White-robed Minister

Chapter 169 0167 [Xu Sanlang Advances Another Rank]

These newly appointed scholars admired Xu Lai because, even before being appointed to a post outside the capital, he suggested abolishing the thanksgiving silver, which led the emperor to grant him funds for a period of time, and he was also secretly permitted to resume the vegetable offering ceremony.

This series of bizarre actions spread widely at the time, leaving many officials and scholars stunned.

Then Xu Lai repeatedly stirred up trouble in Yingtian Prefecture, and he succeeded in making things work. Now he's even speaking up for Ouyang Xiu, getting embroiled in fierce court struggles, which really shocked the newly appointed Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations).

Those scholars who had no background or connections especially regarded Xu Lai as a role model.

Xu Lai, who serves as a role model, went home and ate braised pork and steamed egg custard with his wife. The next day, he went to work as if nothing had happened.

At work, no one wanted to talk to him.

Even the clerks didn't dare to have too much contact with Xu Lai, only communicating with him briefly in a businesslike manner.

Wang Tao, who had just been appointed Vice Censor-in-Chief, did not immediately submit a memorial of impeachment. Instead, he summoned Liu Xiang to familiarize himself with the work. Wang Tao asked, "What transgressions has the Secretariat made?"

He didn't ask the prime ministers, but only the Secretariat, but he had already clearly expressed his thoughts.

Liu Xiang, who was fined twenty catties of copper this time, was overjoyed to hear this, knowing that the new leader still wanted to overthrow the prime minister.

Liu Xiang replied, "During the late emperor's funeral, Ouyang Xiu wore a purple robe under his mourning clothes."

"I know that; you've already impeached them," Wang Tao instructed. "Ouyang Xiu and Zhao Gai can be ignored for now. Understand?"

"Understood." Liu Xiang already understood.

The Censorate originally had six censors, but two of them have been demoted and sent to other posts. The court has not filled the quota, leaving only four people, including Xu Lai.

Liu Xiang summoned Wu Shen and Lü Jing: "If Vice Minister Wang wants to impeach the prime minister, let's examine the rites and see what other violations the prime minister has committed."

The three then went through various old files.

Xu Lai found his stay at the Censorate rather stifling, so he decided to go to the Ministry of Works to check official documents. He wasn't there to find errors, but rather to take the opportunity to familiarize himself with the Ministry of Works' office procedures, precautions, and the specifics of various large and medium-sized projects.

He would ask questions whenever he didn't understand something, and his attitude was good throughout, which made the officials of the Ministry of Works feel that he was quite easy to talk to.

Two days later, Xu Lai was suddenly promoted.

The emperor's reason was that Xu Lai had rendered meritorious service by speaking out, and that his article analyzing the power and responsibilities of officials who speak out was exceptionally well-written.

His official rank was promoted by one level, thus becoming: Assistant Director of Writing (official rank), Acting Supervising Censor (on assignment).

If he were promoted just one more rank, he could go from being a government official in the capital to a high-ranking official in the court, and the word "power" would be removed from the title of Censor.

Instead of congratulating him, his relationships with colleagues soured. This was because Xu Lai's promotion was achieved by stepping on his colleagues' heads!

"Lord Wang, we've found it!" Liu Xiang rushed off to report.

Wang Tao asked, "What did you find?"

Liu Xiang said, "We have consulted the 'Imperial Edicts of the Huangyou Era,' which states that the prime minister must be present during both regular court sessions and informal court sessions. During regular court sessions, a prime minister should take turns escorting the attendees. These rules were not followed by the prime minister when the court session ended."

"

The regular court assembly, held in the Wende Hall, was a grand event with numerous officials in attendance. The "Two Ministers" assembly was one such example. This type of assembly required the prime minister to lead the assembled officials in paying homage to the emperor.

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The practice of lining up horizontally occurred during court assemblies, specifically during special occasions (such as the reading of important edicts), when officials changed their formation from vertical to horizontal. In such cases, the prime minister would lead the change in the ranks.

Wang Tao finally caught the prime ministers red-handed, and immediately feigned deep remorse: "This is a grave mistake!"

He still did not immediately impeach, but instead sent an official document to the Secretariat: We heard from the Master of Ceremonies that the prime ministers often do not lead the way during court assemblies. We urge the prime ministers to confirm whether this law has been amended or repealed.

The prime ministers ignored it.

