Chapter 98 How to write the word "奸"! (asking for monthly votes)

Long before Li Chengqian left the Eastern Palace, Du He had already come to the Eastern Palace and handed him a big note.

It recorded the small broadcasts in the homes of Shandong nobles. Li Chengqian read it carefully as if it were a treasure, and even recited it while riding on the sedan chair.

He swore that even when Li Gang used to use a ruler to force him to recite the text, he was not as serious as he was now.

Therefore, interest is the best teacher for children.

Li Xiang did not follow him to the Taiji Hall, as this kind of occasion was not something he could participate in at the moment.

He had no choice but to leave Li Jue behind and sneak off to Lizheng Hall to play with his aunt.

At the gate of Taiji Hall, Li Chengqian saw Li Tai and Li Zhi coming together.

Seeing Li Chengqian's gaze, Li Tai gave him a subtle look, telling him not to look around.

Last night, they had sent letters via White Falcon and had discussed how to respond.

When Li Tai was communicating with Wang Yi and other Shandong gentry, he had already made it clear that he would never take the lead.

Wang Yi certainly expressed his understanding. After all, Li Tai was Li Chengqian's younger brother.

If Li Tai was impatient to express his willingness to take the lead, they would start to doubt Li Tai's intentions and wonder whether he was setting a trap for them.

Of course, the first thing to do at the grand court meeting is to deal with the serious business. The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Personnel will still make reports, and the Ministry of Rites will finalize it.

After the main business was over, it was time to attack Li Chengqian.

"Your servant Xu Chonglin has a report to make."

A man stood up among the censors' team.

"In the East Palace, there are many clowns, the Crown Prince is close to villains, and loyal people are banished to the outside. Slanderers and flatterers are deceiving the emperor. The crown prince is the foundation of the country, and he must not be deceived by villains. I hope the saints will see clearly."

coming!

The ministers couldn't help but feel refreshed.

Although this first shot is not loud enough and cannot be considered big news, it is steady.

Li Chengqian also rolled his eyes and said, "Can you guys come up with something new? You always say the same two clichés. When will it ever end?"
"Prince, what do you say?" Li Shimin looked at Li Chengqian without comment.

"Your Majesty, I would like to ask Censor Xu, who do you mean by villain and who do you mean by loyal minister?"

"The villains are naturally people like Hegan Chengji, and the loyal ministers are of course the former left scholar Zhang Xuansu." Xu Chonglin said solemnly.

Li Chengqian did not get angry as usual, but asked patiently: "Then I would like to ask you, Zhang Xuansu has repeatedly insulted me and even alienated my father and son. Shouldn't he be exiled for selling his reputation and integrity?"

"This is caused by a villain's attempt to sow discord. Zhang Xuansu is definitely not the kind of person who would sell his integrity for fame." Xu Chonglin said with a firm tone.

"So you are saying that my son is a villain?" Li Chengqian asked immediately.

Xu Chonglin didn't dare to answer. Although he was a pawn of the Shandong gentry, he was not stupid.

What is the identity of Li Xiang, Prince of Hengshan? He is the most beloved grandson of the current saint and is basically confirmed to be the third-generation heir.

You say he is a villain? Is he trying to kill himself?
"You keep saying treacherous ministers and villains." Li Chengqian flicked his sleeves and said with disgust, "Last time you said that Helan Chushi and Han Wang Li Yuanchang were villains. Now Helan Chushi has been executed by my order, and Han Wang has committed suicide at home."

"Now that the two have been executed, you are still chasing me and saying that there are still villains in the East Palace? I really don't know what the prince should do to satisfy you!"

Once these words were spoken, it was quite heartbreaking.

What? You still want to teach me how to be a prince?
Xu Chonglin didn't dare to respond to this, but someone else did.

Yu Zhining immediately came out and said, "What the prince said is very wrong. Censor Xu was doing this for the prince's good, not because he wanted to interfere."

"I think he is just giving orders! Does Yu Zhanshi also want to confuse right and wrong?" The murderous Li Chengqian has now become stiff. He now remembers the principles of quarreling that Li Xiang taught him.

The first rule: kill the first person who jumps out first, and don’t let the rhythm be diverted by those who come later.

In fact, what Yu Zhining said was a bit disgusting. What does it mean to be good for Li Chengqian?

Isn't Li Chengqian's transformation good enough? Do we have to push him to the brink of death to call him good?

Li Shimin also had this doubt in his mind: Are you trying to make the prince a better person, or do you simply want to use him to improve your reputation?

