Chapter 221 Verbal Strike
Upon hearing this, the female official, after seeing Meng Qing and Du Min off, immediately returned to the palace and reported Du Min's whereabouts to the Empress.
The female saint lay half-reclined on the soft couch, closing her eyes to rest. After a moment of thought, she said, "Have someone secretly leave the palace and retrieve Du Min's memorial for promotion. I will put on a show for him."
"Yes." The female official quickly left.
*
Du Min had already visited Prime Minister Zheng when he arrived in Luoyang three days ago. Today, as soon as he left Shangyang Palace, he headed straight for the Prime Minister's residence, familiar with the area.
As the carriage passed by the former prime minister's residence, Du Min suddenly heard wailing. He parted the curtains and saw several servants hanging mourning banners.
"Stop the carriage and go find out who has passed away in the Xu family," Du Min instructed the driver, pulling down the curtain.
The carriage stopped, and the driver left. A moment later, he ran over and said, "Sir, Prime Minister Xu has passed away."
Du Min: "...Hurry up, hurry up."
He was terrified that if he was recognized even a moment too late, he would be beaten.
Prime Minister Zheng's residence was not far from Prime Minister Xu's residence, but because the Prime Minister's residence occupied a large area, it took the carriage half an incense stick's time to arrive at the gate of Zheng's residence.
Du Min got off the carriage and went to knock on the door himself. The door opened and he was immediately invited inside.
Prime Minister Zheng was having a meal when he heard that Du Min had arrived. He then instructed his servants to set out another set of bowls and chopsticks.
"My lord, I've bothered you again." Du Min strode into the dining room. "Are you having your meal?"
Prime Minister Zheng glanced at him. "Haven't you eaten yet? Sit down."
"Thank you for the meal, sir. I haven't eaten yet; I just came from the palace," Du Min said with a bitter face.
Prime Minister Zheng didn't respond; he continued eating by himself.
"The former prime minister has passed away," Du Min announced with a thunderous announcement.
Prime Minister Zheng raised his head. "Who?"
“Prime Minister Xu passed away today, probably not long ago. On my way here, I passed by the Xu residence and saw the servants hanging mourning banners,” Du Min said.
Prime Minister Zheng laughed, "This old fellow is really living a long life, he's almost eighty."
“The palace probably doesn’t know the news yet. When I left the palace, I didn’t see anything unusual about the Empress.” Du Min brought the topic back on track. He put down his chopsticks and said, “Master, you must save me. Prime Minister Xu is dead, and the Empress wants me to be a tool in her hand. In recent years, the number of people who have lost their land has been increasing, the population has been growing year by year, but the grain tax has not increased and there is even a slight downward trend. The Empress has asked me to reform the grain tax.”
"How to reform?" Prime Minister Zheng was no stranger to this topic. Last winter, when the grain tax was collected and delivered to Luoyang, Empress Wu had raised the issue of grain tax in court.
“Instead of taxing people, we will tax acreage. The female sage plans to investigate all the land in the country. Those who own too much land will not only have to pay ten years' worth of grain tax, but also three years of penal servitude.” Du Min made himself anxious, and his speech became very fast. Then he said heavily, “Huaizhou is the first pilot prefecture.”
Prime Minister Zheng was furious and very unhappy. He complained, "The world is at peace now, the political situation is stable, and the people are living in comfort. Why must we bring about such a big change? Isn't this forcing the people to become restless? The equal-field system has been in place for over a hundred years. How can it be changed so easily?"
Du Min remained silent.
Prime Minister Zheng lost his appetite. He put down his chopsticks and asked, "Was His Majesty present when Empress Wu mentioned this matter?"
Du Min nodded. "His Majesty agrees as well."
Prime Minister Zheng's heart skipped a beat. He ordered his servants to bring his official robes. "I need to go to the palace. You can eat by yourself. Leave when you're full."
Du Min stood up. "I'll be waiting for you to return at the manor."
"Why are you waiting for me? Don't wait for me, I can't help you with this." Prime Minister Zheng glared, knowing that if he continued to interfere, Du Min would come after him.
"My lord, if you don't help me, who will? Can you bear to see me die in the wilderness?" Du Min chased after him.
