Then, everyone instinctively looked at the Minister of Rites Zhu Shengfei.
Zhu Shengfei's expression remained unchanged, but his back was covered in sweat... Speaking of which, the emperor himself said the word "Ministry of Rites", but he didn't even have anyone to shift the blame to. And he had been slippery many times before, pushing big things to the prime minister and small things to the Honglu Temple. It was obviously the Ministry of Rites that was responsible for this matter, but it had nothing to do with it.
But because of such inappropriate behavior, naturally no one is willing to help him now.
"Let the Ministry of Rites go to Huazhou in person." After staring at each other for a while, Prime Minister Zhao Ding simply issued an order.
Zhu Shengfei had no choice but to step out of the line to answer, but he was still unwilling to give in: "Can you please speak frankly, the Jin people are brutal and rude. If they arrest the two queen dowagers and demand the three thousand gold, what should I do?"
"You are the Minister of Rites, so you have your own explanation." Prime Minister Zhang Jun couldn't stand it anymore, so he made an excuse before anyone else.
With no other options, Zhu Shengfei could only bow and look at the Minister of the Honglu Temple Zhai Ruwen behind him: "Mr. Zhai, can you please go and inform the Jin envoy first?"
Zhai Ruwen had been annoyed by Zhu Shengfei these days, and he was too lazy to respond perfunctorily: "Minister Zhu, isn't informing the Jin envoy just exposing your own shortcomings? How is it different from begging the Jin people? The reputation I worked so hard to build up for two months is gone in one day!"
Zhu Shengfei was completely helpless.
At this time, Wang Shu stood aside and said, "If the Ministry of Rites is unwilling to go, the Ministry of Justice can go. We will never let the country lose the slightest dignity... What is there to hesitate about? No money, no permission! The matter of giving me a share of the pie was made clear in Nanjing back then. Why are you hesitating now?! Is it just because she is the official's biological mother?!"
Having said that, the others wanted Wang Shu to go, but no matter what, this job was not the Ministry of Justice's turn, right?
Therefore, after going around in circles, Zhu Shengfei had no choice but to nod his head, but he publicly put forward a condition: "I will leave soon, but before I leave, I need you gentlemen to promise me something..."
Zhao Ding and others all frowned, thinking that this guy was really going too far.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Shengfei sighed, but shook his head in this secret room and said: "I have no other request, I just want you to allow me to resign and live in seclusion after this matter."
Everyone was stunned and a little stunned.
It is true that the peace talks these days have made everyone feel like dying, but the fact that the government has decentralized power and a group of people are manipulating state affairs in the secret cabinet is really irresistible, and few people really want to resign and go home. So for a while, these people don't know whether he really feels wronged or is using this as a retreat to advance and bargain with the prime ministers.
After a pause, Zhao Ding frowned helplessly: "Minister Zhu, you are a minister, and you must get the emperor's approval to resign."
"Of course I know that." Zhu Shengfei answered calmly. "The emperor's side is naturally the emperor's side. I will have official documents to explain, but first I need your approval. I will be allowed to take sick leave like the Grand Master did and not come to the secret cabinet to manage things."
Just as he was about to speak, Prime Minister Zhang Jun spoke first and waved his sleeves, "We have no objection, but how about asking the Ministry of Rites to bring the Queen Mother back first?"
Zhu Shengfei felt relieved instead.
And after this matter was settled, all other incidents seemed unimportant... Of course, it was only in theory that they didn't matter. Yue Fei's memorial, Han Shizhong and Wu Jie's departure from the border, and the government's self-destructive attitude, which one could really be unimportant?
But as the saying goes, too much debt means no worries, and too many lice mean no bites. We even endured the last riot, so what else can't we endure?
Just like that, the secret cabinet meeting ended hastily that day, and no one mentioned anything else. It was only said that Zhu Shengfei went to Huazhou to meet Quan Bangyan and Zhang Rong to pick up the empress dowager, but unexpectedly, the situation there was so smooth that it was unbelievable... Zhu Shengfei arrived there as the Minister of Rites, and gritted his teeth to convey the central government's clear attitude, which was that he would not give even a tael of money. As soon as the attitude was revealed, Gao Jingshan, the commander-in-chief of the Daming Prefecture's Marching Division, who was hiding somewhere, appeared on the opposite side and whipped Meng'an from Bohai who was accompanying them in the face. The latter then honestly released the person and did not even dare to ask for the capital.
The two Empress Dowagers crossed the river...things went as smoothly as in a dream.
Since the two empresses dowagers had crossed the river, it was only a short distance from Huazhou to Tokyo. However, on the third day, Empress Dowager Zheng and Empress Dowager Wei returned to Tokyo City under the escort of Zhu Shengfei and Quan Bangyan.
The emperor claimed that he was ill and missed the empress dowagers and his mother too much. He was afraid that he would faint from tears when they met, which would be embarrassing, so he did not come to greet them.
But apart from the fact that the emperor did not arrive, there were no problems with the rest of the etiquette. Prime Minister Lu and other ministers led the civil and military officials to go ten miles out of the city to welcome them. Then the two imperial concubines Pan and Wu came forward, and with the assistance of the ministers, they formally received the two empresses dowagers at the city gate.
As for how the two empress dowagers met and greeted several famous ministers in the north one by one, praising them as figures like Zhuge Wuhou; how they wanted to meet Han Shizhong, the most famous man in the north, but failed, and only met Yang Yi Zhong; finally, how the two imperial concubines and the two empress dowagers hugged each other and cried bitterly at the city gate, causing the onlookers to recall the events of Jing Kang and cry together...all these episodes are not worth mentioning.
In the afternoon, the group finally wiped away their tears and returned to the palace, but went straight into Gyeongbokgung Palace. They first watched a performance of "The Legend of White Snake". Then, powerful religious figures such as Master Fahe, the abbot of the Bianliang branch of Shaolin Temple, and Taoist Zhang, the abbot of Wuyue Temple, were waiting there. They brought a group of monks and Taoists to pray for the two empress dowagers and ward off disasters... They went on until the evening, and finally held a grand banquet in Gyeongbokgung Palace, which was not only to welcome the two empress dowagers and other imperial concubines, but also to entertain civil and military officials, and to hold a formal celebration ceremony for the empress dowager's return.
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