61 Chapter 061
◎Princess Sanyi◎
On the 22nd day of the eighth month of the Xinyou year, all officials entered the court.
Three months later, Princess Rong'an appeared in the court again. The officials were stunned for a moment and then kept silent.
Yesterday, the princess issued an order to give Prince An's mansion a pot of poisoned wine. This is no secret.
For a short time, no one dared to act rudely in front of the princess.
Wu Shanqing stood on the high steps, holding a whisk, and said, "If you have anything to say, please report it. If not, please dismiss the court."
Minister of Rites Fan Wenxin was the first to speak and mentioned the emperor's birthday and the diplomatic envoys' arrival in Beijing.
Subsequently, the Minister of War He Zhengqi reported that since the beginning of autumn, the northern Di tribes of all sizes have often harassed the people on the border, and several small-scale conflicts have occurred, with our side winning more than losing.
The other officials rebuked and criticized Prince Liang for his rebellion, and hoped that His Majesty would not grieve too much and hurt his health.
After they finished talking, Xie Changfeng asked, "Anything else?"
The ministers looked at each other, not knowing what the emperor was up to.
"Rong An."
"Yes, Father." Xie Mingzhuo, dressed in her ordinary princess attire, turned slightly to face the courtiers. "Today I have three issues to discuss, and I'd like to hear your opinions."
All the ministers straightened their backs to show that they were all ears.
"One of the issues is the harmful effects of private mining and the collection of mining taxes.
"The second discussion is about the chaos at the official post station and the plight of the postmen.
"Three discussions: the tyranny of the government and the rampant behavior of officials."
She spoke slowly, her eyes sweeping across their faces, and everyone clearly felt a sense of oppression.
After three months, how come the princess is even more powerful than before? Didn't she say she was recovering from illness? If you didn't know, you would think she was going to kill someone.
"Did you hear everything?"
The ministers said: "Princess, we have heard it clearly."
"I don't need you to answer them right now. I'm afraid you're all unfamiliar with these three proposals," Xie Mingzhuo said calmly. "I'll give you three days. After three days, each of you will submit a memorial."
"Your Majesty, I obey your command."
Xie Mingzhuo signaled Xie Changfeng with his eyes, and the latter immediately understood and said, "Dismiss the court."
Some officials who were standing far away did not hear clearly the three topics mentioned by the princess. After leaving the court, they asked their colleagues and felt overwhelmed.
These officials in the capital were not blind to the situation. Most of them had served as officials in local areas. They were not only familiar with the ins and outs of the post stations, but they had also heard about them.
As for the clerks in the government offices, they have always been the clerks' superiors and have never faced the clerks' tyranny, so they are worried for a while.
The mines are even less under their jurisdiction, so this question is easier for the Ministry of Revenue to answer.
The various government offices communicated with each other and tried to submit a satisfactory answer within three days.
Prior to this, the capital's newspaper had already published the latest issue of the newspaper. In addition to the latest news in the capital, the serialized content of "The Heavenly Book: The Road to Success in the Imperial Examinations" attracted the attention of many scholars.
After Wu Chuanyue passed the examination to become a student, he decided to travel around and broaden his horizons.
He sympathized with the hard work of the miners and postmen, felt sad about the difficult life of the people, sneered at the cruel mine supervisors and officials who demanded money, and bravely stood up and spoke out for justice when he encountered officials who wantonly humiliated the people.
At the end of the story, he asked himself: If I become an official in the future, how should I deal with this chaos?
He asked himself, as well as other scholars and students all over the world.
There are those who remain silent out of guilt, those who are contemptuous and disdainful, and those who are full of passion and determined to serve the country.
There were also some people who were already dissatisfied with these chaotic phenomena. After reading the storybook, they immediately wrote down what they thought and sent it to the newspaper.
After the court meeting, Xie Mingzhuo met with Fang Ji, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, in Wenhua Hall.
Fang Ji submitted the list and left in a hurry. He had to go back and think about the topic.
Xie Mingzhuo spent an incense stick of time reading through the appointment and dismissal records of the past fifteen years, and actually made some discoveries.
Thirteen years ago, the imperial court appointed Lin Yingjie as the Left Governor of Guizhou, a second-rank official, the highest local administrative chief.
At that time, Guizhou had just experienced the "reform of native officials" and all officials in the prefecture and below were appointed as native officials except for the officials at the department level.
These local officials were all leaders of the original chieftain tribes. Their power was deeply rooted in the local area, and the imperial court's decrees were often difficult to implement.
