Chapter 128: Base Confucian scholars, taste my court staff!

Master Ge Shouli could not speak clearly. This matter could not be spoken clearly. This was a trap, a trap waiting for people to drill into!

The Emperor's insidiousness and cunning were impossible to guard against!

"If you think I am harming you, you go ahead. If you think that I, Ge Shouli, am still acting like a party leader, then listen to me and don't participate." Ge Shouli said this much and did not give too much explanation.

Fan Yingqi was silent for a long time before bowing and saying: "Human relations are heavy, and the rites of mourning are the foundation of the eternal world. The observation of the four directions is related. I will go."

Fan Yingqi still felt that reinstatement after mourning should not be done, because it destroyed the great human relations. Throughout the dynasties, which one did not govern the world with filial piety? If everyone were like Lu Guangzu, then the world's rites would collapse, music would be ruined, and the country would not be a country.

Ge Shouli waved his hand. Since things had reached this point, he had nothing more to say. Fan Yingqi had followed him for quite a long time. When had Ge Shouli ever harmed his disciple Fan Yingqi? Since their paths were different, they would not conspire together.

"Alas, why won't you listen to advice?" Ge Shouli looked at Fan Yingqi's back, still feeling a bit uncomfortable. Fan Yingqi was a student he had brought up with some effort.

After Yang Bo left, Fan Yingqi had always visited him with the etiquette of a disciple, which could be considered as having been brought up for two years. He had always been relatively obedient, but today he insisted on going against the Emperor for the sake of the rites and laws that were not even followed in the era of Confucius, jumping into this fire pit. Ge Shouli had truly tried hard to save him.

Wang Jiaping also asked with some doubt: "Such great human relations, why does Master Ge want to obstruct it? If there is a reason, why can't it be said clearly? Covering it up like this, what is the reason?"

"You also want to go, then go." Ge Shouli waved his hand.

"I'm not going." Wang Jiaping immediately shook his head like a rattle and said loudly: "If Master Ge doesn't let me go, I won't go. I just want to know why."

"When the time comes, you look at Fan Yingqi's end, and you will know." Ge Shouli looked a bit decadent. His own student was jumping into the fire pit, and he couldn't pull him back.

Fan Yingqi left the Wenyuan Pavilion of the Quanchu Guild Hall. After walking a few steps, he touched the waist tag on his body. After standing still, he didn't hesitate, turned around, and returned to the study.

"Why did you come back? Are you returning the waist tag? You must think clearly. If you return the waist tag of the Quanchu Guild Hall and are ashamed to be associated with me, and end up in prison, how can I save you?" Ge Shouli frowned when he saw Fan Yingqi turn back. He hadn't even taken back Fan Yingqi's waist tag, so was Fan Yingqi going to return it?

Ge Shouli had originally planned to wait until Fan Yingqi was thrown into prison, and then find a way to save him. As long as Fan Yingqi was not the one gathering people to lead the trouble, saving a disciple who had made a mistake for a moment was reasonable.

But Fan Yingqi came back—was this to go forward without hesitation? For the sake of the rites and laws of the Three Dynasties, was he going to cut off the teacher-student relationship and his last way out?

Fan Yingqi hurriedly bowed and said: "The student has already kept the great human relations."

"Ah? Ah..." Ge Shouli raised his eyebrows and laughed, shaking his head and saying: "Sit, sit."

Fan Yingqi had kept the five constant great human relations, but he had only kept a little bit. Before he had even walked out of the courtyard wall of the Wenyuan Pavilion, he didn't keep them anymore and returned to the study.

Fan Yingqi was very good at adapting. Wang Jiaping and Fan Yingqi were both examiners in the second year of Wanli, the kind who took silver but didn't do things.

Fan Yingqi had studied all his life and believed that the three-year mourning rites were necessary. Not mourning was the rite of the dead, the slandering minister who was greedy for position, unfilial, unloyal, and a beast. So he left for a moment—this was loyalty to his own cognition. Then he turned back to the Wenyuan Pavilion—this was loyalty to his own practice. This was not a conflict; this was the unity of knowledge and action. His actions fully embodied the awkwardness and pretentiousness of a Confucian scholar who wanted both.

Wang Xijue thought of the faces of those Confucian scholars and shook his head repeatedly: "It's difficult, it's difficult."

