Love Affairs in Chang'an - Chapter 364

Chapter 364 Hongwen Museum, Ink and Powder (1)

The officials entered Hongwen Library and sat down according to the number of seats. There were nearly a hundred people in the hall, and the seating arrangement was quite clear. Zuo Wenyouwu, according to official rank. The throne was originally the throne of the emperor, but he did not come today, so the throne was empty, three pu seats were placed in front of the throne, respectively for eldest Sun Wuji, Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng.

The status of the eldest Sun Wuji did not need to be said, the current chief auxiliary minister, Li Shimin said, ‘I have the most credit for this person in the world’; Fang Xuanling and Wei Zheng, in Li Shimin’s words, before Zhenguan, Fang Xuanling contributed first; After Zhenguan, no one in Wei Zheng’s right.

These three people were the three undisputed bigwigs in the Imperial Court.

The chief seat of the military was not Li Ji’s, but Yuchi Jingde and Li were among the four great contributors to Jingnan Kaiyuan, followed by Li Ji, Duan Zhixuan, Cheng Zhijie, and the others. On the civil servant’s side, the chief sat down in the Suige Records Room and recorded the words and deeds of the meeting, followed by the Prime Minister of the Pavilion Division and the officials of the three provinces and six divisions.

Upon entering the Hongwen Library Council Hall, one could tell that there was a strict hierarchy. Without any suspense, Qin Mubai sat in the last seat. Changsun Wuji and Wei Zheng took the lead and sat down. The seat next to him was empty, but Fang Xuanling still hadn’t appeared.

“Gentlemen.” Changsun Wuji cupped his hands and called out loudly. The scene quieted down. He said, “Today, we, the important officials of the Imperial Court, are gathered here to discuss one thing. I believe that everyone already knows about the war in Lanzhou. According to the past rules, the people below the Pavilion Department will express their opinions in turn. Chu Suiliang will take notes with the court and record everyone’s opinions.”

“Yes, Situ.” Chu Suiliang replied and held the pen in his hand.

“Next, I would like to invite Duke Xuan Cheng of Zheng Kingdom (Wei Zheng Xuan Cheng) to express his opinion first.” Changsun Wuji said.

“Situ, how can this meeting be held today like this?” Wei Zheng’s old eyes were dizzy and tears kept flowing down his face, but his words were still sonorous and full of energy, and he immediately retorted.

Everyone was astonished for a moment before Changsun Wuji calmly said, “Then according to Duke Xuan Cheng’s intentions, how should we open this meeting?”

‘”This meeting has been held twice. There’s no result. It’s just an ambiguous attitude towards each other. How can we be efficient in doing things like this? By the time we have a clear discussion, the Lanzhou side will probably have already flowed into a river of blood!” Wei Zheng waved his hand and said like a drum, “In my humble opinion, there is no need for me to speak from the Prime Minister of the Pavilion.” Thus, when the Prime Minister spoke, it was very difficult for the officials below to put forward any opinions to the contrary; The general said, how dare the subordinate general not say a word? This kind of meeting is only because of the situation and the size of the official position. Everyone is here to perfunctorily take responsibility for it. ”

“So what?” Eldest Sun Wuji spread out his hands and said, “Isn’t this how the past pavilion meetings were held?”

“Not this time.” Wei Zheng stubbornly waved his hand and loudly said, “Since the Pavilion Department has invited all the important officials from the government and the public, we can’t let them keep quiet. This matter is so important that there should be no need to repeat it. Listening to both sides makes it clear, but listening to the other side makes it dark. Everyone will come to express their opinions.”

“Then what if everyone says that Hui Dian is in a quarrel? Could it be that he has lost his manners?” Changsun Wuji said impatiently. This Wei Zheng was annoying to him today. Originally, Changsun Wuji wanted to use his power and influence to gain preconceived ideas, but few of the officials below dared to openly challenge him. He predicted the worst result was that Wei Zheng would fight, so he asked him to say first, then righteously refute him, this is a late attack.

