I studied in modern times

Chapter 939: Lu Gongzhu: Must strike hard

November 13th of the second year of Yuanyou.

The city of Bianjing suffered a severe frost in the morning.

Even the Bian River began to freeze.

Winter is here!

Lu Gongzhu stood at the inner east gate. Although he was wearing the fur coat given by the emperor with a wool lining inside, and the boots on his feet were made of sable fur with a layer of warm cashmere inside, he could still feel the cold invading from all directions.

"Zuo Kui..." The voice of his student Li Chang came from behind.

"Gong Ze is here?" Lu Gongzhu didn't turn around.

"Yes! I just arrived!" Li Chang came to him.

These master and disciple have been trying their best to avoid meeting each other these days.

Even though he was ordered to join the marriage today, he deliberately staggered the time.

no way!
They were master and disciple, and they both served as officials in the capital.

It is a taboo in the first place!

Normally, according to past tradition, Li Chang should have broken with Lu Gongzhu immediately after entering the capital.

At the very least, they should have written a memorial to severely criticize all the policies presided over by Lu Gongzhu, and looked for opportunities to oppose Lu Gongzhu on all occasions.

But Li Chang didn't do that.

This is both his nature and the grace of the Emperor.

So, not surprisingly, he became the target of attack by others.

All kinds of nonsense were thrown at his head.

Even though Li Chang had served as a censor during the Xining period, he was still very angry.

These young people have no martial ethics and no sense of reverence at all!
"Have you finished writing the self-defense letter?" Lu Gongzhu asked without looking at Li Chang.

"Replying to the Left Prime Minister, I have already finished writing it!" Li Chang replied, touching the notebook he kept close to him.

"Good!" Lu Gongzhu narrowed his eyes.

According to tradition, when a prime minister was impeached, he would request to resign and then submit a memorial to defend himself.

The former was to show the world that he had no intention of clinging to power.

The latter, of course, is for one's own reputation.

If you don't refute what others say, you are not innocent.

It is equivalent to confirming the accusations of others.

Lu Gongzhu turned his head slightly, looked at Li Chang, and asked: "Gongze..."

"I will ask you one last time..."

"You really didn't buy a garden house in Luoyang or land in Xiangzhou?"

Li Chang shook his head like a rattle, smiled bitterly and said, "Zuo Kui, I am from Jiankang in Jiangnan West Road. My ancestral graves, wife and children are all in Jiankang..."

"Even if I want to buy a garden house, it should be in Jiankang..."

"As for Xiangzhou?"

"I have never even been to Xiangzhou, so how can I have land in Xiangzhou?"

At this point, Li Chang sighed: "Besides, Zuo Kui is also aware that all the salary and money I have earned as an official over the years have been spent on the Baishi Academy in my hometown..."

"Even if I want to buy a garden house in Luoyang or buy land in Xiangzhou, I am short of money!"

Lu Gongzhu was silent.

He knew that what Li Chang said was right.

Li Chang has been living a very hard life for the past decade.

Even though he has now entered the capital, his legal disposable income each year has reached several thousand strings of cash.

But in Bian Jing, he still rented a low-rent house given by the government.

He sent all his money back to his hometown and used it for the construction and investment of Baishi Academy.

and so……

Lü Gongzhu looked at Li Chang and became curious: "Liu Qizhi, why did you write in your memorial that you bought a garden and a house in Luoyang and land in Xiangzhou?"

Li Chang lowered his head and asked: "How do I know?"

He was puzzled by this matter.

I simply don't understand why the censors impeached him for buying a garden and a house in Luoyang and land in Xiangzhou?
Lü Gongzhu listened and said softly, "Young people nowadays are so bold and reckless!"

To impeach the prime minister is like touching the tiger's whiskers.

If you are not careful, you may be attacked back.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, when the censor impeached the prime minister, it was either because there was solid evidence or because the emperor or empress was instructing him.

The former, needless to say, is the censor performing his duties.

The latter served in the palace and told the prime minister that he should step down gracefully.

But, these are all things of the past.

According to Lu Gongzhu's observation, the imperial censors in the court have become increasingly wild over the past decade or so.

The courage is also getting bigger and bigger.

I dare to do anything!
So, Lu Gongzhu is a little confused now.

He didn't know whether this disturbance was instigated by the palace?
Or are the censors acting on their own?
Precisely because of the uncertainty, after seeing the attacks against him and Li Chang intensifying, he immediately chose to go to the Beggar's Bones.

This was a way of asking for dignity - if the emperor really intended to remove him from the throne, he would naturally have to use this as a step down.

At the same time, it is also a way of retreating in order to advance.

If, it was the censors who were walking alone...

Lu Gongzhu squinted his eyes.

He had a very difficult life and worked very hard before he was appointed as prime minister, in charge of state affairs and assisting the emperor.

How much suffering and pain did he endure for this?
How could he tolerate others attacking, slandering and spreading rumors about him at will, thus undermining his image in the eyes of the emperor?

