The civil and military officials ate meat, but refused to give even a sip of soup to the royal family.
There are only tens of thousands of royal family members, and they are united. They can't accomplish anything big.
Nowadays, even the children of merchants can take the imperial examinations, so why can’t members of the royal family take the examinations?
Even exiles can join the army and regain their status through military merit. Why can't royal family members join the army and make achievements?
I didn't ask for a backdoor, I just asked for equal treatment. Why do you treat it as an unforgivable crime?
It is obvious that the civil and military officials were afraid that the royal family would snatch away their opportunities and interests, so they were so anxious and strongly opposed the royal family taking the imperial examinations and joining the military.
The civil and military officials claim to be pleading for the people, but it is clear that they are a group of selfish traitors who only care about their own interests and don't care about the lives of the people.
Princess Huyang took the lead, taking over the front pages of major newspapers and issuing a series of questions in the newspapers.
"The refugee resettlement was all orchestrated by the Empress. Where are the civil and military officials who spoke on behalf of the people?"
"It was the Empress who paid for Sanhe Express to replace the laborers, exempting hundreds of thousands of them from corvee labor. Where were the civil and military officials at this time? Did they contribute a penny?"
"Throughout the dynasties, only five out of ten refugees survived. This is what the civil and military officials who claim to be acting on behalf of the people have done."
"Only in this dynasty, under the auspices of Your Majesty and the Empress, were ten out of ten refugees able to survive, and all of them ultimately returned home safely."
"The imperial clan eats the food of the Grand Chamberlain and drinks the water of the Grand Chamberlain. For two hundred years, they haven't eaten a single grain of rice or drunk a single sip of water from the civil and military officials. Instead, the civil and military officials have encroached on the interests of the people, forced good people into servants, seized good farmland, and turned self-cultivating farmers into tenants or even slaves. In this regard, the imperial clan cannot compare to the civil and military officials."
"The imperial family is confined to the capital, unable to reach out beyond it. In other words, most of the injustices in the local areas are caused by this group of civil and military officials."
"Anything that civil officials and military generals oppose is bound to benefit the people. Anything that civil officials and military generals support is bound to harm the people."
"The royal family would never collude with civil officials or military generals. They would only keep a close eye on them to prevent them from causing chaos in the court. So when they heard that Your Majesty was going to relax the restrictions on the royal family, they all panicked."
fart!
fart!
It's all bullshit!
Civil and military officials were so angry that they jumped up and down.
"The royal family ladies, led by Huyang, are shameless. They openly flatter His Majesty and the Empress in the newspapers. Their hearts are damnable."
"To blatantly defame the imperial court and all civil and military officials is an unforgivable crime!"
"Despicable, shameless, and without any bottom line. Her flattery was even reported in the newspapers. She is indeed the Princess Huyang who openly keeps a lover."
"Why release a member of the imperial clan who has led a foolish life? Your Majesty, don't you know that members of the imperial clan are rotten to the core? They are nothing but a nuisance. The court is showing great kindness by spending money to support them."
"Write an article for me to harshly criticize these royal ladies. How dare a group of unscrupulous royal ladies stand up to me? I'll teach them how powerful we are."
"Yes, yes, let them see how educated people curse."
"Do you really think there is no one in the court?"
Lord Lu was also very angry.
Huyang was too rude. It was like he was flipping the table over without giving any face at all.
Bang!
He slammed the table, furious.
In a fit of rage, he decided to take matters into his own hands and teach these lawless clan members a lesson.
Renqiu gnawed on a chicken foot, looking down on him. "Why are you so excited? Just let those imperial censors and royal family quarrel. The common people can just watch the fun."
"Ridiculous! This is chaos."
Ren Qiu laughed. "Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, has there ever been a time when there wasn't chaos?"
Lord Lu was speechless.
When Liu Zhao ascended the throne, chaos broke out one after another.
He asked the censor to examine the "Laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty", confined the Queen Mother Pei, started civil engineering projects in the palace, established a large-scale prison, let the Pei family leave the capital, protected Gu Ting, and secretly planned to drive out the Northwest Army and invade Xiliang.
Now the chaos between the royal family and the court has broken out again.
One thing after another, it’s only the second year of Jingming.
Lord Lu was very tired. "Your Majesty is too restless. The problems in the northwest haven't been solved yet. Can't you just calm down for a while?"
Renqiu finished half a bowl of chicken feet in one breath, took two sips of water, and then said, "Instead of hoping that Your Majesty will calm down, it's better to think about the purpose of Your Majesty's actions."
"What other intention could there be? It's nothing more than using the royal family to check and balance the civil and military officials." Lord Lu saw through the essence of the matter at a glance.
Ren Qiu laughed. "You all know what His Majesty is up to. It's obvious this is going to happen. It can't be stopped. What's the point of getting angry? You should think about it from another perspective. The royal family is a bunch of rotten people. Apart from a few princes who are under great vigilance and guard against, there is not a single decent person. If the royal family wants to gain a seat at the court, they will have to work hard for ten or twenty years. During these ten or twenty years, the civil and military officials should work hard. By then, even if the royal family rises from the blue mire, they will not be a threat to us."
There are talented people in the royal family.
