64 Chapter 64
Dispute
In October, a letter came from Guangfu saying that my third brother Jiang Jingfeng had passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. In addition, he brought another piece of news.
Looking at the content above, Jiang Jingyun didn't speak for a long time.
Taking the letter from his hand and casually glancing at it, Xiao Muyan knew what this person was worried about, and said concisely, "Go if you want to do it."
Jiang Jingyun looked up and asked, "Aren't you afraid that I'll be a burden to you?"
"I seem to have said it many times, but you just can't remember it," Xiao Muyan chuckled helplessly, leaning over to kiss his forehead, "No matter where I go, as long as I have you, what do I have to fear? I swear to follow you until death."
"Well," Jiang Jingyun stretched out his hands and hugged his waist tightly, burying his face in it without saying a word. After a moment, a muffled voice came, "Xiao Muyan, thank you."
The person being thanked just reached out and gently touched his head and said nothing more.
A few days later, it was time to take turns on duty in front of the palace.
Since the new decree was issued and the format of memorials was unified, the content has become clear and concise, and the emperor can get the general idea at a glance. The emperor's workload has been greatly reduced. Even ordinary memorials such as greetings are directly thrown to the Hanlin Academy for processing after a quick glance.
So, when the old emperor sitting on the throne had finished reviewing all the memorials, Jiang Jingyun sitting below was still "grunting" and stamping "read" on the greeting card.
After finishing his work, it feels good to see others still working overtime. The emperor stroked his beard with satisfaction. Although this boy learned from Zhao Juelu, he is not as rigid as his master. His brain is very flexible. If he digs deeper, he may come up with some more useful ideas.
Thinking of this, the old emperor asked, "The method you proposed a few days ago was very useful to me. I wonder if you have any other ideas in other areas?"
When asked, Jiang Jingyun touched the warm memorial in his arms, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally made up his mind. He stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report."
The next day, in the Golden Palace.
The emperor was furious and ordered a thorough investigation into the dereliction of duty by the prefect of Guang Province. He also issued another order that all officials in office must report the specific affairs and political achievements of the areas under their jurisdiction at the end of the year. After verification by professional court personnel, they will be promoted or demoted based on their political achievements.
If the person is about to retire, all the numbers during his tenure must be compiled and verified to be correct before he can leave office. If he is found to have committed a major fault during his tenure but concealed it and did not report it, he will be demoted and have his property confiscated at the least, or be executed without mercy at the worst.
As soon as this order was issued, there was another commotion.
For several days in a row, people in the capital were still discussing this matter.
"Pa", a hand slammed heavily on the table, and the teacup was shaken slightly, making a crisp sound. The elegant middle-aged man with a beautiful beard was full of anger, "Young people nowadays are really reckless!"
"Humph, you are just an ignorant brat," the man sitting next to him said with a look of contempt, "You are lucky enough to be favored by the first few people, so you don't take us seriously."
"If we leave it alone, in a while, he might want to take advantage of all of you here," one person responded.
"But the higher-ups are paying close attention to him now. If we take action at this juncture, wouldn't it be a little too conspicuous?" Some people also expressed doubts.
"This... what should we do?" Everyone looked hesitant and looked at the person sitting at the top, hoping that he would give them an idea.
The man in the main seat had gray hair and beard, and was wearing a scarlet cloud-patterned round-necked robe. He had been quietly drinking the tea in his hand with his head down. When he saw everyone looking at him, he gently put down the teacup, shook his head and sighed, "Alas, I am old, and I cannot compare to you young people. The young are to be feared, the young are to be feared."
He sighed and said no more, leaving everyone looking at each other in bewilderment, not knowing what to do.
——
This way, the Zhao residence.
Master Zhao looked at the students in front of him with mixed feelings.
I thought I had misjudged him and accepted a noisy paper tiger, but I never thought that he would do such a big thing without making any noise. "You are too reckless this time. You will definitely become the target of public criticism in the future."
Although the matter of standardizing memorials was a bit troublesome before, everyone has a few deputies under their command, so there are always people willing to do it, so it doesn't bother these people.
But it is different now. Once a government decree is issued, it has already affected the interests of some people. Even if there are policies from above and countermeasures from below, who would be willing to take the one in ten thousand chance of getting their shoes wet if they often walk by the river?
