Han Shizu

Chapter 1585
Wandering aimlessly between the palaces, Emperor Liu never spoke, and the footsteps accompanied by the autumn wind seemed a little dull. The longer the silence, the more depressing the atmosphere, which made Lu Duoxun, who accompanied him, feel extremely tormented.

After a long time, when Lu Duoxun couldn't bear to say anything to make some powerless recovery, Emperor Liu finally said: "Do you think the matter of Hou Zhi is just a matter of ignorance and improper employment?"

Hearing what Emperor Liu said, Lu Duoxun's heart sank. He claimed to be shrewd, but at this moment he couldn't help feeling restless and anxious. In the middle of the day, I realized what the emperor was thinking.

He could only say anxiously: "The minister is guilty!"

"Hehe." Seeing this, Emperor Liu couldn't help laughing, his tone didn't change much, and he still exerted pressure lightly: "Because of the Yangzhou case, the recent wind direction in the court, you are in a vortex, so you haven't heard about it, right?" !
What did the officials say?Say you, Lu Duoxun, indulged in personal friendship, trusted others, used the state's public tools to cultivate party members, and promoted a huge greedy crocodile!
Those who are close to Zhu are red, those who are close to ink are black, Hou Zhi is such a greedy and law-breaking person, what kind of person is Lu Duoxun in private?Even I can't help but wonder if you and that Hou Zhi are similar in smell! "

Emperor Liu's words were already very serious, and Lu Duoxun was so startled that his heart trembled, and he immediately argued excitedly: "Your Majesty knows clearly, this is all a villain's slander! I will not dare to corrupt the national law and bully the king even if I die. No way!"

"Why, are there so many villains in the court?" Emperor Liu asked with a look of surprise on his face, "Don't you always say that the court is full of wise men? You, Lu Duoxun, have also said such things, why, now Changed your tune?
Why did so many villains suddenly appear in the imperial court?Shicai are just some officials and censors. I can listen to their words or not.

However, in the memorials I received, not only those Qingliu admonishing officials, but also what other ministers and workers said, do you want to go to the Chongzheng Palace with me and let you see for yourself? "

"I dare not!" Lu Duoxun buried his head very low and bent his waist very low. This was the first time he was in such a mess since he became a pilgrimage minister. Of course, only Emperor Liu could make him so humble and careful. .

"I can tell you one thing. People say that you, Lu Duoxun, are arrogant, arrogant, and self-willed." Emperor Liu stared at Emperor Liu, and said softly: "These are not good words. Feelings, but I can tell you about my experience, is your popularity in the court so poor, Lu Duoxun?"

"Your Majesty!" Lu Duoxun's voice finally got louder, he knelt neatly at Emperor Liu's feet, and solemnly said: "No matter how the ministers criticize me, I don't care. It is not a pity for the court to handle affairs, even if it is isolated by the bureaucrats and becomes a lone minister!"

Hearing his confession, Emperor Liu looked at him silently for a while, turned around and continued walking forward, and said lightly: "Get up and talk!"

"Yes!" Perhaps because he was too excited, Lu Duoxun's eyes were already a little red, he raised his head and looked at Emperor Liu's back dimly, raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and hurriedly got up to follow.

"Let's go back to Hou Zhi!" Emperor Liu still walked slowly, and said slowly: "I don't care about your personal friendship, he was recommended by you, and if he committed a crime, you have to be held accountable for it." !"

"Yes, I understand that no matter how His Majesty punishes me, I will never complain!" Lu Duoxun said immediately.

Emperor Liu paused for a moment, and then slowly said: "However, people are always misjudged. Sometimes I can't see people correctly. The most unpredictable thing in the world is people's hearts. For example, now, I don't know. , when you, Lu Duoxun, expressed your opinion to the police, what were you thinking in your heart, and would you really have no complaints!"

In the past, no matter what others thought of him, as far as Lu Duoxun felt, Emperor Liu was still "very easy" to get along with. At least when he communicated with Emperor Liu, he was always compatible with the emperor and his ministers, and he also felt the respect that Emperor Liu had for him. value.

However, Emperor Liu at this time completely overturned his inherent impression. At least he had never experienced such an "aggressiveness" of Emperor Liu, which caught him off guard and made it very difficult for him to deal with it.

The ups and downs in his heart were probably to show his sincerity, Lu Duoxun said eagerly: "If you get the king's blade, I would rather have my heart cut open!"

