"This official didn't make a clear statement. He just told me that after I return, I will fulfill my duties faithfully and stabilize the place." After a pause, Mr. Hailao added: "Supervise the clan."
The clans of the Great Zhou Dynasty, because they did not hold real power, and because all of them lived in the capital, they were considered a relatively peaceful group in the feudal dynasty.
But this time the situation is different after all. The old emperor has no biological children.
It is easy for all clans to have the illusion that everyone has a chance.
They are all descendants of Taizu and Emperor Taizong. Everyone has an opportunity and is the legal heir of the country.
"No matter who the crown prince is, it is a great blessing for the country if the official family is willing to establish a crown prince."
Although the old emperor's appointment as the heir apparent was delayed for a long time.
The two procrastinating kings, Yong Wang and Yan Wang, took the lead in causing trouble in Bianliang.
But if the emperor is willing to choose a successor while he is still alive, it is better than the emperor not choosing a successor until his death.
"Next, the officials may release news, and there will definitely be a lot of turmoil in Bianliang City. In a chaotic situation, Zicheng, you must carefully observe the situation and focus on stability. You are not as young as the crown and you are already in the seventh rank.
, Already a young man in a high position, I don’t want to advance by luck..."
Lao Taishan taught Sheng Changbai sincerely, teaching Sheng Changbai various experiences in life and government.
It was very helpful to Sheng Changbai, and Sheng Hong's experience as an official was more applicable to the local area.
After arriving in the capital, Sheng Hong just wandered around in the six departments, passing the qualifications, and never really did anything practical.
Moreover, Sheng Hong's all-round delicacy and good rapport with others did not apply to Sheng Changbai.
A good person can ensure a smooth career in the early stages.
But it is difficult for a person who does not insist on his own opinions to reach a high position.
"Master, uncle, it's time to eat."
Weng and son-in-law talked directly before lunch, which was the Guining Banquet.
Not only Hai Chaoyun's family, but also Hai family's close relatives in Bianliang basically came to participate.
The presence of so many people shows that the Hai family attaches great importance to Sheng Changbai, and it also shows that there are many relatives from aristocratic families.
Seeing dozens of people attending a Guining banquet of the Hai family, we know that there is still a long way to go between the Sheng family and the rich families.
In terms of population alone, the Sheng family is far from comparable to the Hai family.
The men of the Hai family basically do not take concubines, and all members of the clan are worth more than four digits.
Other aristocratic families have thousands or even tens of thousands of people together with their direct descendants and branches.
With such a large foundation, it will be easy for talents to emerge in an endless stream.
It is also convenient for local control of all aspects of a state or county.
There are just over ten males in the direct line of the Sheng family, and the total number of side branches is less than a hundred.
If you want to develop into a rich clan, you must at least ensure that your clan members are wealthy and have children of several generations.
…
After Guining comes back, the entire wedding process is over. Honeymoons are not an Eastern tradition.
Sheng Changbai also returned to Yushitai and went to work normally.
If you become a professional troll, one less moth will harm fewer people.
After catching a few examples, it can also be a deterrent to others, and it is not completely useless.
As for personal matters, apart from hiring a private tutor for Gu Tingye's daughter Rong Jieer, Sheng Changbai had nothing else to do.
Gu Tingye returned to Bianliang and stayed there for about ten days.
Apart from looking at his daughter, he didn't do much.
It calmed down for a while without causing any trouble.
The father was so angry that after his son was taken away, he became a little calmer.
It's just that the price of Gu Tingye's growth is a little too high.
Another half month passed like this. After Sheng Hong returned home, he held a banquet and the whole family celebrated.
"I'm so happy, the official family is really going to establish a heirloom!"
"There is a successor to the country, which is definitely something worth celebrating."
The old lady said in agreement. The old lady, who was usually indifferent to most things, was also thinking about the old emperor's appointment of a heir.
Not to mention an old lady who grew up in a noble family and married into an official family, and her political consciousness is not low.
Even ordinary people in Bianjing breathed a sigh of relief that the old emperor was finally going to appoint a heir apparent.
"Thank God, the officials have finally made up their mind. I don't know whether the officials want King Yong or King Yan?" Wang Ruofu continued.
"No matter which one it is, it's better than the one that remains unresolved now." Hai Chaoyun said at last.
That's right, the old lady, Wang Ruofu, Hai Chaoyun, and the third generation daughter-in-law of the Sheng family often get together during this time.
Wang Ruofu kept asking Hai Chaoyun to stand in a proper manner, which was not enough to show off his authority to Hai Chaoyun. Sheng Changbai's kind words to Wang Ruofu didn't make sense either.
In desperation, Sheng Changbai used his trump card and entrusted the old lady to take care of Hai Chaoyun.
