The Song Dynasty, which had so many learned men, dared not talk about fighting with real swords and guns, but who was afraid of a verbal war? Looking at the world, whoever dared to have a verbal war with the Song Dynasty was undoubtedly asking for trouble. However, today
What a humiliation it was to be silenced by an outsider who had just walked out of the mountains. In the end, they had to rely on the emperor to intervene to prevent them from losing face!
Moreover, He Shi Liebohe's last rampant laughter made all the officials feel ashamed. They were angry but helpless. The reason was that interests were at work. They did not hesitate to ignore it for their own interests.
With conscience, we must speak for those corrupt officials. To be honest, many of them have nothing to do with those corrupt officials in Jiangnan, but they are thinking about their own rights. If they don't stand up and speak out today, what will happen to the scholar-bureaucrats?
Their power will likely be replaced by others. If they defeat today, not only will the new law be shattered, even if they make mistakes in the future, they will be able to excuse themselves from what happened today. Even people like Wang Anshi will do the same, and they will do whatever it takes.
To safeguard the rights and interests of nurses and doctors, as the saying goes, we are not afraid of hooligans, we are afraid of educated hooligans.
Therefore, regardless of loyalty or treachery, their first consideration must be their own interests. The one who succeeds is the king. Even a person like Wang Fu can still make the people call him a wise prime minister when he is in power.
This shows that officials like Ji Minren are really rare animals. Therefore, even though Li Qi knew that he had to be killed, he still felt unbearable.
Why is it said that officialdom is difficult to get along with? It's because there are a group of cold-blooded animals here, including the one sitting at the top.
Song Huizong glanced at the ministers and said loudly: "There are more than ten thousand eloquent people in our Song Dynasty, and all of you, dear friends, are the best among them. Why didn't anyone stand up and say a word for our scholars in the Song Dynasty just now?"
Song Moquan said: "Reporting to the emperor, I thought that the Jin envoy just now was just quibbling, and arguing with him was meaningless. They were just concerned about the interests of their Jin country. Who in the Jin country dares to disobey the ancestral precepts?"
Song Huizong nodded and said, "What I love is right. You can tell him this tomorrow."
Cai Jing suddenly stood up and said: "Your Majesty, this is absolutely unacceptable. If you say this, it will undoubtedly admit that the scholar-bureaucrats of the Song Dynasty are corrupt, pervert the law, and waste human lives. They are rebellious officials and traitors, which is extremely detrimental to the reputation of the Song Dynasty."
Song Huizong said impatiently: "This won't work either. That won't work either. So, my dear, what do you think we should do?"
Cai Jingdao: "I think this matter is a trivial matter. Jiangnan has completely lost control. The government offices are in name only, the officials have no prestige at all, and the people have lost trust in the court. In our capital city, merchants are now closing down on a large scale, so that
Thousands of people have nowhere to go. If it is not resolved in time, it may cause a catastrophe."
Song Huizong frowned and said: "Didn't I already tell you about this matter? Are you trying to figure out a way to solve it? Haven't you guys figured out a way to solve it after so many days? It's really unreasonable. You can't handle such a small thing.
What use do I need you people for?"
Is this still a trivial matter? Besides, if you don’t go to court, why are you blaming it all on me?
The ministers expressed their sufferings. They all said in unison: "The humble ministers deserve to die!"
"That's it again."
Song Huizong snorted and said: "You all know that I must abide by the teachings of our ancestors and cannot kill you. So you have nothing to fear."
"Wei Chen dare not."
"You all dare to force me, what else can you not dare to do?" Song Huizong sneered.
The officials were terrified.
Song Huizong snorted again and said: "I don't want to listen to those nonsense now. Now you can find a way to solve this matter immediately."
Song Moquan said: "Your Majesty, it is obvious that someone is behind this matter with evil intentions."
"who?"
Lu Baixiao suddenly said: "Except for Li Qi, there is no other person in the world who has such ability."
Song Huizong snorted and said, "Is there any evidence?"
Lu Baixiao said sarcastically: "Li Qi is cunning by nature, and Wei Chen has not obtained any evidence yet."
