Chapter 4037: A sudden turn of events
Liu Ji stopped and looked upright, but his tears could only be swallowed into his own stomach...
Since Zhenguan, the government has been clean and honest. Of course, it is impossible for all officials in the world to be as clean as water. Officials will naturally scheming and secretly doing things for their future and interests. However, corruption with huge impact has never happened, except for the wise and powerful leadership of His Majesty Li Er. In addition, it is true that most officials nowadays still have some bottom line.
"If a man does not serve himself, he will be punished by heaven and earth." No one really takes it seriously and has a noble style and a clean mind. However, after coming through the troubled times of the late Sui Dynasty, he witnessed with his own eyes that the people were in dire straits and their lives were in ruins. The vast majority of officials had the ideal of "serving an official position for a long time and benefiting the whole country." It is a fact. On the other hand, as long as you are not a crazy person, there is no conflict in taking personal interests while taking into account people's livelihood.
This is still an era where feathers are cherished and reputation is cherished, so Liu Ji chose the latter between imperial power and reputation...
The officials of Shangshu Province were a little confused when faced with Liu Ji's righteous speech. Even though Menxiasheng had the power to refute the edict, it was incredibly shocking when His Majesty's imperial edict was actually refuted.
However, Liu Ji's words were clear and his attitude was unswerving. The officials of Shangshu Province could only turn to their headquarters uneasily and report to their superiors...
A burst of cheers broke out in the provincial government office under the door.
"The servant is so strong and strong, he is truly a role model for our generation!"
"In the past, there was Duke Xuan Cheng, and now there is Liu Sidao, who speaks out and remonstrates with others!"
"The servant is in charge of the country, and he is not subject to random orders, so he criticizes his ministers!"
……
Listening to the praise from his colleagues and subordinates, Liu Ji managed to squeeze out a smile and responded to everyone's enthusiasm. However, this expression of "he wants to cry without tears" in the eyes of others is a manifestation of Liu Shizhong's "reservation". He is indeed a great leader. A model of noble character and unafraid of power.
*****
"What did you say?"
His Majesty Li Er's eyes widened, and his square and majestic face was filled with unbelievable surprise.
He was listening to Li Junxian's response to the public opinion in the city. Before he could start, he was shocked by officials from Shangshu Province who hurried back.
Are you actually refuting my imperial edict? !
The official of Shangshu Province repeated Liu Ji's words verbatim, and then saw His Majesty Li Er suddenly stand up from behind the desk and kicked the desk. With a "boom", the desk collapsed, and the four treasures of the study and the piles on the table were The documents were scattered all over the place.
His Majesty Li Er was furious, his blood flowed backwards, and he said angrily: "Liu Jie, the dog thief, promised well in front of me, but he dared to betray me when he turned around. If he doesn't kill this wolf, it will be hard to get rid of the hatred in his heart!"
The servants in the palace were trembling with fear and did not even dare to step forward to clean up the messy ground.
His Majesty Li Er's eyes were about to burst into flames. He turned around and looked at Li Junxian: "Quickly capture Liu Jie and escort him to this place. I will skin him alive!"
When this thief was in front of him, he looked loyal and obedient, but unexpectedly, he changed his face in the blink of an eye, and his heart was to be punished!
In particular, the shock caused by this move is bound to spread to both the government and the public, greatly damaging the majesty of his emperor. Those who do not know the truth will not only applaud Liu Jie for his "uprightness", but will even think that he, the emperor, is "ignorant and ignorant." "Tao" made the ministers refute the imperial edict...
How can I bear this?
Li Junxian hesitated for a moment, then bowed and carefully advised: "Your Majesty, please calm down. Liu Shizhong is the governor of Shangshu Province and the imperial minister, and has the right to refute the edict... If your Majesty is blamed for this, I am afraid that there will be divergent discussions among the outside world, which will damage your Majesty's prestige." .”
"Prestige is shit!"
His Majesty Li Er was so furious that he kicked the table that fell to the ground: "I am the Supreme Being of the Nine-Five Years, and I speak of the Constitution of Heaven and the Imperial Words of the Golden Mouth. However, my imperial edict was refuted by my ministers. It is no different." Yu told the people of the world that my imperial edict was chaos, and he Liu He is an upright and unafraid of the imperial power's "Strength Order"! Let me ask, I must be regarded as a foolish lord, just like Xia Jie and Shang Zhou. How can I have any prestige? Capture him quickly and stop making noise! ”
Li Junxian still did not dare to accept the order: "Your Majesty clearly knows that before the last general had time to report, now the contents of the resignation letter of Duke Yue and Duke Wei have been leaked, and the public opinion in Chang'an City is fierce. Officials and people are shocked and confused. I think the court should not treat meritorious service so harshly, and I am quite complaining..."
"Mother!"
His Majesty Li Er was out of breath, feeling extremely wronged: "Did I ask them to resign? It was clearly their trick of using retreat to advance and threaten the imperial power! No need to ask more, Liu Jie must have released this information Its purpose is to put me in a dilemma, it’s simply abominable.”
Li Junxian advised: "At this moment, Your Majesty should convene ministers to discuss countermeasures and eliminate the rumors among the public as soon as possible. Otherwise, once these rumors brew, it will cause great damage to His Majesty's reputation."
He didn't want to lead people to capture Liu Jie. If His Majesty killed Liu Jie in anger, wouldn't he become an accomplice? Afterwards, His Majesty regretted it, and threw the blame on himself. It is difficult for him, the emperor's hawk and dog, to have a good death. If he messes with this matter again, he is afraid that his death will not be far away...
