"I can't understand this!" Zhang Jiucheng finally became emotional. "How can a person without moral integrity occupy a high position?"
Zhang Jiuchen's shout aroused a sense of sympathy among many people who understood the situation, especially Xu Jingheng, who felt a bit like he was feeling the same way.
To be fair, Xu Jingheng really understood Zhang Jiuchen's state at this moment... If this official was a tyrannical person who could not communicate, Mr. Wuqiu would not be so excited; if this official was a coward who ran away when he saw the Jurchens, he still would not be so excited; if this official was someone who surrendered directly, he would probably have been discouraged and would not even come... But this official was obviously a person who really turned the situation around, a person who knew how to learn from past lessons, and an official who was willing to put down his airs and truly discuss the problem, and could even clearly understand what he wanted to express. However, on the most core issue, he had a complete disagreement with him on the outlook on life and values.
This is really hard to accept.
Back to Zhang Jiuchen, the situation is even more obvious.
A Confucian scholar, forty years old, with such great knowledge and good self-cultivation, never entered the government, but instead studied Taoism, which was rejected at the time... Why? Wasn't it because during the best years of his life, the Emperor Taishang Daojun and Cai Jing's gang had messed up the court, and even forced the south of the Yangtze River to be ruined for the sake of the Flower and Stone Gang?
Under such circumstances, it is normal that some morally obsessed scholars in the southeast are unwilling to come out.
Even because they were unwilling to take up official positions, these Confucian scholars, who originally had high moral character, gradually valued learning and morality more than anything else, and believed that these things were something they could pursue eternally and realize the meaning of life...and now Emperor Zhao clearly understood what he meant, but actually insisted on defending those with bad morals. That was naturally more painful than killing him!
"Zhang Qing has misunderstood my meaning again." Zhao Jiu shook his head. "I am not saying that we should protect people without moral integrity. I am saying that even if these people have various problems, they are still considered to be people with moral integrity!"
Zhang Jiucheng was stunned for a moment, and then he asked, "Like Hu Yin's unfilial behavior? Like Zhang Jun's greed? Like Zhang Rong's treason? Like Han Shizhong's five evils? Are they still virtuous people? And not protected by the government?"
"Yes!"
"Does the emperor want to engage in sophistry?" Zhang Jiuchen immediately became alert.
"Whether it is sophistry or not depends on whether it can convince or overwhelm the world." Zhao Jiu finally turned from behind Zhang Wujiu and returned to his desk. At this time, he was standing in front of the desk with his hands behind his back and looking around. "I heard someone say something that deeply touched me... That is, 'Everything in the world has a beginning'... Zhang Wujiu, do you recognize this person?"
Of course, Zhao Jiu did not ask Zhang Jiucheng whether he knew Gou Longruyuan, but he directly pointed his finger at a person beside him. Zhang Jiucheng looked in the direction of Zhao Jiucheng's finger, but saw Li Gang and Li Boji sitting there, and was speechless for a moment.
It was not just him. Following Emperor Zhao's pointing, most of the people present became nervous, because the Prime Minister had appeared... Even if he was a prime minister without hair, he was still a prime minister... The relationship between the Emperor and the one who wrote to the emperor to express his opinions was still a pure one. Once the Prime Minister was added, it became the most complicated triangle relationship in the officialdom of the Song Dynasty.
Of course, Li Gang was also stunned when he was suddenly pointed at, but he was stunned for only a moment, and then the former prime minister frowned and continued to act like a puppet... At this moment, it was just like that moment.
"Your Majesty, this is the former prime minister Li Gang and Li Boji." Zhang Jiuchen bowed his head seriously.
"Do you know the grudge between him and me?" Zhao Jiu asked calmly.
As soon as these words were spoken, many people present became more and more panicked. They thought that Emperor Zhao did not want to use Li Gang to deal with Zhang Jiuchen, but he actually wanted to use Zhang Jiuchen to deal with Li Gang... However, as the person involved, Li Boji just gave Emperor Zhao a deep look and continued to sit still, pretending to hear nothing.
"Although I don't know the details, I have heard some things." Zhang Jiucheng was indeed an honest gentleman. Since the emperor asked, he answered regardless of everything. "When the emperor ascended the throne, Li Boji was appointed as prime minister, but he was dismissed within 77 days... At that time, the impeacher accused him of two major crimes, one was that his reputation was too high, and the other was that he was the master of the town... Now, the prime minister Zhang Jun and the internal governor Fan Zongyin have both written impeachment memorials, and I can recite them verbatim, and the public minister Lu Haowen also made similar suggestions to dismiss Prime Minister Li."
Upon hearing this, except for Zong Ying who looked at Fan Zongyin in astonishment, none of the close ministers standing at the back had any unnecessary expressions or movements... However, no one reacted, it was just that the close ministers had done it too much and had higher professional qualities. Every one of them was exactly the same as Zong Ying... They reacted instantly. No wonder Master Fan had to jump out and speak like that in Taiping Prefecture that day!
However, after hearing this, Li Gang still sat upright... but it was unknown whether it was because he had no guilt in his heart or he had already realized it.
"What else?" Even as the parties mentioned had their own thoughts, Emperor Zhao was still asking calmly.
"Then the emperor killed Chen Dong, expelled Prime Minister Li, appointed Huang Qianshan, abandoned the arrangements for the two rivers, and prepared to go south to Yangzhou... But unexpectedly, when he arrived at Mingdao Palace halfway, he finally decided to do his best, so he expelled Huang Qianshan, killed Kang Lu, and recalled Prime Minister Li, which caused some unrest... As for after some back and forth, the emperor responded to the enemy on the Huai River and entrusted the southeast, the empress dowager, the virtuous concubine, and the royal heir to Prime Minister Li... However, when Prime Minister Li arrived in the southeast, he was unable to quell the military rebellion, protect the royal heir, or provide taxes... He was eventually convicted, dismissed from his position as prime minister, and placed in a prefecture or county." Zhang Jiuchen told the story, trying to be impartial.
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