This scene made many people stunned on the spot.
Fortunately, Xue Tingyan was quick-witted and hugged Mao Wenhao just before he hit the pillar.
Seeing such a thrilling situation, even the new emperor on the dragon chair couldn't help but wipe a cold sweat.
He quickly stood up and asked the eunuchs around him to see how Mao Wenhao was doing, and said angrily, "Just talk well when you speak. You say what pillars you hit, you can't talk about it, and you have to make some death remarks."
The so-called civil and military remonstrance, military death battle, has always been the highest honor for civil and military officials.
Civil servants like death advice, and the new emperor has long known this.
It was supposed to express the courage to speak out directly, even at the risk of committing death, but it gradually evolved into a method used by courtiers to deal with the emperor. At every turn, if His Majesty did not listen to the old minister's advice, the old minister would knock his head to death on the pillar.
If you think that people are just threats and won't be serious, then you are wrong. Don't look at those civil servants who are helpless, they seem to be quite cowardly, and when they really deserve to die, they are not ambiguous at all.
Because he died like this, his name would definitely be remembered.
The ministers who died admonishing are famous in the history, and the emperor will also leave the name of the faint-hearted tyrant in the history books. Not only could the emperor not retaliate against the descendants of ministers, but he had to treat them well. Maybe in the future, I will train myself a courtier who likes to control everything, and will use a slap to death as a threat at every turn.
When this matter was discovered by others, such as his own father, Emperor Jiacheng, the third prince who was born as a prince at that time would at most scold them as old and pedantic.
It can be replaced by himself, Xindi can truly experience this feeling of helplessness and disgust.
"Your Majesty can't listen to the advice, the old minister can only go down and talk to the first emperor." Mao Wenhao cried and struggled: "Master Xue, don't drag the old man, the old man will die here today."
"You stop, I will ask them to go back to Beijing to inquire about the situation. If there is really corruption and perversion of the law, I will not spare you lightly." In a hurry, the new emperor said.
"Is what Your Majesty said true?"
Seeing Yang Chonghua and the others glaring at him angrily, the new emperor realized what he said.
But at this time, what is his face
He could only bite the bullet and say: "Of course it's true, Master Mao should stop making trouble. This is what I planned to do, but you can't help but slam into the pillar. It's really, really too impatient..."
The new emperor left in a hurry.
In the sound of 'retreat to the court', Mao Wenhao patted the dust on his body and got up, gave Xue Tingxiang a disdainful look, and walked away triumphantly.
But the officials around Xue Tingxiang were angry and scolded him for being brazen.
Xue Tingxiang couldn't help shaking his head helplessly, but he couldn't say anything.
Yang Chonghua glanced at him and left here in a hurry.
At the back door of Duke Dingguo's mansion, several carriages were parked.
A few plainly dressed but beautiful women turned their heads and cried, but they couldn't stop them at all. They had no choice but to let the maid help the carriage, and the carriage quickly left here.
Zhong Qingyang, the son of Duke Dingguo and commander of the Fifth Army Battalion, was fined for half a year and ordered to return the concubine who violated the rules. This was unimaginable before, but today it really happened.
Dingguo Gong's mansion was clouded with gloom, and the atmosphere was extremely depressed.
Seemingly a small thing, it just proves that the new emperor has the intention to start with them.
In fact, I should have expected it long ago, and I even had to be on guard, but when something happened, I was still somewhat incapable of accepting it.
In Duke Ding's study, Duke Ding, who was over seventy years old, sat behind the desk.
His beard and hair are all white, and his face is majestic, and it can be seen that he was also a hero when he was young.
In fact, this is indeed the case. In the riots and uprisings, as a lieutenant, he also made countless contributions in exchange for the position of the duke.
It's a pity that the hero is too late, and it's time to enter the coffin, but because of his grandson, he has fallen into such a situation.
Because of a small censor's impeachment, his family was swept away by the new emperor!
This is the embarrassment of the power falling by the side, so Ding Guogong does not regret planning for his grandson at the beginning. If the Zhong family can have an empress dowager and the grandson becomes the emperor, at least the Zhong family can be protected for another hundred years.
