Chapter 379: Who dares to force the palace and offend the throne? I am the first to say no!

Lu Shengnan, in these words, not only added the label of faction‑building for personal gain and eliminating dissent to Gong Dingzi,

and also used the ancient statutes and Jiangnan as a vital tax base of the Da Han Empire that should not be lightly disturbed as a reason to urge Emperor Jing Sheng Di to think twice before acting!

Emperor Jing Sheng Di, hearing this, became furious and then laughed, speaking coldly:

"Hahaha… you think you even have the right to speak of peace throughout the realm!"

"The treasury is empty, the people alone bear the taxes, and the court could not even muster money for the recent war in the northwest and disaster relief."

"And you expect me to tighten my own household, cut expenses, and divert resources for military supplies!"

"What about the gentry? Their fields are many, they never serve as laborers, and they pay not a single coin in taxes."

"Beyond exploiting public wealth for private gain, they also hide and evade taxes in secret, leaving the nation weak and the people poor."

"Should such precedents and such ancient statutes not be changed?"

Lu Shengnan, without hesitation, clasped his hands and said:

"They should not be changed! 'Only the supreme wise and the lowest foolish remain unchanged,' that is the sage's words."

The phrase 'Only the supreme wise and the lowest foolish remain unchanged' comes from Confucius' Analects, "Yang Huo" chapter.

On the surface it means that only the highest‑ranked wise and the lowest‑ranked foolish possess traits that are hard for the outside world to alter.

Here 'supreme wise' refers to those born able to discern right from wrong and actively pursue goodness, while 'lowest foolish' denotes those who are stagnant, self‑destructive, and refuse to seek virtue.

Lu Shengnan's meaning is naturally that the gentry class is inherently a tier above common folk, and therefore should not perform labor or pay grain; the gentry ought to be wealthy while the people remain impoverished.

Though these words are sharp, they are not without objective basis.

Beside him, Xu Zhuo's expression relaxed, and he secretly rejoiced; it was enough that the Son of Heaven was willing to debate the reasoning with them.

They feared not the argument, for the authority to interpret either the sage's words or the ancient statutes lay in the hands of their civil officials.

As long as Emperor Jing Sheng Di does not raise the slaughtering knife, they can, from every angle, pull countless sayings of sages from the books to prove that the New Policies are detrimental.

Emperor Jing Sheng Di's face darkened, his gaze sweeping over several people, and he barked coldly:

"Then whose words place the people as paramount? Whose are they?"

"Having flipped through a few of Zhuzi's maxims and copied a few of Gao Tou's sermons, you dare to babble about the sage's words here and attack the New Policies—how absurd!"

"Gong Dingzi went to Jiangnan to implement the New Policies, and you formed a faction against Gong; Tian Wenjing, Li Wei submitted petitions and spoke a few just words for the New Policies, and you even implicated them!"

"And you spout the hypocritical claim that the petty rise while the noble decline—utterly shameless, a degenerate of culture."

"I tell you, as long as I remain the emperor of the Da Han Empire, I will never permit you scholars who only utter falsehoods, speak empty words, do nothing practical, and ignore the greater picture to sow chaos with such reckless speech!"

Emperor Jing Sheng Di's voice was icy; as he spoke, he rose and shouted loudly:

"Immediately send them all back to me, and also those who are forcing the palace at the Meridian Gate—bring them all away!"

"The New Policies are a state strategy already decided by the court and will not be altered! Gong Dingzi is a cabinet minister and will not be dismissed."

"If you dare again to form factions and cause trouble, do not blame me for being unkind!"

At this point Emperor Jing Sheng Di was too lazy to waste words; after the matter was investigated, Zhao Yu would naturally reserve a place for them.

Xu Zhuo, kneeling and stepping forward a few paces, in his panic blurted out loudly:

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! The New Policies harm the interests of the gentry scholars across the realm."

"By acting thus you are opposing scholars everywhere—are you not afraid of being cursed through the ages?"

