Chapter 1518 Speculation
After going downstairs, the emperor still couldn't help but get angry with Gu Zhong, "What does he mean by this? I found him a good teacher, and I found the wrong one?"
Gu Zhong nodded and smiled, "Your Majesty, you know the Crown Prince doesn't like to study. Perhaps he's unhappy because there's one more person restraining him."
The emperor snorted and said, "He feels constrained by just a few gentlemen. What about me? The civil and military officials in the palace, the noble families and dignitaries all over the world, which one of them doesn't constrain me? Have I ever given up my responsibility?"
Gu Zhong flattered the emperor with a bunch of nice words, which finally made the emperor feel a little better.
It was said that Zhuang Xun was to be specially summoned, but it was impossible to directly issue an order to summon him. What Bai Shan said was not without reason. If Zhuang Xun had flaws in his character, it would be very disadvantageous to the prince.
So, within two days, the emperor summoned Chen Fulin, a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue, and asked him about some state affairs in the inner hall in front of the Minister of Revenue and Wei Zhi and others.
Bai Shan and the others were confused when they heard the news in the Eastern Palace. "So what does he mean by this? He doesn't want to use our master, but instead uses that villain Chen Fulin?"
Bai Cheng sighed and said, "When His Majesty mentioned it, we should have just agreed on his behalf. Why bother saying so much?"
Zhou Man glanced at him and said, "Are you stupid? If you agree to this directly, you will be criticized even if you enter the Eastern Palace. Do you think it's comfortable to have someone lifted up and then thrown down again?"
Bai Cheng refused to admit that he was the only one who was stupid, so he said, "Didn't you also not think of it that day?"
"But once Bai Shan said that, I figured it out. I'm still smarter than you." Man Bao said this complacently, but then felt a little disappointed. He turned to look at Bai Shan and asked Ke Ke in his heart, "So am I still not as smart as Bai Shan now?"
Koko said: "No, the host's IQ is still growing, and now it is not weaker than Bai Shan. However, why do you use your weakness to fight against the other party's strengths?"
Manbao thought so too. If it came to a comparison of medical skills, Bai Shan would definitely not be able to beat her.
Manbao became happy again.
Bai Shan didn't understand why she looked so disappointed and so happy at once. He shook his head and said, "Forget it. We can't make the decision on this matter. Let's wait and see."
Then came the news that Chen Fulin had behaved disrespectfully in front of the palace, and soon after that, it was heard that Chen Fulin was unworthy of the position and was held accountable by the emperor, and then an imperial censor took the opportunity to accuse him of being unworthy of the position.
Last year, when Zhou Mangang attacked Su Jian with a knife, before he even started fighting with King Gang of Yizhou, some people in the capital had already been paying attention to the four of them, the master and his disciples.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, some news about Zhuang Xun began to circulate privately, and many scholars said that he had poor personal morals.
But firstly, the Bai family had always treated him with courtesy and didn't seem to mind his past;
Secondly, there were also some voices in the capital saying that he was framed, so the rumors about Zhuang Xun did not become a big deal.
After Zhou Man and Bai Shan filed a complaint before the emperor and walked around in the prison, they gained a good reputation among the literati and became known as a man who avenged his father for the sake of the powerful. Naturally, their teacher was also looked up to by others.
Regarding the past events, many people chose to believe Zhuang Xun and instead questioned Chen Fulin.
Especially after Chen Fulin avoided Zhuang Xun several times, everyone thought he was guilty.
This matter would have been fine if no one knew about it, but now that some people know about it, naturally some people dislike Chen Fulin and are unwilling to serve as officials with him.
Therefore, some people wrote letters to impeach Chen Fulin.
However, there was no substantial evidence, and there had been constant incidents in the court over the past six months. There were too many things going on, so most of the memorials impeaching Chen Fulin were sent to the Ministry of Personnel for review, and everything was done according to procedure.
