In mid-April in Chang'an, the sun was warm. The summer cicadas had shed their heavy shells and climbed up to the treetops, chirping. The bright sun shone on the palace eaves. The civil and military officials waiting to be summoned stood outside the Wenzhao Palace. The emperor's voice came from the palace door in front.
"Get out!"
“… Let the people in the Ministry of Personnel sort this out for me. If I see the stalemate of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties again, I will even catch beggars to serve as officials in this hall instead of those cowardly scholars!!”
The voice was heard outside the hall. The civil and military officials who were waiting to be summoned watched the Minister of Personnel retreat in embarrassment with the documents in his arms. He glanced over here and ran down the stone steps in dejection. Not long after, a eunuch walked out of the hall, shook his whisk, pinched his fingers like an orchid, and smiled obsequiously towards this side.
"Minister of Industry, Minister of Civil Affairs, His Majesty is calling you two."
The two men standing there wiped the sweat from their foreheads, hurriedly moved to the palace door, lifted their robes and walked into the hall, lowering their heads and not daring to look at the figure above the golden steps.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."
"Okay, no need to talk about this. Today is not the morning court. I will ask you directly."
Going up the golden steps covered with red carpet, a figure sitting behind the dragon desk was reviewing memorials. Through the swinging pearl curtain, he occasionally raised his eyes to the two people below and said casually, "How is the progress of the canal? I want you to tell me the truth and not use some high-sounding words to evade me."
"Your Majesty." Among the two people below, the Minister of Works Cao Jinfang took a half step forward and bowed: "The construction of each section is proceeding in an orderly manner. If everything goes well, it will be completed in five years, but..."
"Just what?" Yang Guang stopped writing and raised his face.
"Recently, there are rumors in some places that the canal was dug by King Yu in the past, and we mortals cannot change it... and..." The Minister of Works carefully raised his eyes, hesitated for a moment, saw a pair of powerful eyes looking at him, and hurriedly continued:
"The noble families in various places are very dissatisfied because Your Majesty has conscripted too many young and strong civilians, so that there is no one to cultivate the good fields in the land, and many places have become barren."
Snap…
The imperial pen rolled on the table, splashing a string of ink. Yang Guang's cheeks swelled twice, and he leaned back in his chair. "These people are gossiping about me again. They only see that I repaired the river to strengthen the control of the north and the south, but they don't see that after the north and the south are connected, if there is a disaster, the grain from the south will be transferred to the north, and the grain from the north to the south will be transferred quickly. They don't see my determination to break the north-south barrier!"
He knocked on the dragon table a few times, then stood up with a flick of his sleeves, walked back and forth, and after a moment, stopped, pointing his finger downwards.
"Don't pay any attention to those people. I will deal with them if they make trouble. Even if the harvest is reduced this year, we can just cut back on food and clothing. It will pass in five years. Listen to me carefully. The five years you mentioned can be no more than half a year. I want to see smooth traffic between the north and the south!"
"I obey your order!"
"Go down!"
Yang Guang flicked his dragon sleeves and waved away the Minister of Works, and called another person, who was the Minister of Civil Affairs Fang Jintai, who was in charge of the overall coordination and allocation of taxes. Hearing the emperor's call, he took small steps forward. Before he could open his mouth, a guard came over, grabbed his arms, took off his official hat, and stripped off his official robe, making him scream in panic.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty... What's wrong with me?"
The emperor, who was facing away from the emperor, did not speak. Instead, Wenhuaji came out from the side hall, bowed to the emperor, and walked over with a smile, "Minister of Civil Affairs, it seems that you have forgotten a little. Should I remind you?"
As he spoke, he took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, handed it to Fang Jintai, let him read it himself, and then walked around and talked.
"If I remember correctly, at the end of last winter, the taxes were still 29,000 coins short. What does Minister Fang have to say?"