Therefore, Jiang Jingyun will definitely suffer backlash.
Scholar Zhao said bluntly: "This is a serious matter, and your teacher cannot protect you."
Jiang Jingyun curled his lips. Before he took out the memorial, he had never thought of getting away with it unscathed, but seeing his teacher genuinely worried about him, he still couldn't help but be touched.
He bowed and saluted respectfully, "Ying Xing was rash and made the teacher worried, but since I learned to read and understand reason, I have always adhered to the principle of 'not seeking to please others, but hoping to have a clear conscience'. If justice in this world requires someone to stand up and make it clear, then I am willing to be the vanguard."
Zhao Xueshi was startled when he heard this. He felt both proud and sad. In the end, all of it turned into a helpless sigh, "Forget it. You go back first. I will think of a solution."
Jiang Jingyun bowed his head, saluted again, and withdrew.
Another day, early morning court.
A censor came to the court to impeach the Hanlin editor Jiang Jingyun, listing three charges in total: first, forming a clique for personal gain and colluding with officials; second, being unfilial to his parents by engaging in business; and third, sharing peaches among his wives, which was against the yin and yang and lacked moral character.
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a mocking laugh.
Following the voice, it was Zhao Mengcheng. He was standing there with a look of sarcasm on his face. "The censors are really hard-working, managing everything, and now they are even managing other people's backyard affairs. I wonder if you have counted all the wives and concubines in your own backyard?"
Upon hearing this, there was another round of deafening laughter in the court.
The censor's surname was Zheng. He was not greedy for money or power, but one thing everyone knew was that he was lustful.
Although he is over fifty years old, he has more than a hundred concubines in his family. I heard that he brought a new one into the house last month. I don’t know which room she is in now.
Although marrying a wife and taking a concubine was a common thing, he still lost face when he openly said this in broad daylight and in public and was laughed at. Zheng Yanguan's face flushed red, and he retorted: "The harmony of yin and yang, the birth of offspring, is the law of nature. What I am doing is perfectly normal."
"Well, Lord Zheng's ability to harmonize yin and yang is enough to make him worth ten times the strength of others, and he is not even a bit inferior to others." Scholar Zhao replied seriously.
“…….” The old emperor who was watching the play suddenly felt some pain in his knees. Is the world going to change?
Listening to the old man's nonsense, Zheng Yanguan's beard trembled with anger, "Putting aside this matter, he has three crimes, what do you think of the other two?"
"What were the other two? Lord Zheng is full of nonsense, and I can't remember them all at the moment. Let me think..." Scholar Zhao raised his head and pretended to recall. After a long while, he suddenly said, "Oh, I remember now. They are about forming a clique for personal gain."
He looked at the censor Zheng and asked with an open mind: "Mr. Zheng, the accomplice you are talking about is me? I wonder what crime we two have committed?"
"Do you admit that I wrote an evil book, made irresponsible comments on the eight-legged essay, and tried to interfere in the imperial examination system?" Now this book has spread widely, causing a sensation in various places, setting off a wave of imperial examination reform and seriously disrupting the court's selection system. The evidence is conclusive and there is no room for sophistry.
After he finished speaking, Master Zhao stood there with a frown on his face, and it was rare that he did not open his mouth to refute immediately.
Who is Zhao Mengcheng? The invincible and victorious Iron Teeth and Copper Fangs was now speechless when asked, which made the spectators marvel.
On the other hand, Zheng Jianguan, who was confident that he had already caught him and was better at speaking, could not help but feel proud and asked in a rather arrogant manner, "What, Mr. Zhao has nothing to say, are you going to directly admit your guilt?"
After saying this, he wanted to strike while the iron was hot and directly accuse him of a crime. But Zhao Mengcheng was not in a hurry and bowed respectfully, saying, "Regarding the matter of writing a book, I have already reported it to His Majesty. His Majesty has a keen eye and praised the book for its ingenuity. He even gave it a name. So, Lord Zheng is questioning His Majesty's decision?"
"Or," Scholar Zhao paused, his eyes piercing straight at Censor Zheng like sharp arrows, "In the eyes of Lord Zheng, the ruler of the world has no right to interfere in the affairs of the imperial examination?"