Prime Minister Zheng ignored him, went back to his room to change his clothes, and after coming out, he ignored Du Min and went straight out of the mansion.
Du Min shamelessly went back to the dining room to eat. He was determined to stay and not leave, because if he did, he might not be able to get in next time.
After the meal, Du Min ignored the strange looks from his servants and had someone bring him a pot of tea.
"Lord Du, your sister-in-law and brother are here; they're looking for you," a servant announced.
Du Min frowned, got up and went out to greet him. Upon seeing him, he spoke first: "Second Brother, you've come at the right time. I was just thinking of sending the coachman back so you could pack me a couple of changes of clothes. I plan to stay at the Prime Minister's residence for a few days."
The servant leading the way couldn't help but speak up: "Lord Du, it seems my master didn't invite you to stay."
"The Prime Minister didn't kick me out." Du Min waved his hand. "Go, go, go, don't get in my way."
The servant rolled his eyes in anger, flung his hand, and left.
"Second Sister-in-law, what's the matter?" Du Min asked in a low voice, "Why did you all come here?"
"Someone from the palace has come and revoked your appointment," Meng Qing relayed the message. "They said they'll give you the memorial later."
Du Min's eyes flickered, and he realized that it was indeed incongruous for him to receive a promotion one moment and then run to Prime Minister Zheng to complain the next.
"You haven't told Prime Minister Zheng about this yet, have you?" Du Li asked.
"No," Du Min shook his head.
"Luckily, I made it in time." Meng Qing was relieved.
"The cooked duck has flown away." Du Min said dejectedly, "I brought this on myself! Sigh! I shouldn't have gone to all that trouble."
Meng Qing smiled and said, "Think long-term; you can only catch big fish by casting a long line. That's all for now; we'll talk again when you get back to the post station."
Du Min nodded, "Second brother, don't forget to send me two sets of clothes."
He needed to think carefully about how to persuade Prime Minister Zheng to support him and get the powerful officials to part with some of their wealth to help the poor. The people would benefit, the emperor would be satisfied, and the powerful families wouldn't suffer any losses—what a wonderful thing!
Meng Qing and Du Li left, and Du Min walked onto the arched bridge, stood on the bridge and stared blankly at the fish in the water for half a day.
When Prime Minister Zheng returned in the evening, he heard from his servants that Du Min had not left yet, and he sighed heavily.
"My lord, you've returned?" Du Min stepped down from the bridge. "What is the attitude of the two sages? Will they change their minds?"
“I already know. This decree is to allow merchants to buy land from gentry, landlords and powerful families. I will not help you. Helping you would be like stabbing the Zheng family of Xingyang with a knife.” Prime Minister Zheng knew that if he were to help Du Min, the first thing he would do was to take the lead and make the Zheng family put their land up for sale.
"The two sages are determined to reform the grain tax; sooner or later, this sword will fall on the heads of the powerful families." Du Min stopped feigning madness and spoke seriously about official business. "Prime Minister, in my opinion, the conflict between people and land in the north is irreconcilable. Huai Prefecture has even resorted to distributing land to the dead to landless able-bodied men. It can be said that many landless people are hoping for the death of their elders, and the social customs are deplorable. If Huai Prefecture is like this, the situation in the Guanzhong Plain, where powerful families are concentrated, is probably even more serious. Will there be an uprising in the future?"
"No." Prime Minister Zheng waved his hand and walked towards the main hall, saying, "The land needs people to cultivate it. Farmers who lose their land can become tenant farmers and won't starve."
Du Min felt a chill in his heart. "Four years ago in Wen County, when I was raising funds to build a paper mill to manage the Yellow River, you were very supportive. I could see your compassion. How could you be so heartless now? Prime Minister Zheng, you are the prime minister of a nation, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, not just a scion of a noble family. Where has your wisdom in governing the country gone? Is your position merely to protect your family's interests? Do you still have any ambition? When you hear the common people respectfully addressing you as 'Your Excellency,' aren't you ashamed? A person of high moral character is called 'Your Excellency'..."
"Shut up! Get out!" Prime Minister Zheng was furious. He turned around and pointed at Du Min, "I have really spoiled you too much, letting you come up to me and act so arrogantly."
