Hongwu Survival Guide

Chapter 25 Liu Ji Resigns
Two events happened in the early morning of the seventh day of the first lunar month, forming an interesting contrast that all officials talked about privately.

The first is Liu Ji's resignation.

Zhu Yuanzhang asked the ceremonial officer to read out the imperial edict he had personally drawn up on the spot, citing Liu Ji's resignation letter.

At the same time, Liu Ji resigned from the position of imperial historian and Taishiling, and promoted from second-rank Zishan doctor to first-rank Ronglu doctor. He was rewarded with 1000 liang of silver, ten pieces of colorful satin, and ten hectares of land.

These are not unusual.

It was later that was discussed by everyone.

At the same time, the edict bestowed upon Liu Ji's father, Liu Jue, the Duke of Yongjia County, and Liu Ji's mother, Mrs. Fu, the title of Lady of Yongjia County.

Liu Ji's ancestral home is Qingtian, which used to belong to Yongjia County.

The layman watched the excitement.

However, there are not many laymen who can ascend to the Great Ming Dynasty Hall.

The Ministry of Rites spread the gossip the day before. On the afternoon of the sixth day, His Majesty the Emperor asked the Ministry of Rites to discuss the reward for Liu Ji's resignation and the gift to his parents.

Rewards are not a big problem.

When an official retires, if he returns with honor, he usually resigns from his post and becomes a dismissed official, and then there are rewards such as money, silk and land, or he can continue to receive his salary.

The key is the posthumous gift to Liu Ji's parents.

Both of Liu Ji's parents have passed away. According to Liu Ji's official position as the second-rank censor Zhongcheng, and he has no title, and according to the old rules, his father can posthumously present a literary official of the same level or a higher level of grace. For example, Liu Ji got the title today. From Yipin Ronglu doctor.

The mother is sealed as 'Madame'.

In the old system of the Song Dynasty, the mother and wife of an official of the first and second ranks could be named 'Madam', the third rank was 'Shu Ren', the fourth rank was 'Gong Ren', and so on.

His Majesty the Emperor, who had just ascended the throne recently, once again played against common sense, and accidentally posthumously bestowed upon Liu Ji's father "Yongjia County Duke" and Liu Ji's mother Fu as "Yongjia County Lady".

This……

Can you still come this way?
You know, Liu Ji doesn't have any titles!
According to the usual practice, usually only the ministers who own the title can obtain the title of the same level or higher level through posthumous gifts from their parents.

Then think of all kinds of recent days.

Liu Ji made Zhu Yuanzhang so angry that he walked away on the spot on New Year's Eve, and later it was reported that the superior had a heart attack because of this.

After that, everyone wanted to wait for the fourth day of the first lunar month to watch the excitement. Unexpectedly, on the fourth day of the first lunar month, the day when Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, the sky was clear, the stars were clear, and the sun was bright.

Good luck!

I didn't see it as lively.

Then, His Majesty the Emperor apparently pretended to have forgotten what happened on New Year's Eve years ago, but Liu Ji did not. Although he did not pursue the killing of Cui Ji and others, he stubbornly chose to resign.

Based on the officials' understanding of Lao Zhu, it's no wonder that he didn't get furious this time.

Everyone guessed wrong again.

However, it is roughly conceivable that it should be the queen who has been the most talkative with His Majesty who has contributed.

The final result was this somewhat nondescript gift.

Even if there is no title of hereditary right, everyone understands the subtext of His Majesty the Emperor: Liu Ji insists on resigning, which means you have given up at least one Marquis!
No one doubts this.

After all, according to Liu Ji's achievements in these years, it is not too much to be named a duke like Li Shanchang.But this... great talent is an absolute great talent, that is, his character, he is really too stubborn, so that Li Shanchang is already the high-ranking Xuan Guogong, but Liu Ji didn't even get the lowest rank of title.

It has to be said that everyone who was on the sidelines, even Liu Ji's political opponents, really couldn't understand the whole thing.

What do you think?

A hereditary replacement that no one else can ask for, is it just abandoned like this? !
Another comparison is Fang Guozhen's audience.

Relying on a begging letter with words of condolences, in fact, of course, Lao Zhu was thinking about the overall situation, and Fang Guozhen was saved from death.Please come down to the present at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, the eastern Zhejiang warlord finally arrived in Jinling after procrastinating on the road for a month.

