From Joy of Life, the Tian Gang is reversed

Chapter 107 Young man, your thoughts are dangerous

"Your Majesty, Lord Zeng has absolutely no such intention!"

Shu Wu fell to his knees and cried out loudly.

"Your Majesty, Lord Zeng was only angry at Qin Yuan's disregard for the Imperial Academy, and he impeached him just now. He had absolutely no intention of disrupting the law!"

After Shu Wu, Li Chengze also spoke up, "The Crown Prince's words are too much."

"Are you a pig brain?"

As soon as Li Chengze finished speaking, he heard Li Chengqian's scolding. This sentence completely stunned him.

Even Emperor Qing, who was sitting on the dragon throne, couldn't help but frown, "Cheng Qian, don't be rude."

"Your Majesty, I'm not being rude. I'm stating a fact." As he spoke, Li Chengqian looked at Li Chengze and said, "Broken arms and limbs have stained the sage's wall with blood, and the bloody atmosphere has filled the Mingli Hall. They rely on force to overthrow culture and insult the sages with blood. This act not only insults the contemporary Confucian scholars and scholars throughout the world, but also sullies the ancient sages with their foul air. If they are not severely punished for such a perverse act, the foundation of humanities built by the sages of all generations will be destroyed. Is this what Zeng Wenxiang just said?"

"Yes!" Li Chengze's mind raced. This was what Zeng Wenxiang had just said when he impeached Qin Yuan. He said it with great righteousness and there was nothing wrong with it. For a moment, he didn't know what Li Chengqian meant, so he could only answer while suppressing his anger.

"Okay, now that you've joined the Political Affairs Party and regularly visit Linhu Palace to participate in government affairs, you should be very familiar with the Qing Code. Let me ask you, which of these words you just said violates the Qing Code? Does the Qing Code say that staining the Sage's Wall Scripture with blood is a sin? Does the Qing Code say that fumigating Minglun Hall is a sin? Is there?"

Li Chengze's face froze. He couldn't say he was familiar with Qing Law, but he had read it thoroughly, studied it, and understood it. When he thought about it carefully, there really wasn't any mention of these things.

"If that's not the case, then what right did Zeng Wenxiang have to say that Qin Yuan was acting perversely? Why did he punish him for this and hang the head of the Eastern Palace Guard? He wanted to use Confucianism to override Qing law and kill officials with his words. What else could he do if that's not breaking the law?"

"And..." Li Chengqian pointed at a group of civil officials kneeling in the hall, "Look at these people..."

"Those who can stand in the court are not only important officials, but also ministers in the court. They all hold the power of the court. Don't they know the Qing law?"

"A single sentence insulting the Holy Religion caused so many ministers to disregard the Qing Law, or even to not consider it, and immediately agree with it. Isn't this just pretending to be righteous and using the ministers to gain respect?"

"And those Imperial College students were so easily incited that in just half an hour, they gathered over two thousand people outside the palace. Do they still have any sense of awe? The Imperial College is where the country cultivates talents. They will become officials and govern the people in the future. But under the guidance of Zeng Wenxiang, they disregard the laws of Qing. How can such people govern the country in the future? If the court is full of people like this, what do you think will happen to Qing?"

"I..." Li Chengze was speechless and for a moment, he couldn't find any words to refute.

"The most terrifying thing is that you, as the regent of the county, don't even realize what I've said. If you don't have a pig's brain, what do you have?"

"You..." Li Chengze suddenly raised his head and glared at Li Chengqian fiercely. Being scolded twice in front of so many court officials was intolerable. Even though he always prided himself on being deep-minded and humble, he couldn't help but have a fight with Li Chengqian at this moment.

"Enough!" Emperor Qing patted the armrest of the dragon throne. "Although Qin Yuan's actions did not violate Qing law, he acted impulsively and impulsively, disrupting the Imperial Academy. He will be fined one year's salary."

At this point, he paused, looked at Zeng Wenxiang, who was kneeling on the ground, and then glanced at the civil servants kneeling on the ground. His eyes became deep, "Zeng Wenxiang, as a Grand Secretary of the Jixian Pavilion, he is ignorant of the Qing Dynasty law, seeking fame and reputation, and secretly forming cliques. As the Imperial College's chief academic officer, he failed to teach effectively, causing the students of the Imperial College to lose their sense of right and wrong and be deceived by treacherous people. He is stripped of all official positions and honors and sent back to his hometown."

