Chapter 311

Forty, Chaos Ladder

"Ru Shixiong, this memorial cannot be submitted. You are in the heat of the moment; you must be cautious."

In the morning, in the courtyard at the entrance of the Yinbing Study, a figure in red silk blocked the path of the young Registrar who was preparing to go out to work.

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang held a closed red umbrella horizontally in her hand, blocking the right hand of Magistrate Ouyang Rong, who was hanging his arm and clutching the memorial.

After the secret night plot in the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion the night before, Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang saw Magistrate Ouyang Rong drop a light chuckle and turn to leave, and she couldn't help but frown with worry.

Yesterday's imperial decree followed, and the Master's calm and normal attitude made her even more uneasy.

It might be because it rained a little after the third watch in Prince Xunyang City, or it might be because of something else.

After returning to her boudoir to sleep that night, Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Early the next morning, she took a red umbrella, went out early, and as soon as the curfew was lifted, she rushed to the residence in Huaiye Lane in Chaisang Ward, blocking the Ru Shixiong who was preparing to go out.

In the courtyard, Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang, whose skirt was soaked by rain and mud, couldn't help but look at the memorial in Magistrate Ouyang Rong's hand.

Sure enough, the Ru Shixiong probably didn't sleep last night and was writing furiously at his desk.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong's expression was calm as he said to the worried Xiao Shimei: m. 42z

"I am not in the heat of the moment. I am very calm."

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang shook her head: "Then why didn't you sleep late at night and write a memorial to submit to the imperial court?"

"Can't it be written calmly?"

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang tightened her pretty face: "Ru Shixiong, don't quibble."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong shook his head: "No quibbling, it's the truth."

He took two extra looks at the Chenjun Xie clan noblewoman before him.

She seemed to have had no time to apply makeup to cover up, running here with faint "panda eyes" to stop him.

After a pause, Magistrate Ouyang Rong asked:

"Xiao Shimei, didn't you also dislike the imperial court's policies before, and always say that I, this Ru Shixiong, had an attitude that was too indifferent and not generous or impassioned enough... Why are you stopping me now?"

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang curled her lip:

"Before, I was alone, with no connection to the imperial court, relying only on my preferences, acting with quick revenge, saying whatever I wanted, never thinking too much.

"But now it's different. We are two people; your official career is the most important, and we must consider it carefully..."

After a pause, Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang's eyes turned slightly red as she stared at him and said:

"I have to restrain this straightforward temper of mine so as not to affect your judgment. We need to consider everything carefully and repeatedly. I... I don't want to be a woman who brings bad luck to her husband in the eyes of others."

Her tone was stubborn and somewhat emotional.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong was stunned for a while and chuckled: "So, you are a virtuous wife now?"

"That goes without saying!" Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang raised her snow-white chin, looking a bit proud: "Ru Shixiong, just be secretly happy. Venerable Shan Dao read my fortune and said I have a one-in-ten-thousand face of a wife who brings prosperity to her husband."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong thought for a moment and pondered: "Does their Donglin Temple produce a lot of wives who bring prosperity to their husbands?"

Dodging the powder-fist kick from a certain virtuous wife, Magistrate Ouyang Rong smiled, then turned to a serious expression:

"I understand Wanwan's worry, but this memorial must be submitted."

"Why?" Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang's face was somewhat uncomprehending:

"Ru Shixiong, didn't you already know about the Donglin Great Buddha being located in Jiangzhou since last year and prepare in advance?

"I heard from Aunt and Wang Caozhi that the strategy for building the Buddha that Ru Shixiong carefully prepared combines flood control, not only not burdening the people and draining the treasury, but also benefiting the people of Prince Xunyang.

"What else does Ru Shixiong need to submit a memorial for? Is it about the Great Zhou Heavenly Pivot of Praising Virtue? But according to the atmosphere created by the Wei clan, opposing the Heavenly Pivot now is almost equivalent to opposing the Great Zhou legal system. Ru Shixiong, you can't be unaware of this."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong nodded: "I naturally know."

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang wanted to say something but stopped.

And at such a time, the Ru Shixiong was still submitting a memorial, which almost indicated an attitude of non-support, no different from opposition.

Who knows if this memorial would become a handle for political enemies like the Wei clan to attack the Ru Shixiong.

