Jiuxi

Chapter 1004 1002 [A Man Should Not Show His Lofty Ambition]

When Lu Chen said those last words, everyone in the hall no longer suspected that he was slandering Kong Yingdong.

Looking back at the whole thing, there is actually a loophole that Kong Yingdong finds difficult to explain - if he really had the original intention of being loyal to the emperor and decided to use this imperial examination to unite the scholars in Jiangnan to fight against Lu Chen's terrifying power, why would he need to act on his own?
Even if he didn't trust Xue Nanting and Xu Zuo, he should have discussed it with Queen Mother Ning in advance to handle the matter more properly, so as to avoid the previous situation where 90% of the tribute scholars came from Jiangnan.

Even if Lu Chen himself did not see the strangeness here, it would be difficult for Empress Dowager Ning to accept this result, because it would directly push the people of Jiangbei to Lu Chen's side.

Therefore, this turmoil was actually Kong Yingdong taking advantage of the conflict between the court and Lu Chen, deliberately pretending to be loyal and even a little foolish, forcing Queen Mother Ning and the two prime ministers to stand on his side. Everyone was closely united to achieve the effect of making Lu Chen afraid to act rashly. Only in this way could a fait accompli be created under the premise that Lu Chen had some reservations.

Even if Kong Yingdong made some concessions and recruited dozens more scholars from Jiangbei, his real goal would have been achieved, which was to summon a large number of fresh blood from prominent families into the court when the aristocratic families in the north and south were being suppressed miserably.

After all, the imperial court needs strength to counter the Qin Palace. Since Li Duan was able to use the border troops to suppress the power of the aristocratic families back then, can't Queen Dowager Ning do the opposite now?
Ultimately, balance is what matters.

Perhaps Empress Dowager Ning was unwilling to do this at first, but as long as Kong Yingdong could make it a done deal, I believe she would convince herself later.

Empress Dowager Ning and the two prime ministers all looked unhappy.

It's not that they trusted Kong Yingdong that much. There were two main reasons why they were almost led into trouble by the Minister of Rites.

Firstly, the incident happened suddenly. It had been less than two hours since they learned the specific names of the A and B lists of this year's special examination. They had no time to investigate the resumes of the 360 ​​scholars.

The second and more important point is that Empress Dowager Ning and Xue Nanting were indeed too wary of Lu Chen. They knew very well that with the implementation of the new policy, Lu Chen's prestige among the people would become higher and higher, and he would no longer be a crude warrior who relied solely on military power to be tyrannical and arbitrary.

After Lu Chen rejected her promise to rule the country for ten years, Empress Dowager Ning could no longer feel at ease. Even though Shen Yulai brought 20,000 elite imperial guards to guard the palace, and Qin Zheng was in charge of the Weaving Bureau outside and Yuan Yuji was in charge of the palace guards inside, she was still worried that Lu Chen might lead his troops into the palace at any time.

At this point, she no longer cared about her own safety, but if that horrific scene really happened, her only son would definitely not survive.

Countless examples throughout history have proven that the supreme position is always tainted with blood.

Perhaps with Lu Chen's character he wouldn't kill everyone, but people always change. Haven't you seen how many benevolent people turned cruel and violent after sitting in that position?
Putting aside her duties as the head of the royal family, even just as a mother, would Queen Dowager Ning dare to gamble?

She didn't dare, and neither did Xue Nanting.

This is why they ignored Kong Yingdong today, because their minds were on Lu Chen from the beginning to the end.

In fact, with the shrewdness and wisdom of Empress Dowager Ning and the two prime ministers, it wouldn't take them too long to come to their senses, but at least for now it was difficult for them to think calmly about the role Kong Yingdong played in this matter.

Queen Mother Ning looked at Kong Yingdong who was kneeling on the ground, and then looked at Lu Chen who was silent. She was not surprised by his disappointment, so she could only say in a deep voice: "Minister Kong, I want to ask you, did you cheat in this imperial examination for personal gain?"

Kong Yingdong naturally did not dare to admit it, and shook his head repeatedly, saying, "Your Majesty, I have no idea what the King of Qin is talking about. Regarding this year's special examination, I just set the topic according to past practice. Perhaps... perhaps it is because the topic I chose is more familiar to the scholars in Jiangnan, so their essays are better. Other than that, I have not done anything beyond the rules. Please understand, Your Majesty!"

Queen Mother Ning had a cold expression. Based on her understanding of Lu Chen, he would definitely not attack directly in such an occasion if there was no clear evidence.

Kong Yingdong didn't dare to look at Lu Chen next to him, and begged, "Your Majesty, I am dedicated to selecting talents for the country. The King of Qin obviously can't stand the fact that there are only a few Jiangbei scholars who pass the imperial examination, because this will prevent him from further winning over the hearts of Jiangbei people. What is the King of Qin doing——"

"Shut up!"

Queen Mother Ning raised her eyebrows, obviously she was really angry, and said coldly: "If you dare to spread rumors and slander the King of Qin again, I will never let you off easily!"

If she was the one in charge of this matter and Kong Yingdong was only responsible for the specific execution, then she would definitely try her best to save his life. However, this person had already woven the conspiracy first, and now he wanted to kidnap her and stand against Lu Chen together with the court. Is she such a stupid person?
Kong Yingdong had a good plan. It was obvious that he knew he could not withstand the investigation. Only by dragging those people in the hall into the water could he have a chance to escape.

