Chapter Sixty: Adding Fuel to the Fire

  "What is the use of having ministers if they cannot assist the king and support the state?"

  Li Dongyang couldn't shake off the words after leaving the Qianqing Palace, he walked slowly, trying to steady every step, but Zhu Houzhao's words were like a thunderbolt on a clear day, dealing him a severe blow, Li Dongyang's body swayed and almost fell to the ground.

  "Teacher." "Quickly!" Cao Yuan and Jing Gui, who had been following closely behind Li Dongyang, supported him.

  "When the cunning rabbit is dead, the hunting dog is cooked; when the flying birds are gone, the strong bow is stored away; when the enemy state is destroyed, the plotting minister perishes."

  "Agreed!" Li Dongyang tightly grasped Gu's hand, shaking his head and saying: "This is not suitable to say, don't mention it again."

  Bin was Li Dongyang's courtesy name, while Chong Sui was Jing Gui's courtesy name. In general, the two would not address each other in this way, and mostly called each other "Mr. Li" or "Mr. Jing", which sounds somewhat unfamiliar but is actually a gesture of respect.

  Two of them were in charge of the Ministry of Rites, which was the first of the six ministries, and one was the chief assistant of the Grand Council. If they were too close, they would inevitably invite criticism. However, in fact, the two were old ministers of the Xiaozong period, serving in the same dynasty for many years, and their personalities matched, so they were actually very good friends.

  Li Dongyang was loyal and dedicated to the imperial court, but in the end, he was given the title of "What use is he?" by the emperor. Jing Gui felt deeply sorry for Li Dongyang. The previous remarks about "the birds are gone, the good bow is hidden" were already considered extremely disrespectful, so Li Dongyang hastily stopped him.

  Jing Gui was furious and stamped his foot heavily, exclaiming: "It's not worth it! It's not worth it!"

  Li Dongyang let out a faint sigh and smiled wryly, anyone could see that his smile was tinged with endless bitterness.

  "In the old days, with golden armor and iron horses, we swallowed up thousands of miles like a tiger. Now, looking back, under the temple of Buddha, there's only a piece of drum skin left. Who can ask, Lian Po is old, can he still eat? Li Dongyang shook his head, as if putting down something, he pushed away Cao Yuan's hand that was supporting his arm, and walked forward saying: 'Right or wrong, success or failure, good or evil, loyalty or treachery, let later generations comment on it. Let's just go back, let's just go back...' "

  Seven cabinet ministers left soon after, and Zhu Houzhao also immediately exited the palace. The locust plague in Henan was mentioned by Jiang Xia in a speech, now from top to bottom in the imperial court no one could come up with any effective solution, Zhu Houzhao's first thought was of Jiang Xia, perhaps only asking him might find an effective solution.

  Zhu Houzhao hastily rushed to the Xiangyang Mountain Villa, while Jiang Xia was reading a book on "The Doctrine of the Mean" at this moment. However, Young Master Jiang didn't forget to enjoy himself even when reading books. He lay on a self-made sofa in the apricot forest of the large garden, with a maid massaging his legs in front of him, another maid pinching his shoulders behind him, and another maid feeding him fruit beside him.

  "Heaven's decree is called nature; following nature is called Way; cultivating the Way is called education..."

  "Big brother." A sudden shout interrupted Jiang Xia's reading, Jiang Xia turned his head and smiled: "Hey, second brother is here, what have you been busy with these days? I haven't seen you come over."

  Zhu Houzhao waved his hand at the three maids and said, "You all go down first, come back later."

  "Yes." The three maids responded in unison and retreated. Zhu Houzhao squatted beside Jiang Xia's sofa, saying: "Big brother, I've finally found you. It's all right now, it's all right now."

  Jiang Xia immediately sat up straight from the sofa and asked Zhu Houzhao, "How do we split it? Four-six or five-five?"

  Zhu Houzhao was taken aback and said: "Henan has a locust disaster, what does it have to do with me?"

  "Lean back." Jiang Xia immediately lay back on the sofa, "I thought you'd made a fortune. The locust disaster in Henan was only to be expected, wasn't it? Didn't I warn you ahead of time to take precautions? How come you still couldn't prevent it?"

  Zhu Houzhao said with some embarrassment: "You did tell me to remind the Emperor to take precautions, but you didn't say how to prevent it. Now the locust disaster in Henan is unstoppable and its scale is extremely large, a rare occurrence in a hundred years. Big brother, think of a solution quickly, what should we do now?"

  "Now, there are roughly three things that can be done. Firstly, a large number of chickens and ducks should be immediately assembled in Henan to feed on the locusts. Secondly, Lu Jie Cao should be found as soon as possible, mixed with Ban Xia, Tian Nan Xing, and Chuan Wu, ground into a powder, then boiled into water, and finally transported to Henan for large-scale spraying. Thirdly, people should be sent to Jiangnan, where grain is abundant, to purchase grain and transport it to Henan, as the disaster will inevitably cause grain prices to rise."

  Upon hearing Jiang Xia's elaborate plan, Zhu Houzhao excitedly clenched his fist and immediately stood up, saying: "Thank you, big brother, for your guidance. I'll go report to my uncle right away. See you later, big brother. In two days, I'll come find you for a good drink."