It is not easy to be an official like Lin Yingjie.
Ten years ago, the chieftain of Bozhou rebelled. The local soldiers rushed into Guiyang Prefecture, destroyed the provincial government office, and brutally killed officials and their families.
Lin Yingjie was also among them.
The case shocked the court and the public, and the emperor immediately ordered troops to suppress the Bozhou chieftain and investigate the entire rebellion.
The chieftain of Bozhou claimed that he was forced by Lin Yingjie, saying that Lin Yingjie was levying heavy taxes in Guizhou under the banner of the imperial court, oppressing the chieftain tribe and humiliating the local people.
The court naturally would not believe his one-sided statement.
It was not until the Left Councillor of the Provincial Governor, who had escaped death, submitted a memorial to the court, and the chieftain of the Song family in Shuidong also submitted a memorial to the court accusing Lin Yingjie of bullying behavior, that the court finally determined that Lin Yingjie was the culprit of the rebellion.
The appointment and dismissal records only mentioned when Lin Yingjie took office and when he died. The rest of the information was provided by Yang Yunkai.
It's full of loopholes.
Xie Mingzhuo really wanted to complain, but the emperor was her "father" ten years ago. Ultimately, it was the result of the emperor's indifference.
"Does Lin Yingjie have any offspring?"
Yang Yunkai was stunned for a moment. He knew about this because the case was indeed a sensation at the time, but he had never handled the specific case files.
"I will check it out right away."
Because of the surname "Lin", and because Lin Fan had mentioned the chieftain officials in a strange way in the banquet hall of Prince Liang's mansion before, he keenly realized that this case might involve Lin Fan, so he investigated more diligently.
When we arrived at Wenhua Hall again, it was already dusk.
The candlelight reflected on the side of the princess's face, and the corners of her beautiful eyes climbed up to the flames, covering up the faint anger.
His heart couldn't help but jump, and his steps stumbled slightly. In that moment, he actually felt that the princess was more majestic than the emperor.
"how?"
Yang Yunkai lowered his head and spoke more respectfully, "Lin Yingjie had two sons. The eldest, Lin Wei, was nineteen at the time of the incident and died from seven stab wounds. The second son, Lin Xizhou, was ten at the time of the incident and died from a cut to his throat."
One day I returned to the Wei River, floating like a boat without a mooring.
Xie Mingzhuo was silent for a moment, then ordered, "Old Yang, continue investigating."
"yes!"
In order to give court officials more time to write policy papers, the court meeting the next day was cancelled.
Xie Mingzhuo arrived at Wenhua Hall early, intending to study on his own. Unexpectedly, just after noon, Chang Wei walked in with the small round blue and white jar in his hand.
"Teacher, why are you here today?" Don't you need to write policy papers in the government office?
Chang Wei said with a chuckle, "Three months have passed, and Your Highness seems to have learned a lot. Yesterday, you examined me and others at court, and today I would like to shamelessly listen to Your Highness's opinions."
Xie Mingzhuo sat upright and said, "Teacher, please speak."
"Recently, diplomatic missions have been arriving in Beijing one after another, making the capital a bit more lively. However, the diplomatic missions have different temperaments and styles of doing things, so it's inevitable that they will cause disputes with the people of our dynasty. What should we do?"
The reception of the delegation was the responsibility of the Huitong Hall, which logically had nothing to do with her as a princess.
But since Lao Chang asked, Xie Mingzhuo would not refuse him.
She used a catch-all answer: "Analyze each case individually."
"That makes sense," Chang Wei asked again, "could you be more specific?"
Xie Mingzhuo put it succinctly: "If the other party is unreasonable, warn them; if you are unreasonable, punish them; if both sides are unreasonable, give each of them fifty lashes."
After saying that, he felt it was not thorough enough and added: "If a third party instigates trouble, the culprit will be severely punished."
"But our Great Qi is the Celestial Empire. Those envoys are merely barbarians from small, vassal states. Why should we harm our own people for them?"
Xie Mingzhuo couldn't help but narrow his eyes, leaned back, and said nonchalantly: "Master Chang, if you have something to say, just say it."
Could it be that someone had a conflict with the delegation, and the culprit was of noble status and difficult to deal with, so Lao Chang came to him to hint at it?
Chang Wei shook his head and said, "This old minister just wants to know the princess's attitude towards these vassal states."
"I have only one attitude," Xie Mingzhuo said. "Those who do not offend me, we will coexist peacefully with them. Those who offend me, no matter how far away, will be punished."
