Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 35 Beware of the Emperor's wrath, beating him to death at the Meridian Gate
April 23, the 16th year of Zhengde.

Minister of Rites Mao Cheng and others said that the funeral of the late emperor has been completed and the mourning period has ended. Your Majesty has just ascended the throne and all matters depend on it. We hope that you will put the ancestral temple and the country first, restrain your grief, and attend to affairs at the West Corner Gate. All civil and military officials will perform the ceremony of condolences.

Zhu Houcong therefore issued an edict to hold court on the 27th and ordered the Ministry of Rites to report the ceremony.

Therefore, the Minister of Rites Mao Cheng and others submitted the ceremonial notes.

Zhu Houcong approved it with his imperial approval.

Then, the cabinet issued two edicts in succession in accordance with the emperor's order.

The first decree: Allow Yang Tinghe to resign from the posts of Junior Tutor, Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, and Grand Scholar of the Huagai Palace, and stay in the capital to recuperate, and confer additional titles on him as Grand Tutor, Special Advancement of Guanglu Dafu, and Right Pillar of the State.

The second one: Liang Chu, who was Junior Tutor, Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince and Grand Secretary of the Jinshen Palace, was promoted to Junior Teacher, Grand Teacher of the Crown Prince and Grand Secretary of the Huagai Palace.

This means that the chief minister of the cabinet became Liang Chu.

Yang Tinghe stayed in Beijing to recuperate with a nominal position of the first rank.

After the news that Liang Chu became the prime minister of the cabinet spread like wildfire, it caused an uproar in the court and the country.

During the court discussion, Qi Daluan, who served as Yang Tinghe's right-hand man, was very disappointed and said to his fellow censor Wang Jun: "Everyone knows that Liang Shunde is a good man, a living bodhisattva. Even though his son got into trouble, no one in the court was willing to blame him. If such a person is in power, he will not sweep away all the villains, but will be lenient when possible!"

Wang Jun also agreed that Liang Chu, as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, would not exaggerate the case against Jiang Bin, so he nodded and sighed, "It's a pity that the Grand Tutor fell ill at this time, so that Liang Chu had the opportunity to govern the country!"

"Yes!"

"Fortunately, Your Majesty is wise and trusts Grand Tutor Yang Gong very much, so you appointed Yang Gong as Grand Tutor during his lifetime and made him the highest-ranking civil official. When Yang Gong recovers from his illness, he will take over the government of the country as one of the Three Dukes. At that time, Your Majesty and Grand Tutor will rule together, and peace and prosperity can be expected."

Qi Daluan followed up and spoke, his words still full of hope that Yang Tinghe could return and take charge of the cabinet again.

Yang's house.

Liang Chu also hopes that Yang Tinghe can return soon.

Therefore, after Yang Tinghe sent him a letter inviting him to his house for a chat, he immediately came to Yang Tinghe's place and said to Yang Tinghe:

"I can only hold on, but you still have to sit on the cabinet's prime minister's chair!"

"Please get better soon, sir."

After Liang Chu said this, Yang Tinghe smiled helplessly: "For now, you can only work harder. It is important to stay in the court and assist the new emperor. After all, your majesty has just ascended the throne and needs the support of the elders to stabilize the government! I am sick now. If you want to leave, who will take care of the country for your majesty?"

"As for the idle gossips from the court and the public that are not good for you, you should not care. At that time, when the government was in chaos, who didn't endure humiliation and protect the good people?"

"If anyone really wants to hold on to these things and embarrass me, then I will personally fight with them!"

Cough!

As Yang Tinghe spoke, he became really excited and kept coughing.

Liang Chu smiled wryly and nodded. He could tell that there was something fishy in Yang Tinghe's words. He said that he was fighting for him, but in fact he meant that if he was not honest, he would let people make a fuss about his past support for Jiang Bin and Wang Qiong.

"Since you said that, I can only try my best to hold on."

Liang Chu said with a smile at this time.

Yang Tinghe smiled slightly: "Although it is important to get rid of Jiang Bin's remnants and clear the fields and pacify the people, the matter of deciding the grand ceremony cannot be delayed for too long. Your Majesty should recognize Xiaozong as the Emperor's father. This matter must be decided as soon as possible! Only in this way can the people of the world be at peace sooner."

"What you said is true. I will try my best to do it."

Liang Chu replied with a smile.

"If you don't try your best, since you are in power, you should set this ceremony, which will benefit future generations!"

Yang Tinghe almost sat up, but he suppressed his anxiety and tried to slow down his tone while talking to Liang Chu.

Liang Chu nodded, but looked embarrassed.

Because Yang Tinghe wanted him to do something that he himself might not be able to do, which was really difficult for him.

Next.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Yang Tinghe, Liang Chu returned to the cabinet.

After returning to the cabinet, Jiang Mian handed over a memorial and said to Liang Chu: "The secretariat just handed over a memorial, which is the Ministry of Personnel's proposal to transfer Yan Song, the Imperial Academy tutor, to Nanjing as a tutor. Mr. Mao and I agree that he should be transferred to Nanjing. Now it's up to you to decide how to draft the memorial."

Liang Chu frowned after hearing this, he remembered that Yan Song was the examiner of this imperial examination.

And now Yan Song was transferred to Nanjing.

