hotmtlnovel Chapter 286 If it was Xie Chengze, what tricks would he come up with?
Chapter 286 If it was Xie Chengze, what tricks would he come up with?
After the Qionglin Banquet, official positions were assigned to the Jinshi scholars one by one.
Bian Yangchun was sent to Yizhou to serve as a judge to assist the prefect in handling government affairs. Gu Ying asked to return to Yizhou and was given a position as a judicial officer. He would return to Yizhou with Bian Yangchun soon.
Jing Ze and others also sought official positions in the court and the capital, thinking that the coronation ceremony would be next. However, the prince declared that he would mourn for the late emperor for three months and hold the formal coronation ceremony after the mourning period.
It is said among the people that the prince is very filial.
Only a few people know the truth.
The prince wants to wait for that person to return to the capital and witness his ascension to the throne with his own eyes.
However, the news of the Regent’s death has been announced to the world, so in what capacity will that person return to the capital?
Jingze and the others didn't know, because the prince then announced something shocking. He had divined from a Taoist master that a large-scale earth dragon would soon turn over in Pingcheng, and if no measures were taken, nearly 300,000 people would be killed or injured.
He asked the Ministry of Revenue to allocate 600,000 taels of silver for disaster relief to be used for temporary relocation of the people, and immediately issued a migration edict to notify the governors of Dezhou, Yizhou, Xuzhou, Qingzhou and other places, requiring them to popularize earthquake resistance methods and heat resistance methods during the migration process to the people. He also gave the county governments of several important areas, and finally required that all the people must leave their hometowns before the middle of the dog days of summer, with one wave going north, one wave moving west, and one wave moving south.
The ministers in the court were in a state of confusion, apparently thinking that this was too alarmist. After all, relocating 300,000 people was not an easy task. The most critical thing was that if the earthquake did not happen, wouldn't it be a waste of 600,000 taels of silver, and it would even affect the reputation of the prince and the court?
The crown prince had not held a coronation ceremony in order to observe mourning, and the imperial seal was in the hands of the powerful minister Shen Yuan. If the people continued to complain because of this matter, how would the court save face and how would the crown prince cope with it?
"If it is really as the prince said, such a major event, why didn't the Astronomical Observer ring the celestial bell?" A minister could not help but question. This is comparable to the heavy snowstorm in the north during the New Year. How could the Astronomical Observer not predict it?
"The Tianjiansi is not omnipotent." Xie Jinyu glanced at the minister, and his sharp eyes immediately made the minister take a step back. "I am informing you, not questioning you."
Shen Yuan, who was standing aside, felt that this line of speech sounded somewhat familiar.
The ministers could not persuade him, so they looked at Shen Yuan, "Sir Shen! Are you going to let the prince do this?!"
This prince is really something. Since the death of the previous emperor, he has become a different person. His style of doing things is simply reckless and he doesn't consider the feelings of the ministers at all.
The ministers missed Xie Chengze for a while.
Although the Second Prince loved to confiscate property and make chaos in the court, at least he named names and did honest work, unlike the current Crown Prince. No one could figure out what he wanted to do, and just looking at his expression was frightening.
Now, they can only place their hopes on Shen Yuan. Although they feel that Shen Yuan has been withholding the jade seal and refusing to give it to the prince, now only Shen Yuan can suppress the disorderly prince.
Unexpectedly, their only hope was dashed.
Shen Yuan crossed his sleeves and said calmly, "Your Highness is right. The Heaven Monitoring Division is not omnipotent. Although we cannot trust the words of the masters, the newly appointed Bao Zhangzheng of the Heaven Monitoring Division is quite knowledgeable about earth dragon predictions. After some research and comparison, he believes that an earth dragon may indeed turn over in the area."
Of course, these words were all made up by Shen Yuan.
Anyway, these ministers don't understand, and the Astronomical Observatory has absolute say in this matter. No matter whether the Astronomical Observatory can predict earthquakes in the future, it's better to fool them this time.