"Please, Your Majesty, rescind the decree and give the scholars a response!"

This already counts as an open challenge to imperial authority, a threat against the Son of Heaven!

Emperor Jing Sheng Di, hearing this, trembled with anger, stared fixedly at Xu Zhuo, and said coldly:

"What did you say? Say it again!"

Xu Zhuo lowered his head, stiffened his neck, and said again:

"Your Majesty, implementing the New Policies means opposing scholars across the realm—are you not afraid of being cursed through the ages?"

Lu Shengnan and Xie Jishi followed immediately:

"Please, Your Majesty, think it over!"

Emperor Jing Sheng Di walked step by step from the imperial desk into the hall, stood before Xu Zhuo and the others, looking down from his height at the kneeling men, his gaze like a blade, and said coldly:

"It seems I simply do not wish to be at odds with scholars, and I cannot avoid leaving a cursed name through the ages!"

Emperor Jing Sheng Di's expression hardened, his cold voice echoing in the hall like a winter wind brushing the hearts of Xu Zhuo and the others.

Just as the situation grew tense, a report from the Internal Inspector suddenly came from outside:

"Your Majesty! Duke Jing and several Grand Academicians are requesting an audience outside!"

"Summon!" Hearing Jia Jing's name, Emperor Jing Sheng Di's expression relaxed, and with renewed confidence he called out in a steady voice.

In a short while,

Jia Jing, Chen Tingjing, Zhang Tingyu, Li Guangdi, Fang Congzhe, and Xiong Cili walked in quickly.

Jia Jing, clad in a python robe with a treasured sword at his waist, led the way while the ministers followed, and they saluted Emperor Jing Sheng Di, saying:

"We have seen Your Majesty!"

Emperor Jing Sheng Di, expressionless, said:

"Stand up! You should all know today's matter! The ministers are forcing a palace audience to demand I cancel the New Policies and even dismiss Minister Gong!"

"These scoundrels also claim that my implementation of the New Policies pits me against scholars across the realm, leaving a cursed name through the ages—what do you say?"

Emperor Jing Sheng Di spoke while observing Jia Jing and the ministers' expressions.

"Your Majesty is the Restorer, the New Policies are benevolent reforms that benefit the state and the people; if anyone dares to force the palace, threaten the sovereign, I am the first to refuse!"

Jia Jing's expression hardened, and he was the first to speak aloud.

Today he had just returned from the Liangxiang camp to his residence, first hearing of the incident where a treasure from Xi Fu smashed a jade, and then being summoned by Emperor Jing Sheng Di, learning that officials were forcing the palace and the New Policies faced setbacks.

Originally he had no intention of confronting the civil officials prematurely, since he was already gathering evidence of crimes by the Shenjing military heroes.

According to his own schedule, he intended first to purge the military heroes, consolidate command, and reorganize military affairs.

The civil officials for now only need to keep laying schemes, and once the military affairs are reorganized, they can bring a large army to crush them outright.

But plans can't keep up with change; it was unexpected that these civil officials were so audacious, conspiring to murder the imperial envoy in Jiangnan, and merely resisting the New Policies.

Now they even dare to stir up a palace‑pressuring incident of such magnitude—truly clueless about life and death!

But since they intend to make a scene, Jia Jing of course isn't afraid to confront them.

Given his present power, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he could single‑handedly push the world aside.

He opts not to act against the civil officials, not out of fear but to practice restraint.

On one hand he fears that a sudden, forceful move would burden the lower‑class populace; on the other, chiefly he is mindful of Jing Sheng Di's sentiments.

Only… given that we must now oppose the civil‑official gentry coalition, the overhaul of military merits must speed up; it cannot be postponed indefinitely.

Naturally, if we can leverage this incident to strike the civil officials hard, it will also be beneficial for devoting more energy to the army's reorganization thereafter.

Jia Jing's words just fell, Zhang Tingyu and the others immediately added:

"We, the ministers, have come late to serve the sovereign; we beg Your Majesty to punish us!"