Chapter 92 Xiao Yu was transferred to the position of Vice Minister of Revenue, a fifth-rank official. ...
"Mother, my eldest and third brothers have been beaten!"
As dusk approached, Luo Fu had just come out of Xiao Yu's study when she bumped into Hong Ge'er, who was running back from outside.
Despite his strained relationship with his two martial arts-practicing elder brothers, Hong-ge'er was very fond of his cousins from the other two branches of the family. Every day, when his eldest and third sons returned from the Imperial Academy or his second son returned from martial arts training at the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, Hong-ge'er would go to Wanhe Hall to wait for them, listening to his cousins tell him interesting stories from the outside world. After listening, he would repeat them to his parents.
Luo Fu was taken aback: "You got beaten up? Was it serious?"
Hongge stopped in front of his mother, his little chest heaving as he ran. Luo Fu then carried him to the balustrade in the veranda, and the mother and son talked together.
Hongge touched several spots on his forehead and face to help him describe his two older brothers' injuries: "Grandmother asked them if it hurt, and the eldest and third brothers both said it didn't hurt, and even said that they beat others even more badly."
Luo Fu: "...Then why are they fighting?"
Hongge'er: "My eldest brother said that someone deliberately cursed Grandfather Yang as a treacherous minister in front of them, so my eldest brother beat him up. Later, my third brother saw that several people were beating my eldest brother, so he went to help my eldest brother. But the Imperial Academy did not allow them to fight. The teacher took them away and made them stand for half a day. They were only allowed to go home after school."
When the Xiao family visited the Yang family, Hongge would call Yang Sheng his maternal grandfather, just like his eldest and third sons. When the Xiao family visited the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, Hongge would call Li Wei his maternal grandfather, just like his second son and sister. After doing this so often, when his parents repeated it to him, Hongge spontaneously added surnames to both maternal grandfathers. He would only directly call his maternal grandfather from Ganquan Town "maternal grandfather".
Luo Fu was startled, but thinking back to how foul-mouthed and fond of fighting the boys in the village were at her age, she wasn't surprised at all. So what if they were children of officials? They just ate well, dressed well, and could afford to hire famous teachers to instruct them in etiquette, but that didn't mean that all children of officials were well-mannered and knowledgeable. Even among the older generation of officials, there were those who were loyal and those who were treacherous.
Like Chen Ruliang, who seized upon Yang Sheng's thoughtless words in his anger and went to the emperor to complain, thus ruining Yang Sheng's life, what kind of good person could he be?
While leading Hongge to visit his two nephews at Jishan Hall, Luo Fu reasoned with the little guy: "It's definitely wrong to attack others first, but if a fight really breaks out, knowing kung fu can protect you from being hit by others. The reason why your eldest and third brothers can fight against many opponents is because they learned kung fu from the family's martial arts master. So, Man'er, do you want to learn kung fu?"
Yang Sheng served as prime minister for nearly twenty years before his two grandsons were implicated this time. Before Xiao Yu passed the imperial examination, he had already offended countless powerful and influential children. Those children are now fathers and have a bunch of little powerful and influential children. Who knows, one day some of these little powerful and influential children might want to grab Hong Ge'er and beat him up, "to avenge their father."
Even if Hongge'er doesn't encounter such trouble, practicing martial arts can still strengthen his body, so Luo Fu wants to encourage Hongge'er to be like Xiao Yu, cultivating both literary and martial arts skills.
"Yes!" Hong-ge'er immediately answered his mother. In his little head, he was thinking that once he learned martial arts, he could help his older brothers fight bad guys.
At Jishantang, Xiao Hu had not yet returned. Yang Yanzhen was applying medicine to his two children, his eyes red and clearly showing he had been crying. It was unclear whether he was heartbroken for the two children or missing his parents who had just left the capital that morning.
Luo Fu couldn't help with Yang Sheng and his wife's affairs, and bringing it up would only make her sister-in-law more upset. She only cared about her nephews and helped apply medicine to Sanlang.
Just then, a loud, angry voice suddenly came from Wanhetang in front: "Which brat dares to hit my grandson? Tell me, I'm going to settle accounts with their family!"
Who else could it be but "the head of the family," Xiao Rong?
