I want to ruin the country

Sun Jiashang saw that Chen Fuen was definitely not going to stay for dinner, so he quickly said,

"Tomorrow at noon, this government and celebrities from all walks of life will welcome the Imperial Envoy. Please be sure to come!"

After Chen Fuen left, Kong Fanhao smashed three blue and white porcelain teacups in a row.

"Hateful, hateful, a villain succeeds!"

Some of the old and young members of the Kong family watched Kong Fanhao get angry and did not dare to say anything. This time, the face they had lost was too great. In the past, when the emperor came, they, the Kong family, had never been so humble. But this time, they were humiliated by a Chen Fuen. No one could swallow this!

Someone said,

"Submit a memorial to impeach him!"

Someone else agreed,

"Yes, how could the family of the Great Saint and Master tolerate insults from a clown like him?"

"The Emperor is young and must have been deceived. Otherwise, how could he send such a person as an imperial envoy?"

Listening to the noisy discussions in the room, Kong Fanhao became even more upset.

"What are you arguing about? Why didn't you say a word when I was here just now?"

Seeing the head of the family get angry, everyone in the room was stunned!

Kong Fanhao thought about it for a long time and didn't know what to do, so he had to discuss it with Kong Xiangguo.

"Xiangguo, what do you think Chen Fuen meant?"

Kong Xiangguo was also completely confused. The gifts from his family had not been given away yet, so it was definitely not because they thought it was too little!

Is it because he thinks the 500 dan of grain donated by his family is not enough?

"How about asking Governor Chen Qingxie to find out?"

Kong Fanhao said,

"The Governor is in Jinan, and distant water cannot quench immediate thirst!"

Kongxiang National Road,

"The imperial envoy has gone to Yanzhou Prefecture. Otherwise, I'll go to Sun Jiashang to find out what's going on!"

Kong Fanhao said,

"I'm afraid he doesn't know what Chen Fuen is talking about!"

After coming out of the Confucius Mansion, Chen Fuen went straight to Yanzhou Prefecture, where he wanted to stay.

Chen Fu'en started working as an official in the fifth year of Daoguang's reign and had been working in officialdom for his entire life. How could he not understand what the emperor meant?

Going south from the capital, and also north of the Yangtze River, within this area, there is no other family except the Kong family. The Kong Mansion where they live is only one level lower than the imperial palace.

The emperor wants to use the Kong family as a target!

He couldn't possibly understand why the emperor did this, but he could see determination and wisdom in the emperor's eyes.

Although the emperor is only twenty years old, he can see from what he has done in recent days that the emperor is not only not naive, but also extremely mature!

Would he dare to slack off on the task assigned to him by the mature and terrifying emperor?

Chen Fuen's impression of the Kong family can't be described as good or bad. To some extent, he even has some awe. As a scholar, it is not surprising that they all regard Confucius as their guiding light.

Although he was in awe, since the emperor wanted to target the Kong family as the first to be attacked, he had no choice but to do as the emperor wished.

Right or wrong doesn't matter. He thought that even if he became the emperor's scapegoat in the end, there was nothing he could do. Damn it, he will live forever!

It's no wonder that Sun Jiashang follows Chen Fu'en closely. Governor Chen Qingkai is busy with official duties and cannot accompany Chen Fu'en every day. As a local official, he naturally has to do his best to be a good host.

When they arrived in Yanzhou, Sun Jiashang wanted to give his prefectural office to Chen Fuen to live in, but Chen Fuen flatly refused.

"No need to trouble Lord Sun, I'll just stay at the inn!"

Sun Jiashang tried to give in again and again, but Chen Fuen refused and had to give up.

"Your Excellency, you must be exhausted from your journey today. Please take a good rest. Tomorrow at noon, I have invited local celebrities and gentry to prepare some wine to welcome you. I hope you will do me the honor of visiting us!"

Chen Fuen originally wanted to refuse, but after thinking about it, he nodded in agreement.

After returning to the government office and changing into casual clothes, Sun Jiashang felt very aggrieved.

"Master Wang, please accompany me for a drink and a chat!"

Today's plot has gone beyond Sun Jiashang's script. He could never have imagined that the result of the imperial envoy's visit to the Confucius Mansion would be like this.

Mr. Wang was from Shaoxing and had followed Sun Jiashang since he was the county magistrate. He was not only proficient in criminal law, finance, and paperwork, but also well versed in officialdom.

Sun Jiashang’s successful career in recent years is inseparable from the great support of Mr. Wang.

Originally, the master and the legal advisor were on the same boat, so it was necessary for them to help each other and make money together!

"Mr. Wang, what does the Imperial Envoy mean today?"

This is something Sun Jiashang can't figure out no matter how hard he tries!

He said he was selfless and was doing it to fulfill the emperor's will, but I wouldn't believe it even if you kill me!

There were many people who worked for the emperor, and there were also many loyal ministers, but Chen Fuen was the first one to stand up and openly oppose the great sage teacher.

That shouldn't be the case. According to common sense, all officials who passed the imperial examinations were disciples of Confucius. How could they turn against their teacher?

Sun Jiashang didn't believe that Chen Fuen was an idiot. The emperor was not an idiot, so how could he choose an idiot as an imperial envoy?

Master Wang said,

"Dong Weng, this doesn't look like a good sign for the students!"

Sun Jiashang said hurriedly,

"Tell me carefully!"

"The imperial envoy has already arrived just after the emperor's decree arrived. This goes against common sense!"

Sun Jiashang deeply agreed. There are two types of imperial decrees issued by the emperor. One is to be promulgated to the whole world, that is, to be made public to everyone in the world.

The other way is to send an imperial envoy with an imperial edict to specifically award an event or a person.

This time, the order for gentry and grain merchants to sell grain at a fair price was publicly announced to the world.

An imperial decree like this was issued by the Cabinet or the Grand Council and sent to all parts of the country by postmen.

Generally speaking, there is a process from the issuance of an edict to its receipt and implementation across the country.

There was a time difference in this process. The reason why Kong Fanhao gave Sun Jiashang a bribe of 20,000 silver coins was to take advantage of this time difference.

What was unexpected was that this time, Sun Jiashang received Chen Fuen's letter at the same time as he received the imperial edict, and Chen Fuen came to Qufu the next day, which was a bit too fast.

Whether it is a coincidence or intentional, we don’t know!

Sun Jiashang was shocked and said,

"You mean the imperial envoy came prepared?"

Master Wang stroked his goatee and nodded.

"It seems like it's going to be bad for the Kong family!"

"That's impossible. The Kong family has experienced ups and downs for more than two thousand years. Changes of dynasties have had no impact on them. Would the emperor dare to touch them?"

Master Wang said,

"Dong Weng, there are exceptions to everything. I've heard recently that the new emperor seems to be a bit eccentric!"

Yanzhou is only a thousand miles away from the capital, and news about the emperor spreads very quickly. Sun Jiashang has also heard some rumors about the emperor.

But no matter what, he didn't believe that the emperor would risk the wrath of the world and target the Kong family. Wouldn't that be like a birthday star hanging himself because he thought his life was too long?

"Although what you said makes sense, sir, I would still like to believe that the Imperial Envoy wants to sharpen the knife faster!"

Master Wang nodded.

"It's possible that he's playing hard to get, or trying to please but not to please. How does Dong Weng plan to deal with this?"