Early morning, Royal Palace.
Jian Fu came to the morning court as usual with a big belly. He found his place in the hall and stood for a while. All the civil and military officials were almost there, but he could not find Wan Xiong.
"This kid won't oversleep, right?" Jian Fu murmured.
Chen Dong on the side saw that he was distracted and didn't think much about it. He simply said hello to him and stopped communicating with him.
Jian Fu suddenly thought that Wang Daofan sent someone to take away the account books from their warehouse two days ago, but it seems that they haven't returned them yet.
Thinking of this, Jian Fu felt a little uneasy.
On the stage, Wang Daofan was presiding over the morning court as usual, but Jian Fu had no intention of listening to what he said. Anyway, it was like this on weekdays. Wang Daofan was responsible for laying things out, and they just pretended to discuss it for a long time. In the end, they just said, we all listen to the second prince, and then Jiang Ruoting was responsible for telling what to do in the end.
But today the hall was surprisingly quiet. Wang Daofan stood in front of the officials with an expressionless face. The second prince stood aside, also silent. When the civil and military officials in the court saw this, they could not figure out the situation. They looked at each other and did not dare to say a word.
"Prime Minister, are you going to make it to the morning court today? If not, please leave the court early so that I can go back and catch up on my sleep." Zhou Ruoxiao said with a yawn, sleepiness written all over his face.
The officials looked at Zhou Ruoxiao with eyes full of surprise and sympathy, and secretly whispered about the ignorance and fearlessness of King Xiaoyao.
"If he dares to come forward at this time, King Xiaoyao is afraid that he will get into trouble with the prime minister and the second prince."
"After all, King Xiaoyao rarely spends time in the court and doesn't understand the rules here."
"Hey, didn't you see that those first-class ministers didn't dare to speak? If he jumped out at this time, wouldn't he find something to do for himself?"
Jian Fu thought to himself, "This young man thinks he is righteous after having some military exploits on the battlefield. Little does he know that this court is more dangerous than that battlefield."
The officials saw the Prime Minister's face becoming uncertain. Their eyes were not on Zhou Ruoxiao, but on the second prince above the main hall.
"Since King Xiaoyao can't stay here in the court, why not take a few people to go shopping outside Chang'an City. Recently, many merchants have complained that there is a group of bandits outside Chang'an City who specialize in robbing merchants who leave the city. It just so happens that the Red Dragon Army has not had much trouble recently. Well, why don't you take them with you to protect the merchants who are leaving the city."
Wang Daofan looked at Zhou Ruoxiao with a smile. Zhou Ruoxiao was stunned when he heard the words. He looked at Wang Daofan, bowed and said, "Thank you, Prime Minister."
The officials below were whispering again.
"The eldest prince's Red Dragon Army cannot be saved."
"This is all that's left of an order."
"Please be quiet." Wang Daofan returned to his expressionless expression.
The majestic voice silenced the hall instantly.
As the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, Chen Dong stood in the first row of the hundred officials. With a fifth-grade cultivation level, he felt that the sound was like the weight of a mountain. At that moment, he could hardly breathe.
bang
Chen Dong looked sideways and saw Jian Fu, the Secretary of the Ministry of War beside him, kneeling on the ground with a thud. The fat on his face was shaking and his neck was covered with sweat.
Chen Dong felt a chill in his heart and quietly moved his position to put some distance between himself and the kneeling Jian Fu.
At the same time, Jian Fu, who was kneeling on the ground, was extremely panicked. He had a heavy weight on his shoulders, as if it was going to press him deep into the ground. He could clearly feel the Prime Minister's majestic eyes staring directly at him without raising his head, as if he could see through his whole being.
"Master Jian, do you know why I want you to kneel down?" Wang Daofan said slowly, his old face full of exhaustion.
"I don't know what my humble position is. Please... Prime Minister, please make it clear." Jian Fu said tremblingly.
"You're still pretending to be here!" Wang Daofan's eyes widened angrily and he shouted, "Well, Jian Fu, you're still being stubborn at this time. I don't think you'll shed tears until you see the coffin!"
All the officials were shocked and lowered their heads without daring to speak, but Zhou Ruoxiao watched the show with great interest. Jiang Ruoting looked back at Zhou Ruoxiao thoughtfully.
Wang Daofan pulled out a ledger from his robe sleeve and threw it directly into Jian Fu's face.
Jian Fu ignored the deep red mark on his face and quickly opened the familiar account book and began to read through it.
He was originally the chief clerk of a small warehouse in the Ministry of War, but later joined the eldest prince. Because of his flexible mind and conscientiousness, he finally became Minister of War with Huo Long's support.
He quickly flipped through page after page. The more he flipped through, the more his hands shook. The more he flipped through, the colder his heart became.
Snapped
The ledger fell to the ground. His face was earth-colored, his lips were trembling, and he couldn't say a word.
"I have to commend Wan Xiong, the head of the Treasury Department. Although he didn't stop you from taking military supplies from the warehouse again and again for so many years, now he dares to report it and has been jailed in Dali Temple."
Wang Daofan approached Jian Fu step by step. Jian Fu quickly knocked his head on the ground and shouted to Jiang Ruoting beside him, "Second prince, this... someone must have framed me. You have to make the decision for me!"
