Chapter 501: Changes in the Yue Palace
The next day, Zhao Yulin and Meng Gong returned to Jinguan City together. Shunzhidi said that it was a good opportunity for her to return, as the envoy from Yue State, Li Shu, wanted to see her.
Zhao Yulin was puzzled and asked Zhidi: Don’t we have the Ministry of Rites? Why are you looking for him?
Shunzhidi handed him a stack of secret letters and said: The Kingdom of Yue was fighting with Dali in the north, and after losing, it went to the west and south to fight with Bagan and Champa to recover. Life has been difficult in the past two years, and they came to me for advice.
Zhao Yulin smiled and said: What other good ideas can he come up with?
Shunzhidi said: Sell weapons to them. Li Shu wanted weapons, but Feiyan was undecided and asked Ge'er to make the decision. Li Shu also insisted on seeing Ge'er.
Zhao Yulin said he had just returned and asked Zhidi to make an appointment to meet tomorrow.
Taijian Hall in Ximen is extremely lively.
Mr. Ding returned to the city and asked his office to send a document to the Ministry of Personnel, proposing to select a group of officials to go to the prefectures and counties to conduct research in advance. After that, all the research officials immediately started to move.
These people are eloquent and are the best around Shi's son. When they were in Liangzhe, they were best at speculation and business. Once they got any news, they would certainly not miss any opportunity for promotion.
They knew that the selection criteria were to select the best from the best, and they firmly supported the New Song Dynasty's republican principle of equality for all. When they saw someone who was upright and innocent, they immediately picked up a magnifying glass and turned to the old history to look for stains on the people around them.
Soon someone wrote an anonymous letter accusing Zhang of being hypocritical and secretly cursing the New Song Dynasty court for disrupting discipline; someone reported that Wang did not stop after arriving in Chengdu, and occupied the research team's carriage for personal use, etc., which made Mr. Ding and Lord Qiao laugh and cry when they saw it.
This made Shi's son furious.
Mr. Li thought it was a good idea. These letters of accusation had revealed that many people in this group were pretending to obey but secretly doing things that were not to be told. It was a good opportunity to start from there and clean out some of the bad apples.
Mr. Ding immediately asked the director of the public affairs office to consult with the Minister of Personnel Fan Zhong to discuss a solution.
However, Shi's son felt that he was having a bad year and became more and more depressed.
When he returned home, he saw his eldest son playing happily with his maid. He coughed twice and scared the wild couple apart . He called his son over and slapped him in the face, scolding him for being ignorant and thinking about women's private parts all day long.
While cursing, he gathered all the men in the family and told them about the intrigues and fights that took place in Taijian Hall. The eldest son said disdainfully that the disciples selected by his father were all fence-sitters, and most of them fell into Zhao Qi'er's trap.
People just threw a bone without meat on it and all these people showed their true colors.
Then he complained to his father why he cared about these spineless people? If he hadn't wanted to get some disciples to help him, he wouldn't have had the chance to set a trap like this.
Shi's son was stunned, his mind was fuzzy and he suspected that it was his fault and that he had really been fooled by Zhao Yulin. He immediately came to his senses and scolded his son for not living up to his expectations. If everyone acted recklessly as he said, how could they not be caught by others?
It's true that the upper beam is crooked and the lower beams are crooked.
This guy hits the nail on the head.
At this moment, he suddenly thought of himself, and felt that he had led the wrong person, taken the wrong path, and had no future.
Shi's son said "enough" twice in succession and told everyone to go away...
When Zhao Yulin returned home, he praised Yangjin highly after hearing her introduction about the letter of complaint incident at Taijiantang.
He said that the emperors of the Song Dynasty were very harmonious and it was common for officials to protect each other. The officials of the Taijian Hall were able to boldly expose their colleagues, which was no less than the criticism and self-criticism in later generations and should be encouraged.
Especially those who dare to report under their real names, as long as they are not making up stories or wrongly accusing good people, they should be rewarded. If the Ministry of Personnel confirms that the person is a promising talent after investigation, he or she should be immediately appointed.
He felt that the Ministry of Personnel could use these research officials as examples to encourage officials to supervise each other.
Because there are indeed too few people in this world who dare to criticize others. How many people are willing to point out the shortcomings of others in public?
There are even fewer people who dare to be serious and upright like Hua Yue of the Censorate. Therefore, we must be good at discovering such officials and carefully train them to work for the people.
Yangjin understood immediately and told him that she would discuss the matter with Mr. Fan the next day, then got up and took him to the restaurant for dinner.
Seeing that Ma Ling'er and Fenghuang had returned, Zhao Yulin ordered some wine to be brewed. The whole family was having a great time. He would also be leaving in a few days.
Zhao Feiyan said resentfully: Lord Cao just left, why are you in such a hurry?
Ma Ling'er also helped to speak: That's right. Brother Miao is still in the Ministry of War, there's no rush.
Fenghuang smiled and said that they were not in a hurry, but she was in a hurry, because the boy was hers tonight. As soon as she finished her meal, she took Zhao Yulin's arm and went back to her room.
The women behind them watched them leave with a mixture of anger and amusement.
After entering the room, Huo Fenghuang threw him on the bed and said anxiously, "I haven't seen you for two months. I miss you so much. Please help me take a bath quickly."
Zhao Yulin was pinned down by her and couldn't breathe. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry...
After some heart-to-heart talk, Fenghuang helped her bathe and change clothes. The woman was in great joy, and after getting dressed radiantly, she asked him to accompany her to the yard to have tea and count the stars.
Zhao Yulin was speechless and followed Fenghuang out.
In the yard, several women were still sitting in Tingyuxuan, enjoying the cool air and fanning themselves.
