I studied in modern times

Chapter 780 Deng Runfu: Your Majesty, I haven’t gotten in the car yet!
The rear hall of Chongzheng Hall.

Snapped!
As Liang Congzheng swung the whip, the air was torn.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, the Grand Empress Dowager, and Your Majesty the Empress Dowager have ascended to the palace!" the ceremonial officers chanted in unison.

The ministers all stood up, faced the throne, and bowed again to welcome the emperor: "Your Majesty, the Emperor, the Grand Empress Dowager, and the Empress Dowager are all welcome to the palace!"

Surrounded by the two palaces, Zhao Xu walked out of the corridor, climbed the stairs, ascended the throne and sat down.

The two concubines behind him also sat on the cushions inside the curtains.

"Please don't be polite, just sit down!" Zhao Xu said softly.

The ministers bowed again to express their gratitude and then returned to their respective seats. According to the system of the Song Dynasty, all ministers attending the court had seats in the back hall.

After waiting for the ministers to sit down, the Empress Dowager took the initiative to speak: "I am immoral and cannot teach my husband to be good, which has caused unrest in the court and the public. I have even troubled you gentlemen to come and run around..."

The ministers listened, their eyes on their noses and their noses on their hearts.

They refused to believe a single word of what the Empress Dowager said.

However, the Empress Dowager did not give her husband any excuses or a way out. This was really beyond the expectations of these ministers!
Some people even murmured in their hearts: "What happened to the Heavenly Family? They have changed their temper!"

In the past, the ministers wanted to loosen up the royal family and determined that a certain relative was indeed in error.

That takes a lot of effort.

For example, Chai Zongqing in the past allowed his retainers to be mean to merchants and travelers in the local area, and was reported to the court.

The censors were furious, and even the prime ministers felt ashamed - it was too low! Can you please be more polite when you make money? Don't be so rude! It makes us embarrassed to go out!

However, facing criticism from both the government and the public.

Chai Zongqing remained unmoved, and after a month of saturation attacks by the censors, the Emperor Ren Miao reluctantly recalled this ancestor to the capital, and then imposed severe punishment on him - Prince Consort, you have gone too far!
I must punish you severely!

Well, just deduct three million from the prince consort's annual diplomatic salary!
Three million seems like a lot, right?
However, if converted into strings of coins, it would be less than 3,900 strings of coins.

At that time, Chai Zongqing was the military governor of Wucheng Army and concurrently the minister of the Secretariat, which meant he was an envoy to the throne!

According to the system, the prime minister alone would give more than 10,000 strings of cash to public envoys every year!

The money given to the envoy was just one of the numerous generous benefits given to the envoy.

If you really count them, according to the system of our dynasty, if you make a list of the benefits and treatment of a prime minister, there would be more than a dozen items!

Not to mention anything else, the food costs alone are about 6,300 strings of cash per year!
Minus his annual 3,900 guan allowance for ambassadorial fees...

Sprinkle some water!

Therefore, before coming, many of the ruling officials had already planned to have a tug-of-war with the Empress Dowager and persuade her earnestly to agree to impose some minor punishment on the prince consort.

Who would have thought that the first thing he said was "I have no moral integrity" and he acted selfless and didn't want to care about the prince consort!

This really made the ministers feel a little uncomfortable.

But, it’s not their fault!
The truth is, although the Empress Dowager has been ruling the country from behind the scenes for more than two years.

But unlike Zhao Xu's previous life, this time the two palaces were in charge.

Most of the time, the two palaces faced the court officials together.

When in front of outsiders, Empress Dowager Xiang would always consider the face of the Grand Empress Dowager. Therefore, whenever there was something, she would take the initiative to discuss it with the Grand Empress Dowager and basically follow the Grand Empress Dowager's wishes.

This made it difficult for the ministers to easily understand the temperament of the Empress Dowager.

In addition, the Empress Dowager has always been partial to the Gao family, especially the brothers Gao Gongji and Gao Gonghui.

