Concubine Yun Fang looked at Zhao Zun shyly and timidly, her eyebrows fluttered, she was full of hospitality, she walked towards Zhao Zun's side step by step, and stretched out her delicate hands towards Zhao Zun.
With a snap, Zhao Zun slapped the memorial in his hand on the table.
Concubine Yun Ze was startled, her hands were still outstretched in the air, she was neither advancing nor retreating, a little embarrassed.
"cousin… "
Zhao Zun raised his eyebrows, "This is a place where I work alone, who allowed you to enter!"
Concubine Yun Ze bit her lips tightly, and looked at Zhao Zun with misty almond eyes, like a frightened rabbit, innocent and pitiful, it was unbearable to blame.
"Cousin, Yun Le didn't do it on purpose, Yun Le was really worried about his body, so he couldn't help but come over to have a look..."
Concubine Yun side looked obsessively at Zhao Zun's stunning face, her heart was beating extremely fast, her cheeks were stained with a layer of pink, which made Concubine Yun side more and more charming.
In front of a room full of servants, Consort Yun couldn't bear to beg Zhao Zun, or do something out of the ordinary, she only hoped that Zhao Zun would understand her painstaking efforts.
Zhao Zun withdrew his gaze and fixed his eyes on the memorial in his hand, "The study is an important place, Concubine Yun, don't blame Gu for not warning you, go back and be confined for a month."
Zhao Zun originally wanted to be confined for half a year, but after thinking about it, according to Song Zhan's temperament, and considering the intricate relationship behind Concubine Yun, he would definitely not be severely punished, at most he would be reprimanded lightly.
So Zhao Zun thought for a while, and changed his words to confinement for one month.
Concubine Yun Zhe was stunned for a moment, and bit her lip aggrievedly. If this got out, I don't know how others would talk about her.
But when she opened her mouth to plead with that angry face, Concubine Yun Fang really couldn't say it out, if she annoyed Zhao Zun, it wouldn't be worthwhile to offend him.
Thinking about it this way, Concubine Yun nodded obediently, "Cousin is right, Yun Le was reckless, Yun Le will go back and reflect on it, but cousin must take care of himself, Yun Le..."
Concubine Yun Zun hesitated to speak, looked at Zhao Zun shyly, couldn't help but take a second look at that stunning face, bowed to Zhao Zun, then turned away with her maid.
As soon as the person left, Zhao Zun's brows relaxed a little, and then moved to the memorials stacked high on the chopping board, his long and narrow brows raised slightly.
"Your Highness, this is a new memorial from the ministers."
Zhao Qi bit the bullet and entered the room with the memorial. He was probably the only one who understood Zhao Zun's mood. He wished he could grow wings and fly out, but unfortunately he was held back by the memorial.
After going through the incident with Concubine Cai Yun just now, Zhao Zun's bad mood reached the extreme.
"boom!"
Zhao Zunceng stood up, "What do the imperial court keep the six ministries for? All of them are worthless, and they dare to report trivial matters to the imperial court!"
Going on like this, Zhao Zun couldn't get out of it at all, with endless business affairs, wave after wave, no wonder he tossed Song Zhan in such a miserable state.
Zhao Zun squinted at Zhao Qi, "According to the list on the memorial, invite all the ministers here one by one."
"yes."
Taking advantage of the time when no one came, Zhao Zun went to look for Emperor Xiyue.
"Imperial examination?" Emperor Xiyue was surprised, "Didn't it just be held in the past, and now is not the time."
Zhao Zun sighed, "This group of ministers rely on their seniority to sell their elders. They support these poor people and are restricted by people everywhere. There are too few fresh blood in Xiyue officialdom. I plan to set up another cabinet and include the top 30 students in the imperial examination into the cabinet. , Let them learn six parts, in case of emergencies.”
To put it bluntly, just see who doesn't like it, and replace it at any time.
"If the ministers have any objections..." Emperor Xiyue looked at Zhao Zun worriedly, and Zhao Zun sneered, "Look, it's no wonder that the emperor and the prince have endless business affairs. It turns out that the ministers have controlled the emperor. Eat the king's salary, so naturally he has to do things for the king, and if things go on like this, everyone will take Joe, who will pay attention to the court!"
