I open a history tutorial class in Daming

Chapter 165 Changing Courts
Hu Family, the Prime Minister’s residence.

Hu Weiyong received the news much earlier than Xu Yungong.

Although the emperor could post imperial edicts at will and it was difficult for others to interfere, the Secretariat still had the right to know. Otherwise, even if Zhu Yuanzhang could ask his Yiluansi and others to post the notice, people from the palace would come out in large numbers and it would make a lot of noise.

Today is not a day off, but once you reach Hu Weiyong's level, you don't necessarily have to go to court or work in the Secretariat every day. It happened that he was at home and didn't go, so he missed the first-hand news.

But it doesn’t matter, because once something big happens, there will always be people rushing to your house.

"...What? Lu Ben wants to see you? The Lu Ben who was sent out?"

Hu Weiyong, who was drinking tea in the study, heard the name of the visitor and put down the tea bowl in his hand in surprise, making a crisp sound of bowls and plates colliding.

The butler responded respectfully:
"Yes, Minister Lu is waiting at the gatehouse. Did you see him or did you turn him down?"

Hu Weiyong sneered at first:
"What is Lu Shangshu? He was called back this year and given the position of Minister of Rites. He was sent out within two months to be the Salt Transport Commissioner of Liangzhe. Now he still has the title of Shangshu, but he is not really one anymore. But he must be happy that you call him that, so that's all."

"He prefers to be called Minister Lu?"

The butler thought for a moment and nodded:
"Yes, when I called him that, he almost smiled. He was happy."

Hu Weiyong's face showed obvious contempt - of course, in front of outsiders he always appeared to be calm and composed, with no expression of emotion, but when facing his trusted butler at home, he didn't need to be so reserved all the time, otherwise it would be very tiring.

"Lü Ben was sent out to serve as the Salt Transport Commissioner half a year ago. Although Liangzhe is not far from Beijing, he cannot leave his post and return to Beijing at will."

"Did he tell you when he came back? Does His Majesty know about this?"

The butler nodded.

"I have asked him. He said that the concubine in the East Palace had a miscarriage a few days ago. That was his only daughter. When the news reached him, he and his wife hurried back by sea. It would be fine if his deputy took over the post for ten days or half a month. He just arrived in Beijing two days ago and has not seen the Crown Prince's concubine. Today, he heard the important news, so he came to see you."

It was not explicitly stated whether His Majesty knew that he had returned, but Hu Weiyong understood as soon as he heard it.

If there had been no news from His Majesty or the Crown Prince about the miscarriage in the Eastern Palace, even if Lu Ben had heard about it from others, he would not have dared to come back with this excuse. Otherwise, it would be considered as prying into the palace's privacy, which could lead to serious consequences.

He had just returned to the capital, and before he even had time to see his daughter, he ran to his own house...

This guy is still as screwed up as ever.

Hu Weiyong's eyes were filled with annoyance:
"Go and tell him to come back at night. It's broad daylight and your Majesty has many eyes and ears. He came here without any cover. How can this be allowed?"

The butler usually obeys orders, but this time he was a little hesitant.

Seeing this, Hu Weiyong frowned and looked at him for a while, then said:

"If you have something to say, just say it. Why are you hesitating?"

The housekeeper then spoke helplessly:
"Master, he said that something big happened in the court today, but the others are still on duty in the government office, and most of the people in the Secretariat can't leave, so he came to talk to you first."

Hu Weiyong slowly sat up straighter and his expression became serious.

The prime minister is respected by the left.

He was the left prime minister who was promoted this year, and the other right prime minister, Wang Guangyang, was a careless person who only knew how to take time off every day and did not care about the disturbances in the court. Therefore, before the two of them swapped positions, that is, from the sixth year of Hongwu to the tenth year of Hongwu, under Hu Weiyong's slow layout, the positions of power in the Secretariat had long been filled with his own people.

When something big happened in the court, why was the Secretariat so busy that there was not even one person to report the news? Why did they have to find Lu Ben, the salt transport envoy of Liangzhe who had just returned to Beijing and was in an awkward situation?
"Please ask him to come in and talk."

Hu Weiyong gave an order first, then after a moment's silence, he said:

"Send someone to the Secretariat to find Ding Yu and ask him to come to my house as soon as he gets off duty. Also, go to Duke Han's house and tell him that Lü Ben is here to see me. If he's interested, please invite him to come as well. Remember to come at night. Do you understand?"

