Thief Emperor

Chapter 982 Luoyang and Xingyang

Prime Minister Du looked at Xu Ang, who was sneering, and then looked at Tao Wenyuan, who was bowing to him. After a bitter smile, he stood up and helped Tao Wenyuan up, saying, "Your Majesty is not in the court, so who can judge the guilt of you, the prime minister?"

Mr. Xu slapped the table and said, "Whether it is a leak of the test questions or a deliberate misjudgment, which one is taught by a saint!"

Du Qian shook his head and said, "Brother Ziwang, don't be so angry."

"If this matter is not handled well, it will become a big deal. If it goes wrong, it will be the first major case in the Zhangwu Dynasty. If you and I handle it well, it will satisfy His Majesty."

"There is still room for improvement."

At this point, Prime Minister Du whispered, "Your Majesty has always been very observant. This matter probably already came to your attention last year...last year."

"It wasn't until this year that the doctor from the Ministry of Rites wrote a letter to Your Majesty asking him to issue an edict of apology that Your Majesty was really angered."

Hearing what Du Qian said, Mr. Tao couldn't help but clench his fists.

If he could go back in time, he would definitely catch that doctor named Gu and give him a good beating!
Mr. Du closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, feeling distressed.

The conversation had reached this point, and although Tao Wenyuan did not explicitly state many of the specific contents, they could already be guessed.

If it was just a "collective misjudgment" by the examiners of last year's exam, it wouldn't be a big deal. After all, marking is inherently subjective.

If this were true, Your Majesty would not have held on to it, and the young censor named Cao from the Censorate would not have dared to mention cheating in last year's imperial examination at the court meeting.

Moreover, from an operational point of view, if the test papers that do not conform to the old teachings are eliminated, eventually a bunch of test papers that are consistent with the old teachings will be submitted to His Majesty the Emperor.

His Majesty the Emperor may not be satisfied, and ultimately the seeds of these old studies may not take root and sprout in the new dynasty.

Only through means like "leaking questions" can those seeds of sages' learning disguise themselves as students of new learning, pass the imperial examinations, and occupy positions in the court.

In the future, when the current emperor who is extremely rebellious lives out his life, the teachings of the sages may be revived in the hands of the future new emperor.

In fact, these people were prepared in this way. In recent years, almost all the teachers recommended by the Ministry of Rites to the Eastern Palace to teach the prince were great scholars.

Prime Minister Du thought for a long time before he opened his eyes and said, "We must get to the bottom of this matter. Otherwise, not only will we not be able to report to His Majesty, but neither will the Crown Prince. I will immediately send a letter to Jingzhao Prefecture and ask them to send people to surround the Ministry of Rites."

"From today on, all personnel in the Ministry of Rites who were involved in last year's scientific expedition must stay and cooperate with our investigation. No one can return home."

He looked at Xu Ang and said, "Brother Ziwang, I have no choice but to trouble you to do this. Go to see the King of Jin right now and ask him to cooperate with the Secretary of State."

"Get to the bottom of this matter."

Xu Ang stood up very straightforwardly, cupped his hands and said: "Okay, I will go to see the King of Jin right away."

After a pause, he asked, "Prime Minister Du, should we inform the Crown Prince about this?"

"Yes, I will go to the East Palace to meet the Crown Prince and ask him to take charge of the situation."

"it is good."

Xu Ang bowed neatly and strode out of the Secretariat.

After he left, only Du Qian and Tao Wenyuan were left in the government hall. Du looked at the gray-haired Tao Wenyuan and sighed, "When you were in Jiangdong, you were already in charge of the Ministry of Rites. Now many of your family members are also officials in the court. As long as they are loyal to Your Majesty, the Tao family will definitely be a noble family in the new dynasty in the future."

"Now, not only is Mr.'s future ruined."

Mr. Du sighed and said, "I'm afraid the future of the Tao family is going to be difficult."

Tao Wenyuan was silent for a while, then shook his head and said, "Their future does not depend on me. Although I am somewhat dissatisfied with the new learning, I admit that pragmatic learning and utilitarianism do have some benefits."

"If my descendants are capable, Your Majesty will still use them in the future."

Mr. Du stood up and shook his head, saying, "It's difficult, difficult, difficult. What is rare in this world is never the ability, but the opportunity to show the ability."

"Without you, how many of the descendants of the Tao family will have the opportunity to show their abilities in front of His Majesty in the future?"

At this point, Du Xianggong bowed and said, "In order to avoid suspicion, you should go home first. During this period, you can stay at home on the pretext of illness. Everything will be arranged after His Majesty returns or when His Majesty's documents arrive."