Since learning about the establishment of the Great Zhou Heavenly Pivot of Praising Virtue and the four Buddha statues the night before, Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang had smelled a rather familiar scent.

She had roughly guessed the subsequent public opinion trend and the court earthquake.

It would definitely be another round of choosing sides and expressing stances, and a reshuffling to clear out dissidents.

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang took a deep breath and tried to soften her voice:

"The imperial decree has just been issued, and the situation in Shenjing Luoyang is not yet clear. Ru Shixiong, can we wait a little longer, see the stance of the Master and the others, and the direction of the court situation, before deciding whether to submit the memorial?"

Magistrate Ouyang Rong shook his head: "Some things must be done early."

He looked at Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang and asked: "Does Xiao Shimei know what I wrote in the memorial?"

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang's red lips pressed into a line; she was silent for a while and nodded: "I've roughly guessed."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong looked at her, his tone serious:

"I did prepare in advance. The Jiangzhou main hall has a strategy for dealing with the Buddha construction, but what about other places?

"The world consists of more than just Jiangzhou, and not all prefectures have the conditions and luck of Jiangzhou.

"I have carefully read the imperial decree and the requirements of the Ministry of Rites. In order to cooperate with His Majesty's grand ceremony of Min Fengshan sacrifice at Mount Tai this autumn, the construction period for the Heavenly Pivot and the Buddha statues is so tight.

"Not to mention the standards set by those old gentlemen at the Ministry of Rites, which are also very high, with a restriction of a golden Buddha statue no less than thirty zhang tall.

"Such requirements, like the Jiangzhou main hall which was prepared in advance, can only be completed ahead of schedule by tightening the plan, barely reaching this red line.

"But what about the other three prefectures building the Buddha statues? Yangzhou, Guizhou, and Taiyuan Prefecture—except for Yangzhou, which is the most prosperous, the pressure on the others is very great.

"The so-called 20,000 strings of powder and rouge money donated privately by His Majesty is not even enough to build one Buddha palm, yet she repeatedly emphasizes not to burden the people and drain the treasury... Heh."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong shook his head:

"And that Great Zhou Heavenly Pivot of Praising Virtue, the so-called 'Praising Virtue Copper' raised from all prefectures in the world—in the end, isn't it still going to be spread out to the people? How is this different from adding another harsh tax?

"And from the local government to the central court, this copper and silver don't know how many hands it has to pass through, how much loss there is, and in the end, it is cast into this Heavenly Pivot of Praising Virtue. If it isn't filled with the 'fat and blood of the people,' what is it?

"Although I am humble, a mere Registrar, I can stay out of it, but I will absolutely not remain silent."

His tone was calm as he bypassed Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang, took the memorial, and strode toward the outside of the courtyard.

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang was moved, looking back at his back and asking:

"But the night before in the study, didn't Ru Shixiong advise Uncle Li to submit a memorial to express support? Why is Ru Shixiong today..."

Magistrate Ouyang Rong did not look back:

"Because the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion is fish on the chopping block and only has this one path to take. Advising the lord to submit a memorial of support is my responsibility as the mansion's strategist.

"And walking out of the Prince's Mansion, putting on this official uniform, I am a Registrar of a prefecture; this is an inescapable duty."

Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang's eyes stared steadily at the Ru Shixiong's departing back,

And she did not stop him again...

In the morning, Magistrate Ouyang Rong submitted his handwritten memorial to the Censor who was stationed in Jiangzhou.

He strode out of this public office.

Only shortly after he left, in the courtyard of the public office, a figure of a woman in palace attire appeared.

The woman was dressed in a scarlet palace dress, with makeup on her cheeks and lips, her expression indifferent.

If Magistrate Ouyang Rong were here, he would recognize at a glance that this woman was the colorful-clad female official Mistress Miao Zhen, whom he had seen once on Luming Street in Longcheng.

Mistress Miao Zhen stood with her hands held, followed by two green-clad palace maids, one holding a book and the other lightly holding a vermilion brush, both following closely.

The palace woman first turned her head to look in the direction someone had left.

Then she walked straight into the Censor's public office and took a look at the memorial he had submitted.

She lifted her chin slightly.

The palace maid behind her walked over, took the memorial, and Mistress Miao Zhen lowered her eyes and scanned it quickly, nodded, and turned to leave.

The palace maid walked over, returned the memorial, and they left together.

