Jiang Jiamin finally escaped from the evil punishment department, and his mood was not ordinarily good, even his waist was not sore, his legs were not painful, and he was fragrant to eat. For example, on the first day of his appointment in the Ministry of Rites, he sat down in the hall refreshed, and in an amiable voice, he was not too tired of teaching the officials of the Ministry of Rites for more than an hour.

Compared with Jiang Jiamin's red face, Dong Qiming can only be described as a gray face. finally waited for a once-in-a-lifetime promotion opportunity, but could only watch it slip away in vain, and no one felt uncomfortable. But can he blame Jiang Jiamin for stealing his position? blame yourself for being idle and having nothing to provoke Shao Xiang.

Under normal circumstances, when people are lost, someone can come to comfort them and send charcoal in the snow. However, not all of the people who came to appease were sent in the snow, and people like Yu Chengping went to persuade Dong Qiming for a purpose.

Because Yu Chengping knows very well in his heart: all enemies of enemies are friends.

But Dong Qiming is still grateful to Yu Chengping and was able to come to visit him in person. After all, in this situation, there were very few people who came to visit the Dong Mansion.

"This time, anyone can see it, it is Shao An's personal vendetta. Lord Dong is so innocent, just because of an impartial and direct advice, he broke off the road to promotion. ”

"It's come to this, what can I do?" Dong Qiming humbly asked for advice.

Yu Chengping touched his beard and said earnestly: "To tell the truth, Master Dong and Shao Xiang have already formed a relationship, even if they bow down in front of him, they may not be able to resolve their grievances." Instead of currying favor and being angry and taking precautions in every possible way, it is better to simply change defense into offense. You need to know that offense is the best defense. ”

Of course, Dong Qiming is not stupid, Yu Chengping and Shao An are not in harmony, and the government and the opposition know it. This time he wooed himself because he wanted to form a party to deal with the prime minister together. Although he knew it well, seeing that Shao An was slow to move Yu Chengping, it was not unreasonable to think that "offense is the best defense".

"Shao Xiang is so powerful, it is difficult to catch his handle."

Yu Chengping said with a smile: "Even if we don't have a handle, we can join him." The power of the Imperial Historical Observatory to hear about things should be put to good use. ”

"If there is a place for Dong to work, I hope the adults will say it clearly."

"Lord Dong is refreshing. To tell the truth, the impeachment recital has been prepared below, and it is a matter of etiquette, and I ask the adults to correct it. After finishing speaking, Yu Chengping took out the fold that had been prepared and handed it to Dong Qiming.

Dong Qiming took a quick look and saw that what he wrote was about the Shaofu housekeeper wearing and serving, and the passenger car sedan overrun. However, it is impossible for Dong Qiming to know the truth of such trivial matters. And Yu Chengping showed him the concerto, asked for advice if it was fake, and asked him to sign it was true.

Yu Chengping saw Dong Qiming's big pen and agreed to the joint performance, and his face was like a flower. With the signature of the official of the Ministry of Rites, the weight of the cantata is much heavier.

In order to seize the opportunity, Yu Chengping presented the secret music overnight, and before long, the emperor summoned Shao An into the palace.

It is rare for the emperor to summon him late at night. Shao An pondered for a long time on the way here, but he didn't think of anything big and was in such a hurry.

Shao An walked into the Heart Nourishing Palace, took off his clothes and bowed. The emperor's tone was as usual, and he said gently: "Flat." ”

The emperor sat on the throne, his fingertips repeatedly grinding the cover of a notebook, "It's not a big deal to call you here so late, just to let you read an excerpt." ”

It was not a big event, but let him enter the palace overnight, Shao Anxin jumped "chuckles", and took the fold nervously.

opened the list, and as Shao An expected, it was the impeachment of him.

The emperor waited for him to read it carefully and asked, "What do you say?" ”

Shao An hurriedly knelt down, "Weichen is valued by the emperor, and the official is the chief assistant, how dare you not respect yourself?" The servants have always been strict with the slaves in their households, fearing that they would lose their grace. Now that the adults have written a letter of impeachment, presumably the servants must have misbehaved, and the ministers will not protect them. Please ask the Holy Father to order someone to investigate this matter thoroughly, and if it is true, the minister will be condemned. ”

"Get up. You have grown up with me since childhood, and I naturally believe in you. Yu Chengping is jealous and has a bad relationship with you, I don't know it. The emperor picked up Shao An and asked, "I heard that during the examination, there was a crooked poem that was widely circulated, do you know?" ”

In the matter of crooked poetry, except for Shao An, only Zhang San knows the inside story. Now the emperor suddenly asked, presumably it must have been Zhang San who told him.

