Chapter 62: The Scholar's Sarcasm

  The literary inquisition seems to be a very absurd thing to ordinary people, and it is often thought that killing the whole family and exterminating nine clans just because of a wrong sentence or title is indeed too excessive.

  But in reality, when people stand at different angles, the conclusions they draw from things will be different. This is what is meant by "not recognizing the true face of Mount Lu, only because one is on this mountain". Take Jiang Xia for example, such a clever person, still hasn't reacted to Zhu Houzhao's identity until now, outsiders might think it's unreasonable. But actually putting oneself in Jiang Xia's shoes and looking at it from his perspective, a rich young master who was casually acquainted with him in the brothel, who would have thought to suspect that he is the current emperor?

  It's not that I couldn't think of it, but rather I never thought in that direction at all.

  As a member of the royal family, as a monarch. When they encounter books with obvious errors in guidance, their first consideration is not what is reasonable or unreasonable, but rather the impact. It's about the stability of imperial power and the dignity of the Son of Heaven.

  For these three things, the Son of Heaven is willing to kill many people, willing to kill... anyone.

  Seeing Li Dongyang's slightly trembling appearance, Zhu Houzhao took a deep breath and then didn't want to look at him again: "Go, go home first, wait for me to consider it clearly before making a decision."

  "Yes." Li Dongyang also took a deep breath, and when he stood up, he was no longer trembling. His entire expression and eyes became very calm. A veteran of four dynasties is not to be underestimated. Li Dongyang's ability to step by step reach his current position was absolutely not due to luck.

  He looked at Zhu Houzhao, his eyes fixed on him without any bias.

  Looking straight at the imperial countenance is a tabooed act and can be regarded as disrespect towards the emperor.

  But Zhu Houzhao didn't get angry. Li Dongyang looked at him for about four or five seconds before speaking up and saying, "Your Majesty... take care."

  Zhu Houzhao looked at Li Dongyang, and this "take care" made his heart tremble slightly. However, thinking of the phrase "Thirty-first year of Zhizheng", Zhu Houzhao secretly shook his head in his heart. To be honest, Zhu Houzhao was not a bloodthirsty person, nor was he someone who didn't care about emotions at all.

  If this were just a trivial mistake made by an ordinary scholar, Zhu Houzhao would not have reacted so strongly. But since it was committed by the Chief Assistant and Tutor of the Crown Prince, the implication is entirely different. Perhaps some people still do not understand what "Thirty-first Year of Zhongyi" represents; this can represent Li Dongyang's view that at that time, Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was not yet considered the true ruler of the world, and until the third year of Hongwu, Emperor Taizu's throne was still illegitimate.

  Zhu Houzhao did not respond to Li Dongyang's words, and Li Dongyang turned around and left.

  At the moment he walked out of the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Houzhao suddenly called out: "Taifu."

  Li Dongyang turned around and looked at Zhu Houzhao. After hesitating for a moment, Zhu Houzhao said: "Don't blame me, some things I also had no choice but to do."

  Li Dongyang smiled slightly and said calmly, "As the emperor, there are many things that cannot be avoided. The emperor should not be fond of killing, but if it is unavoidable, he also cannot avoid killing."

  Having said that, Li Dongyang turned around and left Qingqing Palace.

  At the corner of the corridor, Li Dongyang suddenly ran into Liu Jin. Seeing a smile on this person's face, Li Dongyang immediately understood that this matter must have been instigated by Liu Jin. This was both an intuition and an inference. Li Dongyang shook his head, not wanting to talk to Liu Jin, and was about to leave.

  Liu Jin suddenly reached out to stop Li Dongyang, and smiled as he said: "Our family has always been thinking, why is the Grand Preceptor always so serious all the time. Our family has an unreasonable request, please grant it, Grand Preceptor."

  Li Dongyang raised an eyebrow and looked at Liu Jin, spitting out a single word: "Speak."

  Liu Jin smiled and said: "I'd like to ask the Grand Preceptor to tell me a joke, I'm sure he won't refuse, will he?"

  Li Dongyang slightly narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment and said: "If Mr. Li is willing to listen to me telling jokes, it's my honor, I'll tell you one."

  Liu Jin couldn't help but burst out laughing, he clapped his hands and said: "Good, Lord Li indeed knows how to seize the opportunity. Don't worry, this joke of yours won't be told in vain, you should know that our family has many connections inside the heavenly prison."

  Liu Jin's words were already hinting that Li Dongyang would be thrown into the heavenly prison, but Li Dongyang didn't get angry. He said: "Listen well, eunuch Li, in the past... there was a certain eunuch."

  Li Dongyang stopped talking after saying this.

  "What's next?" Liu Jin couldn't help but ask.