Inside the public office, the old Censor, whose hair was combed meticulously, did not look sideways throughout the entire process after Mistress Miao Zhen entered, handling official business.

As if he were blind, he let her take and observe the memorial.

Both sides were somewhat familiar with this.

Mistress Miao Zhen walked out of the public office, beckoned to the side, and the two palace maids handed over the book and the vermilion brush.

This six-grade colorful-clad female official, who had come from afar, moved silently.

She held the book, pinched the vermilion brush, and wrote something earnestly on the book...

A moment later, after recording,

She turned and left.

Mistress Miao Zhen returned to Xiushui Ward.

She had come with the imperial decree team yesterday, but after the envoy escorting the decree entered the city, Mistress Miao Zhen took her servants and disappeared quietly.

She had another mission.

Mistress Miao Zhen took the palace maids to an ordinary house opposite the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion.

Inside the house, there were strict soldiers standing guard, with a sentry every three steps.

It was unknown how many soldiers from the Zhechong Prefecture had been transferred here.

Mistress Miao Zhen slowly climbed to a pavilion with a good view and continued to wait silently.

On the book that had just recorded Magistrate Ouyang Magistrate Ouyang Lianghan's small movements, the previous pages actually recorded the behavior of Li Su Xian, the Prince of Prince Xunyang.

Thinking of that middle-aged wealthy man's figure who was cowering, Mistress Miao Zhen by the window was expressionless.

At a certain moment, she pulled the corners of her lips.

The details of Li Su Xian's behavior when he received the decree yesterday when the yellow-clad envoy arrived were all recorded in detail by the vermilion brush behind Mistress Miao Zhen.

She did not add oil or vinegar, but she did not miss a single suspicious spot.

This was her responsibility.

The construction of the Great Zhou Heavenly Pivot of Praising Virtue and the four Buddha statues caused a huge uproar inside and outside the Great Zhou court.

First, the officials of most prefectures and counties in the ten circuits of the world submitted memorials one after another.

Some were flattering, some were advising on the pros and cons, and some were sharply criticizing.

The first two naturally accounted for the majority,

As for the third, it was not too few.

And if compared with these violent colleagues who were in the minority, the language of a certain young Registrar's memorial was relatively gentle and calm.

Regardless, after these snowflake-like memorials flooded into the Phoenix Pavilion of the Du Ziyuan Palace in Shenjing Luoyang, they fell silent for a few days before echoes began to appear.

On the third day, at the monthly Great Morning Assembly.

The Prince of Liang, Wei Wei Sixing, came out, leading the chieftains of the four barbarians, to petition the Wei clan Empress, with the names of a hundred officials and leaders of ten thousand nations engraved on it, and requested the Empress to personally write the plaque "Great Zhou Ten Thousand Nations Heavenly Pivot of Praising Virtue."

The Empress granted it and immediately appointed the Prince of Wei, Wei Wei Jisi, as the Construction Supervisor, in charge of supervising the project construction.

Some court officials and Censors came out, impassionedly opposing it.

Hua Xuanji, a fierce debate occurred in the court...

Noon.

The morning assembly dispersed.

The outcome was revealed.

The Great Zhou Heavenly Pivot of Praising Virtue and the four Buddha statues were to be built as usual, with the Prince of Wei, Wei Wei Jisi, appointed as the Construction Supervisor, and the Prince of Prince Xunyang, Li Su Xian, the Prince of Duan, Wei Youxian, and two other princes appointed as the construction supervisors for the four Buddha statues.

At the same time, a group of court officials led by Ji Qianyi, the Heavenly Official of the Ministry of Personnel, were dismissed.

Four Censors of the Palace and three court officials were given thirty strokes of the heavy staff, or demoted to Lingnan, or exiled to Liaodong.

The following half-month.

News from various places arrived one after another.

In the ten circuits of the world, public opinion in some prefectures was stirred up, and local scholars directly attacked the government offices to protest the construction of the Buddha and the "Praising Virtue Copper."

The Great Zhou had more than a hundred prefectures, and some places had a more fierce folk style, which was expected.

In particular, there were many protests in the prefectures building the Buddha statues, such as Guizhou, Yangzhou, and Taiyuan Prefecture.

Individual prefectural governments chose to collide head-on, directly suppressing them with soldiers, and several cases of bloodshed and imprisonment occurred immediately.

