Chapter 835 The dead are more valuable than the living
The Imperial Study in Jingren Palace.
About ten feet away from the imperial desk, two embroidered cushions were placed on the left and right in a corner formation.
The person sitting on the embroidered cushion on the left, with a hunched back and an aged look, is none other than the current Prime Minister He Tiren. In contrast, Xu Furen, sitting on the embroidered cushion on the right, also has gray hair, but he exudes a high-spirited air.
At this time, both of them were holding several copied memorials in their hands, concentrating on carefully considering them.
The imperial study was quiet, except for the sound of the bowl lid in Emperor Guangde's hand, which tapped gently on the teacup again and again, making a crisp tinkling sound.
Pah~
I don't know how long it was before the bowl lid suddenly fell down, first hitting the edge of the teacup heavily, and then slid down and tightly covered the rising water mist.
At the same time, Emperor Guangde also opened his slightly closed eyes, looked at the two old ministers in front of the imperial desk and said, "Okay, let's discuss it."
Hearing this order, He Tiren hurriedly took off his glasses and looked up at Xu Furen, who was sitting across from him. Just as he was about to signal the other party to speak first, he heard hurried footsteps outside, followed by the sharp voice of the eunuch in charge:
"Your Majesty, Hu Xianzhong from the Northern Pacification Office claims to have urgent official business and needs to report to Your Majesty immediately. He is now waiting for your order outside the Jingren Palace."
"Xuan!"
There was no fluctuation in Emperor Guangde's voice, but this was the very sign of a thundering coming.
Obviously, if Hu Xianzhong was just making a fuss, or if what he reported was not within the emperor's scope of concern, he would be greeted with great wrath.
However, the eunuch in charge took the order and left, and soon brought Hu Xianzhong back.
As the nephew of the former chief eunuch Dai Quan, Hu Xianzhong was a handsome man. However, in terms of competence and intelligence, he was far inferior to Sun Shaozong's old superior Lu Hui.
After he entered the room , he was stunned when he saw the two ministers. After they knelt on the ground and paid their respects, they looked around and seemed to be hesitant to speak.
This cautious appearance is not very pleasing at first.
If the matter was really of great importance, as the head of the secret service, he could just ask the emperor to send his men away.
If you feel that what you reported is not a secret, you should not be concerned about the two elders.
Being hesitant like this shows that one lacks decisiveness and stability.
Emperor Guangde waited for a while, and seeing that he was still looking back and forth, he finally ordered impatiently: "What do you want to report? Tell me quickly!"
Although Hu Xianzhong was a man of indecisive character, he was still good at observing people's expressions. Hearing the displeasure in the emperor's tone, he didn't care about anything else and kowtowed immediately:
"Your Majesty, I have just received news that many officials in the court are gathering at Ningguo Mansion, claiming to be holding a funeral for Jia Jing, but in fact they intend to slander Your Majesty!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the imperial study suddenly became solemn.
The impatience on Emperor Guangde's face also disappeared, and was replaced by a calm and rigid expression:
"How did they slander me?"
"this……"
Hu Xianzhong subconsciously wanted to turn his head to look at the two elders again. Fortunately, he was smarter this time. As soon as the neck moved, he corrected the mistake.
He took a deep breath and said carefully, "They used the recent death of Jia Jing to say that all alchemists are liars. They also said that those who favored alchemists in all dynasties were mostly...mostly incompetent rulers who did not care about the people."
"ha!"
Emperor Guangde raised his lips, revealing a hideous and disdainful sneer, and then asked, "What else did they say?"
Although Hu Xianzhong didn't see that sneer, he still shuddered unconsciously, and his words became increasingly clumsy: "And... and... and some people mentioned the solar eclipse two years ago, and complained... complained that the court did not practice moral governance, which led to the rebellion in southern Xinjiang."
Before he could finish his words, he felt someone appear beside him.
Hu Xianzhong stole a glance and saw He Tiren kneeling down not far away. He poked his white hair to the ground and said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty entrusted the government to me, but I was foolish and incompetent, which led to the chaos in Southern Xinjiang. I beg Your Majesty ..."
"There's no need to do this, Mr. He!"
Emperor Guangde interrupted his resignation in time, motioning Qiu Shian to come over and support him, while he said with emotion: "Since I received the warning from heaven, I have never been slack in government affairs and people's livelihood! Heaven knows this, earth knows it, all the cabinet ministers and the six ministers know it!"
"Now, a bunch of corrupt scholars who dare not even give direct criticism are imitating that black-hearted old crow. They just made a few noises over someone else's corpse and want me to bow my head? They want my cabinet chief to resign?!"
"It's the most ridiculous thing in the world!"
It was just a confession at first, but it turned into a thunderous roar at the end.
This is not surprising. Southern Xinjiang and Liaodong have been in turmoil recently, and there are undercurrents in the court. Emperor Guangde has been so busy lately that he has even given up on women, and he has been holding back a lot of anger.
Hu Xianzhong was terrified when he heard this, but he thought it was his time to make a contribution, so he kowtowed again and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. I will send someone to bring those treacherous officials who made irresponsible comments on state affairs to see if they were instructed by someone else!"
Who would have thought that his loyalty would only be rewarded with the emperor's long silence.
After kneeling and waiting for a quarter of an hour, Emperor Guangde sighed behind the imperial desk and ordered, "Qiu Shi'an, go to Ningguo Mansion and convey my order: Although Jia Jing is a commoner and has done no service to the country, in consideration of his grandfather's merits, he will be posthumously awarded the fifth rank. The Guanglu Temple will grant him sacrifices according to the above rules, and the court, including princes and nobles, will be allowed to offer him condolences."
After a pause, he added: "Order the Ministry of Rites to write his life story on a brochure and hang it outside the gate of Ningguo Mansion so that the people of the capital can see who they are worshipping!"
This move is really like cutting off the source of the problem.
First, he affirmed the rationality of everyone's condolences, and then exposed Jia Jing's life in broad daylight, making the people believe that those officials went to the funeral because Jia Jing had been a Taoist priest for more than ten years.
After all, apart from this, Jia Jing has no other deeds to show off.
After Qiu Shian took the order, Emperor Guangde turned his attention to Xu Furen and asked meaningfully, "Lord Xu, what do you think of my handling of the matter?"
Xu Furen hurriedly stood up and responded, "Your Majesty is kind and wise, and he handled it very appropriately!"
Emperor Guangde nodded with a half-smile, and suddenly remembered something, muttering: "I remember that a few years ago, there was a funeral in Ningguo Mansion, which attracted many princes and nobles in the court to pay their respects - how can the dead in his family be more valuable than the living?"
The three ministers below were just wondering what to do, and Emperor Guangde waved his sleeves again, dismissed Hu Xianzhong who was kneeling in the middle, and repeated the old words: "Okay, let's first discuss the matter of the collusion between the Kingdom of Korea and the Northern Tartars."