Shao An reported according to the facts: "The minister secretly checked that it was an old Xiucai surnamed Zhao who wrote the poem, and he failed the imperial examination many times, and wrote crooked poems to vent his anger, which is understandable." ”

"It is understandable to write poems, but those who spread poems among scholars and stir up public opinion can be punished. Can you find out who did it? ”

Shao An's expression was calm, and he calmly stated the facts: "It's Lord Yushitai." ”

The emperor's face was as cold as ice, "Very good, he dares to do such a thing." ”

"Your Majesty, in fact, this matter is not the fault of the adults."

The emperor didn't expect Shao An to actually excuse his enemy, and asked with a smile: "Oh? Whose fault is that? ”

"It's not a human fault, it's a 'rumor' fault." Shao An replied seriously.

The emperor came interested, "Go on." ”

Shao An hit the railway while it was hot: "Emperor Taizu set up the Imperial History Platform in order to open up the way for the widespread, and allowed the Imperial History to be heard. Even if the impeachment is wrong, it will not be convicted for words. After Emperor Taizong succeeded to the throne, he made it clear that his dynasty would not kill the imperial history, hoping that the imperial history would not be afraid of the powerful and speak up. However, after several dynasties, Yushitai gradually became a weapon of party struggle. Nowadays, the imperial historians claim to be outspoken and righteous people, and they are villains who attack political opponents. ”

After listening to this, the emperor pondered for a long time, "What does the prime minister mean, abolishing the 'wind and news'?" ”

"Your Majesty. As the old saying goes: If you don't break it, you can't stand it. I hope that the Holy God will decide. ”

The next morning, the emperor took Yu Chengping's recital and said to his subordinates: "I have a secret recital in my hand, Yu Aiqing, read it yourself." ”

Yu Chengping was overjoyed to see that the emperor attached so much importance to his own performance, and Kan Kan read: "The minister's imperial history is played by Yu Chengping: The ancient people who are good to the world are not only virtuous, but also diligent, and they are all diligent. Prime Minister Shao An, who admires the kindness of the saint, is in a high position. The people are not at peace, and they don't think about it; Siyi is not attached, and I don't think about it. ①…… And Shao Rui, the slave of Prime Minister Shao Cheng, is extravagant, and his clothes, carriages, horses, and shoulders are all over the ......"

The courtiers just listened to the beginning, and immediately realized that it seemed that Yu Chengping and Shao Xiang were going to fight again.

After Cheng Ping finished reading the tens of thousands of words of the book, the emperor did not ask the impeached person what justification he had as usual, but asked the impeached person, "What is the real evidence for what Yu Aiqing said about exceeding the system?" ”

"The minister is just a rumor, as for the evidence, it should be verified by the Dali Temple and the Criminal Department."

The emperor was displeased, "You just heard about it, and you dare to impeach the prime minister of my dynasty, is it too rash?" ”

Yu Chengping was a little panicked when he heard the emperor's unkind tone, and immediately overturned the preface, "What the minister heard is not groundless. Kindness...... Lord Dong, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, can prove it. ”

Dong Qiming replied stubbornly: "The minister did see that the housekeeper of Shao Mansion rode in a carriage and horse. ”

The emperor glanced at Shao An, only to see that his expression was flat, thinking that he was not afraid of the shadow, so he said: "Dali Temple quickly sent someone to investigate this matter." I and Zhu Qing are here to wait for the results. If it is not true, you will be punished as a false accusation. ”

Yu Chengping saw that the emperor wanted to investigate thoroughly, and he was complacent, and he didn't hear the deep meaning of the emperor's last sentence at all.

The morning of this day was extraordinarily long, and everyone stood in the main hall anxiously, waiting for the results.

The Emperor leaned on the throne with his hands on his back, squinting ahead. The prime minister stood in the first row, holding a wat board, and his waist was straight under the best black purple official uniform, as if no setback in the world could knock him down.

Deputy Prime Minister Sun Yi frowned slightly, and looked at Shao An quietly, not knowing what he was thinking. Gao Wei has already had a bad relationship with Shao An, and at this moment, he can't wait to find out something, so he can gloat.

Ni Hongyu, the secretary of the household department, and Jiang Jiamin, the new secretary of the Ministry of Rites, both showed worry in their expressions, and kept rubbing their hands back and forth. Peng Yuanping, the secretary of the ministry, was peeking at Sun Yi again, and when he saw the old boss shaking his head at him, he finally let go of a hanging heart.

It was nearly noon, and the people of Dali Temple finally came to reply, saying that they had not found anything violated.

The result is obvious, and Ari did not do such a transgression. Of course, not to mention that there is nothing, even if there is really something, one night is enough to destroy the evidence.

Of course, Yu Chengping and Dong Qiming would not know about Shao An's entry into the palace overnight. Suddenly hearing the bad news, the two of them were like frosted eggplants, painstakingly managing all the water, but they made a fuss.

"In that case, you are making false accusations." The emperor looked at the two kneeling in the middle in disgust, and Long Yan was furious.