Song Huizong said angrily: "There is no evidence, so what are you talking about here? I am asking you to solve this matter now. Isn't what I said clear enough?"
"The humble minister is incompetent, please forgive me, Your Majesty."
Song Huizong sneered and said: "You have made no mistakes and you are guilty of nothing, but I can see your incompetence."
When Lu Baixiao heard this, he broke into a cold sweat and his legs began to tremble.
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty ignored him and turned to the ministers: "I wonder if any of you have a way to solve this problem?"
Huang Xinren said: "Your Majesty, these businessmen in Tokyo obviously intend to go against the imperial court. I think this is because the imperial court indulged them so much that they acted daringly. The imperial court should punish them and order them to open the door immediately."
Bai Shizhong said: "This is not possible. They have not broken the law by closing the door. What reason does the court have to punish them? Now the public is already boiling with resentment. If we continue to punish them severely without any reason, I am afraid it will be counterproductive. Then there may be an outburst." It's out of control, so I think the top priority is to appease the people."
Song Huizong nodded and said: "Bai Aiqing's words are reasonable, so how do you think we should appease the people?"
"this---!"
Bai Shizhong opened his mouth slightly, but still did not continue.
Song Huizong smiled and said: "How can my ministers be a bunch of stupid people? You are all the smartest people in our Song Dynasty. In fact, you all know what to do? But you just don't say it. As for the reason, I In order to worry about your face, I won’t say anything.”
As he said that, he smiled again and said: "Let me ask you a question now, what kind of books do you usually read? I really want to know which book teaches people how to take bribes, bend the law, and collude with grassroots bandits. A waste of human life?"
The ministers were silent. Whoever spoke at this time would be a fool.
"Why don't you say anything?"
Song Huizong chuckled and said: "Very good, very good, keep silent. You are really good at what you do. It's not like you have read these decades in vain. However, He Shi Liebohe's words just now are indeed It caused me to reflect, what is a scholar? Who are scholars? I really don’t understand it now? Who can help me solve this confusion? "
The crowd fell silent.
Song Huizong suddenly slammed the table and shouted angrily: "I am ordering you to speak now. If you don't speak, you will be punished for disobeying the emperor's order."
Cai Jing, as the leader of hundreds of officials, must have stood up at this time and said: "Reporting to the Emperor, I think what He Shi Liebo He just said is right. Scholars should be able to understand things and argue right from wrong, so that they can rejuvenate the country." In order to benefit the people of the country, there are things you can do and things you shouldn’t do.”
"Wei Chen seconded the proposal."
The other ministers bowed their heads and said in unison.
"There are things you can do. There are things you can't do."
Song Huizong laughed twice and said: "Then I ask you, can Sun Zhixian of Huaiyin County be considered a scholar?"
Cai Jing said: "I heard that the magistrate Sun County deceived the superiors and formed cliques for personal gain. He even ordered his subordinates to pretend to be grass bandits and rob the people passing by. The evidence is conclusive and is worse than animals. Scholars should be ashamed of it."
Song Huizong nodded. He glanced at the others and said, "What do you think?"
"I second the proposal."
Everyone said in unison again.
"Second again?"
Song Huizong chuckled and said: "I ask myself how much kindness I have shown to scholars since the founding of the Song Dynasty. In the past dynasties, it is a pity that you did not cherish it. Instead, you used it as a means to fight for power. Holding the Holy Ancestor's
You are really chilling me to plead for someone who is worse than a beast. If the Holy Ancestor knew about this, I am afraid that the Holy Ancestor would not be able to rest in peace even under the weight of the Nine Springs. I am really an unfilial descendant."
"I know that I am guilty, but I still ask the emperor to punish me."
This time, all the officials fell to their knees.
"How dare I punish you?"
Song Huizong sneered and said loudly: "Bring it up."
After a while, a young eunuch came up with a thick stack of blood letters. Song Huizong said: "This is the thirty-eight blood letters I have received from Jiangnan in the past three days, involving nearly ten thousand people. You all
See what it says on it?"
The ministers were lying on the ground, no one dared to move.
