Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 695 Attitude
The emperor adjourned his court again.

Yesterday, it was said that the emperor was avoiding attending court. Maybe he was pretending to be sick like Zhang Luan, intentionally avoiding the questioning of ministers.

Today everyone understood that the emperor was not avoiding anything. This should have been a time to celebrate his success or feel proud, and to regain his face in front of his ministers.

If he doesn't come at this time, it can only mean that the emperor is really ill and he can't even seize this good opportunity to show off in front of the ministers... If Emperor Chenghua were still alive, as long as he had a breath left, he would definitely show off in front of the ministers.

"Lord Liu, do you think we should continue with the impeachment of Li Zisheng?"

On that day, the ministers arrived in front of Zuoshun Gate and did not go in. After learning from Li Rong, who came to deliver the imperial edict, that the emperor had continued to adjourn the court, the ministers went to their respective offices, while Liu Ji was stopped by Lu Wen, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War, and questioned.

Liu Ji glared at Lu Wen and asked, "I heard that you have a close relationship with Li Zisheng. Do you want to speak for him?"

Lu Wen was a juren official and was considered a veteran in the court. In the 22nd year of Chenghua, when he was the governor of Yansui, he was transferred to the capital to serve as the right vice minister of the Ministry of War. Due to his humble background and the fact that he was the kind of person with outstanding abilities but insufficient qualifications, it was difficult for him to get promoted in his official career.

It was because of Lv Wen's outstanding abilities that he was appreciated by Li Zisheng in the late Chenghua period, and several key promotions were closely related to Li Zisheng.

Lu Wen said, "Lord Liu, what do you mean by this? Aren't we all looking forward to fighting against the corrupt officials with you? We all signed a petition yesterday..."

"Yesterday is yesterday, today is today."

Liu Ji was so angry that he gasped and shouted, "When have you ever heard of someone who had made military achievements but the court officials were still focused on impeaching him? Aren't you ashamed enough?"

Lu Wen said seriously: "Yesterday, the Ministry of War held a meeting and mentioned that Lizi Province's deployment of troops was not in compliance with regulations, and that they failed to pursue the victory after the victory, which gave the Tatars the opportunity to make a comeback. According to the rules, these people must be held accountable.

"Today, the inspectors of Taiyuan and other places should report the results of their investigation. Shouldn't we also make preparations in advance and persuade His Majesty to summon him back to the capital as soon as possible?"

Liu Ji asked curiously, "From what you said, are you planning to repay kindness with enmity?"

"I don't understand what Lord Liu means."

Lu Wen's eyes were filled with anger, but she could only lower her head and speak.

Liu Ji mocked, "Li Zisheng treated you well in the past. Now many people still miss the favors they received from Li Zisheng. They even chose to avoid suspicion and not sign the impeachment against him. Why do you seem to want to add insult to injury? Or do you want to test me?"

Lv Wen frowned upon hearing this, but still tried to save her dignity: "I am just doing my job... Besides, isn't this what you advocate?"

According to Lu Wen, it was you and Li Zisheng who brought the conflict to the surface and took the lead in impeaching Li Zisheng.

Now I'm just on your side, how can it be considered that I'm ungrateful or have ulterior motives?
Are you still being unreasonable?
"Humph!"

Liu Ji snorted coldly and said, "Not only did His Majesty not intend to recall Li Zisheng, but he appointed him as the governor of Shanxi, in charge of the defense of Pianguan, Taiyuan and other places. Don't you know that?"

"what?"

Lü Wen was very surprised and asked, "When did it happen?"

Liu Ji sneered and said, "It was decided last night. Didn't you hear about it when you were discussing it in the Ministry of War? The warrant has probably been sent to the northwest now. The person you are impeaching is no longer just a charlatan with the title of Chief Censor. He may succeed you as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War in the next step."

Hearing this, Lv Wen seemed very embarrassed and shook his head, saying, "Master Liu, please don't misunderstand me. This is not the reason why I support you."

