Chapter 159: October Difficulty
"What's wrong?" Song Yuzhu took the memorial from her hand, read it, and his face darkened.
This was a memorial jointly submitted by thirty-seven officials, whose purpose was to persuade Song Yuzhu to revoke his decision and not allow women to serve as officials in the court.
The memorial was written with sharp words, using the words "dust, dirt and chaff" to describe women, and also saying that if the emperor appointed female officials, they would rather resign than serve in the court with women.
Song Yuzhu put down the memorial and said, "Changle, if this matter were handed over to you, what would you do?"
Song Yutong's nature was to dismiss all these dirty guys, but she was afraid that she would be too tough and make her brother unhappy.
She picked up a brush and wrote and drew on the memorials, selecting officials above the fourth rank, and then selecting a few dispensable positions from among them.
"Brother Emperor, look at these people. Their official positions do not affect the operation of the court. There is no need to keep the remaining minor officials. We can just eliminate them and promote the people below them."
Song Yuzhu read it carefully and found that it was just as her sister said. Although the names on the memorial looked scary, they were not pillars of the court and their removal would not cause any serious consequences.
"What are you going to do with these people?"
Song Yutong propped up his chin and said, "Why not banish them to a remote area?"
"No, they must be resentful of being demoted, and sending them to remote areas may not necessarily serve the people."
"What should we do then?" Song Yutong asked.
"Since they don't want to serve in the court with women, I will agree. Go back to farming." Song Yuzhu waved his hand and dismissed all 37 officials.
Song Yutong's eyes lit up. It turned out that her brother thought the same way!
*
In the backyard of the Taichang Temple Minister's house, more than thirty officials were waiting anxiously.
Bi Rui, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, has been talking non-stop since he entered the room: "I told you it's not appropriate to submit a memorial rashly. What should we do if we anger the emperor? Should we quit our job as an official?"
He regretted signing the memorial yesterday. Xu Xiang and the six ministers hadn't said anything yet, so why was he joining in the fun? Seeing that his boss was about to retire, maybe he could get a permanent job next year. Now that this kind of thing had happened, he should not help others!
Luo Jingwen, the Minister of the Imperial Household, pretended to be calm and said, "Master Bi, don't be anxious. The emperor can't dismiss us all. Just wait patiently."
"You said that lightly, but what if you really get removed from office?"
"What can I do? It wasn't me who started it." Bi Rui jumped the highest at the beginning, but now he starts to regret it and blames this and that. What's wrong with him!
Yin Bogeng, the leader, was holding a string of diamonds in his hand.
Although he looked calm on the outside, he was actually beating his drum in his heart. However, he was the Left Censor-in-Chief, whose job was to investigate and impeach officials, to clear up injustices, to supervise the various provinces, and to be the eyes and ears of the emperor, so he did not do anything wrong in this matter.
"You two stop arguing. There is no result yet. It's useless to argue like that. Just listen to Lord Luo and wait for the news."
The two men sat down angrily. The remaining minor officials became panicked when they saw their appearance. Although they did not say it, anyone could see that they looked pale and dejected.
At about noon, a minor official came running in from outside and said, "Oh, something terrible has happened!"
Yin Boyeng's hand trembled, and the diamond in his hand suddenly broke, and the beads fell to the ground.
Everyone didn't have time to help him pick up the pearls, and they all rushed over to ask, "What's wrong? What happened?"
The messenger had barely caught his breath when he dropped a thunderbolt: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty wants to dismiss all the people mentioned in this memorial!"
"Ah?!" Bi Ruiru fell into the ice cellar and felt cold from head to toe.
Yin Bogeng's face was as pale as ice, and he asked anxiously, "Are you serious?"
"Absolutely true!"
As soon as the words fell, cries of grief arose everywhere. Many people here had bright futures before, but now they have been implicated and lost their jobs. What should they do?
Luo Jingwen said anxiously: "What should we do? How about we go to the palace and ask the emperor for mercy?"
Yin Bogeng quickly stopped him: "The emperor is very angry now. If we go there, not only will he not show mercy, but he will even hold us accountable!"
"What do you think we should do?"
"Yes, Lord Yin, please think of a solution!"
"We followed you to submit the memorial at the beginning, and now such a big thing has happened. You have to help us." Everyone talked at once, treating Yin Boyeng as a life-saving straw.
In fact, Yin Bogeng was unsure either. He never expected that the emperor would be so ruthless as to dismiss everyone.
"Everyone, please be patient. This matter is of great importance and I have to go back and find a solution." After saying this, he left in a hurry.
The others looked at each other in amazement, and then set their eyes on the Minister of Taichang Temple. Luo Jingwen himself was in a difficult situation, so how could he care about them?
He immediately issued an order to expel everyone. Everyone stood at the door and cursed loudly until dark before going home.
After leaving Luo Mansion, Yin Bogeng did not go home or rush into the palace to plead for mercy. Instead, he went directly to the home of his mentor, Councillor Lin Haiqiong.
Lord Lin had heard about this. When he saw Yin Bogeng, he shook his head and sighed, "You are so brave that you dare to openly challenge the emperor's authority."
"I know I was wrong, I beg you to save me!"
"Although I also hate women being officials, this time there are only six ministries recruiting people. What does this have to do with the Inspectorate? Why do you have to get involved in this mess?"
Yin Bogeng regretted that he should not have listened to his friend's words and aroused his male chauvinism.
But at this point, it's too late to say anything. As long as he can keep his position, he has no need to say anything, let alone let a woman become an official, even if she becomes his immediate superior.
Seeing his expression, Lin Haiqiong snorted and laughed, "There is no room for retreat in this matter."
"Please teach me, Master!"
"Come here."
