Chapter 24: Blame
The thick book flew out of the air, and the glass egg fell to the ground, motionless, as if it had been hit in the center of the target and lost consciousness in an instant. The throne and the balcony were at least two or three feet apart. Master Fei Xuan was able to break armor and injure people with one blow (the official hat is also armor!). It was indeed due to his successful practice that his arm strength increased greatly, which was beyond the reach of ordinary people. However, no one dared to praise His Majesty's supernatural power. They could only hide their heads and stand still, listening to the emperor slapping the throne and cursing, using Hubei dialect to spray Liulidan and his entire family to heaven. After scolding him, he still felt unsatisfied and yelled at the Jinyiwei angrily:
"Drag him out and beat him hard!"
Hanlin scholars are known as potential prime ministers. Even if they spend their whole lives just eating and waiting to die and accumulating experience, they can basically retire as a provincial governor. Such people have extraordinary reputation, and the emperor generally will not use violence against them. But now Lao Deng was so furious that he broke through his defense and beat people with his own hands, while the group of important ministers below were as quiet as chickens, and no one dared to plead for mercy.
——Nonsense, pointing at the emperor’s ancestors and calling the monk a thief, is there any quicker and more immoral way to seek death in the world?
Brother, you are even braver than Fang Xiaoru!
To be honest, the court was lax in its speech and lenient with its subjects (in fact, it was impossible to control them and no one was too lazy to do anything about it), and rumors among literati were flying everywhere. Although they did not point fingers at the royal family and curse them, the trend of secretly plotting against the court was rising and falling and was difficult to clean up. They also made up unimaginable stories about the previous emperors, and the secrets unearthed profoundly influenced the image of history - let alone the past of Emperor Gao begging for food in his early years, and how did Empress Gao's reputation as "Ma Da Jiao" spread throughout the world? It's impossible that Emperor Gao would publicize his wife's shoe size everywhere, right?
Emperors of all dynasties were not unaware of the rumors among the people, but they had no choice but to tolerate them as there was nothing they could do. It was also for this reason that the royal family had always been very lenient towards the National History Museum and the Hanlin Academy and had never criticized them for hundreds of years. After all, if there were no official history compiled by historians to restrain them, then how crazy the unofficial history could be would be beyond the imagination of ordinary people.
Your Majesty, you don't want your dirty jokes to be spread everywhere, do you?
But, what has resulted from these hundreds of years of gracious hospitality? I didn't expect you to emulate Sima Qian's brilliant writing skills and create immortality, but as you were writing this, you actually gave Emperor Gaozu the label of a "thief monk"! Just the word “thief” can be considered carelessness, but adding “thief monk” deliberately makes it seem like deliberate carelessness!
It would have been fine if Emperor Gaozu himself had just said "a commoner from the right side of the Huai River" and "a monk from Huangjue Temple", but if you dare to say anything else, you will be in trouble with your entire nine clans!
This is why Liulidan was born at the wrong time. If such an incident had happened during the reign of Emperor Gaozu, the three major cases in Xuanwu would have been made into three minor cases.
The nine clans of the Glazed Egg don’t matter much. The most terrible thing is that "History of Yuan Dynasty" is an official history compiled by the government, and the imperial courts of all dynasties should have revised and corrected it repeatedly. Such a fatal mistake, at the very least, is due to the perfunctory work and the lax discipline; at the most serious, it means that the emperors of all dynasties have forgotten their roots and have never paid attention to the posthumous reputation of their ancestors!
What's this? This is extremely unfilial.
Even if Master Feixuan's ability were ten times greater, he would never be able to bear the accusation of being unfilial to Emperor Gaozu. After the initial fury and indignation, Master Feixuan quickly started thinking hard about how to get rid of this terrible crime - the situation was now difficult to back down from, but the first priority was to save Liulidan's life so that he could pass the blame later. Otherwise, if you beat him to death, you might even be suspected of murder to silence him.
He still had that donkey face as if he was owed eight million, but he quietly waved to Li Zaifang. The chief steward understood what he meant and immediately slipped away and informed the Jinyiwei to keep the men back and prepare to let the Dongchang go first. As for what crimes the eunuchs from the East Factory will torture out, they have to wait for instructions from the True Lord.
