The old man in front of him was indeed a core figure in the palace, but in the final analysis he was just a minister or a servant, and he still didn't know some of the secrets of the imperial court.
For example, Chang Shi does not know about the promotion and promotion of royal titles that Ren Ning is about to re-implement.
Thinking of this, King Pingliang sighed secretly.
His title of county prince was inherited from his ancestors, and he had almost no contribution.
Once Ren Ning implements the promotion and demotion of the royal title, it is still unknown whether the palace can maintain its status.
As for rising to the rank of prince, King Pingliang would not dare to even think about it.
In addition, he also carefully read the rules left by Taizu, and knew that it would be extremely difficult to keep the title of county king from surrender.
At least the masters of the various palaces can no longer live in chaos like in the past, and need to do something beneficial to the empire or the royal family.
And this kind of achievement cannot be too small.
Trouble.
King Pingliang sighed secretly again.
As the saying goes, money will be exhausted only when it is used.
He thought about it carefully and thought about it, and then painfully realized that he actually had nothing to offer except a prince.
Finally, King Pingliang turned his eyes silently to the main entrance.
It seems that in the future, I will still have to rely on a lot of help from my in-laws.
"Go and invite my second uncle over."
Elder Shi was overjoyed and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Your Majesty is wise, I will go and invite my second uncle to you now."
————
Time flies, September passes quickly.
Star City is generally the same, but there are exceptions.
From time to time, there would be rumors in the streets or newspapers that a certain general's mansion belonging to the Central Army Corps suddenly changed from the previous blockade by the Forbidden Army to the one where the Ministry of War sent people to raid the house.
Confiscation of one's home and genocide is definitely a big deal for those involved.
But it did not affect the lives of ordinary people at all. For them, it only gave them more things to talk about after dinner.
Royal Palace.
Just after the morning session that morning, there was an extra person in the imperial study room.
The commander of Jinlin Guards, Du Ziming.
After the ceremony between the monarch and his ministers, Ren Ning, who was sitting on the dragon throne, raised his head and glanced at him.
"Tell me, what did you find out?"
"Back to Your Majesty, Jinlin Guard captured a former Central Army General named Li Bin who was trying to abscond outside Luzuo Academy in Huayang County yesterday."
After speaking, he held up the found information with both hands.
Xiao Lizi took the folder and quickly sent it to the Dragon Case.
"Li Bin?" Ren Ning pondered as he opened the thick folder.
This kind of general name that he has never heard of before is usually just a small person, not a big general.
"What's going on with him?"
It was actually worthy of Du Ziming, the commander of the Jinlin Guard who was busy with everything, to personally send the case to the Imperial Study Room.
"Your Majesty, this Li Bin was born in General Youlong's Mansion in the east of the city. In addition, he also has another identity, he is the son-in-law of the second uncle of King Pingliang."
"After investigation by Jinlin Guards, the reason why Li Bin escaped from the prison in Luzuo Academy had a lot to do with King Pingliang."
The dignified prince of the county is worth more than ten thousand people. As long as he stands up and orders one or two more people to be added to the inspection teams in various places, the Ministry of War will directly agree without even thinking.
So Li Bin was suddenly released from prison.
Of course, there is another "Li Bin" in the prison of Luzuo Academy.
However, this Li Bin looked haggard and seemed to be seriously ill. It looked like he would not survive for a few days...
It's a pity that Jin Linwei has been watching closely around him. The real Li Bin just walked out of Luzuo Academy and was detained again before he could change into clean clothes.
"Very good, very good." Ren Ning glanced at the booklet in his hand, "Another one of those things, Li Daitao is dead."
It seems that reactivating the Ming Dynasty Prince Chen Xiujian is somewhat useful. At least it makes the princes and princesses below relax their vigilance and do some risky things that they would never dare to think of in the past.
"By the way, which royal palace is this involved in?"
The voice on the dragon chair was very light and peaceful, like a casual question when chatting with friends. However, Du Ziming's scalp was numb when he heard it.
He didn't dare to think too much and quickly lowered his head to report.
"Back to Your Majesty, judging from the current situation, Pingliang Palace is the fifth county palace involved in the Central Army Corps case..."
"If all the royal palaces and princess palaces are added up, this should be the eighteenth royal member involved."
Eighteen seats!
After hearing this, Ren Ning nodded expressionlessly.
"Don't alert others, just keep taking a long-term view."
"I want to see how many other royal families dare to secretly intervene."