Dalang said anxiously, "Mother, please go and persuade Grandfather. We haven't lost, and we don't want him to go looking for other people."
Fighting was common among students at the Imperial Academy. Losing was just a minor embarrassment; the real embarrassment was going home and complaining to your elders for help.
Yang Yanzhen was in no mood for that. Luo Fu stood up and said, "Sister-in-law, take care of the children. I'll go and persuade Father."
Yang Yanzhen expressed his gratitude with his eyes.
However, there was no need for Luo Fu and her daughter-in-law to waste their breath. When Xiao Rong learned that the main culprit who provoked his grandsons was the grand-nephew of Gu Xi, the Minister of Revenue, his arrogance to support his grandsons was greatly diminished, leaving only a few sparks that turned into a few curses that could not even be heard from Wanhetang.
Even Hongge'er noticed this, and after leaving Wanhetang, he whispered to his mother, "Is the Minister of Revenue a very high-ranking official?"
Luo Fu: "Yes, the six ministers are of the second rank, only slightly inferior to the two prime ministers."
Hong Ge'er: "But my father said that as long as an official makes a mistake, no matter how high his rank, the censor can impeach him."
Luo Fu: "...The Censorate only impeaches officials and nobles who have made mistakes. Children fighting is not under the jurisdiction of the Censorate, unless your grandfather beats up Minister Gu to avenge your eldest and third brothers, then your father can impeach your grandfather."
Hongge raised his head, his eyes wide open: "My father can impeach my grandfather?"
Luo Fu laughed: "Yes, once when your grandfather wanted to stop your father from impeaching someone, your father sent the Imperial Censor to deal with your grandfather."
Half an hour later, Xiao Yu had just returned to the manor and hadn't even had time to change out of his casual clothes when Hong Ge'er came over and begged his father to tell him stories about impeaching people.
On the way back, Xiao Yu was actually quite heavy-hearted, partly because of Yang Sheng's demotion and partly because her elder brother and sister-in-law had been affected. But when she looked at her young son, who was still innocent and unaware, and at his bright eyes that longed to hear a story, the dark cloud in Xiao Yu's heart temporarily lifted. She asked the little guy, "Why do you suddenly want to hear this?"
Hongge'er then clearly recited the story of how his eldest and third brothers were beaten, how his grandfather dared not go to Minister Gu to settle accounts, and his mother's words.
Three things made Xiao Yu first frown at his nephews, then he was speechless at his father who bullied the weak and feared the strong, and finally he laughed at his wife's humor.
After satisfying Hong Ge'er, the family of three ate dinner chatting and laughing. After dinner, Hong Ge'er left, and Xiao Yu then embraced his wife.
With her back against his chest, Luo Fu heard him exhale a long breath above her head.
Knowing why Xiao Yu was troubled, Luo Fu patted his hand and said, "You've done everything you can to help. If you ask me, considering how much the Emperor hates Zuo... and Yang Bo, it might not be a bad thing for Yang Bo to be far away from the capital."
Xiao Yu nodded and asked with concern, "How is your sister-in-law today?"
Luo Fu also sighed: "She must be putting on a brave face in front of us, and she probably cried a few times in private. But the fight between Da Lang and San Lang can at least ease my sister-in-law's mind." No matter how reluctant she is to leave her parents who have gone to Liangzhou, my sister-in-law still has her own life to live.
After washing up, the couple got into bed.
Luo Fu inquired about the court: "Has the Emperor promoted anyone to fill the vacancy of Left Chancellor?"
Xiao Yu: "No imperial decree has been issued yet; only the Right Chancellor has been ordered to temporarily take charge of all official business of the Secretariat."
Luo Fu: "...Could it be that they're going to promote Chen Ruliang?"
Xiao Yu: "...Probably not."
It was barely acceptable to make Chen Ruliang a drafter in the Imperial Secretariat, but to promote him directly to the position of prime minister was truly unworthy of him.
The Chen residence.
In contrast to the bleak and desolate atmosphere at the Yang residence and the gloomy mood at the Xiao family's residence, Chen Ruliang's mansion was filled with an unspoken but joyful atmosphere.
