"I know the pros and cons of this." Lu Haowen also waited quietly for the official to finish speaking before he responded seriously and slowly withdrew to the queue.
When Lü Haowen withdrew this time, it was not another minister, Xu Jingheng, who followed him again, but Zhang Jun, the trial censor, who was wearing a scarlet robe, stepped out and proudly said, "Your Majesty, the Censorate has a theory... Before, the Jin people went south to the west of the capital, and many states fell. There were many cases of ministers being defeated, losing land, and abandoning people. More than a month ago, Your Majesty issued a clear decree at Bagong Mountain in Shouzhou, saying that Your Majesty and the imperial court would not retreat, and that your ministers were not allowed to retreat again. Now, what should be done? Please give your instructions!"
As soon as these words were spoken, several people in red robes who were standing at the same level as the censors behind the four prime ministers, including one official in purple robes, immediately changed color and became extremely nervous. However, the governor of Tangzhou, Yan Xiaozhong, who was definitely "lost land and was captured", had a dark complexion, making it difficult to tell whether he "changed color" or not.
However, Emperor Zhao's expression did not change, and he blurted out, as if he had made a private agreement: "There are two limitations to my order. One is geography... Since I have not retreated, and my ministers cannot retreat, then where I am, I can tolerate it in my lifetime, but I cannot tolerate it after my death. Therefore, I pardoned the escapees from Jingdong and killed Ding Jin. Now, I have traveled west from the Huai River to here, so naturally I can pardon the northwestern route of Jing, but not the southwestern route of Jing. The other is time... I sent this document from Bagong Mountain, and I will naturally obey it when the order arrives. But I failed before the order arrives, so I can't blame you."
Hearing this, the ministers who had changed color almost all breathed a sigh of relief. However, seeing that the Imperial Censor Hu Yin stood still under Zhang Jun's empty seat without changing his expression, some people who had heard some rumors began to feel suspicious.
"But," Zhao Jiu paused for a moment, and continued with a straight face. "Apart from the imperial decree, when Li Xianggong was in power, he often said that those who were too disloyal and incompetent should be severely punished to correct the style of scholars; yesterday, the Imperial Censor Hu Yin also said that if a minister sentenced everyone to death for absurd things, he would never be pardoned... I quite agree with him! Where is Fan Zhixu, the Grand Secretary of the Council of State and the Governor of Dengzhou?"
A purple-robed official whose position was second only to the four ministers turned pale upon hearing this, trembling as he stepped out of the line, leaned forward to speak, but was speechless for a moment... He did not behave like a minister at all.
"Master Fan." Zhao Jiu frowned slightly when he saw this. "I heard that you were promoted to Shangshu Youcheng fifteen years ago, and you were actually a prime minister. Then you were in important positions and served in large counties. You were considered one of the most important officials in the world. How come you are so incompetent that you can't even say a word?"
"I...I am a civil official. Please judge me according to our ancestors' family rules, and don't judge me like Liu Guangshi. I hope to get the same result as Zhang Bangchang, which will be enough to show your kindness." Fan Zhixu, who was over 50 years old, lost the manners of a civil official in panic and knelt down without a hat, causing an uproar among the civil and military officials standing around him.
And from what he said, it seemed that he knew that the official dared to kill the minister, so he was afraid of death.
Zhao Jiu was silent for a moment. Two days before this incident, he had a fierce debate with several ministers and close officials... but except for Hu Yin, no one supported him to "Ningguo". And Emperor Zhao also understood that the capital was in the front, and people were at ease. But the front line was still struggling. If Fan Zhixu was really killed at this time, it would arouse the collective dissatisfaction of the civil officials, which might lead to serious consequences.
Especially now, the civil officials are showing signs of joining forces to oppose Emperor Zhao because of his radical actions, and there is a legal basis for not killing the top scholar-officials... After the fall of Tokyo, the three commandments engraved on stone by Emperor Taizu of Song in the Taimiao have gradually been circulated... Emperor Zhao certainly doesn't care about this, but he can't resist the civil officials using this as evidence to confront him.
It should be understood that no matter how high Liu Guangshi's position was, he was only a military official. Killing him was not a precedent and was against the system, but this matter was clearly restricted by written regulations.
Given the current situation, Zhao Jiu really needs civil officials to help him at this moment.
But then again, Emperor Zhao also felt that there was no need to rush into killing someone, nor to use the classical punishment...especially since this person really could not be punished by the classical punishment.
While Emperor Zhao was silent and thinking, not only Fan Zhixu, but also several ministers, Chief Censor Zhang Deyuan who stood up, and other officials were already in a state of confusion. How could they not know that Emperor Zhao still had the intention to kill?
"Whatever!" Zhao Jiu suddenly sighed. "The writings of my family will be confiscated and I will be demoted to the Zunyi Army..."
Everyone below breathed a sigh of relief... Since they could save their lives, they naturally didn't care about the Emperor Zhao's temporary change to such a serious punishment. After all, the Emperor had really wanted to kill him. However, after Fan Zhixu hurriedly thanked him, and then his own team stepped forward to remove his clothes and drag him out in public, almost everyone was confused again... What kind of place is the Zunyi Army?
"Do you have anything else to report?" Zhao Jiu watched Fan Zhixu being dragged out of the tent before continuing to ask.
The only minister standing in the middle, Chief Censor Zhang Jun, was about to retreat upon hearing this, but he suddenly remembered something. It seemed that the debate about Fan Zhixu in the previous two days was too intense, and everyone had forgotten about it in a hurry.
However, just as Zhang Deyuan was about to make a speech, he was met with the expressionless face of Emperor Zhao as soon as he looked up. Then, his heart moved slightly, he avoided saying a word, and turned back... It can only be said that since being slapped in the face by his closest younger brother Hu Yin, the emperor's number one confidant has become much calmer, but he is still far better than others in guessing the emperor's thoughts.
It’s just that this person used to like to please others, but now he likes to deal with things in a roundabout and negative way.
However, as soon as Zhang Deyuan returned to the queue, Hu Yin beside him and Yan Xiaozhong, the governor of Tangzhou opposite him, came out together. At the same time, Liu Ji, the Jingxi Transport Commissioner who lived diagonally opposite him, was also ready to move, but did not come out immediately due to some subtle mentality.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