Du Ziming's back suddenly became cold and sweaty, and his head was buried even lower.
"I obey the decree."
After sending Du Ziming away, the affairs of the day are almost finished.
Ren Ning took Xiao Lizi to the harem.
As always, the harem was peaceful.
Seventy-two concubines in the three palaces and six courtyards?
Ren Ning thought about the dreams of many time travellers, and smiled silently.
Home and everything prosper.
Right now, both Yingpan and Li Hezhu are still young and healthy. If the three of them have more children in the future, the inheritance of the royal family will basically not be a problem.
There is no need to be like Emperor Changxing who made the harem so smoky that it was difficult to find a quiet place to stay for a while.
Just as I was thinking about it, suddenly a hearty and familiar laughter came from in front of me.
Walking around a rockery, I happened to see Ying Pan and Mrs. Zhang playing with little Ren Zhan.
"I have met Your Majesty, Father!" The three of them greeted each other hurriedly.
"No gift."
Yingpan smiled and brought over a plate of snacks.
"Your Majesty has just gone to court. Are you hungry? I have some pastries here, which taste pretty good."
Ren Ning laughed.
These days, no one can starve the emperor. However, after he responded, he still picked up a piece of pastry and ate it slowly.
After he finished eating, Yingpan said: "Your Majesty, tomorrow is the Winter Clothes Festival."
"Yes." Ren Ning nodded.
He knew about the Winter Clothes Festival, and Xiao Lizi had just reminded him of this solar term.
On the first day of October, give cold clothes.
It is said that Meng Jiangnu set out on the first day of October to go to the Great Wall thousands of miles away to give her husband clothes to keep out the cold.
However, when she arrived at the city construction site, she found out that her husband had died of overwork and was buried at the foot of the Great Wall. She howled bitterly and brought down the Great Wall so that she could collect and bury her husband's bones, and finally committed suicide by throwing herself into the sea.
In the Yunchui Empire, at this time of year, the emperor would give cotton-padded clothes to those ministers who have worked hard and made great achievements as a reward and encouragement.
At the same time, this is also the day when the border guards distribute cotton-padded clothes to the soldiers.
"How did your father do this Winter Clothes Festival in the past?" Ren Ning has always asked without shame.
Xiao Lizi was naturally prepared.
"Your Majesty, every year during the Winter Clothes Festival, the late emperor would give cotton-padded clothes to the grand master, the six ministers, the commanders of the five armies and the three generals guarding the gates."
"Everyone has it?" Ren Ning was curious, "Without exception?"
"This..." Xiao Lizi hesitated and quickly flipped through the notebook in his hand.
A long time passed before he looked at his master again.
"Your Majesty, in most years, the late emperor did give the above-mentioned ministers one by one warm cotton clothes. But there are exceptions, such as the seventh year of Changxing. For some reasons, the late emperor did not give clothes to the Minister of Civil Affairs at that time. In addition, there were also exceptions.
There were the thirteenth and nineteenth years of Changxing..."
"I understand."
Ren Ning stopped listening and raised his hand to interrupt Xiao Lizi's words.
"Since there is a precedent, that's fine. I'll give you the cotton-padded clothes this year."
Lest these six ministers and the border generals of each legion always think that they are on an equal footing with their colleagues, without any sense of crisis or competition.
"Your Majesty is wise." Xiao Lizi naturally obeyed.
After coming back to his senses, Ren Ning looked at the picturesque Ying Pan in front of him.
"When the queen mentioned the Winter Clothes Festival, did she want to give clothes to the wives?"
Yingpan and Mrs. Zhang looked at each other, and she shook her head.
"Your Majesty is such a noble man who forgets things so much. At this time in the past, I would have prepared matters related to the eldest concubine of the Duke of Zhenguo and the eldest concubine of the Zhongyong Prefecture going to the South City Gate to give porridge."
Ren Ning slapped his forehead and said, "So that's what happened. If the queen didn't tell me, I would have forgotten about it."
"Why, your identity is different this year, and you are planning to leave the palace to give soup?"
Ying Pan nodded.
"If His Majesty allows it, I will naturally hope to come out of the palace to give porridge."
"Of course, it would be best to form a tradition among the concubines in the future."
For them, even providing porridge for one winter does not cost much money, but it can give the displaced people outside the city a way to survive.
With the queen taking the lead, the wives of every county and government will follow her example whether they like it or not.
However, because of their small actions, many people in the entire empire will die of starvation and cold.