"He was very resistant and did not disturb the people in Daozhou, which made him even more famous." Zhao Jiu looked at a memorial in his hand and answered. "After the Jingkang Incident, he stayed in the southeast. After Lu Xianggong (Lv Yihao) replaced Li Gang to lead the southeast, he recruited him to work. When he saw Lu Xianggong raising taxes in the southeast, he just walked away. Later, when Yue Pengju went south to quell the rebellion, he ran back and forth between Jiangxi and the two lakes, accusing Yue Pengju of stationing troops to disturb the people... Ma Qing was the governor of Jinghu North Road at the time, so he should know about this, right?"
"So that the emperor knows that Wang Ciweng also loves the people and has good intentions..." Ma Shen also found it difficult to speak.
"Yes." Zhao Jiu looked up expressionlessly. "People who love the people deeply and have good intentions will of course hate me, a king who levies heavy taxes and extorts money to make money and use military force. Then they long for the Queen Mother Xuanren to be reborn so that she can live in harmony with the people... What did I say when I first came in?"
"Officials."
Ma Shen remained silent, and Li Guang tried his best to answer. "This man is kind-hearted and has integrity..."
"How is this different from Du Chong?!" At this moment, the Minister of Personnel, Chen Gongfu, suddenly shouted angrily, which actually frightened Li Guang and made other important officials in the hall look at him in surprise. "Good intentions! Good intentions! Can you do such a thing in the name of good intentions? The national policy has long been agreed upon and has not changed for six or seven years. We must use troops and march north! In the front, we are forbearing for the country, and the entire court and the entire country are working hard to increase revenue and reduce expenditure for the northern expedition. Even if he is dissatisfied in the back, he should stop talking and abide by the rules of a minister! Now that he has really done such a thing, how can we keep him?! Minister Ma, just now you said that Cao Yong colluded with the royal family without authorization and alienated father and son and monarch and ministers. Now he is facing the mastermind behind the scenes, and you, the Ministry of Justice, have no explanation?!"
Ma Shen's face turned pale. He wanted to speak several times, but was speechless several times. In the end, he could only try his best to answer under the gaze of everyone: "This person involves the royal family, so naturally the government will make the decision."
"Your Majesty, is Wang Ciweng the only one like this?" Chen Gongfu turned to Emperor Zhao again under Li Guang's complicated gaze.
"How could it be just one person?" Zhao Jiu sneered. "He calls himself a famous Taoist scholar, advocates living in harmony with the people, and is not afraid of power. He is the so-called inner circle who advocates peace talks. There are many of them in the southeast. It's just that Wang Ciweng is bolder, so Cao Yong can directly confirm that this person gave the money. Wang Ciweng has always had a wide range of friends, and many people of the same kind cannot be dealt with. The only person who can be confirmed to have met Cao Yong with Wang Ciweng is Fan Tong."
"This man is Qin Huizhi's classmate and roommate at the Imperial College. He has always been dissatisfied with the heavy troops in the imperial camp." Ma Shen blurted out, then closed his eyes and sighed. "Please let the emperor deal with it on his own. We have nothing to say."
"No..." Zhao Jiu glanced at Chen Gongfu, Ma Shen, and Li Guang, and then looked at the other ministers and ministers who were silent, but couldn't help but laugh. "The killing of Du Chong is still remembered, and people often shout that I killed a civil official. The country will no longer be a country. Moreover, this person only interfered with the private affairs of the royal family and did not clearly violate the law. How about this, Wang Ciweng will be exiled to Zhuya Army (Hainan), and Fan Tong will go to Xining (Qinghai Lake), so that they will never be together in this life... Cao Yong, and a guard called Chen Yongxi beside Empress Dowager Yuanyou, will be executed together... The rest will not be involved, what do you think?"
"The emperor is magnanimous." Lu Haowen quickly spoke at the right time.
Upon seeing this, several other ministers also expressed their opinions. Li Guang and Ma Shen then blended in with the crowd.
"We need to comfort the Grand Master and let his eldest son Zhao Bufan join the Imperial Camp to do some work..." Zhao Jiu thought for a moment and continued. "The Ministry of War should make appropriate arrangements."
"I accept your order."
This was the first time Liu Ziyu spoke... In this kind of situation, even the Shangshu would not have many opportunities to speak.
"I noticed that this month's treasury bonds are selling very quickly. I plan to issue more large treasury bonds at the end of the year." Zhao Jiufu glanced at the Minister of Finance Lin Jingmo beside Liu Ziyu. His expression was a little strange, but what he said was expected. "Lin Qing, get ready."
Moreover, as Zhao Guanjia's sting operation failed, he remained silent, perhaps because he was worried about being purged, so the treasury bond market in the twelfth lunar month was particularly hot... After all, treasury bonds cannot be confiscated... So it can be imagined that the market for the large-denomination treasury bonds to be issued at the end of the year should also be very hot.
Given Emperor Zhao's temperament, he would not be himself if he did not take the opportunity to sell more Northern Expedition bonds under such circumstances.
In this regard, although Lin Jingmo noticed the official's look, he could only respond calmly.
After this exchange, the hall became quiet again... As a small hall attached to Emperor Zhao's bedroom, there was obviously a fire dragon burning in the hall. Everyone standing in it felt quite restless, but still no one spoke.
After all, everyone knows that some things have not been mentioned yet, and these things can only be said by Emperor Zhao himself.
In fact, except for Lu Haowen, the other ministers were not very active and were just waiting for those topics.
"I have thought about the prince for a long time." Zhao Jiu finally sighed. "After I had a son, I realized the difficulty of being a father... I wanted him to be wise and brave, but I also wanted him to be dull and simple... However, this is not something I can decide. What I am worried about is that if I establish a prince and give him an official position in the Eastern Palace, over time, there will inevitably be trouble between father and son... Let alone Emperor Gaozu of Han, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Gaozu of Tang, and Empress Wu Zetian, didn't the Emperor Taishang Daojun and the Emperor Taishang Yuansheng also have a big fight in the past few years? Especially since I am barely considered a half-emperor, there is no telling what bigger troubles will happen."
As soon as these words were spoken, many important officials from the outer court, including Zhao Ding, immediately reviewed the suggestions they had prepared, but before they could say a few words, they became helpless again.
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