Chapter 117 I am behind you
At this time, the cabinet already knew about Li Mengyang kneeling and crying outside the Ancestral Temple, and also realized the seriousness of this problem.
The chief minister Ma Wensheng also learned about Li Mengyang's twenty-four charges against him. He immediately found Zhu Houzhao and said: "Your Majesty, please suspend me from office. This is my resignation."
According to the rules, when an official is impeached, he must take the initiative to stop resigning in order to defend himself. Ma Wensheng has always been a stickler for the rules and is naturally unwilling to break them. Although he does not want to resign in his heart, let alone spend countless money on himself. He could not complete the painstaking administrative reform by himself, but he still had to abide by this rule.
"No!"
Zhu Houzhao threw back the memorandum handed over by Ma Wensheng without even thinking about it, and took a long breath: "These people are really not afraid of life and death. I think this examination method really caught their sore spots. It doesn't matter. It's just adding more." One person’s life is nothing compared to the destruction of the Ming Dynasty and the destruction of tens of millions of people, Liu Jin! ”
As soon as Zhu Houzhao called Liu Jin, Ma Wensheng realized that Zhu Houzhao was afraid of killing people again. He was a civil servant after all, and he still couldn't bear people of his own class. He didn't want to escalate the conflict, so he advised:
"Your Majesty, wait a minute! Li Mengyang is not dissatisfied with Your Majesty, nor is he treasonous. He is just dissatisfied with the examination method and has some slight words for me. I ask your Majesty to give Li Mengyang a chance to persuade him. If Li Mengyang can wake up, I also hope that your Majesty will spare him the death penalty so that no more lives will be lost due to the reform!”
"I have already given him a chance, and asked Liu Jin to send someone to warn him once." Zhu Houzhao said, "Ma Wensheng, Ma Wensheng, do you know who Li Mengyang scolded you for, and you are still pleading for him? Are you really without anger or are you really selfless? ”
"Your Majesty, I just feel that if we can reform the New Deal without sacrificing human lives, we will not kill people. After all, we are all ministers of the Ming Dynasty and your Majesty." Ma Wensheng simply knelt down as he said this: "Your Majesty! I risk my life to request this. Your Majesty asked me to persuade him once!”
"Forget it, I'll give him another chance," Zhu Houzhao said.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Ma Wensheng said, turned around and left the Forbidden City, heading towards the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
After Ma Wensheng left, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but sigh to himself: "Ma Wensheng is too kind to a woman!"
……
Ma Wensheng came to Li Mengyang, but at this time Li Mengyang was still crying loudly and said: "O late emperor! Ma Junzhou rebelled against the government and formed an eunuch party. His sins are worse than those of Liu Jian!"
"Li Mengyang, why are you doing this? Even if I make you hateful, I have never killed a king. How can a human being say such crazy words!"
Ma Wensheng persuaded Li Mengyang bitterly like an old man, and patted Li Mengyang on the shoulder.
Li Mengyang didn't expect that Ma Wensheng, the chief assistant, would come in person to persuade him, and he felt even more satisfied. He thought that it seemed that his trouble was indeed effective, and he, Ma Wensheng, was really scared! Really scared! Ha ha! As long as Ma Wensheng gives in, the emperor will soon give in, and the new examination method will no longer be implemented. Maybe he can save his life and get a first name. "Go away! I, Li Mengyang, will never be within three steps of a traitor and a traitor! He, Liu Jian, and others have committed regicide, but you, Ma Wensheng, want to destroy my foundation of the Ming Dynasty forever!"
Therefore, Li Mengyang scolded him directly without giving Ma Wensheng any face.
Ma Wensheng was still relatively tolerant and patiently explained:
"How can this harm our foundation for the Ming Dynasty? It happens that it is for the foundation of the Ming Dynasty that I have to take this exam. You, Li Mengyang, have never been a stupid person, and you are outspoken and dare to remonstrate. But you should also know that today's officialdom What has happened to the officialdom! Lazy and mediocre officials flooded the government and the public, and the court's tax debts became more and more serious. They even began to compete for luxury and wealth, and who made more money and whose officials were better. The scholarly style became more and more degenerate. Shouldn't it be changed? Don’t change how you will govern the country and the people in the future!”
"You are destroying my foundation of the Ming Dynasty. Not only are you destroying the foundation of the Ming Dynasty, you are also destroying my foundation. I originally had my own name in the court, and the late emperor had intended for me to be the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs and then transfer to the Ministry of Rites and then join the cabinet. But you, Ma Wen, were promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but you hindered my progress, and now you are even more What method of passing the exam made me become the head of the household department from a doctor in the household department, and I was criticized by you as a useless official. You said that the reputation I worked hard to accumulate was just trying to gain fame and reputation! It's a shame that I wrote for you back then! Guoshouwen, you Ma Wensheng are traitors! ”
Li Mengyang spat on Ma Wensheng's face!
No matter how you say it, Ma Wensheng is still the chief minister of the dynasty, and now being spat on on the spot is a huge humiliation!
Ma Wensheng did not expect that Li Mengyang would spit on him directly. He was a little angry and also felt very sad: "Is this the real reason for your impeachment?"
Li Mengyang didn't seem to want to hide it: "That's right! But I, Li Mengyang, still say that you, Ma Wensheng, are a traitor! A big traitor! Not only will I scold you like this, but all the officials and gentry in the government and the public will scold you like this! Even now, it's not just like this I'll scold you for ten years, I will scold you like this in a hundred years, or even in a thousand years! As long as the world is still my scholar's world, the scholars in the world will still scold you. They will punish the ten clans of civil servants who kill the king, kill the officials and even collude with the eunuchs. These will become The basis for their scolding you!”
"Although I, Li Mengyang, will be killed by you now, so what, someone will restore my reputation in a hundred years, and the subsequent emperor will give me the name of loyalty and martyrdom, and even make me my wife!"
"Ma Wensheng, I know that you are thinking about the common people of the world, and you really think about the Ming Dynasty and the country, but so what, you are not thinking about the gentry, you are even going against all the gentry in the world, so I will become a loyal minister. You will become a traitor, and those common people are nothing more than grassroots, they They won't stand up and make decisions for you, and they don't even know who you are! Hahaha! But you will be scolded by scholars all the time, even those in your family who have become scholars! ! Hahaha! Ma Wensheng, do you still want to reform the new policy? ”
Li Mengyang laughed at Ma Wensheng as he spoke, looking at Ma Wensheng as if he were a fool.
Ma Wensheng's face turned red from being stimulated by Li Mengyang. He was angry just now, but now he is resentful and even a little heartbroken. He didn't know how to refute Li Mengyang, so he just pointed at Li Mengyang: "You! You! You!"
Li Mengyang still looked at Ma Wensheng with a smug smile: "Aren't you very angry and unable to refute, traitor! You, Ma Wensheng, are the traitor!"
Snap!
Zhu Houzhao suddenly appeared and hit Li Mengyang in the face with a whip. At the same time, he got off his horse and patted Ma Wensheng on the shoulder: "Don't be afraid! You have me behind you. I didn't say that you, Ma Wensheng, are a traitor. Who dares?" Say you, Ma Wen, are a traitor!”
(End of chapter)