Fang Jintai raised his face from the paper, which was covered with sweat. He stared at Yu Wenzhi who was looking at him with his head tilted. He gritted his teeth and was about to pounce on him. He was held by the guards and struggled and yelled: "Yu Wenzhi, you are despicable and shameless! Your Majesty, that Qian Chen did not take a single cent. This man is the one who made the mistake!"
Yang Guang didn't even look at him, he raised his hand and waved: "Take him away and lock him up."
"Your Majesty! I am innocent—"
"Yu Wenzhi, you jester! You will not die a good death!!"
The voice disappeared in the hall. Yu Wenzhi didn't care about it at all. He turned around with a smile. The emperor's voice sounded from above the golden steps. Yang Guang turned his head and gave him a cold look.
"You go down too."
"yes."
Yu Wenzhi quickly put away his smile, lowered his head and said something, then quickly left through the side door. He stood respectfully behind the fence that allowed him to see the main hall, waiting for the emperor to call on ministers one by one to ask about state affairs. Soon, as it was getting dark, he was able to leave the imperial city and took a carriage all the way back to his mansion, where he happened to meet his son Yuwen Chengdu who had just returned from a mission.
"Father, I heard today that the Minister of Civil Affairs was sent to prison?"
The lights in the study were turned on, and the maid brought more tea and left. Yu Wenzhi took a sip of tea, glanced at his son standing over there, and nodded: "I made this for my father."
A tall figure approached, and the oil lamp swayed slightly. Yuwen Chengdu frowned and whispered, "Father did such a thing. How can his son gain a foothold in the court in the future? I'm afraid he will be laughed at in the army."
"laugh at?"
Yu Wenzhi looked at his handsome son and couldn't help laughing. He reached out and took the tea he had just put down and placed it in front of him.
"Chengdu, tilt the cup a little."
Over there, Yuwen Chengdu looked at the cup, and without hesitation, he took the cup and tilted it. The tea in it flowed out, flowing all over the back of his hand and wetting the table.
"How about it?"
Yuwen Chengdu put the teacup back and said sullenly, "It's spilled."
"Just spill it."
Seeing that his son still didn't understand, Yu Wenzhi smiled even more, took a silk handkerchief to wipe off the water stains, and explained to his son: "Water must be level to avoid spilling, and the same is true for the court. Your Majesty wants to teach these people a lesson and make them hurry up to finish the work, so you need someone to play the bad guy, and I am the bad guy."
Yu Wenzhi brought back the tea, shook it in his hands, sipped the tea leaves, took a sip, and let out a comfortable "tsk".
"In the court, there can't be all good officials, nor all treacherous officials. Only when there is a balance between them can Your Majesty drink good tea. Do you understand now?"
"I understand."
Watching his father leisurely drinking tea, Yuwen Chengdu finally felt something was wrong. "If I play the villain, I will have to take the blame in the future. Then our whole family..."
"So, your father has organized a martial arts competition in Chang'an to determine who will be the best in the world. With this title, you will be able to join the army and take up an important position in the future. Wouldn't that mean that our family can rest easy?"
Over the years, the Imperial Master was not in the court, and without anyone to curry favor with, Yu Wenzhi could only rely on his own means to plan his future. If this move was made well, at least it would end well. What's more, this time, as the number one in the world, he personally invited the Imperial Master's second disciple Yuwen Tuo to take charge. Even if some master really came, he would not be able to overturn the situation.
There's nothing I can do. It's my own fault for choosing the path of a jester.
After sending his son away, Yu Wenji sat at the desk, sipping tea, squinting his eyes, and looking at the dim sunlight outside the window. As for the construction of the canal and the imperial teacher who was nowhere to be found, they had nothing to do with him.
…
The setting sun reflects the surging waves of the Wei River, creating a sparkling scene.
The imperial teacher, who had not been heard from in Chang'an for many years, walked to the bank of the Wei River with his old donkey and stopped. Not far away, there was a child standing downstream carrying a sledgehammer for grinding huge stones, and he had his pants unzipped and urinated half a foot away.