Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 680 The Legend of the Twin Dragons of the Great Wei

Minister Zhou knew in his heart that the moment he stepped into the palace gates again, his fate would take a fork in the road. However, he was not sure how far he could go. He knew that if he could not land safely this time, he would become the first pawn to be abandoned on the chessboard.

He knew, of course, that he was just a pawn now, but a pawn can become a chariot once it crosses the river. Rather than being abandoned, he might as well take a gamble and maybe even create a future for himself.

"I will take Vice Minister Zhou to meet His Majesty. My two colleagues, please go to the central government first. I will be there shortly." After bowing to Ma Zhou and Xu Jingzong in front of a moon gate, Old Zhang led Vice Minister Zhou into the Emperor's study.

At this moment, Emperor Jingtai was sitting inside, holding a ruler and drawing blueprints on paper. He had observed on the battlefield that some muddy areas were difficult for oxcarts and horse-drawn carts to pass through, so he was thinking about whether he could design something that could better traverse these terrains.

His initial plan was to use his childhood experience of skiing on wooden planks to design a base that could be dragged on muddy ground. However, after verification from various sources, this design proved unreliable because the terrain in the south was clearly unsuitable for such a thing. So, in the past few days, he also asked many teachers from Fuliang who were preparing to establish an agricultural and industrial college. But those teachers talked about pressure and friction, and mumbled a lot of things, making it impossible to understand what they were talking about.

But Emperor Jingtai was still not giving up. He felt that he had to come up with a suitable transportation plan. After all, an army cannot move without supplies. The supply lines depend on these supplies. How can soldiers fight if they are not well-fed?
Just as he was struggling with this problem, the eunuch outside announced: "The Grand Secretary and the Vice Minister of War have arrived."

"Summon him." Emperor Jingtai called out, then put his manuscript aside and waited with great interest. After all, he had bet his salary with Old Zhang, and today he would see whether Vice Minister Zhou had slept last night or not.

Soon the two entered the study. Emperor Jingtai immediately noticed that Vice Minister Zhou looked haggard. The usually spirited Vice Minister looked gloomy and even a little shaky today.

"Oh? Minister Zhou, why do you look so haggard today? Is something on your mind?"

“Your Majesty, I…” Minister Zhou stepped forward, lifted the front of his official robe, and knelt before Emperor Jingtai: “I did not sleep a wink last night. After much thought, I feel that I deserve to die a thousand deaths.”

Everything else was nonsense. When he heard the words "didn't sleep all night," Emperor Jingtai looked up and saw Old Zhang twirling his fingers at him. Emperor Jingtai secretly gestured three, but Old Zhang spread out five fingers. Emperor Jingtai immediately looked disgusted, but still winked and agreed.

But Zhou Shilang knew nothing of all this. He knelt there, kowtowed to the ground, and began to recount the mistakes he had made over the years.

Of course, he couldn't talk about those things that involved deceiving the emperor, breaking the law, or violating the law. That was called avoiding the important issues. In short, he laid out all his trivial matters in front of His Majesty, which was a kind of voluntary handing over of his weaknesses.

At this point, even the most foolish person would know that the next step was the pledge of loyalty. Old Zhang immediately cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I should go to the central government to assume my duties."

"You should step back first."

After Old Zhang slowly left the study, Vice Minister Zhou, as expected, began to present his pledge of allegiance.

You can't just hand over a pledge of allegiance randomly. There's a rule to it: you can't just blurt out whatever you've heard or heard. You have to have a solid logic. Didn't Vice Minister Zhou just mention all the crimes he's committed over the years?

This was the preliminary task for his pledge of loyalty. He had to clearly outline each and every event, including who was involved and the causes and consequences. There also had to be a specific order: first, he couldn't mention subordinates for major offenses, otherwise the emperor would think he was trying to find a scapegoat; second, he couldn't mention peers for minor matters, otherwise he would be seen as incompetent; and finally, he couldn't mention subordinates for matters that were neither too big nor too small, because that would indicate a problem with his management skills.

This dialogue between the emperor and his minister was packed with valuable information. The emperor needed to let Jingtai know that he did have some problems, but not major ones; he also needed to let Jingtai know that there were many others in the system with far more serious issues than himself. However, he couldn't directly name names of these more serious problems; instead, he needed to pick out a person from a less conspicuous branch, and then let Jingtai use that person to lure out the bigwigs behind them. This way, Jingtai could gracefully expose the problems while giving the powerful figures behind the scenes ample time to react. In other words, he didn't completely block either path—the ultimate example of a fence-sitter.

A vice minister, a fourth-rank official, is no small position. His intelligence is beyond that of ordinary people; he has already mastered many tricks up his sleeve.

Finally, he also needs to start with his own job duties and criticize the current functional departments. Of course, this criticism needs to start with himself.

"Although I am willing, I am powerless. The positions in the city defense and the northern military offices have already been occupied by the sons of various families."

Did you have someone save your seat for you?

Emperor Jingtai asked casually, which was also the prelude left by Vice Minister Zhou. Didn't he say before that if he wanted to be a fence-sitter, he must not shirk responsibility. Only by having something to hide in someone else's hands can he become someone else's ally.