  Li Dongyang smiled slightly and said, "What's next? Of course, there is nothing next."

  Liu Jin was taken aback at first, and then he reacted. Li Dongyang was ridiculing him for having nothing below. It turned out that for a eunuch, Liu Jin's greatest taboo in his life was mentioning this matter, but Li Dongyang happened to hit the most painful spot in his heart with one sentence.

  Liu Jin nodded, almost gnashing his teeth as he smiled: "Good, good, very good. The Grand Preceptor is indeed the Grand Preceptor, and it's true that he's one of a kind - even his jokes are... especially funny. Such a funny joke, we will certainly repay Mr. Li well for it. Once Mr. Li arrives at the Heavenly Prison, once the ladies of the Li household enter the Teaching Bureau... our family will definitely take good care of them."

  Li Dongyang let out a cold hum, and suddenly took a step forward. This step startled Liu Jin, who subconsciously retreated one step. It's worth noting that Liu Jin was a martial artist, while Li Dongyang didn't even have the strength to tie up a chicken. But just by sheer presence, Li Dongyang had already gained the upper hand over Liu Jin.

  Li Dongyang said word by word: "What are you? Just a dog, or a **worthless** dog. I was born with the love and admiration of all officials and people, and after death, I will surely be remembered for thousands of years, leaving my name in history. And you, when you were alive, you were a eunuch without eggs, and when you died, do you know what you are? Worthless... dead eunuch."

  After finishing speaking, Li Dongyang walked away with a swagger. Five steps later, he suddenly burst out laughing loudly, his laughter revealing an unbridled and refreshing joy.

  Liu Jin gazed at Li Dongyang's back, his originally pale and beardless face now alternating between green and red, changing unpredictably. Liu Jin stamped his foot in anger, saying: "Li Dongyang, you just wait for me, I will definitely make you pay the price for what you said today, definitely!"

  Li Dongyang walked out of the left gate and saw Jun Yang sitting in the carriage waiting for him. Li Dongyang nodded at Jun Yang, then got on the carriage. The carriage slowly headed towards the direction of the Li Mansion, after walking a distance, Jun Yang's voice suddenly came from inside the carriage: "Sir, there is a tail that has been following us, do you want me to take care of them?"

  "Don't bother about them, if they want to follow, let them follow. I, Li Dongyang, have lived a life of integrity and openness, is there anything that cannot be shown to others?"

  "Yes!"

  The story splits into two threads, let's talk about the Qianqing Palace side first. As soon as Li Dongyang left, Liu Jin entered the Qianqing Palace and after paying respects to Zhu Houzhao in a low voice asked: "Your Majesty, I have already sent someone to follow Li Dongyang, what should we do next?"

  Zhu Houzhao turned his head to look at Liu Jin, and he couldn't help but ask: "Liu Jin, if I really kill him, will it not harm the class of people, making all the civil and military officials in the court feel chilled?"

  Liu Jin's heart skipped a beat, he had already deeply offended Li Dongyang. If Zhu Houzhao didn't make up his mind to kill Li Dongyang now, then what he would face next would be Li Dongyang's crazy revenge. Liu Jin thought for a moment, he was organizing words on how to persuade Zhu Houzhao to make up his mind to punish Li Dongyang.

  Before Liu Jin could think of what to say, Zhu Houzhao himself sighed and said: "Forget it, such a great crime, if not punished, is not enough to uphold the national law, nor can it maintain the dignity of Emperor Taizu, and at the same time, it cannot be handed over to ancestors."

  After finishing speaking, Zhu Houzhao waved his hand at Liu Jin and said: "Follow the usual example, don't be too eager to take action, tomorrow evening take action, leave him some face."

  "Yes!" Liu Jin let out a sigh of relief in his heart.

  Following the usual example, what kind of usual example is it? It's naturally the usual example of literary inquisition. What is the usual example of literary inquisition? The lightest punishment is also beheading the whole family, and then anyone related to this matter will lose their heads. The Li family is probably finished this time.

  Li Dongyang returned to the mansion and had Junyang called into his own room. Li Dongyang said, "Junyang, I believe you have already guessed what happened."

  Jun nodded, the entire Li mansion was already surrounded by people from the East Factory and the Imperial Guard, even the kitchen staff who wanted to go out to buy vegetables were blocked, and after arguing for two sentences, they were slapped twice. Such a situation would not be possible in the residence of the current Grand Councilor unless something big had happened.

  Li Dongyang said: "Something big has happened, I'm afraid that this time the Li family will not have a single survivor. You've been following me for nine years now, and now I entrust you with one thing."

  Jun Yang knelt down on one knee, saying in a deep voice: "Sir, Jun Yang has been foolish for half his life. Fortunately, thanks to your guidance, he suddenly woke up and understood the truth of life. Following you for nine years, Jun Yang feels like he has been reborn. To Jun Yang, you are like a second father and mother. No matter what happens to you, Jun Yang will go through thick and thin with you."