Hence Hai Rui shook his head: "What's difficult? There should be a monarch like His Majesty to govern these public opinions. Chattering all day long without doing any proper work. Academic officials have not been dismissed for three years. Are all the academic officials in the world upright and square?"

Ge Shouli agreed extremely: "Right, we watch our own people, and just watch the fun."

"Master Ge, we can listen, but why exactly?" Wang Jiaping and Fan Yingqi looked at each other, still not knowing what this fire pit was.

Ge Shouli smiled and said: "Don't ask, just watch. There will always be someone who jumps out to be that chicken."

Hence Hai Rui and Ge Shouli were responsible for the memorials of the Censorate. The memorials of the censors were one after another. As he watched, Hence Hai Rui saw some clues. Zhang Chu-cheng, the imperial censor of Zhang Juzheng's Zhang faction, was also submitting a memorial saying that Lu Guangzu's reinstatement was a cliché.

Zhang Chu-cheng was Zhang Juzheng's iron-clad blade, the sharp blade that impeached Zhang Siwei and Wang Chonggu. As soon as this blade appeared, Hence Hai Rui immediately realized that it was unusual. Lu Guangzu was recommended by Zhang Juzheng, and Zhang Juzheng's direct iron-clad censor Zhang Chu-cheng was impeaching Lu Guangzu for reinstatement and not keeping the great human relations.

It was clear that Zhang Juzheng was adding fuel to this fire.

Hence Hai Rui and Ge Shouli discussed for a long time, really discussed repeatedly, and thought carefully. It was Hence Hai Rui who had a flash of inspiration and realized it, and after telling Ge Shouli, Ge Shouli was directly stunned. The insidious and cunning Zhang Juzheng and the little Emperor had joined forces to set up such a trap!

The net was set, just waiting for the base Confucian scholars to jump into it!

Ge Shouli was truly a bit afraid. Could Zhang Juzheng and the Emperor taught by Zhang Juzheng be any more insidious? Playing such tricks!

"Will anyone jump into it?" Wang Xijue didn't know what the specific errors were, but he keenly sensed that something was wrong, but he couldn't say exactly what was wrong.

Ge Shouli sneered and said: "Liang Menglong, Zhao Mengyou, Lu Guangzu—His Majesty has forced this for the third time. If the imperial censors still don't take action, then reinstatement after mourning will be the norm in the future. It's time to fight."

"There is fun to watch." Ge Shouli, the fun-seeker, just wanted to watch the fun.

This morning, the sun had already risen at the fifth watch. Amidst the morning drums and bells, the workshop gates and city gates of the capital slowly opened, waking up in the morning sun. The East Ye Gate was the only way for court officials to go to the Wenhua Hall for court discussion every day.

"Is this scene still Ge Gong's doing?" Tan Lun looked at the few people kneeling in the direction of the Huangji Gate and said with great emotion: "Playing this hand from the Hongzhi era to the Wanli era, haven't you played enough? Tossing about like this every day, I'm tired of watching it. Can't you change to some new tricks? Just to gain fame for a moment—no wonder the Grand Secretary wants to rectify academic administration. The Great Ming is full of such rotten Confucian scholars, and the world must have the chaos of loss and death."

"It's not me." Ge Shouli said quite calmly: "I have restrained them again and again, but they insisted on jumping out themselves. They are not even as smart as the fish in the Taiye Pool."

The little Emperor was unerring. When he went to the Taiye Pool to fish, the fish in the Taiye Pool hid at the bottom of the water when they saw the little Emperor. Those ten or so people kneeling in front of the Huangji Gate looked very dull.

"This time it really isn't Ge Gong." Wang Xijue said a few fair words for Ge Shouli. For this matter, Ge Shouli almost broke with his disciples. If he really wanted to provoke imperial power, it wouldn't be in this way.

"What words! It wasn't me last time either!" Ge Shouli's face flushed red as he argued: "It wasn't me last time!"

"Look, Ge Gong is in a hurry again." Wang Xijue said happily, walking into the East Ye Gate and entering the Wenhua Hall to begin the daily court discussion.

In the Wenhua Hall, Zhu Yijun said to Feng Bao with great excitement: "Did they come? Did the imperial censors arrive today?"

"They came, they came. When the sky was just getting light, the Embroidered Uniform Guard saw several censors kneeling in front of the Huangji Gate." Feng Bao nodded repeatedly.

