Chapter 61: The Literary Inquisition

  After Li Dongyang finished writing the memorial, he reviewed it again. The older he got, the more cautious he became in his actions, because he was aware that there were many people watching him and he couldn't afford to make mistakes. After confirming that there were no typos or inappropriate language in the memorial, nor any phrases that could be easily misinterpreted, Li Dongyang blew dry the ink marks and sighed: "Ten years of rain at night in Jianghu, the rise and fall of human affairs several times anew, right or wrong, all dissolved into a cup of turbid wine and a pot of clear tea."

  "This means that 'the world is in chaos, the heart is troubled, and every rainy night for ten years has been filled with worries and unable to fall asleep. However, the world is always quietly changing, and people and things have also undergone new changes. Right and wrong, good and evil, have become a cup of turbid wine and a pot of clear tea for Li Dongyang."

  Li Dongyang put away the memorial and set it aside. Incidentally, he also pulled out the eight-part essay that Jiang Xia had given him, which was the one with the title "Zi Wei Yan Yuan Yue, Yong Zhi Ze Xing, She Zhi Ze Cang, Wei Wo Yu Er You Shi Fu!"

  The first thing that caught Li Dongyang's eye was Jiang Xia's calligraphy, specifically the work of Dong Qichang, whose regular script was renowned as the best in the land, combining the strengths of a hundred schools. The characters seemed to radiate an aura of grandeur from behind the paper. Li Dongyang was deeply impressed by Jiang Xia's calligraphy and continued reading, coming across the phrase "The sage's actions are hidden, yet he begins to reveal them subtly to those who are capable." Li Dongyang couldn't help but slap the table in excitement, exclaiming "Brilliant!"

  Then Li Dongyang continued to look down and saw that Jiang Xia's inscription was "The sage's words are hidden, the rules are not easy to follow, from Yanzi's few words, and only then can we talk about it." Li Dongyang couldn't help but slap the table three times, excitedly shouting: "Wonderful! Wonderful! Too wonderful!"

  Li Dongyang read the entire article in one breath, then put down the article in his hand and muttered to himself: "This article is already a masterpiece of the golden list, this child is indeed a genius, a child who can be taught, a child who can be taught."

  Thinking of this, Li Dongyang was about to go to Xiangyao Mountain Villa to see Jiang Xia, but as soon as he opened the door of his study, Li Dongyang stopped in his tracks. He remembered that tomorrow was the day for the morning court session, and now it was already late, going to Xiangyao Mountain Villa would likely delay his attendance at the morning court.

  Li Dongyang shook his head and said, "Forget it, anyway there's nothing important coming up next, might as well stay at the Xiangyao Mountain Villa and polish this jade."

  The moon was obscured by dark clouds on this night, and the darkness was dull. No one knew how many things happened that night, but it was destined to be an extraordinary night.

  The next morning, the civil and military officials entered the Taihe Hall for an early court session. Zhu Houzhao sat upright on the dragon throne, wearing a Dongzhu imperial crown on his head and a five-clawed golden dragon imperial robe, looking very majestic.

  After the ceremony of kneeling and bowing was over, all the officials thanked and stood up. Zhu Houzhao swept his eyes over the officials and then said: "The drought in Henan has just passed, and now a locust disaster has occurred. Do any of you have a good strategy to deal with it?"

  Inside the Taihe Hall, it was quiet and no one spoke. This locust plague was indeed difficult to cure, and basically no one thought of an effective way to deal with it. After a while, Li Dongyang finally spoke up: "I humbly report to Your Majesty, last night I read through ancient books, which recorded that where trees occupy seven or eight parts of the land, locusts do not breed. I think we can try this method, transplanting large numbers of trees from surrounding areas to the places in Henan where the locust plague is rampant, and perhaps we can suppress the locusts' reproduction, then dispatch people to catch them, and thus control the plague."

