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

Chapter 716 Coup and Counter-Coup
A thousand people? A thousand is an underestimate.

A rough estimate suggests there are about 1,700 people here, all of whom have been waiting in the capital for years to become candidates. They are all at least graduates of the imperial examination system. Among them are newly admitted candidates, those who have had their academic records restored after being exonerated for cheating, and those who were admitted through special imperial examinations.

There were tons of successful candidates in the imperial examinations inside; the scene was truly spectacular.

The court promised to place them in corresponding official positions. At that time, the aristocratic families gave up so many positions, but the problem was that most of those who gave up their positions did not take them down. They were stuck there, unable to return to their hometowns and could only stay in the capital.

The longest-staying official has been five years. According to the laws of the Great Wei Dynasty, even a probationary official does not receive a salary when he is not in office. The cost of living in the capital is not low. Many people have made a living by various means, but they do not live a decent life. However, because they are probationary officials, they cannot work as long-term laborers or do odd jobs. Firstly, the court does not allow it, and secondly, they cannot take off their long gowns.

Some of these men chose to marry daughters of merchants in the capital to alleviate their immediate financial difficulties, but the problem was that there weren't enough eligible daughters to marry into the entire capital. Besides, their chances of becoming officials were slim, and those merchants were all shrewd as monkeys. At first, they thought it was prestigious to have a son-in-law with an official position, but as time went on, none of them wanted to bring a burden home.

So... how do they survive?
Selling copied paintings, writing letters for others, drafting legal documents...

Please, ten years of hard study, some even twenty years, and in the end, all they get is to sell copied paintings at the market and have people copy books for them. Who can stand that?

As for how they gathered together, it was thanks to Di San'er's newspaper and his tireless efforts over the past few days. He finally managed to bring these scattered soldiers together. Once people are in a group, they have an indomitable courage. Normally, they wouldn't dare to come here to cause trouble, but today they came here to force the emperor to abdicate.

"The court promised them back then, but it hasn't done so. Your Majesty, I'm at a loss. Everyone says that the laws of our ancestors cannot be changed, but can they be changed now?"

“Zhang Xiang’s words are not like that. Which scholar in the world hasn’t lived like this? How can they cry and wail over such a small obstacle? Now they actually dare to force the emperor to abdicate. This shows that they do not respect His Majesty or the law of the country.”

Old Zhang stepped forward, his face contorted with rage, and said, "Fine, Your Excellency. Fine, I'll leave this to you. You lead the Imperial Guards up there and kill them all, then throw their heads into the moat. I, Zhang Zhongchun, won't say another word. I'm the one who's going to deal with them, it's me!"

The old man who had been speaking immediately fell silent.

Kill scholars? Kill scholars with official titles? Does this old man not want to live anymore? No one in the world has the guts to do such a thing, not even the emperor.

"Just disperse them, Zhang Xiang, is that so difficult?"

"Very well, you make it sound so simple. If they were snakes, insects, rats, or ants, you could easily drive them away. But who are they? They are the pillars of the Great Wei, the candidates for official positions. What do they want? High positions and generous salaries? Don't they want a promise to be kept? How many years have passed since the court promised them? Have they been fulfilled? Now they come to the palace gates hungry, and you, Your Excellency, simply dismiss them with a word? Simple indeed. But you've probably forgotten all about the 'money spent to buy a horse's bones' incident. If you dismiss them today, they'll all go to the Tang Dynasty tomorrow! You're digging up the ancestral graves of our Great Wei, severing the roots of our Great Wei!"

These words terrified the old man, who immediately lifted his long robe, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed repeatedly to Emperor Jingtai: "Your Majesty, I did not mean that... Please, Your Majesty, investigate thoroughly."

"Don't try to play the victim with His Majesty. His Majesty agreed to this in the first place, so it's only right that His Majesty steps in to appease him now."

Emperor Jingtai shrank back: "I didn't agree to that..."

"If you ask me to do this now, it's easy. Either I keep my promise and arrange for them to enter officialdom, at least giving them a job. Or, as the Grand Secretary said, I can have the Grand Secretary lead the Imperial Guards out and kill them, one by one, until their heads are rolling and blood is flowing."

"Prime Minister Zhang! This is the imperial court! How dare you utter such vulgar words?!" The old man stamped his feet and shouted at Zhang, "Are you trying to force me to my death?!"

"Isn't there another way? Give them a bite to eat. The people outside are all proper scholars, scholars who passed the imperial examinations, and legitimate candidates for official positions. They were originally invited to the capital to wait for their positions, and positions were made available for them in the first place. Now that they are asking for what is rightfully theirs, we should just give it to them."

For a moment, the court was silent. It was true that many positions had been vacated, but there was a lot of maneuvering involved. In the end, the scions of their aristocratic families filled the positions one after another. Most of them were distant relatives. Their backgrounds were fine, but they squeezed out the positions of those outsiders.

Who would have thought that those useless scholars would actually dare to come and force the emperor to abdicate?

"Minister Zhang, is there no other way?" Emperor Jingtai asked in a deep voice, then looked at his ministers with a very unpleasant expression: "Is this how you try to fool my decrees?"

Everyone below the court knelt on the ground in unison: "Please forgive us, Your Majesty..."

