On the fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, it snowed heavily.
Today is a special day. His Majesty the Emperor has specially ordered a sutra feast, and all high-ranking civil and military officials will be present today.
At the beginning of the morning, the officials rushed to the Wenhua Hall and lined up their positions under the guidance of the etiquette officer.
Because of the large number of officials, the main hall of Wenhua Hall was crowded with officials, but everything was in order.
After standing still, the hall was extremely quiet, just waiting for the emperor's arrival.
Everyone waited for about a quarter of an hour before hearing movement outside, and knew that the emperor's guard of honor was coming.
Everyone finally tidied up their clothes and appearance, waiting for the arrival of His Majesty the Emperor.
After a few breaths, more than a dozen eunuchs entered the palace carrying various utensils and furnishings, and finally stood around the throne.
After a while, the emperor appeared outside the main hall wearing military uniform.
Everyone knelt on the ground to welcome the arrival of His Majesty the Emperor.
"Kowtow to Your Majesty, long live my emperor!"
Amidst the shouts of the mountain, Emperor Zhu Xianming entered the hall, followed by Prince Rui Wang and Zhu Jinghong.
Today is the sutra banquet. All the high-ranking civil and military officials are here. It can be regarded as a court meeting. Zhu Jinghong is also deeply surprised by this.
It is reasonable to say that the daily banquet should be held every day, but it has not been practiced since the founding of the country by Taizu. In the later period, it was even difficult to guarantee the monthly banquet.
When it came to Shizu Zhongxing, in order to strengthen the legitimacy at the beginning of his succession, he followed the Eight Classics of Zhenger.
Of course, this system did not last for half a year before Shizu began to ask the princes to do the work for him. He would rather go to war than think about the Wenhua Palace.
In the later period of King Shizu's reign, the sutra banquet became a monthly lecture, and in the later period, the formality simply disappeared.
After the emperor sat down, the three princes followed him around. Only the prince was given a stool.
Picking up the tea cup, Zhu Xianming took a sip to warm himself up and said, "Let's begin!"
I saw an official walking out of the class train, knelt down in front of the lecture and said, "Luo Guangde, Minister of Rites, is here to lecture on Volume 68 of the Historical Records, The Biography of Lord Shang!"
As soon as Luo Guangde opened his mouth, the generals were unfazed, but many civil servants were surprised and anxious.
What does Shang Jun do? He was the person who reformed Qin's laws and strengthened Qin. Before the cabinet was about to make major adjustments, it was particularly sensitive to learn this period of history.
Today's third assistant, Zhao Yushan, has always been interested in restructuring and is a popular candidate to be the next first assistant.
"Shangjun is the bastard son of the Wei people. His name is Yang Yang and his surname is Gongsun. His ancestor's surname is also Ji..."
Luo Guangde began to read, but no one was listening.
When it comes to things like the Jingyan, the Wu Xuns are just a facade, and the whole process basically has nothing to do with them, so just think about what to eat at night.
The civil servants present knew Shang Jun's biography by heart, so they naturally did not need to listen. Instead, they focused on the upcoming battle and thought in advance how to respond and debate.
Prince Zhu Jingyuan was completely unaware of the current situation. He only thought it was an ordinary teaching show.
However, Zhu Jinghong and Zhu Jingyuan vaguely sensed something was wrong.
While Zhu Jingyuan was thinking about his position, Zhu Jinghong breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that he was not the focus of attention today.
The so-called teaching test is probably the old man who scared me... Zhu Jinghong thought to himself.
On such an important occasion, how could someone like him, who was illiterate in writing, be specifically asked to test him?
After Luo Guangde finished reading the article, he began to analyze it.
First, praise Shang Yang as a good person, then praise the policies he proposed as good, and then demonstrate that changes can make the country rich and powerful.
"Your Majesty, I have finished reading today!"
"Um!"
After saluting the emperor again, Luo Guangde returned to the train, and there was a dead silence in the hall.
"Shang Jun's administration made Qin dominate the country. However, Shang Jun's method was also called evil by historians. It can be seen that it is difficult to say whether it is good or bad..."
