Chapter 320: The Court is Full of Justice, Nothing More Than This

The slightly shrill and feminine voice of Xue Minghao, the eunuch in charge of the seal, echoed in the hall.

The first person to look unnatural was the Minister of Education, Zhu Qingyi.

Of course he knew about this article. Mei Juncang originally wanted him to write it and send it to the palace.

But at that time, Mei Qingchen's becoming a sage was the core event of their Confucianism, so it was naturally impossible for them to ruin the event for personal feelings, so they drove Mei Juncang out of the house.

This was also one of the triggers for a series of events that followed.

Let Mei Juncang kneel in front of Dong Xingshu's door for a night, let Mei Juncang's hair turn white overnight, let Mei Juncang become Zhou Tieyi's disciple, let Zhou Tieyi use Mei Juncang to force Mei Qingchen to eat that bowl of rice, let Mei Qingchen be unable to become a sage on that day, and stop the emperor from practicing Taoism!
He originally thought that the matter had come to an end, but he did not expect that the matter would go on in twists and turns and come back to the court today. The world is unpredictable, but there is cause and effect.

But even if it is the "Theory of No Fault for the King and Father", it shouldn't make His Majesty so angry, right?

Zhu Qingyi glanced at Simin Dong Xingshu who was standing in the first row.

The parallel prose was read to the end very quickly, and then the eunuch Xue Minghao, who was in charge of the seal, was obviously stunned for a moment, not knowing whether he should read the last four words.

The Great Xia Emperor, who was sitting on the throne, sneered and said, "Read!"

Xue Minghao took a deep breath and read, "Seek benevolence and you will get benevolence."

The officials were obviously stunned.

When Xue Minghao began to read "On the Infallibility of Kings and Fathers", they knew that Confucianism had lost the initiative in this matter.

It would have been a big mistake not to hand over Mei Juncang's article to His Majesty.

But what do the last four words mean?
Is it written in Mei Juncang's parallel prose?

wrong.

These four words obviously do not fit in with the article and should be comments written by someone else!
In connection with Mei Juncang's experience, the officials quickly identified the people who made the comments.

Daxia Simin, Dong Xingshu!

From a Confucian perspective, this comment is naturally correct. It is a warning to the disciple that your father is doing the right thing and is a righteous and benevolent thing, so don't stop him.

But from the perspective of the Holy Lord of Daxia.

This is a big mistake!

Mr. Dong, you are so confused!

The Confucian officials in the court sighed in their hearts.

But they couldn't say it out loud, because denying these four words would be denying the Confucian spirit!

You Confucians dare to do things but not to take responsibility for them. You don’t even dare to admit that you have sought benevolence and obtained it. How can you make people in the world believe in the benevolence, righteousness and morality you speak of?

That would be really putting benevolence and righteousness on the ground!

Dong Xingshu stood quietly without saying a word.

He knew he made a mistake.

But at this time he could only insist that he was right.

Because his comments are correct from a Confucian perspective.

Unless he admits that he has been looking at it from the perspective of party struggle from the beginning to the end.

He made a political mistake, but it did not violate his Confucian teachings.

This is where most Confucian officials find it difficult to have both.

The book teaches one principle, but when it comes to governing the people, it is another principle altogether.

The Great Xia Emperor first looked at Dong Xingshu and said, "You wrote these four words!"

Dong Xingshu stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, yes."

The Great Xia Emperor did not ask why it was written like this, but roared and laughed, "Well, well written, the greatest pursuit of Confucianism is to seek benevolence and obtain benevolence!"

The Great Xia Emperor's sharp eyes did not diminish. He leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees, looking at Mei Juncang like a tiger hunting for prey. "Come on, tell me, why did you submit this article only now!"

All the officials looked at Mei Juncang.

This is another problem this time.

Mei Juncang definitely did not submit this article to congratulate him. Everyone knows that it was used for party struggles, but Mei Juncang could not use this reason, otherwise his article would not be so lethal to Simin Dong Xingshu.

Mei Juncang had white hair and a deep and solemn gaze. Facing the roar of the Great Xia Emperor like a tiger, he cupped his hands and said, "My father pleaded guilty because he did not teach me well. The original purpose of this confession was to absolve my father of his guilt."

"When I first entered the Simin Mansion, Simin did not agree to submit it. I think he thought I was guilty. So I am ashamed to write this article, because I have indeed committed the crime of disrespecting government affairs."

"After that, I studied under a teacher and understood many truths. I also submitted this article to the teacher. After reading it, the teacher thought that even if I was punished, the punishment was not enough to make up for my fault. Since it was my fault for neglecting government affairs, I should make up for it by working hard on government affairs. Only in this way can I teach the people of the world."

"So he taught me to be the chief editor of Tianjing Newspaper, and then helped me to be introduced to Si Lu, helping me to run Fazhi Newspaper, promote the vernacular movement, and teach the people. Si Lu recommended me for merit the day before yesterday, recognizing my merits for my diligence in government affairs. Therefore, I dare to say that I can make up for my mistakes, and therefore I dare to submit this article to Your Majesty today."

At this point, Mei Juncang knelt on the ground and said, "If Your Majesty thinks that I am guilty of deceiving the king, please punish me. I have no objection. I just don't want my father to kneel in front of the Meridian Gate and suffer for me. I also don't want Your Majesty to be embarrassed because of my father's suffering. All the faults are caused by me. Please let me end it." Mei Juncang's response in front of the emperor left all the officials speechless.