Madam Fang, Chen Ruliang's wife, beamed as she helped her newly promoted son, a high-ranking official in the Secretariat, remove his outer robe. Her words were filled with the lighthearted joy of being promoted and made a fortune: "Now it's all good. The Emperor is even willing to kill or demote a high-ranking prime minister to support you. Let's see who dares to ostracize or torment you in the future, or even have such thoughts. The man surnamed Yang is a prime example of what they should do."
Chen Ruliang smiled faintly: "Indeed, we can live a peaceful life for a while now."
Before going to the capital, he was just a local prefect, but he had seven or eight county magistrates under him. Chen Ruliang was a prefect whom a group of local officials would flatter. He had never been offended by anyone.
However, he was still grateful to Yang Sheng. If Yang Sheng hadn't acted arrogantly in front of the emperor, which displeased the emperor, and if all the officials hadn't just watched Yang Sheng repeatedly contradict the emperor, how would the emperor have thought of his in-law? Truly, what is poison to one is honey to another.
Fang's heart warmed, and she asked expectantly, "His Majesty values you so much, and now that the position of Left Chancellor is vacant, will His Majesty...?"
Chen Ruliang covered his wife's mouth and said with a smile, "Don't bite off more than you can chew. Let's take it slow."
He wasn't in a hurry at all. The important positions were held by a group of old ministers around sixty years old, while he was only forty-eight. Once he had appeased the emperor's mind and the old ministers retired, the emperor would naturally think of him.
Chen Ruliang was not the only one who coveted the position of prime minister. There were many others who were more eager and qualified than him. Among them, the Minister of Personnel Liu Baoxiu, Minister of Revenue Gu Xi, and Minister of War Qi Chengfu, who had served the late emperor, were the most outstanding. They did not care whether they were left or right prime ministers, as long as they were prime ministers!
Officials at lower levels are promoted based on their political achievements, but at the level of ministers and prime ministers, promotions are entirely based on who has the emperor's favor.
All three were capable officials with their own achievements, and the differences between them were not significant. They could only try to win Emperor Xianping's favor through other means. So, for the next two months, in addition to tacitly supporting all of Emperor Xianping's decisions, the one skilled in poetry would compose poems to praise the current peaceful and prosperous era, the one skilled in painting would present a painting of auspicious snow, and the one skilled in political maneuvering would secretly win over the Right Chancellor Xue Chang, hoping that Xue Chang would speak well of him to Emperor Xianping.
Meanwhile, officials of the third or fourth rank in the capital were quietly using their connections to secure the vacancy left by whichever new prime minister it was.
The officials themselves could feel the restlessness in the bureaucracy, but Emperor Xianping, who sat high on the dragon throne and decided the game, saw it even more clearly.
Emperor Xianping thoroughly enjoyed the genuine respect and flattery shown to him by his high-ranking officials after Yang Sheng's departure. However, he also knew that the position of prime minister could not remain vacant for too long, or the court would truly descend into chaos. Emperor Xianping only desired the respect of his civil and military officials; he did not intend for them to be preoccupied with infighting and scheming, thus neglecting state affairs.
In mid-December, just before the end of the third year of the Xianping reign, Emperor Xianping issued several decrees, appointing Xue Chang as Left Chancellor, promoting Liu Baoxiu, the Minister of Personnel, to Right Chancellor, and promoting Yu Pingshan, the former Left Vice Minister of Personnel, to Minister of Personnel.
As for the vacancy of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Emperor Xianping entrusted Yu Pingshan and the two prime ministers to recommend suitable candidates. Chen Ruliang, who had been secretly discussed by a group of officials as a sure candidate for promotion, continued to serve as a fourth-rank official in the Secretariat.
However, Emperor Xianping also personally decided on the vacancy of a fifth-rank official position in the Ministry of Revenue that had become vacant due to illness during this period...
Upon receiving the official document from the Ministry of Personnel transferring him to the Ministry of Revenue, Xiao Yu was momentarily bewildered.
Was he not doing a good enough job as an imperial censor? Why did the emperor suddenly want him to be the vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue?
As the Imperial Censor Fan Yan passed by him, he patted the young man on the shoulder with mixed feelings—even a censor who does too well can be disliked by the emperor.
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Author's note: The second generation still values Xiao Yu [doge emoji]
Haha, 100 little red envelopes, see you tomorrow~
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