Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 303 Pei Zhu asks
Zhu Houzhao was stunned when he heard this, "That's me."

Pei Yuan was already somewhat certain of Zhu Houzhao's intention, so he asked, "Your Majesty, do you want to roast Liang Chu on the fire?"

"Your Majesty, do you want to put Liang Chu up there and make him look ugly?"

"Your Majesty wants a notorious Grand Secretary to appear in the court, so that the authority of the cabinet will be completely destroyed."

Zhu Houzhao still didn't speak for a while before he asked, "Is it not possible?"

Pei Yuan sighed. For his own benefit, he really didn't want to say more.

But there are some things that I just have to say.

"Your Majesty is first a king, and then a wise man."

"Compared to your superb political tactics, what the world wants to see more is your fairness and sincerity."

"If you think that justice can give way to your political tactics, then there will be no justice in the world."

When Pei Yuan said this, he suddenly remembered a saying in later generations that was as loud as a bell, and he said to Zhu Houzhao,

“The country is the people, and the people are the country.”

"If Your Majesty governs the country in a way that greatly disappoints the people of the world, then the people of the world will no longer have Your Majesty in their hearts."

Zhu Houzhao was silent for a long time, and then he said, "Your words are as harsh as those imperial censors, but there is some truth in them."

Both of them were speechless.

After a while, Zhu Houzhao asked, "Then what should I do?"

Pei Yuan felt a little conflicted when he heard this.

If you were wise and powerful, how could I poach your people?

All the talents in the world are in your hands. I only want the Dragon and the Phoenix. Is that too much?

After all, Pei Yuan didn't want to see a world full of demons.

Thinking that it would take several years for this guy to rule Nanjing and completely anger the southern gentry, Pei Yuan felt that there was no need to rush into many things.

So Pei Yuan said, "We still need to give these scholars confidence, the sooner the better."

Zhu Houzhao seemed to have changed into the template of a wise ruler who was willing to accept advice. He asked Pei Yuan for his opinion, "How about I immediately remove Liang Cijie and Liang Chen from their positions of favor?"

Pei Yuan rejected it, "Not good. The emperor's words are golden, how can he grant them a position of favor and then revoke it in the blink of an eye?"

“If the silent majority think that the emperor is wavering, even if the emperor stands up to support those scholars today, they will still have doubts and worry about the possibility of reversal.”

Zhu Houzhao thought about it and suggested, "How about you secretly help me find a censor to write a letter, and then I will agree to it? This will also show that I am open-minded and willing to accept advice."

The general idea is to find a way out.

Pei Yuan's heart moved slightly, there was actually room for maneuver here.

If Zhu Houzhao decided to do this directly, Pei Yuan would naturally be able to wait and see.

But now Zhu Houzhao asked himself clearly, if he couldn't explain it clearly, he was afraid that when he figured it out in the future, it might not be a good thing.

So Pei Yuan replied, "Although it is a solution, it also has disadvantages."

Zhu Houzhao didn't understand what was going on, so he said directly, "Tell me about it."

Pei Yuan explained, "In this way, the prestige of the censor is achieved, but the one who pays the price is the emperor."

Zhu Houzhao laughed and said, "So that's how it is. I almost got hurt."

Then he looked at Pei Yuan and said, "I now understand the benefits of the Jinyiwei. In the past, when the Hanlin scholars taught me, they often considered the problem from the perspective of the matter itself. But the advice you just gave me was to consider the problem from my perspective."

He said to Pei Yuan with satisfaction, "Pei Qing loves me, I remember that. I will consult you when I encounter difficulties in the future."

After hearing what Zhu Houzhao said, Pei Yuan not only did not feel happy at all, but instead felt a little numb.

and many more!

What the hell is "Pei Qing loves me"?

Historically, Zhu Houzhao did not seem to avoid men and women in certain matters.

Could it be...

Pei Yuan felt a little panicked.

Fortunately, Zhu Houzhao didn't seem to think too much about it, and he continued to ask, "If that's the case, then what do you think Pei Qing should do to win back the hearts of those scholars?"

Pei Yuan already had some rough ideas, so he said to Zhu Houzhao, "It's easy, let's still separate the matter. The grudge between Liang Cijie and Liang Chen came from Liang Chu, so we will separate this matter. Then Liang Ci's murder is a judicial issue, so we will also separate this matter."

"When the time comes, I will try to find a close imperial censor to write a letter to him, still admonishing Liang Cijie and Liang Chen for their favors, and mention Liang Ci's murder case in passing."

Zhu Houzhao frowned slightly after hearing this, "Isn't this the same as before?"

Pei Yuan explained, "That's not the case. Your Majesty showed favor to Liang Chu to thank him for his contribution in assisting the government. It has nothing to do with the Liang Ci Fu case. If the officials favor Liang Ci Fu, Your Majesty can punish his crime in public and let the people of the world see your fairness and sincerity."

