An inconspicuous carriage drove slowly along the Qinhuai River at dusk.
Sitting in the car was His Royal Highness the King of Chu, who had just come out of Zhengyiguan. He was leaning comfortably on the soft leather chair, still savoring the fragrance of rouge between his lips and teeth.
Green tea is better. Although it is a bit astringent when you first enter the mouth, it is better because it has a long and sweet aftertaste...
But his good mood did not last long. When the carriage passed by the Confucius Temple, it suddenly slowed down.
"What's wrong?" Lao Liu asked in a deep voice.
"Back to Your Highness, the road ahead is blocked." Deng Duo, who was outside the car, quickly reported in a low voice.
"What's going on?" Zhu Zhen said, opening the car curtain and looking forward, he saw a sea of people in front of the Confucius Temple.
"It's not a temple fair today." Lao Liu asked strangely.
"I'm sorry, let me ask someone." Deng Duo responded quickly, then whistled towards the roadside.
A beggar trotted over.
Lao Liu asked: "What are they doing?"
"Go back to the chief gang leader." The beggar quickly reported: "Outside are ordinary people watching the excitement, and inside are a group of sour people partying."
"A gathering of sour people?" Lao Liu spat after hearing this: "Damn it, most of them are here for me."
"Look how they scolded me." He jumped out of the car and pushed towards the crowd aggressively.
Deng Duo and Hu Xian hurriedly followed, not forgetting to look at each other helplessly. The reason why they were incognito and did not hold any ceremony today was to avoid unnecessary trouble. Unexpectedly, they would not be able to escape what was coming...
~~
Lao Liu was a tall man, so he could see what was going on in the crowd without having to push to the front.
As expected, there were at least two to three hundred scholars in Confucian robes gathered in front of Lingxing Gate, with many people in official robes mixed in among them.
Lao Liu even saw several high-ranking officials in scarlet robes standing on the steps, and together with several scholar leaders in Confucian robes, they loudly encouraged the Confucian students:
"Everyone, our Confucianism has gone through many disasters and has always stood firm, thanks to the many defenders of the Taoism who have sacrificed their lives for justice. Now, our religion has reached a critical moment again. The King of Chu wants to destroy our Taoist tradition and replace it with evil heretics. Do we agree?
!”
"No!" the Confucian scholars roared, "Absolutely not!"
"Okay, the mission of exterminating demons and protecting the Tao has fallen on our shoulders, what should we do?"
"Destroy demons and protect the Tao!"
"I and the Chu thieves are at odds with each other!" the Confucian scholars roared even louder:
"Depose him from the throne and drive him out of the capital!"
"Shut down Guozi University and abolish all chaotic government..."
When all the Confucian scholars had finished shouting, the leader asked again:
"But the Emperor blindly favors the King of Chu and doesn't let us speak out about impeachment. What should we do?!"
"..." The audience was quiet, and all the Confucian scholars looked at each other, who knew what to do?
"This man looks familiar." Lao Liu looked at the Confucian scholar who was speaking and asked.
"Isn't this Wu Zhuangyuan?" Hu Xian recognized him at a glance.
"Really? I'm face blind." Lao Liu asked strangely: "Is he still in Beijing?"
Speaking of the arrival of Wu Zhuangyuan, Niu Boyi is simply getting rich.
Last year, Wu Bozong was involved in the Guozixue case and was even caught snooping into the prince's privacy. If he had done this to anyone else, his head would have been chopped off three times. But Boss Zhu only let him serve as a counselor for the Chief Envoy of Guangxi and gave him back
Opportunities to make meritorious deeds.
This kind of extra kindness is definitely related to his status as the first champion of the Ming Dynasty. But what is even more unexpected is that he actually refused to refuse...
He also plausibly said in the memorial, "I am not doing it for my own selfish interests, but actually to preserve the dignity of the court. The fact that the founding champion was banished from a foreign country is not a good omen for the country, but a bad omen"...
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed angrily, feeling that Wu Zhuangyuan did not obey the decree, but it was for the sake of the Ming Dynasty. Yes, then I have to appreciate it, so I won't let him go, and he will be appointed as the Prime Minister of Taichang Temple instead.
Downgraded three levels in a row, from the fourth grade to the sixth grade.
He still refused to do it, saying that the scholar could be killed but not humiliated.
Zhu Yuanzhang was about to explode with anger. If he didn't want to kill the first champion of the Ming Dynasty, he would have to skin him...
However, the death penalty can be avoided, but the living crime cannot be escaped. Boss Zhu ordered his people to have his imperial staff sixty years old and issued it as an edict to Jin County.
Jin County is in Lintao Prefecture, Shaanxi Province. It is the frontier land where Hu and Han are mixed. Wu Zhuangyuan refused to go even if he was punished. He directly submitted his resignation and resigned! I want to go home and take care of my mother!
What does it mean to be emboldened by being pampered? This is called being emboldened by being pampered.
His special status, coupled with the pretext of filial piety, really made Boss Zhu not know how to start for a while, so he didn't pick up the fight for the time being and left him aside for now.
Unexpectedly, he was not honest and jumped up and down again.
It perfectly explains what "seeking death" means...
~~
The Confucian scholars were silent for a moment, then heard Wu Zhuangyuan loudly say: "We can only ask the saint to come forward! The emperor can ignore us, but he can't ignore the saint Kong?!"
"Of course..." All the Confucian scholars nodded. In their eyes, the emperor's ability to secure his position was all due to his sage teacher, so Kong Laoer was very proud.
"Okay, then we will go into the Confucian Temple together, burn incense, pray, explain the situation to the Holy Master, and ask for his tablet!" Wu Zhuangyuan said solemnly: "Then we will carry it to the court tomorrow and ask the emperor to face the saint's tablet and give it to him.
Let’s have an explanation!”
"Okay, this is the only way!" All the Confucian scholars agreed: "This method is good. It is impossible for the emperor to deny the saint."
"Well, Master will understand us." They also forgave themselves for Confucius.
"Invite Mencius's tablet as well," someone else suggested: "Confucius and Mencius both come out, who can compete with us?"
"That's right, Confucius and Mencius are not separated from each other. How can such an important matter of protecting religion be left out of this old man?"
The Confucian scholars filed into the Confucian Temple while talking.
The common people wanted to follow in and join in the fun, but they were stopped by the officials guarding the Confucian Temple.
Lao Liu couldn't follow him in. Deng Duo said angrily: "You want to eat them, let the brothers give them some color to see?"
"Wouldn't that just add to their sadness?" Lao Liu calmly shook his head and said, "For the sake of saying this, the public opinion is to give them points, so I will suffer a big loss."
Then he lowered his voice and said: "We will settle the accounts with them in the autumn and send them all to the Northeast to play in the mud!"
"Then leave it to them?" Deng Duo said in great displeasure.
"Let them go through the trouble." Zhu Zhen sneered and said: "This kind of trick will only be counterproductive to the old man - I think Kong Lao'er, it is easy to take out the Meng Danzai tablet, but it will be difficult to send it back!"
After waiting for a while, no one carrying the memorial tablet came out. Seeing that there was no excitement, the people dispersed and went home to eat.
Deng Duo went to inquire about it and found out that the Confucian scholars were fasting inside tonight, and they would take out the memorial tablets and go directly to the court tomorrow morning.
Lao Liu returned to the car and continued walking to Jilong Mountain.
"Your Highness is really mature. Usually when encountering this kind of situation, he would jump up and cause trouble." Hu Xian praised.
"Oh, I have to learn from Fourth Brother's lesson." Lao Liu sighed: "If I fail, who will take care of Guozi University?"
