kingnovel Chapter 888 The Emperor's Conspiracy
Chapter 888 The Emperor's Conspiracy
Not allowing Earl Yongning to write the inscription?
The emperor raised his chin slightly.
He insisted on doing so.
"This word must be written." He said in an unquestionable tone, "Everyone says that you and Earl Yongning have a personal grudge, but I know very well that you two actually have no quarrels. In this case, why not take this opportunity to dispel this unfounded rumor?"
Gadber's eyes were red.
Why should Yu Shizhang write an inscription for his reading building!
His handwriting is not half as good as Yu Shizhang's. He can write the inscription himself!
"His Majesty......"
"I am willing!"
Just as he was about to say no, Yu Shizhang interrupted him loudly: "Your Majesty is absolutely right! We have served in the same court for several years. Although I cannot say that we have a close personal relationship, we do have some friendship. Your Majesty is willing to give us this opportunity to help us break the rumors. I am very grateful in my heart. Therefore, I am willing to write an inscription for the Reading Tower to thank Your Majesty for your grace!"
The emperor smiled with satisfaction.
"My dear minister, I am very pleased with your words." He looked around the hall, as if he suddenly thought of something. "Oh, by the way, since this is for the benefit of students all over the world, I, as the emperor, cannot remain silent. Hong Banban."
"I'm here." Eunuch Hong lowered his head.
The emperor raised his sleeves and said, "I have quite a few books in my collection. Please donate 200 books in my name. After the books are placed in the reading building, they will be available for students all over the world to read."
All the officials were greatly shocked.
Even Yu Shizhang raised his head, shock evident in his eyes.
Previously, he had thought that the emperor wanted the same thing as they did - to use the reading building as the "library" of Tongan Printing House, and whenever he had time, he would send people in to borrow a few books, and then print them out for the benefit of the people.
But now he finally understood the emperor's intention.
Turning the reading building into the "Tong'an Library" is just one of them.
As for the second one...
It was the emperor's conspiracy.
And what is an open conspiracy?
To speak frankly and lure someone into a trap is an open conspiracy.
For example now——
"I have donated everything, and you, my dear ministers, please donate some too." The emperor said casually, "Don't leave less, don't repeat, don't keep anything to yourself. As long as they are ancient books in your home, donate them all. I also want to go to the building to take a look when I have free time."
All the officials were shocked, but when a big hat called "the world" was put on them, no one dared to stand up and say "no".
This trap was clearly set up by Gadbo for the emperor.
But the emperor not only did not break the deadlock, but instead joined in and pushed the situation forward, forcing all officials to donate their home collections of books.
Those long-lost ancient books, those treasures they cherished, will all appear in the reading building in the future.
Jiadebo was horrified and looked at the emperor with shock and fear.
The emperor already knew it...right?
He carefully set up a trap for the emperor, but ended up becoming a sharp knife in the emperor's hands?
"Why does Lord Jiade look at me like this?" The emperor smiled, his eyes cold, "Since Lord Jiade is willing, please donate more. I know that when your father was still alive, there were many ancient books in your home, about... 1,800 volumes. Now that several decades have passed, I believe that your collection of books must be no less than that. You can donate them all, and I will come to see them when the time comes."
——I will come and see it when the time comes.
——I will come to check it out when the time comes.
The threat was also made public.
Gadber's eyes were red and his fingers pressed on the ground couldn't stop shaking.
One thousand eight hundred volumes?
When his father was alive, there were 1,800 books in the mansion?
How could he, as a son, not know this!
This is slander!
"Your Majesty!" He didn't dare to say that the emperor was wrong, so he could only make an excuse: "Those books... I have given away a lot of them over the years. Really, really, there are not thousands..."
"Eight hundred is fine." The emperor interrupted him and said, "I am busy with the building, so I will leave the task of collecting ancient books to Earl Yongning. All you ministers need to do is prepare the books and wait for Earl Yongning to come. This will save you the trouble of running around."
All the officials stared at what they heard.
They originally wanted to... use some ordinary books to fool Jiadebo, but if this task fell into Yu Shizhang's hands...
They all looked at each other.
This guy is not afraid of offending people!
"I will not let your majesty down!" Yu Shizhang stood up straight and stepped out of the line. He looked around and said, "I will go to the door according to the official rank. I hope my colleagues can make preparations as soon as possible. The sooner the book donation is completed, the sooner the reading building can open its doors to welcome guests."
"..."
The officials were angry and upset, but the emperor was still watching from above, so they could only laugh and say, "We will not make things difficult for you, Lord Bo."
"..."
When Jiadebo looked at Yu Shizhang, his heart had already broken into eight pieces.
......
An hour later, at Shen's Mansion.
Shen Zheng was stunned by this drama.
Yu Shizhang laughed so hard that he fell backwards. "You didn't see Gadber's face. I saw tears welling up in his eyes!"
Shen Zheng still opened her mouth, "My goodness... You are worthy of being His Majesty. This is an open conspiracy, a trap that invites you into a trap. If it were me, I would not know how to break it."
"Yeah..." Yu Shizhang stopped laughing. "Who can turn the tables if the righteousness of the world is withheld? He uses the world to pressure Your Majesty and the righteousness to force Your Majesty, but he doesn't understand that Your Majesty is the ruler of the world."
Shen Zheng sighed, "It is a blessing for the Great Zhou to have His Majesty here. I must quickly send a message back to Tong'an County and ask the bookstore to quickly deliver the books and open the bookstore here as soon as possible. Even after what happened today, I'm afraid that the Fifth Master's shop will not be able to sell for five thousand taels..."
Now that His Majesty and all the officials have joined the game, the lion from the fifth family cannot speak any more.
"His family doesn't lack those thousands of taels of silver." Yu Shizhang said with a smile: "I thought about it after leaving the court today. Now the shop cannot be sold, so it can only be borrowed."
Shen Zheng's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she understood immediately.
"The Fifth Family lent the shop to the Reading Building for free. He lent it to the Reading Building for as long as the Reading Building was open. In this way... the Fifth Family's status among the people naturally rose."
This move by Jiadebo brought the emperor, the Fifth Family, and Yu Shizhang into the eyes of the world.
The fame and fortune that originally belonged to him and the Imperial College were divided up completely.
Yu Shizhang finished his last sip of tea, stood up and said, "I'm going to go to the Fifth House. I have to talk to that old thief about today's matter first."
"Just a moment."
Shen Zheng called Yu Shizhang and rummaged around in her arms, pulling out a stack of papers.
"Please give these drawings to the Fifth Master." She said, "The top two stacks are the decoration drawings for the bookstore and the cloth shop, and the bottom stack... is the wheelchair drawings. Please ask the Fifth Master to take a look and see if that style is convenient. If it is convenient, let him ask Old Qiao to do it."
“Wheelchair?” Yu Shizhang pulled out the last stack of papers and opened it. “This… looks like a sedan chair, but it doesn’t look like one when you look closely.”
Shen Zheng turned over the last piece of paper and said, "This page has the function of the wheelchair written on it. Please go quickly and have a look with the Fifth Master."
Yu Shizhang was pushed out of the main hall by her in a daze. When he left, he heard her say, "By the way, we need to pay Mr. Qiao a craftsman's fee. If it is useful, let him help Mr. Qiao to spread his reputation."