"Feng Xiang fell, the Tang family was finished, and King Kang became the heir..."
Xiao Jue looked at him and said: "Since you entered the capital, the officials and dignitaries who fell into your hands have been eighty if not a hundred. King Huai is nothing compared to you. If he is a wild beast, you are among the wild beasts."
The beast..."
Tangning did not reject the beast's evaluation.
You are usually docile and kind to others, but when others challenge your bottom line, you turn into a beast that chooses and devours others. This is an advantage, not a disadvantage.
King Duan took the credit from King Huai, took over the department he was in charge of, and won a great victory. King Huai, as a complete loser, did not even step out of Prince Huai's palace in the past two days.
In Prince Duan's Mansion, Prince Kang was in despair, and Prince Huai was vulnerable. The high-spirited Prince Duan did not feel proud for a long time, when servants came to report that someone was causing trouble at the gate of the Imperial College.
"Who is so bold as to dare to cause trouble in front of the Imperial Academy?" Prince Duan's face darkened and he said, "I'll break their legs and throw them all out!"
The Imperial College official looked bitter and said, "Your Highness, these people can't be beaten..."
King Duan frowned and asked, "Why?"
The official said: "Your Highness, those who blocked the Imperial College are all Jiangnan students who stayed in the capital. Behind them are officials from Jiangnan in the DPRK. No yamen can bear the charge of beating the emperor...
…”
Scholars had a transcendent status in the Chen State. Even a small scholar could discuss important ministers in the court. These people often liked to stick together in groups. If they were dissatisfied with any national policy, they would sit at the yamen gate to protest.
I can't be beaten or scolded, and I always have a headache.
Prince Duan looked at him and asked, "If Jiangnan students don't study hard and are full of food, why are they blocking the Imperial College?"
The Imperial College official explained: "Your Highness is unaware that King Huai has been redistributing the quotas for candidates in each state under His Majesty's order. After this allocation, the number of candidates for each term in Jiangnan has dropped sharply by 30%. Of course, the candidates in Jiangnan do not agree.
, so they went to the Imperial College to gather people to cause trouble, forcing the Imperial College to re-revise the proportion of Jiangnan candidates..."
Because educational resources vary from place to place, the resources allocated to each state for the imperial examination are different.
In areas such as Jiangnan and Gyeonggi that focused on education, where talented people gathered together, more quotas were allocated for candidates, while in remote areas such as Fengzhou and Shengzhou, the quota for candidates was much smaller.
In fact, in each imperial examination, the combined number of candidates in Gyeonggi and Jiangnan has reached more than 70% of all examinations.
Some of these candidates will be appointed to the imperial court in the future. For local state capitals, it is natural to hope that there will be more officials with local origins.
Naturally, all states are dissatisfied with the fact that Jiangnan and the capital have exclusive quotas for imperial examinations. They often petition to increase the number of candidates. If the quota increases here, it will inevitably decrease over there. For this reason, the states often fight to the death. Among them,
The dispute between Jiangnan and the capital was the most intense.
King Duan knew this and looked at the official with dissatisfaction and said, "This is the decision made by King Huai. What should I do with you?"
The official said helplessly: "Because now the Imperial College is in our hands..."
A trace of depression appeared on Prince Duan's face, and he said, "Then give more places to Jiangnan. Wouldn't that be enough?"
"This is absolutely impossible..." the Imperial College official said: "The reason why King Huai wants to adjust the quota of candidates is because after the Jiangnan Incident, His Majesty felt that the Jiangnan party was too powerful in power and wanted to weaken it. We
Instead of giving more places to Jiangnan, wouldn’t it be disobeying the emperor’s order?”
An angry look appeared on Prince Duan's face, and he said loudly: "This won't work, and that won't work either. What do you want me to do?"
As soon as he finished speaking, another official hurriedly ran in: "Your Highness, Your Highness, something serious has happened..."
When King Duan saw the anxious look on the official's face, an unknown fire arose in his heart, and he said angrily: "What's the matter again!"