Unexpectedly, this Wei Zheng did not play according to the rules, eldest Sun Wuji good not angry, and not attack.

Qin Mubai sat at the bottom of the table and listened to the two of them arguing for a while. He was secretly delighted in his heart and thought, “The first auxiliary minister has come. Wei Zheng, an old man with a bad temper, has never given face to the Emperor, so how could he put Eldest Sun Wuji in his eyes?” Right now, it seems that he and Changsun Wuji have different opinions. He is the opponent of Eldest Sun Wuji, and he is my ally … Alright, this is the opportunity!

Qin Mubai stood up and bowed to the stage. “Husbands, I have a suggestion for you to reconcile your differences.”

Changsun Wuji and Wei Zheng looked at Qin Mubai together. Wei Zheng rolled his eyes and asked, “Who came out to speak?”

“Don’t drive this lowly Lanzhou Governor’s Mansion, Qin Mubai.”

“Oh, Qin Mubai, tell me.” Without waiting for Eldest Sun Wuji to speak, Wei Zheng waved his hand and signaled Qin Mubai to speak.

Eldest Sun Wu hated him so much that his teeth itched, he really wanted to throw Wei Zheng out.

“Thank you, Duke Xuancheng.” Qin Mubai cupped his hands and said, “Since everyone wants to express their opinions, why don’t we invite all the officials and generals present to vote anonymously?”

“Anonymous voting, how do I vote?” Many people asked together.

“Very simple.” Qin Mubai smiled and said, “If you agree to Lanzhou’s battle, draw a circle. If you don’t agree, draw a cross. There’s no need to sign your name, not even a single circle can recognize your handwriting. This way, everyone can express their true thoughts. This is … a democratic vote!”

“Nonsense!” Eldest Sun Wuji was instantly enraged and shouted, “In this case, what’s the use of a prime minister?”

“What’s the hurry, Situ!” Wei Zheng face, is very dissatisfied with the sidelong glance at the eldest Sun Wuji, said, “according to your words, the world’s major events by your eldest Sun Wuji alone, also pretending to call us these people do? I feel that Qin Mubai’s suggestion is very good. “Even if it is not the final public opinion, it represents the aspirations of the people and can be used as an important reference.”

“Wei Zheng, what are you saying!” ‘”According to what you said, I’m going to take over the royal platform? What kind of democratic vote? How could you think of it! How could you use such a big national affair to vote with such a trivial joke?” Chang Sun Wuji said angrily.

“Then what do you think you should do?” Wei Zheng said coldly, “Why don’t you invite His Majesty the Emperor out to make the decision? Or, could you please say a few words to Prince Jian Guo Jin?”

“Impudent! You know that His Majesty the Emperor is seriously ill in bed, and King Jin is still young, how can you be so cunning and disrespectful?” Changsun Wuji was a little angry.

“Then it’s over!” Wei Zheng spread out his hands and said, “Since His Majesty has not come out to make the decision, there is no Crown Prince Chu Jun–Eldest Sun Wuji. You are only assisting King Jin to supervise the country. You are not the king of Jin! We are not all dead yet. You cannot decide the big and small matters alone.”

“Wei Zheng … you!” Changsun Wuji almost choked to death with a mouthful of spicy water. He pointed at Wei Zheng, speechless, his face flushed red.

Many people suppressed their laughter. This Wei Zheng had always been like this. Not to mention with Changsun Wuji, even if the Emperor was sitting in front of him, he still dared to point at him and scold him without any ambiguity.

Eating turtles in front of Wei Zheng was not embarrassing. However, Eldest Sun Wuji could no longer endure this breath and was about to explode. Dao Sect Li came out and said, “Alright, Situ, maid, stop arguing between your husbands.” Isn’t it just a vote? It’s just a look at the will of everyone in their hearts. They didn’t say that the votes were counted. It’s just a reference. There’s no need to argue endlessly. In this king’s opinion, why not vote? “Eldest Sun Situ, are you afraid that everyone will vote?”