  Li Dongyang's method is indeed an effective way to deal with locusts. Later scientific research has shown that locusts must lay eggs on land with a vegetation coverage rate of less than 50%. If a place is mountainous and watery, without barren land, locusts cannot multiply. This is also the meaning behind Li Dongyang's sentence "Trees occupy seven or eight parts of the land, and large locusts do not breed".

  However, Li Dongyang's method would not be able to see results in the short term, and it would be no easy task to increase the vegetation coverage of a place as large as Henan to over 50%. As soon as he proposed this plan, Zhu Houzhao asked Li Dongyang: "Taifu, I ask you, how big is Henan? It's not easy to fill seven or eight tenths of the land with trees. How much silver will it cost? Can the Ministry of Revenue afford that much silver? And even if the trees are planted and the locust disaster is really suppressed, will there be any grain left in Henan?"

  Zhu Houzhao's series of rhetorical questions left Li Dongyang speechless, and he immediately knelt down and kowtowed, saying: "Your humble minister is ignorant, please Your Majesty to pardon the crime."

  Zhu Houzhao glanced at Li Dongyang, and the dissatisfaction in his eyes was not concealed at all. However, according to the rules of the imperial court meeting, ministers were not allowed to look directly at the emperor's face, so only a few ministers saw Zhu Houzhao's expression, and only a few bold ones secretly took a glance with their peripheral vision.

  Zhu Houzhao took a slight breath and waved his hand: "Forget it, get up first."

  "Thank you for your imperial kindness." Li Dongyang stood up and stepped aside.

  Zhu Houzhao looked at everyone again and said: "Is there anyone else in the hall who has a good strategy to respond?"

  None of the officials dared to speak again.

  Zhu Houzhao nodded and said, "Since you have no way, I will teach you a way. Next, divide the handling of the Henan locust disaster into three steps for me. First, the Ministry of Officials issues a document to inform all counties and prefectures in Henan to purchase large quantities of chickens and ducks, and raise them in places where the locusts are rampant."

  Cao Yuan stepped forward and knelt down, saying: "Your humble servant has received your orders."

  "Secondly, after the court meeting was dismissed, the Imperial Supervisor immediately ordered the Imperial Hospital to purchase large quantities of Lu Jie Cao, Ban Xia, Tian Nan Xing and Chuan Wu, among other herbs. These were then ground into powder and sprayed in areas where locusts were rampant."

  Liu Jin, being the head of the Imperial Censorate, immediately stepped forward and knelt down to pay his respects, saying: "Your humble servant obeys your orders."

  "Thirdly, the Ministry of Revenue will immediately allocate silver to purchase grain in various places in Jiangnan and transport it to Henan. Now that the drought in Henan has just passed and a locust disaster has occurred, grain prices are bound to rise, so we must take action ahead of time."

  Li Dongyang also knelt down and paid his respects, saying: "Your humble servant obeys your orders."

  "All right, it's just these three steps. Raising chickens and ducks can utilize the insects eaten by them to get rid of locusts, spraying pesticides can kill the eggs laid by locusts, and buying grain can suppress grain prices. Such a simple method, yet none of you officials thought of it, I ask you, what is the use of the court supporting you?"

  Upon hearing Zhu Houzhao's words, the civil and military officials immediately knelt down, and they all cried out: "Your humble ministers are unable to share Your Majesty's worries, your humble ministers' crimes deserve ten thousand deaths, please forgive us."

  "Never mind, let's just disperse."

  Zhu Houzhao shook his head and then stood up and left.

  All the officials retreated, and Li Dongyang stood up with the support of Cao Yuan and Liang Chu. He was also ready to leave the Taihe Hall, but Liu Jin suddenly walked over and smiled at Li Dongyang: "Prime Minister, the Emperor has summoned you to Qianqing Palace for an audience."

