In front of Fengtian Hall, all the officials were silent.
Even the emperor Zhu Yuanzhang was speechless for a moment.
Zhang Chenggong's reward was a trivial matter. Lao Zhang was from outside the country and offered auspiciousness, so it was normal for him to receive some benefits.
What's more, most officials can see that Zhang Changsheng is nothing more than a prop used by the emperor to stimulate the Kong family. To a large extent, if the emperor had not wanted to deal with the Kong family, Lao Zhang would not have received such benefits.
But even so, Liu Ji stood up against Lao Zhang.
What's even more rare is that Li Shanchang actually seconded Liu Ji's decision.
This strange scene made the old foxes present confused for a moment, and they were all silent.
You must know that although the Ming Dynasty was first established, the contradiction between Li Shanchang and Liu Ji has gradually become public. They have different ideas and different interests.
The two sides have vaguely formed two competing forces in the court.
Liu Ji and Li Shanchang can unite because of one thing, which is definitely not common!
But only after a while, the officials realized that since the two most powerful people in the court had knelt down, what choices did they still have to make?
"Your Majesty Yang Xian seconded the motion!"
"Your Majesty Wang Guangyang seconded the proposal!"
"Your Majesty Hu Weiyong seconded the proposal!"
…
The officials in front of the emperor knelt down.
Zhu Yuanzhang's face instantly sank, and Zhang Changshang's face became even more exaggerated.
All the civil and military officials in the dynasty suddenly became his enemies, and he instantly felt that his whole person was not good.
"Liu Ji, tell me what you mean. Are you dissatisfied with the fact that I canonized Master Zhang?"
Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly and asked Liu Ji directly.
Liu Ji's expression did not change and he said:
"Your Majesty, both the Zhang and Kong families are from our Chinese family, and the Kong family is the successor of the most holy teacher and has a distinguished status. Now that your majesty is awarding a reward, why is it that Kong Xi is only awarded the second rank of academic rank, while Zhang Zhenzhen is ranked first rank? Since ancient times, Saints only respect Confucius, how can we put Taoists above Yan Shenggong?"
"No matter what your Majesty's intentions are, I think it's inappropriate!"
Liu Ji almost pointed at Zhu Yuanzhang's face and said that you deliberately retaliated, but Zhu Yuanzhang's expression did not change.
Zhu Yuanzhang also knew what kind of temper Liu Ji was, and his doubts were probably the reason for the dissatisfaction of some officials.
Everyone has a position and their own calculations.
If the emperor just lectured the Ming Dynasty officials in front of them, they would probably pretend to be crazy and act stupid. As Zhang Yi said, most of them didn't really like the Kong family who was nostalgic for power.
A mascot should have the consciousness of a mascot. The Kong family who is not involved in the fireworks of the world is the best Kong family in the hearts of scholars!
Therefore, from this standpoint, the interests of the emperor and officials are actually the same.
But the emperor should never use the Zhang family to suppress the Kong family.
When the emperor suppressed the Confucian family, the scholars could regard it as internal fighting. But if the Zhang family suppresses the Confucian family, what does Longhushan mean to you?
The transfer of political power in China has always been between the king and the scholar class. Taoist priests are just the playthings of the king.
Zhu Yuanzhang understood this truth, and Zhu Biao also gradually realized it.
Liu Ji led all the officials to kneel down, not for Kong Xixue, but to remind Zhu Yuanzhang not to ignore the status of Confucianism because of the Kong family.
No wonder Li Shanchang and the officials who usually fought against each other knelt down in unison. This was the "admonishment" of the entire scholar group to the emperor!
Zhu Biao sympathized with Zhang Chenggong, who inexplicably became a pawn in the game between officials and the king.
"hehe……"
There was no emotion or anger on Zhu Yuanzhang's face, and he chuckled after a long while.
When he smiled, the official kneeling on the ground was confused.
"Liu Ji, I ask you, should you be rewarded for your merits?"
"Should!"