"As long as Your Majesty follows my previous thinking and explains this matter in public, the ministers will surely praise Your Majesty's wise decision."

"Your Majesty's favor to Liang Cijie and Liang Chen is no longer a wrong thing."

"If it's not a mistake, then there's no need to correct it."

Zhu Houzhao was overjoyed when he heard this.

He succeeded to the throne as a teenager.

In order to tame the emperor, the old ministers often indulged him in minor mistakes, and then wrote letters to criticize him, using the pressure from the empress dowager to make the emperor give in.

Zhu Houzhao was often embarrassed by those old ministers.

So this time, Zhu Houzhao kept watching the matter with great interest, wanting to see Liang Chu make a fool of himself.

However, he did not expect that just as he used his tactic of playing hard to get and before he had time to frame Liang Chu, the flames of opposition to Liang Chu were almost extinguished by him.

Zhu Houzhao thought that he was facing another failed attempt, but unexpectedly, after listening to Pei Yuan's words, he was able to see the blue sky as if the clouds had cleared.

It turns out that as long as you change "a wrong thing" into "not a wrong thing", you don't need to correct it so embarrassingly.

Zhu Houzhao's clever mind immediately began to put his knowledge into practice, thinking over and over again about the past events. He was even a little impatient to do something "wrong" and try it himself.

Pei Yuan did not notice Zhu Houzhao's change of mood and continued to tell Zhu Houzhao what happened next. "I heard that when Liang Ci was interrogated in court last time, only Zhang Dalin, the doctor of the Ministry of Justice, reprimanded Liang Ci. As a result, he was demoted two levels because of this incident."

Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "The Minister of Justice is Zhang Zilin. I won't keep Zhang Dalin around him to get in the way. Zhang Dalin didn't do anything wrong, so there's no need to demote him. I'll ask Liang Chu if there's any official position for a doctor in the Ministry of Personnel or the Ministry of Rites. Let Zhang Dalin move to another place for the time being."

Pei Yuan was secretly impressed after hearing this.

Zhu Houzhao was indeed taught by the smartest people in the Ming Dynasty, and his methods were truly amazing.

Zhang Dalin had just been removed from his position as a doctor in the Ministry of Justice. If he was immediately brought back, it would be too confrontational, which would basically be equivalent to Zhu Houzhao personally taking the blame. If Zhu Houzhao personally took the blame, and the emperor had done nothing wrong, Liang Chu would have no choice but to retire and return home.

But what Zhu Houzhao wanted was not for Liang Chu to retire and return home.

What he wanted was a dirty and smelly Grand Secretary Liang Chu, who would be placed in the cabinet to make those civil servants who always wanted to make trouble feel guilty and angry.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao transferred Zhang Dalin to the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites as a doctor. On the one hand, he could restore his official rank and grade and show his attitude slightly. On the other hand, it could also boost the morale of scholars.

But this operation was asked to be completed by Liang Chu, which gave Liang Chu another hint.

Not only did it give Liang Chu the opportunity to show his tolerance to others, it also transferred Zhang Dalin, a hardliner, out of the Ministry of Justice in disguise, reducing the variables in the trial.

Liang Chu should also be grateful.

Zhu Houzhao obviously had more comprehensive information than Pei Yuan. He added, "After the joint trial of the three courts, I asked Zhang Lun, the Minister of the Dali Temple, and he insisted on punishing Liang Ci'an. But Wang Ding, the Right Censor-in-Chief, said that the crime was serious and the law was lenient, and it was difficult to judge by common rules, and he was trying to cover up and protect him."

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he pondered for a moment and made a decision.

He opened his mouth and said, "Zhang Lun can give one of his sons a gift to study in the Imperial Academy. As for the Right Censor-in-Chief Wang Ding..."

Zhu Houzhao paused and said, "Before, because the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Hong Zhong, was old, I had asked him to temporarily manage the affairs of the Censorate. Since he is so unbearable just to curry favor with his superiors, I will dismiss him from the position of Right Censor-in-Chief and let him go home to study."

Pei Yuan was shocked when he heard this. Is the Right Censor-in-Chief, a second-rank official, just gone like that?

You should know that the reason why Lu Wan was able to lead so many troops in battle was not because of his third-rank title of Assistant Minister of War, but because of his fourth-rank title of Right Censor-in-Chief.

Later, Lu Wan nominally won the battle of Huaibei and drove the rebels in Bazhou to Henan, and only then was he officially promoted to the position of Right Censor-in-Chief.

Wang Chang wanted to resign from his post as Nanjing Minister of War and change to a position of governor-general or provincial governor, and what he urgently needed was the title of Right Censor-in-Chief.

One can imagine how valuable the title of Right Censor-in-Chief is.

But such an official who was in such a high position and had worked hard for who knows how long to climb to the top was removed by the emperor with just a word?
At this time, Pei Yuan also felt some sympathy for the civil and military officials in the court.

