lcionline Chapter 243 Analysis of Yao Ye's Resignation as Prime Minister and its Relationship with Yuan Q
Chapter 243 Analysis of Yao Ye's Resignation as Prime Minister and its Relationship with Yuan Q
On the eve of his transmigration, Jing remembered his predecessor, Yao Chonglai, a top headhunter whom Sanlang Zian had personally visited three times to recruit. Yao Chonglai was a capable man who had brought the company to its peak by handling the Khitan crisis and reorganizing the Jiedushi system.
But this top manager suddenly resigned because his seventh-rank secretary, Zhao Hui, accepted a bribe from a foreign merchant? This plot is even more outrageous than Jin Cheng Xiao Si transmigrating into a concubine and changing her diet from ginseng to lychees!
Look at the mess this has made! Just as Jing Gong was closing his eyes to doze off in preparation for time travel, he suddenly remembered Manager Yao from the previous dynasty.
Back then, it took Sanlang Zian three or four invitations, even more effort than Liu Bei inviting Zhuge Liang, to finally persuade this true god to come out of Zhongnan Mountain.
The chaos caused by the Khitans and the haphazard rules and regulations of the military governors were transformed into a prosperous era by the former prime minister, Old Yao!
But that's the strange thing! The dignified head manager, because of that brat Zhao Hui in the seventh-rank clerk's office, just accepted a few red envelopes from the foreign merchants and quit! Where can you find an explanation for this? It's even more bizarre than Princess Jincheng becoming a concubine and giving up ginseng to eat lychees!
During the days when Qiu Rongmu was waiting for the transition in the countryside, he took out his pipe and tapped the corner of the table: "You, Xiao Sizi, it's not that your belly is as narrow as a sheep alley. As the old saying goes, 'A prime minister's belly can hold a boat,' but you are the opposite. I'm afraid even a sesame seed would get stuck in your throat. Look at the girls in the alley, they can embroider a needle and it will fall, but they are more carefree than you!"
Xiao Si gently blew on the rough porcelain teacup she held, causing the tea dust floating in the tea to swirl. She lowered her eyes, took a sip of the yellowish-brown tea dust, and chuckled, "Back in the day, when we ate 'Dragon Ball Tea' in the government office, it wasn't as enjoyable as drinking this tea dust."
The copper bells on the eaves jingled in the mountain wind of the village. She simply kicked off her blue satin boots and began to walk lightly on the blue board, her silk robe stirring up dust, while the mountain mist dampened her faded cloud-patterned robe.
"I know why Master Yao quit. Digging deeper, I found the clues. This Prime Minister Yao was constantly shouting about the 'Ten Regulations Against the Four Malpractices' at court meetings. Good heavens! Not to mention his relatives and friends, even his seventh-rank underling was colluding with Persian merchants, collecting so many coral ornaments that the hall was overflowing... Isn't this just a repeat of Yan Song's servants selling official positions? The original memorial archway shattered into Tang tri-colored pottery and smashed into broken tiles!"
Qiu Rongmu dusted off the front of her long robe: "That Third Prince Zi'an in the palace once said—'No matter how long my arms are, I can't reach the muddy waters of the military governor.' This time-traveling trip has made me understand. Before submitting his resignation, Prime Minister Yao unceremoniously recommended Manager Qiu of the Guangzhou branch to take over the reins, just like Zhuge Liang recommending Jiang Wan—on the surface, it's said to be a matter of high moral character, but secretly it's like an antique shop ornament in Liulichang—it looks like blue and white porcelain, but the inner glaze has long been changed to a different kiln color. You tell me, this move has made my four years as Qiu Rongjing what they are today."
Xiao Si: "I know this part of history. The famous prime minister Yao Chong of the Xuanzong era was reprimanded by the emperor for excessive requests for instructions. This was recounted in court by Gao Lishi: The imperial edict said, 'Promoting you to the position of prime minister is a matter of absolute authority. If even the appointment and removal of a ninth-rank official requires imperial approval, is this not treating me as a mere clerk in a document room?'"
Qiu Rongmu: "This reprimand can be regarded as an ancient version of a warning about workplace authority - the top manager achieves checks and balances of power through hierarchical reprimands, which not only reiterates the decision-making logic of 'a general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders,' but also implies the personnel philosophy of 'not using those you doubt.'"
Xiao Si: "This kind of monarch-minister game full of Eastern wisdom, which Westerners will never understand, resonates across time and space with the management art of 'delegation without relinquishing authority' in future corporate management."
Qiu Rongmu: "So it wasn't some little secretary who caused the trouble! It's clearly Sanlang Zian, the board chairman, playing a game of checks and balances!"
Xiao Si: "Your predecessor, Prime Minister Yao, in just three years, implemented the Kaiyuan performance evaluation KPI and the Jiedushi business unit reform... His power had spiraled out of control..."
Qiu Rongmu: "So, while Sanlang Zian outwardly expressed regret, he was not secretly pleased: he could use this as an excuse to promote me and gain the reputation of 'respecting veteran officials.' In fact, the real reason Yao Chong was dismissed was not that nameless official Zhao Hui, but the trouble caused by Yao Chong's two precious sons."
