Tibet

After listening to the report of Guangping King Li Chu with a gloomy face, Prince Li Heng said coldly: "Let them do whatever they want, and don't tell me such nonsense in the future."

Li Chu knew very well why his father was angry. Li Dai resigned without permission from his father. Although he came to inform him, he had no choice but to inform him, but he did not want to follow his father's instructions.

But Li Chu also knew that the problem was with Li Ye. Previously, Li Dai had been following his father's instructions to endure the humiliation and bear the burden. He endured it from April to June, but only three days after Li Ye came back, things changed. .

But Li Chu did not blame Li Ye. He knew that Li Ye was right. He had always disagreed with Li Dai bearing the humiliation. The more he tolerated it, the more arrogant he became, and he would not let Li Dai and the Ministry of Rites go. Only by fighting back hard could the other party know. Retreat from difficulty.

But the father seemed to value the gains and losses of the Ministry of Rites more than Li Dai's feelings.

"Father, the official from the Ministry of Rites is dead. I'm afraid Zhang Jun will have a final showdown. Li Dai has no way to retreat, so he has to resign voluntarily and use retreat to advance!"

Li Heng snorted and said: "He can resign if he wants, or he can make progress by retreating, but I must make the decision. What does it mean for him, Li Dai, to kill first and then report later?"

"If the father objects to resigning, then go and tell him. I believe Li Dai will definitely follow the father's advice and will not resign tomorrow."

"No!"

Li Heng said coldly: "I know he listened to his son's instigation, but I want to see what kind of trouble they can make?"

Li Chu sighed in his heart. He knew that his father was not optimistic about Li Dai and his son's counterattack, and he was ready to give up on Li Dai.

On the morning of the next day, Li Dai, the Minister of Rites, submitted a letter of resignation to the Zhengshitang. The reason was that the imperial examination case seriously interfered with the daily affairs of the Ministry of Rites, leading to the innocent death of officials. He felt powerless, so he submitted his resignation to the Zhengshitang and continued to go home to mourn his father.

Although Li Dai spoke very implicitly and did not mention Zhang Jun's name, anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was criticizing Zhang Jun for abusing his power and interfering in the affairs of the Ministry of Rites.

Generally, people resign for various reasons, such as poor health, sick parents, or to keep filial piety for their father, etc. They will never directly criticize the prime minister for interfering in politics, disregarding human life, and resign in anger like Li Dai did. Everyone can see this. It's not about resigning, it's about making things worse and challenging Prime Minister Zhang Jun.

Right Prime Minister Yang Guozhong immediately convened a meeting in the political hall to discuss the resignation of Minister Li Dai.

If an official under the Ministry of Rites resigns and the Zhengshitang directly approves it, the emperor does not need to report it and it will take effect directly. But the minister is different. The appointment and dismissal of ministers and Shaoqing of various ministries and temples is nominally in the hands of the Zhengshitang, but in fact it is controlled by the emperor.

Even if Yang Guozhong submits it to the emperor, he still has to come up with a resolution from the Political Affairs Hall. What is the attitude of the Political Affairs Hall?

"Let's take a look! Li Dai is clamoring for resignation, saying that someone interfered with the affairs of the Ministry of Rites, and also said that this person persecuted the officials of the Ministry of Rites, causing Cao Jingyao, a foreign minister of the Ministry of Rites, to be beaten to death unjustly. Zhang Xiangguo, do you have anything to say?"

Zhang Jun sneered and said: "What a counterattack. I was found guilty of cheating in the imperial examination. I was afraid of being liquidated, so I started to jump over the wall. Yes, the official died, but it was not a beating. He committed suicide out of fear of crime. He has already admitted it." I was about to impeach Li Dai because of fraud in the imperial examination, but he complained first."

Next to him, Wei Jiansu said calmly: "Zhang Xiangguo, I've always been confused. It's just three more people admitted. How could it turn into imperial examination fraud? What kind of fraud is this? Zhang Xiangguo, please tell us?"

In fact, this matter has nothing to do with fraud at all. The Ministry of Rites does not decide who to recruit, and the Ministry of Rites cannot interfere with the recruitment of three more people. It is even more nonsense to say that the imperial examination questions were leaked. The Ministry of Rites does not control the imperial examination questions.