  Li Dongyang glanced at Liu Jin, and a sense of unease rose up in his heart for no reason. Liu Jin's smile always made him feel very uncomfortable. Li Dongyang nodded and responded with a single word: "Yes, thank you, sir."

  Li Dongyang followed Liu Jin out of the side door of Taihe Hall and headed towards Qianqing Palace. Liu Jin walked quickly, so when Li Dongyang arrived at the gate of Qianqing Palace, he was still slightly panting.

  Liu Jin stood at the door and said to Li Dongyang: "Chief Assistant, go in, the Emperor is waiting inside."

  Li Dongyang glanced at Liu Jin and nodded slightly before walking into the Qianqing Palace.

  Inside the palace, Zhu Houzhao sat upright on the dragon chair, holding a book in his hand and flipping through it. His expression was calm, and nothing unusual could be seen. Li Dongyang knelt down to pay respects to Zhu Houzhao, saying: "Your humble minister Li Dongyang pays homage to Your Majesty, wishing you ten thousand years of longevity."

  "Let Taifu calm down." Zhu Houzhao said calmly.

  "Thank you, Your Majesty." Li Dongyang stood up.

  Zhu Houzhao took out a memorial from the desk in front of him and said, "Just now I saw the memorial submitted by Taifu. Does Taifu want to retire and return to his hometown?"

  "I beg to retire, Your Majesty. I am old and my senses are failing me - my ears are deaf, my eyes are dim, and my mind is dull. I can no longer serve the court effectively. I wish to return home and request your permission." said Li Dongyang.

  Zhu Houzhao nodded and said, "Taifu, if I'm not mistaken, you were a jinshi in the eighth year of Tianshun, then entered the court as an official. You have gone through the reigns of Yingzong, Xianzong, my late father Xiaozong, and now mine, making you a veteran of four dynasties."

  "The Emperor's concern is well-placed, and His Majesty's memory is not mistaken." Li Dongyang replied, he didn't understand why Zhu Houzhao would mention these things.

  Zhu Houzhao shook his head and sighed sadly: "A veteran of four dynasties, who would have thought that he was a treacherous minister with ulterior motives!"

  Li Dongyang was taken aback, and then his whole body unconsciously knelt down to the ground. He had thought that the current emperor's evaluation of himself might not be high, but he had never thought that one day his head would be crowned with the four words "treacherous minister and traitorous son".

  Li Dongyang came back to his senses and hastily said: "Your Majesty, I am loyal to the Great Ming and to Your Majesty with all my heart, without any second thoughts. I hope that Your Majesty will discern this clearly."

  "What's there to investigate? Do I still need to investigate? It's written clearly in black and white, you can see for yourself." Zhu Houzhao suddenly threw the book in his hand in front of Li Dongyang, who hastily picked it up. The five big characters "Da Ming Wen Wu Ji" almost escaped Li Dongyang's memory, and he had to carefully turn his head a few times before remembering that this was a book he wrote when he was young.

  Li Dongyang opened it and found that Zhu Houzhao had folded a page, so he immediately turned to the place where Zhu Houzhao wanted him to see. And the sentence "Until the 31st year of Zhengde" was even highlighted with a red pen by Zhu Houzhao.

  Li Dongyang didn't react at first, but soon a chill ran down his spine.

  Today's Li Dongyang is no longer like his young self, the court's many taboos he knows like the back of his hand. What "Thirty-first year of Zhizheng" represents, Li Dongyang is clearer than anyone else. Cold sweat immediately broke out on Li Dongyang's back, and he heavily kowtowed to Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, this book was written by your humble servant in his youth, twenty-one years ago. Your humble servant was young and ignorant at the time, so he made a big mistake. I hope Your Majesty will take into account that your humble servant is now old, for the sake of the great Ming dynasty's diligent work without merit but with hard work, please forgive this humble servant this once."

  Li Dongyang, who was known for his calm and composure, finally reached the verge of collapse when faced with this matter. As he spoke, his entire body began to tremble.