As soon as he finished speaking, Minister Ling Weiliang immediately objected.
This official surnamed Kong was the only son of his teacher, Mr. Kong. Mr. Kong was old and in poor health. He might die at any time, so he had to have a son to see him off.
Moreover, Confucius once served as the Prince's Tutor of the late emperor. In a sense, he was the late emperor's teacher. Our dynasty values benevolence and filial piety, so how could we let Confucius be childless in his later years? The more important thing is that Confucius, a fourth-rank official, is not very capable and has no experience as a local official.
The Minister of the Chancellery joined in and opposed Lord Kong's appointment as the prefect of Xiangyin Prefecture. He glanced at Prince Qinghe, who was wearing the royal uniform, and was very disgusted. Prince Qinghe held military power and monopolized power. Many officials in the court were his people, so he recommended Lord Wu, who was both talented and capable, to be the prefect of Xiangyin Prefecture.
Prince Qinghe glanced at the Shangshu Ling with displeasure, because Wu Shaolun was an important official of his faction!
The Shangshu Ling turned a deaf ear to it. He recommended Wu Shaolun on purpose. Don't think he didn't know that the official who recommended Lord Kong was from the Qinghe King's lineage. He took great pains to send his third son to study in the Kong family's private school, hoping that under the guidance of Lord Kong, his third son would be on the list of candidates for the imperial examination next year.
Prince Qinghe wanted to demote Confucius' only son to a place of trouble. How could he let Prince Qinghe get his wish?
Zhao Zixu knew Wu Shaolun, so he agreed to the recommendation of the Shangshu Ling.
After the morning court session, officials dispersed in groups of three or four.
Yu Xuanji rarely attended the morning court and witnessed the long-lost court events. Without consulting with the court officials, he directly issued an order to abolish Dongting County. It was clear that His Majesty had already intended to abolish the county governor. The reason why he abolished Dongting County first was that, first, the Yuezhou case provided an opportunity to abolish the county governor, and second, His Majesty wanted to tell the court officials that his determination to abolish the county governor could not be changed!
Promoting Wu Shaolun from a fourth-rank official to a fourth-rank official seemed like a promotion, but in fact it was a demotion from the court.
Yu Xuanji thought that His Majesty would definitely make some big moves next.
Prince Qinghe looked at Lu Jin, who was walking in front side by side with Minister Wang, and thought to himself that it was time to teach him a lesson.
Lu Jin and Zhao Zixu, the uncle and nephew, worked together and easily kicked the people he had placed in the Ministry of War out of Tokyo.
After school, Ye Zelin heard about the abolition of Dongting County. Thinking of the sullen face of King Qinghe, he was happy for a long time. He bought a jar of the best Huadiao, some delicacies, and hot water at Lefeng Tower, and returned home to celebrate with Hua Fushu.
Hua Fushu didn't know why he was so happy. When she asked him, he didn't say anything, so she didn't ask again. As long as he was happy, she would be happy too.
During the meal, Hua Fushu said, "Ye Zelin, Wutongju has been renovated. The rockery and the small pond are complete, and the bamboo has been moved in. The Wutong tree hasn't been cut down. Your grandfather wouldn't allow it, saying it's unlucky to move it. All that's missing is the furniture. We need to choose an auspicious day to move. I checked the almanac, and there are only two auspicious days for moving: July 20th and August 1st. Which one do you think we should choose?"
Ye Zelin asked, "What do you mean?"
Hua Fushu said, "Today is the sixteenth, and there are still four days left. I feel a little rushed. I have some things to pack up. How about moving on the first day of next month? The main thing is that I haven't decided on a name for the new house yet."
Ye Zelin said: "Okay, as you say."
After dinner, someone came to Feiyuan. It was Yuzhi. Yuzhi said that the old man wanted to ask the second young master something. Ye Zelin didn’t want to go, but he went anyway.
Hua Fushu took this opportunity to go to Fengquexuan. Liuzhi had come over before and said that Dugu Lanxi was feeling a little unwell.