He had already been wearing tinted glasses, and now the more he looked at Yu Zhining, the more he felt that he had ulterior motives.

Why did he jump out so hastily? Maybe it was a token of his loyalty to the Shandong nobles!
"Zhang Xuansu made a suggestion, but the prince could not tolerate it, so he was exiled to Chaozhou."

Yu Zhining took a breath. Since Li Xiang was not here now, no one could use fallacies to protect Li Chengqian, so he had no scruples.

"Now I am also making a remonstrance. Is the Crown Prince going to repeat Zhang Xuansu's past and also find a reason to banish me from the capital?"

Li Chengqian sneered: "I wanted to give Yu Zhanshi some face, but since Yu Zhanshi came to me, I won't pretend anymore."

"I would like to ask, what is your purpose in writing those twenty chapters of "Remonstrance Garden"?"

"Check for deficiencies and fill in the gaps, and correct the monarch's gains and losses." Yu Zhining said righteously.

Li Chengqian pointed at Yu Zhining and refuted him harshly: "You are a man who corrects the monarch's gains and losses, but you corrected the monarch to the point of ruining his reputation, and you, Yu Zhining, are famous all over the world?"

Yu Zhining was choked by these words and paused for a moment.

"You record the monarch's mistakes in detail and make them known to the world. Is this how you correct the monarch's mistakes?"

Li Chengqian was already killing like crazy. He looked at Yu Zhining coldly and asked sternly, "You said that the others were all treacherous ministers, but you are the only one who is a loyal, good, and wise minister?"

"I am just an honest minister!" Yu Zhining flicked his sleeves.

"You loyal ministers who have no father or king!" Li Chengqian immediately shouted angrily, "Sometimes I wonder if you will only be satisfied if my reputation as the crown prince becomes rotten in the streets and rots on the ground! You can disdainfully step on my reputation, scold me, but not accept advice, and build a few moral memorials for yourself to impress yourself?"

Damn it?

Li Zhi looked up at his elder brother who had gone crazy with killing. Didn't you always make people speechless at the grand court meetings before? Why did you suddenly become so stubborn today?

Could it be that my nephew taught me? Hmm...it's very possible.

Li Tai was also very surprised when he saw Li Chengqian's performance.

If you had been so organized and clear all the time, you wouldn't have been suppressed and beaten by my people for so many years...

Thinking of this, my heart ached again.

Humph, he's just relying on the fact that he has a good son!
If I had a son as good as my eldest nephew, you wouldn’t have to be afraid of him!

Li Shimin was also looking at Li Chengqian with a little astonishment. He really didn't expect that his eldest son could be so capable today.

In the past, I would be refuted by others in just a few words and become speechless. I would stand aside with anger, my face purple, and I would want to eat the other person. Today, I actually feel like having a debate with a group of scholars!

"In any case, the prince was indeed close to the villain before. After all, Han Wang Li Yuanchang and Helan Chushi were once the prince's close ministers."

Suddenly, another censor stood up.

"But the problem is not here. I think the real problem lies in self-examination."

Li Chengqian defended himself, and turned the topic to the censors: "I advise you not to always keep your eyes on me. When there are treacherous villains in the court, it is not only the fault of the monarch. Sometimes you should also think about whether your supervision is in place. Are you always keeping your eyes on the monarch and waiting for him to make mistakes before rushing forward to gain reputation, thus ignoring the treacherous villains in the court?"

"When a mistake happens, the first thing you should do is not to blame others, but to reflect on yourself and find effective ways to correct it."

Reflect, reflect and that’s it.

Don't say it, really don't say it.

Although Li Chengqian was trying to change the subject, it was like a wake-up call to the officials who truly cared about the court.

"Your Highness is right. I think it is very feasible." Xiao Yu was the first to stand up and express his support.

As Lao Xiao was a duke of the current dynasty and had just been appointed as Shangshu You Pushe by Li Shimin, his support was naturally resounding.

Fang Xuanling also stood up and said, "What the Crown Prince said is indeed a wise and mature way to plan for the country. I agree with him."

But this sudden change in style made others uncomfortable, especially the Shandong gentry.

Wang Yi really couldn't bear it anymore. He was about to come out and expose the news, but was stopped by Cui Mingan.

Eat your food one bite at a time and do things one thing at a time.

The prince's robbery was the final killing move. How could you throw out the two kings right at the beginning when playing Landlord?

Cui Mingan was the first to step forward and expressed his approval of Li Chengqian: "I think what the prince said is very true."