"Good, good, good!" Zhu Yijun clapped his hands, his face full of the expression of a fish taking the bait, and said to Zhao Mengyou: "Battalion Commander, prepare the court staff!"

"Flick the clean whip and let the court officials enter the hall for court discussion."

Zhu Yijun sat on the moon platform, adjusted his expression, and announced the start of the daily routine, the imperial audience.

"We pay our respects to Your Majesty. Is Your Majesty's holy body at peace?" The group of officials paid their respects.

Zhu Yijun said with a solemn face: "All officials, please rise. My body is quite well, but my mood is not very good. In front of the Huangji Gate, several censors are kneeling again, as if I refuse to admit my mistake, they will starve to death there to fulfill their reputation of dying without decay."

Is he in a bad mood? Zhang Juzheng didn't see any bad mood in the little Emperor at all. Instead, what he saw was eagerness to try. This was the excitement of a harvest!

The trap was set by the little Emperor, and the layout was done by Zhang Juzheng.

The net had been laid, and the imperial censors had knelt in front of the Huangji Gate. The big show was about to begin!

"Who is their leader? Wu Zhongxing? It's this Wu Zhongxing again. Summon him into the hall." Zhu Yijun waved his little hand, wanting to summon Wu Zhongxing to finish this big show.

Not long after, Zhao Mengyou returned to the hall and said with a strange face: "Censor Wu said that if Your Majesty does not withdraw the order, he will not come."

"Oh?" Zhu Yijun was happy and said with a smile: "He won't come, right? What if I go?"

Zhang Juzheng hurriedly bowed and said: "Your Majesty, Wu Zhongxing is a Jinshi from the fifth year of Longqing. I am his teacher. I will go and let him come."

"I remember Wu Zhongxing is not under the Master's gate." Zhu Yijun looked at the official screen. Wu Zhongxing was not Zhang's faction at all, but Jin's faction.

"I was the chief examiner that year. I will go and summon him over." Zhang Juzheng hurriedly bowed. Wu Zhongxing disdained to worship Zhang Juzheng as his teacher. This was a very weak teacher-student relationship. Zhang Juzheng still didn't want to make things too ugly.

Not long after, the Embroidered Uniform Guard Zhao Mengyou entered the hall again and bowed: "Your Majesty, the Master didn't invite Wu Zhongxing either. He has made up his mind."

"Very good!" Zhu Yijun stood up and didn't talk nonsense anymore. This big show would not be sung in the Wenhua Hall, but in front of the Huangji Gate. Where it was sung didn't matter; the stage was chosen by Wu Zhongxing!

Zhu Yijun brought a group of court officials and rushed to the front of the Huangji Gate. The heavy palace gate of the Huangji Gate slowly opened, and Zhu Yijun walked in front of Wu Zhongxing.

"Your Majesty, the seat." Zhang Hong and Feng Bao brought a pile of small eunuchs and lifted the Emperor's dragon chair together, placing it behind Zhu Yijun.

Zhu Yijun looked at Wu Zhongxing and said seriously: "I am very disappointed. I thought you could make a big scene. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven—there are only seven in total."

"Your Majesty, there were more than ten before. When the Battalion Commander went to summon Censor Wu for an audience, seeing the situation was not good, five ran away." Zhao Mengyou also said helplessly.

Zhao Mengyou also had to admire this ability to see the wind and steer the rudder. After all, the imperial censors were always terrified when the little Emperor summoned them for an audience. After all, they had been scolded for two years, and they had developed a conditioned reflex.

"Censor Wu, your memorial is written very well." Zhu Yijun held Wu Zhongxing's memorial, first affirming Wu Zhongxing's literary talent.

Wu Zhongxing knelt on the ground, his face surprised, and bowed his head: "Your Majesty's praise is too much."

Zhu Yijun sat up straight, looked at Wu Zhongxing, and said seriously: "You said: 'Heavenly phenomena show anomalies, star changes are extraordinary. Everything must be questioned by the human heart to be peaceful, and then measured by the will of Heaven to be smooth, and then the changes of Heaven can be eliminated.'"

"Do you know how long a day is, how long a year is? Do you know the changes in the North Star? Do you know the angle of the North Pole? Do you know the precession of the equinoxes? Do you know the curvature of the earth? Do you know why the sun and moon intersect? Do you know?"