Wang Ruofu asked Hai Chaoyun to go to Wei Ruixuan, and the old lady asked Wang Ruofu to come to Shou'antang.
In front of the old lady, Wang Ruofu naturally couldn't ask Hai Chaoyun to behave according to the rules.
Otherwise, they are all daughter-in-law. How Hai Chaoyun serves Wang Ruofu, Wang Ruofu should also serve the old lady.
Not to mention serving her mother-in-law, Wang Ruofu was just sitting in the Shou'an Hall, and when he saw the old lady, he would show off.
When staying in Shou'an Hall, you cannot break the rules. It is torture for Wang Ruofu to behave yourself.
When Wang Ruofu returns to Wei, he will ask Hai Chaoyun to serve him, and the old lady will call him the queen.
The matter of Hai Chao Yun establishing rules will almost come to an end.
"Father, I see that you are in a good mood today. Did the officials give you any errands?"
Sheng Changbai saw that Sheng Hong was a little too excited, as if he had benefited from something, and asked.
"Qingning Palace has not been inhabited for many years. Since the official family wants to establish a prince, Qingning Palace naturally needs to be repaired. The official family has entrusted me with the task of repairing Qingning Palace."
Qingning Palace is the East Palace of the Zhou Dynasty and the residence of the prince. It is located in the easternmost part of the imperial city, next to Donghua Gate.
It is certainly a good job to build a palace for the future emperor.
A good opportunity to please the prince and show his face in front of him.
According to tradition, after the house was repaired by the prince.
In order to express his gratitude and win people's hearts, the prince would of course reward and promote his ministers who built the palace.
If not that the old emperor was a kind man, it might be because he used Sheng Hong as a "chicken" to intimidate the ministers and treated Sheng Hong badly.
Now Sheng Hong is given an opportunity to sell it to the prince.
If Sheng Changbai hadn't become the censor, in charge of supervising the Ministry of Etiquette.
Sheng Hong should be transferred to the Ministry of Rites to help organize the crown prince's canonization ceremony.
The same thing is to do things for the prince and sell things well to the prince.
Now because of Sheng Changbai's identity, Sheng Hong wanted to avoid suspicion that he was not suitable to go to the Ministry of Etiquette and still work in the Ministry of Works, so he arranged such a good job for Sheng Hong.
To be honest, Sheng Hong took advantage of not going to the Ministry of Rites.
The Ministry of Rites, Taichang Temple, and Taichang Liyuan, three major departments, so many officials have to prepare for the crown prince's canonization ceremony. Sheng Hong is among them, just like a minion. How can he show his face by repairing the palace alone for the prince.
Why did the Zhou Dynasty have so many departments, all responsible for the affairs of the court etiquette?
Of course, it is still the emperor's idea of the old Zhao family emperor. Even if there is a ritual system with little power, the emperor must also manage multiple departments and divide the powers.
If you have more people under your command, you won't be afraid of paying more. If you run out of money, you can find ways to make money. But if you are afraid that the power in the hands of the courtiers will be too great, you will become a powerful minister.
No matter what, it is a good thing for Sheng Hong to repair the East Palace. No matter which child of the old Zhao family comes to power, they will have to remember Sheng Hong who repaired the East Palace.
"Congratulations to my father. Congratulations to my father. The official family has entrusted my father with such an important responsibility, which shows their trust in my father."
The hypocrisy of scholar-bureaucrats is that Sheng Changbai wanted to congratulate Sheng Hong for his upcoming promotion, but it was not easy to give it directly.
"It's still important to get the errands done."
Sheng Hong waved his hands and said, his words were very steady, but the smile on Sheng Hong's face still couldn't stop.
"Bai'er, are you going to pay attention to the canonization ceremony these days?" Sheng Hong asked after he finished laughing.
"Yes, the officials also sent word to me."
Sheng Changbai, the censor, was in charge of the Ministry of Rites, so it was of course impossible for him to miss the important event of canonizing the crown prince.
The current old emperor has been in office for more than 40 years, and there are no veterans in the court who have experienced the ceremony of canonizing the prince.
After all, the founding of another great Zhou Dynasty was not very long, and it did not go through several things about establishing a governor.
Even the only two crown princes were conferred because they experienced a long period of troubled times before the founding of the Zhou Dynasty.
Many of the ritual inheritance and classics of the previous dynasty were lost, and the canonization ceremony was not perfect enough.
Now, in the decades since the Great Zhou Dynasty, many ancient classics have been collected from various places among the people.
Of course, the ceremony for the canonization of the crown prince of the Zhou Dynasty must be completed according to the ancient rituals, that is, the Zhou rituals combined with the rituals of the previous dynasties.
After this time is perfected and customized, it will be much easier to organize the prince's canonization ceremony in the future.
But the preparation for this grand ceremony of canonizing the crown prince was very complicated.