The next day, Wang Tao personally went to the prime minister and said, "The emperor has just ascended the throne and should not neglect the etiquette of the court."

The prime ministers still ignored it.

Both sides knew this was unreasonable!

Because this rule conflicted with the prime minister's office hours, no prime minister ever strictly adhered to it. The prime ministers couldn't change it, and Wang Tao couldn't help but impeach him.

Wang Tao seized the opportunity and, after two unsuccessful negotiations, formally wrote a memorial impeaching Wang Tao.

He said that Han Qi and Zeng Gongliang harbored rebellious intentions and were far more arrogant than Huo Guang. Moreover, they disregarded etiquette, treating the court like their own bedroom. They also ignored official documents from the Censorate, not even bothering to reply, which was tantamount to insulting the censors.

Zhao Xu summoned Han Qi and asked him why this was the case.

Han Qi explained, "Your Majesty, it has long been a custom for the prime minister not to attend court in the Wende Hall. The regular court sessions are large in scale, with one or two thousand officials participating, and they do not discuss important matters. The sessions also end very late."

If officials of the Secretariat had important business to attend to, they would generally leave promptly after court and would not linger to delay their duties.

The prime ministers are so busy with their official duties that they just go through the basic procedures and then leave. They don't have time for formalism.

Zhao Xu knew that what Han Qi said was true, but he was still somewhat unhappy.

After all, the prime ministers were indeed leading the way in violating extremely important etiquette!

Han Qi then said, "I am not arrogant. Your Majesty can dismiss me by sending a minor eunuch. The practice of prime ministers not having to attend court has been in place since the Tang Dynasty."

Zhao Xu was utterly speechless.

If this practice truly began in the Tang Dynasty, then every prime minister since the founding of the Song Dynasty should have been punished. Singling out Han Qi is indeed excessive.

The emperor and prime minister ignored it, but the censors did not sit idly by and continued to impeach Han Qi for breaking the rules.

Xu Lai also submitted a memorial.

However, Xu Lai did not impeach the prime minister; instead, he consulted etiquette records from the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty. He analyzed in detail the irrationalities of the system and requested that the etiquette system be amended to allow the prime minister to be exempt from his duties when busy, and that related work should be delegated to a rotating etiquette official.

Among a pile of impeachment memorials, Zhao Xu saw Xu Lai's memorial as if he had encountered Xi Shi among a group of ugly women.

Zhao Xu sighed, "Xu Lai is the one who gets things done. What's the point of all this arguing? We should be revising outdated etiquette."

He immediately ordered the officials of the Ministry of Rites to discuss reforms to inappropriate rituals and to come up with a reform plan for discussion among the officials.

At the same time, Zhao Xu summoned Xu Lai.

As soon as Xu Lai entered the hall to pay his respects, Zhao Xu impatiently asked, "Has Minister Xu not finished writing his memorial on reforms yet?"

Xu Lai countered, "Your Majesty, is the current political situation in the court truly suitable for reform? Reform requires the prime minister to lead it. The current prime ministers and the censors are already at odds. A sudden reform is bound to fail."

Zhao Xu remained silent.

The current prime ministers are all old and lack the drive for reform. So who should be the prime minister?

If it were a normal change of prime minister, there would certainly be no problem; there were plenty of alternatives. However, the prime minister who would lead the reforms needed to have sufficient prestige, and Zhao Xu couldn't find a single one.

Even Zhang Fangping, whom he valued highly, was not up to par; he seemed to lack the seniority to serve as vice prime minister.

Wang Anshi was even less qualified; he wasn't even qualified to be a vice prime minister.

Xu Lai said, "Your Majesty should make plans as soon as possible."

"I understand." Zhao Xu finally knew what to do first.

After Xu Lai left, he immediately summoned Han Qi and Zeng Gongliang and said that he wanted to appoint Wang Anshi as the prefect of Jiangning.

Wang Anshi repeatedly refused to return to the capital, preferring to remain in Jiangning and unwilling to leave his post.

After Xu Lai's reminder, Zhao Xu came up with a solution: "You don't want to return to the capital, right? Fine, then you can be the prefect of Jiangning. You don't even need to report to the Ministry of Personnel; I'll handle all the paperwork for you."

This would allow Wang Anshi to accumulate years of official service and enrich his political experience.

At this stage, Xu Lai is incapable of leading the reforms. The emperor has just promoted him again, raising him four ranks in two months, from the lowest to the highest rank among Beijing officials.

