When Yu Donglai came out of the imperial study, his legs and feet were still a little weak. Recalling His Majesty's words before, he felt a chill in his heart, as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
"If anyone dares to steal this money again, I will kill his nine clans. If there are not enough people alive to make up the nine clans, I will rip off his ancestral graves."
After so many years as an official, this was the first time that he saw His Majesty the Emperor so angry. I don't know whether it was because the ministers ganged up to deceive him, or because Fan Gu wasted no time on the 800 border troops and 2,000 civilians. Therefore, the thought of Yu Donglai made me even more frightened. The lies fabricated by Hou Wenji were enough to evade the important and ignore the important, and His Majesty was still so angry. If it were known that the eight hundred frontier troops were actually massacred by You Xiaowei who knows what kind of thunderous fury would be provoked?
Yes, God Bless Emperor Yang Yi is indeed gentle and rarely blames his ministers, but because of this some people have forgotten that God's power is unpredictable. When the emperor feels that his prestige has been reduced, he will inevitably do something to make his ministers regain their respect and fear for him. At this time, there will always be a few unlucky ghosts. Even if they didn't do anything fatally wrong, at least that's how they perceived it. But when His Majesty needs to kill people, it no longer matters what mistakes he made.
"The important thing is that His Majesty will never show mercy when he feels he should kill someone.
The officials in the imperial court have been stable for a long time, and they have forgotten that more than three years ago, the emperor issued an order to kill all the Qiu family members who had conspired against Jiang Du. That night, more than two thousand people were killed in Jiangdu, and the three major families in Jiangdu were razed to the ground almost instantly.
Because these three aristocratic families originally supported the third prince's succession, they spared no effort to help the third prince build momentum. The current emperor Yang Yi was the most low-key among the seven sons of the late emperor at that time. The person who seemed least likely to inherit the throne sat on the supreme chair.
The emperor wanted to kill people, sometimes he was in a hurry, sometimes he was not in a hurry.
He waited for seven years before taking action against the three aristocratic families in Jiangdu, and the action was really shocking. At that time, the Zuo Zhenwei of the Sui Dynasty was ordered to go out to quell the rebellion of Mao Feng, the great thief in the south of the Yangtze River. When they arrived in Jiangdu, the army entered the city to replenish supplies. In the evening, the wealthy families in Jiangdu City gathered together to entertain General Yang Shunchen of Zuo Zhenwei and drank heartily until midnight. General Yang Shunchen returned drunk. Everyone thought that he had settled this general, who was supposed to be the emperor's cousin based on his seniority, with a banquet and a stack of banknotes.
But in the middle of the night, Zuo Zhenwei's five thousand heavy armored infantry suddenly poured into the streets and alleys of Jiangdu and sealed off the houses of the three major families in Jiangdu. There was no interrogation process at all. The elite soldiers of Zuo Zhenwei, who were armed to the teeth, rushed into the compounds of those aristocratic families and killed everyone on sight. The wailing sound lasted until dawn, but the wailing was meaningless.
Overnight, the city of Jiangdu was filled with blood.
Early the next morning, General Zuo Zhenwei Yang Shunchen announced the crimes of the three major families in Jiangdu. One of the most shocking ones is colluding with the rebels in an attempt to rebel. The three major aristocratic families are headed by the Qiu family, who were the founding heroes of the Sui Dynasty and had two princes and five princes. Therefore, this big case is also called the Qiu Ni Case.
And it was at this time that people suddenly woke up. Now that Yang Yi can sit on the throne, how can he really be as gentle or even weak as he seems on the surface?
For ministers, betrayal is always the bottom line. Once this bottom line is touched, the outcome is already doomed. Whether this betrayal was real or the Emperor needed it to exist.
The emperor killed someone, sometimes in a hurry, sometimes not.
"There is no rush to kill the three major families in Jiangdu. The emperor waited for seven years, and first slowly peeled off the people who occupied important official positions in the court from the three major families, and placed them all in positions that seemed very important but had no real power. Seven years later, Emperor Yin Zhi Ruyin's design and Xu Rulin's layout were as violent as thunder, killing all those people who made him feel that he no longer needed to exist in the world. The reason for the killing is actually very simple, because the existence of these people made the emperor unhappy.
