12.Ministers Quarrel
The emperor sat high on the dragon horse, watching with interest the ministers quarreling in the hall.
The ministers who supported the King of Dai proposed to follow the previous dynasty's system of giving pearls to princes, and give the King of Dai, who had made great military achievements, at least seven pearls.
The group of ministers who supported the prince naturally opposed this proposal. They felt that this was the system of the previous dynasty and should not be used in our dynasty. They also emphasized that the previous dynasty's system of giving pearls to princes was beyond the scope of the chaos. The riots in the previous dynasty were caused by the struggle between the prince and the prince. If the Great Zhou reused the previous dynasty's system of giving pearls to princes, it would inevitably make the Great Zhou repeat the mistakes of the previous dynasty.
The ministers who supported the King of Dai felt that the statement of the prince's party was alarmist. Moreover, the system of giving pearls to princes was not the cause of the chaos in the previous dynasty. The culprit was the emperor of the previous dynasty who was excessively licentious, tyrannical, killed innocent people, and indulged in alcohol and sex.
The system of giving pearls to princes was not created by the previous dynasty, but inherited by the previous dynasty. The reason for the demise of the previous dynasties was not because of the existence of the system of adding beads to the princes, but because of the emperors' unrighteousness. It is ignorant for the prince's party to attribute the demise of the previous dynasties to the system of adding beads to the princes.
The ministers of the prince's party immediately retorted that in the previous dynasty, it was because of the addition of beads to the princes that the princes quarreled with each other. The princes were only concerned with fighting for power and profit, making the court a mess. The ministers were only concerned with the war team, not caring about the government and the lives of the people.
The officials of the Dai Wang party refuted that the people of the prince's party were taking advantage of the issue, and said that the Dai Wang was fighting desperately for the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the people of the prince's party actually slandered the Dai Wang for wanting to quarrel with his brothers.
The ministers who supported the third prince, the fifth prince, and the sixth prince fanned the flames, causing the quarrels between the Dai Wang and the prince's people to become more and more fierce.
Sun Kui, who was standing next to the emperor, saw the ministers quarreling like street shrews one by one, and it was simply unbearable to watch. He hesitated, took two steps forward, and asked respectfully: "Your Majesty, do you want to stop the adults?"
The emperor supported his face with his right hand and rested his elbow on the armrest of the dragon throne, watching the ministers quarreling with relish.
"It's so exciting, stop them from doing anything, let them continue to quarrel."
Sun Kui didn't dare to say anything else, stepped back a few steps, and stood obediently in his original seat. He imitated the emperor and watched the ministers quarreling with interest.
These literati quarreled differently, without a single dirty word, but the words they cursed were very unpleasant. Of course, if you haven't read a little, you really can't understand a word.
The ministers quarreled very fiercely, and they were completely different from their usual gentle and refined manners. Sun Kui saw the ministers' spit flying on each other's faces, and some flew directly into each other's mouths. The
prince, who was standing at the head of the left team in the hall, watched all this in amazement.
The emperor watched for a while, and saw that the ministers were arguing about the same words, and felt that it was meaningless. He stood up, walked forward a few steps, crossed his arms, bent his waist slightly, and looked at the ministers with a smile: "You keep quarreling, I'm leaving."
When the ministers heard this, they were like chickens whose necks were suddenly pinched, and they were silent. Then, they knelt down in fear and pleaded with the emperor: "Your Majesty, please forgive me, we deserve death."
"Why don't you quarrel anymore? Keep quarreling?" The emperor still had a gentle and warm smile on his face, "I see you are quarreling very hard, keep quarreling, don't bother me."
The ministers kneeling in the hall were so scared that their faces turned pale and their bodies trembled slightly.
"We deserve death."
"This is the first time I know that you are so good at quarreling." The emperor put his hands behind his back and walked to the hall leisurely, with a smile on his lips, saying, "Just now it really opened my eyes."
The more gently the emperor spoke, the more afraid the ministers kneeling on the ground became.
"We are damned! Please punish us, Your Majesty!"
"Let's continue arguing as before, and come back to me when we have a conclusion." The emperor smiled gently, "I will wait for your good news." After that, he turned and walked out of Chengguang Hall. Before
leaving, the emperor asked Sun Kui to stay and supervise the ministers' quarrel.
Sun Kui did not call for the court to be dismissed, and stayed in Chengguang Hall.