"A day is a day, a year is a year. The rest are all theories of prophecy. The student does not know." Wu Zhongxing shivered. He really didn't know what the Emperor asked.

"Feng, tell him." Zhu Yijun looked at Feng Bao and said.

Feng Bao bowed and said: "I obey the decree."

"A day is one hundred quarters, one quarter is one hundred minutes, one minute is one hundred seconds. A day has twelve double-hours and twenty-four hours. This is the degree of the gnomon, used for time."

"A year is not a year. A year is about 365 days, 24 quarters, and 25 minutes. His Highness the Prince of Zheng is measuring it."

"Throughout history, the North Pole star has changed five times, all because of the precession of the equinoxes. The fixed stars move east, the solar terms move west, and the earth year is smaller than the sky year, so there is precession. The North Star changes because of precession."

"The angle of the North Pole from the Shun-tian Prefecture and Huaiqing Prefecture differs by four degrees. The sky is high and the pole is far. If the earth were flat, there would be no difference. Because the earth is curved, there is a difference, so the earth is a sphere."

"The earth is a sphere, the moon is a sphere, the sky is a sphere. When the earth is between the sun and the moon, there is a lunar eclipse. When the moon is between the earth and the sun, there is a solar eclipse."

After Feng Bao answered the Emperor's question, he said with a solemn face: "Censor Wu, the infinite things in the world have their own natural principles. Forced attachment, connecting heavenly phenomena showing anomalies and star changes with world affairs and human heart stability, is the greatest theory of prophecy, the act of a glib-tongued person."

"If you saw a hydrofoil sailboat floating and speeding on the water, you would probably think a god had descended. Oh, by the way, you don't know what a hydrofoil sailboat is. You probably can't even distinguish between wheat, rice, and sweet potatoes. You are lazy and don't distinguish between the five grains."

"The former kings were ragged, cutting off the communication between heaven and earth. Heaven and earth, gods and humans each perform their own duties, not interfering with each other, setting the order of the world. Censor Wu's words are the greatest betrayal of the former kings."

"Your Majesty, I have finished speaking."

Zhu Yijun looked at Wu Zhongxing and shook his head repeatedly, saying: "Do you have anything else to refute?"

"The student is dull!" Wu Zhongxing knelt on the ground, cold sweat dripping. How could the eunuch beside the Emperor know so much! And he analyzed it clearly line by line. Wu Zhongxing wanted to refute, but he really didn't know!

"If you don't know, read more books. If outsiders find out that the Great Ming's Jinshi is at this level, you won't be ashamed, but I can't afford to lose that face." Zhu Yijun sneered and continued: "You submitted a memorial saying: 'Your Majesty shoulders the heavy responsibility of the world and is the focus of the four seas. You must rectify yourself before you can rectify the hundred officials and the ten thousand people. The imperial decree for reinstatement after mourning, regarding Lu Guangzu, is the ruler's command, so it cannot be refused. Guangzu must be violating his heart and suppressing his feelings, holding grief and pain in the temple.'"

"You said I destroyed the eternal foundation of human relations."

"When Liang Menglong was reinstated after mourning, why didn't you submit a memorial? Why let that top scholar Sun Jigao submit a memorial alone?"

Wu Zhongxing knelt on the ground and hurriedly answered: "No avoidance in times of war."

"Then what about Zhao Mengyou? Why didn't you submit a memorial? Were you afraid that the Battalion Commander would beat you to death?" Zhu Yijun smiled. Wu Zhongxing was a bit stronger than Sun Jigao. Sun Jigao read dead books, but Wu Zhongxing still understood the contradiction between mourning and reinstatement.

"Only military officials in the army are not allowed to mourn." Wu Zhongxing hurriedly answered.

This reinstatement of Zhao Mengyou could be explained by military officials. In the Rites of Zhou, military officials do not mourn, so there was the "no avoidance in times of war," taking a detour to avoid the method of mourning.

"You are really good at finding excuses for yourself. Since the Xiaozong era, military officials have also had to mourn. Are you so good at finding face for yourself? If you are afraid, you are afraid. If you are in a manure pit, you think others are also in a manure pit." Zhu Yijun sneered. Historically, Zhao Mengyou went home to mourn, and he was gone for three years.

The ancestral system did clearly stipulate that military officials in the army were not allowed to mourn, but after the Xiaozong era, they all had to mourn.

Wu Zhongxing was just trying to save his dignity.

