"Huh, you said you want to cut down the civil servants and subordinates, but you also have to abolish the officials? Which officials should be abolished or retained, is it all up to you!" The Minister of War was the first to stand up and object to Qi Zi's opinion.
"You've been saying nasty things to me from the beginning... Do you want to continue talking?" Qi Zi was so patient that he almost broke his front teeth in order to save Lu Fangxuan's face.
"You don't care about every word, and you don't allow me to refute you? It's obviously selfish, but you keep saying it's for Nanjing..." The Minister of War sneered again.
"Whoever has selfish motives will die a good death!" Qi Zi glared at everyone with cold eyes, making the minister a little intimidated.
The officials discussed it for a long time, but it was just more quarrels and no progress was seen. They all began to ponder secretly, like monks meditating one by one, causing the entire hall to fall into silence.
Ye Yongjia must not sit still. He is now regarded by Wan and Lu as the key figure in regulating the court. At this time, he should stand up resolutely and eliminate the crisis.
"Everyone," he paused and said in front of everyone, "since there are such big differences, it is better to shelve this discussion for the time being, implement a temporary peaceful policy first, and discuss the remaining matters slowly, so as to The common people have shown that we are sincerely considering this matter and appeasing people's feelings. According to my opinion, we should first reduce the number of lower-level officials. Doesn't everyone disagree? "
"Does Yue Mansion want to follow it?"
"It goes without saying that I don't favor my own people." Lu Fangxuan said softly.
Qi Zi curled his lips and muttered reluctantly: "I would like to listen to Mr. Ye's words..."
Even Qi Zi, who was in the most emotional mood, nodded and said something. Everyone no longer had any complaints and all agreed. Seeing that things were going well, Wan Heshun wrote an official document and asked the officials present to list their names. He also copied a copy on the spot and put it into the palace for storage.
After the officials dispersed, Wan Heshun left Hu Qi alone and said to him: "Let the people know about this matter earlier. Take the official document now and give it to Wei Chong to post it."
"Wei Chong?"
"Yes, that's him. Let him be prepared, the real show is about to take place..." Wan Heshun smiled coldly.
Ye Yongjia left the palace and just arrived at the Meridian Gate when he saw Qi Zi and Lu Fangxuan standing there, talking about something.
He tugged on his collar, lowered his head and walked over, but accidentally heard Qi Zi say: "Brother Lu, who can make the suggestion...so ignorant of current affairs..."
Ye Yongjia's feet froze.
"A celebrity I promoted in the past was named Wei Huai. No one else in the world would dare to do this except him." Lu Fangxuan's peripheral vision caught Ye Yongjia's body, and when he turned around to look, he was already gone.
Ye Yongjia did not go back to his mansion directly, but went straight to Guangsi Altar. He went in and knocked on the door of the bamboo house, but no one came to open it. After asking passers-by, he found out that Wei Huai was staying in the academy, so he quickly changed direction and walked towards the academy.
Wei Huai rocked his deck chair and closed his eyes under the courtyard. It seemed leisurely, but as he slowly drew closer, a sad face appeared in front of him. His brows were furrowed, and suddenly, the tip of his brows jumped - he heard the sound of someone's boots hitting the floor.
"Coming?" Wei Huai didn't even need to guess, after all, there were only two people in the academy now.
"Come and get you a cup of tea. It's a cold day, and as your brother is the leader of the alliance, it's best to warm yourself up."
As soon as Wei Huai opened his eyes, he saw Xia Yuanlong holding a bowl of tea and handing it to his hand. He reached for it and took a sip quietly. "This cup of tea reminds me of the days when I was with Brother Yang."
"That's right," Xia Yuanlong sighed, "It was also under this courtyard at that time. What was discussed is still vivid in my mind."
"Force the princes of Wanjun to implement my academy system." Wei Huai said.
"We have fallen short..." Xia Yuanlong looked up to the sky and sighed, "Since then, in order to compile "Xing Yao", our will, confidence, and enthusiasm have been polished little by little. The academy will no longer be as grand as it used to be... It's sad."
"This time I..."
Wei Huai was mid-sentence when for some reason he suddenly stopped talking and went to drink his tea.
"Prefect Ye? Why are you here?"
When Wei Huai heard Xia Yuanlong talking towards the door, he couldn't help but raise his head and saw Ye Yongjia, wearing single clothes and holding an official robe in his hand, striding over.
"Mr. Wei, was it you who proposed the strategy of cutting redundant officials?" Ye Yongjia sat aside, panting heavily and asking anxiously.
Wei Huai was shocked and immediately sat up: "What's wrong? What trouble did you cause?"
"If I had known this, I wouldn't have helped them mediate and let them kill each other..." Ye Yongjia said, beating his chest.
"What do you mean? I don't even understand." Mr. Wei clasped his hands and tried to calm down. Big beads of sweat passed between his fingers.
"The thing is like this. I just went to the palace to discuss your plan to lay off redundant officials. I thought it was done by those people from Wan Dang, so I thought it was better to be cautious. So I didn't dare to be biased, for fear of offending all parties, so I A method of neutralization was adopted; who would have thought that this was the good government you advised for the common people and the country! If we had directly discussed it at the beginning, we would have eliminated the evil intentions of the two families, but if it goes on like this, I am afraid it will only turn into a fight. It is really shameful. To sir..."
"It doesn't matter, Lord Magistrate, our alliance leader has already taken this into consideration. Now that we have made up our minds, there is nothing to be ashamed of!" Xia Yuanlong stepped forward to persuade.
"Wait." Wei Huai stood up shakily, holding on to the cane with one hand, while his other hand shook uneasily.
"My reforms...cannot be allowed to be ruined by them, I...I want to take it back." He wavered, and his voice began to tremble.
Xia Yuanlong raised his head slightly, "Are you crazy?" he asked in an extremely low tone.
Wei Huai was silent and turned his back. He was thinking about the possibility that his memorial might cause hundreds or even thousands of people to suffer in the party struggle—this would definitely make him an accomplice of one party.
It's not that he is too harsh on his own morals, but that the perfect image of the leader of the Guardian League in the hearts of the people is so unshakable that he himself is too afraid of falling from the altar.
"Can you," Wei Huai looked at Xia Yuanlong again, "tell them to stop fighting?"
Xia Yuanlong felt that it was funny, so he laughed loudly and said, "Brother Jimin, why do you say such ridiculous things! Have they ever been kind?"
"No, no," Wei Huai shouted twice, "Lu Fangxuan is the person who promoted me and is very kind to me. He should help me with my reforms... I want to see him and plead with him. , let him simply lay off redundant officials to prevent the party from being united and opposed."
"Mr. Wei, I don't think he is a conscientious person, so you should be careful." Ye Yongjia did not dare to stop him, but advised him tactfully.
But he didn't respond and walked to the door step by step. Xia Yuanlong rushed up to say something to stop him, but Wei Huai pushed him back hard with his shoulder blade.
