Qianqing Palace.
"...Your Majesty, this matter has attracted the attention of many officials in the court. The eunuchs in the palace seem to be acting arrogantly. Wang Zhen's disaster is ahead. Your Majesty should be cautious when appointing eunuchs."
"Song Wenyi used the name of the imperial village to plunder and plunder in the vicinity of the capital. It was His Majesty's reputation that was ruined. There are now discussions in the outside world, saying that Your Majesty favored the eunuchs and allowed the eunuchs to bully others and oppress the people. I believe that the details of this case should be investigated as soon as possible. We must not allow public opinion to spread and cause turmoil in the court..."
Yu Cifu spoke sincerely and looked concerned about the country and the people.
However, Zhu Qiyu glanced at the several memorials in front of him, and his eyes fell on the top memorial signed by Yu Qian, with a rather amused expression.
"Well, so many people are paying attention to this matter. It seems that it has indeed caused a lot of waves in the court. However, I see that these memorials were handed over a few days ago, and they are all true. To the point.”
"As for the so-called favoring eunuchs and using their power to bully others, is this the opinion of most ministers, or is it the opinion of...a certain person?"
The tone was calm and there was no trace of blame, but Yu Shiyue's heart tightened.
Sure enough, the emperor is not that easy to fool. He deliberately dug out all the memorials that reported this matter in recent days and put them together. The purpose was to create a situation where many people in the government and the public were paying attention to this matter. The illusion makes Yu Qian's memorial less eye-catching.
But the problem is that although there are many memorials, none of them are as reckless as Yu Qian. Not to mention that these memorials were not written together, but were written piecemeal. Just talking about the words in them, because they involve eunuchs, most of them are very... cautious.
Many of them were drafted by Yu Shiyue, so he knew very well that most of these memorials focused on describing the unfair beatings suffered by wealthy gentry households when their fields were forcibly taken away, and the treatment of these people after their fields were taken away. itself and its local impact.
As for the impeachment of Song Wenyi, it was in a secondary position. In the memorials, most of them asked for officials to be sent to investigate and appease the people. There was no conclusive statement that Song Wenyi was the instigator. Occasionally, those who were fierce were just accusations. Song Wenyi instigated his eunuchs to take advantage of the situation, demanding severe punishment for the eunuchs who injured the people, and the return of the people's fields that had been forcibly purchased.
That's why Yu Shiyue kept saying that this is really not a big deal, but the problem is that Yu Qian's memorial can no longer be described as violent. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is offensive to the emperor.
Unlike all other memorials that reported this matter, Yu Qian directly pointed the finger at Song Wenyi, denounced him as taking advantage of power to disrupt the law, and plundering the unscrupulous people. Then, he began to talk about the power of eunuchs in a long speech. The emperor is advised not to be deceived by the eunuchs, and not to allow the eunuchs to disturb the law.
In other words, other memorials mostly focused on Song Wenyi, and even Song Wenyi was not touched much. Most of them focused on the eunuchs who carried out the specific tasks, but this was the case where Shaobao was in place and directly If you put the words in the emperor's face, you can almost say that this is the emperor trusting the powerful officials to bully the people.
He scolded Yu Qian for his stubborn temper eight hundred times in his heart, but Yu Shiyue still had a smile on his face and said.
"Your Majesty, many people have complained about Song Wenyi. Even the Shuntian Mansion Yamen has received a complaint. No matter how it is dealt with, there should be an explanation. Otherwise, public opinion in the DPRK will spread sooner or later. These few books today There are already vague signs of this in the memorial, so I went to the palace to report this matter to His Majesty."
This is barely a reasonable reason. In fact, this is also the reason why Yu Shiyue brought these memorials into the palace.
After all, Yu Qian is the Minister of the Sixth Department. His memorial cannot be suppressed even if he wants to. Therefore, no matter how much it is delayed, it will eventually be sent to the emperor.
Moreover, he didn't dare to delay, otherwise, Yu Qian would have said it in the morning if he couldn't guarantee it would be done tomorrow.
The words in this memorial are so bold that even if the emperor favors Yu Qian, he will definitely feel angry.
What's more important is that Yu Qian's actions, even in Yu Shiyue's opinion, are indeed a bit of a fuss.
Since he couldn't suppress it and couldn't hide it from the emperor's eyes, he could only find a way to rationalize Yu Qian's actions.