But Queen Mother Ning was not so unwise. Even if she did not react at first, she would certainly not make a wrong judgment now. So she turned to look at Qin Zheng and said, "Mr. Qin, I order you to thoroughly investigate Kong Yingdong and all the examiners of this special examination. You must find out everything clearly."

Before Qin Zheng could speak, an eunuch walked into the hall nervously and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Censor Zhang Cang, the Minister of Justice Yin Bo, the Imperial Academy Scholar Wang An, the Supreme Court Minister Wu Zhisheng, and the Textile Bureau Supervisor Deng Junfei jointly request an audience!"

"Minister Kong, you get up first."

Even though Empress Dowager Ning hated this man very much, at least she could not convict him now. He was still the Minister of Rites. Letting him rise was not to maintain his dignity, but to maintain the dignity of the court.

As for the five ministers who suddenly requested to see her, Queen Mother Ning looked at Lu Chen, who looked solemn, and had a vague ominous premonition. She could only nod to the eunuch and said, "Announce."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The eunuch turned around and left.

When Zhang Cang and the others arrived at the Qinzheng Palace, Empress Dowager Ning immediately noticed that except for Wang An, the other four people had very ugly expressions. "Your Majesty, I have something to ask you. Today, the guards of the King of Qin were active in the capital. They not only forcibly arrested dozens of scholars who participated in this year's special examination, but also directly broke into the residences of more than a dozen officials. Is this your Majesty's will?"

Zhang Cang asked immediately after paying his respects, his eyes as cold as ice.

Empress Dowager Ning was startled and her heartbeat suddenly accelerated.

"Your Majesty is not aware of this. This is an order I issued before entering the palace."

Without waiting for Empress Dowager Ning to speak, Lu Chen explained the whole story in a concise and clear manner.

Zhang Cang didn't expect Lu Chen to be so direct. For a moment, he didn't know how to respond. His white beard trembled slightly, and he was obviously angry.

Yin Bo, the Minister of Justice, looked at the two prime ministers with disappointment, and then said in a deep voice: "As the Prime Minister of Military Affairs and the head of the Reform Department, the King of Qin has the power to manage military affairs and new policies. But if I remember correctly, these two items do not include the power to arrest and search. Moreover, today the King of Qin's subordinates directly attacked the court officials. This is..."

He forcibly cut off the rest of the words, but Empress Dowager Ning and other ministers could understand what was left unfinished.

Lu Chen raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "What?"

Only then did Yin Bo notice Kong Yingdong's gloomy face, and his heart skipped a beat, because he was also at Kong Yingdong's house that day.

Could it be that Kong Yingdong really had done something fishy in the imperial examination and was caught by Lu Chen?

When he thought of this, Yin Bo suddenly didn't know how to answer Lu Chen's question.

Lu Chen would not give up. He looked at the Minister of Justice coldly and said, "Minister Yin, do you want to say that I am arrogant and despise the court? Or do you want to say that I disregard the court's laws? Otherwise, you should be simple and direct and accuse me of being a traitor to the country, which will save you so much trouble."

Yin Bo choked and his face quickly turned red.

The hall suddenly fell into deathly silence.

Queen Mother Ning's heart trembled, and she quickly said, "Prince Qin, I believe that Yin Qing's family has no ill intentions. He was just worried about chaos in the court, so he spoke out of desperation."

Lu Chen looked up and saw the Queen Mother on the throne looking panicked. This was probably not just a pretense, but she was really worried that he would have an attack on the spot.

He shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, I know you have devoted a lot of effort to the affairs of the country in recent years. From the time when Your Majesty asked me to supervise the military affairs in Jiangbei to now when the court returned to the old capital, you have always tried your best to maintain harmony in the court. I have seen all of this. Today, I dare to ask Your Majesty to allow me to speak a few sincere words to the officials in the court."

Seeing that he was still respectful to her, Queen Dowager Ning felt relieved and nodded, "Okay, the two prime ministers and all the nobles are here today, so why not speak frankly, it's better than everyone guessing secretly."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Lu Chen bowed and asked the ministers who had just come in, "Do you know what the Minister of Rites of our Great Qi Dynasty did?"

Yin Bo insisted, "Please give your instructions, King Qin."

"it is good."

Lu Chen nodded, and then briefly recounted what Kong Yingdong had done in the Enke Field.

Everyone was speechless.

At this time they finally understood why the two prime ministers remained silent after hearing that the Qin Palace Guards were active in the city.

What made them even more nervous was that if Lu Chen felt that this was not Kong Yingdong's own decision, but a long-planned plan by the palace and important officials in the court, the situation would probably become out of control, and the peaceful situation of harmony between the monarch and his ministers over the past six months would disappear in an instant.

What followed was a civil strife that would result in an untold number of lives lost!
Compared with such terrible consequences, Lu Chen's current order to arrest some scholars and officials who were involved in fraud was nothing.

"This is our Minister of Rites, this is our important minister of state."

Lu Chen spoke slowly, his cold eyes fell on Kong Yingdong's face, and he said grimly: "If you want to die, don't blame me for not giving you a chance."

(End of this chapter)