Prime Minister

Chapter 1131 True Gentleman

Chapter 1131 True Gentleman

Bianjing.

An ancient teahouse on Ma Xing Street.

This teahouse may look inconspicuous from the outside, but it is a different world inside.

The new Vice-Chancellor Cai Que was sitting in the main seat, pouring tea for the new Chief Censor Li Ding.

Li Ding respectfully took the teacup from Cai Que and expressed his gratitude.

Then Cai Que poured tea for Cai Jing on the other side.

The three chatted for a few words, and then several officials arrived one after another, including Shu Tan, He Zhengchen, Huang Yan, Liu Zuo, and Huang Haoqian.

After everyone was seated, they all congratulated Cai Que one after another. Cai Que smiled, which was rare for him, and toasted everyone with tea instead of wine.

When Tsai Que was newly elected as a politician, some people suggested that he should spend lavishly, but Tsai Que refused on the grounds of being "prudent" and just drank tea with his confidants as a congratulation.

Cai Jing sat for a while and then left. Li Ding said dissatisfiedly: "Yuan Chang really doesn't take you seriously. He just drank a cup of tea and left. Yuan Du didn't even come."

Cai Que said: "Although our two families are relatives, it is not easy for Yuanchang to come here, and it is not surprising that Yuandu came."

Li Ding said: "Yuan Du had long since surrendered to Prime Minister Zhang, and Prime Minister Zhang benefited the most this time. His long-time political enemy Yuan Houzhi was dismissed from his post, and the Imperial College was under his control again. He also appointed Su Song, Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi, Yang Shi and other academic officials."

Cai Que said: "Don't judge by appearances. This time, Zhang Sanduo attributed the credit to the victory in Lanzhou, which made the emperor trust him even more. He felt that he could destroy Xia according to his wishes and no longer needed Yuan Jiang to restrain him."

"So that's how it is." Li Ding suddenly realized.

Li Ding said: "There is a difficult matter right now, what should Su Zizhan do? I heard that Zhang Fangping has even submitted a petition for help this time."

Cai Que shook his head and said, "Zhang Fangping? He is an official who has never participated in politics. What is there to worry about?"

Li Ding said: "That's true."

"Besides Zhang Fangping, who else submitted a petition?"

Li Ding said: "Don't dare to say it."

Cai Que said, "Very good, it's better if no one says anything. Su Zizhan was prosecuted because of his high reputation. Let's see who dares to compete with the court in the future. This case must implicate many people, otherwise the government will not be happy."

Li Ding calmed down and asked, "How much?"

Cai Que tapped the tea with his finger and wrote the word "Luo" on the table.

Li Ding knew very well that Cai was telling him that there were still those old party members in Luoyang, and he wanted to use Su Shi's case to attack them.

Li Ding said: "Not only the old party, as far as I know, the other people in Beijing who had contact with Su Shi were his son-in-law Wang Shen and Li Qingchen, the imperial edict editor. They often exchanged poems."

Cai Que said: "Su Shi was so close to the royal family, this is the only crime he should be charged with. Let Shu Tan take his time to investigate!"

Li Ding said: "An Tao of the Court of Judicial Review talked with Shu Tan and sentenced Su Shi to two years in prison for slandering the court."

Generally, the Court of Criminal Justice is responsible for reviewing cases. However, the Censorate, as the first instance, will often communicate with the department that reviews the case first.

Cai Que shook his head and said, "It's too light."

Li Ding said: "Since two years in prison is too light, let's add the crime of rebuking the emperor's carriage. This is one of the ten evils and can be sentenced to death."

Cai Que nodded slowly.

After a pause, Li Ding sighed and said, "But having said that, Su Zizhan is truly a genius."

Cai Que asked, "How do you say that?"

Li Ding said: "In the past thirty years, I have compared Su Shi's writings and poems word by word, and asked him questions and answered them. Su Shi did not miss a single word. He is truly a genius."

"It's such a pity to kill him. I can't bear it."

After hearing what Li Ding said, Cai Que was silent for a long time.

"It is a pity to kill such a talented person. But it is hard to go against the emperor's will. You and I must be considerate in our work." Cai Que gave Li Ding the final answer.