"I am ashamed." Wu Zhongxing shivered. How could the little Emperor know so much!

Indeed, since the Xiaozong era, military officials below the Regional Commander, if there was no special decree from the imperial court to stay in office, had to leave their posts and return to their original hometowns to mourn. Vice Regional Commanders and Assistant Regional Commanders, if there was no memorial from the Regional Commander, Grand Coordinator, or Governor requesting reinstatement, they would be dismissed and go home.

According to convention, Zhao Mengyou should have returned home to mourn, but this was a Battalion Commander, not easy to provoke. After all, the criticism from weapons was still too scary.

Lu Guangzu was easy to provoke.

Zhu Yijun looked at Wu Zhongxing and said: "You submitted a memorial saying: 'The Prince requested mourning. Mencius said: Although adding one day is better than stopping. Then, finishing the mourning is the teaching of the Sages, yet you violate it yourself. It must be that you cannot bear it.'"

"Taking things out of context again." Zhu Yijun looked at Wu Zhongxing with a cold face: "Feng, tell him why Mencius said this."

"I obey the decree." Feng Bao held his hands. As a eunuch who rolled out of the Inner Book Room, his reading of the Four Books and Five Classics was extremely good. The scholars who took the imperial examinations opened their mouths and closed their mouths about "bitter study in the cold window," which seemed to be an extremely hard thing.

But reading in the palace's Inner Book Room was really going to kill people if you didn't read well.

Feng Bao looked at Wu Zhongxing and sneered: "The allusion is as follows."

"Qi Xuanwang of Qi's mother died, and Qi Xuanwang of Qi wanted to shorten the mourning period. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, no one followed the three-year mourning rite. Qi Xuanwang of Qi respected Confucianism, but he didn't want to mourn for three years."

"Mencius's disciple Gongsun Chou asked Mencius: 'Is it better to mourn for one year than not to mourn at all? Everyone doesn't mourn for three years. Qi Xuanwang of Qi is willing to mourn for one year, which is already very good.'"

"Mencius said: 'This is like someone twisting his brother's arm, but you say to him: Twist it slowly for a while. You still think you are teaching him to be filial to his parents and respect his brother. This is wrong.'"

"Mencius was persuading benevolence."

"Later, the son of the King of Qi's mother died, and the Prince requested mourning for several months. Gongsun Chou asked again: 'How should this situation be understood?'"

"Mencius said that the Prince wanted to mourn for three years but the objective conditions did not allow it. Even if it is one day more, it is better than not mourning."

"You cited the chapter, the complete one should be: 'It is because he wants to finish it but cannot. Although adding one day is better than stopping, it refers to those who are not forbidden but do not do it.'"

"That is to say, if you want to do it but can't, even one day more is good. Only those who have no one to forbid them but refuse to mourn are the beasts who have no filial piety."

"Mencius's words here criticize those who are not forbidden but do not do it. You cited the metaphor but lost the meaning."

Feng Bao finished the complete allusion and also interpreted Mencius's original intention. Mencius was not very concerned about the time of the three-month or three-year mourning rite. He criticized unfilial people who had nothing they must do but refused to mourn.

"The position of Minister of the Court of Judicial Review is vacant. Lu was originally going to enter the capital to be the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, but on the way, he returned home to mourn." Zhu Yijun looked at Wu Zhongxing and sighed: "You guys, isn't it just because you saw Lu Guangzu shout in the Southern Yamen, and the Ge clan collapsed in response, and you suffered a dull loss, so you are chattering endlessly?"

"Is there anyone who thinks Feng's interpretation of Mencius's chapter is wrong?"

Zhu Yijun looked at everyone present, asking the imperial censors kneeling on the ground, and also asking the court officials. Wang Xijue was the Minister of the Hanlin Academy. If he felt Feng Bao was wrong, he could raise a question.

"We are dull." The imperial censors kneeling on the ground looked at each other before bowing again.

Sun Piyang was sent out to be an official according to the normal process. If his Examination Method didn't meet the standard, who could he blame? The appointment of a third-rank official could not be a joke. This position, like Liang Menglong, could not be used without reinstatement after mourning. It was not appropriate to use anyone else without reinstating Lu Guangzu.

When reinstating Liang Menglong after mourning, Zhu Yijun had made up his mind. If any censor forced Tan Lun to the battlefield, Zhu Yijun would definitely kill him.

