will sacrifice his subjects for the sake of filial piety?
"Was it annoyed the current emperor?" Mu Qi smiled softly: "Taiyue, do you think the current emperor would appreciate the actions of Emperor Yingzong?"
"What does that have to do with liking—"
Zhang Taiyue had only said half a sentence when he suddenly reacted.
Perhaps the idea of loyalty to the emperor was too deeply rooted. Even with Zhang Taiyue's ability of half a step to SSR, when thinking about the past of Emperor Yingzong, he was probably in the habit of not mentioning the respected person. He always thought about the royal dignity and ancestral rules, and intentionally or unintentionally ignored the true essence of the matter.
——In Bao Zong’s extremely abstract life, the most eye-catching things were two major events; one was called “Knocking on the Gate”, and the other was “Seizing the Gate”. He could also be called “The Two-Gate Emperor”. Considering that Master Feixuan had the habit of staying at the West Garden for half a year without going out, it had nothing to do with him whether he knocked on the door or not; as for "seizing the door"... the closest relatives of the royal family took advantage of the emperor's serious illness to seize power and take the opportunity to ascend to the throne. What, do you think Master Feixuan would like such a story?
Therefore, people have to experience things before they can understand empathy, and history always demonstrates its value only when it is needed. On weekdays, everyone is nice to each other, and emperors of all dynasties are always willing to flatter their ancestors and say some meaningless nonsense. But when the day came when he was bedridden and the situation was turbulent, the emperor, who always spoke of loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness, would suddenly realize the absolute weight of the historical truth and the unavoidable fear:
——Let alone anything else, just think about the fact that there is a top-notch figure like the Emperor hidden among your close relatives after you are seriously ill, wouldn’t you immediately feel an uncontrollable chill in your spine? !
Even though the Sima family usually flattered their ancestor Sima Yi to the heavens and made sarcastic remarks about Prime Minister Ge everywhere, when the imperial power was transferred and the government was in turmoil, they would only let their ministers learn from Wu Hou and would not dare to ask them to emulate their own ancestor. By the same token, if someone were to hold up a golden signboard calling himself the Emperor, Master Feixuan, who was recuperating in the Western Garden, would be so frightened that even the tips of his hair would tremble!
So, it’s no wonder that Zhenjun is suspicious and insecure. When it comes to his political achievements after he ascended the throne, others may be able to whitewash them, but with Zhenjun's experience and sharp words, he should be very clear about his own foundation. Over the past few decades, there was first the Great Ritual Debate and then the Great Immortal Cultivation Debate. Under high pressure, bad money drove out good money, loyal and outspoken ministers died out, and the only ones left were those who were lucky enough to get promoted but were flattering in their hearts. Even if there were tens of millions of people like Yan Fenyi and Xu Shaohu, could they remain upright, hold on to the overall situation, and do their best to fulfill their duties as patriots in times of crisis?
——Are you dreaming?
After decades of doing whatever they want, with discipline and bottom line collapsed, today everything has changed so drastically that they have finally reached the point where they need rules and justice to protect their interests. But when I look around, I feel alone, as if there is no one available to me, Lao Deng!
But who can be blamed for this? Who can be blamed for this? You choose it yourself, idol!
However, Prince Mu is still loyal. Even though the atmosphere in the court had been corrupted to the point of being in a state of disastrous decline, at such a turbulent juncture, he still wanted to do his best to redeem and save it a little, at least to give an account to history and slightly calm Zhenjun's panic-stricken emotions.
Of course, it is very easy for the moral bottom line to collapse, but it is so difficult to rebuild it. The top priority now is to correct the mistakes and restore order.
"History is something that is always difficult to conceal for long." The prince almost talked to himself, "So what should be done must be done, and what should be written must be written. Now we must explain the events of Yingzong's reign clearly. Only by explaining them clearly can some things be done uprightly. Of course, Yingzong is our ancestor after all, so you can't go too far... Don't flatter, don't hide the bad, and if you really can't write any more, just gloss over it. But no matter what, only by writing truthfully and reversing the inverted history can your majesty be at ease."
At such a turbulent time when the court was in turmoil and everyone was vying to get involved in the rebellion and pursue advancement, only the prince was willing to think about the emperor's inner security needs that no one could understand. How could this not be considered loyalty?
Zhang Taiyue was speechless.
After being stunned for a moment, he finally said hesitantly: "Even if such historical materials are compiled, I am afraid it will not be easy to make them public..."
An open secret does not mean the disclosure of a secret. After so many years since the coup, everyone actually knows that the Emperor called Men is a piece of crap. But it is one thing for everyone to know about it, and it is another thing for it to be authoritatively certified by the Hanlin Academy and promulgated to the world. After all, in the current system, it is always difficult for ministers to criticize their rulers.
"Then don't make it public yet." The prince said calmly, "How about this, give me a copy after you revise it, and I will try to present it to His Majesty the Emperor to comfort His Majesty. I think His Majesty will not blame me."
I really won't blame you. History always serves reality, and the patriarchal system cannot give in to imperial power. In the past, people were benevolent, righteous, moral, and filial to their ancestors in order to maintain the dignity of the royal family. Now that disaster is imminent and they are in a state of panic all day long, they can only make their ancestors suffer.
In order to preserve the royal family's reputation, he has to sacrifice the power of Master Fei Xuan. How could the current emperor be such a selfless person?
As for the infamy... after reading the historical materials, the one who will be scolded will not be him, Master Feixuan, so what does it matter?
It has come to this point, what else can Zhang Taiyue say? I just agreed.
Of course, just sending it to the palace is not enough. After all, this was a major project that had been unfinished for nearly eighty years. Now that it has been completed in the hands of the new cabinet, it is at least a not insignificant achievement. So the prince thought about it again and again, and wrote a handwritten order himself, asking the Hanlin Academy to allocate a sum of money to publish the historical materials of Emperor Yingzong into a book. Not only the cabinet, but also the Silijian, Dongchang, Jinyiwei, and all the important places would benefit from it and experience the achievements of the Hanlin Academy together.
"It should be sent to every government office. This is fair and just." The prince put his fingertips together, thinking: "However, with so much information being sent, the difficulty of keeping it secret has increased greatly. Mr. Zhang, you should also know that the level of confidentiality of the court has always been..."
He concluded all the unfinished statements with a meaningful silence.
Zhang Taiyue: …………
He said with difficulty: "...What if the secret is leaked?"
"If the secrets were leaked, it would be the responsibility of the officials of the various ministries and the rumors in the market. It is not the responsibility of the Hanlin Academy, and certainly not yours or mine." Mu Qi said lightly: "Of course, this is actually not a crime. Mr. Zhang, have you read the poem "The Courtyard is Deep in Spring and the Old Man is Locked Up" which was popular in Beijing?"
·
——Even under the emperor's hysterical blow, "The Courtyard Deep in Spring, the Elder is Locked Up in the Pavilion" is still secretly circulated among the people. It has never been eradicated and it is definitely impossible to eradicate it. The facts prove it eloquently. The gossip desire of the people in the capital is stronger and more persistent than the power of any government office, and it cannot be stopped by just a little royal authority.
Based on this ready-made experience, the literati dared to make up stories even about a living emperor, so would they be afraid of you, a dead emperor? !
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
