"Hm?" Everyone was stunned and looked at Xuan Tianming. The Eighth Prince and Xuantian Mo asked: "Ninth Brother, what do these words mean? Back then, the production of steel was decided by father Emperor. The money for the production of steel came from the national treasury. At that time, because the situation in the North was tense, the steel could be sent from the North. Oh, of course, the army that attacked Qian Zhou in the North was the Northwest Army under Ninth Brother's control. That is to say, all of the steel that was produced was in the hands of the Ninth Brother. After that, the East was in danger, and a portion of the steel was sent to the East; however, the other sides did not receive any support from the steel. Ninth Brother, the good things are made from the national treasury's money. It's all in your hands. That's not appropriate, right? "
Xuan Tianming rolled his eyes and looked at the people from the Eighth Prince's faction as though he was looking at an idiot. He then did not make a sound.
Everyone felt depressed. Every time that they spoke with the Ninth Prince, there was an indescribable feeling of oppression. It was impossible to know what his gaze meant, and they did not know what he would say next. They did not know if he would simply not say a single word. They could not even guarantee that he would raise his whip and cripple them. Even in the Imperial Court, they did not doubt that the Ninth Prince's temperament of turning hostile would be restrained. After all, it was not the first time that he had suddenly acted in front of the Emperor.
Right now, they were talking about the steel weapons with the eighth prince, but all they got was a "no" from the ninth prince and a roll of his eyes. Then, there was nothing else. This atmosphere … was very awkward!
An old official cleared his throat. Who knew if he was reminding Xuan Tianming or Emperor Tianwu. But looking at the father and son, one was more silent than the other. One was more infuriating than the other. Emperor Tianwu even closed his eyes and began to rest. It seemed that he was about to fall asleep. Even Eunuch Zhang Yuan, who was standing beside him, turned his head away, unwilling to pay attention to them.
The Eighth Prince, Xuan Tianming, snorted and repeated his words. Finally, he asked, "Ninth Brother, don't you think it's inappropriate?"
Xuan Tianming finally reacted and said, "Inappropriate? Yes, it's indeed inappropriate. "When people heard this, they thought," Is there a way? " But right after, the other person said, "So what if it's inappropriate? I said no. "
"How is that possible?" The ministers were anxious. "Hasn't the military camp in the suburbs been producing steel all this time?"
Xuan Tianming nodded. "Yes, they're making steel, but they've sent the steel to the north to fight. They even sent a portion to the east, so there's no more steel left in the warehouse. Originally, I wanted to make a new batch of steel after the new year, but all of you worked together to say that Princess Ji An was not allowed to meddle in the affairs of the imperial court, that she was not allowed to enter the palace, that she was not allowed to enter the military camp, and that she was not even allowed to open a Hundred Herb Hall. Now, she's been chased out of the capital by all of you and returned to her own fief. The process of making steel is Princess Ji An's unique skill. It's never been taught to outsiders. Not to mention those craftsmen, even I didn't know about it. She's always been the one leading the craftsmen in making steel. Now that she's been chased away by all of you, the craftsmen are at a loss. They can only sit in the military camp and stare at each other with nothing to do. They don't know how to make steel. I was thinking that they were wasting too much military food in the camp, so I might as well dismiss them. In any case, they won't be able to make any more steel in the future. "He spread his hands and spoke very innocently.
When the members of the Eighth Prince's faction heard this, they were all stunned. The process of making steel belonged to Princess Ji An. This was something that everyone knew, but Princess Ji An had been chased away by them. This was something that everyone knew as well. Not only did the people in the imperial palace know, even the commoners on the streets knew. They really had a hard time with this new year! Now, he brought up the matter of steel with the Eighth Prince. Wasn't this just slapping his own face? What else could he say?
Xuantian Mo also did not think that the other side would make such a move. The matter of making steel was very secretive. It was Dashun's number one secret. Emperor Tianwu had already issued an imperial edict. Aside from Princess Ji An and His Highness Prince Yu, no one else was allowed to pry into this secret. Otherwise, no matter who it was, they would be executed. But … … "Ninth Brother is being too arbitrary!" His heart was filled with anger, and his tone became a bit heavier, "You're just going to allow a girl to grasp such a secret?"
Xuan Tianming glanced at him and threw out: "No wonder everyone in the capital says that the Eighth Prince is shameless. It seems like it really is the case." After saying this, he did not say anything else. This angered Xuantian Mo to the point of stomping his feet.
And at this time, Left Prime Minister Lu Song suddenly stood up. He actually spoke to Xuan Tianming, saying: "Your Highness Prince Sheng's words are incorrect. This is not allowing a girl to grasp this secret. Rather, this secret was originally brought to our Dashun by that girl. She was able to help Dashun make such a heaven-defying weapon for free. That is already a favor. Why is it that Your Highness Prince Sheng does not know how to be grateful, and instead has this kind of opinion? With this kind of thinking, how will the people who want to work for Dashun in the future think? Who would dare to raise the country's prestige for our Dashun? Asking Your Highness Prince Sheng to think more about our Dashun's future. Do not obstruct the development of our Dashun. This old official blushes with shame! "
As the Left Prime Minister, Lu Song had a certain status among the civil officials. He had never been part of the Ninth Prince's faction. His daughter had even almost been betrothed to the Eighth Prince, Xuantian Mo. But it was a pity that the girl's body did not live up to expectations and was unable to facilitate this marriage. But people had always thought that even if the marriage did not succeed, there would still be benevolence and righteousness, right? At least in their hearts, the Left Prime Minister had always been on the Eighth Prince's side! But they never thought that today, he would publicly undermine him and help the Ninth Prince force the person who had almost become his son-in-law.
