White-robed Minister

Chapter 165 0163 [Wang Yirou Impeached in Court]

There were six censors, each corresponding to one of the six ministries of the imperial court.

Xu Lai's current responsibility is to inspect the Ministry of Works. He needs to regularly visit the Ministry of Works and related institutions to check the documents of various departments, verify administrative documents, and see if there are any delays, errors, violations, or other problems.

He was also required to attend various court assemblies and sacrificial ceremonies, and to oversee the words and actions of officials and the rituals of the ceremonies. Even if officials were whispering to each other or dressed improperly during court sessions, Xu Lai could impeach them on the spot.

Of course, there's also the ghostly "rumored report".

After finishing his first day of work, Xu Lai strolled back to Taiping Xingguo Temple from the Censorate in the northeast of the inner city.

During dinner, Pianpian said excitedly, "Today, apart from Uncle Chen who stayed here to look after the valuables, we all went with the brokers to look at houses. We looked at three in total, and one of them was the most satisfactory, although the wing was a bit out of the way."

"Where?" Xu Lai asked.

Pianpian said, "It's on Ansumen Street, next to the City God Temple. It's a small house with two courtyards, a total of 11 rooms, and a small garden. The monthly rent—I bargained with the landlord for a long time, from 22 guan to 20 guan."

Ansu Gate Street is located in the northwest corner of the outer city of Tokyo.

If it's also next to the City God Temple, then it's in the very corner near the city wall.

This place is really remote, but it is still part of the outer city area, at least it doesn't extend outside the city.

Xu Lai observed Pianpian's expression and knew that she must have taken a liking to the little garden and really liked it.

It only exceeded the budget by two strings of cash, so a little more expensive is fine, as long as it makes my wife happy.

It's quite far from the Censorate, taking a taxi every day is too expensive, and walking takes too much time. So I need to buy a car.

No, it's about buying a donkey to commute to get off work.

In fact, horses used for transportation are not much more expensive than donkeys. However, raising horses requires a lot of care and is not as durable as raising donkeys.

Xu Lai said, "I think the place is quite nice, and the rent is reasonable, so let's settle on it."

"Won't Sanlang go and see for himself?" Pianpian asked.

Xu Lai smiled and said, "What you see is the same as what I see."

These words made Pianpian even happier. She really liked the place; apart from the slightly out-of-the-way location, she couldn't find any other faults. The house was also of excellent quality.

Two years ago, a major flood inundated Tokyo. After that house was submerged, the owner renovated it, and it looks brand new.

The next day, Xu Lai asked for a day off and moved from Taiping Xingguo Temple to a back alley on the west side of Ansumen Street.

He also bought a donkey.

"Our bedroom is here, Yu'er lives next door, and that's your study—"

Pianpian excitedly introduced, "This is the garden, isn't it beautiful? My cousin Bu Chao and his family are staying in the outer courtyard, so we'll need to hire another servant."

Xu Lai toured the house from the inside out and felt it was larger than the Yu family mansion in the capital and the house Ouyang Xiu had rented. It was also newer and more beautiful.

Cooks in Tokyo are too expensive; Xu Lai is currently very poor.

After discussing it, everyone agreed that Chen Dequan would continue to work as a doorman and be responsible for cleaning the area around the doorman's house.

Chen Dequan's wife, Li Guiniang, had learned several stir-fry dishes from Xu Lai, and she could also cook herself. Therefore, she became the cook, in charge of the meals for both the inner and outer courtyards.

Bu Chao and Chen Xiaoyi were responsible for cleaning the outer courtyard and also helped with things like boiling water for bathing and moving coal and firewood.

Yu'er is in charge of cleaning the inner courtyard. After Bu Chao gets married, his wife can help share the workload.

As for everyone's clothes, they can ask the neighborhood women to wash them. In and around Kaifeng, many women supplement their income by washing clothes for others.

Books were moved into the study one by one, and Xu Lai personally arranged them on the bookshelves.

This is his first home after getting married, and the more he looks at it, the more he likes it.

However, after factoring in rent, servants' wages, and daily expenses, Xu Lai is now living beyond his means every month, and the wedding gifts he received can only last him about a year.

She directed everyone to tidy up the house, much like a head housekeeper, and she was full of energy and enjoyed it immensely.

Xu Lai called Bu Chao aside: "Read more books in your spare time, and ask me if you don't understand anything. You can also practice martial arts with spears and sticks."

Chen Xiaoyi wants to learn, and you can teach him. Understand? You can't live like this forever.

"I understand," Bu Chao nodded.