……

"Your Highness, Cai Que and Li Ding want to put my brother to death!" Su Che said to Zhang Yue with tears in his eyes.

Zhang Yue helped Su Che up and thought to himself, don't blame Cai Que and Li Ding, the one who really wanted to put Su Shi to death was the emperor.

Su Che sat down and said, "Prime Minister, there are so many officials who advocated the new law, why do you single out my brother for punishment?"

Zhang Yue said: "Your brother has the highest reputation and the highest talent."

"I have read the files and come up with a plan. If you want to save your brother, you must submit a petition to the emperor and make sure to stick to one thing. First, admit that you did write a poem to slander the new policy, but... but you must add this sentence: these were all written when Duke Shu was prime minister. After Your Majesty took power, your brother no longer dared to say a word."

Su Che's eyes lit up when he heard this and he said, "What the Prime Minister said is absolutely right."

Zhang Yue said: "Slandering the new policy and criticizing the emperor are two different things. If they are combined, Zizhan will be finished. You submit the petition first, and I will think of other ways."

Su Zhe was filled with gratitude upon hearing this. He suddenly remembered the fortune teller's prediction. It turned out that Zhang Yue was the benefactor of him and his brother.

Su Che left with great gratitude.

As someone who knew the government well, it was impossible for Zhang Yue to personally rescue Su Shi, but he thought of other ways.

After Su Che left, Zhang Yue immediately wrote a letter and asked someone to deliver it to Cao Yi's house. At this time, he was willing to take some risks to save Su Shi.

……

At this moment in the palace, Empress Dowager Cao was already breathing very weakly, and the Emperor was sitting beside her with a worried look on his face.

The emperor thought that if Empress Dowager Cao had not liked him, it would be hard to say whether his father could sit firmly on the throne. Now that Empress Dowager Cao was so seriously ill, he couldn't help feeling sad.

"The official family..."

"Grand Empress Dowager, your son is here."

The official couldn't help but shed tears.

Empress Dowager Cao said, "Don't cry, Your Majesty. I know how filial you are."

The emperor said, "I will grant amnesty to the whole nation and pray for the Empress Dowager."

Empress Dowager Cao forced a smile and said, "Your Majesty, I heard something. Are you going to kill Su Shi?"

Upon hearing this, the emperor immediately denied it and said, "Grand Empress Dowager, there is no such thing. Su Shi was indeed sent to the Censorate for some matter. Once the case is investigated, the court will give him a fair judgment."

Empress Dowager Cao asked, "Does your Majesty think that Su Shi really has evil intentions?"

The official remained silent.

Empress Dowager Cao said: "Your Majesty, writing poems to criticize current affairs has been a tradition since the time of the Book of Songs. Your Majesty should correct it if there is any, and encourage it if there is none."

"I remember the last time the Emperor Ren Miao held an imperial examination, Zhang Yue and Su Shi were selected as third place, saying that they had found two prime ministers for their descendants. You valued Zhang Yue so much, why couldn't you spare Su Shi's life?"

"Your Majesty, please think carefully about the intentions of the Temple of Benevolence. You said you wanted to grant amnesty to the whole nation and pray for my blessing. I think pardoning Su Shi alone is enough."

The official remained silent upon hearing this.

Empress Dowager Cao finally said weakly: "Don't kill the great talent. Killing the great talent is unlucky for the country."

After the official returned to the palace, he received a report from Shi Deyi that Wang Anshi had come to express his greetings.

When the emperor heard that the letter was from Wang Anshi, he couldn't help but miss this old minister very much.

The memorial contained some ordinary greetings between the emperor and his subjects, but there was a sentence saying that Su Shi passed the imperial examination at the age of 19 and took the exam for speaking out and making extreme remonstrations at the age of 23. Emperor Renzong found Su Shi and regarded him as a treasure of his generation, but now he is in prison. I am afraid that future generations will think that Your Majesty listens to slanderous words and hates those who speak out.

Is there any reason to kill talented people in a prosperous era?

When the emperor saw Wang Anshi say this, he was really surprised that Wang Anshi would actually write a petition to him to protect Su Shi.

The official couldn't help but sigh in his heart that Wang Anshi was truly a gentleman.