After the emperor left, the ministers knelt on the ground for a long time without getting up.
Sun Kui had to remind the ministers: "My lords, the emperor just said that you should continue arguing until there is a conclusion."
The ministers looked at each other, not knowing what to do for a while.
"My lords, you can just argue like you did just now." Sun Kui stood with a slightly hunched back, standing aside with a respectful and decent smile on his face, patiently waiting for the ministers to continue arguing.
The prince saw the embarrassment of the ministers and wanted to help them out. He walked to Sun Kui and asked in a low voice: "Eunuch Sun, do you really want them to continue arguing?"
Sun Kui saluted the prince first, then said respectfully: "Your Highness, you just heard the emperor say that the ministers should continue arguing until there is a conclusion."
"But, this..."
"Your Highness, this is an imperial decree." Sun Kui said respectfully, "My lords, do you want to disobey the imperial decree?"
Of course, the ministers who had just quarreled did not dare to disobey the imperial decree. They could only bite the bullet and continue to quarrel. As they quarreled, they found the feeling, so they quarreled more and more fiercely.
The ministers who did not quarrel just now did not dare to stay any longer and left in a hurry.
Xuanping Hou walked out of Chengguang Hall slowly and leisurely. When Zhenguo Gong passed by him, he did not even give him a glance. Instead, the ministers around Zhenguo Gong ridiculed Xuanping Hou and said: "Wishful thinking."
"What are you talking about?"
Marquis Xuanping was not angry, but the minister who was following him was angry. He was about to catch up and argue, but was held back by Marquis Xuanping.
"Master Hou, he is disrespectful to you..."
Hou Xuanping waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about it."
"Dad, what does the emperor mean?" Xuanping Hou's eldest son, the eldest son of Xuanping Hou Mansion, asked, "Your Majesty, are you agreeing or not?"
Marquis Xuanping said calmly: "Your Majesty will not agree so quickly. This matter must be dealt with slowly."
"Master Marquis, as long as we keep proposing, the Emperor will sooner or later I will agree." The minister just now said, "His Royal Highness Dai Wang has made great achievements in battle, and the emperor favors and favors His Highness Dai Wang, so he will definitely give His Highness Dai Wang this honor." After
hearing this, the prince of Xuanping Houfu felt relieved. : "That's good."
"Jia Zhu is what His Royal Highness deserves." The minister just now lowered his voice, his tone full of disdain, "The prince has never made any military exploits for Da Zhou, why should they oppose... "
Xuanpinghou interrupted the minister, "Okay, don't say any more, this is not the place to talk."
Neither the minister nor the prince spoke anymore, and followed Xuanpinghou in a hurry out of the palace.
Walking behind Marquis Xuanping and others, there were several ministers gathered around an old man with gray hair.
"Xiang He, what do you think about adding beads to the king?"
"Xiang He, I can't agree to adding beads to the king."
"Xiang He, once the king adds beads to the king, his arrogance will inevitably become more arrogant."
"Xiang He, the king will be added with beads." The party members obviously want to force the prince through the Jiazhu incident.
"Jiazhu is a conspiracy of the King's party, and they must not be allowed to succeed."
Compared with several anxious ministers, He Xiang seemed very calm.
"Xiang He, please say something."
"Didn't the emperor not agree?" "The emperor has not agreed now, but that does not mean that he will not agree in the future. After all, the emperor always favors the king." "Don't worry, the emperor knows what he wants
.
." He Xiang smiled placatingly at the ministers, then turned and left.
"He Xiang..."
"He Xiang..."
"Why is He Xiang not in a hurry?"
"Since He Xiang is not in a hurry, it means that this matter will not go as Xuan Pinghou and the others want."
"Let's see again. Look."
In the Chengguang Hall, some ministers were still arguing. Their mouths were dry and their throats were burning. They couldn't continue the quarrel. They asked Sun Kui to help them plead with the emperor.
Sun Kui went to the imperial study and reported the quarrel among the ministers to the emperor truthfully.
After hearing this, the emperor said in a disgusted tone: "Let them go away."
Sun Kui returned to Chengguang Hall and conveyed the emperor's will to the ministers.
After the ministers thanked them, they crawled out of Chengguang Hall, not daring to delay for a moment for fear of being left to quarrel again.
From now on, they never dared to quarrel in court again.
(End of the chapter)