Chapter 258 King Qi is capable of handling matters
Minister Liu's face was grimacing at the rebuke, but he still had the basic qualities of a civil servant. He didn't yell like the Duke of Ling had just done, but simply retorted with a sarcastic retort.
“Although I don’t know where Minister Qin got all these information from, the petition in my hand cannot be false.
The descendants of the Deng family have always been talented, and in the previous dynasty, they had produced three imperial tutors. The Princess of Qi suppressed the sons of the Deng family from showing their talents, and instead promoted a young woman to be the manager of the Salt Administration.
May I ask Your Highness the Prince of Qi, is this true?"
"have!"
Li Laosi is an honest and capable person. He will answer any questions you ask.
"I know what you're asking about. I was the one who sent the Deng family's grandson back home.
The girl from the Deng family who came out to manage things was the eldest daughter of Deng Heng, the Tongzhi of Dongling Prefecture. And that so-called talented man from the Deng family you mentioned was nothing but a scumbag who had no skills and was only behind the scenes spreading rumors and causing trouble!
When my wife first set up the workshop, it was to find a job for the people in the city. No matter whether you are a man or a woman, young or old, as long as you have the ability and can do it well, you can come and try.
As for why the women were also dragged out to compete with the men for the management position, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. It's because the money for setting up the workshop in the beginning was used from the dowries of these women!
Li Chengxiu rubbed his nose, looking like a rogue who said, "As long as I don't mind being embarrassed, no one can do anything to me."
"A few years ago, I was so poor that I had to beg for food. Who among you doesn't know that? Where would I get the money to open a workshop?
My wife and all the other women in the city sold their dowries to scrape together enough money to build the stage. If you really want to be picky, these businesses are all their own private property!
We, grown men, are already living off the old lady, do we really have to force ourselves to live off her? If we do that, are we still human beings? If any of you can do it, go ahead and do it. Anyway, I have no dignity and I won’t do such a shameless thing! "
You're just a gigolo, so what do you mean by saying it out loud and proudly? The emperor coughed repeatedly while sitting on the dragon throne, his old face flushed with shame.
The prince was a bit more resilient, and waved his hand tiredly at his annoying brother, signaling him to stop talking. But as a proud henchman, could Li Laosi be stopped just because Li Laosan wanted to?
No way!
So all the civil and military officials in the court listened to His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi continue to talk with a happy face.
"My wife said that food is the most important thing for people.
The world is vast, but nothing is more important than the people being able to fill their stomachs! So whether you are a man or a woman, as long as you have the ability, go ahead.
As for those who are incompetent and can only envy others and complain nonsense behind their backs... Don't say he is a man, even if he is my father, I will not tolerate him!
Oh, there's one more thing. I'll explain it to you here first, so that no one comes up and complains later."
Li Chengxiu's face turned serious.
"I know some of you might want to ask, did the Princess of Qi take control of the military power?
Now I can tell you, it’s not the princess who has encroached upon my rights, it’s her kindness that I need to thank!
Perhaps you should be grateful instead of standing here complaining and stirring up trouble. If Dongling Mansion is occupied, who can guarantee that the flames of war won't one day spread to the capital?"
There was murderous intent in his eyes.
"When Dali provoked me, I went to the Dali border with the Dongling army. The Liao and Linyue peoples wanted to take advantage of the situation and led their armies to the city.
Do you know how many people came?
A full 300,000 troops!
At that time, the only people in the entire Dongling Mansion who could actually go to the battlefield to fight were the 5,000 private soldiers that I left for the princess and the few guards in the hands of the Dongling Mansion garrison. Together, there were less than 40,000 people.
Minister Liu, guess how they managed to defend the city?"
The Minister of Rites certainly knew the general details of this battle. He could not say against his conscience that the Princess of Qi had no contribution, so he could only remain silent.
Li Chengxiu snorted coldly.
"She is my wife, the princess whom you are implicating!
Not only did she not run away under protection, but she dragged her pregnant body to the wall tower and led the elderly, weak, women and children in the city to defend the city and fight the enemy!
You said that in my fiefdom, men and women are all mixed together, right? I admit that you are right, but so what? This right was won by those women fighting for their lives on the city walls!
If I don't give them this fair right, then wouldn't their lives be lost in vain on the battlefield?
So no matter what you say, as long as Dongling Mansion remains my fiefdom, I have the final say. In Dongling Mansion, women are treated like men, and men are treated like animals!
If you have any problems, just come to me, Li Chengxiu, and don’t mess with my wife.
This is the situation. If anyone else wants to sue me, please come forward quickly to avoid the hassle of suing them one by one later."
By the way, he also looked up at his emperor father in a very bachelor-like manner, his eyes casting a cricket-like gaze on the prince.
"If you really think that I, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi, am not capable of defending the country's borders, why not give me a rich fiefdom in exchange?
I think Jiangnan Road is pretty good, with high beds, soft pillows, and a land of fish and rice. I heard that the water flowing out of the Qiu River has the fragrance of rouge. I really want to stay there!
Minister Liu, can you please ask for mercy for this prince? I won’t be picky, just throw my Qi Wangfu to Jiangnan Road and let me and my princess fend for ourselves there!
Oh, you know how to enjoy life!
Minister Liu became quiet after being scolded. He raised his eyes and glanced at the crown prince subtly, then quickly bowed to the King of Qi as an apology, and then stood back in the line properly and stopped jumping around.
The emperor sat on the dragon throne with no special expression on his face. At the end, he just waved his hand with a slightly tired look.
"If you, my dear ministers, have nothing else to do, please withdraw from the court. The Crown Prince and the King of Qi, please stay for a moment and follow me to the study."
"yes!"
"yes!"
"I will take my leave!"
The whole morning's court meeting flew by in the midst of verbal sparring. After the chief steward Wang announced the adjournment of the court in a shrill voice, the ministers filed out.
The civil and military ministers walked side by side. Duke Ling would glance at Prime Minister Ji next to him from time to time. After glancing back and forth many times, the other party frowned and asked in a cold voice.
"But is there something wrong?"
"It's okay."
He said it was fine, but he still took a look every two steps. After finally leaving the palace, Prime Minister Ji found a time when there were few people around and turned to stare at the big black bear with an expressionless face.
"Let it go if you want."
"Hey, Old Ji, you're becoming more and more of a piece of shit. Who are you scolding? You're the head of the civil service, and we're people of such high status now. Can you please be more careful with your words?"
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