Thief Emperor

Chapter 1096 Unity of Heart and Mind
His Majesty the Emperor was furious. Of the three people present, apart from Prime Minister Du, the other two carefully withdrew. After leaving the Ganlu Hall, Prime Minister Guo followed behind Prime Minister Yao and said with a wry smile, "Prime Minister Yao, didn't you say before that His Majesty rarely objects to matters decided by the Secretariat?"

Yao Xiangong stopped and looked back at his new colleague. After a moment of silence, he shook his head slightly: "Prime Minister Guo, this is not something that the Secretariat has decided. At least neither Prime Minister Tao nor Prime Minister Xu have seen it. If Prime Minister Xu had seen it, he would most likely not have agreed to do it this way."

"Moreover, Prime Minister Du did not say anything."

Yao Xiang said quietly, "Neither you nor I have spoken."

"So this is at most Qin Tong's opinion, along with that of the local government, which we have passed on to His Majesty."

Guo Xiangong took a deep breath, touched his chest, shook his head and sighed, "Serving in the Secretariat is really frightening. I have been in the Ministry of Personnel for more than ten years and have never been so terrified."

Yao Xiang looked at him and said speechlessly, "If we really send Brother Changming back to be a vice minister, I'm afraid Brother Changming will be furious."

Guo You didn't reply, but instead asked as they walked, "Prime Minister Yao, how should we draft...?"

How it is drafted is not important.

Yao Xiangong said quietly, "In the end, it is still His Majesty who makes the decision. If it does not meet His Majesty's expectations, it will still be sent back and we will have to revise it."

"So it doesn't matter if we make a mistake once or twice. Just consider it as us misunderstanding His Majesty's intentions."

At this point, Minister Yao gave a self-deprecating smile: "But we can't make too many mistakes. If we make too many mistakes, it means that neither of us is in accordance with His Majesty's wishes."

Guo Xiangong smiled wryly and said, "That's exactly what I meant. If I make a mistake again, I'm afraid it will displease His Majesty."

This time, Yao Xiangong remained silent for a long time without saying a word.

He had been following Li Yun for far too long, and being an exceptionally intelligent man, he was able to grasp most of Emperor Li's thoughts.

This time, however, he was unwilling to speculate and wanted to get away with it.

After a long silence, Minister Yao finally spoke: "It has been almost twenty years since His Majesty organized the Jinling Literary Society and promoted modern learning. Twenty years..."

With his hands behind his back, Yao Xiangong let out a long sigh: "Now, we've finally seen who's better."

Guo You, having served in the Ministry of Personnel for over a decade, was certainly no fool; he was simply unfamiliar with the duties of a prime minister. Upon hearing Yao Zhong's words, he immediately understood and thoughtfully asked, "Prime Minister Yao means..."

"At this juncture, we have reached a critical point of transition between the old and the new, and His Majesty wishes to take advantage of this opportunity."

Guo Xiangong murmured, "Let the new learning completely overwhelm the old learning."

"Just a part of it."

Yao Juzhong turned to look at Guo You and said with a smile, "I think the more important reason is that those people from Jiangnan offended the dignity of the imperial court."

“Borrowing an official of the imperial court and smashing the Nanjing Examination Hall, this matter could be a big deal or a small deal. If investigated properly, it could even be charged with treason.”

Upon hearing this, Minister Guo narrowed his eyes slightly.

Yao Zhong, with his hands behind his back, strode towards the Secretariat.

Yao Zhong didn't really care about the so-called debate between the new and old schools of learning, because he himself hadn't passed the old school exams.

He was a graduate of the first Jinling Literary Gathering and a Jinling Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations).

The first Jinling Literary Gathering was already biased towards practical matters.

The reason he chose to get away with it this time was partly because most of his men were scholars from Jiangnan, and they had some thoughts of protecting him.

Secondly, it is because Master Du was a true follower of "traditional learning".

His student Zhang Sui also joined Qin Tong in submitting a joint petition. Since Prime Minister Du did not express his opinion, Yao Zhong did not want to offend his "superior" and therefore remained silent.

Now that His Majesty the Emperor's attitude is quite clear, he has nothing to hesitate about. After all, Yao Juzhong has been "onshore" for who knows how many years.

Now he has not only gone ashore, but also stands at almost the highest position in the imperial court, holding a central position with great power and influence.

Regardless of whether one studies new or old methods, as long as one wants to make a living in the imperial court, once inside, one must respectfully address him as "Master".
With this in mind, Yao Zhong's steps became even more resolute.

Guo Xianggong followed closely behind Yao Zhong, walking briskly towards the Secretariat.

…………

On the other side, inside the Ganlu Palace.

After the two ministers left, Minister Du looked at Li Yun and asked, "Why is His Majesty so angry?"

Emperor Li narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice, "The case of kidnapping officials in Jiangnan is tantamount to treason. How can we possibly protect them all without shedding a drop of blood?"

