Red Mansion: Incense and God Road, starting from the City God of Shenjing

Chapter 59: Jia Cong vs. the Scholars in the Hall of Supreme Harmony
Early next morning
outside the Meridian Gate

"Master Hou!"

"I've met the Marquis!"

As soon as Jia Cong arrived, the heads of the eight dukes and twelve marquises gathered together.

Today, the founding lineage is headed by Jia Cong.

After hearing what happened yesterday.

Even several heirs to the throne who did not hold specific official positions in the court chose to attend court today.

"What the Marquis did yesterday was truly pleasing to the people."

"Lao Niu heard that the group from Jiangnan attacked many officials in the imperial court yesterday."

"Please rest assured, my Lord. All of our families will definitely stand together with you today!"

Niu Jizong stepped forward and expressed the opinion on behalf of everyone.

"Thank you!"

Jia Cong bowed his hands to express his thanks, then looked around.

Today, many civil officials looked at Jia Cong with hatred.

It's not just the officials from Jiangnan.

The remaining civil officials also had displeasure in their eyes.

The conflict between civil and military officials has a long history.

In the eyes of many people, this is no longer the business of Jiangnan Shilin.

……

Mao time

The bells on the five-gate towers rang, and the censors began to come out to supervise the officials in standing in line.

Jia Cong returned to his seat and went to court with the other ministers.

As usual, he dealt with some state affairs first.

In the queue of civil servants, several ministers looked at each other.

Sun Chaoya, the Left Vice Minister of Rites, who was born in Jiangnan, coughed lightly and left the queue.

The morale of the civil and military officials in the court was boosted.

I know the highlight of today is coming.

"Your Majesty, I have this memorial!"

"Yesterday, Purple Marquis Jia Cong led his personal soldiers to slaughter scholars in the south of the city."

"This is the worst thing that has ever happened since the founding of the country. It has caused the scholars in the capital to feel insecure and almost dare not go out."

"The century-old culture of our dynasty was nearly destroyed in an instant."

"What Jia Cong did was against the will of Heaven and disrupted the laws of the land. If he is not punished quickly to rectify his crime, the people's hearts will be shaken, the law of the country will be disgraced, and the country will be in danger."

"I hope that Your Majesty will have a clear vision and make a quick decision on this matter to reassure the scholars of the world."

……

"I second the motion. I hope Your Majesty will dismiss Jia Cong from office and strip him of his title according to the law, throw him into prison, and execute him in the autumn. Only in this way can the hearts of scholars throughout the world be stabilized."

"I second the proposal!"

"I second the proposal!"

Sun Chaoya has just finished his report.

More than thirty civil servants immediately came out of the queue and seconded the motion.

Some of them were not even officials from the Jiangnan faction.

The civil service group is really angry this time.

He wanted to sentence Jia Cong to death right away.

At the very least, he must be dismissed from office and stripped of his title.

"Is there such a thing?"

"Marquis Zi Yi, Sun Chaoya is here to report you, what do you have to say?"

Emperor Shunde pretended not to know and turned to ask Jia Cong.

"Your Majesty, I have something to say."

"I would like to report that Sun Chaoya, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, has colluded with the White Lotus Rebellion and is plotting a rebellion."

Jia Cong stepped out and was immediately put on a big hat.

"I have been ordered by your majesty to secretly investigate the White Lotus Cult, and I have just made some progress."

"Yesterday, when I was heading to the Beijing camp to arrest someone, I was assassinated by a group of rebels led by Jiang Wenxing."

"They wanted to kill me to silence me, but luckily I had the means to protect myself, so I escaped with serious injuries."

"Then we followed the clues and found the White Deer Book Society."

"As soon as the court came today, Sun Chaoya turned a blind eye to the assassination and instead couldn't wait to impeach me directly."

"Want to kill me again."

……

"That's nonsense. When did Lord Sun ever collude with the White Lotus rebels?"

"How dare you, Marquis Zi Yi, slander an important official of the imperial court in front of His Majesty?"

This time, before Sun Chaoya could respond, the civil servants who had just impeached Jia Cong could no longer hold back.