Liu Ji pursed his lips and said, "I don't care what your reasons are... If you are really capable, don't just focus on Li Zisheng. Shouldn't you also focus on the people behind him? Yesterday, I made all the preparations, just waiting to defeat Li Zisheng, pull out the radish and the mud, and eradicate the traitors in the court... But what about now?"

When Lu Wen heard this, she couldn't help but feel frightened.

Why is this Prime Minister so shameless?

Even if you look down on Li Zisheng and Zhang Luan, but you describe them as traitors, why don't you include yourself in the list?
Just impeach Li Zisheng, why do you have to involve Zhang Luan as well?

Speaking of...

Li Zisheng's biggest backer was the late emperor, who has passed away. It is easy to fight Li Zisheng now.

Let us go directly to become the enemy of the current emperor's most trusted father-in-law?
Isn't that embarrassing?

……

……

Lu Wen met Liu Ji, but did not get the answer she wanted and instead was turned down.

He said goodbye to Liu Ji in a dusty manner. When he was about to leave the Meridian Gate, the Left Vice Minister He Cong quickly caught up with him and stopped him.

"How did you talk to Mr. Liu earlier?"

The attitude of the Ministry of War towards Li Zisheng was the result of unanimous discussion among all the staff of the Ministry, and Lu Wen went to inquire about Liu Ji's attitude.

After all, yesterday the cabinet only asked Ma Wensheng for his opinion on this great victory in the northwest, but skipped the Ministry of War which should have been involved in this matter.

Although the Ministry of War did not know what the Cabinet meant, they could not directly confront the former Minister of War Ma Wensheng. In addition, the Minister Yu Zijun did not seem to have any opinion on this. On the contrary, the two vice ministers had strong opinions.

Lu Wen said, "Lord Liu only wants to impeach Zhang Guozhang. His firm attitude yesterday in overthrowing Li Zisheng seemed to be just to prevent Zhang Guozhang from joining the cabinet. He has no interest in anything else."

"what?"

He Cong didn't expect that Lu Wen's views were so sharp and direct, and she spoke without any concealment.

Lu Wen then told He Cong truthfully about his conversation with Liu Ji.

After listening to this, He Cong shook his head and said, "It is not necessarily possible to draw such a conclusion based on what you have relayed. However, your majesty's appointment of Li Zisheng as the governor-general is indeed an unexpected new development."

"The Tatars are suddenly coming towards Pianguan. If no one retreats, a war is inevitable... Are we still going to count on a chief censor who was born as an alchemist to lead the troops to victory?"

Lu Wen obviously looked down on Li Zisheng.

He Cong did not comment much on this.

If it were someone else, he might have said a few more words.

But when it comes to Li Zisheng...it is said that in the last few years of the Chenghua Dynasty, no minister in the court could avoid the grievances and entanglements with Li Zisheng. Now, no matter whether they have received favors from Li Zisheng or have a grudge against Li Zisheng, they will seem to avoid matters involving Li Zisheng.

If Li Zisheng were to fall completely, everyone would surely push him down.

But the problem is that Li Zisheng is as strong as before, and no one in the court dares to get too deeply involved with Li Zisheng, for fear of getting into trouble.

However, Lu Wen did not avoid anything and did not care about how Li Zisheng had treated him in the past. It was as if he had a deep hatred for this former benefactor, which was shocking.

He Cong said: "In the next two days, I will go to visit Yu Shangshu again and ask his opinion."

Officials who can reach the level of Shangshu in the court are all quite old. Once they are old, they are bound to be frail and sickly, or make people think that they are sick.

Just like Yu Zijun, he has been claiming to be sick and staying at home these past two days, not getting involved in court affairs.

There was a war in the northwest, and the emperor wanted some advice. Yu Zijun, the head of the Ministry of War, was crucial, but he was recuperating at home...

As a result, the Ministry of War’s involvement in this matter was relatively low.

What He Cong is thinking about right now is not to have any open disputes with any forces. It would be best to let Yu Zijun come forward. After all, only with Yu Zijun's reputation, his words will have weight and convince the emperor.

(End of this chapter)