Zhang Cang's body stiffened. Although he looked very reluctant, he could only turn around helplessly. With a smile that was uglier than crying, he walked in small steps to Dr. Dunrui, the imperial censor, and said respectfully: " I have met the imperial censor."
Dun's weak hair and beard have long been gray.
He looked at Zhang Cang coldly and said coldly: "Zhang Yushi has been very prosperous during this period. He not only performed the function of supervising the history, but also served as the eldest son's external tutor. He was also in the limelight in the Yushi Mansion. No two."
Zhang Cang said with tears in his eyes: "Master Yushi, I am aggrieved by this official."
Dunruo snorted coldly and said indifferently: "You are a disciple of Xunzi. It is a good thing to have ambition and ambition. But just like Prime Minister Li Si, when you first entered the Qin State, you were just a river commander with little authority. After some precipitation, Prime Minister Li Si was able to soar into the sky."
"Now that you have reached the rank of censor, you should pay attention to your precipitation."
"Xunzi is a Confucian scholar, Da Qin is a French scholar."
"Xunzi's set of things cannot be copied mechanically, let alone think too highly of yourself. You are talented. I do know that there are more than twenty censors in the Yushi Mansion. I have always valued you the most, but you also need to understand that the court It is a secret place in the world, and every word and action involves a lot."
“There are things you can say or not say, and there are things you should say or not say.”
"If you are criticized for this, even though you are the censor, you may not be able to escape the blame."
"As an official of the Yushi Mansion, you should abide by the way of being an official."
"Be careful when handling the state!"
Zhang Cang's forehead was covered with cold sweat, and he said quickly: "I will definitely remember the advice of the imperial censor."
"It's just that Xiaguan was really unjust this time. What the eldest son said in the court was indeed what Xiaguan said. However, when the eldest son was looking for Xiaguan, he only discussed "Book of Shang Jun" and "Han Feizi". Xiaguan had no idea at all at that time. This consciousness was spoken just now. If I knew what happened today, how would I dare to say anything?"
"This official is really unjust."
Zhang Cang looked at Dunwei with a sad face.
He was really wronged.
This was more than half a year ago. Who knows that Fusu still remembers it and shook himself out. In fact, he has always been cautious in the court, fearing to make grudges with others, but as a talented person, he is somewhat arrogant, so When Fusu asked, he couldn't help but show off a few words.
Who knew this would happen?
Dun Ruo patted Zhang Cang on the shoulder and said on his forehead: "I believe you didn't mean it, but there will be a lot of movement in the court during this period, and this matter does involve you deeply. I suggest you go home and rest for a few days. , please don’t appear in the court’s sight during this period.”
"Although I appreciate your talent, if you cause the courtiers to impeach you in unison, I will not be able to protect you."
Zhang Cang nodded quickly and said gratefully: "Thank you, Doctor Yushi, for reminding me. I am grateful."
Dun nodded weakly and walked away without staying any longer.
Zhang Cang's face wrinkled up.
He knew that he was really pushed to the forefront this time.
Even the imperial censor spoke in person, and the influence was evident. The imperial censor had a very high status, ranking among the three nobles, but this time he was also worried about being affected, so he spoke specifically.
But Dunruo said he valued himself, so he knew it and just said a kind word.
With Dunwei's status, if he really valued himself, how could he have been a financial clerk for more than ten years? Even if he was promoted to censor, he would still be an account manager.
But he also knows it.
This time I really became the target of public criticism.
Although the problem was caused by the eldest son, the eldest son has a special status after all. Even if the courtiers are dissatisfied, they dare not take it too seriously. However, he is different. He is just a censor and does not have much real power, so he will most likely become a scapegoat. Lamb.
If you don't hide away from the limelight, I'm afraid your life in court will be difficult.
"Alas." Zhang Cang sighed.
He regrets it now.
He regretted it so much that he even thought, if he had followed Confucian when he fled, would the situation be better than now?
It's a pity that time cannot be turned back.
At this time.
