Thief Emperor

Chapter 1020 The dispute between principles
Late at night.

Du Shangshu, who was drunk, got off the sedan chair with blurry eyes and returned to his home. Before he entered the house, the servants came forward to support him. Du Shangshu staggered into the house. As soon as he reached the front yard, his eldest son Du Min trotted forward and supported him.

"father."

Du Min, who was already thirty years old, called out his father's name. Du Shangshu was already about six or seven percent drunk at this time. After spitting out a breath of alcohol, he glanced at his son and frowned: "What are you doing?"

Du Min waved his hand, signaling the servants to leave, then he supported his father and walked towards the backyard: "Uncle Eleven is here, waiting in your study."

"eleven…"

Hearing these two words, Du Shangshu shook his head and finally sobered up a little. He took several deep breaths and finally relaxed a little. He asked, "What is the benefit for?"

"I don't know. You came in the evening. My family went to the Ministry of Revenue to look for you but couldn't find you. Uncle Eleven refused to leave and has been waiting until now."

After hearing this, Du Shangshu seemed to have thought of something, and the smell of alcohol on his body dissipated a little. He glanced at his son, broke away from his son's support, and said silently: "I, I will go see him myself."

"You don't have to follow me."

Du Shangshu staggered all the way to the door of his study. There was only some faint light in the study at this time. Du He stood at the door, took a deep breath, pushed the door open and walked in.

When I entered the study, I saw only a candle lit. Behind the candle, Mr. Du was sitting upright with his eyes closed, resting.

Minister Du walked unsteadily, but he still picked up the only lit candle on the table and lit all the other candles in the study. After lighting the last candle, Minister Du looked back and saw that Du Qian, who was sitting in the main seat, had opened his eyes.

At this time, the Prime Minister was looking at him quietly with a calm voice.

"It's so late, where is the third brother?"

Du He sat opposite Du Xianggong, was silent for a moment, and then said, "As an official in the court, it is inevitable to socialize."

Mr. Du sighed and said, "At this time, Third Brother still refuses to tell me the truth."

"A few months ago, when Prime Minister Zhuo returned from His Majesty's service and confined himself at home, I came to see my third brother. At that time, my third brother told me that the imperial examination case had nothing to do with you."

"You and I have been brothers for many years. I didn't ask in detail."

He paused and continued, "We are brothers. If you make any mistakes, I will be held responsible. But no matter what the mistakes are, I am willing to take them on behalf of my third brother."

"By now, the scientific expedition case has come to an end. In a few days, those who deserve to be beheaded will be beheaded, and those who deserve to be exiled will be exiled."

At this point, Du Xianggong sighed and said, "I didn't ask before because I was worried that Third Brother would think I was shirking my responsibility. Now I have taken on the responsibility that I should take on, and I have also spent the incense and affection that I should spend."

"Brother, you should tell me the truth, right?"

Du He was silent for a long time before he looked up at Du Qian, his voice a little hoarse: "Does this matter... involve me?"

Du Xianggong looked at him calmly, "Third brother, you can doubt the Third Court, but you should not doubt the Ninth Court. Third brother, do you think the Ninth Court can find you?"

"If this matter really comes to fruition."

Mr. Du said silently.

"Even Mr. Zhuo was almost stabbed. Third brother, do you have a red seal and a certificate?"

"I do not have."

Du He exhaled a long breath of alcohol, then looked up at Du Qian and smiled bitterly: "I was wondering why there was no movement at all, it turns out that you are too proud, Eleven."

He stood up, walked to the door of the room, closed it, then sat back down opposite Du Qian and exhaled another breath of alcohol.

Mr. Du looked at him quietly and sighed, "Now that we brothers have shouldered the responsibility together, shouldn't you tell me the truth, brother?"

"What exactly is going on?"

Du He sat opposite Du Qian and rubbed his head. He finally sobered up a little. He looked at Du Qian and said with a wry smile, "What else could it be? It must be an old friend who came to visit."

"and…"

Du Shangshu said silently: "Besides, I think they are right."

"Old man?"

Du Qian was stunned for a moment, then he understood and asked, "Aristocratic family from Guanzhong?"

"Ah."

Du Shangshu nodded silently: "A noble family in Guanzhong."

When Du Qian was a teenager, he had already realized that the imperial court was dying, so he was never particularly close to the Wu Zhou court.

In his twenties, he was sent to be the governor of Yuezhou and began to hang out with Emperor Li. Therefore, although he was born into a Guanzhong aristocratic family, he was not too deeply involved with the Guanzhong aristocratic family, or even with the Jingzhao Du family.