And now, the emperor is very anxious to kill people.
After Yu Donglai walked out for more than ten steps, he looked back at the imperial study room and couldn't help but smile bitterly and shake his head. While he was glad that he had escaped a disaster, he also felt a sense of sadness in his heart. Hou Junci, the Minister of War, was bound to die. He could not escape the disaster from the day the emperor wanted him to die. And the emperor's desire to kill him definitely did not start from today.
Fan Gu¡¯s matter just gave the emperor an excuse to take action.
Just as he was walking out in a daze, someone suddenly called his name from behind. Yu Donglai looked back and saw Huai Qiugong, the Minister of Rites, who had been sitting in the imperial study room just now but had not spoken.
"Huai Lao, what's wrong with you?"
??Yu Donglai did not dare to be disrespectful to this veteran of three dynasties. Everyone knows that there were two very special ministers in the Sui Dynasty, who were also two imperial masters. Both literary and military, the scholar is this old minister who sits in the position of Minister of Rites but never cares about the affairs of the Ministry of Rites. The martial artist is Zhou Banchuan, the dean of the Yanwu Academy.
Yu Donglai politely bowed slightly and gave a junior salute.
Huai Qiugong smiled, stroking his snow-white beard and said: "When I came here, I rode the carriage of Mr. Zheng from the Ministry of Finance. Mr. Zheng was left by His Majesty to discuss important matters, but he didn't have anything to do with me, an old guy. I'm an old man and I can't walk home by myself, so I have to confess to your majesty and then come out to chase you. How about you, do you have time to give me a ride home?"
Along the way?
The Yu family¡¯s mansion and Huai Qiugong¡¯s mansion are completely in opposite directions.
But how could Yu Donglai not know that this veteran minister who held great importance in front of His Majesty had something to say to him alone?
He quickly supported Huai Qiugong¡¯s arm and said, ¡°It¡¯s my luck to be able to invite Mr. Huai to my carriage!¡±
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The wheels of the carriage rolled over the flat bluestone surface, making a sound that could lull people to sleep. Perhaps Huai Qiugong was really too old, so he felt a little drowsy after getting on Yu Donglai's carriage. He leaned against the soft inner wall of the carriage covered with brocade cushions, closing his eyes and seeming to enjoy the slight shaking brought by the carriage.
Yu Donglai knew that since Huai Qiugong had called him, he must have something to say to him. So he was not in a hurry, so he picked up the brocade quilt on one side and gently covered Huai Qiugong's body.
This is a sign of not being in a hurry, but it is an impatient method.
Sure enough, Huai Qiugong slowly opened his eyes and looked at the brocade quilt on his body, then smiled and glanced at Yu Donglai gratefully, and then laughed at himself: "I am getting older, and it seems that I am sleepy all day long. As long as I am quiet, When I got down, I couldn¡¯t help but doze off.¡±
"How could it be? You are still strong and healthy."
Yu Donglai said with a smile.
"Where is the strength?"
Huaiqiugong lowered his voice mysteriously and said: "I haven't touched a woman for ten years, how can I still be strong?"
This old man is really cute and messy sometimes.
As the most etiquette minister in the Sui Dynasty, he actually said such vulgar words in front of others. If the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty knew about it, their jaws would be shocked.
Yu Donglai smiled awkwardly, not knowing how to answer the question.
Fortunately, this disrespectful old man did not intend to continue talking about women. He pulled up the brocade quilt himself and covered it more tightly.
"Dong Lai, it has been three years since you were promoted to Minister of War, right?"
Huai Qiugong asked seemingly casually.
"Three years, two months and six days."
Yu Donglai replied seriously.
"The days go by so fast."
Huai Qiugong sighed with emotion, smiled and said: "When I first saw you, you were just a sixth-grade military officer. In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed, and I, who was so high-spirited back then, have turned into a possessor. The old man refuses to move out of the pit, and you have changed from a young man full of determination to a restrained and steady middle-aged man."
Yu Donglai said in a humble tone: "Mr. Huai, you are so complimentary."
"Donglai, do you know why His Majesty is angry?"