Fusu also came over.
With a hint of apology on his face, he said: "Yu Shi Zhang, I made a mistake this time."
Zhang Cang glanced at Fusu for a few times, with a rare hint of anger in his eyes. However, he did not show up in the end. Instead, his face turned into a trace of sadness, and he said miserably: "Master, please don't cheat me again. I, Zhang Cang, really can't stand it." If you go through all this trouble, no matter how many times you go through it, you will die one day if you don’t keep it all.”
"Sir, please be more considerate of me."
"I really can't bear it anymore."
Fusu looked slightly stiff and could only nod his head in agreement.
See this.
Zhang Cang frowned slightly.
He took a deep look at Fusu, and suddenly felt a sense of surprise in his heart.
He was vaguely aware of something.
Fusu has changed!
Zhang Cang withdrew his gaze, turned around and left without saying anything to Fusu.
The figure is slightly bleak.
He had realized something.
Fusu stood there, watching Zhang Cang leave. When Zhang Cang completely disappeared, he sighed sadly and whispered: "Zhang Cang, don't blame me for cheating you. After today, Fusu, I'm afraid Many officials must be ostracized, so only by taking this step can we stabilize ourselves."
the other side.
Zhang Cang returned to his official office.
He was exhausted both physically and mentally. As soon as he entered the palace, he closed the doors and windows tightly and ignored others. Looking at the honey pots piled under the table, he no longer felt happy at all.
"The eldest son has changed!"
"In the past, the eldest son hated scheming, but now the eldest son has started to take the initiative to plot. I, Zhang Cang, am now the unlucky ghost of the entire court."
"Ji Heng, Ji Heng, your guidance has caused me great harm."
"The eldest son has indeed learned what you did to the merchants. Instead of using it on others, you used it on me. I can only smile and be grateful in the future."
"It's about the birds!"
Zhang Cang cursed a few times.
He has now gradually come back to his senses and cleared up some of the situation.
Fusu spoke out about himself not accidentally, but on purpose, in order to tie himself to him. The eldest son offended many people this time, and the Chu family that was originally close to him will become alienated from him. , so the eldest son chose to drag himself into the water in order to maintain his status.
Now he has offended a large number of people inexplicably. Even if he is dissatisfied, in order to continue to stay in the court, he may have to stand firmly on the side of the eldest son.
After all, others can no longer tolerate you.
Although Zhang Cang was a little unhappy with Fusu's thoughts, he didn't really take it to heart. He was more concerned about the impact of this court meeting on the court.
Judging from Fusu's performance, he may not be aware of the problem at all.
Zhang Cang stroked the sparse beard on his chin, with deep solemnity in his eyes. He said slowly: "Although the content of this court meeting seems to be to maintain strict laws, in fact, the real purpose is to suppress the hero group and remove the heroes who originally occupied the court. Intentional suppression.”
"It's just all a little too fluid."
"It seems like it was arranged."
"However, judging from the eldest son's appearance from beginning to end, it seemed that he was not aware of this at all, and his whole mind was focused on rectifying the administration of officials. Therefore, Du He and others were clearly very angry, but they were still unable to refute forcefully, and in the end they could only hold back. Hold your nose and endure this incident."
"The eldest son is not very aware of this. His Majesty may be aware of it and participate in it."
“Even a strong pusher.”
"wrong."
Zhang Cang shook his head.
If the First Emperor was really involved, Fusu would have noticed it no matter what.
Moreover, he participated in the whole process and knew a lot about many things. If the First Emperor really intervened, it would be impossible for him to remain completely anonymous, so the First Emperor was probably just following the trend.
Think of this.
Zhang Cang felt unreasonable again.
Because this time things seemed to be planned.
Ever since the shipwreck in Huai County, it seemed like this would happen.
In a moment of thought.
He thought of Ji Heng.
The man whose pseudonym is Mr. Zhong.
Zhang Cang tapped his fingers lightly on the case, sorting out what he knew in his mind, and then repeated it over and over again, constantly thinking about the relevant details, mainly Ji Heng's words and deeds and the situation in the court.
finally.
