"Such a calamity could not have been caused by anyone other than a genius or a saint."
"And Lord Sun is indeed a wise minister of our dynasty, a saint among men, a genius sent by heaven."
"Only he can save the empire from collapse and the people from suffering!" Your Majesty!
Prime Minister Lin Xuanfu spoke with great passion, his voice rising higher and higher.
In Sun Jian's words, it was a case of spittle flying everywhere.
This not only stunned the court officials, but even Sun Jian was dumbfounded.
Holy crap!
What's wrong with this old bastard today?
Wasn't Wei Xian secretly one of his men?
How come he not only doesn't hold a grudge against Wei for cutting off his arm, but is instead praising himself here after I wiped out the entire Wei family?
That's definitely not right!
This old man, like the emperor, is a man of great cunning and shrewdness.
The purpose of saying this is nothing more than to put oneself in a difficult position, and then secretly use underhanded tricks to prevent oneself from completing the task of controlling the locust plague, and finally ruin one's reputation without firing a single shot.
wipe……
This was a calculated move he used.
His mind is undeniably ruthless!
Like Sun Jian, Li Gancheng, Zhuang Qishi, and Yao Tianzheng also saw through Lin Xuanfu's ill intentions at a glance.
However, since they had already said so much, and the appointment of Sun Jian was personally announced by His Majesty, they couldn't very well jump out and oppose it at this critical juncture.
Of the six ministers, only Mi Zhu, the Minister of Revenue, and Huang Wan, the Minister of Rites, are His Majesty's confidants.
The others either secretly pledged allegiance to the Second Prince or secretly joined Lin Xuanfu's ranks, so they had no reason to object to anything.
As for the other ministers who were ignorant of the situation, they naturally couldn't see the hidden meaning behind it and thought that Lin Xuanfu had truly approved of Sun Jian.
Emperor Ganwu did not speak at this moment, but looked at Lin Xuanfu, who was full of enthusiasm, with great interest.
Seeing that the emperor had no reaction to his remarks, Lin Xuanfu frowned slightly and paused for a moment, but the expression was fleeting.
Since the emperor wouldn't speak, he would add fuel to the fire!
Lin Xuanfu continued, "Lord Li, Lord Xue, your previous remarks were utterly disregard for His Majesty's words!"
"Lord Sun Jian is the person His Majesty has personally appointed to assist in controlling the locust plague!"
"You are advising His Majesty to reconsider in court. Aren't you implying that His Majesty is unwise and fails to discern the true nature of his officials?"
These remarks startled Xue Zhen, the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, and Li Kui, the Minister of Personnel, who immediately knelt down.
He kept saying, "Your Majesty, I would never dare to say that I only offered advice on behalf of the people and to provide loyal counsel for the stability of the country. I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness."
Emperor Ganwu was too lazy to pay attention to what the two men were saying.
Seeing that the time was almost right, Lin Xuanfu cupped his hands and continued to say to Emperor Ganwu, "Your Majesty, this old minister is willing to stake the lives of all 158 members of my family on Lord Sun Jian!"
hiss!
Upon hearing Lin Xuanfu's words, nearly sixty or seventy officials present gasped in shock.
Prime Minister Lin used the heads of everyone in the Lin family as collateral to vouch for Sun Jian...
That shows how much they trust him!
The ministers may not understand the reasoning, but that doesn't mean the three dukes, four ministers, and six ministers above them don't.
A glint of cunning flashed in the Second Prince's eyes. He curled his lips slightly, first glancing at Crown Prince Li Gancheng, then fixing his gaze on Emperor Ganwu's face.
Emperor Ganwu took a light breath, a sinister glint flashing in his eyes.
How could he not see through the three men's little tricks?
Of the three, two played the bad cop and one played the good cop, thus forcing Sun Jian into the position. Neither Sun Jian nor anyone else could back out or even fail to complete the task!
In front of so many officials, he said he would guarantee it. If Minister Sun really failed to fulfill his promise, he wouldn't actually kill so many members of the Lin family just for the sake of the officials and the Lin clan...
That old bastard!
They've been getting increasingly restless these past few years...
Now that things had come to this, Emperor Ganwu couldn't say anything.
His use of Sun Jian from the very beginning was a brilliant move. Now he can help Sun Jian deal with some open and covert attacks as much as possible, hoping that he can control the locust plague as soon as possible, or at least bring it under control!
Seven days is already the most time possible!
If this time is exceeded, the locust plague will spread to various states and counties, and by then it will be difficult to control!
Thinking of this, Emperor Ganwu waved his hand and said, "Good! With Prime Minister Lin's guarantee and support, Minister Sun's disaster relief efforts will surely be successful. This matter is settled!"
"All of you, act immediately according to today's plan, without fail! Anyone who disobeys will be executed!"
"I will also hold a sacrificial ceremony at the Temple of Heaven in the capital tomorrow, and together with all my officials, I will personally eat locusts according to the disaster relief strategy! I will stand with my people to overcome this national crisis!"
"Your Majesty is wise! Your Majesty is wise! Your Majesty is wise!"
The small court assembly came to a close amidst the unanimous approval of the assembled officials.
——
After the court session, Sun Jian wanted to rush to deal with the disaster and understand the specific situation of the disaster.
Unexpectedly, Emperor Ganwu directly ordered Wang De to summon Sun Jian to the rear palace alone.
This time, even Yao Tianzheng, Zhuang Qishi, Li Gancheng, and even that old codger Yi Yuwei were not summoned; only Sun Jian was summoned!
Although Sun Jian had no choice, he could only comply.
Perhaps Emperor Ganwu had other instructions to him in private?
Upon arriving at the rear hall, after exchanging a few pleasantries, Emperor Ganwu got straight to the point.
He asked Sun Jian how confident he was in the outcome of this incident and whether there were any other countermeasures.
Sun Jian spoke frankly and honestly, saying that he dared not say he was confident and had no other strategies, but if he followed the previous plan, there shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Upon hearing Sun Jian's words, Emperor Ganwu nodded and summoned Generals Li You and Li Mu simultaneously.
"There are some things in court that I cannot say myself. Do you understand why I summoned you here?"
Sun Jian hesitated for a moment before nodding.
We're all smart people; some things don't need to be explicitly stated. A single glance is enough to understand the meaning.
The emperor was trying to say that Lin Xuanfu had previously guaranteed his own safety with the lives of his entire family of 183 people.
This is a trap; they want to put you on the hot seat, leaving you with no way out.
Then they secretly sabotage their efforts to control the locust plague.
If the locust plague becomes widespread, the losses will be extremely heavy!
Finally, Lin Xiang could use this pretext to lead the officials and subjects to put pressure on His Majesty, so that he would be executed along with Lin Xiang!
That old bastard came here to kill me!
Despite Lin Xuanfu's guarantee for Sun Jian, given the Lin family's influence and influence in Daqian, even if Sun Jian fails to quell the disaster, Emperor Ganwu will not touch Lin Xuanfu.
They won't touch the Lin family; at most, they'll just impose a punishment!
But someone always has to take the blame, and the matter of executing Sun Jian is undeniable...
Because if a major disaster cannot be controlled, the country will be on the verge of collapse afterward, its national strength will be less than one-tenth, and the people will be suffering everywhere...
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