Huai Qiugong, who was talking about boring things before, suddenly changed his tone and asked.
Yu Donglai was startled, and after sorting out the words in his mind, he replied: "It's because I, as a minister, have disappointed your majesty."
Huai Qiugong rolled his eyes at him and said: "This answer is quite satisfactory, but it is a lie."
Yu Donglai smiled and did not deny it.
"The reason why I got on your carriage is because I can be alone with you for a while. There are some words that cannot be known to others. You have been an official for many years, so you naturally understand what I mean."
Huai Qiugong looked at Yu Donglai and said calmly: "Since it's just you and me, we might as well say it directly His Majesty is so angry today. It is true that Fan Gu's 800 border troops and 2,000 died in the battle. The surname is because of Li Xiaozong, a guy who doesn¡¯t know the heights of heaven and earth. It¡¯s because of Li Yuanshan¡¯s self-righteousness. It¡¯s because of the corruption of the Ministry of War and the Qing Yamen But in fact, these are not the most fundamental reasons. Don¡¯t tell me, you still don¡¯t understand His Majesty. What¡¯s the reason for getting angry?¡±
"Because His Majesty is about to use troops against the northwest."
Yu Donglai did not do Tai Chi this time, but answered truthfully:?
"You finally stopped pretending to be stupid, otherwise I would have got out of the car and walked home by myself."
Huai Qiugong looked at Yu Donglai and asked, "Then tell me, why does Your Majesty want to take action against the Ministry of War?"
"Because Your Majesty does not want to hear any objections to the use of troops this time. Hou Junci was originally strongly opposed to the use of troops in the northwest, and even accused His Majesty in person in the court of using weapons rashly to achieve great success."
Huai Qiugong said seriously: "Your Majesty is a wise king, so even if an official in the court makes rude remarks because of disagreements, Your Majesty will not blame him, but will praise him more, right?"
"right!"
Yu Donglai nodded.
"But how many people will still be in awe of the emperor's majesty if things continue like this?"
Huai Qiugong breathed a long sigh of relief and said with some emotion: "Hou Junci is not unlucky, but he is an idiot Your Majesty has to act wise and obedient because he has to do this. And your Majesty still has many things to do. It must be done, such as the invasion of the northwest. There have been five emperors in the Sui Dynasty. Which one has not expanded the territory? "
He paused and said: "To be disrespectful, what kind of posture Your Majesty wants to show is up to His Majesty, but as a minister, you cannot know how to advance and retreat and adjust your position. For example, I dare to lose my temper with Your Majesty, Why do you dare to glare at His Majesty?"
"Because I am the Imperial Master, and I am the Imperial Master that His Majesty allows to exist. Your Majesty wants to show respect for the teacher, and I must cooperate with His Majesty in this gesture. And Zhou Banchuan, that old guy also understands this truth. So Your Majesty allows us to rely on our old age and sell our old age. He also likes to make people find this kind of relationship between king and minister fascinating."
"But, does your Majesty really not dare to kill me or Zhou Banchuan?"
Huai Qiugong was silent for a while and continued: "So, I got on your carriage just to tell you To be a minister, the first thing you have to do is to understand what kind of minister you should be. Only when you understand, Only then will His Majesty be satisfied.¡±
"Do you know now how to satisfy His Majesty?"
he asks.
Yu Donglai pondered for a while, then nodded and said seriously: "Your Majesty may need a cruel minister who betrays his colleagues, and your Majesty also needs a few more people from the Ministry of War to die. Therefore, I should think about it carefully after I go back. How to draw up a list of corrupt officials.¡±
Huai Qiugong couldn't help but laugh, his face full of relief.
"That's not cruelty, that's righteousness."
He smiled and said: "What is righteousness? Be loyal to His Majesty, satisfy Your Majesty, solve His Majesty's problems, obey Your Majesty's heart, and understand the way of a monarch and his ministers. A gentleman when you should be a gentleman, a villain when you should be a villain, and a hawk when you should be a hawk. Rabbit, wagging its tail when it¡¯s time to be a dog is the greatest meaning of being a courtier.¡±
Yu Donglai sat upright and bowed deeply: "Thank you, Mr. Huai, for your guidance."