"You're not just indulging me, you're indulging yourself too." Du Min stopped addressing him as "Prime Minister Zheng," he said, "why don't you resign and go teach at the Imperial Academy? Reread the classics, rediscover your ambitions, lest in twenty or thirty years, when I hear your death knell, I laugh and say, 'That old geezer really lives, he's almost eighty...'"
With a sharp "smack," Prime Minister Zheng slapped Du Min across the face. "You insolent wretch, you're asking for death!"
Du Min paused for a few seconds, then continued to provoke, "Did I step on your tail?"
"You don't want to leave here alive tonight?" Prime Minister Zheng asked.
"If I can bring down three prime ministers in my lifetime, I'll die happy immediately." Du Min tasted the blood in his mouth, spat it out, and laughed, "After I die, I'll eat the incense offered by my descendants, not their stinking saliva."
Prime Minister Zheng was so angry that his chest heaved.
The night watchman's drum sounded, announcing curfew.
Du Min remained silent.
"You'd better leave as soon as it's light tomorrow morning." Prime Minister Zheng didn't want to see him again.
“I was going to leave anyway, even if you didn’t say anything. We have different paths, so we can’t work together.” Du Min said, and seeing that Prime Minister Zheng was about to leave, he asked, “Prime Minister Zheng, you have been an official for more than 20 years. How many practical things have you done? Is your name on the list of those who have made great contributions to the present and future generations?”
Prime Minister Zheng ignored him and kept walking.
"Having lived a whole life, even rising to the position of prime minister, he still has to live for his family..." Du Min sighed with lingering regret, truly pitiful.
"He is not allowed to sleep in the room tonight," Prime Minister Zheng ordered.
Without saying a word, Du Min went to the front yard and got back into the carriage.
Dinner was already on the table, but Prime Minister Zheng had no appetite. He glanced at it, returned to his study, dismissed the servants, slammed his fist on the table, and cursed, "Shameless brat! I have spoiled him too much, spoiled him to the point that he has no sense of hierarchy! A lowly official dares to yell at me?"
As the night grew quiet, faint mournful music drifted through the air. Prime Minister Zheng couldn't help but recall Du Min's insults, and a sharp pain shot through his chest. How could that old scoundrel Xu compare to him? Why hadn't he done anything of merit for the present and future generations? If it weren't for him, would paper effigies have spread so rapidly throughout the Tang Dynasty? But the thought that the paper effigies were related to Du Min and Meng Qing made him feel guilty.
Prime Minister Zheng didn't sleep all night, nor did Du Min. The former was too angry to sleep, while the latter couldn't fall asleep. The servants of the Prime Minister's residence harassed Du Min all night.
After the curfew was lifted, Du Min couldn't wait to instruct the driver to drive away.
When Prime Minister Zheng did not see Du Min when he went out, he felt a little better.
But the next day at Prime Minister Xu's funeral, the two met again. Du Min was not well received in the Prime Minister's mansion. He was about to leave after a perfunctory worship, but he did not expect to meet Prime Minister Zheng outside the mansion.
When Prime Minister Zheng saw Du Min, his expression twisted for a moment.
"Prime Minister Zheng." Du Min went to greet him.
Prime Minister Zheng glanced at him but ignored him completely.
Those who witnessed this couldn't help but wonder, "Has the aristocratic prime minister finally decided to distance himself from officials from humble backgrounds?"
“I misspoke the night before. Five years ago, you went to great lengths to scheme for the position of prime minister, sacrificing a lot of your family’s interests. It’s clear that you weren’t unwilling to take a knife to the Zheng family of Xingyang; you were only concerned with whether it would benefit you,” Du Min said softly. “You weren’t doing it to protect your family; you were just afraid of trouble, occupying the position without doing anything.”
"Don't be so presumptuous!" Prime Minister Zheng's face turned ashen. "Are you betting that I won't do anything to you?"
“No, it’s that I know that if we can’t form an alliance, we will definitely become enemies.” Du Min sighed. “Have you forgotten the burden I bear? I’m going to investigate the land under the names of the aristocratic families, and sooner or later I’ll find the Zheng family of Xingyang.”
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