"Although I worship Buddha and practice Zen, I am not the clay Buddha statue in the temple!"

"I am the Prime Minister!"

"I assist the emperor above and comfort the common people below. I treat all officials with respect and all ministers get out of my way!"

"How can a few people insult or spread rumors about him?!"

"The Lv family of Shouzhou is not something that others can criticize at will!"

Thinking of this, Lu Gongzhu's murderous intent began to rise.

While the master and the disciple were talking, the door of the inner east gate was opened.

Tong Guan's figure appeared in front of them.

Tong Guan bowed respectfully to Lü Gongzhu and Li Chang and said, "My two lords, please move to the Funing Hall to hear my words!"

"promise!"

……

Zhao Xu looked at the notebook in his hand.

This directly led to Lu Gongzhu and Li Chang submitting memorials requesting to be dismissed.

The person who wrote the letter was You Zhengyan Liu Anshi.

This gentleman was a student of Sima Guang, and his courtesy name was Qizhi.

When Sima Guang entered the court, he recommended many scholars who worked with him in the Zizhi Tongjian Bookstore to edit books.

Liu Anshi was one of them, and Zhao Xu appointed him as the official in the Secretariat.

After Sima Guang passed away, Liu Anshi, as his disciple, followed Sima Kang, Fan Zuyu, Liu Xun and others to carry the coffin back to his hometown and helped to handle Sima Guang's funeral.

At the beginning of this year, Liu Anshi returned to the court with Liu Xun and others. Zhao Xu appointed him as You Zhengyan because of his loyalty and filial piety.

In the past few months, Liu Anshi's performance has been average.

Zhao Xu never thought that he could come up with such a trick.

Although it was not the first time he had read it, Zhao Xu's face still turned pale when he looked at the contents on the note.

"How dare you look at me?"

Liu Anshi's letter seemed respectful and humble, and he praised him and Empress Dowager Xiang to the utmost. But the problem was that his impeachment of Lü Gongzhu and Li Chang was so simple and crude that Zhao Xu didn't even need to send someone to check it out to know that it was a rumor.

First, it was said that Li Chang bought a garden and a house in Luoyang and acquired land in Xiangzhou.

Why did Li Chang go to Luoyang to buy a garden and a house and to Xiangzhou to buy land?

Because he secretly attached himself to Lu Gongzhu and made friends with Cheng Yi's disciples in order to gain their support, he used these places as nests for forming cliques and pursuing personal interests.

If he hadn't said so, Zhao Xu might still have suspected whether Lu Gongzhu and Li Chang were really colluding with the Luo Party behind his back to crack down on dissidents and eliminate political enemies.

Liu Anshi cleared Li Chang of the charges by saying this.

why?
Because Liu Anshi is a typical example of judging others by himself.

Perhaps Liu Anshi felt that the most livable place in the world was Luoyang, and the best place to buy land and houses for growth was Xiangzhou.

But the problem is that Li Chang is from Jiangnan West Road.

He is similar to the Wang Anshi brothers and the Zeng Gong brothers.

The paradise in their hearts is obviously not the dry and cold Luoyang, and the place where their wealth can be best appreciated is not Xiangzhou.

But Yangzhou, Jiangning, Runzhou and Hangzhou.

At the very least, it should be the hometown where you were born and raised!

Will people from the south like the dry and cold Luoyang?

Would people from the south buy land in Xiangzhou, which could be blown away by the Mother Yellow River at any time?

Thinking of this, Zhao Xu turned around and looked at Shi Deyi who had been waiting beside him for a long time.

"Everyone knows, go check it out!"

"Do the Right Censor Liu Anshi, the Right Counselor Liang Tao, the Supervisory Censor Han Chuan and others have gardens and houses in Luoyang, or land in Xiangzhou?"

These people joined the group enthusiastically during this turmoil, and then directed their attacks against Lu Gongzhu and Li Chang.

Moreover, none of them are new parties.

They are all old party cadres and young and strong people!
This is also the characteristic of this storm.

In this melee between the new and old parties, both sides seemed to have thought it through. After a brief attack on each other, they turned their knives inward and began to attack the bigwigs of their respective camps.

The old party opened fire on Lu Gongzhu, Li Chang and Cheng Yi.

The New Party was busy attacking Li Qingchen frantically.

In today's public opinion, Li Qingchen has been criticized as a talentless, mediocre minister who usurped power and lived off the fat of the land. His greatest contribution to the court would be to get out of here as soon as possible.

As a result, thanks to the efforts of the New Party’s censors, countless negative materials about Li Qingchen were dug up.

However, Li Qingchen's reaction was very calm.

Looks like nothing happened.

Obviously, there is nothing good in his heart!

"Yes!" Shi Deyi took the order and left after a brief hesitation (investigating the censors was too exciting for him).

Zhao Xu looked at Shi Deyi's receding back and actually had the answer in his heart.

These people must have bought gardens and houses in Luoyang and have land in Xiangzhou!