Although the content of the memorial is the same, and it will definitely make the emperor angry, the nature of deliberately making a fuss out of a molehill and preventing the spread of public opinion is essentially different.
In essence, the latter is still thinking about the emperor, but the wording of the means may not be appropriate. With the emperor's mind, the anger will pass after a while, and he will not take it to heart.
But if the emperor felt that Yu Qian was deliberately making a fuss out of a molehill, then the matter would be serious.
You know, now Yu Qian is becoming more and more powerful in the court, and the Ministry of War has just concluded the major policy of reorganizing the military and military settlements. This can be regarded as a highlight on his resume. Yu Qian is running around in person, saying that he has made great contributions to the court. Too much.
At this time, it is even more important to be cautious, respectful and humble, otherwise, if you are not careful, you will be suspected of being arrogant.
In fact, the last time Yu Qian refuted the emperor's face and promised to go to the Tenth Prince's Mansion to apologize, Yu Shiyue felt it was very inappropriate.
It is true that under the circumstances at that time, the kings were aggressive, and Yu Qian's doing this was the best way to calm the dispute.
But the problem is that the emperor already had the intention to protect him at that time, and by doing so, he had the intention of going against the emperor.
Why, just because you maintained the overall situation in Tingyi's way, the emperor had good intentions, but it turned out to be a failure, right?
In the court, sometimes, being too "single-minded" is really not a good thing. In Yu Shiyue's view, big things are fine, but turning a blind eye to small things is fine.
In fact, this is the biggest difference between him and Yu Qian.
In Yu Shiyue's view, whether it was the kings forcing Yu Qian to apologize or the Song Wenyi incident this time, the worst consequences were within control. Therefore, it was more important to obey the emperor's will and ensure that there was no resentment between the emperor and his ministers.
But Yu Qian obviously didn't think so. Fortunately, the emperor was sensible and understood Yu Qian's character, so he could understand that Yu Qian's attitude towards the ten princes' palaces was out of the consideration of stabilizing the court and keeping peace.
But no matter how sensible the emperor is, he can't stop him from acting so rudely all at once. A king's kindness sometimes runs out. After this period of time, Yu Shiyue could clearly notice that, to be more precise, it was the emperor's attitude towards Qian since Yu Qian returned to the capital. It's obviously different from before leaving Beijing.
At this time, Yu Qian himself refuses to live in peace, which is really a headache...
What he just said was Yu Shiyue's best effort to change things, but obviously, the emperor didn't buy it. He knocked on Yu Qian's memorial in front of him and said.
"This matter has nothing to do with the Ministry of War. After receiving the complaint, the local government asked the local government to investigate and interrogate. Jinyiwei and Dongchang have also made a decree and will investigate again. Now the case is not clear. The court There is such a public opinion in the hall, I am afraid that it is caused by someone with good intentions behind the scenes."
"My ministers often advise me not to listen to one side or to believe one way or the other. I think everyone should do the same. Hearing hearsay and hastily making final conclusions on matters without verification is either for profit or to gain fame. I cannot tolerate this."
"The imperial court is busy with general affairs, and each department has its own responsibility. If all ministers perform their duties faithfully, the government will naturally be in peace and harmony. I am well aware of the affairs of the imperial village, so please step down."
As soon as these words came out, Yu Shiyue's heart suddenly went cold.
It seems that this time, the emperor is really angry. The meaning behind the words is that each family should take care of its own land and don't worry about anything.
What shocked Yu Shiyue even more was that the emperor's words this time were not as gentle as usual.
...someone is instigating it behind the scenes...if it's not for profit, it's for fame!
These two sentences are not a light crime for any minister.
Although the emperor did not say it explicitly, he had this intention. It can be seen that his previous feelings were not without reason. No matter what the thoughts and reasons were, in the end, Yu Qian's repeated offenses had gradually worn out the emperor's patience. Wasted away.
With this thought in his mind, Yu Shiyue did not dare to say anything more, so he bowed respectfully and said.
"I resign..."
After walking out of the palace door, Yu Shiyue frowned tightly and stood in the corridor for a long time, considering whether to talk to Yu Qian about this matter.
But in the end, he gave up the idea.
Yu Qian couldn't have thought of what he could think of, but this old friend's temperament has also changed a bit since he came back from a trip to Beijing. He is much more stubborn than before, and even sometimes, some of the things he does , even Yu Shiyue couldn't see through it.
