Chapter 339 Like Jade
The rumors became more and more intense, and there was even a rumor that if Zhao Xing did not issue an edict to admit his mistakes, God would send down natural disasters.
This is the important reason why officials in ancient times could use the theory of heaven and man's connection to force the emperor to admit his mistakes.
Natural disasters are something that cannot be avoided.
Sometimes it doesn't happen for years, and sometimes it happens frequently.
The emperor proclaimed that his power was granted by heaven, and when the weather was good and the harvest was good, he would make great claims about it to add to his own achievements.
When natural disasters occur frequently, we must naturally bear the consequences.
The power of this move lies in that the people believe it, and if the emperor does not issue an edict to admit his mistakes, he will lose the support of the people if a natural disaster occurs again.
If a natural disaster occurs after admitting a mistake, people will be accused of being insincere and having an improper attitude.
If there were no natural disasters and the weather was good, it would be tantamount to proving that everything we did before was wrong, which led to the disaster.
It can be said that there is absolutely no solution.
As the rumors became more and more intense, some people in the court requested Zhao Xing to issue an edict of repentance and set up an altar to offer sacrifices to the heaven.
It was somewhat useful that Zhao Xing had killed a few civil servants before. These officials were just testing at the beginning, saying that the people were in panic and asked Zhao Xing to offer sacrifices to heaven first to calm the people.
Zhao Xing naturally couldn't agree to it. Once he agreed, it would be the same as admitting that he was wrong, so he became furious in the court.
…………
In the Hu family's study, there were only Hu Yanzhong and a maid.
What was strange was that not only was this maid sitting on the couch, but her expression also did not show the slightest bit of respect.
"It's almost time now, right? It's time for you to take action too?" Hu Yanzhong said coldly.
The maid was busy making tea. After the tea was ready, she took a sip, with an intoxicated look on her face.
"boom!"
Hu Zhongyan slapped the table and said with an unpleasant expression: "If you do this again, our cooperation will end here!"
The maid smiled slightly and said, "Master Hu, you are at least a minister, why are you so anxious?"
"Humph!" Hu Zhongyan sneered, "Do you think the emperor is that simple? If the emperor had hesitated for a moment in the court today, I would not have been so anxious. But the emperor got so angry, which means that the emperor has already found a way to deal with it. If it drags on, you will be the ones who suffer."
"It's okay. We dare to delay and we are not in a hurry. By the way, I'm afraid Lord Hu doesn't know a piece of news?" The maid said with a smile.
"What news?" Hu Zhongyan frowned slightly.
"Hanlin scholar Hai Wenyou was measuring the land in Jiangnan. Wherever he went, some local officials were reported with sufficient evidence."
"Of course I know this news. These are all tricks used by the government. Do you still think the government is easy to deal with?"
"Don't be impatient, Master Hu. I haven't finished yet."
The maid put down the teacup and said, "Some of those officials have been sentenced to exile, and some are still under investigation. Lord Hu may not know that those officials who were sentenced to exile have died on the way to exile, right?"
"What?" Hu Zhongyan's face changed when he heard this: "This is impossible. The exiled official died on the road, how come there is no news at all?"
The maid didn't say anything, but just looked at Hu Zhongyan with a smile.
"It's the emperor... Yes, the Minister of Justice Yan Kuan is a member of the emperor's family. It's not difficult for him to suppress the news if he wants to do something." Hu Zhongyan murmured.
"Master Hu is right." The maid smiled and said, "Master Hu is a smart man. He cooperated with us before because he wanted mutual benefit. He wanted to use us to force the emperor to bow his head, but do you think you can protect yourself in this way? The little emperor is very powerful now."
"Even if Lord Hu can force the little emperor to bow his head, what can he do?
The little emperor was already unhappy with Lord Hu because of what happened before. Wouldn't he doubt Lord Hu this time? "Seeing Hu Zhongyan opening his mouth to speak, the maid smiled and said, "I know Lord Hu wants to say there is no evidence. Lord Hu knows better than me that in many cases, whether there is evidence or not is not important."
"Master Hu forced the young emperor to bow his head. As long as the young emperor has some evidence of Master Hu's crimes, even if he cannot be executed, it should be okay to sentence him to exile, right? By then, Master Hu might even die on the way to exile."
"I heard that in the officialdom, people are forgotten once they leave. Without Lord Hu, who would care about Lord Hu's family? At that time, it would be very easy for the young emperor to deal with Lord Hu's family."
Hu Zhongyan's face was uncertain. He looked at the woman in front of him coldly and said, "What on earth do you want to do?"
"We don't want to do anything, we just want to preach normally." The maid smiled.
Hu Zhongyan sneered, "Can you protect me by preaching normally? I think you really want to rebel, right?"
"Master Hu, what you said is true. The world has not always belonged to the Zhao family. The Zhao family wore the imperial robes, seized the throne, and still bullied orphans and widows. Even if we really want to start an uprising, it can't be called a rebellion." The maid laughed.
"Are you descendants of the Chai family?" Hu Zhongyan's face changed drastically, and he quickly shook his head: "Impossible, the Chai family has been under surveillance, you can't be descendants of the Chai family."
"It doesn't matter who we are. What matters is that Lord Hu can only cooperate with us." The maid said with a smile.
"You are just a bunch of lunatics. There is no way I can cooperate with you." Hu Zhongyan shouted.
"Master Hu, why do you have to do this?" The maid sighed, "We worked well together before, and it's too late for Master Hu to withdraw now. Unless Master Hu has someone arrest me and hand me over to the little emperor, but does Master Hu dare to do that?"
"I am worthless, so I will die. Lord Hu, do you think that if you do this, the young emperor will trust you?"
Hu Zhongyan's eyes lit up when he heard the first words, but the maid's latter words were like a basin of cold water poured on his head, making him sober up instantly.
"If I cooperate with a bunch of lunatics like you, I'm afraid the end will be even more miserable. I'll arrest you and hand you over to the government. Even if the government is unwilling to believe me, the worst that can happen is that you die. The government will not make things difficult for my family because of my contribution." Hu Zhongyan sneered.
"If Lord Hu really wanted to do this, he wouldn't have said it." The maid said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Hu Zhongyan could no longer hold back, his body relaxed, and his face looked dejected.
After a long while, Hu Zhongyan said, "What do you want to do? Rebellion is simply courting death. If that's the case, I can't go crazy with you."
"Don't worry, Sir Hu. You are afraid of death, and so are we. Next, Sir Hu only needs to question the exiled officials who died on the road. Sir Hu does not need to worry about other things." said the maid.
Hu Zhongyan was silent for a while after hearing this, and said in a dry voice: "Okay!"
The maid smiled slightly, stood up and saluted, saying: "Then I will take my leave first!"
After saying that, he opened the door and walked out.
After leaving the study, the maid went out of the yard. She greeted all the servants she met along the way warmly.
"Hello, Miss Ruyu."
"Meet Miss Ruyu."
The maid called Miss Ruyu smiled and nodded in response, and walked all the way to the side door.
"Miss Ruyu, are you going out to buy things again?" The doorman came forward and greeted her with a flattering smile.
"Yes, the pens and ink in the master's study are almost used up. I'll go out and buy some." Ruyu said with a smile.
"I'll open the door for Miss Ruyu right now."
The doorman responded and opened the gate. Miss Ruyu thanked him and walked out.
The concierge leaned against the door, watching Ruyu's departing figure, and said with an intoxicated look on his face, "It's so big!"
(End of this chapter)