Song Huizong said again: "What? You don't even dare to look? Then I'll tell you, now the people in the south of the Yangtze River compare you scholar-bureaucrats to jackals, poisonous snakes, and tigers, which are the root of the disaster in our Song Dynasty. I can see them all.
I am heartbroken, I also want to defend my ministers, but - well, come and teach me, how should I defend you? Could it be that the ancestral precepts say that corrupt officials should not be killed, but those who are corrupt should be rewarded?
On the contrary, those who care about the people should be promoted to official positions and imprisoned?"
After a while, Song Huizong took a sip of tea and said: "Master, get up first. Someone will come and give you a seat."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
After many twists and turns, the elderly Cai Jing stood up, sat on a chair, and let out a sigh of relief.
Song Huizong said again: "Since you like to kneel, then kneel. Anyway, if you don't solve this urgent matter, you have nothing to do. When you come up with a solution, then stand up again. Since
You asked me to do this, and if something goes wrong like this, you are naturally responsible. I don’t care what method you use, you must appease the people as soon as possible. Of course, you can also use the words of the Holy Ancestor."
After saying this, he remained silent, took another sip of tea, and began to close his eyes to rest.
The whole hall was silent.
Before you know it, noon is approaching.
Suddenly a groan was heard, breaking the silence in the hall. It turned out that an old bachelor of the Hanlin Academy had fainted. Song Huizong opened his eyes slightly, but closed them again.
If the emperor doesn't speak, no one dares to move.
Gao Qiu, Li Bangyan, Cai You and others all knew in their hearts that the emperor's move was to force those people to speak on their own and slap him in the face. Naturally, they would not get involved, otherwise it would be a disservice to both parties.
In the blink of an eye, noon had passed. Liang Shicheng suddenly knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, they are responsible for themselves. It is not necessary for Your Majesty to accompany them to suffer here. The dragon's body is important. I beg Your Majesty to eat first."
All the ministers said in unison: "I beg the emperor to have a meal."
Song Huizong said calmly: "The people are like this, how can I feed them?"
At this point, these ministers knew that they had lost, and they had lost completely. There were people below and the emperor above. How could Taizu's words turn things around? They all closed their eyes and sighed.
Jiang Daoyan suddenly said: "To report to the emperor, I have a brief report."
A smile flashed in Song Huizong's eyes and he said: "Say."
Jiang Daoyan said: "Wei Chen believes that the only way now is to re-enable the economic envoy and continue to promote the new law. In addition, restore the official positions of Qin Hui and Han Shizhong, and order them to continue to rectify the Jiangnan officialdom. Anyone who is corrupt or bribery will be killed without mercy. Otherwise, no mercy will be given.
, not enough for the common people to be angry.”
"Wei Chen seconded the proposal."
The tone was full of helplessness.
Song Huizong smiled and nodded, suddenly picked up the thick stack of memorials in front of him, and said with a smile: "I remember that you and others jointly submitted the memorial, asking me to detain Qin Hui and Han Shizhong pending trial, and to appoint Li Qi as an official. Now, you have allowed me to recover.
Their official positions are really unreasonable."
As he spoke, he suddenly waved his hand and threw down the pile of memorials.
Bang bang bang!
The memorials hit these ministers. Although it didn't hurt, it was like sharp knives piercing their bodies.
Seeing that they had relented, Cai Jing stood up and said, "Your Majesty, this is the only way to calm the people's resentment."
Song Huizong hesitated for a moment and sighed: "Okay, I will trust you one more time. Come here! If you pass on my will, you can restore the official positions of Qin Hui and Han Shizhong. As for Li Qi, he was the one who returned with great achievements.
Beijing, you are forcing me to order him to become an official. If it were any other person, I am afraid that his heart would have been chilled. How can I have the nerve to force him to come back? If he is not willing, how can he serve me wholeheartedly?
I can't believe a person with a grudge. Since it was you who asked him to become an official, you should invite him now. For those who originally submitted the petition to impeach Li Qi, I will now demote you to common people. If Li Qi does not come back for one day,
Just don’t come back and retreat from the court.” (To be continued..)