Or perhaps, the change in the emperor's attitude towards Qian cannot be said to be entirely due to the emperor. To be fair, Yu Qian's recent behavior in the government does seem to be somewhat arrogant.
Thinking about it now, the emperor's words just now, although they were talking about Yu Qian's affairs, were not warning him to keep his own business and not to interfere too much in other people's affairs.
The spring day is getting warmer, and the sun is rising overhead. However, as Yu Shiyue stands under the sun, he feels more and more that these days have become sadder than before...
A few days later, morning came.
"...Your Majesty, I heard that Song Wenyi, the mining tax eunuch, ordered his eunuchs to seize the people's property and bring it into the imperial palace, and bullied the people wantonly. The complaint was submitted to the county and government offices, but no official dared to accept the complaint. The people around him had no way to seek redress, food and clothing. I have no attachment, but I am threatened and bullied.”
"It is really shocking that something so appalling happened at the feet of the Emperor. Such a treacherous eunuch, who ignored the law, took advantage of others and ruined His Majesty's reputation, is actually a heinous crime. Your Majesty must be punished severely and must not be tolerated..."
Looking at Yu Qian standing in the hall with a face as heavy as water, Yu Shiyue sighed silently.
Sure enough, after the memorial was returned to Yu Qian's hands, Shaobao was very dissatisfied with the emperor's perfunctory attitude towards protecting his eunuchs. Therefore, he did not choose to submit the memorial again, nor did he choose to seek advice from the emperor privately, but went straight to the point. In the morning, he launched an attack.
During this period of time, Yu Qian kept a low profile in the court. Except for the incident in the Ten Princes' Palace a year ago, he rarely expressed his views on court affairs. Of course, part of the reason for this was that the military commanders were still behind. Not finished yet.
Therefore, many ministers present were a little surprised by such a direct remonstration in the morning, especially because it was about such a matter.
Following Yu Qian's words of remonstrance, several officials also came out of the imperial censor's queue and submitted the memorial. They had already submitted the memorial on Song Wenyi, but the emperor put the matter aside, so naturally they did not dare to Take the initiative to show up.
Now that Yu Qian, the Minister of War, was taking the lead, naturally everyone followed.
Seeing this situation, the emperor couldn't help but frowned and said.
"I have received a report on this matter before, and also ordered the Dongchang Jinyi Guards to investigate. The report said that there was no forced purchase or sale. Song Wenyi was ordered to manage the imperial village, and most of the fields were owned by the late emperor and the emperor. The imperial land granted at the beginning was neither official land nor military land, but private royal land. Recently, the imperial court has used it a lot daily and the internal treasury is short of money. It is normal for occasional sales and purchases, so you don't need to make such a fuss."
As soon as these words came out, there was a lot of discussion below, and it became a little noisy.
Not for anything else, just because the emperor's attitude this time seemed a little different from usual.
It's not that Song Wenyi's case was a big deal. With Wang Zhen's example in front of him, although the government and the public have increased their vigilance against eunuchs, in fact, their acceptance of many things has also become much higher.
Compared with Wang Zhen's various actions before, Song Wenyi's 'robbing' Mintian is almost not worth mentioning. What's more, Eunuch Song didn't really rob, so didn't he return the money? Most of it can only be regarded as forced buying and selling.
The people involved are just some wealthy gentry families near the capital, and not even a few real officials are involved, so for the elders in the court, it is really a trivial matter.
In fact, if Yu Qian had not brought this matter up in the morning, this matter would have been discussed by a few censors at most, and would not have attracted the attention of the court, let alone the emperor. So explained.
To put it bluntly, it’s not the things that matter, but the person who speaks.
Therefore, the matter itself is not big, but the problem is that usually, when encountering this kind of thing, the emperor will either casually order his subordinates to continue investigating, or he will directly punish him and end the matter, but this time, it is clear that it is Protecting Song Wenyi.
No, it’s not accurate to say that. The meaning of what the emperor just said is actually very clear. Dongchang and Jinyiwei checked, and there was no forced buying or selling. When these words came out of the emperor’s mouth, he was actually drawing a conclusion on this matter, especially At the end, it was said that the ministers were making a fuss. Although it was about the land sale in Huangzhuang, if you taste it carefully, you can detect a different flavor...
As a result, many people turned their attention to Yu Qian in the palace. As expected, after listening to the emperor's words, Yu Shaobao's face darkened slightly, and then he said.
"Your Majesty, don't you think this is making a fuss out of a molehill?"
(End of chapter)
