White-robed Minister

Chapter 168 0166 [A Chaotic Court Amidst Demonic Chaos]

Writing is different from oral debate.

If one side writes a well-structured article, the other side's attempts at sophistry will be easily exposed.

When Xu Lai returned to work at the Censorate, his colleagues were all scratching their heads in frustration. They wanted to write articles to refute Xu Lai's writings, but found themselves at a loss for words.

Because the censors only had a few angles to explain "rumored events reported to the emperor," all of which were blocked by Xu Lai's article.

If you force them to write articles to argue, they can certainly write them, but if they write poorly, they'll only humiliate themselves.

Wu Shen repeatedly looked at the official gazette, saying that his colleagues had said, "Reporting matters based on hearsay is not for the censors' personal gain, but to increase the emperor's intelligence. If everything must be verified before speaking, what is the point of having censors? The danger of blocking channels of communication is greater than the danger of false accusations!"

"right!"

Ma Mo chimed in, "Xu makes it sound so easy: rewards for verified information and punishments for false information. If this continues, officials will fear punishment and dare not speak out."

The other three were delighted to hear this, finally finding an angle to refute it.

They discussed their wording and planned to bring it to the court assembly for debate, to argue with Xu Lai face-to-face.

You, Xu Sanlang, are a top scholar, and we acknowledge your excellent writing. But we won't engage in a war of words with you; a whole group of us will gang up on you and argue until you're completely confused!

The morning assembly has begun again.

Before dawn, Yu'er brought him toiletries, and Pianpian helped him fix his hair, hat, and clothes.

Pianpian straightened Xu Lai's clothes and saw that he was still yawning. She couldn't help but blame herself and said, "It's my fault for renting a house too far away. Sanlang has been sleeping less."

Xu Lai laughed and said, "It's not like this every day, and it only happens a few times a month."

Actually, clocking in for court is the same as clocking in for work; it has to be done before 7 a.m.

Going to work was simpler; you just had to report on time. But attending court was a complicated process, with long delays, and you had to enter the imperial city well in advance.

Pianpian asked, "What do you want to eat tonight?"

"Anything is fine, whatever you like," Xu said.

Yu'er suggested, "Let's have braised pork belly, it's been so long since I've had it. And steamed egg custard, the one my husband improved is especially delicious."

Steamed egg custard is a dish that has existed since ancient times.

But Xu Lai added meat sauce and thickened the sauce, greatly improving the flavor, and now everyone in the family loves to eat it.

Especially the damselfly, every time she eats steamed egg custard with rice, she eats until her belly is round and full.

Pianpian and Yu'er circled around Xu Lai to make sure there were no flaws in his attire before escorting him to the gate of the house.

Bu Chao was already there, leading his donkey and waiting.

Bu Chao would only escort Xu Lai to court when it was still early, to avoid him encountering bad people in a daze.

Xu Lai rode a donkey, and Bu Chao trotted along; they soon arrived outside the Donghua Gate.

Bu Chao bid farewell and went home. Xu Lai rode a donkey into the imperial city and handed the donkey over to the imperial city servants to take care of it outside the Zuochengtian Gate.

The daily court assembly was called the "Daily Court Assembly," and only those of the rank of prime minister and privy councilor could attend.

The court assembly held every five days was called the "Six Visits" and only court officials could attend—even though the censors were not of high enough rank, they were still allowed to attend.

The bi-weekly court assembly, called the "Two Sessions," was attended by most officials in the capital.

Today is the "Two Sessions" morning meeting, and there are a particularly large number of participants!

Xu Lai was queuing to enter when a stranger suddenly approached.

"Zeng Gong, Compiler of the Jixian Academy, pays his respects to Supervisor Xu," the visitor said, bowing.

Zeng Gong?

Xu Lai quickly returned the greeting: "I have long admired the name of Zeng Jixian!"

After passing the imperial examination, Zeng Gong served as a judicial officer for only one year before being recommended by Ouyang Xiu to join the Imperial Academy.

Over the years, he has only been responsible for one thing: organizing and editing books from various dynasties.

The books edited and proofread by Zeng Gong include: *Strategies of the Warring States*, *Garden of Stories*, *Book of Liang*, *Book of Chen*, *Tang Decrees*, and *Collected Works of Li Bai*.

This position is extremely prestigious; a few years in it can be equivalent to more than ten years of hard work for an ordinary scholar!