"So you are also a member of the Bai Lian faction?"

"Barbarians have no sense of propriety!"

"The same to you?"

"It's despicable and shameless, framing others and putting others before others, it's inhuman!"

"Another White Lotus rebel has appeared?"

"you……"

Jia Cong leisurely and deliberately "debated with the group of scholars".

A simple and nonchalant response can make the other party extremely angry.

"How can you be so out of control in the court?"

"Marquis Zi Yi, today you slandered me as a member of the White Lotus Rebellion Party."

"If you don't tell me the truth, I won't let you go!"

In the end, Sun Chaoya, who was hiding in the back, was forced to stand up.

A flick of his sleeve.

"Let me tell you?"

Jia Cong looked at Sun Chaoya, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

"One day when we meet outside the court and in a place where no one is around, I will use my three-foot-long sword to take your head!"

The words were earth-shattering.

The entire court seemed to explode.

Not to mention the Jiangnan officials who initiated the impeachment.

Even the founding lineage behind Jia Cong was horrified.

The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, a third-rank official, is the second-in-command of the Ministry of Rites.

After the founding of Daqian, the Ministry of Rites took control of the imperial examinations, and the power of this noble yamen in the previous dynasty was now slightly higher than that of the Ministry of Personnel.

The current Minister of Rites is already old, and it can be said that Sun Chaoya is only one step away from the position of Heavenly Official.

There is still a chance for him to become a prime minister in the future.

But think about what Jia Cong has done in the past two months.

The former commander of the Beijing camp, Wang Ziteng, and his entire family were slaughtered!

The Beijing Prince's Mansion was suppressed to the point where it couldn't even raise its head. Shui Rong hasn't dared to go out for more than a month.

The White Deer Book Society was massacred.

Prince Yi Zhong’s mansion was smashed.

Jiangnan Bailu Academy sent people to take revenge, and I think they would have to send out at least three third-level masters.

But only Jiang Wenxing was left, being paraded through the streets and humiliated like a dead dog.

That is to say, just these two months.

The number of people of the third realm who died at the hands of Jia Cong exceeded five fingers.

No one would doubt the truth of Jia Cong's words.

"That's unreasonable!"

"Despicable, despicable!"

"It's absolutely lawless!"

The indifferent look actually made all the civil officials subconsciously take a half step back.

But he soon realized what was happening, and became angry and started to curse again.

In the past, it was not unprecedented for these civil servants to roll up their sleeves and start a fight.

But today, I can curse you as much as I want.

But I could only curse.

"quiet!"

"quiet!"

Xia Shouzhong shouted several times in succession before the chaos stopped.

Emperor Shunde asked.

"Lord Jia, you said that Sun Chaohai and others colluded with the White Lotus Sect. Do you have any evidence?"

"Your Majesty, I captured and assassinated Jiang Wenxing, the leader of the rebellion, yesterday and handed him over to the Imperial City Department for investigation."

"I think with the ability of the Imperial City Division under General Manager Xia, they will be able to get to the bottom of this matter."

Jia Cong bowed.

This is a way to benefit Emperor Shunde.

Jiang Wenxing had already lost his mind last night due to the impact of Jia Cong's divine power, and was like an idiot.

But even the value of a great scholar at the third level who is as idiotic as he is is equally difficult to estimate.

With royal means, it is not difficult to create a guardian like a puppet Taoist soldier.

Sure enough, Emperor Shunde was secretly delighted when he heard this.

"Okay, I will order you to investigate this matter with Xia Shouzhong."

"We must thoroughly investigate the White Lotus rebels hiding in Beijing!"

"I accept your order!"

"In that case, let's withdraw from the court!"

After saying this, he left the dragon throne without waiting for the ministers to salute.

……

"My Lords, something is not right today!"

"We have fallen into the trap set by that little Jia Cong."

"Deliberately irritating me..."

"In the court, threatening in public!"

"You bastard, you have such evil intentions!"

It was not until they left the palace that officials in Jiangnan finally reacted.