Yin Bogeng leaned forward and Lin Haiqiong whispered something in his ear.
"This...is this possible?"
Lin Haiqiong's eyes were filled with a fierce smile: "Whether it works or not, don't you have to try it? Otherwise, it would be decent to be dismissed and go home?"
Yin Bogeng gritted his teeth and nodded: "Okay, then I will give it a try!"
After leaving the Lin Mansion, he went straight home and ordered his servants to start counting the household belongings in preparation for returning home.
Mrs. Yin was a little curious and asked him what happened and why he put all the things in the house into cages.
Yin Bogeng was already feeling annoyed, and when asked, he didn't respond in a good tone: "Just do what I tell you to do, why are you asking so many questions?"
Madam Yin sighed, not daring to ask any more questions, and quickly ordered the servants to pack up.
That night, the imperial edict to dismiss the officials was delivered to every household.
Everyone in Yin's mansion finally understood why the master had asked everyone to pack up during the day. It turned out that he had been dismissed from his post and was preparing to return to his hometown...
After receiving the imperial edict, Bi Rui became so angry that he fell ill.
When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. He had made many friends in the Ministry of Personnel before, but now that he was dismissed from office, not a single one came to visit him, which put an end to his idea of going to the palace to plead for mercy.
The imperial edict ordered them to pack up their belongings and return to their hometown within three days, otherwise the imperial guards would be sent to drive them out of the capital. He had no choice but to drag his sick body to pack up his belongings and prepare to return home.
*
It was not until the next morning court session that the other ministers learned that such a big thing had occurred.
Thirty-seven officials were dismissed at once, including fourteen officials of the fifth rank and above. It has to be said that the emperor was really angry this time.
Song Yuzhu sat upright on the dragon chair, looked at the officials below with cold eyes and said: "I know that some of you must think that my punishment is too heavy. I'm putting my words here. If you don't want to work, pack up and get out. I don't lack capable people!"
The officials below were silent and frightened, not daring to make a sound.
"What is an official for? I don't need to teach you, right?"
"Your Majesty, please calm down." The ministers knelt one after another.
Zhang Qikai listened to the emperor's words, cold sweat dripped down his temples, and his clothes on his back were soaked. Fortunately, Qin Fengtu reminded him that day, otherwise he would be the one to be kicked out now!
After the morning court session, Liu Lin saw that he was sweating all over his face. He took out a handkerchief from his bosom and handed it to him, saying, "Is it that hot, Lord Zhang? Look at how sweaty you are."
"No, it's okay. I'm fat."
Zhang Qikai wiped his forehead and thought to himself: How would you know the mental ups and downs I just went through?
"You should lose some weight. Being too heavy affects your health."
"Yes, yes, yes." Zhang Qikai agreed. The two of them walked out of the main hall and saw Qin Fengtu waiting not far away.
Liu Lin: "The Ministry of Revenue has something else to do, so I won't accompany you any longer."
"Go get busy."
Zhang Qikai sent him away, then hurried to Qin Fengtu and said, "Thanks to you! Otherwise, I would have lost my dignity!"
Qin Fengtu put his hands behind his back and whispered, "How can the emperor be easily controlled? In the future, stay as far away from such things as possible."
I thought the incident was over after he was dismissed from office, but unexpectedly the turmoil arose again not long after. This incident happened in the south of the Yangtze River and was known in history as the October Disaster.
*
On October 20, Yin Bogeng returned to his old home in Jiangnan with his family.
After returning home, he did not sit idle, but called old friends to chat, and exaggerated the reasons for his demotion.
Many of these friends were local teachers. They sympathized with his situation, but were also disgusted by the emperor's failure to distinguish right from wrong.
Especially in recent years, after the establishment of schools across the country, private academies have been gradually banned, and scholars are no longer respected as before. Now allowing women to enter the court is really a retrograde act and contrary to human ethics!
Although they dare not say these words to students' faces, they can convey these ideas to them.
Those young boys were at the age of being fearless and brave, and when they heard it, they raised their arms and shouted, asking the emperor to restore the imperial examination system for selecting officials and abolish women's qualifications for studying.
The incident escalated from a few people at the beginning to hundreds of people later.
Many failed scholars joined in the fun. They took to the streets and marched with banners that read "Only women and villains are difficult to raise."
Yin Bogeng's youngest daughter felt bored after returning to her hometown and happened to see this scene when she was out on the street.
She was studious since childhood. After she was enlightened, she was fluent in the Four Books and Five Classics and was proficient in mathematics and astronomy.
After the emperor allowed women to serve as officials, she had already made plans to be admitted to Beijing University and serve as an official. However, her father always disagreed and locked her up at home and did not allow her to go out.
Now that I have been implicated and returned to my hometown, I have no chance to go to university again.
Seeing these sour scholars belittling women in such a way, she became furious and ran up to argue with them.
Those sour scholars looked down upon her because of her young age, but Yin Qing's few words left them speechless.
"You all put up this banner saying that women and villains are hard to raise, but aren't you all raised by women?"
A man with a rat-like face said, "What has the scholar's affairs got to do with you, you sharp-tongued little girl?"
"It's not that you are a scholar just because you can write a few sour poems. You are well-educated and know etiquette. I see that you are all rude and unreasonable, which doesn't look like what scholars do."
"You, you are looking for death!" The man rushed up, grabbed Yin Qing's hair and slapped her.
Yin Qing was not someone who would allow herself to be bullied, so she raised her leg and kicked him in the crotch, then turned around, grabbed the maid and ran away.
Someone in the crowd threw a stone, which hit Yin Qing on the back of the head, and blood gushed out immediately!
"Oh no! Someone's been murdered!"
(End of this chapter)
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