Ouyang Xiu was Zeng Gong's mentor, so Zeng Gong held him in high esteem. Unfortunately, this time he could only watch helplessly. Not holding a position of authority, Zeng Gong, as a compiler at the Jixian Academy, had no right to engage in verbal sparring with the censor.

He wasn't even qualified to attend the "Six Visits" court assembly.

Today, taking advantage of the "Two Participants" morning meeting, Zeng Gong finally had the opportunity to meet with Xu Lai and quickly came over to express his gratitude.

Zeng Gong had just left when another stranger arrived.

One after another, they were all Ouyang Xiu's students. Like Zeng Gong, they had no chance to speak up for Ouyang Xiu and had already regarded Xu Lai as their mouthpiece.

Xu Lai was speechless; the censors were watching from the sidelines.

These officials who came to thank him were just causing him trouble. If this continued, he would become a lackey of Ouyang Xiu.

Officials from the capital entered one after another, and lined up again in front of the palace square.

Because there were so many people, Xu Lai, as an imperial censor, was allowed to enter the palace. Lower-ranking officials like Zeng Gong could only stand in the outer square, finding it difficult even to catch a glimpse of the emperor.

Around 8 a.m., Emperor Zhao Xu ascended the throne.

Ministers would present symbolic reports, such as which minister should be responsible for receiving envoys from the Western Xia who came to congratulate Zhao Xu on his ascension to the throne.

After several matters were presented, before Zhao Xu could speak, the Censor Ma Mo stepped forward.

Ma Mo said, "Your Majesty, I read yesterday's official gazette and believe that Xu Lai's words are extremely inappropriate—"

Zhao Xu didn't look directly at Ma Mo, but instead looked at Zhang Fangping in the group.

Ma Mo was able to become a censor because Zhang Fangping recommended him the previous year. At that time, Emperor Yingzong of Song had just finished dealing with the Puyi Incident and demoted a group of officials who had spoken out against the emperor. Ma Mo repeatedly requested that Lü Hui and others be recalled.

Zhao Xu was very displeased; he had high hopes for Zhang Fangping. However, the guy Zhang Fangping recommended was completely clueless about the situation.

Ma Mo continued his performance: "May I ask Inspector Xu, if officials are punished for even unsubstantiated rumors, who will dare to speak out in the future? If this continues, the Emperor's channels for communication will inevitably be blocked!"

Xu Lai stepped forward and questioned, "Are officials allowed to say whatever they want? Are all the restrictions the court places on them no longer necessary?"

"We should abide by it, but oversights are inevitable," Mamer said.

Xu Lai then asked, "Since we are to abide by the rules, then we should be punished if we make mistakes. Otherwise, what is the point of having laws and decrees?"

This is such a simple principle that even a three-year-old child can understand it. I really have no idea what Inspector Ma is talking about.

Another censor, Lü Jing, stepped forward and said, "The wording of Inspector Xu's memorial is a bit too much."

Before Xu Lai could refute, several of his colleagues stood up and started arguing.

With everyone chiming in, the imperial court became like a bustling marketplace.

Xu Lai stopped talking, too lazy to argue with anyone.

Because as the argument escalated, the other party began to accuse him of currying favor with the prime minister, so whatever he said would be wrong. It was better to remain silent and let these clowns jump around.

The emperor's face grew increasingly dark.

Qian, the Imperial Censor, also stepped forward. He was later praised by Su Shi as the "Iron-Hearted Censor." He emphasized rules and regulations, and was even more ruthless in punishing corrupt officials than Xu Lai.

Qian thought those censors were pretty stupid, just like shrewish women arguing.

He was different; he was certain that Xu had been cruel to the people when he served as the magistrate: "May I ask Inspector Xu, when you were the magistrate of Yingtian Prefecture, how much money and grain did you use to repair the southern city wall of the prefecture, and how many materials and laborers did you conscript?"

Upon hearing this, Gong Dingchen flew into a rage. Without waiting for Xu Lai's reply, he stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I was the prefect of Yingtian at the time, and the matter of repairing the city walls was signed off by me. If anyone suspects forgery, Your Majesty may send a minister to Yingtian Prefecture to investigate thoroughly!"

Shen Qi also stepped forward and said, "I was also involved in this matter. I request Your Majesty to send someone to investigate thoroughly so as to clear our names."

Xu Lai then said, "Your Majesty, please investigate this matter thoroughly!"

Qian Yi confidently replied, "Your Majesty, please investigate this matter thoroughly!"

Zhang Tangying and Sun Changling were also Palace Attendant Censors, and the two of them remained silent throughout.