The official said: "I have just learned that many gentry and dignitaries in the Gyeonggi region are planning to jointly impeach His Highness..."
King Duan was stunned for a moment, then said angrily: "Why are they impeaching me for no reason?"
The official explained: "In order to make the court's tax collection more convenient and faster, His Majesty ordered King Huai to streamline the tax system. King Huai canceled many miscellaneous taxes. Although this procedure was simple, it affected the interests of these gentry and powerful people. How could they
I can agree..."
King Duan stood there stunned, finally reacted, and said sternly: "Zhao Rui, how dare you set a trap for me!"
…
The gate of the Imperial College was blocked by Jiangnan students and it has not been opened for three days.
Several officials belonging to King Duan who were temporarily transferred to be responsible for revising the tax system, and the reports of impeachment against them flew into the Shangshu Province like snowflakes in the past few days.
The students from Jiangnan blocked the gate of the Imperial College with good reason. The number of candidates allocated by each state is related to the state's future status in the court. Jiangnan was deeply involved due to the fall of Prime Minister Feng a year ago, and half of the power in the court was lost.
Now they have to change their number of people, which is equivalent to digging up their roots.
Naturally, this cannot be tolerated. Every injustice has its own debtor, and their creditors are Guozijian and Prince Duan.
The tax system of the State of Chen had many items. In some places, even the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs did not understand it well. Some tax items themselves were unclear and ambiguous. Taxation every year was an arduous task for the court.
King Huai, following the order of Emperor Chen, streamlined the tax system. What should go and what should be left should be left, which suddenly made the tax items clear. The clear tax items meant that there were no loopholes to exploit. Those gentry, wealthy families, and powerful people who had already benefited from it.
How can such people accept that King Duan is now the person in charge of this project, and he must bear the blame.
Both of these matters are not easy to solve. If the scholars get together, the imperial court will have a big problem. The imperial power does not go down to the grassroots. Chen Guo from the county down actually relies on the local gentry and wealthy families. Their combined strength cannot be underestimated.
.
All in all, the capital was in a state of chaos these days, and it was hard to read all the official documents in the Ministry of Education. Tang Ning simply took two days of sick leave to spend time with his wife at home.
From this incident, it can be seen that there is at least ten kings of Kang between King Duan and King Huai.
These two big scapegoats were not easy to shoulder given the identity and status of Prince Huai. Even a prince like Duan Wang who had only half a foot in the East Palace would be overwhelmed and unable to breathe.
He seemed to have taken advantage of what happened a few days ago, but in fact he was just taking the blame for King Huai.
Even Tang Ning thought that the Tang family's strategy of shrinking down was tailor-made for Prince Duan. If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move. Only a bastard can live long if he doesn't move. King Duan is obviously not as far-sighted as a bastard.
…
In the imperial study room, Emperor Chen looked at the piles of papers sent by Shangshu and said angrily: "What the hell happened to me!"
"It is my decree that Prince Duan go back to the palace to rest and do not touch the court affairs again." Emperor Chen waved his hand and said: "In addition, summon Prince Huai to the palace..."
After a while, King Huai stood in the imperial study, bowed his hands to Emperor Chen, and said: "Back to my father, these two matters are serious. I originally wanted to proceed step by step, but I didn't expect that the emperor would be so radical. The matter has come to this point."
, I have nothing else to do."
Chen Huang looked at him, frowned and said, "Don't you know how much he weighs? For such an important court matter, can you give it to him if he wants it?"
King Huai bowed even lower and said: "The elders and younger ones are in order. Since the imperial brother wants it, how can I not deny it to my son?"
Chen Huang looked at him and said angrily: "When will you change your attitude of not fighting for anything?"
[ps: I haven’t been feeling well these past few days. I went to the hospital in the morning and made an appointment for a check-up. I didn’t start writing until I came back in the afternoon. Everyone should also take care of themselves. Everything is empty. A dog’s life is the most important thing...]