"Then let me ask you, last time Zhang Changcheng came to Beijing, I gave him the status of a real person, rank two. This time he has made great achievements, should I reward him?"
Liu Ji hesitated for a moment and replied:
"Should!"
The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty did not know the details of the four words "outrageous merit", but it was a matter of course that meritorious deeds should be rewarded, and no one could tell the emperor.
"Then please teach me. Master Zhang is already a real man, with a rank of second rank, and he is from outside the country. How should I reward him? Should I give him a title, or should I regard Zhang Changshang as a national master?"
When Zhu Yuanzhang said this, the anger in his words could no longer be concealed.
Everyone was instantly silent.
Only Liu Ji was convinced and replied:
"I think that if Mr. Zhang really made immortal contributions, no amount of reward would be exaggerated. But if His Majesty is just because of some auspiciousness..."
Before he finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang told Zhang to shut up immediately and pointed at Zhang Chenggong:
"you say……"
Zhang Changsheng was inexplicably involved in this turmoil, with the king on one side and the civil and military officials on the other. He had long been secretly complaining in his heart.
The Ming Dynasty was too difficult to get along with. Although he had been a heavenly master in the Yuan Dynasty, he had never seen such a scene.
Seeing that the emperor was forcing him to appear, Zhang Zhongzhong gritted his teeth and began to say:
"The poor Taoist dreamed that the Patriarch came and gave him a volume of scriptures and a volume of medical books!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt everyone's eyes falling on him with all kinds of contempt.
Tsk~ Did you think it was some new routine?
Although the ancients believed in ghosts and gods, they could not stand up to the auspicious events that have occurred in China for thousands of years. Everyone is a little tired of aesthetics. Are you still playing this trick?
All the officials were eager to give it a try. If the emperor hadn't been here, many of them would have jumped out to complain.
Zhang Chenggang was being watched eagerly, and he couldn't help but curse his rebellious son in his heart.
If you offer medical books, just offer medical books. What kind of apocrypha are you doing?
You're relieved. In the end, don't you have to take the blame?
He took a deep breath and mustered up the courage to finish what he said next.
As he spoke eloquently, the officials' fighting spirit gradually turned into confusion, and finally fell into silence.
Leaving aside such things as dreams from gods, the word smallpox is too familiar to most of us.
Everyone has experienced the war at the end of Yuan Dynasty. Disaster victims circulated, and the plague was rampant.
No one in any family died of smallpox, and even many people's wives, children, and grandchildren died before their eyes.
Even now that the Ming Dynasty has unified the south, the influence of the refugees in the troubled times is still there.
Smallpox, the king of plagues, actually affects everyone.
If Zhang Chenggang really had a way to eradicate smallpox forever, it would not be an exaggeration for him to be knighted based on it.
Because this matter is not a matter of one generation, but a matter of benefit for the ages!
The only thing everyone doubts now is whether this Taoist priest is pretending to be a ghost or not?
After all, from ancient times to the present, at least ten emperors have been tricked to death by Taoist priests. Zhang Changsheng was given the title of Heavenly Master by the emperor. It is common sense for him to take risks and speculate.
"Is this...reliable?"
Liu Bowen asked the officials the questions they wanted to ask, but Zhu Yuanzhang didn't look good:
"Do you think I'm the kind of fool who has superstitious beliefs about Huang Lao?"
All the officials looked at each other. Zhu Yuanzhang was in his prime at this time, and he really didn't seem to be superstitious about the art of immortality.
If this is the case, then their reason for coming forward becomes very embarrassing.
"Everyone thinks about intrigues all day long and doesn't know how to do anything serious! Liu Ji, Li Shanchang, and Zhenren Zhang will all come to the imperial study room soon!"
Lao Zhu was furious, slapped all the officials in his face, and then left Fengtian Hall with Zhu Biao.
As soon as he reached a deserted place, the emperor immediately smiled.
"very good!"
Seeing the emperor happy, Zhu Biao was stunned!
(End of chapter)