"No need! Why do you say it so seriously, so bloody, so cruel?" Hearing his words, Emperor Liu immediately interrupted his passionate performance, and his tone was still unhurried: "If you want to be big, but I can't do it." I don’t want to be King Zhou of Shang!”

Hearing what Emperor Liu said, Lu Duoxun's face turned pale, and he was tongue-tied and anxiously said: "Your Majesty, minister, minister has made a slip of the tongue!"

Emperor Liu waved his hand, and said indifferently, "I heard that you visited Hou Zhi in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment. Why, did you go to question and reprimand, or to comfort and secretly discuss, and to give him advice and counseling?" ?”

The fine sweat on Lu Duoxun's forehead couldn't be wiped away. Following Emperor Liu's questioning, it involuntarily leaked out, and the worry and eagerness in his eyes were already very obvious.

Without waiting for his answer, Emperor Liu stared straight into Lu Duosun's eyes, and his tone became serious for the first time: "Tell me honestly, is it your idea that Hou Zhi sued Yang Kefa?"

Faced with such an undisguised question, if it was winter, Ludoxun would probably gasp. Of course, in this autumn, it would be enough for him to drink the cold air.

Emperor Liu's eyes brought a sense of oppression, and Lu Duoxun didn't dare to look at each other at all. He felt that the air was oppressive and suffocating, and his whole body was not right.

How to answer this kind of question, infinite entanglement in the heart, crazy contradictions, can this be admitted?If you don't admit it, it's obviously bullying the emperor face to face. To be honest, that's asking for trouble. With the qualitative nature of the Hou Zhi case, you're going to sink yourself even deeper into this muddy water.

Lu Duoxun's entanglement was visible to the naked eye, but Emperor Liu obviously didn't want to give him time to hesitate. Seeing his hesitation, he asked with a smile on his face, "Why, is this question difficult to answer?"

Terrified and startled, he looked up at Emperor Liu subconsciously, Lu Duoxun gritted his teeth, and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, I went to see Hou Zhi in prison that day, and he did confess to me about the corruption in Huaidong's officialdom."

He still didn't dare to answer directly, and Emperor Liu seemed satisfied. He didn't delve into it, but turned his head and said leisurely: "Then do you think it's credible? The prince thinks that this is Hou Zhi's dog jumping over the wall in a hurry, wantonly biting, wanting to To muddy this pool of water, I think, seems to have some reason!"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is wise, Your Majesty has learned from you!" Lu Duoxun echoed in a deep voice with a little haze in his eyes.

"Lu Qing, if I remember correctly, it has been more than 20 years since your Jinshi high school entered the imperial court!" Judging from the address, Emperor Liu entered into a normal conversation again.

Seeing that Emperor Liu seemed to be reminiscing about his journey to the west again, Lu Duosun also solemnly sighed: "Your Majesty has indeed hand-picked the appointment of a flower to become an official, and it has indeed been twenty years!"

"Twenty years!" Emperor Liu said: "Time flies, and it flies by. Do you know why people say that you have the appearance of the number one scholar, but I choose you as No.3 and let you go to the third hall. How many years have you read the book?"

Lu Duosun tentatively asked, "Is this minister too young?"

When Lu Duoxun took the imperial examination, he was still under 19 years old. It can be said that he was in his youth and full of youth, so he was called "Lu Lang".

"That's not the main reason!" Emperor Liu also said bluntly, "It's that you are too arrogant, even the boring Hongwen Museum, the wind, sand and bitter cold in the northwest have not smoothed the edges and corners of your bones.

Of course, I also like courtiers with character and vigor, otherwise, do you think, in just twenty years, you can go from being a Jinshi to becoming a prime minister and becoming an extremely human minister?

Wang Zhu is an old minister of mine, and even your senior. His loyalty is known both inside and outside the court, and he was also transferred to the center. Why did I make him second to you?
A minister who is over 40 years old is extremely rare in Dahan! "

Hearing Emperor Liu's words, Lu Duoxun's face was moved, and the fire in his heart spontaneously arose, and he respectfully said: "Your Majesty appreciates the kindness of promotion, the sky is high and the earth is thick, I am so grateful, I dare not forget it!"

"Why do I need you to be grateful? I promoted you only because you are talented, capable, and useful to the court!" Emperor Liu pointed out lightly: "However, you should think about it next time, how can you be useful to the court?" The imperial court, rather than fighting for power with Zhao Pu in the Zhengshitang! No matter what, he is the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, and as a subordinate, respect and dignity are necessary!"

"Remember, I can defend you once and tolerate you once, but never a third time."

(End of this chapter)