lady, please calm down

Chapter 341 The last scholar of Daqi

At the end of Yin Shi.

In the darkest hour before dawn, court officials at all levels get up and go out to court with trepidation.

In the early hours of this morning, turmoil in the city could be vaguely heard.

Half an hour ago, I even heard the sound of soldiers breaking into some adults' mansions to capture people.
Needless to say, those who are captured will definitely not deal with the King of Chu.

There was still blood in the morning wind, and a layer of fine sand was urgently placed in front of Xuande Gate.

As representatives of officials who had defected to the Huaibei clique, Fan Gongzhi and Zhang Chunxiao looked solemn.
Du Zhaoqing, the Minister of Rites, guessed that the two adults, like him, had not been notified before last night, and did not even expect that the King of Chu would be so ruthless.

Yes, when an ordinary man is angry, his blood will splash five steps, but when a prince is angry, his blood will flow across the river.
Today, there were about [-]% fewer court officials than usual, but they were still divided into two groups in front of Xuande Gate as before.

On one side, with Fan, Zhang and Cai Yuan as the center, it was also where Du Zhaoqing was going to pass. At this time, there were more centrists around the three of them, all of them looked nervous, and many of them couldn't help wiping sweat in the cool autumn wind.

Obviously terrified.

On the other side, there was only one person. Xu Derang, the Minister of Rites, who was particularly strong today but also looked particularly lonely.

Du Zhaoqing glanced at this old man with a calm face and white beard blowing in the wind, and he felt sincere respect.
At Mao hour, the king of Chu arrived.

A group of officials came forward to pay their respects. After a while, the palace door opened wide, and the officials straightened their clothes and filed in.

In the Daqing Palace, Jia Rou's beautiful eyes on the imperial stage were covered with bloodshot eyes. She must have not slept well last night.

Below, no one from the officials spoke. They were all waiting for Chen Chu to come out and explain what happened last night and discuss the rights and wrongs. Then Jiarou would either willingly or be forced to express his agreement with the King of Chu's words.

The events that benefit the King of Chu will probably be determined like this.

But to everyone's surprise, before Chen Chu could speak, Xu Derang suddenly turned around and stood in the middle of the Daqing Hall from among the ministers. He was seen holding a wat tablet, facing Jiarou and saying loudly: "Your Highness ! Last night the King of Chu sent troops to kill the squires and officials, completely disregarding the laws of the country. If this wolf cannot be brought to justice this time, this country will be named Chen! Your Highness, please get rid of the national traitors!"

There was a sudden silence in the Daqing Hall.

No one would have thought that in such a situation, Xu Derang would dare to show his face to the King of Chu. Don’t you want to live?

Even Jiarou didn't expect Xu Derang to be so violent. She was so frightened that she quickly blinked at him wildly, signaling Xu Derang to stop talking.

She was not worried about herself, she was worried that Xu Derang had been a teacher to several princes and princesses when his father first came to the throne. Although he did not care much about Jia Rou back then, he still had the title of master and disciple.

Furthermore, now the imperial court is full of nobles, who either took refuge with the King of Chu early, or who wisely protect themselves and remain silent when things happen.

Only Xu Derang always stood on Liu Qi's side, comforted and encouraged Jiarou in private, and made suggestions for Jiarou. Jiarou couldn't help but have some psychological dependence on this teacher.
At this time, the blood on King Chu's body was still lingering, and Jiarou was worried that Xu Derang would lose his life.

Lu Chaoji, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, glanced at Chen Chu and hurried out of work. He scolded Xu Derang: "Xu Shangshu, you must be an old fool! How can the King of Chu massacre the gentry when he has a reputation for benevolence? Don't listen to the rumors. It’s the rain!”

After saying that, Lu Chaoji turned to Jiarou and said: "Your Highness! Xu Derang, the Minister of Rites, is old and dim, and can no longer be promoted to the position of Minister! Please, Your Highness, order him to resign and retire."

Chen Chu and Cai Yuan stood in the crowd of ministers without any expression.

Fan Gongzhi, Zhang Chunxiao, and even Jiarou breathed a sigh of relief. Lu Chaoji told Jiarou to kill Xu Derang, but he was actually protecting him.

After retiring from old age and returning to his hometown, he still has a chance to recover. Even if he cannot return to the center of the imperial court, he can still live the rest of his life in peace.

It's better than being killed by Chen Chu.