After thinking for a moment, Zhao Xu sent Sun Changling to Yingtian Prefecture to investigate.

Then, Zhao Xu said, "Issue the imperial edict!"

Xuanma (a type of official title) could not only lead to a high-ranking position, but also to demotion.

The process of issuing demotion edicts was rigorous: the emperor would approve, a Hanlin Academician/Secretary of the Imperial Secretariat would draft the edict, the Secretariat would review it, and then it would be publicly read aloud in the court. Censors could raise objections to the demotion edicts.

Xu Lai and the others returned to their respective ranks and waited to hear the proclamation.

Peng Siyong, the Imperial Censor, was demoted to Prefect of Huangzhou.

Jiang Zhiqi, the supervising censor, was demoted to Daozhou to collect wine taxes.

Censor Ma Mo was demoted to Vice Prefect of Huai Prefecture.

Censors Liu Ku, Wu Shen, and Lü Jing were each fined twenty catties of copper.

The officials looked at each other, and surprisingly no one stood up to object. Those who wanted to object had to avoid suspicion.

All of those punished participated in framing Ouyang Xiu.

Xue Liangru and Liu Jin, who were the first to spread rumors, were not punished at all because the censors took the blame.

Seeing that no one objected to the demotion edict, Zhao Xu then ordered the reading of the appointment edict: Wang Tao would replace Peng Siyong as the Vice Censor-in-Chief, becoming the head of the Censorate.

No one objected, because Wang Tao was the emperor's teacher and had the qualifications to hold the position.

After reading the imperial edict, Zhao Xu ordered the court session to end.

Xu Lai returned to the Zuochengtian Gate and waited for the palace servants to bring him a donkey. He then rode the donkey to the Censorate to go to work.

Soon, the five colleagues returned, all glaring angrily at Xu Lai.

Of these five colleagues, one was demoted to a sub-prefect, another was demoted to collect wine tax, and the other three were fined twenty catties of copper.

Jiang Zhiqi harbored the most resentment towards Xu Lai, but he also showed the most restraint in his actions.

He never expected to be stripped of his job and sent out to collect liquor taxes.

That evening, upon returning home, Jiang Zhiqi wrote a memorial to the emperor, begging for mercy and pleading for his life. He deeply realized his mistake and vowed never to believe those rumors again. He also had an elderly, sick mother at home, and their financial situation was not good.

In short, he wanted to portray himself as as pitiful as possible, and he also wanted to distance himself from the censors. After leaving the capital to take up his post and the impact of this incident had subsided, he would then send his memorial to the emperor.

Jiang Zhiqi planned to lie low and wait for the emperor to favor him the most. He would then fawn over that person. Later, he got close to Wang Anshi and worked very hard to promote the new laws in the provinces.

If Jiang Zhiqi were given a chance, he would definitely make Xu Lai suffer.

But if Xu Lai rises to prominence, he wouldn't mind being Xu Lai's dog, and he would be the most obedient and capable dog.

This is a pure and simple official-obsessed person.

In contrast, Ma Mo, who was demoted to the rank of Tongpan, had a much tougher temper.

That evening, Ma Mo drank with friends and, in his drunken state, wrote a poem: "Having barely changed into my court robes in less than ten days, I'm already a sycophant at the gates of Europe. How laughable is Han Yu, the Minister of Personnel of yesteryear! How can slanderous writings compare to the ever-new flattering ones?"

If this poem were to circulate, Xu Lai would never be able to shake off his identity as a lackey of Ouyang Xiu.

Wang Tao, who had just been promoted to Vice Censor-in-Chief, was already pondering how to impeach the prime minister.

We can't continue to wrong Ouyang Xiu.

There's no need to mess with the nice guy Zhao Gai.

Then let's target Han Qi and Zeng Gongliang!

Among Zhao Xu's previous teachers, Wang Tao was the most mature and prudent, often using the words of sages to restrain the prince. He was a model of morality.

However, he was able to become Zhao Xu's teacher because Han Qi recommended him.

Now that he's a newly appointed official, barely settled in, he's already planning to impeach Han Qi. That's blatant ingratitude.

This is not the first time.

Wang Tao had a friend named Jiang Yu, who had once helped him in his time of need. However, after Wang Tao became successful, he became indifferent and ruthless towards Jiang Yu, even denying that the other party had ever helped him.

At night, Wang Tao stared blankly at the oil lamp, pondering how to write an impeachment memorial.

He didn't want to be branded as ungrateful.

