Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 144: Changed to Shaoqing of Honglu Temple

In Cining Palace. The emperor was respectfully greeting the queen mother.

"Queen Mother, we are preparing for your birthday. Just wait and enjoy yourself peacefully."

"Yes, a few days ago, the Japanese country Taira Hideyoshi invaded Korea, but it disturbed the capital. Later Hideyoshi was probably repelled."

"Mother, please rest assured. The army I dispatched has driven away the Japanese army under the command of Li Rusong. Now there is war in Taira Hideyoshi's country, and all the princes have risen up against him. The Japanese army can no longer be a threat."

"This Japanese country has been disobedient and dishonest since the time of Emperor Taizu. Now that it has been taught a lesson, it finally knows some etiquette. The court has been restless on the border in recent years, and I don't know that the treasury is tight, so don't be too extravagant and wasteful. But how did I hear that Concubine Zheng printed books randomly and brought the matter to the previous dynasty?"

"Queen Mother, these are all small things, I will take care of them. Mrs. Zheng also wanted to give you a gift, Queen Mother, out of good intentions. Please don't blame her."

"You are partial to her." The Queen Mother shook her head.

"Mother, don't worry about this."

"My mother knows, but my son, even though you are the emperor, you must abide by the ancestral precepts of the emperor. You must not let the people in the world talk about the imperial family."

"I understand." The emperor reluctantly agreed.

At this moment, a eunuch arrived in a hurry.

At this time, in Wenyuan Pavilion, the cabinet ministers were discussing matters.

"I made a mistake."

"Which foreign story is it based on?"

After thinking about it, the emperor simply found the complete set of "Han Shu" and went straight to pass it on to his relatives.

"Since this is His Majesty's wish, of course we can only do it. What's more troublesome is that we don't know if this "Gui Fan Tu Shuo" can be printed, whether it is His Majesty's wish. If this is His Majesty's tacit approval or even a nod of instruction If so, the position of His Royal Highness, the eldest son of the Emperor, will be in danger. If His Majesty really wants to violate the etiquette and laws and the "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions", then we, as the heads of ministers, will have to fight to the death to remonstrate." Wang Xijue sighed. .

"I went to meet His Majesty in person, but Your Majesty obviously didn't want me to continue discussing this matter, so he just said that this "Illustrated Story of Girlfriends" was not printed in many copies and was not widely circulated. The imperial court just took the book back. This book is obvious. It must have been compiled by Concubine Zheng. But now that His Majesty has made it clear, we can't pursue it. If His Majesty gets angry and accuses us of alienating the royal family, none of us can bear the responsibility." Cabinet Chief Assistant Wang Jiaping said.

After hearing this, Wang Jiaping had no choice but to sigh.

"After His Majesty got the book, he said he would handle the matter personally and asked me not to worry about it for now. I'm afraid at that time His Majesty just wanted to make the matter as small as possible," Zhao Zhigao said.

"What does Your Majesty want our cabinet to do?" Wang Xijue asked curiously after seeing that the chief minister remained silent after reading.

"Zhang Xiao, I think you have watched too much "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", so don't give me any top, middle or bottom strategies,"

"Wei Chen is guilty."

Wang Jiaping personally took over the emperor's order, looked at it, and suddenly looked a little strange.

"Rumai, you were the one who first informed His Majesty of this "Illustrated Story of a Girlfriend". Did Your Majesty say anything at that time?" Wang Jiaping asked Zhao Zhigao.

"Dear elders, this is His Majesty's latest decree. Please handle it as soon as possible."

Just as he sat down to rest, the emperor recalled the conversation with Zhang Xiao in his mind.

"This is a major matter of the country. Your Majesty should refer to the historical books and the stories of this dynasty. Of course, if your Majesty also wants to refer to foreign stories, that's fine. As for how to deal with the current situation, your Majesty can do some things to divert attention, and you can also take some actions. It shows that there is still order in the palace today, with a clear distinction between seniority and inferiority, and harmony. In this way, there may be less discussion."

"Okay, okay, think about countermeasures. Don't mention the foundation of the country. Just talk about how you can deal with the current situation."

The emperor had just had a discussion with his ministers, and was lectured again by his mother. But filial piety comes first, especially for the emperor. The emperor had no choice but to return to his palace.

……

"Yuan Yu, take a look. I don't know what your majesty means now." Wang Jiaping said as he handed his majesty's decree to Wang Xijue.

"Removing Zhang Xiao from all positions, including serving in the royal study, and changing him to the position of Young Minister of Honglu Temple? Is Zhang Xiao offending His Majesty? That's not right. Although the Young Minister of Honglu Temple is from the fifth rank, it is also a noble position. ." Wang Xijue took it and looked at it, and was a little stunned.