But now the emperor intervened, and the censor who had impeached Chen Fulin before became excited. Combining some testimonies and papers he asked his friends to bring back from Yizhou, he directly impeached him for being unworthy of the position and brought up things that happened more than 20 years ago.
Regardless of whether these evidences are sufficient to convict Chen Fulin, the facts have been uncovered, and what people think about them is a matter of opinion.
By the time Bai Shan and the others left the palace for vacation, Chen Fulin had already been dismissed from his official position, and all the civil and military officials in the court knew that he had framed Mr. Zhuang more than 20 years ago.
Yu County Lord was in poor health and had stayed in the capital since arriving there last year, not returning to his hometown. Upon hearing the news, he couldn't help but exclaim, "This is truly the clearest justice of heaven."
Minister Yu was not very happy. He said, "I don't know what's wrong with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. This was just a small matter between the Ministry of Revenue and the Censorate, but he insisted on interfering in it by writing a petition to Your Majesty, asking Him to expel Chen Fulin and his family from the capital and never allow Chen Fulin to enter the capital again. Now the court is arguing over this matter again. Everyone says that the Crown Prince is not kind enough. It's wrong for my son to write a petition, and it's also wrong not to write a petition."
Therefore, the court is also a big fence-sitter. It leans to one side in the morning, and then to the other side in the afternoon for other reasons.
The Duke of Yu rolled his eyes and said, "You're not from the Censorate, nor the Ministry of Revenue. What does this have to do with you? Just do what you have to do."
"That's not what you said the other day when we were discussing the reorganization of the Imperial Medical Bureau. You even said that since your son is an official, there is no official matter that he cannot discuss. You even urged me to write a petition to strongly advocate for the reorganization of the Imperial Medical Bureau."
Yu County Lord denied it. "I am old. Did I ever say that? Why don't I remember it?"
Looking at his father, who was nearly eighty years old and had snow-white hair, Minister Yu silently swallowed his curse words and silently endured his repeated behavior.
After Minister Yu angrily adjusted himself, County Lord Yu lay down on the recliner with his eyes narrowed, thinking to himself: The prince is probably not doing this for Zhuang Xun, but for himself?
The Duke of Yu County thought that the emperor praised Zhuang Xun because he wanted the prince to learn from Zhuang Xun, treat Prince Gong and Prince Guangping with tolerance, and win people over with virtue?
Not only did the Duke of Yu think so, many ministers in the court also guessed the same thing about the emperor. So many people followed suit and wrote letters to the emperor, saying that the prince's act of driving people out of the capital was a loss of mercy as a monarch.
Wei Zhi also thought so. He felt that there was nothing wrong with expelling Chen Fulin from the capital. The problem was that the prince should not have mentioned this matter, and the prince should not have mentioned it.
He couldn't quite understand. Such a small matter should be handled by the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Justice according to the rules. Why should a crown prince get involved?
But he didn't know whether to agree or disagree, so he was in a bad mood towards the prince the whole day.
Of course, the emperor knew nothing about these private discussions and speculations, and no one dared to speak of them in front of him. So the emperor, who knew nothing, thought for a moment and actually agreed to the prince's petition, asking him to leave the capital within a certain period of time and not to return to the capital again.
The ministers who were secretly waiting for the emperor to reject the prince's memorial: ...
And the Prince: ...
The court suddenly fell silent. The emperor was still a little unaccustomed to this. After returning to the palace, he asked the empress in confusion, "Yesterday afternoon, they almost came to blows in front of me. This morning, I approved the prince's memorial, but the court suddenly fell silent. Why didn't they object?"
The Queen didn't know what was going on outside, so she smiled and said, "You were upset when they opposed the Crown Prince's proposal, and now that they don't oppose it, you're uncomfortable again. What do you want them to do?"
The emperor thought about it and let go. He just felt that their opposition was inexplicable, and now that they didn't oppose it, it was even more incomprehensible.
See you at 4 p.m.
(End of this chapter)
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