I can't bear to hear anyone say a bad word about my two precious nephews.

So everyone subconsciously equated Zhang Dunli with the brothers Gao Gongji.

But little did she know that the Empress Dowager was a person who cared a lot about reputation and particularly favored boys over girls.

In her eyes, her daughter is nothing, let alone her husband?
But no matter what, now that she has agreed, the ministers will naturally seize the opportunity!
Immediately, Lu Gongzhu stood up and bowed, saying, "The Compassionate Saint treats the world as the public good. She is truly the Yao and Shun among women! I would like to congratulate the world!"

Li Chang immediately followed up: "The compassionate and virtuous woman is truly a female saint unprecedented in our dynasty!"

Deng Runfu, Li Qingchen and Su Song also complimented him.

Even Fu Yaoyu, who was generally known for his poor tongue and inability to flatter, said: "Your Majesty is selfless and virtuous. You can be a role model for all eternity!"

He means it sincerely!

It was for this reason that the Empress Dowager was extremely pleased to hear this and immediately said, "You are too kind... In my heart, no matter what, the country and people of our ancestors are the most important!"

"So, if you want to ask about my attitude..."

"I have only one thing to say - let the laws of the country be what they are!"

"Don't protect the Prince Consort just because he is my son-in-law!"

These words are said with great righteousness.

Even Empress Dowager Xiang was stunned by her.

Are you really not going to care about the prince consort?
Are you really going to allow the scholars and officials in the outer court to arrest the son-in-law and criticize him in the court?
The Queen Mother was just about to give some advice, and at the same time give the Queen Aunt a way out to avoid regret in the future.

Zhao Xu had already spoken in advance: "Grandmother..."

"You can't do that!"

"Prince Consort, he is your son-in-law after all, Sun Chen's uncle..."

"Moreover, the mistake he made was only a minor one, like stealing a sheep. According to the sage's principle of protecting one's relatives, it should be covered up!"

Fu Yaoyu listened, stepped out immediately, and said: "Since ancient times, the royal family has been selfless!"

"For your majesty, family affairs are national affairs!" "I beg your majesty to take back what you just said, even at the risk of my life!"

Zhao Xu looked at him, moved his lips, then sighed and said in a tone that was almost negotiating: "Mr. Fu..."

Fu Yaoyu stood up straight, unmoved, and refused to give in: "Your Majesty, this is the court!"

"In the court, we only discuss national laws, moral principles, and public opinion!"

When the other ministers saw this, they could no longer sit still.

Even a fool knows that now is the best time to establish your character!

If you want to leave your name in history, you may have to rely on this experience.

Lu Gongzhu immediately said: "Your Majesty is thinking that the prince consort is your majesty's uncle..."

"However, Your Majesty, do you know that if the prince consort is away and breaks the law and discipline, how many uncles in the world will be harmed by him?"

"I have already issued an edict, giving money to the son-in-law and ordering him to compensate the relevant people!" Zhao Xu said.

Deng Runfu immediately stepped out and said, "Even so, Your Majesty should make the matter of the Prince Consort public instead of keeping it to yourself!"

"In the past, the Emperor Zhen was in charge of his people and rewarded upright people. At that time, all the wise and talented people competed to entrust themselves to the wise ruler! Sun Shi, Qi Lun, Tian Xi, Wang Yuzhen and others became famous for their remonstrances, and then loyal and good people emerged one after another. Later, when they were old and tired of work, Ding Wei took advantage of the opportunity and tried to steal the fate of the country. However, the customs had already been established and there were many upright people in the court. Although Ding Wei had evil intentions, he did not share the evil with them. Before he could carry out his plan, he was exiled..."

"Emperor Renzong was kind and generous, and he did not judge for himself! He entrusted the discussion of right and wrong to the censors, and people like Kong Daofu, Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu, and Yu Jing all spoke out to win the hearts of the people. After this trend took hold, scholars were ashamed to keep silent and fail in their duties. Were all the ministers in power at that time virtuous? However, they were afraid of what others would say and did not dare to act rashly!"