"His Majesty……"

Shu Wu's expression changed, and she looked up suddenly, meeting Emperor Qing's cold gaze. Her heart trembled, and she dared not say anything.

"Your Majesty, I have this memorial."

Li Chengqian's voice came again, and everyone in the hall was startled. They looked at Li Chengqian with horror. Zeng Wenxiang has been dismissed, what else do you want? Are you really going to kill him? "What else?"

"Your Majesty, Zeng Wenxiang has served as the Imperial College's chief academic officer for many years, severely corrupting the academy's academic atmosphere. No one knows what the students are truly thinking these days, or whether they are truly loyal to Your Majesty and Daqing. I request Your Majesty's permission to have the Provincial Court of Justice permanently stationed at the Imperial College to examine the students' thoughts, monitor their academic atmosphere, and ensure their ideological purity. Furthermore, the students who gathered at the palace gates yesterday were completely disregarding Daqing law and should be punished."

"Approved. The Provincial Court will enter the Imperial College today. The students who gathered yesterday will be stripped of their academic titles and expelled from the Imperial College."

"Your Majesty is holy."

A court meeting ended, and the big commotion of yesterday came to an end. Although this decision was beyond everyone's expectations, the people in the court who had personally experienced the fierce debate with swords and sabers had no objection to it. They just witnessed once again the dominance of the Daqing Crown Prince. The ministers had different thoughts. Some of the sharp-minded court officials suddenly realized that the weight of this Crown Prince in the heart of His Majesty was probably far greater than that of the King of Zhao who seemed to be the center of attention. They were thinking about how to get along with this extremely powerful Crown Prince in the future.

As for Li Chengqian, he was directly called to the Linhu Palace after the court was dismissed.

At this time, the father and son were alone in the Linhu Palace, and the atmosphere was weird.

"You are the crown prince. Don't always think about fighting and killing. Many times, killing cannot solve the problem. For people in the court, you still have to win them over." Emperor Qing looked at his son and said earnestly.

"But he's the one who can solve the problems that created them." Li Chengqian said with a smile, "Father, you're still too soft-hearted."

"Young man, don't be too angry."

"Can you be called a young man if you're not full of energy?" Li Chengqian looked at Emperor Qing and smiled. "Father, you're not even forty yet, so you're still a young man. It's okay to be a little full of energy."

"Nonsense!" Emperor Qing was stunned and suddenly felt annoyed.

"Father, I'm only speaking the truth." Li Chengqian smiled. "People like Zeng Wenxiang are a nuisance if we keep them around. It's better to kill them all."

"Killing him is easy, but it will alienate the people in the court. We still need them now." Emperor Qing looked at Li Chengqian and said, "You have to understand that it is easy to conquer the world immediately, but to rule the world, we still need these scholars."

"What makes you think you can only conquer the world, but not rule it?" Li Chengqian asked in return, "Who told you that only these scholars can rule the world?"

This question made Emperor Qing stunned. After a long while, he finally said, "What on earth are you thinking?"

Li Chengqian smiled. "You can conquer the world, but you can't rule it. You may have learned this since childhood. From whom did you learn it? From scholars. Or maybe you read it in history books. Who wrote these history books? Scholars, everything you read and learned, all your knowledge comes from scholars. So you think only scholars can rule the world, right?"

Emperor Qing only felt his head buzzing at this moment...

What is he saying? What is he saying? What is he trying to say?
Why do I seem to understand what he is saying, but at the same time I don’t seem to understand what he means at all?

"You've been surrounded by scholars since childhood, and all your knowledge was instilled in you by them. Even after becoming emperor and having a certain degree of autonomy, in reality, whether it's governing the country or managing government, you've been following the routines taught to you by the scholars. Don't you think this is problematic? In this Qing Kingdom, are you the one calling the shots, or are those scholars?"

"You don't think you're really the one calling the shots in Qing, do you? Think about it, all these years, the decisions you've made, the decrees you've issued, which one wasn't guided by these scholars? Even when you were the so-called "imperial ruler," didn't it live up to their expectations of you?"

"This is what it means to make a ruler as great as Yao and Shun, and to make customs more refined. Father, you have gradually become like one of those scholars!"

Emperor Qing stared at him intently. After a long moment, he let out a long sigh and said in a low voice, "Young man, your thoughts are very dangerous!"

(End of this chapter)