His Majesty Li Er turned around and sat back on the chair. He took a deep breath and calmed down slightly. He also knew that what Li Junxian said was true. If he severely punished Liu Jie at this time, wouldn't he have confirmed his reputation as a "foolish king" and given those people What is the excuse for officials who claim to be upright and honest to criticize and impeach themselves?
"Forget it, you immediately send people to collect news in the city. I want to know what the public opinion is so that I can take measures."
"Here!"
Li Junxian accepted the order and quickly turned around and left.
He was really afraid that His Majesty would not be able to control his anger, so he would send him to do some reckless things, which would make it difficult to end...
When Li Junxian left, His Majesty Li Er called Wang De in front of him: "Go and call the officials of the third rank and above in the court. I want to discuss something."
"Here."
Wang De bowed and accepted the order to withdraw, and immediately sent people to inform various mansions.
His Majesty Li Er was sitting alone in the palace, watching the servants timidly cleaning up the mess on the ground, feeling increasingly angry.
Regardless of whose claim this was, the result was serious damage to his prestige, which is absolutely unacceptable. However, the public opinion is fierce. If I insist on agreeing to Fang Jun and Li Jing's resignation, not only will my reputation be damaged, but it will also lead to a more serious situation. That is, everyone will sympathize with Fang Jun and others, and the Prince of the East Palace, and it will be easy to save the road. Will be hindered.
Although Wei Zheng died and there was no such outspoken minister in the court, since Zhenguan, he had been enlightened in his administration and treated his ministers with kindness and generosity, which also encouraged these ministers to rely on their talents and arrogance and not fear the imperial power. If they really make trouble, they still dare to follow He is the one who challenges the emperor.
If it gets to that point, how will Bao Buqi's guys write about themselves in the history books? Once they slander themselves, how can they talk about surpassing the Qin Emperor and the Han Dynasty and becoming an emperor through the ages?
It would be a good thing not to be called a foolish king by future generations...
So you can't deal with it violently.
……
Half an hour later, officials of the third rank and above from the court arrived one after another. Li Ji, Xiao Yu, Cen Wenwen, Liu Jie, Fang Jun, Li Daozong and others were all present.
His Majesty Li Er had suppressed his anger and ordered someone to serve him tea. Then he looked at Liu Jie and asked: "The province under my command has the right to refute the edict. This is the responsibility I have given to show that I am open to ideas and open-minded." I am determined to remonstrate, but I am the emperor of the empire and speak of the constitution of heaven. Since Liu Shizhong has rejected my imperial edict, he needs to give me an explanation."
The majesty of the emperor is fully displayed.
My imperial edict can indeed be refuted, but don’t you know the consequences of refuting it? You must give me an explanation!
Liu Ji stood up and left the table, knelt on the ground before His Majesty Li Er, paused and said: "To refute the edict is to harm Your Majesty's majesty. This is my crime. I know that my sin is serious, so I sincerely ask Your Majesty to allow me to be a minor minister." Please resign and choose someone more talented.”
When he said this, his face was full of righteousness, but there were tears in his heart.
Is it easy to be promoted to the position of Attendant? How much hard work has been spent, how much time has been persevered, and how much humility, humiliation, and cowardice have been spent, but today I have to plead to resign to avoid the storm that will follow, and my heart hurts like a knife.
His Majesty Li Er laughed angrily: "Haha, very good! Fang Jun wants to resign, and Li Jing wants to resign. This is because they took the initiative to communicate. I sympathize with my ministers and can't bear to refuse, so I agreed... but you ignored my majesty and granted the seal." You refute my imperial edict and then you also want to resign?”
Liu Jie was sweating profusely and dared not speak.
His Majesty Li Er looked around at everyone, his eyes passing over each person's face one by one, and asked one by one: "Who else among you wants to resign? You might as well tell them all. One or two are eating my salary, but they are dedicated to Are you going against me? Do you really think that without you, I will be alone, unable to govern this empire and rule this world? "
When he said this, he became so angry and stern that he even slapped the table with his palms and roared: "Come on! If anyone wants to resign, please tell me, I will accept it!"
Facing His Majesty Li Er's anger, the big guys in the hall lowered their eyebrows and lowered their eyes, not daring to say a word.
Everyone knows His Majesty Li Er's temper. He typically takes soft things rather than hard ones. Anyone who dares to stroke his beard when he is angry will have to go around in pain. What's more, in recent days, everyone has been more or less Everyone has heard that His Majesty has a bad temper...
Then... Fang Jun stood up.
Li Ji and others were surprised to see Fang Jun stand up and leave the table. Fang Jun had previously asked to resign, and everyone agreed that this was a retreat in order to advance. However, His Majesty did not follow common sense and actually agreed to Fang Jun's request. This is As a result, Fang Jun's lies came true and he was in a dilemma. However, out of consideration for his own reputation, Liu Ji refuted His Majesty's imperial edict, causing the situation to completely escalate.
At this time, if Fang Jun challenged His Majesty Li Er in public and continued to resign, he would not only be furious with His Majesty Li Er who caused his inability to come to power, but he might also be determined to beat him to the end, which would be completely irreversible...
Since you made a strategic mistake and just kept your head down and pretended to be cowardly, why do you have to stroke His Majesty's beard?
Fang Jun came to His Majesty, bowed his hands to the ground, and said in a sincere tone: "Your Majesty, I was wrong. I beg you to retract the previous memorandum of resignation. I am willing to die for Your Majesty's sake!"
The whole palace was shocked.
Even the furious His Majesty Li Er was stunned... Did this Bang Chui take the wrong medicine? (End of chapter)