Being accused so unceremoniously by Zhao Zun, Emperor Xiyue glared at Zhao Zun several times angrily. According to the rule, the imperial examination is held every five years, you are fooling around!"
"An old man in his eighties and a child in his seventies or eight years old, as long as they are capable, they can take part in the imperial examination. In the past, there were too many restrictions, and many talents were buried, which made the ministers feel confident."
The father and son debated in the hall, seeing that Emperor Xiyue was still unable to make a decision, Zhao Zun waved his hand, and Zhao Qi immediately asked the guards to carry a table full of memorials into the door.
"Father, if you think it's inappropriate, you might as well read all these memorials." Zhao Zun stretched out his hand to pick up one and read, "The son of Li Zhifu and the son of the Minister of the Ministry of Officials fought in the street and damaged many vendors. I ask the emperor to punish them severely."
Zhao Zun put down the memorial and picked up two more, "One is Li Zhifu's excuse, and the other is the testimony of the Minister of the Ministry of Officials. For this trivial matter, five memorials have been written. What is the purpose of the imperial court setting up officials? , not doing things for the common people, all for petty profits."
Zhao Zun paused, and then said, "Yuanzhou suffered a severe drought for three years, and the imperial court allocated one million taels for disaster relief. None of them made such a big deal. Where did the million taels go? Is there any use for it?" The imperial court doesn’t know anything about the common people, and at this moment, the imperial court turns a blind eye to it, so why talk about the hearts of the people?”
Zhao Zun admired Prime Minister Right and never made fun of the common people. Although many people complained about Prime Minister Right, at least not one minister blatantly swallowed huge sums of money from the court.
Once they are involved, the exile of the whole family will be light. Who would dare to stretch out their hands under heavy punishment? The bottom line will do.
Emperor Xiyue blushed, and slammed the table, "It's unreasonable, come here, call all the ministers!"
After the words fell, the little eunuch whispered, "Your Majesty, all the ministers are already on their way."
Hearing this, Emperor Xiyue's mouth twitched, and he took a deep look at Zhao Zun. After a while, the hall was full of officials.
Emperor Xiyue rolled his eyes darkly, "From now on, the announcement will be announced, the imperial examination will be held in three months, and a separate learning pavilion will be set up to reincorporate the students of this imperial examination into the Xuezhi Pavilion. In the future, the five-year imperial examination will be changed to three years. All ages and identities can participate, if you fail three times in a row, you will not be allowed to take the exam again."
After Emperor Xiyue finished speaking, all the ministers were stunned, how could they bring up the imperial examination in a proper manner.
"In addition, if these memorials cannot be resolved by themselves within three days, those who have done so many times will be demoted to third rank."
As Zhao Zun said, he glanced at the guards, "Come on, drag Jing Zhaoyin down, take 50 boards with a stick, and relegate him to a fourth-rank magistrate, and Mr. Zhou, the servant of the Ministry of punishment, will take over the post of Jing Zhaoyin immediately. Slackness will be severely punished!"
All the ministers were startled by the words of the father and son before they even came to their senses.
"Your Highness, I don't know what mistake the old minister made?" Jing Zhaoyin knelt on the ground with an expression of disbelief.
Zhao Zun raised his eyebrows, "The son of Li Zhifu and the son of the Minister of the Ministry of Officials fought in public. As Jing Zhaoyin, you didn't stop it beforehand, and let the two report the matter to the court afterwards. Such a matter cannot be resolved. What use are you!"
Jing Zhaoyin murmured his lips, looked at Zhao Zun with a pale face, and the two ministers who were named even lowered their heads and remained silent.
"If you don't have that ability, how can you hold on to Jing Zhaoyin's position? Naturally, it must be handed over to someone who is capable, Mr. Zhou. If you encounter this matter in the future, you must be severely punished. Of course, all the ministers are The pillars of the imperial court, some of them are inactive, the imperial court does not support idlers, and they can't even handle such trivial matters well, what qualifications do they have to wear this clothes to enter the court as an official!"
Zhao Zun's words were not indifferent, and the ministers who said it were red-faced and indignant.
"Your Highness said it lightly. There are so many things happening every day, and there are so many people in Xiyue. We are limited in our ability and cannot take care of them. It is inevitable to be negligent for a while."
One of the ministers disapproved of the sophistry, and Jing Zhaoyin immediately followed suit, "Master Xu is right, there are countless things piled up in the case, and manpower is limited. Since His Highness is the state reserve, shouldn't he share the worries of the people?"
