After leaving the Nuan Pavilion, the officials were shivering from head to toe and from the inside out. They do not respect Niu Yuan, and naturally they will not succumb to his majesty. They are just afraid, just like people are afraid of tigers. If someone puts it in an iron cage, they will definitely break it into pieces. .
They had been persuaded by Zeng Liang and others before, and were forced by Niu Yuan in such a way that many of them believed that they were now on a dead end. Rather than sit back and wait for death, it was better to fight with all their might!
Even those who had always been wavering couldn't help it at this moment. After all, Zeng Liang and Liu Dang still had some friendship, and they would all be retaliated by Niu Yuan, not to mention someone like himself who couldn't maintain the relationship? As a result, all forces shared the same hatred, and one after another they resisted and made suggestions, listed Niu Yuan's faults, and even wrote in them his close relationship with his arbitrarily promoted confidants as a handle.
Niu Yuan heard about the impeachment in the capital, but he didn't take it to heart. He was preoccupied with dealing with Wu Sijing's problem. He just said calmly to his confidants: "There are some people in the court who are really not afraid of death. I just warned them Once, I thought they could calm down, but they dared to act so boldly! Anyway, the Yushitai is in our hands. After I finish arranging the things in front of me, we will give them some color and see. Alas, this is like not seeing the coffin without crying. ah……"
He sighed deeply and ignored it. He immediately ordered the clerk to go to the prison to pick up the person, and sent another trusted aide to inform Lian Chongwen, telling him to quickly pack his bags and go to greet him, waiting for the Ministry of Rites to approve the customs document and come out. , you can leave the capital.
Thirty or forty memorials were handed in first, but after an hour, there was still no reply, which made the ministers very scared. They were afraid that Liu Zhennian had favoritism and withheld all the memorials, which made many people begin to waver and have the intention of retreating. But Zeng Liang was the first official to file an impeachment petition. He had caused such a big fight and was already riding a tiger. He had no choice but to fight for his life. Adhering to this idea, he retained various officials after the morning court. Standing under the shade of a towering tree next to the main hall, he called: "What we said in the memorial are urgent matters, and they have been sent to the main hall." There must be someone behind the scenes! Those memorials may be in Niu Yuan's hands. If we fail, we will surely settle the accounts one by one. Have you ever thought about it? "
After hearing these words, everyone stopped and kept making noise. Among the people coming and going, Gao Jizhi and Chen Tongpao were silent and stood with their hands down; the people passing by Hunan looked around proudly and hummed softly; Ye Yongjia stared at Zeng Liang with cold eyes; Lu Zhixian Pretending not to hear, he was joking with Cai Xianqing, but his eyes involuntarily turned to the palace door, fearing that the guards there would hear him.
"There is no room for retreat now," Zeng Liang saw that the time had come, and then said, "We must explain our reasons to the Prime Minister! I am not willing to force everyone, and those who agree with me should immediately form a team to the Prime Minister's Mansion and kneel down to ask The Prime Minister accepts the advice! Those who don’t agree can go back with peace of mind, but no one can guarantee what will happen in the future.”
"Don't even think about it! This is a matter of paramount importance to your life. Who dares to disobey! Follow Shangshu Zeng!" The people from Guoxiang raised their arms and shouted, alarming the prince who had just walked out of the hall. He frowned and watched for a moment in the corridor, then winked at the eunuch: "Take a look."
"Masters, Masters!" The little eunuch ran down quickly, shouting as he walked. It was seen that the officials all turned around and drove towards the Prime Minister's Mansion in a hurry.
"Come back!" the prince shouted from a distance, waving his hand and saying, "No need to chase anymore."
The eunuch wiped the sweat from his forehead and replied breathlessly: "I think the leader seems to be Mr. Zeng. For some reason, he left in groups instead of returning to the office."
"Is anyone still following them?"
"There are a dozen, not many."
"Call them back and ask what's going on!"
One hundred and twenty-eight ministers knelt down in front of the Prime Minister's Mansion one after another, occupying almost the entire street from east to west. They faced the scorching sun, but they stood up straight like sculptures, letting beads of sweat streak across their cheeks without changing their expressions. The Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office hurriedly went out to inquire. Zeng Liang burst into tears and recounted his experience of impeachment. The clerk was also quite moved. After calming everyone down in a good voice, he went back to the house.
"Prime Minister, that's it."
After listening to the report, Liu Zhennian twisted his neck and looked at his left hand side. The pile of memorials seemed to be able to collapse the table.
He smiled softly and said with emotion: "This is all the result of his arrogance and domineering attitude. If he had restrained his temper a little, he would not have reached the point where he is now in trouble..."
"Prime Minister, are you really going to obey their wishes and take down Mr. Niu?" The clerk did not dare to lie, so he had to ask.
"Niu Yuan is still willing to do practical things. If I withdraw him again, there will really be no one available around me. As long as he can still control the situation, I will not consider replacing him," Liu Zhennian pinched the bridge of his nose. Gu, said slowly, "But the officials have been grudged against him for a long time, and I can no longer protect him. I withdrew those memorials before, just to let everyone endure it... Who knows, these officials They are all blocked at the door of my house, doesn’t this mean that the conflict has completely broken out?”
He pondered for a while, then stood up and said: "In this case, you go and tell them that the contract will strictly order Niu Yuan to renegotiate and let him take back his life. But I will never allow them to push forward and propose the matter of dismissal. Anyone who violates it will be punished."
"Yes!" The clerk accepted the order.
"Fengxiang, it's not good, it's not good!" A scribe climbed up the steps in a panic and shouted towards Niu Yuan in the hall, "Mr. Liu sent someone to tell you to renegotiate the contract. No special cases are allowed for Fanbang!"
"What?" Niu Yuan just stood up. After hearing the news, he fell back heavily, his eyes straightened. "What... does this mean?"
"I don't know much about it. I just heard that hundreds of officials came to the Prime Minister's Mansion to remonstrate, and Duke Liu agreed to their request..."
Niu Yuan's eyes widened, and the sharpness in his eyes suddenly disappeared at some point. All determination, ferocity, and all kinds of arrogance were swallowed up by the holes in his pupils. He was stunned for a moment, and then an unknown anger surged into his heart, and his head felt like it was going to explode.
He couldn't suppress his anger, blushed, and yelled: "You bastard!" He swept the pen holder, inkstone, etc. to the ground, causing a crash; but he still didn't feel relieved, so he raised his hands. With a fierce lift, the table was pushed aside, and it hit the cabinet with a thud, knocking the cabinet door open.
"Tell them that I will never change my order! I will still act in accordance with the original agreement!"