The plague was a very serious matter. The following day in the royal court, Emperor Qing started speaking directly straight to the point: “The plague this time is aggressive and very abrupt. Zhen almost didn’t get any rest the whole night after learning of the information yesterday. If no adoptive measures are taken on time, this can lead to very serious consequences, and may even spread to the capital’s border. Now is the right time for my courtiers to show their loyalty to the country. Zhen believes that you will not let Zhen down. –Is there anyone willing to shoulder this heavy responsibility?”
In the royal court, the number of civil and military officials standing below were no less than 50 to 60 people. But upon facing Emperor Qing’s inquiry, all of them only lowered their heads without speaking.
In fact, the courtiers had already secretly weighed the pros and cons ahead of time, and had also been unable to sleep the entire night. But the plague was completely different from other issues. Not only was it an arduous and thankless task, there’s even the possibility of losing their lives, and was regarded as a hot potato by everyone, so no one wants to be involved.
The silence of all the courtiers caused Emperor Qing’s complexion to become a bit ugly. After a pause, he directly mentioned the Senior Grand Tutor, w.a.n.g Hong, who was standing at the foremost of the courtiers: “Senior Grand Tutor w.a.n.g, as a pillar of the country, you should set an example and contribute your ability to the country. Zhen wonders whether you have any thoughts to share?”
The reason Emperor Qing bypa.s.sed the Grand Secretariat and more capable Wei Song, who has the same rank as w.a.n.g Hong, and called onto w.a.n.g Hong first, was actually due to selfish motives. Wei Song was personally promoted by him to a high position, and was both loyal and devoted to him. Feeling reluctant to send a trusted aide of his to death, thus, he chose another person to be a cannon fodder*.
*Someone expendable or in simpler terms, a tool
Truth be told, w.a.n.g Hong was also promoted by Emperor Qing in his early years, as well as the elder brother of Consort De, and can be regarded as a relative of the Emperor. He looks honest and sincere on the surface, but is actually a wily old fox, who relies on his ident.i.ty, as the elder brother of Consort De, to reap a lot of benefits for the w.a.n.g family, in addition to having also been suspected of forming a faction.
The Emperor’s were originally suspicious in nature. Emperor Qing had started to increasingly become wary of the w.a.n.g family these years, and had even been looking for an opportunity to remove them, so he continued to say: “If our official w.a.n.g can effectively control this plague, then it will truly be of great merit. When that time comes, Zhen will definitely reward you accordingly, and the common people will also sing praises of you.”
w.a.n.g Hong inwardly cursed Emperor Qing, but still had a very deferential demeanor on the surface, as he respectfully responded before the Emperor: “Your Majesty, this subject is willing to serve the country, but my mother had recently fallen ill, so this son cannot leave at ease. This subject and Consort De lost our father at a young age, and were completely brought up by our mother with difficulty……”
An obvious trace of chill inevitably flashed through the depths of Emperor Qing’s eyes.
The people present in the scene could probably guess that the ‘falling ill’ was merely an excuse w.a.n.g Hong is using, even more so, Emperor Qing, whose expression had become unsightlier. But filial piety is the most important among all virtues. Even if he’s the Emperor, he also cannot force the courtier under him to abandon his biological mother, so he immediately followed-up: “Mr. w.a.n.g’s filial piety is very commendable. In that case, you should stay in your residence to care for the sick, you don’t need to attend the royal court during this period.”
w.a.n.g Hong had already guessed that he would receive this type of punishment, so, there was no anxiousness at all. He only acted thankful by kneeling down to thank the Emperor for the favor. Going to the place of plague was no joke, everyone had the possibility of dying there, and the chances of survival were completely up to the Will of Heaven. One can always make a comeback, but nothing can be done after death.
Thus, Emperor Qing went on to call upon another person. This time around, he bypa.s.sed Hong Tang, another trusted aide of his, and called upon Jiang Di, the Prefect of the Masters of Writing: “Mr. Jiang is an old courtier of the late Emperor, with profound knowledge and lots of experience, so you should have already thought of a proper countermeasure, right?”
Jiang Di immediately lowered his head, and replied with shame: “Responding to Your Majesty, this old subject really wants to help with the worries and difficulties of this country, but this matter requires prudence, and doesn’t allow the slightest negligence. The physical strength and memory of this old subjects can’t even reach half of the younger generations now. I’m afraid that such weakness, would only be self-defeating instead.”
Jiang Di had indeed reached the age of retirement a long time ago. It was only because of wanting to help his son, who had just entered the officialdom, did he decide to stay in his position until now. Looking at his white beard, Emperor Qing really couldn’t force him even if he felt unreconciled deep inside. So he once again took the opportunity to lower Jiang Di’s rank, before turning to his next target.
He eventually asked no less than four people.
Unfortunately, all four of these people were able to find reasons to shirk their responsibility. Similarly, Emperor Qing also took advantage of this matter to rectify them. So both sides could be regarded as having their own gains.
Standing on the sidelines, Yuwen Yin silently took all of this in, with a deep cold gaze. — Whether it be Emperor Qing, who still didn’t forget to seek profit at the time of plague, or the uncaring civil and military officials in the royal court, who’re only interested in saving one’s neck. There really wasn’t a single person present who genuinely cares for the commoners in the entire hall.
However, those four individuals came from influential family of important ministers, which can cause huge effects with the slightest change. So although Emperor Qing couldn’t ruthlessly deal with them, he would naturally still be irritated, that he couldn’t help but yell at the crowd in rage: “Wastes! I actually kept a bunch of wastes! Zhen’s extremely disappointed in all of you! In my stately Dayu Dynasty, isn’t there anyone who can take up such heavy responsibility?!”
But even at this moment, Emperor Qing, who still didn’t want to send out his trusted aides, turned his sights to the mediocre and incompetent Qing w.a.n.g, who held no interest in political affairs instead. Qing w.a.n.g unexpectedly took the initiative to step forward, but he didn’t actively offer to take on the task. But earnestly recommended another person.
— The person he recommended was precisely Yuwen Yin.