Zhang Jun said for a while: "That official had a relative who took the Ming Jing Ke examination this year. He thought that the decrease in the number of admissions this year might be detrimental to his relatives, so he deliberately expanded the number of people. Moreover, Li Dai also agreed to expand the number of people without authorization, which violated the resolution of the Political Affairs Hall. , isn’t this a great sin?”

"What are the names of his relatives? What's their rank in the exam? If he passes the exam, we can take the exam again alone to see if the test questions are leaked."

Zhang Jun twitched his face twice and said: "His relative's name has been lost in Sunshan. It's okay not to check. I'm not talking about whether his relative passed the exam. I'm referring to this official's behavior, which seriously undermined the imperial examination system. Li Dai agreed to expand the number of people without authorization." , This is not only contempt for the political affairs hall, but also bullying the emperor. This kind of behavior should be severely punished!"

"Zhang Xiangguo, after the list of thirty-five people was submitted and we approved it, are we also flouting the resolution of the Political Affairs Hall and deceiving the emperor?"

Zhang Jun said dissatisfied: "Wei Xiangguo, you can't say that. We just didn't expect anyone to dare to tamper with the resolution. We trusted the Ministry of Rites too much and didn't take a closer look."

Wei Jiansu sneered and said: "The same thing is that you are bullying others and not taking a closer look at yourself. Zhang Xiangguo, aren't you afraid that future generations will have an allusion of being lenient to others and harsh to others?"

"Okay! Stop arguing."

Yang Guozhong interrupted the argument between the two. Although he had no deep hatred for Li Dai, he had always been eyeing the Ministry of Rites. If he used Zhang Jun's help to get rid of Li Dai and took the Ministry of Rites into his own hands, wouldn't this be the best result?

"Regardless of whether Li Dai knew it or not, something went wrong in this year's imperial examination. As the chief official, Li Dai should bear the responsibility. Let's vote! Do you accept Li Dai's resignation? You agree with his resignation. Please raise your hands!"

The vote was four to one, and the political hall approved Li Dai's resignation.

However, the political hall approved Li Dai's resignation, which does not mean that the resignation will take effect. It must be signed and approved by the emperor. Although the emperor only appoints and removes high-ranking officials above the third rank, but Yang Guozhong dares to appoint and remove high-ranking officials like the minister without the emperor's consent, his prime ministership is also over. .

The reason why Li Linfu was able to serve as prime minister for twenty years was because he broke the rules and transferred many of the powers that originally belonged to the Prime Minister to the emperor. Li Longji tasted the sweetness, and then asked him to hand over the powers of the Prime Minister. How could it be possible?

Li Dai submitted his resignation and began to pack his belongings in the official room. The officials of the Ministry of Rites were very reluctant to leave. Li Dai was kind and honest, which made his subordinates love and respect him very much. If he was persecuted by the officialdom to resign, let the officials They were all devastated.

In the room, Li Dai smiled at more than a dozen of his officials and said, "Everyone should think on the bright side. Someone is causing trouble in the Ministry of Rites just for me. After I leave, the Ministry of Rites will be quiet, and everyone will no longer have to be tormented. Months, I really have wronged everyone."

After speaking, Li Dai bowed to everyone, and many people shed tears.

At this moment, an employee walked in quickly and whispered a few words in Li Dai's ear. Li Dai nodded and smiled at everyone: "Everyone, go do your work! The boss wants to talk to me."

Everyone went back to their official rooms. Li Dai quickly packed up his things, took a report, and hurried to Gao Lishi's official room.

The resignation letter and the vote from the political hall were handed over to Gao Lishi's desk. Gao Lishi was in a complicated mood. He knew something like this would happen because he learned yesterday that Li Ye was back.

Li Ye is back, so Li Dai's resignation is not a resignation to blame, but a declaration of war. But this matter is not easy to handle! Gao Lishi was also in a dilemma. The emperor ordered to investigate and found out that although Zhang Jun was venting his personal anger, he was still carrying out the emperor's order.

Fortunately, His Majesty has been unwell these past two days, so this matter can be postponed until the situation develops.

At this time, a eunuch reported at the door, "Ah, Mr. Li from the Ministry of Rites wants to see you!"

"Invite him in!"

After a while, Li Dai entered the room, bowed and saluted, "Your Majesty Li Dai, please see Gao Weng!"

"Shilang Li, please sit down!"

Li Dai sat down at the guest seat beside him. Gao Lishi pointed to his resignation letter and said, "Your resignation letter has been sent to me. The government has approved it, but I want to hear what the reason is?"