Yu Chengping was still unwilling, "Your Majesty, it must have been Shao Xiang who burned the illegal things before the criminal department searched." ”

"The secret music does not go through the Chinese book province, and no one dares to open it. Besides, you handed it last night, and I will send someone to search it this morning. Could it be that the news was leaked during the search of Dali Temple? ”

The officials of Dali Temple hurriedly knelt down, "The ministers don't dare." ”

Yu Chengping also felt that it was impossible to leak it, and besides, he was indeed chasing after the wind and shadows, and there was no real evidence, so he could only raise his ears in frustration, ready to be scolded by the emperor.

It's a pity that they never thought that this time it would be resolved with more than just a scolding.

The emperor's gaze slowly swept over the two of them, and then turned to the officials of the imperial history platform, "The imperial historian, the inspector of hundreds of officials, correcting lawlessness, holding the outline and not avoiding power, is a clear stream of the imperial court." Taizu Taizong set up the Imperial History Observatory and allowed the Imperial History to be heard, hoping to open up the way. And for your own selfishness, you use your power to catch wind and shadows, and impeach important ministers. It is clear that it is just and straightforward, but it is actually the same party and the same party. ”

When he said the last few words, there was a cold chill in the emperor's voice, which made the officials below shiver. All the officials of the Imperial Historical Observatory were even more trembling, all prostrate on the ground, claiming to be guilty and ten thousand deaths.

The emperor didn't bother to pay attention to those people, and asked Shao An: "Prime Minister, what do you say?" ”

Now, the fate of Yu Chengping is in the hands of Shao An. Everyone looked at him with pity or snickering, just waiting for Shao An to deliver the most fatal blow.

However, Shao An said: "The minister thinks that Lord Yu has just done his duty and is not at fault. ”

The Emperor asked, "Whose fault is that?" ”

Shao An said: "It's the fault of 'wind and news'. Those who are allowed to 'hear and say things' do not ask where their words come from, and they do not blame them for being true. If another person tells the truth, he shall be guilty of false accusation and writing fraud. Although the officials and the imperial history are untrue, they are not guilty, and this is Xu 'hearsay and rumors'. (2) Today's imperial history uses 'rumors and rumors' to cut down different parties and take revenge by blackmail. Therefore, the minister asked to abolish the system of 'rumors and rumors'. ”

As soon as these words came out, whether they were the officials of the Imperial Observatory or not, they all raised their heads. It was rumored that it was set by Taizu and practiced for hundreds of years, but it was abolished like this. Yu Chengping didn't expect that his failure would lead to such serious consequences.

An official of the Imperial Historical Observatory who was not afraid of death shouted: "Your Majesty, don't do it!" If this system is abolished, it will really block the way of speech. ”

The emperor knew how difficult this matter was, so he personally went into battle and argued: "I would like to hear the words of loyalty and patriotism, and I would like to hear the things that are relevant to the evils of the times." The official imperial history can still participate in the impeachment of great evils and punish lawbreakers. However, if you don't take advantage of the villain, take advantage of the situation to make trouble, fake the public and help the private interests, and the owner does not notice it, you will definitely harm the good, disrupt the national politics, and do great harm. ”

The emperor has always easily not expressed his opinions, but this time he actually expressed his attitude at the beginning of the discussion, which suddenly made the people below dare not talk much.

Sun Yi thought for a while and stood up and said: "As far as 'rumors and deeds' are concerned, prohibition will be blocked, and indulgence will become a tool for party struggle. In the early days of the founding of the country, thousands of horses were together, so Taizu Xu 'heard about things'. However, now that this system has made the Imperial Historical Observatory more and more powerful, I am afraid that it will become more and more unstoppable. ”

The prime minister and deputy prime minister are all in favor of the abolition, and the six ministries will definitely follow suit. The imperial historians wanted to fight, but the chief only wanted to keep his official position and did not dare to speak. The imperial historians could only be angry and silent.

The emperor stared at the kneeling people below, and said sharply: "I will abolish the 'rumors and deeds' today, and you will not be impeached arbitrarily without real evidence in the future." Don't say anything more! ”

This move has caused a lot of public opinion in the government and the opposition, and there are those who agree with it and those who oppose it. Since then, there have been many proposals for re-establishment, but the emperor's attitude is very clear, and after several controversies, it has not been successful.

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(1) From: Song Dynasty Wang Yu (cheng) "To be missed in the courtyard", slightly changed. The gist of this paragraph: In ancient times, virtuous ministers who were good at governing the country were not only virtuous, but also industrious. Shao An relied on the emperor's kindness and lived in the phase. But the nations are not yet at peace, but they do not consider how to make them safe; The minorities of all parties have not yet been converted, but they are not thinking about how to bring them to them.

(2) From: Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty.

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These two transitional chapters address some of the remaining issues in Volume II.