Dugu Lanxi was checking the accounts. When he heard Liuzhi say that the second lady had arrived, he stood up to greet her.
Hua Fushu glanced at the book on the table and asked, "Sister-in-law, are you looking at the account book?"
Dugu Lanxi said, "These are the account books of the farmland and shop in the mansion. I need to take a look."
There were more than a dozen thick account books on the table. Hua Fushu asked, "So many?"
Dugu Lanxi smiled and said, "More than that, I have finished reading some of them, and there are still some left. Some are with mother, and mother will share them with me."
Hua Fushu asked, "How many fields and shops does our family have? Why are there so many account books?"
Dugu Lanxi said, "Quite a lot. Most of the fields and farms are meritorious fields, which were rewards from Taizu and successive emperors. Meritorious fields cannot be bought or sold at will, and can only be rented out to tenants to collect rent. As for the other fields and shops, most of them are dowries from the ladies. The dowries of the late grandmother and concubine Xu are in the hands of grandfather, and he and concubine Xu manage them. I don't have to worry about them."
Hua Fushu nodded in response. The Ye family did not have much ancestral property, but they had a lot of meritorious fields. These were all rewards given to the martyrs of the Ye family for their military exploits. They were of special significance to the Ye family and could not be bought or sold at will. Otherwise, how could they face the heroes of the Ye family?
"Hua'er, you must be tired from going to the clinic every day. Why did you come here without taking a good rest?" Dugu Lanxi asked Hua Fushu why she came.
Hua Fushu said, "Liuzhi said you had a fever, so I came over to check on you. Sister-in-law, are you feeling better?"
Dugu Lanxi said softly, "I'm fine. I took some medicine and my fever has gone down."
Hua Fushu said, "Let me take a look for you."
Dugu Lanxi declined, and Hua Fushu had to give up.
After leaving Fengquexuan, Hua Fushu took Zaidao to Rongliyuan to say goodnight to his parents-in-law.
The rules of the Ye Mansion were not as numerous or strict as those of other princely residences. Daughters-in-law were not required to pay their respects to Madam Ouyang every morning and evening; a visit every two or three days, or even every four or five days, was acceptable. Therefore, Hua Fushu would sometimes skip paying her respects to Madam Ouyang in the morning and go in the evening to pay her respects. As for the greetings to Madam Ouyang, Hua Fushu could choose to do so. Unless absolutely necessary, she couldn't even enter the Fei Courtyard. The old general would have her kicked out. This had happened several times before, and since she didn't have a good impression of the Fei Courtyard, she avoided paying her respects whenever possible.
The ease with which the daughters-in-law could pay their respects was a result of Ye Shiheng's efforts. Legend has it that many years ago, Madam Ouyang was pregnant, but her signs of pregnancy were not good. General Ye had always disliked Madam Ouyang as a daughter-in-law, and he had her come to pay her respects daily. However, one day, Madam Ouyang suffered a miscarriage and nearly lost the child. Later, Ye Shiheng flew into a rage, berated his father, and refused to allow Madam Ouyang to pay her respects. Madam Ouyang, unwilling to see Ye Shiheng fall out with his father because of her, did not pay her respects daily, but she did visit the Feiyuan every few days.
Like Hua Fushu, Madam Ouyang was often driven out or could not enter the Feiyuan Gate, but for more than twenty years, Madam Ouyang never stopped paying her respects.
When Hua Fushu knew about this, he laughed at Madam Ouyang, asking why she was so stupid. The old general hated her so much, yet she came to him to get scolded?
Ye Zelin told her that his mother was not stupid, and only by doing this could his mother gain a firm foothold in the Ye family.
Ye Zelin said that everyone in the mansion knew that the old general disliked his mother, but people outside did not know it. Madam Ouyang was always ignored when she came to pay her respects. Everyone in the mansion knew that Madam Ouyang was virtuous, and the old general was unreasonable and bullied his daughter-in-law.
In short, as virtuous as Mrs. Ouyang is, the old general is as hateful.
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