The ministers still disagreed and asked the Tianshi to issue a document before they were willing to believe that the earth dragon would really turn over in Pingcheng.
Seeing Xie Jinyu's face gradually becoming gloomy, with signs of a tyrant who would yell for beheading when he got angry, Shen Yuan rubbed his brows, missing Xie Chengze who was recuperating in Jizhou even more.
If it were Xie Chengze, how would he solve it?
Shen Yuan couldn't help but think of the young man's bright eyes, which flashed with cunning light, like a little fox in civet cat skin, always coming up with bad ideas.
If he were in...
I'm afraid he would shout passionately: "I advise you not to be possessive of the silver in the national treasury! Otherwise, I will become possessive of your family assets!"
Then he shouted loudly, "Believe it or not, I will dig up the old accounts in your palace and demote all of you to Pingcheng to see if this earth dragon reversal will happen!"
Well, here's an idea.
Shen Yuan, who was deeply moved, looked at the ministers calmly and asked, "So, my colleagues, who disagrees with the prince's decision?"
The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment, and then a few stubborn ministers stood up and said, "We hope that the prince will reconsider!"
"Anything else?" Shen Yuan glanced at the ministers who were looking at each other, and asked again, just like the auctioneer at the auction held in Liaozhou, "Is there anyone else who disagrees with the prince's decision?"
Several other ministers stood up and said, "I hope the prince will think twice."
Shen Yuan nodded slightly, then turned around and said to Xie Jinyu, "Your Highness, now that the new Emperor Jian'an is about to be enthroned, why not take this opportunity to thoroughly investigate the family backgrounds of these ministers, just like we did with the Second Prince in the past, investigate and discipline the ministers, and put an end to the dirty and lawless things in the past. Of course, I know that the ministers have also worked hard for the king and are loyal to the court, so there is no need to be so decisive as to confiscate their property and execute them. I will demote them to Pingcheng for half a year, and after half a year, they will be summoned back to the capital to assist the new emperor with a brand new attitude and work together to promote the great cause of our dynasty."
Upon hearing this, the ministers' faces suddenly turned green.
No?
Is this something a human being can do?
I thought that after sending the Second Prince away, no one would resort to such dirty tricks that would make people dizzy and bleed anymore. But Lord Shen Yuan, you have always been upright and resolute in the past. Why are you using such shady and dirty tricks now?
If you don’t know, you would think that the Second Prince is not dead and is secretly giving you advice!
Shen Yuan's method was really too insidious. If he and the prince acted by force or demoted him, it would naturally infuriate the ministers.
When the newly promoted officials see this situation, they will feel resentful and secretly wonder what will happen to them in the future if the court acts in this way, which will gradually alienate them from their superiors.
The old and experienced officials in the court would be heartbroken, as if all their sincerity had been wasted. Their years of dedication were rewarded with such unreasonable treatment. How could they not be disheartened?
There have been constant disputes among various forces in the court. If the ministers' advice is no longer listened to, the dynasty will naturally decline, making the ministers less and less confident in the prince, which will lead to some people becoming disloyal and causing the same thing as during the prosperous Huai period to happen again.
This shows how serious the harm caused by an emperor's willful behavior is.
But now, Shen Yuan has taken a different approach. He has used "temporary demotion" to wipe out the old ministers' past crimes of corruption and lawlessness, rather than directly confiscating their properties, beheading them, or exiling them. This has given these old ministers enough face and left no room for complaint.
Since they cannot make any comments, it means that this method is feasible, and if it is feasible, it means that they will be demoted to Pingcheng...
If the dragon in Pingcheng really turned upside down during the dog days, wouldn't they be dead without a burial place? What's the difference between this and just chopping off their heads?
Those newly promoted officials and those local officials who are eyeing them covetously are all waiting for them to lose their heads as soon as possible to make room for them!
All the ministers made bitter faces, raised their arms and bowed in compromise, "Your Highness is wise, we agree with the policy of relocating the people!"