The butler heard the harsh tone of his orders and knew that something big must have happened inside, but he did not ask any more questions and just responded and left.

Not long after.

Lu Ben was invited to Hu Weiyong's study.

Perhaps he himself knew that he had to keep a low profile in his current situation, so Lu Ben only wore a dark blue robe, no official uniform, and no attire that would let people know that he was a high-ranking official.

Seeing Lu Ben like this, Hu Weiyong was quite satisfied.

So he took the initiative to greet:

"Minister Lu, how come you have time to come to my place today? You should have been in Liangzhe inspecting the salt industry. Even if you have important matters to attend to in Beijing, it would not be good if someone saw you coming to my house."

Lü Ben is in his early forties and looks like a typical scholar. He has a handsome face, a long beard, and is thin, making him look like a handsome man.

Hearing Hu Weiyong speak, Lu Ben smiled bitterly and bowed repeatedly, saying:

"Master Hu, please don't laugh at me. I am not a minister at all. This is not a concurrent position. Just call me by my name. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing for me."

It seems that although this guy is vain, he still knows when to advance and when to retreat...

Hu Weiyong laughed secretly in his heart.

Lu Ben used to be a Beijing official. He had served as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice and Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Later he was impeached and demoted. It took him several years to climb back to the position of Minister of Rites. However, he became too proud of himself and was sent out again not long after.

When he was the Shangshu, although his actual power was not as great as that of the Prime Minister, the official position was almost the same, and it was appropriate for them to call each other "Xiang Hu" or "Shangshu Lu". Now that he was the Salt Transport Envoy of Liangzhe and a local official of the third rank, Lu Ben knew when to advance and retreat, and changed his way of addressing himself to "Mr. Hu".

He stopped thinking, thinking about the other party's purpose of coming today, so he didn't make any more jokes. He just poured tea for Lu Ben personally at the tea table while he spoke carefully.

"Hahaha, OK, Lu Yunsi, I wonder what brings you here today?"

Lu Ben sighed, took out a large and thick piece of paper from his arms, and handed it to Hu Weiyong:

"You may want to take a look at this imperial edict first." Hu Weiyong paused while pouring tea, and did not take it immediately. He still slowly poured tea for each other, wiped his hands, and then took the paper.

"Imperial edict? When was it issued? Where was it posted? How did Lu Yunsi get it?"

While he was watching, Lu Ben quickly explained the whole story.

"I recently received a letter from the palace saying that Concubine Lu had a miscarriage and her life was in danger, so I hurried back to the capital from Liangzhe to visit her. I arrived in Beijing two days ago and had just packed up and settled down. I was going to the palace to ask for an audience today, but unexpectedly I ran into an old acquaintance on the way to the government office. They were going to the city gates and Caishikou, the most populous places, to post the imperial edict."

"Luckily, we are old acquaintances, so I was able to get a piece of paper from the pile and show it to you..."

"I heard that this matter was decided shortly after noon. His Majesty did not discuss it with the officials and directly sent people to post it. I'm afraid that the Secretariat did not know it earlier than I did."

"I heard that you took leave today and did not go to the government office for duty, so I rushed to tell you the news. When I came here, I heard that the Secretariat is very busy now. I am afraid that they are all tied up in this matter. They will have to wait until dark to talk to you."

As he spoke, Hu Weiyong had already roughly scanned the contents of the imperial edict.

He rolled up the notice and placed it on the table. His face, which had been so gentle just now, now looked a little gloomy.

"I understand."

Hu Weiyong looked up at Lu Ben and asked:
"I wonder what Lu Yunsi thinks of what is written in the imperial edict?"

Lu Ben was silent for a moment, looked back at the weather outside the window, sighed again, but said nothing.

Seeing his expression, Hu Weiyong raised his eyebrows:
"Now there are only you and me here, my house is very clean, Lu Yunsi does not need to worry about eavesdropping."

"Since you have come here in person, I think you are also interested in forming an alliance with me. Now that His Majesty has taken action, I am afraid it is aimed at all of us. The one in the Lu family's palace is pregnant, and I don't know who did it. Without her child, the Lu family is afraid that it will be difficult for them to have a future."

"If Lu Yunsi doesn't plan for himself, doesn't he want to plan for his own daughter?"

These words really hit the nail on the head for Lu Ben.

His post as the Liangzhe Salt Transport Commissioner was a third-rank position, not low, even at the level of a regional governor. Anyone who could do this job was more or less someone trusted by His Majesty. Salt administration had always been important, and it was needless to say how much money was in it. If someone else came, a Beijing official sent out to be the Salt Transport Commissioner, he would definitely be grateful.

