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Even some green-robed officials, who were not qualified to step foot inside certain palace gates, were dragged in to make up the numbers.
One after another, the long-serving old clerks with graying hair knelt outside the palace gates, sighing deeply as they chanted the "Memorial on Sending off the Troops," "To be intimate with the worthy and distance the petty is why the Former Han flourished; to be intimate with the petty and distance the worthy is why the Later Han fell..."
Those unaware of the situation might think they had suffered some grave injustice!
If the timing were different, such a grand scene would surely become the talk of the town amongst Luoyang’s common folk after their meals.
Indeed, the history books might even record it in bold strokes: in such a year and month, the emperor was unworthy, and his ministers pleaded forcefully...
Alas, the attention of Luoyang’s citizens was entirely focused on the affairs in Yangzhou; who had the mind to care about what these over-fed officials were fussing over?
What chilled the hearts of all the court officials even more was that the gates of Ziwei Palace remained firmly shut as Mount Tai, and Emperor Xiping, hidden within the palace, showed no inclination to appease the gathered ministers and officials.
Though all of the ministers and officials had knees seasoned by the battlefield, after three days of kneeling, they were finally on the verge of collapse...
Of course, what they found even more unbearable was Emperor Xiping’s attitude of indifference.
Thus, on the fourth day, the conflict intensified once again.
Geng Jingzhong, the leader of the Zhe faction and Minister of Revenue, carried the hopes of all the court officials as he raised his petition high and went into the palace to beg for his dismissal!
Emperor Xiping, who had abstained from court for three days, finally appeared. He hosted a banquet for Geng Jingzhong with a pleasant demeanor, then, without even going through the motions of politeness, he "regretfully" accepted Geng’s resignation. Right before Geng’s eyes, he summoned Meng Ziqian, who had been kneeling outside the palace gates from the Qi faction and a deputy minister in the Ministry of Revenue, and appointed him as the new Minister of Revenue with an imperial edict.
This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.
An imperial edict is a decree that goes into effect immediately without consultation with the six ministries or the cabinet, and is the highest manifestation of the emperor’s will.
Just like kneeling in front of the palace gates, this practice of bypassing the court and directly appointing high-ranking officials with an imperial edict is a powerful weapon in the struggle between the sovereign and his subjects. It’s very effective, but it comes with significant side effects. Each use harms the bond between emperor and subjects, each use intensifies the conflict in the power struggle...
Emperor Xiping’s use of this tactic at this moment clearly showed his hardline stance on this matter: ’If you won’t take the goodwill offered, then you’ll have to bear the consequences!’
Facing Emperor Xiping’s cold-hearted decisiveness, the ministers and officials kneeling outside the palace were naturally filled with a burning rage!
What caused them even greater impotent fury was that Meng Ziqian, the scoundrel, had apparently received some promise from Emperor Xiping and convinced other officials from the Qi faction to stand up and leave the group kneeling at the palace gates...
With this move from the Qi faction, the ministers and officials, who had only just managed to band together, quickly scattered like grains of sand.
Factional struggles are just like this, with very clear disadvantages and advantages.
Especially so for a sovereign who is adept at the art of rulership.
The ministers and officials’ spirit of "If you don’t succeed, you become a martyr" was dismantled swiftly and thoroughly by Emperor Xiping.
No matter how angry or unwilling they were in their hearts, they could no longer stand united and continue the struggle...
Of course, this power struggle among the courtiers was limited to this extent, not because they truly had no more moves to make.
But because the timing was wrong!
Wei had only recently won a victory in an external war, a time when morale was high and the hearts of the people were at ease.
As long as the military was stable and the populace was content, no amount of fierce infighting in the court could shake the overall situation.
Thus, what began as an immense clash between emperor and ministers ended anticlimactically.
The ministers and officials who had knelt at the palace gates dispersed quietly as if nothing had happened, each returning to their respective homes, each to their own mother, without mentioning the name "Yang Erlang" again.
But everyone who understood this power struggle knew clearly in their hearts...
Once a crack has formed, it will not disappear on its own.
...
Yang Ge, leading the procession of the imperial envoy, hurried along and finally managed to return to Luting County just before the first snow of the year.
However, before he could enter the city, Shen Fa, who had been waiting for a long time, approached him with the imperial edict.
As soon as they met, the eunuch tasked with proclaiming the edict publicly read out the decree that stripped Yang Ge of all his official titles and demoted him to the rank of a kitchen helper in the Shangyou Bureau.
Yang Ge accepted the edict, lifted his hands, and allowed several young eunuchs to come forward and remove the python robe and black gauze cap from his body...
The desolate scene, coupled with the wailing north wind, moved many of the strong men from the Shangyou Bureau to tears.
"What are you all doing, huh? What’s this..."
Yang Ge returned the broken Gold-Inlaid Ox-tail Saber, waving his wrists as if relieved of a heavy burden, and with a cheerful laugh began to shout: "Are you not looking forward to my cooking? I’m not boasting, but my culinary skills surpass my saber skills. Elsewhere, even if you had the money, you couldn’t taste food as delicious as what I make!"
Watching his self-satisfied boasting, some wanted to laugh, but their laughter was uglier than crying.
"Alright, enough! Get your faces in order!"
Yang Ge raised his hand high and swung it vigorously: "From now on, we’ll still be sharing the same pot. There’s nothing to regret... Oh right, from now on I’ll be the cook, so when trouble comes, I’ll be counting on you gentlemen to cover for me!"
The words were so absurd that even the hundred-man officers didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Fang Ke said with a mournful face, "My lord, please stop joking..."
Yang Ge rolled his eyes as if dead: "You’re the lord, your whole family are lords!"
Fang Ke: ...
"Enough!"
Shen Fa, who had been ominously silent and standing to one side for some time, finally spoke, waving his hand: "Yang Erlang, stay. Qin Feng, take the brothers back to the government office!"
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