Zhang Cang's eyes narrowed and his expression became profound.
He whispered: "Judging from the known situation, it is imperative for His Majesty to suppress the children of the hero. All this seems to be bound to happen, and it is true."
"In the past few years of the Qin Dynasty, the children of meritorious officials have gradually occupied the court."
"The descendants of the Meng family, Feng family, Yang family and other large families have long been in the court, while the children of Du He, Zhao Ping, Yao Jia and others are still serving in the official offices under the Sangong Jiuqing Mansion, but they are far away from entering the court. It won’t take too long to go to court.”
"This is not a situation your Majesty wants to see."
"In the past, the focus of the imperial court was on promoting the new system and preventing the restoration of the Six Kingdoms. His Majesty chose to turn a blind eye to this. However, during the past six months, His Majesty seemed to have turned his attention from the world back to the court and began to pay attention to the court. The church is undergoing deliberate rectification.”
"The movements were relatively minor and did not cause panic among the courtiers."
"But this time the movement was a bit too big."
"It's so big that it scares the courtiers."
Zhang Cang scratched his head, still wondering.
Even if His Majesty is determined to rectify the court, the progress this time is too smooth.
It doesn't look like an emergency at all.
It's more like it was planned for a long time.
He held the desk in his hand and stood up.
He crossed his arms with one hand and held his forehead with the other, pacing back and forth in the room, muttering to himself: "What if it was really planned in secret? What would happen then?"
"Your Majesty sends a signal to Ji Heng by transferring officials?"
"Ji Heng got the signal and used it to plan the shipwreck? And then with the help of the eldest son, he completed the suppression smoothly and smoothly?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Zhang Cang was also shocked.
He subconsciously wanted to deny it.
Just after thinking about it for a while, I felt that it was indeed possible.
And the possibility is extremely high.
Your Majesty and Ji Heng are both powerful strategists. If the two of them are plotting secretly, ordinary people will not be able to guard against it, and there is no way to guard against it. Your Majesty is in the deep palace, and most of his daily actions will fall into the eyes of the courtiers. Therefore, as long as your Majesty does not take too big actions , the courtiers will basically not guess what His Majesty is doing.
And Ji Heng is a dead man.
If the eldest son hadn't told him, he wouldn't have been able to guess it.
A person who shouldn't exist is scheming against the court. If this were told, no one would believe it.
But it's all true.
It’s just that not many people in the world know it.
Zhang Cang took a deep breath and trembled slightly. He felt as if he had understood something fatal. If he told this, he would be killed immediately.
He shrank his neck and looked nervous.
He returned to his seat carefully.
He looked at the door and window and whispered, "If that's the case, a lot of things would make sense."
"Ji Heng is His Majesty's shadow in the dark. The eldest son is His Majesty's tool to inspire the court. Ever since the government implemented the 'official mountain and sea' policy, His Majesty has been deliberately planning to rectify the court."
"All of this is aimed at a system."
"It was the system that was specially approved at the time of the founding of the country that 'the children of meritorious ministers, who are selected to be capable, can also pretend to be county magistrates first, and then worship officials after their political achievements are demonstrated.' At that time, because of the precautions against the world, a few years later, the imperial court We did not really review the political achievements of these people, but directly appointed the children of these meritorious officials as officials."
"Your Majesty's move is to repair this system."
"Prevent the hero's disciples from losing their tails."
"It seems."
"It is inevitable for merchants to cause trouble."
"Even if the merchants don't choose to take risks this time, sooner or later, they will not be able to stand the imperial court's exploitation, and finally choose to take action. It just makes a big or small noise."
"No matter how big or small, they will eventually fall into the so-called "Business Law" and "Gong Law", and then point the finger at the Tingwei Mansion. The reason why it went so smoothly this time was mainly because the merchants made the matter too big, so there was no need to Wait until the merchants cause three or four incidents, and then stab them all."