Shunzhidi teased Fenghuang and asked them why they came out instead of staying in the house.
Fenghuang said in a condescending manner, "Little girl, you are so talkative. Don't you know that I am so angry? The weather is too hot, so I came out to cool down."
The women laughed.
Zhao Yulin said that we are cool here, but the people in the countryside are busy picking rapeseed and harvesting wheat.
Fenghuang pinched his ear and asked, "What's wrong? I'm thinking of Hulan in Huaxi Village. He's really thinking about what's in the pot while he's eating what's in the bowl. There are so many wives in front of him, isn't that enough?"
Zhao Yulin ignored her and looked up at the night sky.
Ma Linger told him: This time, the inspection found that local officials colluded with banks, and the cases were getting bigger and bigger. The people I investigated were all familiar faces, and I became numb to it and didn't want to do it anymore.
Yangjin blurted out: That's nothing. In the future, there will be more and more money. It will be normal for officials to embezzle millions, tens of millions or even hundreds of millions.
Ma Linger immediately told her to stop and not to scare her sister to death. The total amount of money issued by her transportation department was less than 1 billion. It would be disastrous if someone wanted to embezzle 100 million.
Yangjin said that she was not really trying to scare her. She just wanted to find loopholes in the system and keep patching them. As the saying goes, the devil is one foot high and the road is ten feet higher. There will always be a way to deal with those parasites.
Of course Zhao Yulin knew that Yangjin was telling the truth. In later generations, any bad guy you catch would have been corrupt with tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars, but the court would still function in the same way. He still had to find a way to deal with him.
He told Feiyan that Cao Yong and the others were about to come back, and he certainly couldn't wait, so Yunqing's burial in Anfu Temple and entry into Lingxiao Pavilion had to be done in a dignified manner.
Feiyan agreed with a "hmm", telling him not to worry.
Yangjin said that Li Yunqing went to Luoshui City for the sake of a better life for Tubo and had done a favor to the Tubo people. Yunqing died in Dege, and she proposed to build a big white tower for Yunqing in Dege to commend Yunqing for his contribution in recovering Kangning and Tubo.
Zhao Yulin had no objection, but the matter had to be handed over to the Ministry of Rites for discussion and decision at the meeting of the Central Council.
It started to rain, and everyone got up and went back to their rooms. Fenghuang smiled and pushed him into Shunzhidi's room.
When the day broke, Zhidi was still curled up in his arms, murmuring that she didn't want him to leave.
Zhao Yulin said that even Lord Cao had to go out to do things, so how could he, the commander, stay at home? He promised not to go to Jiangdong to provoke a war.
But the woman turned over and pressed him down, saying that she wanted to start a war. The couple once again tortured the big flower bed...
After breakfast, everyone went to the public housing to do their work.
As soon as Zhao Yulin sat down in the public housing, the maid reported to her: Chengdu prefect Gao Jia wanted to see him.
He was just about to meet Li Shu of Yue State, and immediately asked his maid to invite Gao Jia in.
Gao Jia knew that he had a lot of things to do, so before he had even had his tea he said that the brothels and theaters in Chengdu had staged a protest a few days ago and that it was his fault for not handling the situation properly. He asked him to resign from his post and be allowed to return home.
Zhao Yulin was stunned for a moment, thinking to himself, is Gao Jia upset about being humiliated?
At ease, he just said that the Central Council did not hold Mr. Gao responsible. Why did Mr. Gao do this?
He remembered Zhao Feiyan's words that just inviting Fan Gong to have tea and chat with Gao Jia and showing his concern for the construction of Chengdu government office was considered a warning and admonishment, and she did not mean to blame him.
Gao Jialian said he did not blame anyone. He had been tossing and turning and unable to fall asleep these days. After much thought, he concluded that it was indeed his own fault. He did not fully understand the court's concept of equality for all and did not treat all practitioners of brothels and theaters equally. He had too many concerns and was hesitant in dealing with matters involving court officials, which resulted in slow progress in Chengdu and even led to an industry's dissatisfaction with the court, which greatly damaged the court's prestige.
He even said that he was old and would be able to hear clearly in two years, and he really wanted to return to Sangzhi to spend his remaining years in peace.
Zhao Yulin realized that he could not convince Gao Jia with just a few words, so he told him that he understood and that it would take time for the Central Council to discuss before making a decision. He then advised him to just get busy and not be hasty.
He sent Gao Jia off to the Ministry of Rites. Shangshu Li Liang and Deputy Envoy Xie Lingyun were having tea with Li Shu.
When Li Shu saw him come in, he immediately stood up and saluted happily.
After sitting down and exchanging a few pleasantries, Zhao Yulin got straight to the point and asked Li Shu what he needed help with.
Li Shu looked around nervously, hesitantly asking to discuss the matter with him alone.
Zhao Yulin said that Lord Li and Lord Xie were both loyal and good ministers of the new Song State, so they could speak freely. He asked the captain of the guard, Ke Zhenxie, to ask the maids and irrelevant people to leave, leaving only the three of them in the hall, and asked Li Shu: Is that all right?
Li Shu then whispered: The Chen Dynasty of Yue State has been constantly waging wars in recent years, which has caused the treasury to be empty. The continuous conscription and increase in taxes have caused public resentment and constant rebellions, and there is a fear of a palace coup.
He went on to say that the Emperor Chen of Vietnam had an older brother who controlled most of the military power in Thang Long Province and had long coveted the throne. In this turbulent time, a coup was very likely to break out.
In this way, the Kingdom of Yue was finished.
Zhao Yulin was focused on resisting the Mongols and didn't pay much attention to these small countries.