What kind of dog-fart "bone-stiff righteousness" of the ears and eyes of the officials—injuring the officials who are doing things for the Great Ming is injuring the Great Ming's vitality. It would be better if Tan Lun's body didn't go to the battlefield. If he went to the battlefield, he probably wouldn't come back.

"Do you still want to submit a memorial about Lu Guangzu's reinstatement after mourning?" Zhu Yijun asked with a smile.

Three of the imperial censors bowed again and said loudly: "We are ignorant."

"Since you three no longer submit memorials, then rise. Stand aside for now and watch." Zhu Yijun waved his little hand and let them stand aside. Four people were still kneeling on the ground: Wu Zhongxing, Zhao Yongxian, Chen Sixiao, and Ai Mu.

Wu Zhongxing and Zhao Yongxian were Jinshi from the fifth year of Longqing. Zhang Juzheng was the chief examiner that year. These two did not worship under Zhang Juzheng's gate. Zhu Yijun taught them a lesson, so there was no need to leave any face.

Zhao Yongxian bowed again and shouted: "It is truly the ancestral system. Since Juzheng took power, a demon star has suddenly appeared, forcing the sky. Guangzu is Zhang Juzheng's classmate, promoted and used, the human heart is dead, and the whole country is like madness!"

Zhu Yijun interrupted Zhao Yongxian's spellcasting and asked calmly: "Wait, the whole country is like madness? Where is the madman? Are you talking about my imperial uncle? I haven't seen the imperial uncle mad? Or are you saying the whole country is like madness—is it you three? The whole country is like madness—it's too exaggerated."

"Continue."

Zhao Yongxian had been accumulating strength for so long, only to be interrupted, and he felt like a fish bone in his throat. The Emperor asked him to continue, so he had to continue: "What the country values is nothing more than the great human relations! And the Grand Secretary is the manifestation of the great human relations! If the great human relations are not cared for, how can the country be peaceful?"

Zhu Yijun interrupted Zhao Yongxian's spellcasting again and asked with doubt: "The Grand Secretary is in power, how is the country not peaceful? Isn't it quite good? Did they lose battles in the northwest and northeast, or did the Great Ming's northeast have a thousand-mile Japanese pirate disaster? Isn't this news of victory coming one after another? Minister Yin has already gone to Luzon to show off his power. Where did you get the lack of peace in the country?"

"It's the powerful gentry who are restless because of land clearing, clearing up hidden occupations, and returning land."

"Continue."

Zhao Yongxian had finally accumulated strength, only to be interrupted again. He felt like he had a mouthful of old blood in his heart. He took a long time to buffer before continuing: "What is eternal is the system of the former kings. Now abandoning the system of the former kings and following the examples of modern times—how can this be allowed? I heard that the ancient sage emperors and wise kings encouraged people with filial piety, but I have never heard of taking it away."

"Since the Xiaozong era, our Great Ming has worshiped the ancients and followed the eternal system of the former kings, and there has been the rule of prosperity."

Zhu Yijun interrupted Zhao Yongxian's spellcasting again and said: "Your rule of prosperity is that the northwest was beaten into a mess, and more than ten Regional Commanders and Vice Regional Commanders were killed in battle? Or is it that the Northern Tatars and Jianzhou Jurchens in the northeast repeatedly invaded, and the northeast people died and were in chaos? Or is it that the Japanese pirate disaster in the southeast lasted for a thousand miles? Or is it that the bandits in the two Guangs caused disaster for twelve years and could not be pacified?"

"What inevitable connection do these have with the system of the former kings?"

"You said it yourself: since the Xiaozong era, the system of the former kings has been followed, and there has been no reinstatement after mourning. Then your meaning is that the Great Ming's successive defeats, known as tribute, but actually annual tribute, are because of the system of the former kings?"

"Are you questioning the system of the former kings?"

Zhao Yongxian immediately fell into a paradox. If he said that the system of the former kings had an inevitable connection with the current national affairs, then the system of the former kings led to the Great Ming's worsening situation. After all, since Xiaozong, there had been almost no reinstatement after mourning, except for one case of the Minister of Revenue being reinstated after mourning.

But if he said that the system of the former kings had no connection with the current national affairs, then why keep the system of the former kings! The entire Confucian theoretical system had collapsed.

The Emperor was too difficult to deal with!