"However, the Crown Prince's words seem to be a diversion. I think that we should reflect on ourselves as the Crown Prince said, and at the same time, the Crown Prince should also reflect on himself, why he alienated loyal ministers and got close to treacherous ministers..."

Before he could finish his words, Li Chengqian pointed his spear at Cui Mingan and interrupted angrily, "How do you write the word 'traitor'?"

Cui Mingan didn't react for a moment. He looked at Li Chengqian in surprise, not knowing what he was going to say.

How come a good debate session turned into a discussion of literary interpretation?
"You keep talking about loyal ministers and treacherous ministers. How can you write the word treacherous?"

"It's a female character plus a dry character!" Li Chengqian continued: "As a crown prince, I only have one principal wife and two concubines, but you, Minister Cui, already had your eleventh concubine marry into the family a few days ago!"

In traditional Chinese, the “奸” (奸臣) and the “奸” (通X) are not the same character. The former is the “奸” of a woman and a man, while the other is “姦” with three female characters.

In fact, in ancient society, it was not a big deal for a man to be romantic.

A prince like Li Chengqian, who only has one principal wife and two concubines, is extremely rare. Sometimes, court officials would even advise the prince that there are not enough women in his harem.

For ministers, marrying eleven concubines was not a big deal, and it was even an elegant thing.

What Li Chengqian said was a bit unreasonable.

But don't think it's unreasonable, it does work.

This news was given to him by Du He this morning. Li Chengqian memorized it after just a quick glance at it. Now it finally came in handy.

As Li Xiang said, attacking personal work style issues has a long history in our country and is very effective.

Cui Min was knocked speechless after just one move. He always prided himself on being a moral gentleman whose family inherited poetry and literature. How could he be a match for Li Chengqian, who had already lost all his dignity?
After hearing Li Chengqian's words, everyone started whispering to each other.

Cheng Yaojin, who always liked the hustle and bustle, suddenly said, "Minister Cui is still as sharp as a dragon and a tiger! None of us military commanders have ever talked about marrying eleven concubines, tut tut..."

"Who said it wasn't?" Yuchi Jingde also winked at Cheng Yaojin. He and Cheng Yaojin were similar, both were the kind of people who enjoyed watching the fun and didn't mind getting involved.

On the other hand, it was also a gesture of goodwill to Li Xiang.

Yes, show goodwill to Li Xiang.

In their view, Li Xiang was almost certainly the third-generation heir and the guarantee for their family's continued prosperity.

If we don’t light up this neither-hot nor-cold stove now, it will be too late soon!
After being teased by Yuchi Gong and Cheng Yaojin, Cui Mingan's face turned red and he was almost embarrassed.

Li Shimin also found it interesting to see Cui Min was in a difficult position.

But in line with the principle that as an emperor, he should treat everyone equally, he suppressed his smile and said, "Only a good man would marry nine wives. This is not a big deal."

He looked at Li Chengqian again and said, "Prince, let's just stick to the facts in the court and don't bring it up elsewhere."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Li Chengqian agreed immediately.

Cui Mingan was breathing rapidly. He really didn't expect that Li Chengqian would not accept the challenge but directly attack him personally.

Seeing Cui Mingan defeated, Wang Yi also stood up based on the principle that the five surnames and seven families are of the same blood.

He did not blame the crown prince first, but cried to Li Shimin: "I have a distant sister who married Zhou from Yixing 20 years ago. They have a happy life together. However, a few days ago, a group of lunatics broke into my sister's house and snatched away her medical books as a dowry. My sister has been so angry that she is now seriously ill. I hope Your Majesty can make a decision!"

The main course is here!

Li Shimin and his three sons looked at each other.

"Oh? Is this true?" He raised his eyebrows and asked knowingly.

"Your Majesty, this is absolutely true!"

Wang Yi swore and swore.

Li Shimin frowned and looked at him and asked, "If that's the case, why don't you report it to the local authorities instead of bringing the matter to the court?"

Wang Yi replied: "Your Majesty, it's not that I don't want to go to the local government, but the robbers have special identities, and Your Majesty can't make the decision for me!"

"In that case, tell me, who is this lunatic who dares to be so rampant!" Li Shimin asked in pretended anger.

Wang Yi hesitated for a moment and didn't dare to speak.

"My Lord, just speak frankly. I pardon you." Li Shimin urged again.

Wang Yi then said earnestly: "It's not that I don't dare, but it's a matter of great importance."

"The person who robbed my sister's dowry was none other than the East Palace guards!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room was in an uproar!

(There is still one chapter in the afternoon, I will take a nap first before thinking about it)
(End of this chapter)