For a time, the imperial court was shaken, and the scholarly community's criticism became more and more boiling.

The Divine Capital court issued decrees to all prefectures, with stern wording, requiring appropriate and serious handling, and not to affect the construction of the Great Zhou Heavenly Pivot of Praising Virtue and the four Buddha statues.

Sitting in the main hall, Magistrate Ouyang Rong browsed through these official documents and news, his expression falling into deep thought.

When he got off work that evening, as the carriage passed the gate, he lifted the curtain and looked at the scholars protesting outside the Jiangzhou main hall—there were only a few groups, not many, and they became sparse at mealtime.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong thought they were cute no matter how he looked at them, and felt that the scholars in Jiangzhou actually had a pretty good temper and gave him a lot of face; well, they had the salty-fish characteristics of the Jiangzhou area...

It was just that he didn't know if the news of this wave of bloodshed among scholars, after all of it reached Jiangzhou, would stimulate these naive and impassioned scholars again.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong sighed lightly and put down the curtain.

He really hoped they could not forget their original intention and continue to maintain their style of slacking off.

Every day that followed, Magistrate Ouyang Rong, in the capacity of Jiangzhou Registrar, frequently went to the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion to "discuss" the construction of the Buddha with a certain Jiang Nan Construction Supervisor.

Although Li Su Xian was appointed as the Jiang Nan Construction Supervisor, he was only a nominal title.

Specific matters were handed over to the deputies below, Magistrate Ouyang Rong and Wang Wang Lengran, according to the rules.

It was just that Wang Wang Lengran still didn't care about anything, and Magistrate Ouyang Rong handled everything.

Of course, this was also because Li Su Xian completely favored Magistrate Ouyang Rong.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Wei clan's main energy was focused on the Great Zhou Heavenly Pivot of Praising Virtue that strengthened the Wei Zhou legal system.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong grasped the rare window of opportunity.

He and the Jiangzhou main hall did not wait for the so-called 20,000 strings of powder and rouge money, but directly contacted Wang Caozhi, Shopkeeper Ma, and other little partners.

Everyone arrived one after another, and the funds were in place.

Finally, the plan to excavate Shuangfeng Peak and build the Prince Xunyang Grottoes, which was discussed at the beginning of the year, was launched and pushed forward slowly...

(End of chapter)

Hua Xuanji, among the more than a hundred prefectures and counties in the ten circuits of the world, officials who supported the "Praising Virtue Copper" and worked hard to raise funds emerged like bamboo shoots after rain.

Memorials of praise and support piled up again on a certain desk in the Imperial Study in the deep palace of Shenjing Luoyang.

The thorns were dealt with by killing the chicken to warn the monkey, and a portion of the pro-Li faction officials fell into silence.

Places like Jiangzhou and Lingnan became place names frequently mentioned by frustrated officials in the Shenjing Luoyang officialdom recently.

The criticism and opposition inside and outside the court were eventually slowly erased.

However, the criticism of the scholarly community in the north and south could no longer be suppressed.

Scholars everywhere began to discuss the Great Zhou Heavenly Pivot of Praising Virtue in private, and the public opinion boiled over.

Even Magistrate Ouyang Rong, who was far away in Jiangzhou, found that even in Prince Xunyang City, which had a relatively salty and laid-back atmosphere, many people were discussing it angrily.

It was forbidden to discuss it openly, but it was difficult to block the mouths of the people.

It was just that he also knew that this kind of public opinion, in this era, was difficult to influence the court's policies... looking up would only pour all the anger onto the Wei clan, blaming them for deceiving the Emperor and bullying the monarch.

After the New Year holiday, the first and second months of the first year of Tianyou passed quietly like this, in the days when the officials and people of the world watched the wind and waves of the Shenjing Luoyang court.

And the matter that worried Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang in the Prince Xunyang Prince's Mansion never happened.

It seemed that no one had paid attention to the Ru Shixiong's memorial.

Among the series of demotion edicts issued from Shenjing Luoyang, his name was never there.

Unlike those "demoted celebrities" who were demoted by the Empress but famous throughout the world and praised by the scholarly community.

Magistrate Ouyang Rong was like someone who had been forgotten.

However, this also made people who cared about him, like Chenjun Xie Chenjun Xie Lingjiang, quietly breathe a sigh of relief.

(End of chapter)