They looked at Simin Dong's running script for a while, then at Simin Qingkonggui, and then Zhou Tieyi's laughter appeared in their minds again.

They really saw the similarities between the three in Mei Juncang.

This imperial prelude is well-founded.

He can verify his merits and demerits by looking at the different attitudes of being the Minister of Civil Affairs and the Minister of Law.

First, if the citizens disagree, then the crime goes unpunished. But if the lawyers agree, then the crime can be redeemed.

The logic is self-consistent and it is endorsed by two of the three officials of Daxia.

If His Majesty the Great Xia denies this, then he must directly deny the opinions of two of the three officials.

Moreover, what Mei Juncang said is well-reasoned. If we don't want to think about the logic of party struggles, but only want to understand the principles of teaching and educating people, then this is indeed the truth.

Dong Xingshu, Zhou Tieyi, Qingkong Gui, and even Mei Qingchen did nothing wrong here.

Mei Juncang did not blame anyone, but took all the blame on himself.

It is very similar to Mei Qingchen’s original letter, yet it is completely different!

Because Mei Qingchen had forced the Emperor of Daxia into a state of having no way forward!

And now Mei Juncang is giving the Great Xia Saint a way out!

Now it is time for His Majesty the Great Xia to make a choice. Do you believe that the court is full of upright people and that everyone is a loyal minister, and that you yourself are a famous monarch throughout history? Or do you say that all the ministers around you are treacherous, and that it is you, the incompetent monarch throughout history, who are instigating factional strife?
After listening to Mei Juncang's reply, even the furious Great Xia Emperor was silent for a moment, and then he laughed again, "They are all loyal ministers, all loyal ministers!"

"This is the loyal minister I see! My dear ministers, don't you think so?"

His voice was almost hysterical, mixed with the lament of a lonely man that only an emperor could understand.

He is the supreme ruler of the world, so he can only say that all the civil and military officials in the court are loyal ministers!

How else can we investigate? Is it true that from the three officials to Zhou Tieyi, to Mei Juncang, everyone from top to bottom is guilty of deceiving the emperor?

Then who will govern this world?
If he is sentenced for deceiving the emperor, people in the world will not dare to help him govern the world!

No one in the court answered.

Because from their point of view, whether they are Confucians, Legalists, or Military Strategists, none of them want anything to happen to their own people involved in this matter.

Then if no one gets hurt, that would naturally be the best outcome.

So it is not wrong for His Majesty the Great Xia to say that the court is full of loyal ministers.

Do they admit that we are the ones engaging in factional strife among the people, and that this factional strife was instigated by Your Majesty, but it cannot be stopped now?

Since it's difficult to end, let's all become loyal subjects.

In this way, you, the Great Xia Emperor, will be a holy ruler, and all of us in the court, both civil and military officials, will be loyal and virtuous!
Isn’t this what everyone in the world wants to see most?

Seeing that the officials did not answer, the Great Xia Emperor simply looked directly at the Queen Mother and said, "Queen, tell me, are all the ministers in my court loyal?"

The Queen Mother behind the pearl curtain sighed in her heart. If she wanted to go to court, she would naturally have to bear the political risks of doing so.

For example, today's matter had nothing to do with me, but the Emperor of Great Xia asked me in a rage. If I didn't answer well, I would be suspected by the Emperor of Great Xia and criticized by all the officials.

The Queen Mother pondered for a moment, "Now the world is peaceful and prosperous, Your Majesty has cultivated virtues, and auspicious signs have appeared frequently, so naturally the court is full of righteousness."

The Queen then looked at the pile of memorials in front of the emperor and continued, "But even if the ministers in the court are loyal to the country, the people below may not be. That's why Zhou Tieyi, Cui Wanxia, ​​and Deng Zhenquan went down to investigate the case."

The Queen’s method is simple.

Since no one can solve the problem in the court and no one can do anything to anyone else, then the winner will be decided at the local level.

This is a solution for all officials and the emperor.

At the same time, it left a way out for all officials and the emperor.

In that case, everyone is a loyal minister, and even if something goes wrong in the end, it is the fault of local treacherous ministers. The loyal ministers in the court are only guilty of negligence, which is a lighter crime.

Sure enough, after hearing the words of the Queen Mother, His Majesty of Great Xia calmed down. He looked at the pile of memorials accusing the Zhou family in front of him and said with a smile, "They are all loyal ministers, there are no treacherous ministers! Then let the loyal ministers investigate the loyal ministers! You want to investigate? Fine, investigate slowly. I have plenty of time. Investigate the inkstone case first, then the above cases. You officials should form teams and investigate one by one, so as not to accuse me of partiality! One year, ten years, a hundred years, a thousand years! I can wait, I want to see how long you can investigate!"

The officials had nothing to say at this time.

It was the right general Yuchi Pojun who took advantage of his seniority and pretended to be ignorant, shouting, "Your Majesty is wise!"

He set the example, and then the military heroes naturally began to sing praises. The military heroes all softened, and the civil officials continued to hold on to him. Wouldn't it be that they were "traitors"? So the civil officials also followed the military officials and began to sing praises.

The praises were like the roar of a mountain and the sea, echoing in the Golden Throne Hall. With the help of the big bell in the Golden Throne Hall, they spread to the white clouds, and then from Yujing Mountain to the whole world.

The morning is filled with people, nothing more than this.

(End of this chapter)