The sandstorm stopped in the afternoon and the capital city turned into a yellow world.

There was total silence in Wenyuan Pavilion, but the light was on in the Prime Minister's duty room.

The two Grand Secretaries Liu Dongxing and Xu Guo were also there. The three of them had been silent for a long time as they sat around Ding Cilu's impeachment memorial.

"Too vicious!" After a long while, Xu Guofang angrily slammed the table and said, "They are making far-fetched claims and fabricating stories. Are they going to start a literary inquisition?!"

"Yes, this is the original text from The Analects, and it is not what they meant by editing it!" Liu Dongxing also nodded and said, "What a vicious intention!"

The original text of "The Analects" is... Yao said: "Zhi! Er Shun! The destiny of heaven is in your body, hold it firmly. The four seas are in poverty, and the blessing of heaven will end forever. "Shun also ordered Yu.

Meaning, when Yao gave up his throne to Shun, he said: "Hey, you Shun! Now it's your turn to be the boss. You have to do it well. If you can't do it, you'd better get rid of it as soon as possible." Then Shun said the same thing when he passed the throne to Yu...

But this is Confucius talking about 'the Mandate of Heaven is not immutable', and the focus of the discussion is on Yao and Shun's view of the Mandate of Heaven, rather than the way they inherited the throne.

"I know, you know, he knows, and the three of us all know." Prime Minister Zhao said while smoking his hookah with a sad face, "But what's the use? Doesn't the emperor know?"

"Of course the emperor knows. He is the student that Grand Tutor Zhang has taught with great difficulty for more than ten years." Xu Guo said angrily, "Since the emperor has read this memorial, he should just approve it directly. What does it mean that he did not approve anything after reading it and sent it to the cabinet again? Is he testing us?!"

"Hey, Yuanfu, how should we pay for this ticket?" Liu Dongxing and Zhao Shouzheng were of the same age, and Zhao Shouzheng and Xu Guo were from the same hometown. But Liu Dongxing and Xu Guo were not of the same kind, so he did not agree with his complaints.

"..." Zhao Shouzheng shook his head and muttered, "I won't draft it for now. I plan to write a letter to discuss this matter, as well as the matter with Brother Rumo. The trend of infighting in the court is rampant now, and everyone is in danger. What's the point of me, the Prime Minister, pretending to be deaf and dumb?"

"Think twice, Prime Minister." Liu Dongxing advised hurriedly: "Prime Minister has said before that the emperor has been suppressed for a long time, and now is the time for him to take power in revenge. We should try our best to guide him and not oppose him forcefully. Otherwise, the consequences will be disastrous! It is better to wait until he has had enough fun and calmed down, and then clean up the situation one by one."

"I'm afraid it will be too late." Zhao Shouzheng shook his head slowly and said, "When Rumo submitted his resignation letter, he advised me not to rush to express my position. But now it seems that those people will not stop until they dig up Master Zhang's ancestral grave and kill all those who stand in their way."

"The Prime Minister hit the point!" Xu Guo echoed loudly, "That's exactly what's going on! Are they trying to settle accounts with Grand Tutor Zhang? They're basically challenging the cabinet and want to go back to the old days of nine dragons governing the waters!"

It is also very interesting to say that when the storm of love was seized, Xu Guo still stood with the censors. He ignored the surveillance of the factory guards and sent Ai Mu, who was beaten with a stick in the court, off. He also gave him a precious jade cup with a poem engraved on it: "What are the spots? Bian's tears. What are the bright ones? Orchid's vitality. Pursue it and polish it, and it will become a tool forever."

He also gave another exiled person, Zou Yuanbiao, a rhinoceros horn cup with a poem engraved on it: "The horn of Wenyang is dark and dark. I would rather cut out its heart than break its head. The Yellow River is in the middle, wishing you longevity."

It can be said that he was generous with his praises for both of them.

Who knows that things are unpredictable, when he became a cabinet minister and faced the censors again, he finally realized the pain of Zhang Xianggong and the hateful censors.

Liu Dongxing wanted to say something else, but Zhao Shouzheng waved his hand, put down his hookah and said, "I have made up my mind, Jinchuan doesn't need to persuade me anymore. Putting aside personal feelings, as the Prime Minister, I must also uphold justice and correct discipline."

"I'm afraid this is not the answer the emperor wants." Liu Dongxing said with some difficulty.

"Giving the emperor whatever he wants, wouldn't that be flattery?" Xu Guo snorted and said, "It is a small crime to dislike the emperor, but it is a big crime to dislike him every time!"

"That's easy to say." Liu Dongxing glanced at him depressedly and said, "Those people are eager for Yuan Fu to come forward. Do you believe that once this memorial is submitted, they will immediately impeach Yuan Fu for being a member of Zhang's party?!"

"But we can't be afraid of them!" Xu Guo raised his voice and said, "Prime Minister, I will sign a petition with you to put an end to this unhealthy trend! If the emperor is really deceived by the villains and brings up an unjust case, I will go to the imperial prison with you!"

"Reckless! That's exactly what they're trying to do to provoke me!" Liu Dongxing said angrily.

"Okay, okay." Zhao Shouzheng quickly stopped the two of them and coughed, "It's getting late. You should go back first. Let me think about it. We'll discuss it tomorrow."

"Prime Minister..." The two hadn't argued enough.

"Okay, my head hurts." Zhao Shouzheng closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples.

"Alas. We'll leave first." Xu Guo and Liu Dongxing reluctantly said goodbye. Even after they were quite far away, they could still hear their argument.

Zhao Shouzheng shook his head and smiled bitterly, preparing to compose a memorial. But he felt that there was too much to say and didn't know where to start.