Prosperity and wealth are all gambling, and if it happens again, Ding Guogong will choose this way. But he will definitely not despise the group of civil servants, those civil servants who only rely on one mouth, one pen, one head, and are helpless.
It's not that Duke Ding doesn't pay attention to these civil servants, he just didn't expect them to dare to set up such a big situation.
There are many cunning scholars, and the ancients honestly did not deceive him.
The current situation is that the new emperor is supported by the group of civil servants to take the throne, the second prince and the concubine Zhong Guifei are in a dilemma, and the Zhong family's fate is only in the near future.
Not complaining about anything, just complaining about one bad move.
"Father, we can't just sit back and wait for death, or the next time my Zhong family will be found, seized military power, and the whole family will be destroyed." Zhong Qingyang said solemnly.
If there is one, there will be two, sooner or later, the butcher's knife will come to the door.
In the world, except for the missing Jiacheng Emperor, only the second prince knows the secret of the new emperor, so he will definitely not let go of the Zhong family, even the second prince and even Concubine Zhong, who is now changed to Concubine Zhong Taigui.
It should have been evenly matched, but since the new emperor ascended the throne, the Zhong family could clearly feel that the balance was tilted a little bit as time passed.
This is the natural advantage of being an emperor, and being famous for being a teacher. So even those who had followed the Zhong family and even the second prince earlier were hesitant to wait and see, which was not a good sign.
"Then what do you think?"
"We can cooperate with Xue Tingxiang!" Zhong Qingyang gritted his teeth.
Duke Ding looked over.
"Xue Tingxiang is the late emperor's confidant and loyal. From what he has done since he returned to Beijing, it can be seen that he is suspicious, but there is no evidence. Whether it is true or not, at least Ye Ju, Lin Miao and others are all The late emperor's henchmen, the return of these people will give him more help. If these people know that the late emperor is not dead, and the third prince is trying to usurp the throne, what do you think they will do?"
"But our end will not be good. Don't forget what the Zhong family and even the second prince did in it. Even if the first emperor returned to the dynasty, he would not let the Zhong family go." Dingguo was fair.
"It's all about death. It's better to take a gamble that the first emperor didn't dare to show his face, because he was weak and weak. And Dad, you forgot that when you were concerned about Taizu's affection, you never let the Zhong family come forward, and the second prince made Such disobedience, I feel ashamed in my heart, and I have never come forward.
"We can absolutely say that they are in the name of the second prince, but we are actually framed and framed. Even if the first emperor knew something, even if he was concerned about the outside world, he would not do anything to the Zhong family. As long as we are honest, Zhong The lives of hundreds of people in the clan can be preserved.”
"But your sister." The bowl of medicine that was mixed with something was brought to Emperor Jiacheng by Concubine Zhong Gui.
"If my sister knows that this is good for the Zhong family and the second prince, she will definitely understand. And the son has always had a feeling that Xue Tingxiang seems to know something, he is just waiting. Maybe the first emperor will return to the dynasty soon, It's time-"
The study fell into a suffocating silence, and suddenly there was a beeping sound from the wick.
Ding Guogong slumped all of a sudden, and said a little tiredly: "Let me think about it again."
If you think about it again, but Duke Ding's appearance is obviously moved, but he is sad for the hurdle in his heart for a while, and he has not made a decision for the time being.
Another day, Xue Tingxiang returned to the mansion in the official sedan chair.
Halfway through the road, suddenly the road ahead was blocked.
It is the carriage of the Zhong family.
The guards on both sides mediated separately, and soon a path was vacated. The Zhong family's carriage gave way to the side and let Xue Tingyan's sedan chair go first.
Just when Xue Tingxiang opened the car curtain and looked out, there was a face in the carriage diagonally opposite, it was Zhong Qingyang.
Eyes crossed, understanding each other.
Not long after, a car and a sedan headed in the same direction.
Tan Shoufu has been seriously ill in the couch, and even the first emperor Long Yugui was unable to stay in the couch.
The new emperor was sympathetic and prevented him from entering the palace to cry. It is said that Tan Shoufu was so sad that he cried and fainted on the sick bed several times, so that his body was even weaker, and he almost went with the emperor several times.