Xuantian Mo was so angry that his teeth itched. He glared fiercely at Lu Song, but did not say anything. But at this time, someone mentioned: "At the time, there was no mention of not allowing Princess Ji 'an to enter the barracks, right?"
"Hm?" Xuan Tianming accurately found the owner of the voice, and then said in a strange tone: "Say that to I one more time?"
That person trembled. He immediately thought of Xuan Tianming's whip and did not dare to speak again. But in his heart, he was still thinking, was there any mention of not allowing Princess Ji 'an to enter the barracks? There really wasn't, right? He was also at a loss.
While he was at a loss, Emperor Tianwu, who had not spoken for a long time, suddenly opened his mouth. He suddenly said: "You did not allow her to enter the Imperial Palace. Do you think that someone who is not allowed to enter the Imperial Palace can still enter the barracks? Didn't you say that you did not allow her to interfere with court politics? Military affairs are of course court politics. You chased her away, and now you want her things. Are you crazy? "
When the Emperor became serious, he was very serious, but if anyone offended him, he would not care about the time, place, or situation, and he would dare to throw out all sorts of words. "Don't you all have any shame? You slapped her, and then you want to ask for benefits from her hand. What kind of logic is this? How did you become an official in the first place? Why do we feel that your brains are not worthy of being an official? How about this! Prime Ministers! " He called Right Prime Minister Feng Qin and Left Prime Minister Lu Song, "We will give you two a mission. After court is dismissed today, you will research and come up with questions. Follow the standards of the imperial examinations, from beginning to end, from the Prefectural Examinations to the Palace Examinations, give you a set of questions for each segment. We will give you half a month's time limit. You must come up with this set of questions, and then let these people take the examinations again. We want to see if their brains are worthy of being an official in the court. The two of you, remember, the questions must be kept secret. If there is a leak, bring your heads to us! "
Tianwu became angrier as he spoke. In the end, he simply slapped the armrest of the dragon throne. The two prime ministers did not dare to be negligent. They hurriedly knelt down to accept the order, officially agreeing to this mission.
Emperor Tianwu's decision could be said to be the first since the founding of Dashun. It was the first time they heard of officials taking the imperial examinations again. Of course, more people were guessing what would happen to these people if they did not pass the examinations.
The Left and Right Prime Ministers also understood that the reason the Emperor was making things difficult for them was because he looked down on these Eighth Prince's faction. In Emperor Tianwu's heart, Princess Ji An was a treasure! Not only in Tianwu's heart, but also in Dashun's heart, that girl Feng Yu Heng was also a treasure! Now that this group of old men bullied Dashun's treasure and chased her away, how could the Emperor not be angry? The two of them looked at each other and saw the same message in each other's eyes: We must not let this group of people pass the examinations! The questions must be difficult! Difficult! Difficult!
The Eighth Prince's faction was suffering unspeakably. However, they had already spoken, and there was no way to change their minds. Their hearts sank bit by bit, almost to the bottom. They felt that their lives were coming to an end, and the one who made them end up like this was the Eighth Prince, Xuantian Mo! They gnashed their teeth in hatred, but they also knew that it was too late to cut ties with the Eighth Prince. It was better to think about how to be kind and let the Eighth Prince deal with them to protect their official positions.
They made up their minds and prepared to discuss it together after the morning court. However, they did not know that the Eighth Prince, Xuantian Mo, had another idea in his mind. In his view, these people were already half useless. Unless someone could pass the examinations, they would not be of any use in the future. But once they failed, they would be useless. He definitely would not think of a way to get them back.
And the reason why he had this idea was because of the previous case. He still believed that the wealth of those people had not been lost. Instead, it had been secretly moved so that they did not want to use the money to support him. This sort of person was a classic example of being ungrateful. They had forgotten that the reason they were able to have such a meteoric rise was because of Xuantian Mo's secret help. Otherwise, whether it was their luck as an official or their fortune, how could it have been so smooth? And the reason that they would come up with such a lie was because they had heard about the Sheng Palace's case. Thus, they might as well imitate the Sheng Palace's case. That way, he would not have to think too much.
Xuantian Mo felt that this was definitely the case. His heart was filled with hatred. Once again, he decided to abandon these people and look for new wings.
These old officials still did not know that they had been abandoned by Xuantian Mo. After the morning court was dismissed, they gathered together to greet Xuantian Mo intimately. As they chatted, there were even some who wanted to quickly count the remaining wealth in their homes and send it to the Sheng Palace as soon as possible to avoid any more problems.
Everyone left the palace, and Xuantian Mo was the first to get into the imperial carriage to return to his manor. The officials were still chatting at the palace gates. At this time, they saw a carriage hurrying in their direction. After it stopped, a person who looked like a retainer ran out of the carriage and looked around the group of officials. When he finally found his master, he rushed over and anxiously said to one of them: "Master, quickly return to the manor. The Third Madam is having a difficult birth. She won't be able to hold on much longer!"
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