Unexpectedly, Xu Derang laughed wildly.

Huang Doudou, who was standing on Jiarou's side, immediately scolded, "Master Xu! If you violate the rules in front of the palace, aren't you afraid of being punished?"

The laughter stopped suddenly, and Xu Derang gave Huang Doudou a contemptuous look, raised his hands, respectfully took off his official hat and placed it on the ground. He took off his robe and said loudly: "Haha, punish the crime? You guys want my life." So what? Today, I have no intention of going back alive!"

After saying this, he also took off his red official robe.

Inside is actually a heavy filial piety hemp suit!
The entire Daqing Palace couldn't help but froze, but Xu Derang looked around at the many colleagues in the palace and sneered: "You are all in good shape, but the late Emperor Jianbal is a weakling. Now that the country is in chaos and the master is weak, no one appreciates the great kindness of the late Emperor and follows the trend to do something." You are a traitor and a running dog of the country, I am ashamed to associate with you!"

With these words, all the officials in the palace were scolded, but no one dared to speak back.
Xu Derang withdrew his contemptuous gaze and glanced at Jia Rou, who had tears in his eyes due to anxiety on the imperial stage. His expression quickly softened. He staggered to his knees and kowtowed solemnly three times. When he raised his head again, he was already in tears, "Your Highness , I am an incompetent official. Please take care of yourself from now on. I am leaving."

He laughed a few more times, stood up like a madman, and shouted: "Da Qi is dead, the scholar-bureaucrats are dead. Hahaha, Da Qi is dead."

Before the chamberlain who maintained order in the hall could approach, Xu Derang, who was shouting like crazy, suddenly rushed forward, and hit the golden pillar of the hall with his head amid the screams of Baiguan and Jiarou.
"."

Jia Rou bit her lower lip desperately, but still couldn't hold it back, tears rolled down her face.

September 21.

Daqi Qiyao, Tokyo Business Daily and other newspapers, after two days of strange silence, suddenly and completely reported the whole incident that happened in Tokyo City in the early morning of the [-]th.

The focus of the report was on the cause of the incident.

Li Jue and Li Zexuan fell into the hands of the Huaibei Army, and they had their own means to make them talk.
Then Li Jue even told the secrets of Li Yiren's removal of ashes.

Based on the information they handed over, Ayu personally visited Xiangfu County, interviewed farmers who were present on the day of the incident, and wrote a thousand-word report.

To sort out the complete sequence of events, the recruitment of tenants for farmland in the Central Plains aroused the dissatisfaction of the Xiangfu gentry headed by Li Yiren. They then planned to seize the farmers' contracted land by force, which led to the action of Cai, the concubine of the King of Chu.

Afterwards, Li Yiren held a grudge and ordered his son Li Zexuan to kill his nephew Li Jixuan and blame the Cai family.

Then they incited Taixue students to take to the streets to besiege Xuandemen.
In the report, what happened in the early morning of the [-]th was kept secret.

He simply said: Due to the chaos at the scene, there were casualties among the gentry.
But such rhetoric cannot hide the fact that after all, more than 100 gentry families in eight counties in Gyeonggi Province now wear filial piety, and in just a few days, white cloth has been sold out near Tokyo.

The readers of the newspaper are mainly the gentry class. Ayu guessed that this crooked report would arouse the gentry's doubts, so she specially wrote about some of Li Yiren's sordid life in the third page.

Among them, Li Yiren's ashes revealed by Li Jue were mainly used as the material, and some artistic processing was carried out.

When political opponents criticize each other, it is the simplest and most effective way to attack each other's moral level.

If you have problems as a person, then what you do is naturally wrong.

And the stimulating information that violates human ethics, such as picking off ashes, is the most eye-catching.
In this report, Ayu signed a pseudonym that no one knew. The content of the article was extremely explosive. Some of the detailed descriptions made people's hearts beat faster and their faces turn red. It was simply a piece of writing.

Hey, don't tell me, after understanding the beauty between the bed and the bed, the things I write will have a sense of ecstasy.

Actually, Ayu is not unfamiliar with writing this kind of thing.

Most of the young and artistic young women have a special hobby. Ayu's hobby is that every time they have a tryst with their uncle, they have to write down the day's process, feelings and even experiences in writing.

Of course, it was impossible for her to show these small compositions to others. They were all locked in a secret compartment in the boudoir, and even Chen Chu didn't know about them.