Today was originally to impeach Jia Cong for the massacre of scholars in Jiangnan.

In the end, he was defeated by Jia Cong's rhetoric.

First they framed and provoked, then they threatened and intimidated.

In the end, the conflict was directly shifted to the assassination of Jiang Wenxing.

Instead of being imprisoned, he was ordered to investigate together with Xia Shouzhong.

Looking at the angry and cursing Jiangnan officials.

Several cabinet ministers just stood by and watched coldly.

Today's incident seemed to be done by Jia Cong alone.

In fact, if Emperor Shunde had not cooperated intentionally, how could he have escaped so easily?

To sum it up, it can be summed up in four words.

It’s just that the emperor has it in his heart!
The most important thing is that although Jia Cong is young, he is well versed in the ways of the world.

So was Jiang Wenxing, the great scholar of the third realm, given to him for free?

"The future is terrifying!"

An elder shook his head and said, "When I was at the age of Purple Robe Marquis, I was still learning the Thousand Character Classic."

"He played all the court officials in his hands. What a scheming man."

"The most interesting thing is that the Prince of Beijing's Mansion and the Prince of Yi Zhong's Mansion are both thorns in the eyes of the current emperor."

"It seems like there is no bottom line, but in fact every step is beyond the bottom line."

"Let's go, everyone. The cabinet still has a lot of memorials to submit!"

Another elder cabinet member took over the conversation and expressed his feelings.

Then several people left.

……

"Master Hou!"

"Did everything go well in the morning court today?"

After leaving the palace, the two commanders of the imperial guards, Ma Ruyue and Hou Jingyun, could not wait to greet them.

"They are just a few corrupt scholars. What can they achieve?"

Jia Cong smiled faintly as he watched the sedan chairs and carriages of the Jiangnan officials leaving in front of him.

"But if I let them impeach me for nothing, I will not be able to swallow this anger."

"Hou Jingyun!"

"You must return home immediately to gather your personal soldiers and join me!"

"My Lord, do you want it?"

Hou Jingyun's eyes lit up.

"Your Majesty has ordered me to investigate the White Lotus Rebellion, so I have to make some noise."

"It's not good to see blood this time, but I have to vent my anger at least."

"Yes, I'll go right away!"

Hou Jingyun took the order and excitedly took two of his personal soldiers back home first.

……

Ministry of Rites Lobby
"This is outrageous, it's simply lawless."

"How dare Jia Cong threaten Lord Sun in the court."

"Wait for me to submit another memorial. If one is not enough, I will submit three. If three are not enough, I will submit five!"

"Lord Zhao, ditto!"

"I just don't believe that Jia Cong can still cover up everything with one hand?"

Several officials from Jiangnan gathered around Sun Chaoya as soon as the court was dismissed.

Everyone was denouncing Jia Cong.

Just then, a servant dressed as a household servant was brought in by the clerk.

He hurriedly ran towards Sun Chaoya crying.

"My Lord, the door to your house has been blocked by a group of soldiers."

"Madam asked me to come out from the back door and tell Master to go back and check."

"what!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Chaoya stood up suddenly.

Considering what happened yesterday, it was easy to guess that it was Jia Cong who did it again.

Suddenly he was extremely shocked and angry.

"Jia Cong, how dare he..."

"How dare you..."

"Master Sun, hurry up, the most urgent thing is to return home first, and never let those soldiers ruin the peace and tranquility of the mansion and the backyard."

An official from Jiangnan quickly spoke up and whispered a reminder.

"Yes, go back home, go back home first!"

"I want to see what Jia Cong is going to do!"

Sun Chaoya waved his sleeves and hurried out of the Ministry of Rites lobby.

The remaining Jiangnan officials looked at each other.

A bad feeling arose in everyone's heart.

"My dear colleagues, I suddenly remembered that I have something important to do at home and I have to go back to take a look. I hope you can help me ask for leave from the court official."

"I also have to go out for something suddenly!"

"Excuse me, colleagues!"

Once one person took the lead, the rest could no longer sit still.

……

(End of this chapter)