Although he now occupies the position of first assistant, but now the cabinet is headed by Yang Chonghua. Everyone knows that Tan Shoufu will be resigning from the official and retire in the near future, so although Yang Chonghua does not have the name of Shoufu, some people have secretly called him Shoufu.
It was another morning in the morning, and the hundred officials stood in line according to their rank, with the civil officials on the left and the military officers on the right.
This is the usual old rule, who is standing where and who knows each other.
Yang Chonghua led the team and stood at the top on the left. The daughter-in-law of many years became a mother-in-law, Xu Shoufu and Wu Ge were gone, and now it was finally his turn to lead.
It was time to wait for the new emperor to come to court, so it was very quiet around.
At this moment, there was a commotion in the rear. Yang Chonghua only thought that some officials were late, but did not take it seriously.
But gradually the commotion came behind him, he turned back subconsciously, and saw Tan Shoufu walking slowly towards him in an old fashion.
Just in his slightly widened eyes, the other party passed him at a very slow speed and went to stand in front of him.
Therefore, he had to take three steps back, followed by Feng Chengbao behind him, and a group of officials behind him retreated one after another, and the team slowly calmed down.
Seemingly feeling Yang Chonghua's surprise, Tan Shoufu nodded slightly to him with a smile, but when he turned to the back, he was a little apologetic.
The surroundings are still quiet, but because of this, I don't know how many thoughts are floating in the dark.
The new emperor came soon, and after shouting long live, he sat down on the dragon chair.
He seemed to be very surprised by Tan Shoufu's appearance.
With the eunuch in charge of the court ceremony, he shouted: "If there is something to do, I will retreat to the court." Xindi looked at Tan Shoufu with a smile and said, "Tan Aiqing is in good health? You are feeling sick, and I have always been very concerned."
Tan Shoufu knelt down tremblingly and bowed.
The new emperor turned pale in surprise, and hurriedly asked the eunuch beside him to help him up. Before waiting for the eunuch to go down the steps, Tan Shoufu stood up tremblingly, saying that he couldn't be like His Majesty.
"The old minister is ashamed, the corpse is a vegetarian meal, and he has resigned from the late emperor several times. The late emperor's kindness and love forced him to keep him. So I can only shamelessly stay in the position without seeking political affairs. It's really shameful, shameful."
Under such circumstances, the new emperor naturally had to say something face-saving: "Tan Aiqing is an old minister, and the royal father is nostalgic and respectful. I have so many officials in Dachang, and there is no shortage of one or two ministers to do things, but as long as the royal father sees you always there Chao, my heart is at peace.”
This is not what the new emperor said, but a retelling of what Emperor Jiacheng once said.
Similar words, Emperor Jiacheng has said countless times, a lot to Xu Shoufu, and a lot to Tan Liang, which is really touching.
Sure enough, when Tan Shoufu heard this, he wiped away his old tears. First, he cried about the benevolence and righteousness of the former emperor, and then said that the new emperor and the former emperor's style must be a generation of benevolent rulers in the future.
People like to hear good things, and Cintiq especially likes to hear them. In fact, he usually listened to these words a lot, but if it came from the mouth of the late emperor, it would make him feel refreshed.
"But the former emperor and His Majesty's benevolence is not the reason why the old minister can rely on the situation. Today, the old minister came to support the sickness, just to resign to His Majesty. The old minister has not returned to his hometown for many years, and now he may follow the late emperor one day. Go, I want to go back to my hometown to have a look, choose a place to bury my bones, wait for the deadline to come, and go down to serve the late emperor."
This is a bit serious. In fact, whether you want to be old or not, you can still tell the difference through words. Tan Shoufu's remarks clearly mean that he has made up his mind.
The new emperor is both surprised and sighed, but it is undoubtedly a good thing that Tan Shoufu can get a position.
He said some words of comfort and persuasion. Seeing that Tan Shoufu's attitude was firm, he could only reward him before deciding on the matter.
"On this occasion, the old minister has another matter that needs to be revealed to His Majesty. In fact, the old minister is here mainly for this, and he has a heavy responsibility. Several times the old minister was on the verge of dying, so he insisted on coming back."