However, the Press Development Foundation can control public opinion in Tokyo, but it cannot control public opinion in the world.

After a few days of silence, the Ru Bao, headquartered in Luoyang, Xijing, launched a counterattack on behalf of scholars all over the world starting with the "Official Document of Memorial Ceremony" on the 22nd.

September 24.

An autumn rain mixed with snowflakes descended on Tokyo, and the temperature dropped sharply.

At this time, Chen Chu, Chen Jingan and Cai Yuan were walking on the streets of Tokyo.

Chen Jing'an, who had been shut up for many days, had high cheekbones and sunken cheeks, as if he was seriously ill.

He has been unable to serve as director recently, so Cai Yuan can only temporarily take over his job.

Therefore, Cai Yuan was extremely busy. Not only did he have to select talents from all over Daqi to come to Beijing to fill the vacancies of officials who died in the early morning of the [-]th, he also had to compile and analyze intelligence sent from various places.

Even at this time, he was still worried about his work while walking on the long street. "Yuan Zhang, Cheng Biyong, a wealthy family on Jingxi Road, has been contacting the squires for several days, and there seems to be something strange."

The incident in Xiangfu County hurt the foundation of the gentry. Chen Chu suppressed it with such tough and brutal methods. It would be abnormal for the local gentry to remain calm.

Chen Chu had expected it, nodded and said: "Jingxi Road is the Feng family's territory. If they don't take the initiative to ask for our help, it will be difficult for us to intervene, lest the generals from various places think that we want to occupy the Feng family's territory. We will wait and see in advance." Let it change."

Cai Yuan added, "Huaidong Road is also restless. Squire officials in Sizhou, Haizhou and other places have recently begun to recruit militia groups. Huaidong Road is close to our Shou and Suzhous, so Yuan Zhang must be on guard."

Cai Yuan's news came from the administrative system, but Chen Chu had two major news channels, Caobang and Juntong.Therefore, he knew what happened on Huaidong Road.

It's just that the father-in-law said that now, only Huaiyuan County in Suzhou is controlled by the Huaibei Clan, but in Cai Yuan's words, it has become "Wo Shou and Suzhou".

Mr. Cai is quite greedy.

"Yes, I have written to inform Da Lang." Chen Chu responded.

Next to him, Chen Jingan, who had been following silently, naturally knew that what Cai Yuan said at this time was originally something he should be responsible for.

Chen Jing'an was deeply saddened by the Xuandemen incident. After all, he was also a scholar, and betraying his own class was a real pain.

Chen Jing'an calmed down a little and whispered: "Yuan Zhang, I heard that there are still more than 1000 scholars imprisoned in the imperial camp. Recently, the families of the scholars have been begging everywhere, asking Yuan Zhang to be read to them because they are young and ignorant. free them"

"Oh? Mr. Yanagawa, what do you think we should do with them?"

Chen Chu asked rhetorically. Chen Jingan only explained the parents' eagerness to rescue their children, but did not give his own opinions. He just did not want to continue to widen the rift with Chen Chu.

Chen Jingan wanted to let him go, but at the same time he felt that Chen Chu would definitely not want to let him go.

But seeing Chen Chu asking for his opinion, Chen Jing'an still couldn't hold it back and politely pleaded for the scholars: "Now the truth of the case is revealed. The hot-blooded young man was deceived by the Li family and his son. If Yuan Zhang hadn't planned to kill him, It's better to let them go and ease the relationship with Shilin."

Chen Jingan spoke cautiously. With his eyes, he could definitely tell that the conflict between Chen Chu and the gentry did not involve the Li family and his son at all, but he did not dare to mention the real reason.

Moreover, his words are also pertinent. Even if Chen Chu and Shilin have conflicts, they cannot really kill all the scholars. There is still a need to ease the relationship.

Chen Chu laughed when he heard this, and said as if he was joking: "There are many ways to ease the relationship with Shilin, such as marrying the daughter of a noble family in a certain place."

"."

Chen Jingyan couldn't help but be startled, subconsciously thinking of his niece, but before he could react, Chen Chu had already suppressed his smile, and he just heard him say lightly: "These scholars rely on the court's preferential treatment, and enforce the rules and regulations. Although their crimes are not punishable by death, they are We should also be punished.”

Chen Jing'an's attention immediately shifted from the love between his children to the current topic, "How will Yuan Zhang be punished?"

"Let them go to Huaibei countryside."