"It's a given that Tingwei Mansion will be questioned!"
"As long as His Majesty doesn't change his mind, and as long as the merchants are still motivated by interests, the final result will not change at all, it's just a matter of time."
"This is a conspiracy between His Majesty and Ji Heng."
"The eldest son has been in the game from beginning to end. He has very little understanding of it and has been controlling it for Ji Heng. However, he has indeed made great progress through this. However, compared to these two people who arranged the layout, it seems that Too immature and too ignorant of worldly affairs.”
immediately.
Zhang Cang frowned again.
Because His Majesty has been living in the palace.
He has barely left the palace in the past two years. How did he contact Ji Heng?
Even if there was an agreement earlier, one person is in the government and the other is in the opposition, and their judgments of the situation are different. How can there be such a perfect 'cooperation'?
Zhang Cang felt quite magical.
He thought about it and felt that he had thought too much.
His Majesty may not have known about this, but relied on his control of the court to judge the matter, and then made the most favorable judgment to use the matter to his own advantage.
No matter what the final truth is.
Ji Heng and His Majesty probably have a tacit understanding.
It's just that this kind of scene is too profound and far beyond his ability to understand.
He had no way of predicting what Ji Heng would do next. Ji Heng seemed to be able to do anything and dare to touch anything.
Zhang Cang shook his head.
He sighed and said helplessly: "It's obvious that they are plotting. Why am I the one with a bruised nose and face? Who did I, Zhang Cang, offend? Why do I have such a miserable life?"
"Pack up your things and go home to seek refuge for a few days."
"well!"
Zhang Cang put the honeypot into his backpack.
If you can't afford to offend, hide away.
He now understands that the water in the court is very muddy.
So muddy that people drown.
Now, apart from myself, probably few people in the court could see this clearly, and they all thought that the eldest son was looking for trouble, but little did they know that they had all fallen into His Majesty's plan.
Your Majesty went up and down with Ji Heng.
A man seeking a court.
One seeks the countryside.
Make your plans for the world clear.
There seems to be no intersection, but in fact they are quietly connected through the eldest son, but even the eldest son is not aware of them, let alone the others.
Looking at the world, everyone is in the game!
Zhang Cang left the official office with his backpack on his back.
He has made up his mind that he will never go back easily until the court action is over.
The worst case scenario is that he will always be sick and retire.
Anyway, he was fat and didn't have many political responsibilities. Even if he kept getting sick, not many people would care about him, and he could escape from the maelstrom of the court.
Noon.
The city of Xianyang became lively again.
I don't know who leaked the news and spread the content of the court meeting, but the details were not clear. They only said that the government's move was very big this time, and the court would be shaken because of it. However, no one could explain what happened specifically.
But it also made many people curious about it.
I am also more curious about the notice that will be posted today.
Di store.
Zhang Liang also heard this rumor.
He didn't think it was groundless, but thought it was true.
He has been sitting in the lobby of the di shop all morning, listening to the conversations of visitors from all over. He has been traveling for many years, and he still knows some things about some situations. Places like the wine house, the restaurant, and the di shop are the most well-informed and the fastest. .
He also likes to listen to people's conversations and can hear a lot of information and all kinds of anecdotes.
However, after these messages have been spread through several hands, they may have been completely distorted. Therefore, you still need to consider and extract useful information yourself, but from this information, you can still understand something about the situation.
While Zhang Liang could sit still, He Yao obviously couldn't.
After sitting in the di shop for a while, I lost my temper and went out to inquire about it myself.
Zhang Liang held the pottery bowl with his hand, listening to the serious discussions around him, with a slight smile on his lips, but a hint of sadness appeared between his eyebrows from time to time.
What is Qin Ting planning?
time flies.
Soon it was afternoon.
The long-awaited notice was finally posted.
Toneri of Di's shop was holding the desk with one hand. Everyone in the store was not anxious and were waiting quietly inside the store. After the situation three days ago, they already knew that Toneri might have sent someone to read the notice.