The destructive power of imperial power on the political ecology is truly enormous.

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he sincerely asked Pei Yuan for his opinion, "Mr. Pei, what do you think?"

Pei Yuan's body trembled again.

Doesn't this mean that the fate of Right Censor-in-Chief Wang Ding depends on his own decision?
Such a political ecology is indeed stable and controllable!
Pei Yuan weighed the options quickly.

Now that the position of Governor of the Rivers could no longer be counted on for the time being, the matter of seeking to have Wang Chang appointed Governor of Shandong was imminent.

Naturally, the fewer Right Censors-in-Chief who are qualified to compete, the better.

Pei Yuan agreed and said, "Your Majesty is the wisest and wisest. With this decision, you will surely win the hearts of the people and restore the case of Liang Ci's death to the light."

Zhu Houzhao had been depressed for the whole night, but finally he received high praise from Pei Qing, and he couldn't help but show joy on his face.

"Very good. In that case, you can arrange for the Imperial Court to submit the report as soon as possible."

At this point, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but feel a little confused again, "How come you, an officer of the Imperial Guard, are familiar with the Imperial Censor?"

Pei Yuan was stunned again by Zhu Houzhao's questioning.

Perhaps it was Pei Yuan’s stuck that made Zhu Houzhao realize something.

He seemed to become smart in an instant, and asked sharply, "Can't I tell you?"

"This..." Pei Yuan quickly organized his words and said, "In fact, he is not close to me. It's because I have a concubine who has some friendship with the daughter of the censor. So we talked a few words."

Zhu Houzhao also found it strange.

What kind of concubine is this Pei Yuan? How can she be friends with the censor's daughter?

He simply asked directly, "Which censor is it?"

Pei Yuan did not hesitate this time and said directly, "It's the Censor Zhang Lian."

Zhu Houzhao said "Oh", "It's him. He was the one who started the impeachment of Liang Chu this time. Well, it's just right for him to do this. I remember him..."

Zhu Houzhao paused here, with a strange look on his face, "I remember him, he seemed to have offended Zhang Heling, the Marquis of Shouning."

Pei Yuan thought to himself that even such a small-scale activity among the scholars could be heard by Zhu Houzhao, let alone the incident that caused such a sensation back then.

Pei Yuan replied, "That's true. At the beginning, Zhang Lian impeached Shouning Marquis Zhang Heling for lawlessness, and there was some friction between the two of them."

Zhu Houzhao felt slightly embarrassed and didn't know what to say.

Although Zhang Heling was his uncle, Zhu Houzhao also felt that he was not a good person.

When Shouning Marquis Zhang Heling and Changning Earl Zhou Yu were fighting for land, the two families brought hundreds of people each and fought in the downtown area of ​​the capital, so much so that "the news spread throughout the capital and even to the emperor's residence."

As a result, this incident led to collective impeachment by the six ministers and the Censorate.

Later, Zhang Heling was so arrogant that he raped a palace maid in the palace. The eunuchs in the palace could not stand this and ran to Emperor Xiaozong to complain.

As for other things that disregard human life, there are too many to count.

As a result, because of Zhang's favoritism, all the people who sued Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling were killed, and many officials were dismissed.

Zhu Houzhao himself was so angry that his teeth were itching, but unfortunately the empress dowager kept protecting him.

The story of the daughter of Censor Zhang Lian not only spread in the market, but also most of the officials in the court heard about it.

Zhu Houzhao felt very ashamed, but he could do nothing about Zhang Heling, so he wanted to give Zhang Lian's son an official position as compensation.

As a result, Zhang Lian felt deeply ashamed and sent all his sons back to their hometown to study.

Pei Yuan was talking about Zhang Lian at this moment, and Zhu Houzhao didn't know how to respond.

Then he turned to Pei Yuan and asked, "As an imperial censor, why would Zhang Lian allow his daughter to have an affair with your concubine?"

Pei Yuan did not hide it and said frankly, "My concubine is the granddaughter of former Grand Secretary Jiao Fang, and she is not much worse than the daughter of Censor Zhang."

Zhu Houzhao was stunned when he heard this. "Jiao Fang's granddaughter?"

He looked at Pei Yuan strangely, and felt it was difficult to say anything that would hurt Pei Qing.

No, are you worthy?
Pei Yuan valued Jiao Yan'er, so naturally he didn't want to say anything unnecessary, so he repeated what he had told Zhang Lian.

Zhu Houzhao was very smart. When he saw Pei Yuan's vague words, he knew there was some inside story.

But what he thought was far less complicated than reality.

They just thought that Pei Yuan had forcibly taken Jiao Fang's granddaughter during the war to repay a favor. The Jiao family refused to admit it, so they could only make Pei Yuan a concubine without knowing the truth.

If you think about it this way, it seems that the most affectionate person in the Ming Dynasty is not that deep.

(End of this chapter)