"All of you, my dear friends, are full of knowledge and have unique insights. Why don't you try to discuss it today?"
The emperor's words were equivalent to sounding a battle call, and the officials who had been prepared had already prepared rhetoric based on their own positions.
"Your Majesty, I have something to say..."
"Your Majesty, I have something to say..."
All of a sudden, five officials came out to give presentations, which brought the atmosphere to a climax.
"Xu Qing, please say first..."
After the emperor called his name, the official named Xu began to report, and the others returned to the train.
"I think that although Lord Shang had a plan to enrich the country, he only had a temporary plan, and the second generation of Qin died..."
As soon as this person opened his mouth, he criticized Shang Yang for being imperfect. He only mentioned its shortcomings and rarely talked about its benefits. This person was obviously a conservative person.
Of course, if someone objects, someone will support it. After the official named Xu finished speaking, someone else immediately spoke out.
The two sides talked back and forth, and what they said made sense after thinking about it carefully. Zhu Jinghong was dizzy when he heard it.
He also had to admit that these officials, who were well-read in poetry and books, were really good at debating, and the way they quoted scriptures alone made people confused.
Of course, although there were many people speaking at the scene, the highest one was the Minister, and the three cabinet ministers did not speak from the beginning to the end.
As the chief assistant, Xie Changen even squinted his eyes as if he was asleep. This was an attitude that he did not want to get involved in.
The argument lasted for half an hour. At first, Zhu Jinghong listened carefully, but in the later stage, he started yawning.
The matter of reform, to be honest, depends on the attitude of the emperor. When meeting a monarch like Qin Xiaogong, Shang Yang will naturally be reused.
However, most monarchs in history actually lacked the courage to change. Even if they showed strong interest at the beginning, they would retreat when they encountered resistance in the later stage.
This is also human nature. Even a fierce man like Zhu Xianming will appear hesitant when it comes to reforming the imperial system.
"Is it all over?"
Seeing no one answered, Zhu Xianming glanced at the ministers and asked, "Who else wants to speak?"
Although the speech just now was lively, there were still some middle-of-the-road (fence-riding) factions who remained silent. It was these people the emperor was asking about at the moment.
But since these people have decided to sit on the fence, how can they easily decide to take sides.
Even if the emperor asked the question for the second time, these people who had climbed to the core power level still pretended to be deaf and dumb and did not speak.
This greatly disappointed Zhu Xianming, who very much hoped that these people would support the change.
"Prince Rui... we have just discussed it with all the ministers, and they all have their own opinions. What is your opinion on this matter?"
Hearing that the emperor asked the sixth son first, the prince sitting next to him felt particularly awkward. Regardless of his status or order, he should be asked first.
Now the old man asked Prince Rui first, where would he put his prince? How will the officials view him?
The prince's anger had nothing to do with Prince Rui. At this moment, the latter regarded this as an opportunity and he only wanted to perform well.
"Reporting to my father, Lord Shang's laws were beneficial to Qin, but they did not harm Korea's reform. They were exactly the same as Lord Shang's policies, but in the end, the laws were broken and the country was destroyed..."
"It can be seen that there is no good or bad law, but it needs to be adapted to local conditions and to make strategies based on actual conditions..."
"Therefore, I think that simply discussing the merits of Shang Jun's method without paying attention to the national conditions of Qin and Han is like building a castle in the air!"
Zhu Jingyuan knew that the emperor wanted him to express his position, but at this moment he could only pretend not to understand and talk nonsense about the advantages and disadvantages of "Shang Jun's method".
No matter which way Zhu Jingyuan falls, the people on the other side will be offended to death, which Zhu Jingyuan never wants to see.
Although he had guessed that Lao Liu would be cunning, Zhu Xianming still felt very disappointed when he actually heard these words.
He is very fond of this son, so he hopes to see Zhu Jingyuan take responsibility in these major events.
After Zhu Jingyuan finished his long speech, Zhu Xianming said in a deep voice: "Old Liu, please step back!"
"yes!"
"Prince, what do you think about this matter?"
(End of chapter)