Han Qi and Zeng Gongliang must be portrayed as sufficiently wicked—emphasize that they are even more arrogant than Huo Guang. This would be detrimental to the country and to Han Qi himself in the long run. By impeaching his benefactor while bearing the infamy, he is acting for the sake of both the country and Han Qi.

How should we impeach Han Qi, or should we consider Han Qi's best interests?

If Han Qi continues down this path, his entire clan will inevitably face extermination. I, Wang Tao, could no longer bear to watch, so I reluctantly decided to force Han Qi to step down as soon as possible, thus preventing his entire family from suffering a great calamity.

perfect!

Wang Tao is not yet fifty years old this year, and he has been the emperor's teacher. If he removes the prime ministers, he will have a greater chance of becoming prime minister.

He knew Zhao Xu's temperament all too well, and knew that the emperor was extremely dissatisfied with the prime ministers and was eager to replace them to implement reforms.

Whatever the emperor liked, Wang Tao could provide it to him.

Wang Tao suddenly remembered Xu Lai again.

He knew that Zhao Xu had greatly admired Xu Lai's writings and mathematical works even when Zhao Xu was still a prince.

Therefore, Wang Tao planned to befriend Xu Lai and find an opportunity to recommend him for a promotion. By doing so, he could both extend goodwill to Xu Lai and curry favor with the emperor.

However, recommending Xu Lai would offend many censors, so Wang Tao began to think about how to win over the censors under his command.

When Zeng Gong got home from get off work, his usual gloom vanished, and his face was full of smiles.

Zeng Zhao, a newly appointed scholar who was staying at his house, asked curiously, "Why is my elder brother so happy today?"

Zeng Gong laughed and said, "Those petty scoundrels who slandered Minister Ouyang have all been punished by the Emperor. How can I not be happy?"

"It is indeed a joyous occasion," Zeng Zhao said.

Zeng Gong then produced an article copied from the official gazette: "This is the memorial submitted by the censor Xu Lai; it should silence those officials who dared to speak out. Perhaps the Emperor also read this powerful article, which is why he dealt with those officials so quickly!"

Zeng Zhao took it and read it carefully, then excitedly asked, "Brother, may I copy it down and share it with my classmates?"

"Of course," Zeng Gong said.

Zeng Zhaoli immediately copied the article, intending to share it with the newly appointed Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) the next day.

This year's successful candidates in the imperial examinations, those in the first and second classes, have already been appointed to official positions.

The treatment given to those who passed the imperial examinations was extremely poor. Xu Anshi, despite being the top scholar, could only serve as an inspector in Danzhou. He didn't even manage to secure a high-ranking official position in the capital.

As for the third, fourth, and fifth-class graduates, they remained in the capital to await selection, and most of them lived in public housing.

Those public houses were built with the silver from the previous year's Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination).

Although Xu Lai did not pay any thanks money initially, the current batch of successful candidates in the imperial examinations highly praised him. They attributed all the benefits of being able to live in low-rent housing to Xu Lai, who was the first to propose the initiative.

The next day, early in the morning, Zeng Zhao took the article and went out.

The public housing was built rather scattered. The place Zeng Zhao first arrived at housed only a dozen or so newly appointed scholars. Before even entering, he shouted, "Open the door quickly! Today we have some excellent essays to share!"

Huang Tingjian yawned as he came out to open the door, then turned to Wang Pang and said, "Yuanze, Zeng Zikai has arrived."

"oh."

Wang Pang is brushing his teeth under the eaves.

It's all in chaos, everything's in complete chaos.

Because Xu Lai created those low-rent housing units, Huang Tingjian and Wang Pang ended up living together in a daze.

Their fathers were born in the same year, as were the two of them, and they even happened to live in the same dormitory. Such a coincidence quickly led them to become close friends.

Wang Pang then introduced Zeng Zhao, and the three of them, all from Jiangxi, became friends.

One is volatile, one reveres tradition, and one is pragmatic. I wonder what it will be like when their differing reform philosophies turn them into bitter enemies.

"What's all this commotion about?" Another scholar came into the courtyard.

However, it was Fu Ji, a disciple of Huang Tingjian's father-in-law, who later followed Zeng Bu and became the teacher of Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji.

The newly appointed scholars, who would later belong to different camps, were now gathered around Xu Lai's article, which gave them a fresh perspective on "the theory of rights and responsibilities."

"Where power lies, responsibility follows. This saying is thought-provoking!"

"What are you looking at?"

"Brother Shengtu, come quickly! We are admiring your magnificent writing."

"6

'

>