"Going to Huaibei?"

"Well, a bunch of nerds are stupid because of reading. Do they know how much grain can be harvested from an acre of land when the weather is good? Do they know how much grain can be harvested when the weather is bad? Do they know how much food the people need at least a year to avoid starving to death? Do you know how many seeds and fertilizers are needed for one acre of land? They don’t know anything, and they still have the nerve to call themselves the pillars of the country and officials’ seeds?”

Chen Chu asked a series of questions, some of which even Chen Jingan didn't know, let alone a scholar.

It seemed that Chen Chu had no intention of getting the answer from Chen Jingan, and continued: "More than [-]% of the ten roads in Daqi are farmers. If you are an official and don't understand farming, you don't understand state affairs, don't deal with the fields, and don't get close to the farmers. How can you do that?" Come to the scholar's saying of "loving the people like a son"! In their eyes, the so-called "people" are only those gentry who have "farming, reading and heirloom". How have they ever lowered their heads to see how the people live?

Just like this time, if any of the Taixue students go to Xiangfu County to investigate in person and ask the people whether they are willing to continue to work as tenants for the Li family, or whether they are willing to make a living by farming in the Central Plains, the right and wrong will be clear at a glance!But they would rather believe what the gentry say than bother to lean down and take a closer look at the common people."

Chen Jingan was silent, but Chen Chu still had more to say, "In the next few days, we will send them all away and let them eat and live with the common people. Let them see how the students from Lanxiang Academy manage a village. !”

After talking, the three of them also came to a street in Xicheng.

At the entrance of the alley, there is a white Xiao hanging on the door of a house, obviously there is a funeral.

Chen Chu made a gesture to ask Xiao Yi, who was holding the umbrella for him, to step away. He straightened his clothes and looked up at the plaque 'Xu Mansion' on the lintel.

The old servant standing at the gate of the courtyard saw that someone had come to express condolences for the first time in five days. He hurriedly stepped forward tremblingly, bowed his hands and said, "May I ask your distinguished guest's name, please tell me the master's house."

This old servant's eyesight is dim and his legs and feet are weak. It is said that he is no longer qualified to serve as the best man.

However, five days ago, the head of the family was killed in the back of the main hall after scolding a powerful official. All the family members wanted to do was to implicate the nine clans. All the maids and servants fled overnight, and he was the only one left.
Chen Chu returned the gift with his hands raised and said: "I, the King Chen Chu, together with Mr. Cai Shilang of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and Mr. Liuchuan Yingchuan, have come to express their condolences to the old man. Please inform me."

"Yes, yes." As he got older, his reaction was slower after all. The old servant had already bowed and took two steps back before he realized who 'I am, Chen Chu'.
His body trembled uncontrollably, but perhaps thinking of the deceased master of the house, the old servant refused to show his timidity in front of his enemies. He tried his best to control his voice and loudly announced to the courtyard: "King Chu, Minister Cai, Mr. Chen, come here Condolences.”

Chen Chumai stepped inside, followed closely by Cai Yuan and Chen Jingan.

There were only a few people in the mourning hall in the courtyard. Except for the filial sons and grandsons kneeling on both sides, there was not a single guest.

This is not just a matter of letting people go, but all the officials in the capital know that Xu Shangshu poured a layer of blood on the King of Chu in an extremely tragic way that will never be washed away. Doesn’t the King of Chu hate him extremely? .

Who dares to have anything to do with his family at this time?
Chen Chu was filled with emotions. After worshiping with Cai and Chen, he looked at his family members.

The two sons of the Xu family, wearing heavy filial piety, knelt where they were. They neither thanked nor got up, treating Chen Chu and others as transparent persons.

Also, although my father was not killed by the King of Chu, he died because of the King of Chu.

Furthermore, my father had sinned against the King of Chu before he died, and the whole family would probably be punished and imprisoned immediately. In that case, why bother to make excuses with the enemy who killed his father and came to worship him in disguise.

The rain and snow dripped and turned into mud on the ground.

There was an awkward silence in front of the hall. Chen Chu waved and asked Xiao Yi to give the heavy gift to Xu's eldest son. The eldest son of the Xu family did not accept it. Instead, he raised his bloodshot eyes and said calmly: "King Chu, there is no need to humiliate him anymore." He is making fun of my family, and all 21 of my family members have embraced the idea of ​​following my father’s example of becoming a benevolent person, so if you want to kill or behead him, please do as you please.”