"Oh, what's the matter?"
Tan Shoufu's remarks not only aroused the curiosity of the new emperor, but also aroused the curiosity of many ministers. Some of the ministers standing in the back looked at each other, all guessing what was going on.
"Actually, it was a hand letter from the late emperor." Tan Shoufu quickly revealed the answer, but instead of taking out anything, he began to sigh at the late emperor in a long speech, and then he said where the hand letter came from.
The other person is getting old, and it may be that he has been seriously ill several times in a row, and his speech is much slower than before.
The key is that he is not only slow, but also long-winded. He always talks about the back and forgets the front, and occasionally repeats what he has said before.
If it was before, that's all, Hun Dang would have talked about him early this morning.
But now and then, everyone has never heard of the previous emperor's decree, and now a decree suddenly appeared, not to mention some ordinary ministers, even the new emperor Yang Chonghua and others are eager to know what the content is.
"... When Master Xue went to the south of the Yangtze River, the old minister once met with the sage. His Majesty said that if the new policy can be implemented in the Jiangnan area, Master Xue's contribution will be in the contemporary era. Later, Master Xue held a meeting to debate the new policy in Suzhou Gongyuan. People gathered. The scene of that day was sent to the capital through the mouths of the world, through the express delivery, and His Majesty was excited and excited. A hand letter from the old minister."
After these words, Baiguan finally knew what the general content of the first emperor's hand decree was.
Is this related to Xue Shilang
For a time, countless eyes swept over Xue Tingxiang who was standing in the ranks of the civil servants.
"I don't know where the manual is, and what is the content on it?" The new emperor finally asked what everyone wanted to know, and the breath in his heart finally came out.
It's still the usual trembling, which makes people want to rush to dig for him.
Tan Shoufu finally took out a roll of things from his sleeve.
The roll seemed to be very important, and it was wrapped in a cloth towel. Untie a layer of cloth towel, there is another layer inside, and keep opening five or six layers before revealing what is underneath.
Baiguan and even the new emperor really suspected that Tan Shoufu did this on purpose, and he made him very impatient anyway.
"This hand letter was originally created by Your Majesty, but after writing it, Your Majesty couldn't bear to destroy it, and gave it to the old minister, saying that when the old minister returned home, it was when this hand letter appeared. Your Majesty is really the prince of benevolence and righteousness. , the old minister is really…”
Tan Shoufu started to cry again, which made people anxious, and wanted to beat him up.
After crying, Tan Shoufu handed the hand letter to Yang Chonghua and said, "Elder Yang, please help the old man to read. The old man can't be calm at this time, but it's really unbearable to read this hand letter."
After Yang Chonghua opened the manual, his eyes were fixed on it.
Surprise, embarrassment, and disbelief flashed in his eyes, and the old hand holding the hand oracle was full of blue veins.
"Your Majesty said that with the merits of Lord Xue, he is worthy of this position, and there is no need to restrict his age and qualifications. Originally, when Lord Xue came back from Guangdong, His Majesty had plans to let him join the cabinet, but he was young and wanted to press him. He, too, can take on more important responsibilities in the future... Hey, Lord Yang, why don't you read it?"
Tan Shoufu stared at Yang Chonghua behind him with his dim eyes.
"This official, this official..." Yang Chonghua smiled stiffly and said: "This official is here to read, the young master Xue Tingyan, amazing and talented, young fame, six yuan and the first, since entering the dynasty, he has made many contributions..."
In fact, this is a hand-made decree to appoint Xue Tingxiang into the cabinet. It is probably true as Tan Shoufu said. It was caused by the rise of Emperor Jiacheng. It even said that he could be the first assistant of the cabinet.
Therefore, even if Xue Tingxiang was made the first assistant without clearly stating it, Tan Shoufu took it seriously, so he did this.
After the hand decree was read, the hall was extremely quiet, and everyone's eyes were on the young officials who were standing there neither humble nor arrogant.
In fact, if it is calculated according to the merits, Xue Tingxiang can be the chief assistant.