Zhao Zun raised his lips and sneered, and squinted Mr. Zhou, "What crime should be judged for openly contradicting the State Reserve?"
"Return to Your Highness, according to the law, it should be sentenced to three years' imprisonment." Master Zhou said word by word.
Jing Zhaoyin's face changed drastically when he heard the words, and he only heard Zhao Zun say again, "If you don't do anything, you dare to quibble, and you are in vain as a minister. If you drag it down, you will be held accountable to the 80th board, and all the property under Jing Zhaoyin's name will be confiscated. Help him intercede. Those who are guilty will be punished with the same crime!"
The words left everyone speechless, and they couldn't help thinking of the scene when Zhao Zun led troops to ransack the Eight Kings' Mansion half a year ago and beheaded the Eight Kings Song Yao. The blood flowed like a river, and the corpses were everywhere. Song Yao's head was even taller. Hanging on the city wall for a whole month.
After those days, none of the ministers dared to provoke Song Zhan. After a long time, they found that Song Zhan seemed to be the gentle prince again. Over time, everyone forgot about it.
For some reason, everyone seemed to see the decisive prince again today, with a cold aura all over his body, which made people's hairs stand on end, and they dared not refute.
Before Jing Zhaoyin had time to speak, he was gagged by the guards and dragged down, and he was reprimanded in front of the hall outside the hall.
Every time the board was dropped, the faces of the ministers became more and more gloomy.
Zhao Zun waved his hand and asked someone to carry out the memorial and put it in front of everyone, "Ministers, I don't think you need to say anything more alone."
As soon as the words fell, the guards immediately moved dozens of tables and placed the memorials on the tables one after another. Judging by the posture, it was necessary to deal with it immediately.
It was a good move to get rid of Mawei, and he quickly went to find his own memorial, picked it out, and then obediently went to the corner to deal with it.
There were only a few high-ranking ministers who felt that they couldn't let go of face, and stood angrily in the hall, unable to move forward or retreat.
The old king of Jinjun smiled gratifiedly, with no trace of anger on his face, he took the lead and walked to a table, "Your Highness is absolutely right, a courtier should behave like a courtier, and rebellion will fail!"
After the words fell, the backs of those important ministers tightened, and they looked at the old king of Jin County embarrassingly. The old king of Jin County was a veteran of three dynasties. He had followed two generations of emperors on expeditions. He had a very high status in Xiyue, and his only eldest son also died in battle. Therefore, Emperor Xiyue attached great importance to King Laojin.
Even King Lao Jin sat down, the rest of the people have no right to be unconvinced, so they can only bite the bullet and sit down.
When Emperor Xiyue saw this scene, he was very pleased, but Zhao Zun was too lazy to give Emperor Xiyue a look.
After a while, the guard reported that the 80 boards had been played, and Jing Zhaoyin was still breathing, but he was about to die.
"Send out of the palace!" Zhao Zun finished speaking without changing his expression, and left the hall directly with his foot lifted.
Everyone was left staring at Zhao Zun's back in amazement. No wonder Imperial Physician Zhong said earlier that the prince's temperament changed drastically after being poisoned. It was true!
The corner of Xiyue Emperor's mouth twitched so badly that he couldn't control the wild horse at all.
As soon as Zhao Zun came out of the palace at this end, a young maid came forward at the other end, "His Royal Highness, Empress, please go to Fengqi Palace."
Zhao Zun hummed lightly, turned around, and thought about the time on the way, reckoning that he could leave tonight.
Just as he was thinking, he had already arrived at Fengqi Palace, and his calm expression suddenly became tense, just because he saw a face that made him frown.
The Empress Dowager Song was sitting on the seat, and Empress Zhao was sitting beside her, her expression was not very good. As soon as she saw the Empress Dowager Song, Zhao Zun understood what was going on.
As soon as he turned his gaze, he saw four women standing beside him. They were dignified and generous, their manners were decent, and their appearance was also first-class.
"Your Majesty, Your Highness is coming."
The Empress Dowager Song slowly opened her half-closed eyes when she heard the words, "I'm old and useless, and I fell asleep after only saying a few words. I worry about these juniors every day. I don't have the good fortune to sit back and relax."