The sky was getting dark and the weather was extremely cold. But inside Xu Wanyi's bedroom in the back house of the Zhang family, the mood of spring was warm and joyful.
The red candle was shining high, and the big red word "Happy" was pasted on the window lattice again. The wedding tent was hung again on the gum. Xu Wanyi, wearing a bright red wedding robe, sat on the bedside, waiting awkwardly.
At the first watch, Zhang Yanling walked alone with a lantern and entered the courtyard. Two maids waiting for him in the corridor rushed forward to greet him, took the lantern, took off his outer cloak for the Marquis, and welcomed him into the new house.
The two maids in the room placed the food and wine, quietly closed the door and exited. The door was closed and the curtains were lowered. Only Zhang Yanling and Xu Wanyi, who was sitting on the bed with a hijab, were left in the room.
Zhang Yanling looked at the decoration of the room and Xu Wanyi's dress, and sighed in her heart. Fate is often so wonderful. She and Xu Wanyi went back and forth arguing and bickering, from hating each other to even hating each other, and finally becoming an official couple.
Yes. It really makes people go round and round, unable to escape the entanglement of fate.
Zhang Yanling stepped forward slowly, picked up the weighing beam wrapped with red silk and raised the bride's hijab. Xu Wanyi's hair was tied up in a high bun, with a phoenix crown and a halo, and she was dressed in an extremely grand manner. Under the flickering candlelight, Xu Wanyi's beautiful appearance
Zhang Yanling was almost sluggish because she couldn't breathe.
Under Zhang Yanling's gaze, Xu Wanyi slowly raised her head and called softly: "Husband!"
Zhang Yanling said blankly: "Madam."
Xu Wanyi smiled sweetly and said: "Husband, why are you just looking at people in a daze? What's wrong with my dress?"
Zhang Yanling shook her head and said: "No, you are too beautiful."
Xu Wanyi pursed her lips and smiled sweetly, stood up and reached out to hold Zhang Yanling's hand, leading him to the table. The two of them drank Heju wine and ate wedding meatballs. Xu Wanyi asked Zhang Yanling to sit down again and took his place.
In addition to shoes and socks, she poured hot water to wash Zhang Yanling's feet. Zhang Yanling was not willing to let her do this, but she still insisted on doing it.
Finally, Xu Wanyi took Zhang Yanling's hand to the bedside and took off the copper hook holding the wedding curtain. The red wedding curtain sprinkled down like water, covering the gums and isolating the outside. Xu Wanyi slowly
He undressed Zhang Yanling and helped him get into bed.
Zhang Yanling leaned on the bed blankly, watching Xu Wanyi turn around, take off the jewelry on her head one by one and put them in the jewelry box on the bedside. When her long hair flowed down like a waterfall
, the flame in Zhang Yanling's heart also burned into a raging fire at this moment. Her breathing became rapid.
Xu Wanyi took off her wedding robe, lowered her head and got into bed. She shivered into Zhang Yanling's arms and closed her eyes.
"It's late!" Zhang Yanling said with difficulty as his throat rolled.
"Please husband... have mercy on me!" Xu Wanyi said in a trembling voice with her eyelashes trembling.
Zhang Yanling took a long breath and gently pulled open Xu Wanyi's bra...
The north wind howls, and the cold night is freezing. The branches tremble in the cold wind, making a whistling sound. In the depths of the cold night, unknown night birds seem to be unable to bear the invasion of the cold wind, and make bursts of whining sounds. The sound is like crying.
Like complaining, whimpering, or moaning, it takes a long time to stop.
…
Zhu Houzhao's diligence did not last long. After the New Year, he was supposed to go to court to discuss matters on the seventh day of the lunar month. However, Zhu Houzhao delayed it for several days due to illness, and did not reluctantly go to court to discuss matters until the tenth day of the first lunar month. The news received by the outer court was that the emperor did not
When he was ill, he only hid in the Qianqing Palace every day, feasting and having fun, and the sound of silk and bamboo continued all night long.
Angry, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian and three others immediately jointly signed a statement, accusing the emperor of doing this which was wrong. If the emperor wants to take a rest, he can tell his ministers, and the ministers are not unreasonable. But lying and cheating is not what a ruler should do. The emperor also said in the statement
I specifically named him. The late emperor ordered three people from the cabinet to assist Gu Ming. They have the responsibility to remind the emperor what he should do and what he shouldn't do. Please don't do such a thing again in the future.
Zhu Houzhao seemed to be a little wary of the three cabinet ministers, and then he went to court normally for a while. However, this lasted for less than half a month. At the end of the first year, he began to stop going to court again and again. First, he stopped going to court every once in a while.
day, and then three days later. At the end of the first year, there was no court meeting for five consecutive days.
Moreover, the sutra banquet lectures that were originally held twice a day were first changed to once a day, and in February, the decree was issued to change it to once every three days. However, in the end, even the sutra banquet held once every three days was given up by the academicians of the Hanlin Academy. Only
When it was the turn of the economic banquet hosted by the three cabinet ministers, he came to show off.
Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian and other civil servants in the outer court were very angry. They made several excuses and their tone was very harsh. However, Zhu Houzhao remained silent and silent. When he came to the audience, he nodded obediently. After that, he still went his own way.
Everyone in the outer court was extremely angry. However, he is the emperor after all. If he doesn't go to court, why don't we drag him to go to court?
Liu Jian and others made a decision after some discussion. It was okay for the emperor not to go to court, but as long as he could handle the matters to be done in the outer court, then he would do it. If the emperor ignored the affairs of the court, he would
It is not necessarily a bad thing for the court. To see his true attitude, it also depends on whether he is a good person, approves the matters discussed in the outer court and executes the decree.