Tao Xianggong stood up, was silent for a while, and then bowed his hands in return, saying, "So...thank you for your hard work, Xiang Du."

After he bowed, he strode out of the Secretariat with his hands behind his back.

Du Xianggong watched him leave silently. After he left, Du Xianggong sighed deeply: "What new learning or old learning? It's nothing but what I learned in elementary school is useless, so I feel dissatisfied."

"The teachings of the saints..." Mr. Du sighed, "cannot control the desires of the human heart."

He also walked to the door of Zhongshu and sighed again: "It's hard for me, a half-new and half-old person."

…………

The emperor's eastern tour started from Luoyang and headed east along the river.

It only took a few days from Luoyang to reach Xingyang.

After entering Xingyang City, His Majesty the Emperor naturally would not let the local government build any residence for him, but instead moved directly into the ancestral home of the Zheng family in Xingyang.

The Zheng family of Xingyang is also one of the thousand-year-old families. Although it is not as famous as the Cui family of Qinghe, it is one of the most famous families in the Central Plains.

Among the many aristocratic families, the Zheng family of Xingyang has suffered the most damage.

After all, when Wang Junping started the rebellion, he brought disaster to almost all the states in the Central Plains, especially to those aristocratic families, whom he burned, killed and looted.

By the time Emperor Li founded the country, the population of Zheng family in Xingyang had been reduced to only 20% to 30% of that in the old Zhou Dynasty. After the land rights were confirmed throughout the country in the third year of Zhangwu, the fields of Zheng family in Xingyang were under the authorization of local government, or more precisely, the imperial court.

It is now less than 20% of what it was at its peak.

This was mainly because the Xingyang Zheng family had once sold off their properties on a large scale and sent a group of their descendants to Jinling to join Li Yun and settle down in Jinling, becoming the future Jinling Zheng family.

Many of the fields in the new city of Jinling were purchased by the Zheng family of Xingyang.

It was precisely because of this, and the fact that many members of the Xingyang Zheng family served as officials in the new dynasty, that Emperor Li no longer made things difficult for this thousand-year-old family and tacitly allowed them to own less than 20% of the land.

You know, this less than 20% of the land is still tens of thousands of acres.

On the day of moving into the Zheng family's residence, all the people from the Zheng family in Xingyang knelt at the door and kowtowed, respectfully welcoming the Emperor.

If these thousand-year-old families in the past could still retain some arrogance towards the royal family, now these thousand-year-old families have become much more honest and obedient after being cleaned up by Wang Junping.

Of course, the most important reason is that Emperor Li was the founder and the founding monarch of the country.

It is an existence that can do whatever it wants.

If the reception is not adequate and this emperor is angered, who knows if he will go crazy and kill everyone in the Zheng family?
If this really happened, the Zheng family would have no place to seek justice.

Emperor Li got off the dragon chariot and took Princess Lujiang with him to the main gate of the Zheng family. He reached out and helped the head of the Zheng family up. He smiled and said, "I am here to stay at your house. You are so polite, Mr. Zheng."

The patriarch of the Zheng family was a middle-aged man in his fifties. After hearing what Li Yun said, he looked serious and bowed his head and said, "The whole world belongs to the king. My humble home is also your majesty's land. Your majesty is the owner here."

"There is absolutely no such thing as staying overnight."

Emperor Li did not reply when he heard this, but turned around to look at Li Shu. Princess Lujiang was sizing up the head of the Zheng family. When she saw Li Yun looking at her, she smiled and said, "You are quite talkative."

His Majesty the Emperor smiled and said, "Well, let's go inside and talk. I have never been to this famous Xingyang Zheng family before."

The head of the Zheng family hurriedly led the way. At this time, the main door of this thousand-year-old family was already wide open to welcome the distinguished guests.

His Majesty the Emperor entered the Zheng family from the middle door and walked all the way to the main hall of the Zheng family and sat down. Before he had time to drink tea, the staff of the Ninth Department had already held a box, handed it to Li Yun with both hands, and bowed deeply.

"Your Majesty, the Nine Departments in Luoyang have made a secret report."

His Majesty the Emperor waved his hand and said, "Send it to the study."

After saying that, he looked at the Patriarch of the Zheng Family and asked, "Patriarch Zheng, does the Zheng Family know about the river bursting and the people suffering?"

"Know, know."

The head of the Zheng family hurriedly bowed his head and said, "Mr. Zhuo came here more than a month ago. We, the Zheng family, are doing our best to help."

Emperor Li nodded with satisfaction.

"Okay, wait until this disaster is over."

"The court will reward Zheng well."

(End of this chapter)