"Since your Majesty ascended the throne, God has blessed the royal family and enlightened your wisdom. Although you have been in power for a short time, you have given urgent attention to the public's opinions. The whole country is in a state of panic, longing to see the customs left by our ancestors..."

This is the start of the history book!
But they don’t realize that during the years when Emperor Renzong was in power, the Censors were very powerful.

But the censors cursed the maternal relatives and royal family members every day.

Have the maternal relatives or royal family members ever lost a single hair?

However, this is exactly what Zhao Xu needs.

So, he looked like he was willing to listen to advice with an open mind.

But as he listened, Zhao Xu realized that something was not right.

Deng Runfu is taking the opportunity to smuggle his goods!

"Now, Your Majesty has kept the impeachment memorial in the palace because of the prince consort, and the scholars and officials at home and abroad are all unaware of it. I am extremely worried!"

"Your Majesty loves the Prince Consort, but I am afraid that the channels for speech will be blocked from now on, making it difficult to distinguish between the upper and lower levels, and giving villains an opportunity to take advantage of it..."

Zhao Xu's expression suddenly changed. He coughed lightly and said, "I've taken note of Mr. Deng's advice!"

The Du Tang, of course, wished that the emperor would discuss everything with them and make decisions with them on all matters.

Only then will their power be complete.

But Zhao Xu likes to form small circles, and especially likes to use professional technical bureaucrats to do their professional work.

For example, Song Yongchen was in charge of river and road construction, Shen Kuo was in charge of the military equipment manufacturing bureau, and Su Song was in charge of the Yuanyou Hunyun Bureau, all of which were beyond the control of the capital.

And what Gao Gongji and Xiang Zonghui did in Xihe...what Zhang Dun and Gao Zunhui did in Guangxi...

As well as what Cai Que did in Fujian and Chen Mu did in Mingzhou.

These are things that the city hall cannot interfere with.

Don’t ask. If you ask, it’s because it’s a special permission from the emperor and a special decree from the emperor. It involves military and national secrets and outsiders should not be involved!
These people and the matters they are responsible for were also reported directly to the emperor through sealed documents.

In this situation, the ministers naturally felt a sense of crisis.

Therefore, Deng Runfu is just taking advantage of the situation.

Zhao Xu naturally wouldn't let him do as he wished and directly interrupted his spell.

Deng Runfu was also a man of sense, and he immediately bowed and kowtowed again: "I only wish that Your Majesty can exercise his power and bring blessings!"

When Zhao Xu heard this, he looked at him deeply.

Zhao Xu originally thought that Deng Runfu wanted to criticize him for engaging in secret politics and doing things bypassing Dutang.

Now it seems……

What Deng Runfu actually wanted to express was: Your Majesty, I haven’t even gotten into the car yet!
At least you can do the same as Su Song and assign a special mission to me!

Ah!
This is indeed great Song Dynasty and very scholar-official!

For the past one hundred and fifty years, the ministers of the Song Dynasty have been undermining and attacking each other.

What about the civil servants and scholar-official interest groups, are they a solid block?
It's a complete joke!

The emperor just needs to throw a few bones and they will start fighting each other!
After all, the weakness of feudal landlord literati is innate.

As long as the emperor can grasp the main issues, he only needs to strike at a small group of diehards each time.

I guarantee that other people will just watch the show and will never have any thoughts of feeling grief over the death of a rabbit.

There might even be someone cheering you on.

Even to the point of personally stepping on the loser a thousand times!

A typical example is Wang Gui!

Look at you now, who dares to speak well of Wang Gui? Ask for mercy?
All of Wang Gui's former disciples and students were busy cutting ties with him!
There was not a single old friend or relative present at Wang Gui's funeral.

Only the former son-in-law Li Gefei took his daughter to burn a stick of incense!

(End of this chapter)