"If they really do that, after kidnapping the county magistrate, will they kidnap the prefect? ​​Will they kidnap all the officials in charge of the three ministries?"

Li Yun sneered, "Don't expect things to end peacefully without bloodshed." As he spoke, he glanced at Du Qian and grumbled, "Zhang Sui and Qin Tong are both from Jiangdong. I was afraid they would be soft-hearted, so I even had Lu Bing keep an eye on them. In the end, they are still so indecisive."

Upon hearing this, Minister Du sighed deeply: "The two of them are probably afraid of offending the local people, so that when they retire and return to their hometown, they will have nowhere to stay."

Emperor Li sneered repeatedly, but remained silent.

Seeing that the topic had stalled, Du Qian didn't continue the conversation. He looked at Li Yun and said with a smile, "Your Majesty just said that you were in a good mood today. What made you in a good mood?"

Upon hearing this, out of respect for Du Qian, Emperor Li couldn't continue to keep a cold face. He took a deep breath, picked up a document from the Nine Departments from the table, and handed it to Du Qian: "This is a document just sent by the Nine Departments. The officials of Liaodong Circuit and the garrison have been working day and night to finish the work. The main structure of Yuguan Pass is now complete."

When this matter was mentioned, Emperor Li smiled and said, "With this gate closed, we can advance to take Liaodong or retreat to defend it."

"We no longer need to worry about the Khitans becoming a major threat."

Du Qian was already looking through the document sent by the Nine Departments. After reading it once, he was also a little surprised: "It hasn't even been two years yet, and they've moved so fast."

Emperor Li chuckled: "Part of the credit for this is due to the provincial governor we sent to Liaodong."

"Huang Chao?"

Du Qian looked down at the documents again, somewhat surprised.

Emperor Li said with a smile, "Previously, in addition to the 20,000 Khitans who surrendered with Yelü Hong, there were also some Khitan prisoners who were not counted as surrendered and were all arranged near Youzhou City."

"In addition, the number of rebels captured by the Huang Dynasty in Liaodong over the past two years is about four thousand."

Emperor Li said with a smile, "They were all sent by him to repair Yuguan Pass. I heard from the people of the Nine Departments that our Provincial Governor was quite ruthless towards them, and many people died under Yuguan Pass."

"In addition, the soldiers were also willing to put in their best effort."

Li Yun said with a smile, "That's why we were able to move so fast."

Du Qian closed the document and sighed, "It's true that evil people will always be punished by evil people. Huang Chao was put in the right position and he was really effective."

Li Yun lowered his head to drink tea, narrowed his eyes, and snorted, "If Zhang Sui can't handle the job in Jiangnan, send him back to Luoyang next year. I'll really send him to the Ministry of Rites to be an envoy to Tibet."

"Once the affairs in Liaodong are settled, send Huang Chao to Jiangdong to serve as the Jiangdong Provincial Governor, or simply to be the Governor of Jiangnan Circuit."

"Get this done for me!"

Although Li Yun adopted the provincial three-department system of the Ming Dynasty, at this time, the Tang Dynasty did not yet have the position of governor.

At this time, the governor that Li Yun mentioned was a temporary official who inspected the local area on behalf of the emperor. The official position remained even after the person left.

This word is easy to understand and doesn't need any explanation. Minister Du understood what Li Yun meant. He looked at Li Yun, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "It seems that a fertile land like Jiangnan is not suitable for a fierce person like Huang Chao."

He took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "There are no outsiders here. Your Majesty, just tell me what you want Jiangnan Circuit to do, and I will secretly take charge of this matter."

Li Yun glanced at Du Qian, shook his head, and said in a muffled voice, "This isn't about who did it or how it was done."

"There are many scholars in Jiangnan, but there are no more aristocratic families now!"

The emperor said expressionlessly, "Furthermore, no family has the power to recommend officials. With the implementation of the imperial examination system, powerful families will inevitably perish."

"Only a few aristocratic landlords remain."

Emperor Li stood up, his hands tucked into his sleeves: "I am not afraid of offending these people at all. At worst, I will just start from scratch and fight them all over again."

As he spoke, he looked at Du Qian and said in a deep voice, "I'm wondering why the officials in the court don't dare to, and are unwilling to, offend them."

"Be of one mind with me."

The emperor narrowed his eyes, his expression menacing: "Is it really that difficult?"

Upon hearing this, Du Qian was about to speak, but was interrupted by His Majesty the Emperor, who said decisively, "This time, it's not as simple as the case of kidnapping the official. They don't want to offend anyone, but I'll make them offend someone anyway."

"If you are truly not of one mind with me or the court, that's fine too. You don't need to worry about the future. Just retire and go back to your hometown now."

"Considering their years of hard work, the court will not cut off their salaries after they retire, and I will provide for their old age."

"Brother, you don't need to get involved in this matter."

At this point, Emperor Li sneered.

"Let's see if they are truly of one mind and one heart!"

(End of this chapter)