A group of etiquette officials had to go through countless classics to summarize a set of canonization etiquette of the Zhou Dynasty.
Sheng Changbai used to supervise, mainly to find faults. He didn't need to know what was right, he only needed to know how to determine what was wrong. This was very consistent with his profession as a big troll.
Sheng Changbai did this, but actually he didn't have much merit.
Various rituals, even if they bring face to the prince, were not proposed by Sheng Changbai. Sheng Changbai has no credit, it is just a little hard work.
After the matter is done, the credit may not save Sheng Changbai a year of hard work.
"Then you must work hard on your errands and do them well. People all over the world will be watching the prince's canonization ceremony." Sheng Hong said with encouragement.
"Yes, the child must be attentive to his errands."
There are so many servants in the Sheng Mansion, and they all talk a lot. Maybe one of them will spread the word about the family.
The Imperial City Secretary of the Great Zhou Dynasty, as the emperor's eyes and ears, was not as pervasive and powerful as the Jinyiwei and Dongchang of later generations.
But the Imperial City Department of the Great Zhou Dynasty actually did the same thing as these departments.
Therefore, even at home, one must have a correct attitude toward the emperor.
Of course, the main thing is to pay attention to what Sheng Changbai says. Sheng Hong, who has received a complete scholar-official education and has a complete scholar-official outlook, must be somewhat loyal to the emperor in his heart.
After all, the Sheng family has indeed received a lot of benefits from the old Zhao family.
If it weren't for the emperor of the old Zhao family, who comprehensively promoted the imperial examination, the Sheng family would not be able to achieve its current status.
It was Old Master Sheng who took advantage of the troubled times to earn a lot of money for his family.
Without the guarantee of official position, the Sheng family would be nothing more than a piece of fat.
The old Zhao family is really good to scholars, and it is actually normal for so many scholars to be loyal to the Zhao family.
Especially in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the influence of the previous dynasty was still there.
People from poorer families have a deeper understanding of the monopoly of official careers by aristocratic families.
Scholars from poor families are more grateful to the old Zhao family, and it is easier for them to produce famous ministers who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the Zhao family.
After waiting for too long to establish a dynasty, scholars got used to this environment and lost a deep understanding of the situation in which the poor children of the previous dynasty had no way out.
It is easy for everyone to have their own thoughts and have more selfish thoughts.
In order for the old emperor to finally establish the throne, everyone in the Sheng family gathered together for a complete family banquet.
There is an heir to the throne of the old Zhao family. The Zhao family should be happy, and the Sheng family should be happy to celebrate the festival.
"Censor Sheng, what do you think of this?"
"Censor Sheng, do you think this is better to follow Zhou etiquette or the etiquette of the previous dynasty?"
"Censor Sheng, I still think the records in this book are more realistic."
"Okay, okay, all good."
After that, Sheng Changbai followed a group of etiquette officials to read various classics and prepare various matters for the Crown Prince Ceremony.
After all, the books of the predecessors were written by the predecessors. Individuals have their own opinions and what they have seen are different. In many places, the records in various classics are different.
It's quite troublesome. Sheng Changbai is not very interested in finding out which one is more real.
As long as the etiquette complies with the regulations and there is no transgression, Sheng Changbai has no interest in finding fault.
It is not very meaningful to operate this matter according to the ancient etiquette and the etiquette of the previous dynasty, and it is not worth Sheng Changbai's wasting too much time.
During this period, Sheng Changbai had been thinking about how the affairs of the Zhou Dynasty had changed a lot due to his influence.
In order to prevent Gu Tingye from harming his family Sheng Xiaoliu, Sheng Changbai changed the life trajectory of many key figures Gu Tingye.
It's really hard to say who will have a better chance of becoming emperor next, and whether Sheng Changbai will be among them.
The key thing is that Sheng Changbai can't decide who to choose as emperor will be better and more beneficial to him.
After all, power can easily change a person. When a person is a clan member and an emperor, it can be said that they are completely different.
Although both King Yong and King Yan were somewhat domineering, they each had their own merits.
The first advantage of King Yong is that he has many sons.
The advantage of having more sons is that you are more tolerant of mistakes, and it is easier to pick a decent heir even if you have a few crooked children.
According to the average lifespan of the old Zhao emperors, who were forty or fifty years old, even if King Yong ascended the throne soon, he would already be nearly forty years old, and it was almost time to train a successor.
If there is a clear heir, Sheng Changbai can act as the heir's banquet master and train the future emperor according to his own ideas.
After all, the ability of another Yong Wang is average, and the mediocre ability of an emperor cannot be regarded as a shortcoming.
A mediocre emperor is easy to fool, and the power of the prime minister is easy to expand.
A person who can be a prime minister always has something extraordinary and cannot be mediocre.
It is not a bad thing to let the prime minister make the decision and govern the country.