In Liang Chu's opinion, this should be related to the fact that Xia Yan mentioned Zhang Cong, a new scholar, in the court meeting, and Yang Tinghe's idea should be behind this. The Minister of Personnel Wang Qiong did not stop the submission of this petition, probably because he wanted to give face to himself, the prime minister, and let himself decide the matter. After all, Wang Qiong did not know whether he, the prime minister, also disliked the reform.

After Liang Chu thought about it, he said, "Let's draft it this way."

Even Wang Qiong was unwilling to offend the cabinet for the sake of Yan Song, so Liang Chu naturally had no need to offend Yang Tinghe for the sake of Yan Song.

same.

Zhu Houcong did not let the Imperial Household Department embarrass the Cabinet over this small matter. After all, there were bigger things to do at the moment, and it was not appropriate to let the world think that the Imperial Household Department and the Cabinet were in conflict with each other.

Just like this.

Yan Song soon received the red-approved transfer order from the Ministry of Personnel to Nanjing.

"I knew it!"

"I will be the only one who gets hurt!"

After receiving the transfer order, Yan Song's face instantly turned ugly. He muttered a few words to himself, and then had to pack up his things and leave the Hanlin Academy.

However, as soon as Yan Song came out of the Hanlin Academy, he saw Yang Shen coming over accompanied by a group of Hanlin scholars, talking and laughing.

For this reason, Yan Song did not continue to look gloomy.

Although he knew that his transfer to Nanjing was definitely the work of the Yang family.

But Yan Song now knew that he could not afford to offend the Yang family, so he did not continue to look gloomy. Instead, he smiled and walked up to Yang Shen, greeting him and asking, "Did the editor read my poem?"

Yang Shen waved his fan and said calmly as he walked, "I've seen it. Mr. Yan's poems are pretty good, but it seems that Mr. Yan hasn't put much thought into writing poems recently, but has used it in other aspects. Otherwise, Mr. Yan's poems would be better and closer to the masters."

As the top scholar and the eldest son of Yang Tinghe, Yang Shen, who was also very talented, naturally became a star figure in the Hanlin Academy.

Many civil servants would try to get closer to Yang Shen under the pretext of discussing writing and poetry.

Yan Song was naturally no exception. He could be cautious in his political stance, but he was very active in literary exchanges and had long since paid Yang Shen to comment on his poems.

Now, after hearing what Yang Shen said, Yan Song knew what Yang Shen meant by that, and said, "What the editor said is true. After I go to Nanjing, I will only focus on writing poems. I hope the editor will take the time to comment on it."

"Easy to say!"

"But you don't have to focus only on writing poems. If you can present your opinions when deciding on the grand ceremony in the future, I believe you will return to the capital soon."

After Yang Shen said this, he started talking to other Hanlin scholars.

Yan Song put away his smile and shook his head after Yang Shen left.

As Yan Song had wasted ten years in officialdom in his early years, he did not have many friends in official circles. Only recently, when he finally became an examiner, several new scholars he met came to see him off.

Among them was Zhang Cong.

After meeting Yan Song, Zhang Cong walked towards him with a guilty look on his face: "Master, I know everything."

"Call me official!"

Yan Song was furious when he saw Zhang Cong.

Because if it weren't for Zhang Cong, he wouldn't have gone to Nanjing.

Once he goes to Nanjing, he doesn't know how long it will take to return to Beijing, and he may never be able to return in his lifetime.

It just so happens that the Hanlin Academy is a cold government office, and the Nanjing Hanlin Academy is even colder than the Beijing Hanlin Academy. After all, the Hanlin of the Beijing Hanlin Academy still has the opportunity to be promoted overnight.

However, most of the Hanlin scholars in Nanjing Hanlin Academy often could not even receive their salaries.

Therefore, Yan Song no longer wants to acknowledge Zhang Cong as his student.

Zhang Cong was not angry, he just bowed and said yes.

"Maogu!"

"Remember me as your teacher in the future!"

Yan Song was now only friendly and friendly to his other student Jiang Ruobi, and spoke to him in private. He hoped that Jiang Ruobi, his more stable student, would remember him and transfer him back to the capital after he became successful in the future because they were from the same hometown.

As for Yang Shen's proposal to return to the capital through a formal ceremony, Yan Song had no intention of doing so.

Because he knew that forcing the emperor to deny his biological father would be a challenge to imperial power and would be very risky.

Yan Song suddenly thought that they might have to discuss the great ceremony next, and maybe it would be a good thing for him to hide in Nanjing temporarily, so his mood improved a lot, and he took the initiative to talk to Zhang Cong again:

"Bingyong, you have an impatient temper and love to show off, so I still have to warn you not to make any political comments in the capital anymore. You should wait quietly for the imperial examination and the selection of officials, especially the upcoming grand ceremony of discussing the main sacrifice and honorific title of His Majesty. Don't get involved!"

"Remember?"

Yan Song also asked Zhang Cong a special question.

Zhang Cong did not answer.

Yan Song had no choice but to look at Jiang Ruobi and said, "Mao Gu, you should persuade him more when the time comes! The same goes for you. Don't get involved in discussing the grand ceremony. If you do, you will be dismissed and exiled at best, or the emperor will be angry and beat you to death at the Meridian Gate!"

Jiang Ruobi bowed and said yes.

Yan Song then boarded the ship and left, sighing, "I'll go to Jiangnan and be an idler for a while!"

(End of this chapter)