At a glance, seeing the hundred officials coming down, the people kneeling on the ground suddenly cried out to the sky: "Your Majesty, we are wronged, please ask the emperor to be the master for us." ”

"Your Majesty, we are loyal to serve the Great Song Dynasty, and someone has wronged us under your guise to force us to have no way to live, beg me to be the King of the Holy Ming to see everything, and I can't let these people mess around anymore, otherwise my Great Song Dynasty will never have peace."

"Your Majesty, my Liu family is a loyal martyr, and I followed my grandfather before and after the saddle during the ancestral period, and now I have ended up like this, don't you care, Your Majesty?"

“……”

Everyone shouted loudly, some beat their chests and burst into tears, and some lay on the ground and kowtowed like pounding garlic.

Fan Zhongyan frowned and looked at everything in front of him, he understood that these people had made an appointment to come to the palace to make trouble, and their purpose was self-evident.

"The palace is important, but you are waiting to make a noise, is there no royal law? Where are the guards? Why are these people allowed to mess around here? Not all of them have been expelled yet. Han Qi said with a blushing face.

Seeing the deputy privy envoy's words, the guards guarding the door of Yide Gate did not dare to slack off, and stepped forward one after another and shouted: "Han Shumi has an order, you must not make noise here, and retreat quickly, otherwise we will not be polite." ”

Where the crowd was willing to disperse, they were still making noise, and the guards had no choice but to step forward and pull a few people kneeling closest to the city gate and drag them aside.

The men shouted loudly, and the soldiers dragged them along the ground without hesitation, and their bodies were suddenly embarrassed by the slush that had not yet melted on the ground.

"Stop!" A majestic voice came, and the guards guarding the city of Yide Gate were startled, but when they saw Du Yan stepping forward from the officials, he was angry with his fat belly.

"Who told you to do that? These were all court officials, and their ancestors also worked for the court, and they had grievances in their hearts to come here to meet the emperor and ask the emperor for mercy. If you dare to do this against them, I think you are blind. ”

"Du Shumi...... The villain obeyed the orders of the deputy privy of Han, and the villain did not dare to violate the court officials if he had the courage to do so. ”

Du Yan snorted from his nose and eyes: "It doesn't matter whose order he is, it is disrespectful to treat the meritorious heroes and the former court officials like this." ”

Han Qi said coldly: "Du Shumi, what you said is not quite right, these people are all local officials who have been dismissed and liquidated, they are obviously dissatisfied and deliberately making trouble, how can we let them mess around?" ”

Du Yan sneered: "They deliberately make trouble? How do you know they're making trouble on purpose? Maybe they really feel wronged, maybe they can't say it, Vice Envoy Han often claims to be above board, and everything is to be said to others, since they are so frank, why should they be afraid of them shouting grievances in front of the palace; Even if the emperor is alarmed, under the emperor's holy eyes, he will naturally discern everything, so why do you need to drag them away in a cover-up, is there really a hidden secret? ”

Han Qi said, "You ......"

Du Yan said: "What I said is unreasonable? Deputy Envoy Han is leading more troops at the border, lacking the least of benevolence, no one is as good as a thousand people, and there are no flowers in a hundred ways, if your Deputy Envoy Han is reduced to the end of cutting his post for the people one day, and others treat you like this, what would you think? ”

All the officials were touched by Du Yan's words, now that the new law has been promulgated, everyone wants to protect themselves, but once some of the things they have done in the past are found out by the officials or the law changers, they will inevitably become the fate of these dismissed officials in front of them.

Han Qi's face was pale, although this Du Yan was strong, but his words were a bit awe-inspiring, and he was a privy envoy, and his level was higher than his own, so it was inconvenient for him to openly contradict him.

Fan Zhongyan knew that Han Qi was not Du Yan's opponent, and today's matter must be instructed by the backup insider, these officials came from all over the Great Song Dynasty, and some were even abolished officials on Jiangnan Road and Fujian Road, thousands of miles away, and they gathered in the capital It was obviously not a coincidence, but an organized and premeditated action.

Before coming up with a countermeasure, any rash action may fall into the handle, Fan Zhongyan thought about this, and immediately stepped forward and said: "The two adults don't need to argue, these people are all officials from all over the country who have been dismissed, and it is understandable to feel wronged if they are not convinced, but it is illegal to gather in the palace, if there is a grievance, you can go to the Yamen such as the Yushitai of Dali Temple to appeal, this place is not a place to make trouble." ”

Du Yan said: "It's still Lord Fan who is reasonable, their affairs have nothing to do with me, and these words can't be said to me, this official just thinks that he shouldn't treat dismissed officials roughly, even the emperor won't treat them like this here; Some people don't know what their surname is once they gain power, and they have no one in their eyes, Du just can't get used to seeing this kind of person's face. ”

Han Qi said angrily: "Lord Du doesn't need to point fingers at Sang and scold Huai, where is there no one in the eyes of this official?" ”