And it really hurts my brain...

He picked up the cloisonné-enamel white copper hookah, lifted the pipe slightly, and blew gently through the straw, blowing out only a ball of dark red ash from the bowl. Then he replaced it with a bunch of tobacco, lit it, and started to puff.

He fell asleep in his chair before he finished smoking a pack of cigarettes.

He was awakened only when the clock in the corner rang. Then he saw his most loyal friend Fan Datong waiting for him.

Zhao Shouzheng wiped the water from the corners of his mouth embarrassedly and said, "How long have I slept?

"Two hours."

"Oh, why didn't you wake me up?" Zhao Shouzheng couldn't help but complain as he looked at the empty question book.

Fan Datong smiled and said, "Brother, you work hard day and night, it would be great if you could rest for a while."

"I have something important to do." Zhao Shouzheng picked up the brush, looked at the dry tip, and put it down again, saying, "Forget it, let's go home."

There is a writer at home, why do I have to work so hard...

~~

The next morning, Zhao Shouzheng presented the title book that the writer had written overnight.

He asked the emperor not to believe the fabricated and far-fetched accusations, otherwise slander would follow. He also requested that Ding Cilu, who ignored the imperial edict and framed the ministers for treason, be transferred from the Censorate to a local post to serve as a warning to others.

In addition, Zhao Shouzheng also took the initiative to mention the case in which several censors impeached the examiner for opening a backdoor for the son of Grand Tutor Zhang. He explained that "the examiner only looked at the literature and art, how could he know the name, it seems inappropriate to charge him with this." Moreover, when Shen Shixing was the chief examiner, he was the deputy chief examiner, which can prove that he was impartial from beginning to end.

However, in order to maintain the sanctity of the Talent Selection Ceremony, and to protect the reputation of Zhang Wenzhong, the examiners, and Jingxiu, the Censorate and the Ministry of Rites can review the examination papers of Jingxiu and others to see if there is any evidence of collusion. If there is evidence of collusion, I will take the blame along with Shen Shixing.

In addition, the Ministry of Personnel can be ordered to work with the Censorate to assess the official evaluations of Jingxiu and the other four to determine whether they should be removed or retained. In short, everything should be done according to procedures, and one should not just stay at the level of moral attacks, which would delay everything.

Finally, Zhao Shouzheng reminded Wanli that as the Prime Minister, his responsibility was to "balance yin and yang". So what is yin and what is yang? Through his years of experience in politics, he believed that moral ideals that can be expressed verbally are "yang". Those private desires that cannot be told to others are "yin".

In people's hearts, yin and yang often coexist, and I am no exception. But as a gentleman, you must balance the yin and yang in your heart, and as the prime minister, you must reconcile the yin and yang in the court.

Therefore, he must stand up so that "the unworthy will still know to be cautious, and the virtuous will have someone to rely on", and let the government return to the right track.

Finally, Zhao Shouzheng advised earnestly that it was because Your Majesty had not been to court for a long time that such chaos and confusion arose. So, hurry up and go to work, Your Majesty...

This earnestly-worded memorial fully demonstrates a prime minister's ability to regulate yin and yang.

While admonishing the emperor, he also reviewed the recent political trends in the court, telling the emperor that no one was a fool and everyone knew what was going on. He also reminded Wanli not to be used by others.

At the same time, it saved the emperor's face and gave the emperor enough way out... It seemed that everything would be fine as long as Wanli resumed attending court.

Moreover, he did not "swipe a large area with a stick", but only targeted Ding Cilu. He only asked for a slight punishment and a characterization of the incident.

After reading the full text, the image of an assistant who takes the overall situation into consideration and criticizes Chen Shan comes to life on the paper, which is very moving.

Unfortunately, not everyone bought into his trick. After hearing Zhao Shouzheng's memorial, Li Zhi was shocked and knew that he could not back down on this matter, otherwise all his efforts would be wasted!

He immediately organized people to impeach Zhao Shouzheng. "As a prime minister, he did not think about rectifying the chaos and opening up the channels for people to speak freely. Instead, he followed the example of his predecessor and clamped down on the government!" He also tried his best to cover up for his predecessor. Could it be that he had some unspeakable secrets with his predecessor?

They also used Zhao Shouzheng's suggestion to transfer Ding Cilu to another place, convened a meeting of the imperial court, and tried their best to publicize the ancestral system of Taizu and the innocence of censors in discussing matters! They incited the censors to unite against the enemy and attack the prime minister together!

However, they soon discovered that they had stirred up a hornet's nest...

On the day Zhao Shouzheng was impeached, he submitted his resignation as per the usual procedure and returned home to await further action.

On the same day, the two remaining cabinet members, Liu Dongxing and Xu Guo, jointly submitted a petition to the emperor asking him to retain the prime minister and restrain the censors!

So Li Zhi and his party impeached the two grand secretaries, who also submitted their resignations and returned home, leaving the cabinet empty.

The struggle between the censors and the cabinet finally became a heated debate and was revealed to the world!

But soon, Zhao Jin, the Minister of Personnel, Wu Shilai, the Left Censor-in-Chief, Shi Xing, the Deputy Censor-in-Chief, Yang Wei, the Minister of Revenue, Shen Li, the Minister of Rites, Shi Xing, the Minister of War, Pan Jixun, the Minister of Works, Lu Guangzu, the Minister of Public Administration, Wen Chun, the Minister of Justice, and fourteen other assistant ministers, including Chu Yu and Zhang Wei, also joined the battle. They all submitted petitions to support the cabinet and oppose the abuse of power by the censors and the bullying of the prime minister!

ps. No more tonight.