He knew he had to be capable so that his cousin could help him in the future; otherwise, he would be stuck as a follower and servant for the rest of his life.

It took everyone most of the day to clean and tidy the house, and in the evening Xu Lai personally cooked a meal to reward everyone. Regardless of master or servant, everyone sat together to eat and drink to celebrate moving.

On the third day after moving into the new house, Xu Lai got up before dawn to prepare.

After grabbing a quick bite to fill his stomach, he rode his donkey out. He entered the inner city through Anyuan Gate, then the imperial city through Donghua Gate, making sure to clock in and report before seven o'clock.

There is a morning assembly today.

In fact, there was a court assembly every day, called "Daily Court Assembly". However, the officials who participated in the Daily Court Assembly were of a very high rank, namely a group of ministers at the core of power, who held small meetings with the emperor every day to discuss government affairs.

Officials of Xu Lai's rank attend a small court assembly every five days.

He rode his donkey into Donghua Gate, and not far ahead was Zuochengtian Gate. Xu Lai dismounted his donkey outside Zuochengtian Gate and continued walking forward, with someone specifically assigned to look after the donkey.

Most officials disembark or step down here.

High-ranking officials and important ministers received special treatment; they could continue in their own private cars until they reached the Hengmen Gate before stopping.

"Do it!"

Xu Lai had just dismounted when he heard someone shouting. He turned around and saw Su Song.

Upon meeting an old friend, Xu Lai was naturally delighted and greeted him with a smile and a bow, saying, "Greetings, Brother Zirong."

The two continued walking inside, chatting and laughing. Su Song said in a low voice, "I'm being transferred to a post outside the capital, as the Transport Commissioner of Huainan."

Holy crap, that's awesome?

Xu Lai quickly said, "Congratulations, congratulations."

"Congratulations! Xingzhi has also been promoted, hasn't he?" Su Song said with a smile. "Speaking of which, I was able to be transferred to a post so quickly thanks to Xingzhi. The 'Mathematics' and 'Geometry' books that we compiled together have now been promoted in the Three Departments, and most of the officials in the Three Departments have already learned them. In addition, the seven-bead abacus that Xingzhi improved has also been adopted by the Three Departments."

Su Song's achievements certainly extend beyond this, but his promotion was indeed related to Xu Lai.

Historically, Su Song would have been promoted another six months later. Besides performing his duties well, he also preserved the dignity of the Song Dynasty.

Su Song was responsible for escorting the Liao envoys when a fire suddenly broke out at the post station on the way. Su Song remained calm and composed, and his skillful command prevented chaos from breaking out. The Liao envoys were unharmed, and Zhao Xu was so pleased that he promoted him.

So what's the situation now?

Even before becoming emperor, Zhao Xu had already studied the books "Mathematics" and "Geometry." Su Song, Shen Kuo, and Lin Yi, who participated in compiling these books, were all promoted by Zhao Xu under various pretexts.

Shen Kuo was transferred to a post outside the capital two months ago, serving as the magistrate of Chi County as a selected candidate, to enrich his experience in governing and accumulate knowledge of governing the people.

As they walked, Xu Lai encountered several acquaintances.

Gong Dingchen, who was originally supposed to be transferred to the position of Prefect of Jiangning, was instead rewarded for Xu Lai's achievements and returned to the capital to serve as the Commissioner of the Imperial Pastures. This was a very prestigious position!

There's also Shen Qi, who is currently the Vice Prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Wang Yirou also benefited from Xu Lai's achievements and was transferred back to the capital to serve as the Salt and Iron Judge.

Many officials checked in and entered the palace at 7 o'clock sharp to attend the court assembly.

The chief ministers, led by Han Qi, gave a general report on the important events of the past few days. Following them, the Privy Council, the Three Departments, and other government offices reported on the major events they had encountered.

Six censors, including Xu Lai, stood alone in a designated area to scrutinize the words and actions of the officials.

Suddenly, Zhang Tangying, the Imperial Censor, stepped forward: "I wish to impeach Wang Yirou, the Salt and Iron Commissioner. When he was serving as the Transport Commissioner of the Jingdong Circuit, he wrote an unfounded and malicious review of Xu Lai, the Prefectural Judge of Yingtian Prefecture. This review distorts the truth and even provokes popular slander, calling Prefect Xu Lai 'Xu the Tiger.'"

Although Sima Guang and Wang Yirou had a decent relationship at this time, it was far from the point where they would later flatter each other.

He already had a good impression of Xu Lai and, out of public interest, disliked this behavior. Therefore, Sima Guang stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, if it is verified that someone is seeking personal revenge or making unwarranted malicious comments, they must be severely punished to set the record straight."