After a brief silence, Old Zhang raised his head and said, "If none of you ministers have a solution, I think it would be better to have the Grand Secretary lead his men out and kill them all."

“Minister Zhang, you mustn’t be fooling around.”

"Your subject acknowledges his guilt." Old Zhang cupped his hands and stood back, his posture conveying the message, "I don't care anymore, do whatever you want."

This made the people below even more panicked. The coup from outside was very serious. After this, they might all flock to Li Tang, which would cause a major disaster. When the two countries are at an impasse, winning hearts and minds is the best strategy. Wouldn't their move be handing Li Tang a handle to use against them?

If Li Tang were to say that the Great Wei hadn't even upheld its principles and wasn't worthy of being the legitimate successor of China, then this side wouldn't be able to refute it. Good heavens, that's not just a matter of affecting one's career.

Realizing the situation was tricky, the group looked at each other in bewilderment. Just then, a brilliant idea suddenly appeared among the group of men.

He stepped forward with a broad smile and full of confidence: "Your Majesty, why not listen to my advice?" "Speak."

"In my opinion, this matter is difficult for us to resolve, but there is one person who is exceptionally fortunate. He is the leader of the scholars in the countryside and enjoys extremely high prestige among them."

All eyes in the court immediately turned to Old Zhang, who was taken aback: "It wasn't me, I'm not worthy of the title of leader of the scholars."

Emperor Jingtai said unhappily, "Stop beating around the bush, just tell me."

"That is Xia Lin, also known as the commoner prime minister. However, he is currently a criminal and his actions are somewhat improper."

The Grand Secretary who had spoken earlier quickly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, at this point, let's not worry about etiquette. Let's help him solve this urgent problem first."

Emperor Jingtai hesitated for a moment, then said with great difficulty, "But he has already been dismissed and investigated by me, and is now just a commoner. This... is not appropriate."

"Your Majesty, this is a matter of expediency!"

Emperor Jingtai sighed, saying aloud, "Very well, since you insist. Summon Xia Daosheng to the palace." But inwardly, he was laughing: "Damn it, you've got a way to hell but you refuse to take the path to heaven!"

Half an hour later, Xia Daosheng arrived in the main hall under the guidance of the guards. He cupped his hands and greeted everyone: "Oh, it's been a long time."

However, no one paid any attention to him at this moment; they all lowered their heads and pretended not to see him.

"Xia Daosheng," Emperor Jingtai said loudly, "why do you not bow to me?"

"This humble subject, Xia Daosheng, greets Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty!" Xia Lin gave a perfunctory bow and then asked, "This humble subject has been at home making a baby these past few days. I wonder what Your Majesty's purpose is in summoning me to the palace?"

His words drew sidelong glances and laughter from those in the Golden Hall. Emperor Jingtai almost burst out laughing as well, but he managed to calm down after reflecting on all the sad things in his life.

"Have you seen what's happening outside? What's your plan?"

“Easy,” Xia Lin said casually. “Your Majesty, pick an old man who doesn’t look like he’ll live much longer, and have the Imperial Guards kill him without hesitation. Since that won’t solve the problem, why not just kill the person who raised it?”

At this moment, everyone's attention immediately focused on the Grand Secretary, who instantly looked twenty years older, his face contorted in shock...

He can't carry such a big pot on his back...

"Xia Daosheng, I want you to speak properly!"

“Speak properly, um…” Xia Lin walked around the main hall with his hands behind his back: “Actually, it’s not that there’s no way, it just depends on what Your Majesty and the other gentlemen think.”

"Stop talking nonsense and speak!"

Xia Lin cleared his throat: "From this day forward, regardless of whether one is a scholar, a provincial graduate, or a metropolitan graduate, all will be sent to the countryside to work for three years. The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites will evaluate them. If they pass, they will be promoted to official positions; if they fail, they will remain in the countryside. After arriving in the countryside, they will be required to assist the local magistrate in managing matters related to people's livelihoods, such as agriculture, education, water management, city construction, poverty alleviation, and healthcare. They will be evaluated every three years, and those who are excellent will be selected as the best. What do you all think?"

"But if that's the case, aren't those more than a thousand people outside still unaccounted for?" Emperor Jingtai asked in surprise.

Xia Lin chuckled: "Assign them to supervise and assess! From Lingnan to the capital region, from Xuzhou to Liuzhou, what a vast area! How many people will be needed? I'm afraid those few people won't be enough! Just ask if they've been given official positions."

Upon hearing this, the officials in the court vaguely felt that something was amiss, but upon careful consideration, they realized it was a good idea. However, Xia Daosheng had not yet explained the details, so at this moment, one of the more senior officials stepped forward to inquire.

"So, Daosheng, does everyone have to go to the countryside?"

"That depends on how you define it. As for the sons of noble families, we'll decide based on that. Anyway, they won't be of any help if they really go down there."

"Regarding the assessment."

"Well, you can't have it all. You can't expect someone to not want to work in the fields and not be assessed. There's no such thing as a free lunch. People don't worry about scarcity, they worry about inequality. Anyway, I'm just a nobody, a commoner. The final decision rests with His Majesty and the other officials."

(End of this chapter)