"Yes... I have an old subordinate who suffered a back injury in battle years ago, so I devised a way to transfer him to the Northern Army and make him a guerrilla general in the Northern Army."

"Ha, birds of a feather."

"Yes, yes, Your Majesty is right. Your Majesty, I... Your Majesty deserves to die."

"I wouldn't deserve to die a thousand deaths." Emperor Jingtai stretched his neck. "Get up."

"Your subject dares not~~"

"stand up!"

Emperor Jingtai slammed his hand on the table, startling Vice Minister Zhou. After a long pause, Zhou cautiously rose to his feet, intending to observe the emperor's expression. However, Emperor Jingtai merely leaned back slightly, the light from the palace lanterns lit due to the dim daylight casting a majestic and awe-inspiring glow upon him. Vice Minister Zhou glanced at him briefly before immediately lowering his head, not daring to look at the emperor's expression again.

"Now that Minister Feng of the Ministry of War is in poor health, I've heard that you are the one who keeps the word in the Ministry of War?"

"Your subject dares not... Minister Feng is a veteran of two reigns. Although he is old, his mind is clear and he is no longer old. All matters, large and small, of the Ministry of War should still be decided by Minister Feng."

"I intend to appoint Minister Feng as Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, which will leave the position of Minister of War vacant. I wonder who Vice Minister Zhou thinks should be appointed? Should it be the Vice Minister of War or Vice Minister He of Rites?"

"Your subject... dares not."

"Just say it when I tell you to."

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty is of low status and dares not speak recklessly. However, I know that Vice Minister Chang is the son-in-law of the Wang family. The Wang family of Langya has been a family of scholars and farmers since the Wei and Jin dynasties, with an excellent family tradition. Vice Minister He is a member of the He family of Jiangdong and is related to Vice Minister Sun of the Ministry of Personnel by marriage. His family has a long history of learning and is also an excellent candidate."

Emperor Jingtai did not answer directly, but nodded and said, "I understand. You may leave now. Go back and rest well, and don't overwork yourself. Delu."

"The servant is here."

Emperor Jingtai pointed to Vice Minister Zhou below him: "Go and get two doses of the ginseng from Baitou Mountain that was sent from Huangyaguan a few days ago for Vice Minister Zhou to nourish his body."

"Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty..." Vice Minister Zhou immediately knelt on the ground, feeling a sense of relief.

After seeing Vice Minister Zhou off, Old Zhang, with his shifty eyes, came over. He leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed and said, "Give me five months' worth of bonuses, and you can't back out."

"Is it worth a hundred taels of silver for me to go back on my word?"

Emperor Jingtai, both amused and exasperated, said, "You make money by selling fake paintings every day, and you're still short of cash?"

"But they still have to be able to sell them. There are so many counterfeit goods on the street now, I haven't made a single sale in a month. They sell them for two or three taels of silver. These idle scholars are a real cancer."

"You deserve it. You started this trend of counterfeits yourself." Emperor Jingtai picked up his teacup. "Just now I asked Vice Minister Zhou who would be suitable to replace Minister Feng. I gave him two candidates, and he said either one would be fine. But this guy is really cunning. He almost said that the two men were the right-hand men of the aristocratic families."

"Those who can pass the imperial examination are already outstanding individuals, and those who can become sixth-rank officials are the pride of heaven. He's already a fourth-rank official, so his intelligence is beyond question."

Emperor Jingtai pondered for a moment and said, "Everything is proceeding according to plan. It's just that you mentioned there are many unemployed scholars in the city now?"

"Yes, the imperial examination system has been reformed in recent years, giving ordinary people more opportunities to take the exam. But there are still only so many official positions, and the number of positions that have been vacated is not enough for so many people. Although there is a substitute position, there is no salary. If you don't have a salary and still want to live in the capital, you have to find a way to make money, right?"

"This is a troublesome matter," Emperor Jingtai said, leaning back in his chair. "Is there any way to resolve this?"

"This is not something His Majesty can handle; they are all disciples of the Emperor."

"Hey!" Emperor Jingtai slapped his thigh: "If I can't do it, if you can't do it, then a dog can do it!"

"Yes!" Old Zhang and Emperor Jingtai immediately agreed: "The dog can do it!"

That afternoon, the two of them sneaked over to the island in the middle of the lake where Xia Lin was "under house arrest," but they found it empty. They learned that Xia Lin had run away early that morning, saying that there was a poetry club in Jinling City and he had gone there to join in the fun.

Emperor Jingtai and Old Zhang exchanged a glance, and Old Zhang continued, "It seems that a dog's nose is indeed very sensitive."

"Yes, he's always one step ahead of us. Why don't you submit a memorial tomorrow, saying that I'm a foolish and incompetent emperor who should be deposed, and then let him become emperor?"

"If you're sick, go get treatment. Don't cause me any trouble." Old Zhang put his hands on his hips. "If you really don't want to work here anymore, just accidentally fall into the palace pool tonight, and someone will take care of that for you."

"I just don't want to be emperor anymore; I haven't said I'm tired of living."

"You haven't lived enough, but I have, right?"

(End of this chapter)