Wang Yirou stepped forward with a stiff upper lip: "Your Majesty, I did not seek personal revenge or make unwarranted accusations. At that time, Xu Lai did indeed arbitrarily conscript laborers, causing widespread resentment among the people of Yingtian Prefecture, who secretly called him 'Xu the Tiger'."

Judge Yang Zuo stepped forward and said, "When I examined Xu Lai, he produced all the official documents to prove his innocence, and the documents bore the signatures of Gong Dingchen, the prefect of Yingtian at the time, and Zhuang Gongyue, the vice prefect. Wang Yirou's malicious comments are indeed a distortion of the truth."

Wang Yirou was shocked to hear this.

Such matters are always murky and impossible to investigate thoroughly.

What's with Xu Lai producing official documents to prove his innocence? And what's with the signatures of Gong Dingchen and Zhuang Gongyue?

Yang Zuo said, "Those official documents are still kept in the Court of Judicial Review. His Majesty can send someone to inspect them at any time. Xu Lai's two zero-examinations when he served as the judge of Yingtian Prefecture were both outstanding achievements. The Court of Judicial Review gave him an upper-middle rating during the review."

All the officials were astonished and turned to look at Xu Lai.

When officials conduct evaluations, they almost never give a "top-notch" rating, so "above average" is already the limit.

Without exception, every official who receives an "upper-middle" rating will grow into a renowned minister!

Wang Yirou actually gave a bad review to an official whose performance was "above average," which is really too much and a taboo in officialdom.

Even those who dislike Xu Lai had to stand up and support him at this moment.

Zhao Xu asked, "What does Chancellor Han think?"

Wang Yirou was a die-hard fan of Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu, so Zhao Xu deliberately asked Han Qi to suggest how to punish her.

Even the fact that Zhang Tangying brought up this matter today could be attributed to Zhao Xu's personal arrangement, as Zhang Tangying is Zhao Xu's confidant. This young emperor has promoted a large number of officials in just two or three months.

Han Qi had no choice but to step forward and replied, "If the facts are found to be true, I shall be demoted by one rank, exiled to a remote post, and have my salary reduced by several months."

Sima Guang retorted directly: "If officials who criticize and slander mediocre officials are only demoted by one rank, how can this win the hearts of the people?"

Wang Yirou's vision went black.

He felt he had a good personal relationship with Sima Guang, so why was he being so relentlessly attacked?

There's no way around it; before he completely turned to the dark side, A-Guang was just that selfless.

Han Qi continued to concede: "Two ranks must be demoted."

Sima Guang was then satisfied and returned to his position.

Ouyang Xiu remained silent throughout.

Zhao Xu was also satisfied and smiled, saying, "Order the three judicial departments (Ministry of Justice, Court of Judicial Review, and Court of Criminal Justice) to investigate this matter. If it is found to be true, then proceed as suggested by Chancellor Han."

Wang Yirou was in a daze.

He simply didn't like Xu Lai and threw a tantrum by giving him a couple of harsh comments. How did things escalate to this point?

He is already old, and having only returned to the capital for six months, he is now being demoted and sent to a remote area.

How can it withstand such turmoil?

Indignation and feeling deeply humiliated, Wang Yirou threw a tantrum and resigned from his post, saying, "Your Majesty, I am old and frail, and truly incapable of traveling far. I request to retire and return to my hometown!"

Even without the Xu Lai incident, Zhao Xu already disliked Wang Yirou intensely, and immediately said, "Resignation granted."

Sima Guang stepped forward again: "Your Majesty, Wang Yirou is a veteran official who served three emperors. Although he has made mistakes, he has also made merits. His resignation should not be granted hastily. I beg Your Majesty to rescind this order."

Sima Guang's meaning was simple: one should not rashly dismiss a veteran official who had served three dynasties; at the very least, one should have to ask him three times and he should decline three times.

Zhao Xu glanced at Sima Guang and had no choice but to retract his previous statement, changing his words to, "Resignation is not permitted."

Wang Yirou remained silent. He had lost too much face today and planned to write a memorial to resign as soon as he got home. He would have to resign at least twice to save face!

Xu Lai remained completely unperturbed, his expression indifferent and silent throughout. It was as if the situation had nothing to do with him.

The political climate in the court is not in the right direction.

The emperor continues to suppress the prime minister!

The officials became increasingly convinced of the matter and began to stir with anticipation, planning to return and discuss how to attack the prime minister. This would both settle scores with the rebellion of Puyi and curry favor with the emperor.

The ministers remained silent, already trying their best to back down in the face of Zhao Xu's relentless pressure.

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