  "It can't be like this." Li Dongyang shook his head and said: "My ancestral home is in Chaling, Changsha Prefecture, Huguang Province. Most of my relatives are there. In the capital, apart from two old servants, there is no one else close to me. I will immediately write down my ancestral address for you, and you must hurry day and night to inform my relatives in my ancestral home, telling them all to escape and change their names, never to use the surname Li again. Do you understand?"

  Jun Yang's eyes were slightly red, he nodded heavily and said: "Jun Yang understands, please don't worry, sir."

  "Go." Li Dongyang waved his hand and let out a sigh of relief.

  Jun Yang took the address written by Li Dongyang and solemnly put it in his own bosom. Before leaving, Jun Yang knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times to Li Dongyang, saying: "Sir, take care."

  Li Dongyang nodded and didn't say anything.

  When Li Dongyang returned home, Zhu Houzhao also arrived at Xiangyashan Manor around the same time.

  After searching for Jiang Xia in the Xiangyang Mountain Villa, Zhu Houzhao finally found him in the Apricot Forest. Seeing that Jiang Xia was still reading a book, Zhu Houzhao smiled and said: "Big brother, you've really changed your ways lately. You're not studying how to have fun, but instead started reading books. What's going on? Are you planning to take the imperial examination and become a top scholar?"

  "That's for sure, I've decided that I can't just drift along like this anymore. I'm going to take the imperial exam and become an official." Jiang Xia said with a serious face, and after finishing speaking, he even clenched his fist as if to encourage himself.

  Zhu Houzhao was stunned, originally he just said that casually, but didn't think that Jiang Xia would actually have such thoughts. However, regarding Jiang Xia's idea, Zhu Houzhao wholeheartedly supported it with both hands and feet. He had been unable to find a good way to reveal his identity to Jiang Xia, now hearing him say he wanted to take the imperial examination, this solved his problem. When the time comes and they meet in the Taihe Hall, haha......Zhu Houzhao thought of Jiang Xia's dumbfounded expression and found it amusing.

  Zhu Houzhao nodded and raised his thumb: "Big brother has a good spirit, but I don't know why big brother suddenly had such an idea?"

  Jiang Xia put down the "Zhong Yong" and picked up a cup of Longjing tea from the table beside him, took a sip and said: "Speaking of this matter, I have to thank one person, my new master."

  "Master?" Zhu Houzhao showed some interest, "I've never heard you mention that you had a master before, what's going on?"

  "It's been almost two months now, and this master of mine is quite mysterious. Although I don't know his true identity, I can sense that he must not be an ordinary person. But to say the least, he has indeed been very good to me, teaching me with patience and care. In my life, there aren't many people who have been kind to me, and he is one of them."

  Jiang Xia had just finished speaking, and Zhu Houzhao slightly curled up the corners of his mouth. Jiang Xia patted him on the shoulder and said, "Of course, you're also one of them, hehe."

  Zhu Houzhao smiled and said: "This statement sounds quite pleasant."

  "By the way, big brother, you taught me a method to deal with locust disasters. I've already told my uncle about it, and he said that the Emperor has approved the plan according to your suggestion. This time, thank you so much! You also helped my uncle gain merit in front of the Emperor."

  "It doesn't matter, as long as you get promoted and rich, just don't forget to give me a share," said Jiang Xia.

  "That's natural." Zhu Houzhao thought for a moment and asked, "By the way, big brother, the area around Henan and Hebei often suffers from locust plagues. Is there really no way to completely eradicate them?"

  "There is indeed, but it's just a bit of trouble." said Jiang Xia.

  "Oh? Big brother, you have a way, what should I do?" Zhu Houzhao immediately asked.

  "Let me tell you, locusts cannot breed in areas with a vegetation coverage rate of over 50%. Oh, you don't understand? Let me put it another way. If the trees in Henan occupy more than half of the land area, then locusts will not be able to breed there. This way, locust plagues won't happen again."

  "..." Zhu Houzhao was slightly startled after hearing this, the words sounded very familiar to him. After a moment's thought, he remembered that Taifu Li Dongyang had also said something similar during the early morning court session.

  It turns out that I was wrong about Taifu, and unexpectedly, he proposed a radical solution.

  On the other side, Liu Jin immediately convened a meeting with several big heads after returning. The meeting decided that on the next day at noon, they would enter Li's mansion to seize property and arrest people, then use a prisoner cart to parade Li Dongyang through the streets before throwing him into the Heavenly Prison.

  Liu Jin, also known as "the eunuch who would die", had already borne a grudge against Li Dongyang that would last until death.