The emperor and his ministers played it right, and Zhu Yuanzhang rewarded Fang Guozhen with a mansion, and ordered him to live in Jinling without any official title.

No different from confinement.

However, compared to Zhang Shicheng, this is already a very good result.

At first glance, Liu Ji and Fang Guozhen seem to have nothing to do with each other, but in fact they have a deep relationship.

When Fang Guozhen raised troops in eastern Zhejiang, Yuan Ting ordered Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces to send troops to crusade, and one of them was Liu Ji, the governor of the Marshal's Mansion of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces.

After the Yuan court's crusade against Fang Guozhen was frustrated, it adopted a policy of appeasement, and everyone advocated appeasement. Only Liu Ji believed that Fang Guozhen was capricious and insisted that Fang Guozhen should be exterminated.Fang Guozhen also tried to bribe Liu Ji because of this, hoping that he would change his attitude, but Liu Ji refused to accept it.

Fang Guozhen was finally recruited to surrender, and Liu Ji resigned again in a fit of anger.

Why do you say 'again'?
Because from the time when Liu Ji was admitted as a Jinshi, from Gao'an County Chancellor to Jiangsu and Zhejiang Confucianism Deputy Promoter, to Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provincial Marshal's Mansion, and later to other official positions conferred by Yuan Ting, according to Liu Ji's own statement, "too much jealousy ',' intolerance to complex tools', it is really not suitable for officialdom, so Mr. Liu is either resigning from office or on the way to resign in his life.

No, on the seventh day of the first month of the first year of Hongwu, I resigned again!

back lake.

In the mansion on Huxin Island, Zhu Yuan was unaware of the series of commotions caused by him recently.

Because of the murder of Cui Ji, the head of the household department, and others, Zhu Yuan has been planning to keep himself more low-key recently.

After the fourth day of the first lunar month, the mansion is closed as much as possible.

After confirming the identities of Zhao Xu and Zuo Qi, Zhu Yuan didn't plan to take out any small items of later generations such as pens and pencils.He has already taught sketching and punctuation to the four women around him, but he has also clearly requested that it can only be confined to the inner house, and the books that have been checked are not allowed to be brought out, and the practice of sketching on weekdays can only be done in the inner house.

Zhu Yuan's daily life is also extremely simple.

In addition to regular meals and sleep, I occasionally read books and write a few pages of "production" manuscripts every day.

Occasionally leave the inner house to take a walk in the garden.

The range of activities is also very small. One is that he does not have that physical strength, and he has not been to the two-story book building on the south side of the garden until now. Second, if he can, he actually does not even want to go out for a walk. He insists on leaving the inner house, just to Let Zhao Xu and the two take a look at themselves, so as not to show up for too long, making them think that something is wrong with the little official, and then report to Lao Zhu.

In short, as a "butterfly" who came through time, in order to avoid the history recorded in "Book of Heaven" being changed, Zhu Yuan pursued not to disturb the outside world as much as possible.

So until the ninth day of the first month.

After lunch, the craftsmen who had been busy for many days delivered a batch of pens with the highest degree of completion.

Ten in total.

Or silver plating, or black lacquer, or carved moiré, or emerald emerald...all of them can be called works of art.

Zhu Yuan was no longer surprised at all.

Think about the craftsmen in ancient China who could make imposing ivory carving sets and paint picturesque landscapes on a grain of rice. What are these?
It just can't be mass-produced.

In comparison, the charcoal pencils made by the craftsmen are still kept in the most simple state, without lacquer or lettering.The difference is that according to the ratio of graphite and clay, the hardness of the refill is different, and the writing color can be dark or light.

Without careful distinction, the difference is actually not that big.

This is also Zhu Yuan's request.

No more tricks.

Otherwise, Zhu Yuan actually wanted to try to make colored pencils at first.

Among the ten pens, Zhu Yuan picked out two relatively simple ones, one black and one red, together with ten charcoal pens, and a four-piece set of measuring rulers that students often used later, made of steel, in units of feet, inches, and points. Although exquisite, it is the easiest one to make among the three kinds of stationery for craftsmen, and it is not worth mentioning.

After everything was ready, Zhu Yuan called Zhao Xu and asked him to send him to the imperial city in the east of the city, which is very close to Houhu.

(End of this chapter)