"Good." Chang Wei only replied with one word and opened the book. "Your Highness has been absent from school for three months. You must make up for it as soon as possible."
Xie Mingzhuo: “…”
She has not been idle during these three months and has never forgotten to study even on the road, so her learning progress has not fallen behind. Instead, it has exceeded Changwei's expectations.
He offered a few sincere compliments and entered teaching mode.
She didn't know if it was Xie Mingzhuo's illusion, but she vaguely felt that Chang Wei's attitude and content when teaching her were different from before.
When he was teaching her before, he was respectful, but he only taught her the knowledge in the book and helped her understand the meaning of the article, and did not mention much else.
However, in today's teaching, he listed many techniques of ancient emperors, implicitly analyzed games and balance, and also touched upon national policies.
But after not seeing each other for three months, why did Changwei change his mind?
Before he knew it, it was already Si hour. Chang Wei's throat was dry and he felt a little tired. He excused himself and went to the room to rest.
Xie Mingzhuo sat alone in the room, digesting the knowledge he had just learned.
"Meow." A tabby cat squeezed in from the crack of the door, with a royal badge hanging around its neck, and jumped arrogantly onto the desk.
Xie Mingzhuo smiled and extended his hand: "Lixia come here."
After not seeing him for several months, Lixia has grown a lot bigger, his fur is shiny and glossy, and he is extremely agile.
It ignored Xie Mingzhuo and continued to circle around the desk, occasionally sweeping the tip of its tail across the table, and extending its claws to touch the porcelain jar on the corner of the desk.
“Don’t touch!”
Lixia tilted her head, dug out with her claws, and the porcelain jar fell straight down.
Xie Mingzhuo was quick-witted and quick-handed. He bent down and picked it up, and the porcelain jar and lid were almost broken.
This is Lao Chang's treasure, she can't afford to pay for it if it is broken.
Judging from its market value, this is just an ordinary blue and white porcelain vase, but Lao Chang holds it in his hands every day, so it may have some special meaning.
"Meow." Lixia stood at the edge of the desk, her big round eyes open, her face full of innocence.
Xie Mingzhuo rubbed its little head and threatened, "If you're naughty again, you won't get any dried fish in the future."
Lixia twisted her butt, jumped off the desk with her back to her, and slipped through the crack of the door. A few strands of cat hair fell off.
"So spoiled."
Xie Mingzhuo smiled and shook his head, then put the porcelain jar back on the desk. The porcelain jar was only the size of a palm, and the lid had just slipped off, revealing the space inside.
She vaguely caught a glimpse of a few paper balls, which looked like they were crumpled up and thrown in casually. They seemed unimportant, but why would unimportant things be carried in a porcelain jar?
Although the porcelain jar is fragile, it is the favorite of Prime Minister Chang. No one dares to touch it. It needs to be protected more carefully and is "safer" than a wooden box.
She returned to her seat.
After a cup of tea, Chang Wei returned to Wenhua Hall and continued teaching until noon.
Xie Mingzhuo benefited greatly from the lesson and bowed sincerely before leaving: "Thank you, teacher."
"The princess is incredibly intelligent and has lofty ambitions. She will surely soar to the heavens and be remembered in history."
"Thank you for your kind words, Master," Xie Mingzhuo asked, not feeling complacent because of his praise. "Prince An has passed away, and now the position of Chief of the Imperial Clan is vacant. Do you think that Princess Jiashan is qualified for this position?"
The appointment and dismissal of officials in the Ministry of Clan Affairs was not under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel. Xie Mingzhuo asked him this just to test his attitude, just like Chang Wei had tested her before.
"The Grand Princess's talents are sufficient for the position of Imperial Clan Commander, but," Chang Wei said clearly, "she must be outstanding enough to convince others."
Imperial affairs were a mess, and the imperial clan was difficult to manage. It was normal for this position to be held by someone without any merit or fault. Anyone could hold the position as long as they were a relative of the emperor. Why would it be given to a princess?
Xie Mingzhuo bowed again: "Teacher's teachings, Rong An will remember them."
After having lunch with his family, Xie Mingzhuo mentioned the idea of letting Princess Jiashan serve as the clan leader, and everyone agreed.
After noon, she took a car to Jiashan Princess's Mansion.
Princess Jiashan came forward to greet her warmly, joking with a smile, "Princess Sanyi's presence is truly an honor to our humble home."
Xie Mingzhuo: “…”
Princess Sanyi? Who came up with that nickname?!
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