Chapter 207 Dongping Township Master
"Hahahaha, God bless the people of Dajin."
His Majesty the Emperor was very pleased and even ordered half an extra bowl of rice when he dined with the Empress Dowager that evening.
The most noble mother and son of the Jin Dynasty chatted at the dinner table like ordinary people.
The Empress Dowager: "What does the Emperor think about the girl who presented potatoes?"
The emperor frowned and took a bite of the vegetables that his mother had placed in front of him. After he had completely swallowed the food, he said, "Yan Xiu said in the memorial that the girl only requested that you issue an imperial decree to sever ties with the Cui family.
But my son is thinking that discovering and presenting new grains is of extraordinary significance to the people of Dajin. We cannot treat those who have made contributions unfairly. I am prepared to agree to this woman's request and give her the title of Dongping Township Lord. Do you think it is feasible?"
After all, Cui was a commoner, so the title of village chief was enough.
The Queen Mother recalled the request her nephew had made in the letter and sighed, "This woman has quite a strong character. If I remember correctly, the Qinghe Chen family is the family of Master Chen now?"
Ever since receiving Zhou Yanxiu's memorial, the emperor's spies had already dug up Cui Qingyi's life experience thoroughly and naturally knew which family she had married into before.
"Yes, that Chen Lin'an is Chen Qing's nephew. My people also found out that the Cui family had exchanged double-sided embroidery with the Feili caravan. The caravan brought the items to the capital. When the Chen family heard about it, they sent someone to Dongping County."
The most noble mother and son in the world were both the most shrewd of shrewd people. The Queen Mother immediately understood what he meant when she heard this. "So the Chen family wants to monopolize the double-sided embroidery technique?"
"Yes, it was Chen Linan who went to Dongping County at that time, but after visiting Yan Xiu, he hurried back to Qinghe County. Since then, no one in the Chen family has been to Dongping County again."
The Queen Mother snorted coldly, "As an official appointed by the court, he has no idea how to control his family. If Yan Xiu hadn't been there, what would they have done? Would they have robbed the girl of her belongings?"
Although His Majesty the Emperor did not want to admit that his subject was such a shallow-minded person, facts spoke louder than words, and he had no excuse. He could only say sullenly, "My son will take good care of Mr. Chen in the future."
Lord Chen would never have thought that in this life he would have to register with His Majesty the Emperor because of his daughter's things.
In the capital, Prime Minister Cui’s residence.
Prime Minister Cui, who was already quite old, received the summons from His Majesty the Emperor and rushed into the palace without stopping.
As soon as they met, I was startled by the meaningful look from His Majesty. After I finally stood up after paying my respects, I was confused again by His Majesty's inexplicable words, "I have often heard that the Cui family is strict in managing the family, and the children of the Cui family are famous for their gentlemanly conduct, but Mr. Cui,
You can't just care about the future of the men in your family and persecute the women in your family.
Let’s not talk about the distant past, just look at me. Each of my princesses has the same upbringing as the princes, and each one of them is no worse than the princes.”
When talking about his princesses, His Majesty the Emperor was full of pride and satisfaction, but this behavior was puzzling in the eyes of Prime Minister Cui. When did he persecute the women in his family?
The emperor had shown off enough of his daughters, and seeing Prime Minister Cui scratching his head in anxiety, he finally gave him a break. The eunuch beside the emperor approached with a tray and said with a smile, "Prime Minister Cui, please take a look at this document. If there are no problems, please sign and seal it below."
Confused, Cui Xiang picked up the document and read it from beginning to end. His expression changed again and again like a color palette, and in the end he almost couldn't breathe.
A generation of Confucian officials cursed in their hearts, "idiot, idiot, stupid thing whose brain was kicked by a donkey."
Prime Minister Cui was not willing to take the credit for discovering a new grain variety that could be grown nationwide if it did not bring any benefits to his family.
He sank to his knees on the floor with a plop, a mournful look on his old face. "Your Majesty, there must be a misunderstanding here. I will go back and investigate thoroughly. Although my daughters from the Cui family are not raised like men, we treat them like precious pearls. There would never be any persecution. This must be a misunderstanding."
Seeing that Prime Minister Cui was almost in tears, His Majesty the Emperor felt relieved when he took the opportunity to take revenge on his personal grudges. He let you, an old man, oppose this and that in the court at every turn!
Hehe, this great achievement is not yours, you will be so mad.
It has to be said that the Emperor of the Great Jin is actually a very vengeful, petty, yet mischievous person.
The chief eunuch, like a worm in the emperor's stomach, immediately stepped forward and handed Prime Minister Cui another stack of papers, which recorded in detail what Yuan and Mei had done in Dongping County during this period.
Prime Minister Cui looked at the eunuch's face and didn't want to reach out to take it at all.
In the end, even though Prime Minister Cui argued with all his might, he still signed his name under the pressure of His Majesty's gaze, waiting for the imperial edict to be announced to the world. All the people in the world, including the political enemies of the Cui family, would know that a daughter of the Cui family had made great contributions, but they had severed their relationship with the Cui family.
Hehe, I don't even want to be a daughter of the Cui family...
If the woman had come forward on her own, people might have said something about being unfilial, but since the matter was handled by the royal family, people would only say, "I don't know what evil this Cui family has done. This woman would rather be kicked out of the house than sever ties with them."
As for the Chen family
In broad daylight, Lord Chen received a decree from the Empress Dowager, condemning the Chen family for lax family management, using their power to oppress others, and causing internal chaos.
Mr. Chen certainly didn't know why the Empress Dowager inexplicably issued such an imperial decree to reprimand them. He only got confirmation after stuffing a bag of silver into the hands of the eunuch who delivered the decree.
"Master Chen, we are not considering the money, but your knowledge and understanding.
Is the original wife of your nephew from Qinghe family called Cui Qingyi? Oh, what is going on in your family? Such a grown man has no sense of responsibility. He has secretly arranged to spend his life with someone without a matchmaker, and yet he married a pure and innocent girl into the family for no reason.
That would be fine, but the girl was kicked out by you penniless and finally had a few days of peace, yet you still have the nerve to send people to rob her things.
This, this is something that even an animal cannot do.
"Alas, Master Chen, I have to give you a piece of advice. If you want to hold a stable position in this official position, it's not enough to just climb the ladder. The behavior of the people in your family is too poor, and you need to take good care of them."
The favorites of the Empress Dowager said that many of the people in her family had very bad character. How could this be a good thing to say? If this gets out, how will the children in her family get married?
And who is the eunuch referring to when he says "climbing up the social ladder"?
Lord Chen's eyes went darker and darker, and he wished he was dreaming today.
After saying everything that needed to be said, the eunuch happily returned to the palace with the reward for his trip.
The eunuch was extremely happy, thinking that he would not only get some hard work compensation when he returned, but also be able to curry favor with the Empress Dowager's nephew.
Lord Chen naturally knew about the affair between Chen Linan and Cui's daughter, but he never took it seriously. Now he was reprimanded by the Queen Mother for this matter and was accused of not managing his household well. Lord Chen could not bear such grievance and lay down on the bed that night.
It was not until the streets and alleys of the capital city were filled with news that the people under the rule of Lord Zhou in Dongping County had presented new grain seeds that Lord Chen's illness became more and more serious.
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