However, the talents of the royal family were strictly guarded and subject to various restrictions.
Lord Lu frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "Given the Empress's generosity, she might invite a few princes to come out and take up their places in the court. According to the rules, those princes can attend court and listen to government affairs."
Ren Qiu said, "The Empress is certainly magnanimous enough to tolerate those princes. She's not afraid of them playing dirty tricks behind her back. But does Your Majesty have that magnanimity? For example, if Your Majesty assigns some duties to your brother, Prince Duan, would he be happy?"
Lord Lu waved his hand, "You can't say that. Your Majesty is quite magnanimous."
Ren Qiu rolled his eyes and muttered, "In terms of magnanimity, Your Majesty is far inferior to the Empress. The Empress, aside from her intolerance for women in the harem, sees anyone of any status as a useful asset."
Lord Lu glared at Ren Qiu fiercely, "You are an official appointed by the court, don't talk nonsense."
Renqiu continued to eat his chicken feet.
Lord Lu pounded his fist on the table. "Even if Your Majesty must employ members of the royal family, we court officials will never allow them to act recklessly. We must curb their arrogance and teach them to know what's right for them and continue to behave in obedience to me."
Ren Qiu gave a thumbs-up. "This kind of thing is what the Censors and the Supreme Court are best at. Send them out, and they'll definitely catch any of those royal family members. With the evidence on your Majesty's desk, you'll definitely have to make a statement. But if you punish the royal family members who stood up, the court will have to compromise and agree to open up the imperial examinations and military to them. Think carefully, if you don't handle it right, you'll be cursed in the newspapers."
"Whoever dares to insult me in the newspapers will be held accountable by me."
"I'm not insulting anyone by name." Renqiu chuckled.
Nowadays, everyone has learned their lesson. Unless necessary, when insulting people in newspapers, they will not name them.
Those who know the content will know who is being scolded as soon as they see the content, and they will feel secretly happy.
Those who don’t know are of course confused and ask around.
Lord Lu was very dissatisfied. "According to your opinion, we should just let this matter go?"
After Renqiu finished chewing the chicken feet and washed his hands, he said, "Are you stupid?"
Lord Lu was furious. How could he be stupid? He was stupid at all.
Renqiu ignored the issue and continued, "Beating up a few members of the imperial clan is useless, except for venting anger. Your Majesty wants to use the imperial clan and force the court to compromise. That's easy. Get Your Majesty and the Empress to offer sufficient benefits in exchange. Otherwise, the imperial clan will openly participate in the imperial examinations, and the court will not receive any benefits. Instead, they will be ridiculed and criticized by future generations a hundred years from now. Would you like that?"
Lord Lu imagined the scene a hundred years later, when future generations would criticize him: It's all your fault. Why didn't you be tougher? Why didn't you stop the royal family? You are the sinners.
I shivered suddenly and got goose bumps all over my body.
The imagined scene is too heartbreaking.
He stroked his beard and nodded secretly, "It is indeed time to ask His Majesty and the Queen for some benefits."
Ren Qiu smiled and asked, "Have you decided what benefits you want?"
Lord Lu shook his head, "No clue yet."
There seem to be many benefits to being able to intervene, but in fact there are very few to choose from.
It must comply with the interests of the majority of civil and military officials, otherwise before he can eliminate the royal family, the civil and military officials will turn around and deal with him.
"I heard that the Empress has established an Audit Office, with Eunuch Chang En as the chief administrator, specifically to audit the accounts of the Four Seas and the World. Based on the Empress's past style, she likes to plan her actions one step at a time. I'm assuming that this Audit Office will intervene in the audit of the government's accounts in a few years."
"Really?" Lord Lu was surprised.
Ren Qiu nodded. "Based on my observation and understanding of the Empress, the Audit Department will definitely be of great use in the future."
Lord Lu frowned, "Go on."
Ren Qiu said, "If you want to ask the Empress and His Majesty for favors, you have to think outside the box. Imperial clans want the imperial examinations, status, and official positions. But what do civil officials and military commanders need? They need an opportunity to guarantee prosperity for their descendants."
Lord Lu said seriously, "No one can guarantee that their descendants will be rich and prosperous forever."
Renqiu said, "That's why I said it was just an opportunity. The opportunity lies in the northwest and overseas. Your Majesty's Northwest Plan, you know it all too well, but have you ever thought about doing something about it? The Audit Office is working with the Ministry of Finance to investigate the mineral resources of the entire country, with the goal of shutting down more than half of the mines. Then, with the lure of benefits, we'll drive those greedy mine owners to the northwest prairie and overseas. If you go, you'll be given an official position. The land you occupy will belong to you, and you'll have your own people to manage it, and it won't change for a hundred years."
Lord Lu was shocked. "This matter hasn't leaked out yet, so only a few people know about it. How do you know so much?"
Ren Qiu smiled proudly, "Don't you see who I am? I observe the celestial phenomena at night..."
"Shut up!"
Lord Lu didn't believe Ren Qiu's lies. He solemnly warned, "I don't care where you got the information, but the spies you planted around the Empress should be withdrawn immediately. Be careful not to get into trouble."
Ren Qiu waved his hands repeatedly, "It's not what you think. Where did the spy come from? Don't talk nonsense."
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