plumnovel Chapter 14 Dogs can bite people, but people can't bite dogs.
Chapter 14 Dogs can bite people, but people can't bite dogs.
Liangxiang.
at night.
Magistrate Chen Hu led Zhou Qiu, standing at the city gate, his gaze occasionally drifting into the distance.
Zhou Qiu, standing beside him, asked, "Magistrate Chen, it's already late at night. Why are you making such a fuss? Who is it for?"
Chen Hu came to greet him late at night and even invited him to join in the greeting.
Chen Hu smiled slightly: "Zhou Qiu, don't say I don't take care of you. As long as you get along well with this important person, rising to prominence is not a dream."
"Is it really that exaggerated? Who exactly is this person? Give us a hint so we can be prepared," Zhou Qiu asked casually.
"Wen Yangren, the younger brother of Wen Tiren, the current Grand Secretary and a favorite minister of His Majesty."
"Tell me, is that enough to achieve great success?"
"However, you mustn't tell anyone about this, or we'll both be in deep trouble."
The prime minister's younger brother.
His status is indeed quite high, and the fact that Wen Jiabao's faction is rampant in the government and the public is indeed as Chen Hu said.
If Wen Yangren could say a few good words about them to Wen Tiren.
It's not impossible for them to enter the imperial court, get promoted, and make a fortune.
During the discussion.
The carriage slowly approached.
And it stopped at the city gate.
Before Wen Yangren could even step off the carriage, Chen Hu snatched the footstool from the servant's hand.
"Chen Hu, the magistrate of Liangxiang, greets Your Excellency."
Wen Yangren, seeing Chen Hu's obsequious manner, did not feel anything was amiss. He nodded slightly in acknowledgment and stepped down from the carriage.
"Magistrate Chen, I have come here secretly to investigate something."
"We hope Magistrate Chen can do us a favor."
Chen Hu naturally had no objections.
There's no harm in trying to please and obey.
"May I ask what brings you here, sir?"
Wen Yangren is the younger brother of Wen Tiren, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet.
However, he did not hold any official position in the imperial court.
Yet, he was still able to make a county magistrate grovel because his younger brother was the Grand Secretary.
"Nineteen days ago, the palace sent people here. I want to know their purpose in coming here."
In the palace?
Chen Hu was somewhat confused: "Nineteen days ago? Did someone from the palace come?"
He tried hard to recall.
If someone from the palace came, how could he, as the county magistrate, not know?
Looking at Chen Hu's bewildered expression, it seemed he genuinely didn't know.
Just when Wen Yangren thought he was going to return empty-handed.
Zhou Qiu, who had been silent, spoke up: "Um... I think I know."
Wen Yangren and Chen Hu both focused their gazes on Zhou Qiu.
So Zhou Qiu told him everything that had happened a few days ago.
"Why would the palace recruit refugees? And why would they specifically come to a place like this?"
Zhou Qiu shook his head: "I don't know. My elder brother was the one who coordinated with the people in the palace."
"Take me to see Zhou Wei."
Zhou Qiu immediately took Wen Yangren and Chen Hu back to the Zhou family residence.
After Zhou Wei stepped down as clan chief, he had some free time and mostly stayed at home, except for occasionally going to the soup kitchen.
At this time, Zhou Wei had already fallen asleep.
Zhou Qiu stepped forward and knocked on the door.
Who is it?
"it's me."
Upon hearing his younger brother's voice, Zhou Wei waved his hand and said, "It's late. Let's talk about it tomorrow."
Just as Zhou Qiu was about to explain.
Wen Yangren stepped forward, stood at the door, and said, "His Majesty has been here."
These words were spoken.
Chen Hu and Zhou Qiu were on tenterhooks.
What? The emperor actually visited Liangxiang?
Zhou Qiu recalled the young man who was surrounded and protected by the eunuchs.
My heart trembled.
He... he's actually the emperor?!
The room remained silent for a long time.
"Who are you?" Zhou Wei opened the door.
Wen Yangren deliberately stood in the shadows: "Who I am is unimportant. What's important is His Majesty's purpose in coming here and recruiting refugees."
"Also, what is that light screen? Why did the eight hundred refugees disappear? And... where did your son go?"
Such a blatant inquiry.
Zhou Wei asked calmly.
"Are you a member of the Wen Party or the Donglin Party?"
"unimportant."
Seeing that he was determined to conceal his identity, Zhou Wei did not investigate further.
He simply replied with a calm gaze, "His Majesty did indeed ask me to recruit a group of refugees when he came to Liangxiang."
"But why Your Majesty recruits refugees, I do not know, nor am I worthy to know."
Wen Yangren pondered.
"Clan Chief Zhou, I hope you won't be ungrateful. His Majesty only took eight people with him when he left the capital this time."
"When I returned to Beijing, I only had eight people with me for more than ten days."
"How could you not know that these eight hundred people, along with your eldest son Zhou Liang, vanished into thin air?"
The disappearance of eight hundred refugees will not be noticed by anyone.
Because in this era, refugees starve to death every moment.
Sometimes, hundreds or even thousands of people can die in a county within a few days.
But the key point is...
Along with the disappearance of these eight hundred refugees, Zhou Wei's son, Zhou Liang, also vanished.
Therefore, Zhou Wei must know something.
"If His Majesty wanted you to know, why would you ask me?"
"Since His Majesty does not wish you to know, why do you ask me?"
No oil and salt.
Zhou Wei was determined not to say anything.
After some contemplation, Wen Yangren finally left.
……
The next day.
In the early morning, the morning light shone on the faces of the civil and military officials, and Zhu Youjian sat under the eaves.
He was handling state affairs.
After the Ministry of War finished presenting the remaining memorials, Yang Sichang slowly stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, I have something to report."
"Can."
"Today, rebels are rising up all over the country. The chief villains, Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng, have disregarded human ethics and morality, captured Fengyang, and destroyed the dragon vein of our great Ming Dynasty."
"This grudge must be avenged."
"As Zhu Xi said in his commentary on the Doctrine of the Mean, 'Use the other person's own methods to deal with them.'"
"If Zhang Xianzhong, Li Zicheng, and others dug up the ancestral tombs in Fengyang, then the imperial court can retaliate by excavating all of Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng's ancestral tombs to avenge the humiliation of Fengyang."
These words were spoken.
This immediately sparked opposition.
The first to respond was Li Kangxian, the Minister of Rites: "Your Majesty, what Yang Sichang said is a fallacy."
"Although Yang Sichang's words come from Chapter 13 of Zhu Xi's Commentary on the Doctrine of the Mean, the original text is: 'Therefore, the way a superior man governs others is to govern them in the same way they govern themselves.'"
"This statement means to educate others with one's own principles, not what Yang Sichang said."
Yang Sichang immediately refuted this.
"How do you know that the Dao refers to principles, not strategies? Did Zhu Xi perhaps appear to you in a dream?"
"I don't care what you mean by that, I only care about what I think, not what you think."
Li Kangxian was furious: "Idiot!!"
Wen Tiren watched the two of them arguing over the meaning of a single sentence, and felt helpless.
Hou Xun also spoke up, saying, "Your Majesty, everything should be done with a just cause. How can you do such a despicable thing?"
"If a dog bites someone, does that mean the person should bite back like the dog?"
Hou Xun's words were immediately echoed by all the ministers.
Even Wen Tiren, Tang Shiji and others unanimously opposed it.
The reason why the two parties have joined forces in this rare instance of opposition is quite simple.
It's undignified, but I still care about my reputation.