  Jiang Xia looked at Zhu Houzhao's back and smiled, continuing to read his own book.

  That afternoon, Liu Jin finally couldn't hide his excitement after learning about Zhu Houzhao's evaluation of Li Dongyang. As a eunuch, he knew that he would never be able to sit in that unique position, but at least he should also go for the position that is second only to one person and above all others.

  He was in charge of the Eastern Depot at the same time, and also served as the Grand Secretary. There were not many people in the Ming Dynasty who dared not to give Liu Jin face, and Li Dongyang was one of them.

  Now Zhu Houzhao is dissatisfied with Li Dongyang, Liu Jin immediately prepares to decide to step on him again and make Li Dongyang never turn over forever.

  A month ago, Liu Jin had already begun collecting various evidence that would make it impossible for Li Dongyang to turn over again. The East Factory's followers were almost all mobilized, and they combed through Li Dongyang's various relationships, re-collecting the various books, letters, and calligraphy written by Li Dongyang. Including Li Dongyang's property in his name, the people from the East Factory also recalculated it to see if it matched his salary income.

  It must be said that Li Dongyang is a man who disciplines himself strictly, whether it's himself or his direct relatives, they basically haven't made any big mistakes. Even three years ago when his elder cousin's son accidentally beat him severely, not only did Li Dongyang not cover up for him, but he also wrote a letter to the local county government, instructing them to handle the matter impartially, and if there was even a hint of bias, he would report it to the Ministry of Justice and have them removed from office.

  For nearly two months, Liu Jin had been unable to find any fault with Li Dongyang.

  He re-recognized Li Dongyang in the great hall of the East Factory's courtyard, where more than 40 people from the East Factory were carefully reviewing the books and calligraphy written by Li Dongyang. Liu Jin sat on a chair staring at him, his heart actually having a faint sense of admiration for Li Dongyang. No wonder this person could suppress me for so long, he is indeed formidable.

  Suddenly, a file head from the East Factory excitedly shouted: "Found it, found it."

  Liu Jin's eyes lit up and he immediately walked over. The head of the Eastern Depot handed him an open book, saying: "Sir, look at this part."

  Liu Jin first took a glance at the cover of the book, which was called "The Collection of Civil and Military Achievements of the Great Ming". The content of the book was actually quite simple, merely recording the great achievements of various civil and military officials since the founding of the Ming dynasty. On one hand, it expressed admiration for predecessors, while on the other hand, it also revealed one's own ambitions, hinting that one must become a similar kind of civil or military official.

  This book was written by Li Dongyang when he was still serving as a lecturer and junior minister of the Ministry of Rites, which was already in the second year of the Hongzhi era, nearly twenty-one years ago.

  "In the 31st year of the Zhizheng era, General Xu Da led his army from Tongguan westward to punish the rebellious Xianbi tribe that had been repeatedly disturbing Lanzhou. In the battle of Shen'er Gorge, they thoroughly annihilated the Yuan army. Xu Da's troops occupied Dingxi and successively captured Mianzhou and Xingyuan, pacifying southern Gansu. From then on, the Ming dynasty was unified, and the Yuan was destroyed."

  Liu Jin looked at it and carefully recalled that he was not very familiar with history, but at least he had some understanding of the founding history. Especially Xu Da, the story of Zhongshan King, the first meritorious general of the founding of the country, is widely spread, and often mentioned in plays.

  Liu Jin thought for a moment and asked doubtfully: "It seems that there is no problem here, history is like this, right?"

  That person shook his head and whispered to Liu Jin: "Lord, there's a problem here, and it's a big one. Think about it, the 31st year of Zhizheng... is there even a 31st year of Zhizheng? The Taizu Emperor ascended to the throne in the 28th year of Zhizheng, so this '31st year of Zhizheng' should be..."

  Liu Jin took a deep breath: "The third year of Hongwu!"

  "His Excellency the Emperor is wise and enlightened. This Li Dongyang is a subject of our Great Ming, yet when compiling historical records, he uses the year numbers of the previous dynasty instead of those of the Great Ming. Is this not an attempt to rebel?"

  This made even Liu Jin stunned, he originally just wanted to let Li Dongyang never turn over, being able to frame him to death was the best. However, from the mistakes found in this book, Liu Jin understood what it meant.

  Literary Inquisition!

  The Great Ming Dynasty was not uncommon for literary inquisitions, but each literary inquisition brought out a bloody storm. If Liu Jin were to expose this matter, it's likely that not only Li Dongyang would die, but also his direct descendants and everyone involved in printing and selling the book.

  Liu Jin squeezed the "Mingwen Wujizhuan" in his hand, he said in a low voice: "No poison is not a man, Li Dongyang, this time you can't blame me."

  After finishing speaking, Liu Jin immediately took this book out of the East Factory.

  At this moment, Li Dongyang had no idea that a great disaster was approaching him. He was writing a memorial in his study with a dead heart. The content of the memorial was very simple, and the whole text only meant one thing: to resign and ask for retirement.

  Li Dongyang saw it very clearly, he had already reached the point where he must retreat.