So just wait for the news.
as expected.
In less than half a quarter of an hour, the skinny young man came back.
He said loudly: "It's a big thing, a big thing. The notice said that Tingwei Mengyi was dismissed, and the other officials of Tingwei Mansion were either demoted or demoted. The entire Tingwei Mansion was basically punished, and All the iron and salt officials under the Shaofu were also dismissed."
"The government is making too much noise this time!"
One word fell.
Everyone in the audience was shocked.
Even people who had little interest in this matter immediately couldn't sit still when they heard the news from the young man. They stood up suddenly and came closer and asked: "Skinny Monkey, did you hear that right? You said that the government has taken over the entire court." Have all the people in the Wei Mansion been punished?"
The skinny young man said with certainty: "I heard it true, and there is no lie. This is what the official who posted the notice said himself. If you don't believe me, you can ask other people later. It is definitely the same."
"The government really disposed of the entire Tingwei Mansion!"
Hearing the skinny young man's constant affirmations, everyone was still a little shocked.
The whole person was a little unsteady on his feet.
This is really a big deal.
The entire Tingwei Mansion.
Are hundreds of officials punished like this?
They had never dared to think about this kind of thing in the past. When they heard the news, they only felt like a dream, full of unreal feelings.
Zhang Liang's face darkened and he asked, "Did the official who posted the notice tell us the reason for the government's punishment?"
The skinny young man nodded and said, "The government must have said so."
"The death of so many people in Huai County is inseparable from the neglect of duties and laxity of officials in the Tingwei Mansion. After the last government issued a government decree, it was clearly stated that the status of merchants is no different from that of ordinary people, but the Tingwei Mansion has not done so. The corresponding rules and laws were formulated, which caused the great turmoil in Guanzhong, so the entire Tingwei Mansion was condemned."
"It's all posted directly on the notice."
"In addition to the Tingwei Mansion, the Yanguan Tieguan under the Shaofu were all dismissed. At this time, hundreds of high-ranking officials were convicted. The government was really ruthless this time."
"This eldest son has been told by others that he has a gentle temperament, but he is so ruthless in his attack."
The skinny young man couldn't help but mutter.
Shiren immediately scolded: "Don't make any rash remarks. The eldest son's move was obviously in compliance with the law. Hundreds of people were drowned this time. How could the government escape responsibility for such a big case? Qin Law Ben There is a stipulation that if there is a problem under the rule, the chief minister will sit down."
"This time there is a lack of laws, so the entire Tingwei Mansion will suffer."
"What's the slightest problem with this?"
"Since Your Majesty is questioning them, he has a corresponding reason. How can he allow you to wait aside and be speechless?"
The people sitting around murmured, but they did not refute this, but they could not calm down for a long time. It had been a long time since there had been such a big event in the government.
Even last year's trick on the alchemist and Xu Fu's implication a few months ago did not make such a big move. This is a whole big official office. The nine ministers of the imperial court, such a high-ranking official, still punished them just as they said. This makes How can they calm down?
"Little monkey, where are the others?" Toneri continued to ask.
The skinny young man continued: "After announcing the penalties for relevant dereliction of duty, the government also announced that it will promulgate the "Business Code" and "Industrial Code" in June this year to strictly regulate the words and deeds of merchants and make the current business laws prohibitive. It can be 'reversed' into 'prohibited without authorization by law'."
"Thoroughly and strictly restrict the behavior of merchants to prevent such vicious incidents from happening again in Huai County."
"In addition, a one-month safety inspection will be carried out in Guanzhong."
"To prevent a similar situation from happening again."
"besides."
The skinny young man spoke very quickly and said everything he had memorized.
Zhang Liang stood close and listened quietly. After the skinny young man finished speaking, he quietly left the crowd and returned to the room.
Listening to the bursts of cheers coming from time to time, Zhang Liang's arms trembled slightly.
Qin Ting's thunderous move not only shocked the people in the city, but also shocked him.
He felt deeply uneasy.
(End of chapter)