At the very least, Liu Anshi should have.

why?
Because people can only imagine things beyond their own cognition.

What I have done, you have certainly done too.

What I like, you should like too.

This is called judging others by your own standards.

Just ...

How dare they? !

Zhao Xu couldn't understand.

This is blatantly a sign that they don't treat the emperor as an adult monarch.

It can even be said that he was not treated as a human being!

This is what makes Zhao Xu most angry!
I worked so hard to make all the ministers in the court and the country recognize my abilities.

You actually question my intelligence and understanding?
Hey!
……

A quarter of an hour later, when Tong Guan came to report that Lu Gongzhu and Li Chang had arrived outside the hall, Zhao Xu managed to sort himself out and regain his composure.

"Let the two gentlemen wait in the quiet room in the east hall first. I will be there soon!" Zhao Xu instructed Tong Guan.

Then, he put all the notes in front of him into a bag, handed them to a eunuch beside him, and told him: "Take all these notes, bring them to the quiet room, and hand them to Tong Di Hou!"

"Yes!" The eunuch obeyed the order.

Zhao Xu walked towards the bathroom in the inner bedroom.

Here, Wen Xunniang had already prepared the bath water for him and clean new clothes.

Seeing Zhao Xu coming, Wen Xunniang brought people to greet him and helped him bathe.

Before meeting with ministers, he must bathe and change clothes. This is Zhao Xu's habit and also a basic respect for ministers!

……

Half an hour later.

The quiet room in the east hall of Funing Palace.

Along with the sound of the whip tearing the air, Tong Guan shouted to Lü Gongzhu and Li Chang standing in the quiet room: "His Majesty is in the quiet room, please welcome him respectfully!"

Lü Gongzhu and Li Chang held up their staffs and stepped forward, facing one side of the quiet room, and bowed, saying, "Your servant, the Minister of the Left, Gongzhu (Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Minister Chang) respectfully welcomes His Majesty the Emperor to the palace, and respectfully wishes His Majesty the best of health!"

Zhao Xu, wearing a yellowish-brown robe, a cotton cap, and cotton boots, walked into the quiet room, sat on the throne at the top, and said to Lü Gongzhu and Li Chang, "No need to be polite, gentlemen!"

"Tong Guan, quickly give the two gentlemen seats and tea!"

"Yes!" Tong Guan immediately brought people to move two chairs behind Lu Gongzhu and Li Chang.

Then, he brought people to serve the two prime ministers the red date tea that had just been cooked today (which was actually very similar to the modern red date milk tea), and some snacks from the palace.

After expressing their gratitude, the two ministers sat down and took a sip of tea.

The tea soup cooked with milk is warm, sweet and smooth in the throat. The aroma of red dates is mixed in it, which makes people feel refreshed after drinking it.

Even Lu Gongzhu couldn't help but praise: "Good tea!"

Zhao Xu listened and smiled, "As long as the Left Prime Minister likes it! When we go back later, I will ask the inner tea store to prepare a few cakes of this year's Jian tea and red dates for you..."

"It's the same with Mr. Li!" He looked at Li Chang and said with a smile
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Lu Gongzhu and Li Chang accepted this grace with joy without any hesitation.

At the same time, their minds also calmed down.

Because Zhao Xu's actions confirmed a fact to them - this impeachment by the censor was not instructed by the palace!

It's simply the young people from the Censorate who are acting on their own!
Lu Gongzhu clenched his fists at that moment, thinking, "It seems that I have been hiding my edge for these years, so people think I am weak and can be bullied!"

If it were his father and brother, no one would dare to do this to the Lu family of Shouzhou.

so……

Must hit hard!
Otherwise, in the future anyone could ride on the Lu family's shoulders and show off their power and authority.

Zhao Xu sat upright on the cushion, carefully observing the expressions of Lu Gongzhu and Li Chang.

He is now very curious about what Lu Gongzhu and Li Chang have done after encountering such attacks and rumors.

How will they react?
Should we take action now, defend ourselves in front of the emperor, and launch a counterattack?
After he defended himself and proved his innocence, he appeared magnanimous and showed the magnanimity of a prime minister.

In fact, is it a secret plan to track down the political enemies and catch them all in one fell swoop?

As for these two people, they are of high moral character, turning a blind eye to the attacks and rumors from others, and accepting and tolerating all criticisms and attacks with a broad mind?
This is impossible!

Zhao Xu knew this in his previous life—there are no good people in the capital of the Song Dynasty!

Among all the ministers, even those at the level of chancellors, none of them are good people.

Moreover, they are all very narrow-minded.

Not to mention Zhang Dun and Zeng Bu, even Li Qingchen and Han Zhongyan, who are recognized as good guys.

Towards those officials who offended them, they all had an attitude of "If you offend the abbot, don't even think about getting away."

They never show mercy and will never show mercy when taking revenge on those they identify as their enemies.

You can't say that the New Party members are narrow-minded, while the Old Party members are broad-minded? !

This is impossible!

(End of this chapter)