However, it is difficult to determine the charges. Zhenjun went through the resume of Master Liu from beginning to end, trying to find any clues of treason, cursing the emperor, father, ancestors and breaking away from all ancestors; but after reading it several times, he was shocked to find that this person was not timid at all, and there was not even the slightest mistake in his actions!
The glass egg is indeed a glass egg, a non-stick pan spirit certified by history books, with the highest level of skill unrivaled today. He has been struggling in official circles for more than ten years, seeking profit and avoiding harm and swaying with the wind, and has never done any practical work. If you don’t do practical things, you won’t take risks, and if you don’t take risks, you won’t make mistakes. Even if someone is as sarcastic and mean as the old Taoist priest, what can he do?
Of course, even if Master Feixuan doesn't want to break up with him, he can still forcibly convict him. But the Hanlin Bachelor is an important official after all, and the consequences of arbitrarily punishing him without any crime would be very serious. Zhenjun was hesitant for a moment, but he was not willing to let go of the non-stick pan easily.
His eyes slowly moved downwards, passing over the important officials who were holding their breath and trembling with fear on the balcony, but suddenly he caught a glimpse of the Prince of Duke Mu who was standing in the crowd with his hands hanging down.
As the instigator of the whole farce, the prince quietly retreated behind the crowd after saying that fatal ancient text. Afterwards, no matter how chaotic the situation was around him, he remained as quiet as a chicken and did not say a word. Naturally, he was ignored by the frightened ministers. To be honest, although Master Liu was defeated by a word from the Prince of Mu, few people suspected that he was a shrewd and calculated person and did it on purpose. After all, with the prince's crazy behavior and low cultural level, could he design such an exquisite layout? I heard that this person also served as the Wenyuan Pavilion's clerk, in charge of Taizong's "Great Code". I guess he just came across it by chance while flipping through the book, blurted it out in a hurry, and dragged the man named Liu into the trap.
This was probably the manifestation of Emperor Gaozu's spirit. God wanted to take him away, and it had nothing to do with the level of this playboy.
Master Feixuan had the same thought in his mind, so he was only concerned with being angry and did not bother to investigate the matter in detail. But he stared at the Prince of Mu for a moment and suddenly remembered a small thing - the secret letter handed over by the Prince of Mu seemed to be accusing the man named Zhou of collaborating with Japan and selling out the country, and there was also the "remnants of Jianwen"?
To be honest, because of the prince's past reputation, the emperor was not very willing to read his memorials, not to mention that they contained nonsense like "The Wandering Jianwen Plan" and "Jianwen, forward four!" But now... now, now he carefully thought about the memorial, and suddenly felt that these crazy words seemed to make some sense.
Zhou Zhicheng was in collusion with the Japanese, so he was a traitor; Liulidan actually spoke for the traitor, so wasn't he also a traitor who was in collusion with the Japanese? It is precisely because he is a traitor who colludes with Japan and is instigated by Japan that he is so cruel and cruel that he dares to slander Emperor Gaozu in the official history books! And the imperial court - the imperial court was just careless for a moment and was deceived by the traitor; but in the final analysis, it was the extraordinary wisdom of Master Fei Xuan that enabled him to catch this hidden traitor!
Therefore, the omissions in history books cannot be blamed on the imperial court, let alone the current emperor. If anyone is to blame, they can only be blamed on the cunning traitors and Japan. The Japanese bribed ministers and tolerated the remnants of Jianwen. They were even so cruel as to throw dirty water on Emperor Gaozu!
The Japanese are so bad! For every one hundred bad things that happen in the capital, one hundred and one of them must be done by the Japanese!
Instead of reflecting on yourself, it is better to blame others. The old Taoist's eyes flashed and he quickly made up his mind. Amid the melodious screams of the glass egg in the distance, he slowly sat up straight and spoke coldly:
"Yan Donglou."
The young cabinet minister came to his senses immediately and quickly lay down.
"You said earlier that there were connections with the Japanese in Zhouzhi and that there were also remnants of Jianwen. Is that true?"
The young minister said carefully, "I dare not deceive His Majesty. I have already ordered people to investigate carefully, and all the evidence has been sealed in the Ministry of Justice. I only hope that His Majesty will send someone to review it."
"Since you have already investigated, I will not send anyone to investigate." Fei Xuan Zhenjun said calmly: "In the heart of the world, there are people in the capital who are actually connected to Japan, and there are people who intercede for the criminal officials. This is intolerable! Such things must be cleaned up, and Japan must also be dealt with properly. Don't bother two masters with one matter. Since you and Mu Qi have already investigated, you can take over the rest together! There is no need to be fussy about details."
