Chapter 26: Court Competition
Zhao Qing clutched Li Yueyao's sleeves tightly with both hands, like a frightened bird. After hearing this, he asked, "What does it mean?"
"This means that our ancestors may indeed be giving us a warning, and your royal brother has already begun to face these dreams.
You'd better keep your word, otherwise His Majesty will really abolish you this time." Li Yueyao said.
Zhao Qing raised his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "I will keep my word. I will keep my word."
Perhaps Zhaoqing was so frightened that when he returned home at night, he dreamed of his father and mother again, and was beaten in his dreams all night long.
The next day, Li Yueyao accompanied the emperor to the morning court, but the right prime minister still did not come.
Li Yueyao announced the personnel responsible for flood relief in Lingnan in the court.
The left prime minister immediately came out to object.
"Your Highness, isn't this a hasty decision? Ye Yuanda has been in charge of military equipment in the Ministry of Industry for many years, which has nothing to do with this flood."
Li Yueyao looked at the Minister of Personnel Song Yinian and said, "Minister Song, why don't you tell the Left Prime Minister about Ye Yuanda's resume?"
"I obey the decree."
Then he turned to the Left Prime Minister and said, "Ye Yuanda, a doctor in the Ministry of Works, is from Wu County, Suzhou, Jiangnan Province.
He grew up in Wu County and became a Jinshi in the early years of the Yuanzai reign of the previous emperor. Later, he served as a seventh-rank county magistrate in Pingning County, Xinding County, Suzhou.
In the sixth year of Yuanzai, he was promoted to the governor of Wujun.
It was originally located in the eleventh year and was promoted to Suzhou Biejia.
Due to the frequent floods in his area and his good water control skills, he was promoted to the sixth rank official in the Ministry of Works.
Three years later, he was promoted to the position of Langzhong of the Ministry of Works, a position he held diligently for seven years.
After Minister Song finished speaking, he stood up again, looking at his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose, without saying a word.
Li Yueyao nodded when she saw this. Gan Qing said yesterday that Minister Song was a neutral person, and it seemed to be true.
He remembered all the resumes of court officials in his mind. He was worthy of being the number one scholar in the second year of Yuanzai. It is said that he could remember everything he saw and had the strongest brain.
Li Yueyao looked at Zuo Xiang calmly and said, "Zuo Xiang, do you think Ye Yuanda is suitable?"
The Left Prime Minister looked up at Li Yueyao and said, "Although this person's resume is relatively suitable, he has been working in the Ministry of Works for the past seven years and has little experience in disaster relief and flood control.
Therefore, we should choose one between Censor Zhang and Minister Cui of the Ministry of Works."
Li Yueyao thought to herself, damn it, has this Left Prime Minister always been arguing with His Majesty in the court?
As long as things don't go his way, he will subtly deny Your Majesty and the people who nominated him?
Damn it, if you don’t give me face, then you don’t need this face either.
So he looked up at Shen Zhengming, the Minister of Dali Temple.
Shen Zhengming saw Gan Qing in the government office yesterday afternoon and thought he had done something wrong and was being visited by this Ghost-Seeing Hundred Cavalry Officer.
After the two exchanged pleasantries, Gan Qing said, "Her Royal Highness the Grand Princess of Jinyang has given an oral order.
If anyone nominates these two to go to Lingnan for disaster relief tomorrow morning, please have Minister Shen discuss the trivial matters of their families in the palace."
Shen Zhengming frowned after hearing this: "Trivial matters?"
"That's what Her Royal Highness the Grand Princess instructed. You can do whatever you want."
After saying that, Gan Qing turned around and left.
Shen Zhengming was left alone in his office room, lost in thought.
Gan Qing also conveyed the same words to Jiang Xing, the governor of Jingzhao Prefecture, and added one more sentence.
"Her Royal Highness the Grand Princess said that you should remember your work first, do your job well, and make amends for your sins.
Otherwise, you will be punished for multiple crimes and you can pack up and go into exile.
By the way, Grand Princess Grace, you can choose any place you like to be exiled to, from the Northern Barbarians, the Western Miasma, the Southern Vietnam, or the East China Sea."
Jiang Xing was sweating profusely after hearing this.
As soon as Gan Qing left, he asked someone to retrieve all the relevant files of Censor Zhang and Minister Cui.