Xiao Si: "How could I, the Imperial Observatory, not have foreseen this? Those two wicked children are laughing in the corridor again. Yao Yi's brocade robe is stained with Hu Ji's rouge, and Yao Yi's belt is adorned with the jade talisman of the Protector-General of Anxi... Little do they know that Gao Lishi's eyes have long since turned into copper nails on the Vermilion Bird Gate, counting the thirty-seven military towns newly established by the military governor, and also counting the ink stains on the Yao family's account books."
The water clock in the Imperial Observatory pointed to the third quarter of midnight. Xiao Si, carrying a silk lantern adorned with stars, ascended the observatory atop Mount Everest. The silver-embroidered Big Dipper on her dark official robes rippled in the night breeze. She gazed at the suddenly dimming Tianxiang star on the eastern side of the Purple Palace Enclosure, pinching crescent-shaped folds into the hem of her garment. Crimson clouds surged between the Pleiades and the Hyades…
"Mars invades the carriage of the Ghost Star, which is a sign of divine retribution for the usurpation of power by a powerful minister! How could Sanlang Zian not take precautions? The Imperial Observatory observes the stars and emphasizes that 'celestial phenomena reveal good or bad fortune'! The Emperor deliberately let the halo of the nine stars of the Tail constellation sweep across the Yao residence's carriage, and the dark red starlight looked exactly like the blood coral in the secret memorial of the Censorate."
Qiu Rongmu: "It seems that Yao Chong's two saplings have really been infested with wood-boring insects."
"Yes, Yao Yi secretly sold the tribute items at the banquet in the Guanglu Temple, and his second son, Yao Yi, even used the imperial genealogy as a business in the Zongzheng Temple... The secret report submitted by the Censorate even clearly remembered how many feet tall the coral screen they forwarded was and how many bushels the luminous pearl weighed!"
"Your Majesty, this old minister requests to return to his hometown of Songshan." Yao Chong's voice, as he knelt before the jade steps, startled Zi An from his reverie.
The old prime minister was well aware of the principle that "a bow is easily broken when fully drawn," so he cut off the branches before the ice formed in the twelfth lunar month.
Xiao Si: "Then who came after Duke Jing?"
The clanging of the scabbards of the Imperial Guards startled the birds in the forest. Sanlang Zian reined in his green horse and stared blankly at the white dot on the horizon that was gradually shrinking... The snow-white gyrfalcon, with its claws still tied with a thin chain of red gold, now looked like a magnolia petal falling from a branch, drifting further and further away in the autumn wind.
"Your Majesty, we will pursue it immediately!" Before the Imperial Guard General could finish speaking, the Emperor had already struck his golden whip: "Issue an edict to the Capital Prefecture: if the white falcon is not found within three days, tell them to bring their own coffins to see me!"
As Wang Shouli, the Junior Magistrate of Jingzhao, paced around his study for the thirtieth time, a minor official stumbled in carrying a sandalwood box. The moment the red silk was lifted, the entire room gasped – the white falcon's silvery feathers were stained with dark red, and its slender neck hung unnaturally among the thorns, resembling crumpled Xuan paper.
"What should we do..." Wang Shouli's official robes were already soaked with cold sweat. The water clock on the table was dripping, and the drumbeats of death were sounding... Suddenly someone lifted the curtain and entered. The hem of the black official robe rolled up and a scent of pine resin wafted out. It was Yuan Qianyao, the Prefect of the Capital.
"Why are you all so dejected?" He walked straight to the wooden box, his fingertips lightly brushing the cold feathers of the white falcon. "The sage is angry because of his love for the bird, how could he punish anyone for the bird's death?" The officials below exchanged bewildered glances, then saw Yuan Qianyao lift his robe and sit down, his wolf-hair brush dipped in ink. "Tonight I will prepare a memorial of apology. Rest assured, gentlemen, I will have an audience with the Emperor tomorrow at court!"
As the fifth watch drum sounded, Yuan Qianyao stepped into the Zichen Palace, carrying a memorial. The morning light pierced through the carved window lattices, casting a serene blue hue on the white falcon's tail feathers. "Does Your Majesty know of the 'Dragon and Snake of Chu and Han' and the 'Qilin and Phoenix of Yin and Shang'?"
Sanlang Zian held the memorial for a long time, then suddenly chuckled: "What do you want to say?"
"I would like to use a poem to explain the philosophy that things can be accidental and death is also a natural occurrence."
Tell me about it.
Yuan Qianyao presented a poem:
Like fleeting clouds and ever-changing winds, the world unfolds in a whimsical pattern; all things flourish and wither according to their own course.
It's all talk of dragons and snakes vying for supremacy between Chu and Han, and only the cries of unicorns and phoenixes echoing through the Shang dynasty.
Fortunately, the fire of Qin did not extinguish the flames of war; why should we need to cast a memorial to Yu the Great?
In this holy age, no precious object has ever been lost; a loyal minister hereby offers a toast with the Purple Cloud Wine…
"Your Majesty only knows that you care for the common people..." Yuan Qianyao bowed even lower, his forehead touching the cold gold bricks. "The lives of your henchmen are a small matter, but if the prisons are thrown into chaos, it will become a disaster for the nation..."
Outside the palace, the autumn wind swirled up fallen ginkgo leaves. A fledgling white eagle soared over the nine-tiered palace walls and landed on Sanlang Zian's shoulder: "Haha, do you know that the white falcon was originally a gift from the Tibetan envoy?"