"Your Majesty, my master harbors malicious intentions and is suspected of making insinuations about the court. Such a man, who has no official rank..."
Those who are literate and have some knowledge of characters are most fond of indulging in pointless lamentations and showing off their literary skills.
Cao Kun, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, bowed and clasped his hands in greeting.
The officials stood in solemn silence.
The emperor asked calmly, "Minister Cao, please speak plainly."
Cao Kun: "The soldiers at the front are half dead and half dead, while beauties still sing and dance in their tents..."
The soldiers fight on the front lines, each one risking their lives and honor, sacrificing their own. What right does a half-baked, illiterate man with a few years of schooling have to criticize the general?
Only then did everyone realize that they had been so focused on praising this person that they thought he could bring more than ten types of poetry to life in his hands.
They even subconsciously filter out the deeper meanings.
All of you here are scholars; how could you not know what it means?
With such a scoundrel as the general, and soldiers shedding blood, doesn't this also demonstrate the incompetence of the imperial court?
The emperor paused for a moment, then suddenly asked, "What do you all think?"
The courtiers looked at each other, trying to figure out what the emperor was thinking.
Zhou Yuan remained silent for a long time before calmly saying, "Your Majesty, judging from the name he chose, this shut-in is a country bumpkin."
I suspect this man doesn't even have any official rank; arrogance and ignorance are his true nature.
Didn't Vice Minister Cao just say that?
These classic works are the result of unrestrained, unbridled, and imaginative creative processes.
Furthermore, Your Majesty, please look at the last sentence: "Have you not seen the hardships of battle on the battlefield? Even now, we still remember General Li."
This statement is clearly an allusion, but I am ignorant and do not know which historical record it comes from.
His words clearly stirred the minds of the court officials.
Even Cao Kun was deep in thought.
Before long, several officials specializing in history emerged from the crowd.
"Your Majesty, I believe I am well-versed in the history of the previous dynasty for two or three hundred years. If there are any famous figures, I will naturally extract them and record them as biographies."
"Our duty is to study history books. Perhaps this person is not very famous, or perhaps he is merely an artistic creation of poetry—General Li, does he represent all the generals in the world who are capable of winning battles, possess courage, and have strategic acumen?"
The crowd chuckled.
Zhou Yuan calmly said, "Since all of you colleagues agree that General Li may have fabricated this, then on what basis do you believe that the dynasty described in the poem is the Daqian Dynasty that you have tacitly agreed upon?"
Couldn't it be something fabricated, from a foreign country, or simply an effect deliberately achieved for artistic creation?
"Minister Cao truly approves of the corrupt court depicted in the poems; in fact, he's a troublemaker! Minister Cao, I think you're the one with the most sinister intentions!"
He rebuked them sternly.
The officials stood in solemn silence.
Damn it, no wonder he's a censor; his mouth is indeed as sharp as a sword.
Minister Cao opened his mouth helplessly and said, "Your Majesty, this old minister absolutely did not mean that. This is nonsense and slander."
The emperor looked at him quietly.
Zhou Jin remained calm and unhurried, saying indifferently, "Ah? It seems that this was probably a subconscious thought of Vice Minister Cao. He inadvertently assumed that the General only knew how to indulge in pleasure, just like Gan Chao?"
"You! Me!"
Cao Kun panicked.
I looked at the officials I usually got along with, but they pretended not to see me, their heads down or looking up, lost in their own thoughts.
If it were anything else, the other colleagues could still help to smooth things over, but the topic being discussed now is undoubtedly walking a tightrope.
Are you trying to get yourself killed by saying the imperial court is incompetent?
Cao Kun knelt on the ground and said helplessly, "This old minister had no such intention. This old minister has overthought things. This is just an artistic creation technique in poetry. It is purely fictional and has no suspicion of allusion."
The others chimed in: "Yes, yes, it's obviously a fictional era, created solely to highlight the ruthlessness of war and the soldiers' exhaustion from years of fighting. It's a common technique used in frontier poetry."
The emperor remained expressionless, and no one knew what he was thinking.
An eerie silence.
Emperor Jinluo calmly said, "Remove Mr. Jiang from his position as the county school's guest tutor; all other positions remain unchanged. Court adjourned."
"yes."
Zhou Jin walked out of the court with a worried look on his face. In the end, it was still that poem that made His Majesty suspicious.
It was written words that made it, and it was written words that destroyed it.
...
Today is the day Liu Quan was released.
Uncle Fu sent someone to pick him up in person.
When he got home, his wife and children hugged him tightly.
After finishing tidying up, find Chen Xian.
Chen Xian saw that he was neatly dressed, but his face was pale, which made his dark circles under his eyes even more prominent.
"Old Liu, you've worked hard."
The man gave a dry laugh: "It's no trouble at all, it's my duty, boss."
Liu Quan: "That person committed suicide the day before yesterday..."
Chen Xian took out a silver ingot from the drawer.
Hand it over.
Liu Quan waved his hand.
Chen Xian: "Take it... I'm sorry to trouble you, the final step of this project depends entirely on you."
Liu Quan chuckled dryly and took it, saying, "Boss, I want to work for you."
Chen Xian: "Well, let him work as a steward in this courtyard, with a monthly salary of one tael of silver; your wife can be the cook in the mansion. Her salary will be the same as yours."
Liu Quan thought he had misheard.
They stood there, motionless.
It felt like sleepwalking.
One or two taels of silver, and they'll even arrange a job for his wife?
"The matter I'm about to give you is rather unusual. Are you able to accept it?"
"Yes, sir. From now on, whatever you say, I will do."
"Okay, let's go back. We'll rest today and infiltrate the city's beggar gang tomorrow."
If there's enough time, there will be someone else with you:
Now I'll teach you a mantra; remember it well and don't make a mistake.
Those who can recite the formula are truly on our side.
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