At this moment, Shen Siqing stood up and said to Cui Mingyun, "Left Prime Minister, I'm afraid Minister Cui won't be able to get away to provide disaster relief for a while."
The Left Prime Minister looked at Shen Siqing and frowned, "Oh, what do you mean?"
"There's been a new clue in a murder case these days, and it points directly to Minister Cui.
Therefore, Minister Cui cannot leave the capital for the time being."
As he spoke, he looked around the court, searching for Minister Cui, but he couldn't find him after searching for a long time.
Because Minister Cui took a leave of absence today, he was taken away by Princess Zhaoqing to give him advice.
After hearing this, the Left Prime Minister looked at Shen Zhengming and sneered in his heart: "Oh, then please let Shen Siqing tell us the specific details."
Shen Zhengming said: "The White Bones Case, everyone in the court knows about it.
The place where the bones were found was in the house of Zhang Changjin, the former Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple.
Minister Cui was Zhang Changjin's best friend, and the two had close contacts. Minister Cui frequently visited Zhang's residence.
Therefore, we at the Dali Temple have reason to suspect that Minister Cui is connected to this case."
The Left Prime Minister sneered and said, "Mr. Shen Si, this reason is not sufficient."
Shen Zhengming smiled and said, "We in the Dali Temple are investigating cases, and suspects are not allowed to leave the capital in the short term. This is stipulated by law. Does the Left Prime Minister not know this?"
After hearing this, the Left Prime Minister didn't know how to respond for a moment. The law does have this provision.
Then he thought again, Minister Cui happened to be Princess Zhaoqing's man, so he couldn't go, so the only option left was Censor Zhang.
Gao Hongchen then smiled and said, "Then it would be a good idea to send Censor Zhang."
Li Yueyao glanced at Jiang Xing.
Jiang Fuyin stepped out and said, "What a coincidence! I'm afraid Censor Zhang can't go either."
The left prime minister turned around and glanced at Jiang Xing. Why was this old fellow coming out to interrupt?
Then he asked, "Why did Governor Jiang say that?"
"Reporting to the Left Prime Minister, yesterday the son of Censor Zhang went out for an outing and accidentally stepped on someone's leg and broke it.
That person reported this to our Jingzhao Prefecture yesterday."
The Left Prime Minister frowned and said nothing.
Jiang Fuyin continued, "We in Jingzhao Prefecture sent people to the Zhang family's house to arrest the young master, but his old lady stopped us and even had a conflict with our yamen runners.
I heard that Madam Zhang was unwell last night, had a high fever, and is now unconscious...
This matter is our fault in Jingzhao Prefecture, and we apologize to Censor Zhang in front of all the officials."
As soon as Censor Zhang saw Jiang Xing step out of the line, he felt something was wrong.
Now that he heard Jiang Xing say this, he didn't want to hold on to it, so he just snorted and said nothing.
During these two rounds of confrontation, Li Yueyao sat at the top very calmly without saying a word.
The emperor smiled in his heart and thought that only his aunt could find a way.
Li Yueyao then added, "This censor has always been seen as an upright official.
But one must cultivate oneself, regulate one's family, govern one's state, and then pacify the world. If one's family is not in order and one's inner house is not maintained, how can one serve the emperor and govern the people?"
The emperor was also displeased and said, "Censor Zhang has a lot of things to do at home, so he will stay in Beijing for the time being to take care of his family.
As for the affairs of state, leave them to others."
Li Yueyao continued, "Your Majesty, then, is Ye Yuanda the one you chose?"
"Well, that's very good. This is Ye Yuanda's report on the Lingnan flood control strategy. You can circulate it to the court officials."
The emperor instructed Sun Fu to circulate the memorial among the court officials.
Sun Fu deliberately gave the memorial to the old Grand Tutor, who said, "Your servant's eyesight is blurry, so I'd like to trouble you to read it to me."
Sun Fu smiled and said, "It is my honor."
Li Yueyao smiled. This old master was really interesting.
When Sun Fu finished reading, the court officials discussed it a lot, and finally the Grand Master nodded and said:
"Your Majesty, this memorial provides a detailed analysis of the livelihoods and geographical environment of the disaster-stricken areas, demonstrating the author's familiarity with the local conditions.
In addition, the idea of using work-for-relief not only avoided civil unrest but also improved the local water system, which was indeed the best policy."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com