Zhao Yongxian racked his brains and bowed: "This relies on the current wise monarch being above, and the hundred officials being capable. I am very happy every time, thinking that the beauty of prosperity and harmony will soon be seen again!"

Zhu Yijun marveled and said: "You say it's all because of me that the Great Ming has restored such vitality? Listen to what you are saying, and look at my twelve-year-old age. Are you not ashamed to say this! When you speak, can you speak what you believe? If you are not loyal to the country, not loyal to the Emperor, not loyal to the country and society, you should at least be loyal to your own heart."

"You guys scolded me for reinstating Lu Guangzu after mourning, saying it was violating the ancestral system and the laws of the former kings, and then turned around and said I am a wise monarch. Aren't your words contradictory?"

Zhu Yijun's tone changed and he said sharply: "Are you looking at my young age and speaking so inconsistently?!"

"I dare not." Zhao Yongxian was directly labeled with the crime of deceiving the monarch and shivered in fear, hurriedly bowing.

Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng and the group of court officials, with a sad face, and said: "Master, Grand General, Minister of War, Minister of Revenue, Censor-in-Chief, all officials, they are bullying me. They are bullying me because I am young."

"The late Emperor suddenly passed away and ascended to the guest of the dragon, leaving behind my mother and me, orphans and widows. The ancestral system is there, my mother cannot preside over the government, cannot sit behind the curtain. Gao Gong bullied me and made me, a ten-year-old child, take charge. The Emperor is in charge, and the great country was handed over to me. I am cautious and careful, not daring to have any overstepping actions, but they still bully me like this!"

"Where is the justice of Heaven, where is the law of the King."

Zhang Juzheng, Qi Jiguang, Tan Lun, Wang Guoguang, Hence Hai Rui, Ge Shouli, and others looked at each other, looking at each other, stunned. Emperor, is your acting too forceful! Everyone is watching. Who is bullying whom?

Who is using their extensive reading to scold the Grand Secretary of the imperial court until he is bloody and unable to lift his head? Who is using the unity of knowledge and action to slap them one after another? Who is using their young age to grab the pain point and rake back?

Who! Is bullying! Whom!

Zhang Juzheng came out and bowed: "Your Majesty, among Zhao's many words, one sentence is correct: Your Majesty is wise, and only then is there today's atmosphere."

"Master!" Zhu Yijun clapped the armrest, anxious and angry. When it's time to cooperate with the performance, please don't turn a blind eye.

Zhang Juzheng bit the bullet and said: "I am the lecturer for Your Majesty, and I am the Grand Secretary of the country. I cannot open my eyes and talk nonsense, pointing at a deer and calling it a horse. That is the act of a treacherous official."

"Then forget it." Zhu Yijun waved his little hand. He didn't care that Zhang Juzheng refused to cooperate. It was true that the little Emperor was chasing the censors and beating them. Zhang Juzheng, as the Grand Secretary, really couldn't turn black into white.

"Your Majesty, the mourning period is the ancestral system. We request Your Majesty to take the ten thousand people of the world as the top priority." Wu Zhongxing, Zhao Yongxian, and the other four bowed again: "Only when the great human relations are planted can the imperial court be upright. When the imperial court is upright, all officials and ten thousand people will be one in uprightness, and disasters cannot be eliminated."

"Humph." Zhu Yijun sneered and said: "Who told you that Lu Guangzu was reinstated after mourning? Feng, tell him."

Hence Hai Rui and Ge Shouli looked at each other. Their expressions were extremely horrified. They guessed right! Sure enough, the little Emperor was creating a card out of thin air again. Lu Guangzu was not reinstated after mourning at all, but normally reinstated!

This was a fire pit of no return. Whoever jumped into it was a base Confucian scholar!

The Emperor was indeed insidious and cunning.

Feng Bao looked at the stunned expressions of Wu Zhongxing and the others and said with a smile: "Lu Guangzu's mourning period started in February of the first year of Wanli and ended in April of the third year of Wanli. The mourning period has expired. The Grand Secretary recommended him, so why can't he return to the court?"

Wu Zhongxing immediately bowed and said: "This is not right. From February of the first year of Wanli to now, it has not been three years."

Feng Bao looked at Wu Zhongxing and leaned closer, saying: "The state decree for mourning and keeping the system is twenty-seven months. Even for ordinary officials, there are laws for hiding mourning. Only military officials in the army can work in mourning clothes."