As a result, the outer court began a series of actions. At the end of February, Liu Jian, the chief minister of the cabinet, first made a fuss and talked about a lot of trivial things about the internal affairs of the palace.
"Your Majesty ascended to the throne and issued an imperial edict. China and foreign countries were happy, but each department regarded it as ordinary. For example, weapons, saddle and bridle bureaus, stables and warehouses for each gate, and guards and other internal ministers. The number of ministers in the past has been increased several times.
, How can we not reduce it? There are dozens of people, including internal officials and other supervisors, and imperial supervisors and painters, etc., how can we not eliminate them? The internal transport warehouse releases expenses and does not set up a seal book.
How can we not check? The money is stored in the key bank of the Secretary. If Hongwu and other money cannot be used, the new coins will be wasted. How can we not use it? There are countless animals in the inner garden, and it is best to let them all out; the old palace people are old, or let the Ning family marry
When it comes to matters related to the palace ban, it should be done without any doubts and the responsibility lies with the supervisor. Please strictly supervise and supervise. Any unfinished matters will be investigated and dealt with to ensure effective results."
Liu Jian's excerpt seems to be righteous, but in fact it is all about trivial matters. It is nothing more than saying that the imperial palace is seriously overstaffed and overstaffed, and that the treasury is out of balance and wasteful. What about the people raised in the palace?
There are too many birds and beasts, so there is no need. There are too many people in the palace, so they should not be kept and must be sent away.
How should these matters be handled by the chief minister of the cabinet? These are all affairs of the inner court. Even if they are to be managed, they need to be communicated with the inner court in private and have a private discussion with the emperor. There is no need for him, the cabinet, to deal with them.
The first assistant went to Zhezi and said solemnly.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that Liu Jian's confession is actually a drunkard's intention and not the wine. This is a kind of temptation. And it is an extremely sensitive temptation. The purpose of Liu Jian's confession is to disturb people in the inner court. Where is the inner court?
?Those are the people around the emperor. If the palace is a home, the people in the inner court are the emperor's domestic slaves. Liu Jian's hand reached into the emperor's home, and the people he wanted to hit with the stick were the emperor's domestic slaves.
Moreover, Liu Jian said that there are too many people in the inner court and they need to be cleaned up and cut down. This is a very delicate matter. Who is left? Who is cut off? Who is cleared out? Is it to clean up people like Yue Fanheng, the king of the inner court? Or is it that the emperor brought people from the East Palace?
A group of people came to wait on you?
Therefore, the intention of Liu Jian's explanation is very profound. He is testing the new emperor's mind. If the new emperor is really completely at ease with the outer court, and has the same respect and trust for the outer court as the previous emperor, or is in awe of the outer court, then
Then Liu Jian would agree to Liu Jian's suggestion. Then Liu Jian could clear out some unsightly people through the inner court bigwigs who had secretly colluded with each other. In that case, the inner court and the inner court would be united, and the emperor would not be able to act willfully in the future.
On the contrary, it means that the emperor is only respectful on the surface, but actually does not trust the officials of the outer court. Then the outer court will make preparations early and use more effective means to control the situation, instead of being unable to figure out the emperor's thoughts.
And he has been fooling me all this time.
It has to be said that Liu Jian is a sophisticated and sinister person, and he is worthy of being the top civil servant in the cabinet. He seems to be calm, but in fact he has ulterior motives.
The day after the zhezi was submitted, Zhu Houzhao summoned three cabinet ministers to the palace to discuss the matter. Zhu Houzhao's attitude was very good and he did not show any anger or shirk. Zhu Houzhao said that Liu Jian's zhezi was very good.
He himself also felt that there were indeed many shortcomings in the inner court that needed to be rectified. However, Zhu Houzhao said that even if it was to be cleaned up, it would take some time before it could be carried out.
Zhu Houzhao's reason is that the late emperor died not long ago, and most of the maids in the palace are old people who were taken in by the late emperor. The late emperor was very good to them when he was still alive. He once said personally that he would not drive them out of the palace and that they would be supported.
Follow them. As soon as the late emperor passed away, he did this immediately. Not only was it against the late emperor's wishes, but it would also be criticized as being mean and unkind.
Liu Jian and others were a little surprised. They had not heard that the late emperor had made any promises to the people in the inner court. They did not believe what Zhu Houzhao said. However, Zhu Houzhao said that the emperor personally said it on a certain day in a certain year and a certain month.
What he said. He witnessed it with his own eyes and heard it with his own ears. He also said who was present at the time.
When Zhu Houzhao said this, it was difficult for Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and others to question it. If they still question it at this moment, wouldn't it mean that the emperor was lying? In this case, it is obvious that Zhu Houzhao cannot be forced to act accurately. With the late emperor,
The shield is there, this matter must be discussed later.
This memorial can only be temporarily shelved and dealt with later. This result made Liu Jian and others feel as uncomfortable as swallowing a fly. If the late emperor really said that, then naturally there is nothing to say. But if
It was the reason the emperor made up to shirk the matter. That means the emperor is extremely smart and has learned how to use tricks to deal with himself. Or maybe someone is giving him advice.
This time the test failed, Liu Jian and others were not discouraged. Soon, a more intense memorial was placed on Zhu Houzhao's desk.
On the sixth day of March, Li Mengyang, the head of the Ministry of Household Affairs, gave a fierce memorial. This Li Mengyang is a famous scholar today. He writes excellent poems and has a reputation for being upright among the government and the public. The content of his memorial is also extremely
It's so explosive and direct that it's staggering.