But Du is different.

Although the two are brothers, Du He is more than ten years older than Du Qian. When he was young, the Guanzhong aristocratic families were still full of vitality and everything was flourishing.

At least that's what it seems on the surface.

Therefore, Du He had feelings for the Guanzhong nobles, and more importantly, he was more traditional than Du Qian and more in line with the old ways. More than a decade ago, Du He was dragged by Du Qian to serve in Jiangdong, and he had indeed worked diligently and made considerable contributions over the years.

But all this changed after the emperor founded the country.

After the founding of the country, the first major thing Emperor Li did was to update the tax law, replacing the old tax law with the new one. Under the powerful military force of the new dynasty, after more than a dozen local clans were destroyed and thousands of people were implicated, the new tax law was implemented smoothly.

Although Du He is the executor of this tax law, deep down in his heart, he actually does not agree with this tax law.

He did not quite agree with the new learning, and even less with some of the new systems in the court.

Mr. Du was silent for a moment.

"Brother San, what do you think is right about them?"

“Benefit.”

Under the influence of alcohol, Minister Du stood up, walked to Du Qian, and said in a deep voice: "You are now in a high position and are the first meritorious official in the founding of the new dynasty. In your position, you naturally don't think there is anything wrong with the court, but what if you are not in this position?"

"It is not wrong for the imperial court to emphasize agriculture, but Your Majesty has established an agricultural academy, and one can even enter the government with agricultural knowledge. This is a huge problem."

"But those people in the Agricultural Affairs Bureau are still trying to curry favor with the emperor. They have been saying every year that the rice they grow has increased by 30% every year, and they boast about this new rice variety."

"Eleven, we all know from our childhood studies that there are constants in the universe."

"Old farmers know how to take good care of the soil! After planting for two years, they know to take a year off!"

Du Shangshu clenched his fists under his sleeves. He gritted his teeth and said, "Don't the people in that damn farm know about this?"

"There are also imperial examinations."

"Only practical matters, not morality!"

Du Shangshu said angrily: "If we don't value morality and the writings of saints and sages, there will be no ethics and no rulers and ministers and fathers and sons!"

"The Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues are gone. If you rebel today, others may rebel tomorrow too!"

"Moreover, the study of practical achievements only values ​​profit!"

Minister Du looked at Du Qian and asked.

"When a gentleman benefits from something, he refers to righteousness. When a villain benefits from something, what does he refer to?"

The villain is obsessed with profit.

Mr. Du did not answer, but silently looked at his brother and asked, "Third brother, if morality and literature were useful, why did the world burst into war in the late Zhou Dynasty?"

"Why did the dynasty change?"

Du He was choked by the question. He was still drunk at the moment, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Because some people don't read!"

These words clearly mean that the current emperor does not read books and therefore values ​​profit over righteousness.

As soon as these words came out, even Du Qian's expression changed drastically. He stood up and gritted his teeth and said, "You don't want to live anymore, do you?"

After Du He said this, he felt a little scared. He sobered up a little and sat back in his seat, lowered his head and stopped talking.

Du Qian stood in front of him and whispered, "Let's not talk about whether the emperor reads books or not. Does Xiao Xian read books or not? Does Zhou Xu read books or not? Does Wei Quanzhong and his family read books or not?"

Du He was still unconvinced: "Even if they study, they are not serious. If they really understood the teachings of the saints, they would not have started a rebellion."

"There are very few civil servants who cause chaos!"

Du Xianggong was so angry that he laughed: "How can a civil official cause chaos when he can't command the army?"

Du He lowered his head and stopped talking.

Mr. Du took a deep breath and lowered his voice: "You and I are brothers. Third brother, tell me clearly, who is the person in charge among the Guanzhong nobles?"

Du He's eyes widened: "How could I be such a mean person!"

Du Qian stood up and looked at his brother seriously. After a long time, he shook his head and sighed: "I don't know if you are still drunk or if you really think so."

"I'll come look for you tomorrow when you're sober."

At this point, Du Xianggong stood up, walked to the door, and finally looked back at his third brother, and said silently: "Third brother, if you tell me who is in charge now, and put those stubborn and stupid thoughts aside in the future, I can guarantee that you can still serve in the court."

"If not, you can resign after this period of time."

Mr. Du was silent for a moment before continuing, "In this way, I can also ensure that you can escape unscathed."

"If you still don't listen."

Mr. Du looked at his brother who looked expressionless and sighed: "Then you and I, brothers, should each have our own families from now on."

(End of this chapter)