In the years since he entered the dynasty as an official, he has shown calmness and prudence, no less than some veteran officials who have been in the dynasty for decades.
But you must know that he is only in his thirties, and he has not even entered the cabinet, how can he suddenly become the first assistant minister. How should Yang Chonghua and Feng Chengbao, who have been in the cabinet for many years, deal with themselves
But this is the first emperor's handwriting!
Because of the meaning represented by the word 'the first emperor', he even surpassed the new emperor.
You must know that the emperor of heaven and earth is a teacher, and Dachang rules the world with filial piety. Can the new emperor dare to refute the previous emperor's handwriting
Since the new emperor came to the throne, the four ministers on the last emperor's edict were different from ordinary ministers. It stands to reason that the new emperor is already an adult, and it seems that he has a bit of a careless minister to come out. However, if the first emperor did not set up a prince, and the princes had not been trained and taught by the prince, it seemed that he could understand this practice.
But from the beginning to the end, everyone ignored one thing, that is, Xue Tingxiang, Ye Ju and others.
No one in the court knew that these people were the confidants of the late emperor, who had set up ministers to take care of life, but none of them were among them. Could it be that a few people are not qualified enough, or that they are not as familiar with the operation of the government as Yang Chonghua and others? It seems that this is not inexplicable.
But precisely the appearance of this edict was somewhat contradictory to the last edict of the late emperor.
The first emperor obviously intended to let Xue Tingxiang take the position of the first assistant, if not now, but also in the future.
There is Xu Shoufu in the front, and Tan Shoufu in the back. Both of them are old and invincible. It is obvious that the late emperor deliberately kept people for balance.
Because this phenomenon has been going on for a long time, the word Shoufu seems to be a noun for Baiguan, and not only one person has even guessed what kind of person is worthy of the position of Shoufu in Emperor Jiacheng's mind.
Now that the results have come out, the late emperor was eclectic and downgraded his talents. But the question is, why is there no mention in the will of such a highly regarded minister
Then, the so-called will, is it really the will of the emperor himself? Or did the minister in charge of drafting the edict deliberately omit it
If everyone remembers correctly, the minister responsible for drafting the edict was Yang Chonghua, and the several ministers present that day were also the four ministers on the edict.
It is not that there are no other important officials in the court, but only four people were called, which is really intriguing.
Mao Wenhao, who was standing behind, suddenly jumped out and said loudly: "That day the edict was promulgated, Wei Chen was a little puzzled. Although Wei Chen was a little bit down on the character of this Xue Shilang and his cabinet teacher Lin Miao, but With its merits, it is impossible not to mention the last sentence in the edict.
"Master Yang, this edict was drafted by you. Can you explain to everyone why the content of the edict contradicts the previous edict left by His Majesty? Could it be that you suppressed the new students at the end of the school and deliberately omitted Master Xue?"
Mao Wenhao's remarks immediately caused buzzing discussions in the hall.
Yang Chonghua, who has always been prudent and low-key, blushed for the first time and turned into a pig's liver. It means that the old man can't cheat?"
Mao Wenhao squinted his eyes, took out the stance of hob meat, and said impassively: "Then who knows, that's why I asked you adults to explain a thing or two to me. I am humble and humble, and when the late emperor left his edict, I was not there, but everyone in the world knows the weight of the edict, which is as heavy as Mount Tai.
"I don't care about others. I, Mao Wenhao, have been deeply blessed by the emperor. If this edict is not the original intention of the emperor, I, Mao Wenhao, will definitely not recognize it!"
At this moment, the new emperor on the dragon chair suddenly held his forehead with a painful expression on his face.
The eunuch on the side hurriedly got close and shouted, "Your Majesty, what's the matter with you, Your Majesty?"
The new emperor leaned weakly on the dragon chair and said, "I have a headache."
"Your Majesty is tired. Since the death of the late emperor, His Majesty has been standing in front of the spirit for a few days, and he is busy with government affairs. The servants will help Majesty to rest and pass on the imperial doctor."
As the eunuch's voice was full of emotion, the new emperor let people accompany him away, and the eunuch in charge of the ceremonies hurriedly shouted 'retreat to the court' and left.