Upon hearing this, Zheng Jianguan knelt down and kowtowed, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I never meant that."
"Whether it was intentional or not, we should make a clear distinction. It is a serious crime to make irresponsible comments on the emperor's will," Zhao Xueshi reached out to brush off the dust on his clothes. His words were light, but they seemed to weigh on people like a heavy stone. "Otherwise, Master Zheng is the censor. He is so courageous. I am ashamed of myself. I admire him. I admire him."
Zheng Jianguan was so frightened that he fell to the ground and begged for mercy in fear: "Your Majesty, I am innocent."
The person who had been sitting on the dragon throne and watching the farce in front of him suddenly realized: it turned out that Zhao Mengcheng had offered tributes for the first time in history and did not want any reward, but only asked for a title for the book. He thought that Zhao Mengcheng had changed his character, but he did not expect that he was waiting for him here.
Humph, this old fox who has become cunning for a thousand years is unwilling to suffer any loss and has plotted against him!
The old emperor was unhappy, and he looked at the people kneeling on the ground with even more displeasure. He waved his hand impatiently and said, "Okay, is there anything else? If not, please leave."
Day after day, he just takes the salary without doing any work, and always bothers people with trivial matters. If he is really too idle, he will not wash the stone lions in front of the temple. When he just passed by, he saw that they were covered with dust!
Facing the already irritable tiger, Zhao Mengcheng remained calm and bowed calmly, saying, "Don't bother two masters with one matter. I beg Your Majesty to sit for a while and listen to this last crime, so that I can clear my name."
Between the lines, it almost seemed as if he was saying that Jiang Jingyun was framed.
The old emperor snorted and looked at the dispirited censors below him: "What are you standing there for? Do you still need me to ask you to speak?"
Originally, after being threatened by Zhao Mengcheng, Zheng Jianguan had already backed off and was unwilling to continue to dwell on the matter. Unexpectedly, the other party was relentless and even dragged the emperor to be a witness. He could only bite the bullet and continue to say: "The third crime is to engage in business during the filial period and be unfilial to his parents."
"Tsk." Scholar Zhao sneered disdainfully, and Censor Zheng shuddered when he heard it. He felt extremely regretful. He must have drunk too much rice wine yesterday and his mind was not clear, otherwise why would he be so desperate as to provoke this evil star.
As expected, he heard the man slowly say, "As parents, we should all observe mourning for three years, wear plain clothes and linen, not take exams, not take up official positions, not get married, and not post red couplets... How can we say we should avoid the world?"
"As for doing business, our dynasty has never prohibited this. And I heard that Jiang Jingyun's family is poor and he has many brothers and sisters. He did business out of helplessness to make a living. Moreover, most of the business is done by his family members, and I rarely participate. I wonder what crime this has committed?"
"Or is it that staying indoors, ignoring your siblings, and letting them starve to death, considered filial piety?"
"The world is tough, and not everyone is as noble as Lord Zheng, who can eat only dew and wind and fill his stomach with rouge."
"Your Majesty is merciful, and the imperial court has never been harsh on its subjects. But the rules here, Lord Zheng, are so strict, could it be a legacy from the previous dynasty?"
Every word and every sentence hurt Zheng Jianguan so much that his knees weakened again after he had just stood up. He was afraid that if he knelt a second later, the emperor would treat him as a remnant of the previous dynasty and drag him out to be beheaded in public.
The enemy had already kept silent and knelt down to beg for mercy, but the other party still did not give up and used his own method to fight back, saying lightly: "Why, Lord Zheng, you don't want to make an excuse, are you going to directly admit your identity as a remnant of the previous dynasty?"
Censor Zheng said nothing.
Censor Zheng was so scared that he peed his pants in the Golden Palace.
The old emperor only took a glance, then turned his head away in disdain, and ordered the guards to drag the man away, "Take off his official hat and do not employ him again."
"This matter ends here, no need to mention it again." Looking at the ministers with different thoughts below, the old emperor said unhappily, "Put aside your thoughts, I am not old and blind, I can see through this trick."
Everyone knelt on the ground, and no one dared to respond.
"Hmph, let's adjourn the court!" After saying that, he flicked his sleeves and left.
"Farewell to His Majesty." All the officials knelt to see him off.
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