"Cisuke, can you show me this decree?" Zhang Wei next to him asked.

"Okay." Wang Xijue handed over the decree.

Zhang Wei read and re-read the above sentences and looked confused. Then Zhang Wei passed the decree to Zhao Zhigao.

"Second Assistant, although I am in charge of the Ministry of Etiquette, Zhang Xiao's reassignment was not my suggestion. If I wanted people, I would not put Zhang Xiao in Honglu Temple." Zhao Zhigao received the order and took a look. , and quickly declared to Wang Xijue.

"This must be His Majesty's will, but this matter is too weird." Wang Xijue said.

"I am issuing an order like this, just to change the appointment to a fifth-grade official, and I am afraid that the Ministry of Personnel will be unhappy. The inspection in Beijing has just ended, and the inspection of civil and military officials returning from North Korea is still in progress. With this decree, the Ministry of Personnel will not be happy. The personnel arrangements at the border are going to change again, and the officials may think that our cabinet is looking for trouble," Zhang Wei said.

"That's right. Forget about others, Zhang Xiaona was involved in the planning from the beginning, and later went to North Korea as an envoy, and he also contributed a lot. Why did he demote his official position? No, I want to ask His Majesty what's going on. What's going on? If it goes badly, the civil and military officials returning from North Korea will also feel uneasy." Wang Xijue said.

"Yuan Yu, when you go to interview the saint, you should also pay attention to the country's affairs. I think Zhang Xiao's change of appointment may have something to do with this matter." Wang Jiaping reminded.

In the Imperial Study Room, the emperor was reading "Book of Han·Biography of Wife's Relatives". He happened to read the chapter about Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and became interested in reading the story of Mrs. Li and Zhao Jieyu. Chen Ju hurriedly came to report, and Wang Xijue, the second assistant to the cabinet, asked to see him. "Wang Aiqing, what are you going to do today?"

"Your Majesty, the cabinet has received your Majesty's order to arrest Zhang Xiao. I would like to ask your Majesty what mistake Zhang Xiao made. Now that the Korean War is about to be rewarded for his merits, he has made rash changes in personnel at this time. I'm afraid it will be detrimental to the overall situation. Moreover, His Majesty previously asked Zhang Xiao to write many book manuscripts. These manuscripts are basically Zhang Xiao's conceptual framework. If Zhang Xiao leaves the Hanlin Academy, it will be difficult for me to find someone to take over."

"Wang Aiqing, our Ming Dynasty is full of talents. Without Zhang Xiao, why can't we write any books? Now that Zhang Xiao has listed the framework, we can just look up the information and supplement it later. These books are not going to be compiled soon. Done, if you really need Zhang Xiao, you can second him as a writer. After all, Zhang Xiao has no imperial examination merit. At that time, I temporarily placed him in the Hanlin Academy, and there were voices of dissatisfaction among the scholars. Now let Zhang Xiao go to Honglu Temple , that is also a place where nobles and nobles are prominent. How come I, the officials of the Ming Dynasty, are allowed to advance but not retreat?"

"Your Majesty, the Battle of Korea has basically been considered a victory. Now we are about to honor the heroes, but at this time, Zhang Xiao moved to the left. I am afraid that the other civil and military officials who have joined Korea to aid will feel uneasy. If Zhang Xiao just committed some minor crimes, Wrong, now it’s better to forgive.”

"Zhang Xiao received gifts from North Korea in North Korea. Although he took the initiative to report them after returning to Beijing, he still kept the two maids given by North Korea."

"Your Majesty, in the past, Chen Tang of the former Han Dynasty sent out troops to assemble troops from all the countries to kill the Xiongnu Zhizhi Chanyu. At that time, some people in the court impeached Chen Tang for his false orders and the crime of embezzlement and bribery. Later, Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty still made Chen Tang a marquis and bestowed gold. . Because at that time, some ministers also interceded with Chen Tang, saying that Chen Tang was powerful in the Western Regions. If Chen Tang was convicted for these mistakes, it would be equivalent to avenging the Xiongnu Zhizhi Chanyu. How would he demonstrate the power of the Han Dynasty? Now Zhang Xiao only has a minor fault. , the imperial court will demote him, and I’m afraid the generals will be uneasy at that time.”

"Zhang Xiao also wrote... He is still young. This time he is just adjusting his position. It would not be good if Zhang Xiao suddenly ascended to a high position at a young age. Young people always need more experience. Wang Aiqing was afraid when Zhang Xiao was this age There is no position of this level yet.”

"Okay, then have all Zhang Xiao's responsibilities been cancelled? Including teaching the two princes. Because teaching the princes is now the responsibility of the Hanlin Academy."

"Yes, Zhang Xiao doesn't have to worry about teaching the prince. Zhang Xiao won't go to Honglu Temple right away to take up the post. If there is any handover of work, you can just handle it internally, so you don't have to report to me."