Du Yan flicked his sleeves and said: "I didn't call your Deputy Envoy Han's name, Deputy Envoy Han can't sit down with the right number." He turned his head to the officials kneeling on the ground and said: "Everyone, it's not a way for you to make such a fuss, it's not cost-effective to lose your life by freezing your body in the ice and snow, the court just dismissed you, but I didn't want your life." ”

A white-bearded deposed official kowtowed and shouted: "Du Shumi, please give me a report, we want to meet the saint, and we must confide in the emperor for our grievances." ”

Du Yan looked at him and said, "You are Liumei Village, the prefect of Raozhou, right?" I remember you, when you went to Beijing to meet the emperor the year before last, I was there. ”

The old man wept bitterly and said, "Lord Du has good eyesight, and the old decay is Liumei Village." ”

Du Yan was stunned and said, "Why did you end up like this?" What did you do? ”

Liu Meicun gritted his teeth and said: "The old man also wants to ask me what mistakes I made, the removal of my prefect official position is not counted, and all the sons and nephews of my Liu family are dismissed from their posts, my Liu family ancestors have worked for the Great Song Dynasty for three generations, and even when the emperor met the old man, he also said in person that my Liu family has made outstanding achievements, and the descendants of future generations should be gracious, and now they will wipe everything out with a word. ”

Du Yan said indignantly: "How can there be such an unjust case, I also remember what the emperor said, your ancestor of the Liu family has been fighting horses in all directions since the Taizu Dynasty, and has made great contributions to the Great Song Dynasty, there must be a mistake in this matter." ”

Han Qi said coldly: "What's wrong? In the two articles of the law change, it is clearly stated that the appointment and dismissal of officials will be based on political performance, and Liumei Village will serve as the prefect of Raozhou for three years, and the political affairs will be wasted, and there will be many thieves in the territory, and nothing will be done; How can a mediocre person be a mortal, and he should be dismissed from office on the spot because of his inaction; His grandchildren, nephews, and grandchildren did not participate in the imperial examination, but they were filled with key positions, and according to the laws and regulations on curtailment, they naturally had to be dismissed. ”

Du Yan shook his head and said: "Overkill, overkill, I have never raised any opinions on the new law, but now it seems that there are many drawbacks, the Liu family has been loyal and good for generations, and the ancestors are blessed with their descendants, is this also wrong?" Besides, Liumei Village is neither greedy nor perverted in office, and the appointment of official positions by children and grandchildren is also allowed by the previous laws of the imperial court. ”

"That's it...... It's like, what kind of bullshit new law is this, this is simply self-destroying the city wall. The emperor's grace was made extremely mean and unkind by the whole world by this bullshit new law. The crowd cried in agreement.

Fan Zhongyan's face sank like water and said coldly: "Du Shumi, the old man reminds you that the new law was promulgated by the emperor's edict to the world, and to slander the new law in public is to slander the court in public and disobey the holy decree, you should know this better than me." ”

Du Yan sneered: "Don't use a big hat to press me, I didn't say that half of the new law is not, I just said that it is overkill, the law is nothing more than human affection, and the saint often practices extrajudicial benevolence, so you can't leave room for action?" ”

Fan Zhongyan said solemnly: "The law is not merciful, how can you do things that are extrajudicial and gracious?" If so, what else will it become? Everyone has something to distinguish from, and if his lawlessness is forgiven because of this, what is the use of the law? ”

Du Yan waved his hand and said: "I won't argue with you, but I will definitely tell the emperor about this matter, I can't take care of others, I must take care of the affairs of Liumei Village, I can't let the emperor be in the dark and leave an infamy, although you think it doesn't matter, but I have to think about the saint." ”

Liu Meicun shouted repeatedly: "Lord Du Qingtian, fortunately, there are people like Du Qingtian in the court, so the emperor will not be deceived." ”

The rest of the officials shouted loudly: "Lord Du, help us too, we are also wronged......"

Du Yan sighed and said: "Everyone, I can't do anything, the matter of changing the law is not what I Du Yan wants to do, I can't protect myself, you don't know, several counselors in the court don't know who is instigating, every day I can't wait to find out my mistakes to drive me out of the court, this time I have helped Lord Liu is reluctant, and I don't know what kind of slander I will incur afterwards." ”

Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, Fubi and others watched Du Yan pretend to be pitiful and act in front of the public, their faces were pale with anger, but they were helpless; Since the promulgation of the new law, Du Yan has counted the benefits of the new law in the court more than once, and today, he is uncharacteristically using this matter as bait to say these words in front of thousands of onlookers of civil and military officials, obviously he is prepared; Perhaps the farce of the big and small waste officials kneeling on the ground crying and shouting for grievances was designed by him.

"Master Fan, what should I do?" Fu Bi asked quietly in Fan Zhongyan's ear.

Fan Zhongyan said quietly: "Don't worry about him, let's do what we should do, everything else is decided by the emperor, but I have a clear conscience." With that, he stepped forward and walked out calmly in a vicious gaze, his own coachman rushed over, and Fan Zhongyan boarded the carriage and drove away.