Bai Qingyuan felt a lot of pressure.
But Emperor An was much more comfortable.
When Bai Qingyuan opposed him in the imperial court, where did he get so many people to help him?
He glanced at Jing Zhe again, secretly chuckling to himself: Looks like I still have to rely on this kid's help!
So he nodded and said, "What you say is right, Lord Zhu. The Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering is held every year, as is the Imperial Examination. It's unrealistic to grant everyone a fifth-rank or higher official position. But we can make an exception. Jing Zhe has made outstanding contributions this time. Even if we reward him with a higher official position, who can say otherwise?"
"Your Majesty, please do not forget that yesterday at the hunting grounds, Your Majesty issued a blockade order. Apart from the entire court, who else knows about Young Master Jing's crushing defeat of the Southern Qi Silver Thread Army?"
Bai Qingyuan continued his analysis: "The people of the world only know that he won the Mid-Autumn Poetry Competition. If he were to be given a high official position, what would others think? What would that young master Chen, who was just granted the title of Grand Secretary of the Baohe Academy, think?"
"..."
Emperor An frowned, seemingly lost in thought, but inwardly he was overjoyed: "Go ahead and talk, if you can talk, then talk more!"
Seeing that Emperor An seemed to be wavering, Bai Qingyuan was about to speak again when Hao Junguang, who had been silent all along, spoke up: "Grand Tutor Bai, I think you're overthinking things!"
Hao Junguang had been unwell and hadn't attended court for a long time. When they heard his voice again, everyone looked over.
"I believe you have all read Young Master Jing's poems. Even if we disregard his extraordinary achievements such as defeating the Third Prince of Southern Qi and severely damaging the Silver Thread Army, just considering his poetry alone, what's wrong with bestowing upon him a fifth-rank official position? Let alone the fifth rank, I wouldn't object even to the fourth rank!"
Of the five powerful figures in the Anguo court, two were military and three were civil officials. Among the three civil officials, Chancellor Zhu Tong was a neutral party, Grand Tutor Bai Qingyuan was a member of the Xiangwang faction, and only the Crown Prince's tutor Hao Junguang represented both the Eastern Palace faction and the majority of civil officials.
So when he spoke, nearly half of the civil officials in the court began to echo his sentiments.
"Young Master Jing is truly talented, a sight to behold!"
"Young Master Jing's talent is unparalleled in the world!"
"To find another 'Shuidiao Getou' is as difficult as climbing to heaven!"
"Young Master Jing's learning is enough to make him a master!"
"..."
Perhaps to support Hao Junguang, or perhaps they thought the same way, believing that Jing Zhe's talent alone was enough to qualify him for a fifth-rank official position.
Seeing that Hao Junguang also stood up to speak for Jing Zhe, Yu Sheng became a little anxious and immediately stood up as well.
"Grand Tutor Hao is quite right! However, one can write poetry anytime, but Young Master Jing's military talents should not be wasted. After all, writing poems cannot save a country, but military talent can strengthen and save a country!"
After saying that, Yu Sheng added, "Is Grand Tutor Bai's continued refusal to grant Jing Zhe a fifth-rank official position because he is afraid that there are too few vacant fifth-rank official positions in the court? That's alright, I can spare a fifth-rank official position for him from the Duke of Huguo's mansion!"
Just like the various official positions in later generations, official positions are all one person per position. If Yu Shengneng said this, he must be trying to take someone from the Duke of Huguo's mansion and give them to Jing Zhe.
This demonstrates their sincerity.
Hao Junguang hadn't expected Yu Shengjian to take such an unconventional approach. After listening, he coughed twice and said, "My Grand Tutor's Mansion can do the same!"
At this moment, Yang Zhaoyang also came out.
"Although my Duke of Wei has gone to Jinxi, he has sent many letters by carrier pigeon in recent days, expressing his great appreciation for Young Master Jing. Therefore, we can also make room for Young Master Jing in the Duke of Wei's mansion for a position of the fifth rank or above!"
Now, it seems the core issue isn't whether Jing Zhe is capable of holding a fifth-rank official position, but rather which faction he should serve in.
Seeing this situation, Emperor An smiled bitterly to himself.
This was also a problem he had encountered before. He finally met a talented person with both ability and knowledge, and was ready to ask him to help him, but in the end, the person was snatched up by several major factions.
Fortunately, Jing Zhe had no such intention, and he felt a little relieved to hear that these families had sent people to him yesterday, but he had refused them all.
He glanced at Bai Qingyuan again and reminded him, "Grand Tutor Bai, everyone's saying this, what do you think?"
Emperor An meant that he hoped the emperor could retaliate again.
Bai Qingyuan took a breath, his eyes sharpened, and finally pulled out a yellowed and worn piece of silk from his clothes.
"Your Majesty, this is the late Emperor's edict!"
"Whoosh!"
Upon hearing this, the court was thrown into chaos.
Presenting an imperial edict from a previous dynasty to the current emperor is quite an audacity. Luckily, it was from the same dynasty; if it had been from a previous dynasty, he would probably have been dragged out and beheaded.
This was his last trump card. Bai Qingyuan didn't care what others said and said generously, "Your Majesty, when the late emperor was on the throne, he issued an edict that no commoner could obtain an official position of the fifth rank or above!"
With that, he handed over the imperial edict.
Sui Shouren accepted the edict and presented it to Emperor An. Emperor An opened it, glanced at it, and said softly, "It is indeed my father's imperial edict."
Most of the civil and military officials were promoted by him when he took office, while Bai Qingyuan was one of the few who had served his father in the previous dynasty and then came to serve him. This was because the previous emperor valued Bai Qingyuan highly, and Su Mowu was appointed as his teacher from birth.
This imperial edict was issued when the late emperor bestowed an official title upon Bai Qingyuan. Unexpectedly, Bai Qingyuan has kept it until now, making it his last trump card.
Upon hearing Emperor An's words, the other ministers fell silent.
What else can I say?
This guy even brought up the late emperor; who dares to say anything?
All I could do was curse them in my heart for being shameless.
Emperor An carefully put away the imperial edict and had Sui Shouren hand it over to Bai Qingyuan. Then he looked at Jing Zhe and said, "According to what Minister Bai said, the official position bestowed upon Jing Zhe cannot be higher than the fifth rank. Jing Zhe, what do you think?"
Jing Zhe waved his hand and said, "Your Majesty, I think it's unnecessary to go to so much trouble. I won first place in the poetry competition, killed the number one warrior of Southern Qi, and defeated the Silver Thread Army of Southern Qi. They must hate me and want to kill me, but in the end... sigh, never mind!"
With his acting skills on point, Jing Zhe sighed, perfectly conveying his disappointment, "Your Majesty, there's no need to bestow this official title; it will save everyone trouble!"
He glanced at Bai Qingyuan and said, "Why don't you bestow some money upon me, Your Majesty, so that I can roam the martial world freely with my wealth, and thus avoid being targeted by the Southern Qi people!"
Jing Zhe spoke with a sorrowful expression, as if he were living for the moment and didn't know when he would be assassinated by someone from the Southern Qi. The ministers who had spoken up for Jing Zhe earlier felt very sorry for him. They thought to themselves that it was a pity that someone who had made great contributions to the country had ended up like this.
Zhu Tong, who had been silent until now, also stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, although this imperial edict was issued by the late emperor, it is quite old now. Is it really applicable now? If it is done, it will not only chill the heart of Jing Zhe, but also the hearts of all the scholars and common people in An Kingdom who want to serve the country!"
"..."
————
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