But the problem is that before being sent out, Lu Ben was the Minister of Rites, a second-rank official, just below the Prime Minister.

A few years ago, Lü Ben had already been appointed as the Minister of Personnel, but he was later impeached by the censor and dismissed from his post. He was sent to the remote and barren place of Beiping to work as a deputy censor. He finally waited until the first half of this year, when the daughter of the crown prince's concubine became pregnant, and then he was recalled to the capital to serve as the Minister of Rites again. However, within two months of recovery, he was sent back to the countryside.

It would be a lie to say that he had no resentment in his heart.

Yes, everyone knows that the Salt Administration is a lucrative job with a lot of benefits, and it is not under the supervision of Your Majesty, so it is very easy to manipulate. It is true that Lu Ben has taken on a great advantage by taking on this job that many people are jealous of.

But who dares to break the taboo and bring bad luck here?

Who in the court doesn't know how much His Majesty hates corruption? Even if he is half-related to His Majesty, would he dare to take action?
All those who hold high positions know that the people around His Majesty are called Yiluansi, but they are actually spies and lackeys. When he was an official in Beiping, it was better. As long as he did not overdo things, the eyes of the south could not be put on the north. Now he is the salt transport envoy of Liangzhe, and it takes only two days to get to the capital by water. What can he do?

Officials in the Hongwu Dynasty also had to work hard to do their jobs, and they couldn't make any money. It would be better for them to return to Beijing and be officials. At least they would have a daughter who would be a concubine in the Eastern Palace, and at least be of the third rank or above!

Now, look what happened. It’s only been half a year since I left Beijing and my daughter has met with misfortune. Not only did she lose the baby in her belly, she almost died as well.

Things that I had discussed with my daughter long before leaving the capital can no longer be done now... I have to comfort my daughter after entering the palace. I don’t know if she can still give birth to a child for the prince, and whether she has lost her fertility.

It’s terrible. It’s really terrible!

Lu Ben knew that the current emperor was petty and suspicious, so he was very careful when contacting high-ranking officials such as Hu Weiyong in private in the past and never revealed their relationship. Now that he heard about his daughter's affairs, he had no choice but to go and find them in broad daylight.

In the past, he would certainly stay away from these factions, and would only contact them privately and secretly.

But now... Haha, for a third-rank transport official like him who has only one daughter and has no chance of giving birth to an imperial grandson, and who is still working like a slave in a remote place, it is not too much for him to come to the capital to pay a visit to the prime minister and build his relationship, right?

"Master Hu is joking."

Lu Ben almost bit his back teeth to pieces before he swallowed the anger and unwillingness in his heart.

He smiled again, bowed to Hu Weiyong, and said:
"If you want me to speak frankly, I will just say one word."

"What the imperial edict says is absolutely unacceptable. Regardless of factions, all civil officials in the court must unite to persuade His Majesty to stop this imperial examination. Otherwise, when the imperial examination is over, how will we scholars cope with serving in the court with a bunch of peasants who only know how to use axes and saws?"

Hu Weiyong had no expression on his face, he just stared at him coldly:
"Mud-legged peasant? Lu Yunsi, be careful with your words. There are so many people in our court who are from the mud-legged peasant family. Think carefully before you speak."

Lu Ben was stunned for a moment, and the next second, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Damn it... I forgot that Your Majesty is a peasant with the lowest social status in the court!

In the pre-Yuan Dynasty, Lü Ben was already a clerk in the Marshal's Office. His family had been of noble origin for several generations, so he didn't expect so much. On the contrary, Hu Weiyong, even though he was also a scholar, was one of the founding ministers who had joined the army with His Majesty in the early years. Even if he didn't flatter Zhu Yuanzhang, at least he knew what things were taboo.

Lu Ben hurriedly thanked Hu Weiyong for the reminder, and then continued:

"I have spoken out of turn, out of turn."

"But Sir Hu, what are your plans? Are you just going to ignore this matter?"

Hu Weiyong looked at his expression and roughly guessed that this man would change his allegiance in the future and no longer wanted to be a relative of the emperor and a lone minister in public.

So he leisurely drank a sip of tea, the cup not hiding the smile on his lips.

"Of course I have to take care of it."

"However, if Lu Yunsi is interested in the specific management method, he should leave my house early and come back at night."

"Then there won't just be the two of us discussing this."

(End of this chapter)