“Of course not.” Once Li Daozong said those words, he could be considered to have hit the weak spot of Eldest Sun Wuji. He took a deep breath and could only nod his head, “Alright, then … anonymous voting. The meaning of voting! Chu Suiliang will be responsible for counting and notarizing the votes.”

“Alright.”

The officials immediately prepared pen and ink and other things to serve them. Everyone drew circles and crosses on a small piece of paper and handed them over to Chu Suiliang. Then, they sat down together and watched Chu Suiliang’s statistics with bated breath.

“Yes, one vote.”

“Yes, three votes …”

“Objection … there are six votes here!”

…

As Chu Suiliang’s statistics progressed, everyone’s hearts skipped a beat. Qin Mubai felt even more uncertain. In fact, he didn’t have the slightest confidence that he could win with this method. However, this method could dilute the influence and deterrence of Eldest Sun Wuji. Weakening one’s opponent was to increase one’s own strength.

The counting of votes was coming to an end. To Qin Mubai’s surprise, the affirmative votes and the negative votes were on par. Seeing that Chu Suiliang was about to run out of tickets, the comparison between the two sides was 46 to 45.

The dissenting vote was only one vote ahead.

The expression on Changsun Wuji’s face became somewhat ugly. In the past two meetings, only a handful of people, including Li Ji, advocated sending troops to oppose his views. He hadn’t expected that many people would look up to his eldest Sun Wuji on the surface, but they actually had other thoughts in their hearts.

This was simply slapping Eldest Sun Wuji in the face!

“There are still three votes left … two votes in favour. 47 to 46, one vote ahead. This last vote … is interesting, it is against Lanzhou sending troops, and it has a signature.” Chu Suiliang glanced at Wei Zheng and said, “The Xuancheng Office voted against Lanzhou’s use of troops. Thus, the two sides are at a standstill.”

Everyone cried out in surprise. Changsun Wuji looked at Wei Zheng in surprise. He didn’t expect that this old man would actually have the same opinion as him after making trouble for a long time.

“Why are you looking at me?” Wei Zheng said seriously, “I’m wrong about someone. I’m against Lanzhou’s use of troops. What’s wrong?”

Qin Mubai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He was both annoyed and funny. Originally, he thought that Wei Zheng would be an ally of his, but he didn’t expect that he would be on the same side as Eldest Sun Wuji.

This was beyond everyone’s expectations!

It was good that the two sides were tied, and it was obvious that they were at a standstill. However, Qin Mubai was already very satisfied with the “draw”. At the very least, Changsun Wuji still had no excuse to say that Lanzhou would not fight.

“Xuan Cheng, you can tell me now. Why don’t you let Lanzhou send troops?” Eldest Sun Wuji heaved a sigh of relief and tossed the hot arrow to Wei Zheng, making him offend others. In any case, this terrible old man had never been afraid of offending anyone.

Wei Zheng did not shy away and said, “Then I will tell you my opinion.” At the beginning of Zhenguan Temple, our Great Tang Empire’s Tibetan Armament Institute governed the people’s livelihood, so that the people of the Four Seas lived and worked in peace and contentment. In the past two years, there have been many battles, and the national treasury has been emptied, causing hardship for the military and the people. The contest between Tibet and Tibet was centered on vomiting and muddling. Now, since Tuyu Hun has already belonged to our Great Tang, why are we still competing with him endlessly? “Previously, Tibet sent an envoy to the Great Tang to seek peace, but only because he neglected him did he feel resentment in his heart and stroked his sleeve …”

“Wait!” Dao Sect Li suddenly interrupted Wei Zheng and said, “Xianggong Wei, what do you mean by’neglecting ‘him? Are you saying that the officials of Honglu Temple did not treat him well, or that my daughter of Dao Sect Li is not worthy of his praise from the abandoned sect of Zan Pu in Tibet?”