After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 812 Proposal
Haitang only felt that there were too many things to eat.

Is this Minister of Rites okay? Isn't this just a waste of time?

The Seventh Prince is in poor health. If he really becomes the crown prince, he will have to continue to be the new emperor in the future. No matter how capable the ministers are, they still need the king to make decisions. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be like the ministers have mastered the power and undermined the emperor? But if the new emperor is tired and gets sick easily, I am afraid his life span will be shortened. If the crown prince, the Eighth Prince, succeeds to the throne, it is estimated that it will not be delayed for a few years, and the Seventh Prince’s health and life will be sacrificed. Why bother? !
The purpose of going through all this trouble was just to satisfy the Minister of Rites and other conservatives who held the same idea, and to make them believe that the succession procedure to the throne was in accordance with the rules of rites and laws, rather than following the old practice of "abolishing the eldest and enthroning the youngest"?
Their faces are too big!

Xie Wenzai also frowned, sneered and mocked: "This man was this kind of unkind and old-fashioned when he was young. At that time, he was famous for his poor popularity. I didn't expect that after decades, the court had lost talents. It was not easy for the emperor to find a minister with high qualifications and prestige who was not on good terms with Lord Sun to be the Minister of Rites. There was no one else to choose, so he found him. Now he is constrained by him. If I had known this, I might as well let him be a Chief Censor. With his temper, he can still be competent to supervise the officials and find faults!"

The brothers of the Minister of Rites became disciples of Wu Wen'an many years after Xie Wenzai was exiled. Therefore, nominally, his brothers were fellow students of Xie Wenzai, but in fact, the Minister of Rites was an old colleague that Xie Wenzai was familiar with. His brothers were implicated by their mentor and exiled to the southwest instead of being sent to the northwest together because there were too many Wumen students exiled to the northwest in those years, which aroused the vigilance of the Sun faction and deliberately changed the exile place of the offending officials. It happened that during those years, Tao Yue was sent to serve as an official in a remote place and did not interfere in the affairs of the court, which caused the later batches of Wumen students to suffer. The early Wumen students who were exiled went to the northwest more and were exiled for a longer time, but their survival rate was higher than that of their junior brothers and juniors, because the latter did not receive timely help.

However, the brothers of the Minister of Rites were unfortunately killed, and Xie Wenzai believed that the former, as the elder brother, should bear greater responsibility. Even the Wumen students who were abandoned by Wu Wen'an early on were able to choose a relatively better place of exile because of someone's care. They were taken care of on the way and at the destination, and did not suffer too much. When the brothers of the Minister of Rites were exiled, Wu Wen'an was reluctant to let them go, and their family had spared the resources to rescue them, but the elder brother insisted on being noble and abiding by the rules, and followed the court's laws everywhere, refusing others' help and refusing to make any concessions, which caused his brothers to suffer.

Obviously, the elder brother was only expelled from the capital, and he could still be an official. His family had no shortage of money or people. He could have sent someone to spend some money to bribe officials in the southwest, so that his younger brother could live a better life and see a doctor and take medicine when he was sick. But because he did nothing and refused to accept the kind help of others, he had to let his younger brother suffer in a foreign land, isolated and helpless, and he died of a cold.

It had been more than a year since these news reached the northwest. But Xie Wenzai had long heard of the talent and reputation of the little disciple of Wu Wen'an, and was deeply saddened by his unfortunate death. He also felt that his brother's behavior was old-fashioned, ridiculous, and inhuman. Although the death of this little disciple certainly affected his brother's career, he also won a lot of sympathy because he died too early and too tragically, which made his brother benefit from it. He was specially summoned back to Beijing by the emperor at the age when he should have retired, and was directly appointed as a minister in the six ministries. Within two years, he was promoted to a minister, and now he is about to enter the cabinet. If it weren't for his death, his brother would not have been able to rise to such a high position if he had followed the steps of his career.

Apart from other things, at least from what Xie Wenzai knew, the performance of this Minister of Rites in the local government could only be considered average. He had a reputation for being honest, but he had also committed many wrongful convictions, and his popularity was even worse. Every year, several officials under him would report illness or resign for various reasons, which was enough to show his lethality. Even if the places where he had served had been prosperous, they would most likely become deserted and depressed during his term. The only thing worth praising was that he was relatively clear in politics, often uncovering major corruption cases, and there would be no major mistakes in the rescue work when encountering natural disasters or man-made disasters. Therefore, as long as the people under his rule abided by the law, they might not have a good life, but it would not be too bad. In today's Great Chu, this is already considered a very competent official.

But in Xie Wenzai's mind, this was not considered a capable official. In the northwest, he was familiar with many civil and military officials who were better than him, but they did not get the opportunity to be promoted because the court deliberately excluded the officials and people in the northwest.

Xie Wenzai had been dissatisfied with his elder brother since he heard the news of his junior brother's death. Now that he knew that he was rising rapidly and holding a high position, but was still so confused, he became even more angry: "What time is it now? The emperor has been ill for many years, and it is not certain how long he can last. The seventh prince himself has suffered many disasters, and he would rather give up his power in order to live longer. The royal family chose the eighth prince as the heir for the sake of the stability of the country. As a minister, he only knows how to abide by the family rules of his ancestors and his set of etiquette and rules, disregarding the country and the lives of the heirs. What kind of person is he to be the Minister of Rites? He is just a bookworm! The emperor should have asked him to go home and retire, and promoted him to the cabinet? Isn't this asking for trouble?!"

Haitang continued to read the letter: "The emperor is probably hesitating about this point as well. Therefore, although the Minister of Rites is highly favored, he is more inclined to choose someone who is more flexible." Even if the qualifications and prestige are a little lower, it doesn't matter. The cabinet is not a place for retirement. People are selected to work. There is no objection to people who can't do the work, or who only know how to drag the court down and cause trouble for the emperor, entering the cabinet. The emperor has suffered from Sun Ge Lao and his cronies. Now that he is determined to establish a crown prince, why would he go looking for trouble?

Xie Wenzai just wanted to sneer, and shook his head again and again: "Among the Wumen old students, there are probably quite a few who have similar ideas to him. When we were exiled together, how could we remember any etiquette and rules, or the grace of Lord Wu Wen'an? We were satisfied just hoping that the Sun family would fall. Now that no one has to suffer anymore, and some people can return to the court to realize their long-cherished wish, they have more distracting thoughts. Even though they know that their ideas will cause Queen Wu's only surviving relative to be sick and short-lived, they still have to abide by the old rules. Who knows what they are thinking? They probably think that the title of Wumen old students must support the succession of the royal heir with Wu family blood to the throne in order to play the greatest role, right?"

Haitang suggested to him, "Uncle, do you want to write a letter to Elder Tao? Grandma said that she wanted to write a reply letter to my brother and ask the Huo family caravan to send it to Beijing as soon as possible, reminding my brother to help the people in the old family out of the predicament as soon as possible. If you can finish writing the letter tonight, then we can send it out together tomorrow morning."

Xie Wenzai smiled bitterly: "What can I say to Tao Nanshan? I am far away in Chang'an and can't help him with anything."

Haitang disagreed: "You were the first batch of Wumen exiles. Most of your companions who came later survived in the northwest thanks to your kindness. You just didn't return to the court, but your prestige in their eyes is not low. There are some things that you are willing to intervene in, which may not be less effective than the words of the Minister of Rites. Don't you want to help Tao Gelao? I'm afraid he is also worried about this now?"

Xie Wenzai's heart moved slightly, and he was silent for a while: "Let me think about it."

(End of this chapter)