Chen Chu was silent for a moment, but then said: "Master Xu is the first real 'scholar' I have met since I entered Beijing. Although he and I have different political views, we have no personal grudges. You and your family may live well, and you may know in the future that I and I It’s up to you to judge who your father has wronged whom over the years.”

After saying that, Chen Chu turned around and walked out of the mourning hall.

In the streets and alleys outside, there were countless people staring at the Xu family's door.

Outside the Xu Mansion, which was deserted just now, cars and horses arrived quickly due to Chen Chu's arrival.

When Chen Chu left the mansion, Fan Gongzhi, Zhang Chunxiao, Du Zhaoqing and a large number of officials who had friendship with Xu Derang just arrived outside the courtyard.

When the two sides met, the officials pretended to have met by chance. They first sincerely praised the King of Chu for his magnanimity, and then went inside to worship.

During the excitement, they saw Xu Derang's ten-year-old grandson holding the gift money that Chen Chu had just given and throwing it out, crying: "Treacherous minister, I, the Xu family, would rather die than give you a penny of money."

All the officials outside the courtyard couldn't help but froze, looking nervously between Chen Chu and the Xu family. There was also a certain official who had already stepped on the doorstep of the Xu family. He could neither advance nor retreat for a while.
Xiao Yi was furious, but because Chen Chu wouldn't allow him to act rashly, he could only stare at the child fiercely.

Xu Sun, who was already frightened, was so frightened by Xiao Yi's appearance that he burst into tears, turned around and ran into the courtyard.

Chen Jing'an was afraid that Chen Chu would have murderous intentions, so he quickly picked up the gift money and turned around to persuade Chen Chu to return home.

Chen Chu waved his hands indifferently and said to the officials: "Comrades, let's go in and worship. I will leave first."

After he spoke, all the officials, as if they had been given a talisman, heaved a sigh of relief. The official who was still walking on the steps finally dropped his official boots that were suspended in the air.
On the way back to Jingmingfang, the three of them had different thoughts. Finally, Chen Jingan took the lead and sighed, saying: "Yuan Zhang is open-minded."

This was to appease Chen Chu, who had just been scolded by a child, but Chen Chu shook his head and said: "I won't argue with children. In fact, I really admire Mr. Xu."

This is what he said from his heart. In the past, Chen Chu had only seen such people in history books, such as Fang Xiaoru, who did not hesitate to kill himself or sacrifice nine tribes to give one to one.

For example, Chen Chu, the famous Wen Tianxiang who has been shining through the ages, read in a book that after Wen Tianxiang was captured, his wife and daughter were sent to a Taoist temple for the Yuan people's sexual pleasure.

At that time, his 14-year-old daughter wrote him a letter asking her father what to do.

Wen Tianxiang felt as confident as a knife when he read it, but he also knew that Yuan people used his wife and daughter to force him to surrender.
Then I wrote a poem back to my daughter. The last two lines were: Idiots, don’t ask about your livelihood now, and you will have to sow seeds in the next life. Because you are a stupid child, don’t ask what will happen in this life. I just hope that in the next life we ​​can still be father and daughter, and end my relationship. Your debt.

Chen Chu had a daughter himself, and he felt that if someone used his wife and daughter as a threat, he would definitely not be able to do what Wen Tianxiang did.

And when Xu Derang fought with his life, how could he not have guessed that his children and their families would suffer after him?

Chen Chu didn't understand this belief, but it didn't affect his admiration.

If you are unable to make up for the shortcomings of heaven, you will repay the king with death. This is probably the character of traditional scholars.

Unfortunately, there are too few people like Da Qi.

No, it should be said that fortunately there were too few officials like Da Qi, otherwise Chen Chu would have had more constraints.

However, in this tragic and desolate story, Chen Chu is the villain!

The three of them walked to Jingmingfang. Before leaving, Chen Jing'an handed the muddy gift bag to Xiao Yi and said: "Yuan Zhang, the master of the Xu family is going to return Master Xu to his hometown for burial. If you are worried, I will So I found someone to persuade his family to stay."

Chen Chu couldn't help but laugh, looked up at the gloomy sky, and said: "Sir, they can go wherever they want. I said I won't harm his family, so I won't touch them. Just now, what I said is true, I want them to see who is right and who is wrong between Master Xu and me in three or five years."

(End of this chapter)