Jiang Ruoting just turned sideways to avoid the gift, without even looking at him.
"I'm not asking you to kneel to the second prince. It's useless to kneel to him." Wang Daofan said solemnly, "You have to kneel to your own conscience. Is your doing this worthy of the official uniform you are wearing? Is it worthy of the court's trust in you? Tangtang A first-grade official and Minister of War actually dares to engage in the business of reselling military supplies. Well done. If I don't arrest you today, will you sell the entire palace in two years?"
"I don't dare to hold such a low position. It must be Wan Xiong who framed me. Your Excellency is aware of it." Jian Fu burst into tears, crawled up to Wang Daofan with his buttocks twisted, and kowtowed heavily.
All the officials turned their heads and sighed.
Chen Dong was filled with emotion when he saw Jian Fu's ugly appearance at this time. The civil and military officials in this court may say that they are more upright and upright than the others, but secretly, who has really done nothing bad?
Take him for example, his annual salary is only five hundred taels, which is not enough to support his wife, concubines, children, and servants in his mansion.
That is to say, he is a first-class official. He does not have a bunch of superiors to give him gifts. Instead, his subordinates have to give him some gifts during the holidays.
In fact, the countless small officials in Chang'an City are the most difficult group of people, and they live on thin ice all year round. During the holidays, you have to tighten your belt and save some money from your already meager salary to honor your boss. There's no way, everyone is like this. If you don't follow suit, will your boss look good on you? If your boss makes you unhappy and gives you little shoes, will you still be happy?
Scholars have lived in poverty for several years, but they all have the ideal of obtaining fame and fame, so that their wives and children will no longer suffer, and the common people can live a good life. But once they actually step into this court, they will realize that several years of living in the cold window cannot change their ignorance at that time.
Chen Dong suddenly remembered a friend from his past. In fact, we can't even call him friends. At that time, he and I were both in charge of the Criminal Department, and we had more contact with him.
Later, they encountered a case in which the eldest son of the Minister of Etiquette accidentally beat to death a tavern clerk while drunk.
The tavern clerk came from a poor family and had a seventy-year-old mother at home. This guy's old mother was not afraid of the coercion and inducement of the Minister of Rites, and insisted on severely punishing the murderer.
Upon seeing this, the Minister of Rites secretly sent a large sum of money. Chen Dong still remembered what the Minister of Rites said when he saw that he was hesitant to accept it. He said, "Young man, I have seen many young people like you. When they see this pile of money, some of them directly refuse it, and some of them accept it directly. But there are very few who hesitate. Hesitation means that you are thinking It makes sense. I admire you very much because you have the talent to be an official, so I remind you that this money is for you, not for you."
In the end, the Minister of Rites did not take away the money on the table. He looked at the money all night. The next day, he kept a small part of the money and gave the rest to the Minister of Punishment. The Minister of Punishment patted him on the shoulder and asked him to investigate a new case. His eyes were full of meaning. He immediately said that he should let go of the case on hand. The Shangshu of the Punishment Department laughed and nodded.
But his friend was still pursuing this case. Later, he didn't see his friend for a while. When he inquired about it, he found out that his friend was dead. He died in his own home. The police briefly checked and said it was a thief. Break into a house and kill someone for money. Even though they searched for a long time, they didn't find a single coin from the small adobe house.
His two children cried very sadly. His body was wrapped in a straw mat. Because they had no money to buy a coffin, they finally dug a hole and buried it hastily.
Later, he heard that his children also died and were buried next to his grave.
After a long time, one year during the Qingming Festival, he thought about going to burn incense sticks, but he searched for a long time on the top of the mountain, where the weeds were luxuriant, but he couldn't find his grave.
There are several people in this court who are not scholars. Who can't write the four words "property, justice and integrity"? Who doesn’t understand the suffering of these people? There is no shortage of smart people in this court. Everyone is pretending to be a fool. But some people pretend to be too similar and become fools. Some people pretend not to be the same and are beaten into fools.
"I have one more thing to ask everyone to discuss today."
Chen Dong retracted his thoughts and realized that Jian Fu had been taken away at some point, while Wang Daofan remained expressionless.
"Tomorrow, the second prince will go to Tianzi Mountain to be enthroned. Please be prepared for all the officials who will be accompanying him. We will set off at the West Gate at midnight tomorrow. What do you think?"
"We have no objection." All the officials said in unison.
"Retreat from the court." Wang Daofan said calmly.
The officials dispersed one after another, the hall gradually became deserted, and He Shengbai slowly walked towards Wang Daofan.
"Master He, what do you want to do?" Wang Daofan asked with a smile.
"I will not let him go this time. I hope the Prime Minister will take care of himself. The prison in Dali Temple is not something you can get in and out of."
He Shengbai left a message, turned around and left.
The smile on Wang Daofan's face gradually dissipated. Jiang Ruoting on the side looked at his leaving back with interest and said with a smile, "This is a very upright character."
"The stone has too many edges and corners, which will make it more painful to grind, and the stone will naturally bounce." Wang Daofan murmured, "But after the first grinding, there will naturally be a second."