If he is promoted again in the short term, he will reach the level of a court official, which will inevitably attract criticism from the officials.

If he's not even a court official, what kind of reform is he leading?

Finally, the day off arrived.

Xu Lai took his family out shopping. Pianpian and Yu'er were rather reserved, but Dou Niang was lively and energetic the whole time.

When the damselfly came out of the toilet, she exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, even the outhouses at the Great Xiangguo Temple smell fragrant! You even have to take off your shoes and change them before going in!"

She smiled and gently patted the top of her head.

Yu'er reminded him, "Don't make a fuss, there are people watching. You'll make a fool of yourself in front of your husband."

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The damselfly stuck out its tongue, no longer daring to make a fuss.

Xu Lai smiled and said, "It's alright."

The Daxiangguo Temple has several types of toilets, with the deluxe toilets being quite expensive. This time, the women wanted to experience them.

While visiting the Xiangguo Temple to worship Buddha and stroll around, the women also bought some things. These monks did all sorts of businesses, including lending money, catering, selling cultural products, and even running a jewelry business.

To save money, Pianpian and Yu'er only bought some copper ornaments. However, they and Xu Lai both loved Dou Niang and specially chose a silver hairpin for her.

This was a celebration of Xu Lai's promotion.

In fact, Xu Lai's salary did not change much after his official rank was promoted, except that his monthly stipend of rice increased by one shi (a unit of dry measure).

The normal price of rice in Tokyo was about 500 to 600 wen per shi (石), which is about 4 to 5 wen per jin (斤).

Although wages didn't increase, it still attracted a lot of attention.

Because Xu Laisheng rose too quickly.

On the way home from shopping, Bu Chao said, "Sanlang, the national mourning period is over, and I would like to ask for leave to go to Yingtian Prefecture to get married."

Xu Lai cautioned, "Don't accept too much money as a gift."

"I understand," Bu Chao nodded.

Just don't accept too much money as a gift. Xu Lai didn't stop him from refusing gifts. The clerks in Yingtian Prefecture would definitely give him gifts.

Xu Lai has been having a peaceful time lately, but Wang Tao is causing trouble again.

The Privy Council has been in a mess for the past two years. In addition, with the Western Xia repeatedly raiding the border, Han Qi plans to recruit a military general with military expertise into the Privy Council.

This military general was Guo Kui, who was as famous as Di Qing.

When the imperial edict was announced at the court assembly, all the civil and military officials were stunned. Had Han Qi lost his mind? How dare he recruit military officers into the Privy Council?

Most civil servants opposed the idea.

However, Han Qi elaborated on his thoughts, believing that given the current situation, it was necessary to have someone in the Privy Council who truly understood military affairs.

Wang Tao felt he had seized an opportunity and immediately stepped forward, saying, "Your Majesty, Han Qi has established the Kui and Yi offices, even resorting to the example of Emperor Taizu, to send troops to seize and control the ruler. He will surely spread treacherous words to mislead Your Majesty in the future!"

These words shocked all the officials, and even the emperor was stunned.

What does Wang Tao mean by this sentence?

He said that Han Qi recruited the military general Guo Kui into the Privy Council in imitation of the story of Zhao Kuangyin, and that in the future, he would use the pretext of sending troops to coerce and control the emperor by force.

He accused Han Qi of plotting a coup and that he would one day seize power!

Xu Lai looked at Wang Tao in surprise, thinking to himself, "Is this guy crazy? He's only been in office for half a month and he's already caused so much trouble."

Given the current absurd system of the Song Dynasty, who the hell would dare to don the imperial robe? Would they be courting death?

Zhao Xu also looked at his teacher.

This is the same teacher who was serious and meticulous in his work, who spoke eloquently about Confucian classics, and who taught him with the words of sages in every situation.

Why did the teacher completely change in just over ten days? She became someone she didn't even recognize.

Faced with such vicious impeachment, Han Qi, who had always been calm and collected, was finally thoroughly enraged by Wang Tao.

Han Qi immediately stepped forward: "Your Majesty, I request to resign!"

Zhao Xu glared at Wang Tao, then said to Han Qi, "Prime Minister Han, please don't take it to heart. I won't believe such words."

Wang Tao, who has only been in office for half a month, should be out of a job soon.

Saying such things is more serious than spreading rumors and slandering Ouyang Xiu.

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