As soon as these words came out, the young minister was fine, but Mu Qi immediately felt unexpectedly ecstatic - with Lao Deng's oral order as a guarantee, they undoubtedly had the imperial sword to do things! Since they have "taken over everything", they can not only mobilize manpower to purge spies and interrogate them, but they can also openly interfere with coastal defense and control trade in the name of imperial edicts! Didn’t Lao Deng say himself that “it’s up to the discretion of the situation”? If I do something a little beyond the rules, what can you say against me?
As the saying goes, he is using a feather as a token of authority. During the validity period of this oral order, he has plenty of ways to sneak into Chencang, squeeze in private goods within the scope of his duties, and finish what he wants to do first - as for being impeached after he has done it, the worst that can happen is that he can just throw up his hands and admit his fault!
——The original intention of the Master was good, it was all my fault in carrying out the plan. I will resolutely reflect on myself and I will resolutely admit my mistakes. If you want to criticize me, then criticize me. If you want to punish me, then punish me. At the worst, confiscate my salary, give me thirty strokes of the cane, and send me back home to watch the turtle hatch eggs. If you can still be comfortable and lazy without a job, why should I be afraid of you? !
Having made up his mind, Mu Qi quickly stepped forward, prostrated himself to thank the emperor and accepted the order, fearing that Lao Deng would suddenly change his mind. The joy was so overwhelming that the Heavenly Book made another ding-dong sound:
[Is it going to snow red?] Lao Deng looks so respectable today! 】
Lao Deng was probably so irritated by the glass egg that he didn't have any special reaction and just sat there with a cold face.
After the two of them stood up to express their gratitude, the True Lord spoke indifferently:
"Officials who colluded with the Japanese are guilty of an unforgivable crime. After the investigation is complete, the three judicial departments will jointly try them. The East Factory will surround the house first, and confiscate the house as soon as they receive the news."
Several eunuchs from the Eastern Depot stood up trembling with fear and accepted the order. Master Feixuan sat upright, his mind racing. Although Japan's large silver mines had been confirmed, the country's navy had already been disorganized and no longer had the courage of the eunuch Sanbao to sail to the West. It was not a good time to go to Japan to uphold justice for the time being. Now we collect a little bit by raking grass and hunting rabbits. Besides, it was a great disrespect for the Japanese to come to Beijing and bribe the ministers instead of offering tributes to the emperor. The money these ministers collected was not the Japanese's money, but clearly the money of Master Feixuan! Now that the property has been returned to its original owner, what's wrong with that?
Of course, if the scale of the confiscation is too large, it would not be a good idea to avoid the cabinet. Master Fei Xuan thought for a moment and then gave another order:
"Let Elder Li take care of the rest. It will also make it easier for the Ministry of Revenue to handle matters."
Li Jurong, a cabinet member and Minister of Revenue, stepped forward in fear, knelt down to express his gratitude, but claimed that he was stupid and did not dare to take on the important trust entrusted by the emperor.
Li Jurong was born as a top scholar, with talent and knowledge unparalleled in the world, but in the cabinet he was inconspicuous and silent, almost becoming a transparent person. If Prime Minister Xia had not gone to Chengtian Prefecture for inspection today, and if Lord Yan and Lord Xu had not taken leave to avoid suspicion, it would probably not have been his turn to step forward in the cabinet. But at this time he was still being humble and making excuses, which was really honest.
Perhaps because he was disgusted by the glass egg just now, Master Feixuan had a great liking for such a taciturn and honest man, so he comforted him in a gentle voice:
"Mr. Li, you are too modest. Isn't your family quite familiar with the stories of foreign treasures? The criminal's family must have a lot of stolen goods from Japan, and Mr. Li needs to identify them one by one and register them."
Li Jurong bowed again and said, "Your Majesty, I am deeply ashamed of your praise. My knowledge is so shallow, how can it be one tenth of what scholars know? Even the little I know is entirely due to being taught by others. I know a scholar named Wu in Huai'an, who is well-versed in ancient and modern times and has a wealth of knowledge. All the overseas stories were heard from him."
Before the True Lord could speak, the Heavenly Book, which had been silent for a moment, suddenly made a resounding sound:
[——Fuck, "Journey to the West"!] 】
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