"So after twenty-seven months, do you think Lu Guangzu is the same as you? He went to the Southern Yamen Chongzheng Academy in May because the mourning period had expired. Ancient people discuss filial piety by looking at filial heart. You look at the mourning period. Mencius doesn't look at the mourning period. What exactly are you entangled in?"

"Do you care about the rites of the former kings? No! You are just using this mourning matter as a weapon for attack, attacking as you please. You don't even know the Great Ming's national system, yet you still want to be the ears and eyes of the officials! Are you worthy of being an official of my Great Ming?!"

Zhu Yijun saw that Feng Bao's threatening words were finished and said: "Minister of Rites, how long is the mourning period for our dynasty?"

"From reporting the death to ending the mourning, twenty-seven months." Wan Shihe bowed and said.

Since the Xiaozong era, there had been almost no (only one case) reinstatement after mourning, because the carriages and horses were too slow. Generally, when the mourning period expired, officials in mourning would write letters to people in the court to seek reinstatement. The court officials would recommend them, and after going back and forth, it was generally more than three years. So when people talked about the three-year mourning rite, it was actually twenty-seven months.

"Humph." Zhu Yijun looked at Wu Zhongxing and the others, sneering: "You chatter about the laws of the former kings all day long, but you ignore that the former kings' times were different from today. You chatter about the ancestral system all day long, but do you have any respect for the ancestral system?"

"It's just for the sake of private gain, excluding others, and being sluggish."

"Imperial censors, not even knowing the clear text of the ancestral system, impeaching court officials out of thin air—Battalion Commander, take these four people down and beat them with thirty court staffs! To warn others, in the future, if there are any discussions about mourning or reinstatement, they will all be treated as party strife and exclusion."

"I obey the decree!" Eight Embroidered Uniform Guards pressed the four people to the ground.

Zhu Yijun looked at all the court officials and asked: "They don't even know the clear text of the ancestral system. Should I send them to the time of the former kings, to be officials at that time, and use the sword of the Zhou Rites to be the master of this dynasty?"

"All public officials, these four people being beaten with court staffs cannot be said to be injuring the bone-stiff righteousness of the ears and eyes of the officials."

Hence Hai Rui, who was responsible for identifying the imperial censors, came out and bowed: "These four people have no bone-stiff righteousness, and even less righteousness."

"Their hearts are insidious, evil, and full of private gain, but on the surface, they are cautious and careful, always using flowery words to decorate their hypocrisy. In fact, they are jealous of the talented. For those they want to recommend, they promote their virtues and hide their faults; for those they want to dismiss, they promote their faults and hide their merits and virtues, making the ruler reward and punish improperly, and the orders cannot be implemented. Such people are called treacherous officials."

"They should be beaten."

Zhu Yijun looked at all the court officials and said: "Beat them right here. I will watch right here."

"Battalion Commander, execute the punishment."

Zhao Mengyou bowed again and said: "I obey the decree."

"Your Majesty, spare my life, Your Majesty, spare my life!" The four people were pressed to the ground, scared to death. This court staff did not increase their reputation at all. Lu Guangzu was not reinstated after mourning; they were just gossiping.

Zhao Mengyou took the Embroidered Uniform Guards, pressed the four people onto the long benches, and prepared to start the court staff.

"Your Majesty, it's better not to beat them to death." Zhang Juzheng whispered to remind the Emperor. Promotion should be gradual, don't be too hasty, and don't be too demanding, otherwise, you will be in a passive position.

Zhu Yijun saw that his political goal had been achieved and said with a smile: "They want to die, but I won't fulfill their name of remonstrance and dying without decay. Master, draft an imperial decree and let me see. Announce this matter to the world. If the ears and eyes of the officials in the world feel that I beat them wrongly, then come and discuss it again."

"I obey the decree." Zhang Juzheng found that the little Emperor's killing and punishing the heart was so smooth.

Zhu Yijun's goal was very simple: to determine one thing: in the future, if there are any discussions about mourning or reinstatement, they will all be treated as party strife and exclusion.

A 9,000-word chapter. "Base Confucian scholars" is what Xunzi, one of the Confucian Sages, scolded Confucian scholars with. If you think it's ugly to scold, you can ask Xunzi why he scolded so ugly. Requesting monthly tickets, Aowu!!!!!!!!!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 129 =====