For this reason, Wang Xijue had no choice but to leave.

The emperor stood up and touched the globe, feeling a little sad in his heart.

"Your Majesty, do you want this globe to be moved?" Chen Ju asked.

"Remove? Why move? I just changed Zhang Xiao's official position, and I don't want to belittle him. It's just that he is too arrogant now. Let him go to Honglu Temple to practice and learn etiquette. Meditate." the emperor asked.

"The minister obeys the order. There is one more thing, what should Princess Yongning do?" Chen Ju asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Princess Yongning is also continuing to write "The Biography of Women". Should we also ask the princess to stop writing it?"

"I am just a biological sister, so let her write it, but you can remind the princess how to do it. Let her write it and read it for yourself. Don't spread it to others." The emperor said.

In this way, Zhang Xiao's errand in the Hanlin Academy came to an end. Zhang Xiao didn't go home first when he left the palace. He went directly to the Hanlin Academy and started packing his personal belongings. Zhang Xiao did not touch the relevant manuscript he had written, but was just cleaning up his own debris. The colleagues nearby saw Zhang Xiao's behavior of packing up his belongings today. Although it was a little strange, no one took the initiative to ask. Zhang Xiao also slowly started to tidy up in his study room.

Just as Zhang Xiao was slowly cleaning up, officials from the Hanlin Academy saw Wang Xijue walking in.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to the Second Assistant." All the officials saluted Wang Xijue one after another.

Wang Xijue nodded slightly and walked straight to Zhang Xiao's study.

"The second assistant is busy with official duties, why do you come to visit your subordinate?" Zhang Xiao, who was packing his belongings, saw Wang Xijue arriving and quickly saluted.

"There is no need to be polite Minglue. I don't understand what's going on now. I just met with the Holy One to tell him about you, but His Majesty has already decided to let you leave the Hanlin Academy. If you go to New Yamen, don’t slack off, work hard and perform well, His Majesty will still remember you.”

"Thank you, Second Assistant." Zhang Xiao was really touched that an official of any rank was still willing to speak for him.

"You don't need to pack these things now. I will arrange for someone to pack them for you and deliver them to your home. Let's talk first."

"Thank you Jisuke."

"Minglue, do you know where you are going?"

"I don't know. His Majesty just said that I would be relieved of all my duties and all the errands I was doing would stop. I don't know what official I will be appointed to in the future."

"His Majesty's decree is for you to go to Honglu Temple to be a young minister. You should know something about what Honglu Temple does."

"Honglu Temple is mainly responsible for court gatherings, guests, and good and bad rites."

"Yes, the work there is much less than that of the Hanlin Academy."

"I'm ashamed of myself. I often work at home, and later I went on a diplomatic mission to North Korea. I really don't spend much time working in the Hanlin Academy."

"At that time, you also had the errand of walking around the imperial study room. I also know that you were very busy, and you also did a lot of work. Now that you are gone, I don't know what to do with the books you participated in compiling. Especially running newspapers, writing "The Rise of Great Powers", and supplementing "History of the Yuan Dynasty", I don't know who to take over these tasks." Wang Xijue sighed.

"It's okay to run a newspaper. The layout is determined mainly by the manuscripts. It is impossible for the Hanlin Academy to write all the manuscripts themselves. It can also solicit manuscripts from court officials, well-known scholars and even ordinary people, and then pay a polishing fee. You don't have to pay a lot. , the manuscripts are guaranteed to come in in droves. For "The Rise of the Great Powers", Xiaguan wrote the Timur chapter and the Ottoman chapter, and now it is the Franji chapter. Chen has written "The Song of Cid" and "The Conquest of Mexico", which also It tells a lot about the history of Fo Langji. Now there is a foreign monk Matteo Ricci from the Western Yi people. You can ask him about Fo Langji and other stories about the Western Yi countries."

"As for supplementing the "History of the Yuan Dynasty", I just put forward some ideas, and the ideas may not be correct. Anyone in the Hanlin Academy has a deeper knowledge of literature and history than I do. As for the story of the four great khanates, I, the Ming Dynasty, are full of talents. There are always people who have visited these countries, and if the court wants to look for them, they can still be found," Zhang Xiao said.

"You are thoughtful. However, when these books are being written, I may occasionally ask you some questions, so I will work hard to help."

"I am really ashamed that I left halfway through my work. If the Imperial Academy has any questions about these manuscripts, I will try my best to answer them."

"You don't have to go back in a hurry. Let me be the host. Let's all get together tonight to see you off. Your ability is so outstanding, His Majesty will have to use you sooner or later."

"Thank you Cifu for your kind words." Zhang Xiao said.

(End of this chapter)