"Ahem... Your Majesty is unfortunately ill. Today's court affairs will be presided over by Du You, the Minister of Rites. If you have anything to do, please discuss it early. If you have nothing to do, you will leave the court."
On October 18th, in the Xuanzheng Hall in the imperial palace, the eunuch Gao He said in a sharp voice before the court.
After hearing this, all the courtiers in the palace showed no strange expressions, as if they were indifferent to the eunuch Gao He's words, "Your Majesty is unfortunately ill." Several of them shook their heads silently after glancing at the vacant throne.
Alas, that Majesty is sick again!
In just ten days, His Majesty fell ill three times, which is simply unimaginable!
The first time, my head hurt, the second time, my stomach hurt, and the third time, I didn't even bother to find an excuse, and just said "I'm sick" in a general way, which made all the ministers in the palace feel very tired.
"Master Du?" Gao He, the eunuch, signaled to Du You, the Minister of Rites.
Du You glanced at Gao He, shook his head secretly, and took a few steps forward to face the courtiers in the hall.
After being silent for a few breaths, he said with a strange expression: "It's really unfortunate for me. Just two days later, His Majesty was unfortunately ill again..."
This seemed sad, but in fact it was ridiculing and mostly sarcastic. Some ministers in the palace couldn't help but chuckle, but then they realized that the situation was wrong and immediately stopped smiling.
At this time, the words of Du You, the Minister of Rites, also ushered in a turning point: "...However, this is also a time to test our ministers. At present, our Wei Dynasty is in a period of prosperity. I hope that you will fulfill your duties and do your best as ministers."
Duty makes the country stronger."
"Please follow Master Du's teachings!"
The courtiers raised their hands and said.
After that, Du You looked around at the ministers and said, "What do you have to discuss, sirs?"
After hearing this, Yang Yi, the Minister of Hubu, stood up, raised his hands and said, "Shangshu Du, the Minister of Hubu has three things to report."
"Please speak." Du You said.
Seeing this, Yang Yi took out three memorials from his arms and said seriously: "The first thing, the construction project of the new capital Luoyang was officially started ten days ago. This is my Lord Cui Can, the left minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
The memorial table presented..."
Du You, the Minister of Rites, walked up to Yang Yi, reached out and took the memorial from the latter, looked at it for a few times, and nodded slightly.
"The second piece." Handing the second memorial to Du You, Yang Yi, the Minister of Household Affairs, said: "This is a memorial from "Chenggao Pass". According to the "Chenggao Order", in recent times
Within half a month, thousands of people from Xingyang, Zhaiyang, Zhengcheng, Juan County and other places have moved to Sichuan and Luo. The "Eastern People Migrating to the West" has achieved remarkable results. The official thinks that our court should move as soon as possible
"Ling Yin" is set up in Luocheng to facilitate the guidance of the relocated people to settle in Sanchuan County. In addition, we need to be careful about the quarrels between the relocated people and the local Sichuan residents..."
Du You, the Minister of Rites, took the memorial, spread it out, glanced at it, and nodded slightly.
"The third one."
At this time, Yang Yi, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, handed the third memorial to Du You, and then said: "In order to facilitate the transportation of construction materials, I, the Ministry of Revenue, sincerely request the court to allow the construction of additional ships. The existing number of ships cannot satisfy the needs of the new capital.
The Luoyang construction matter is the construction of the national paved road network..."
Du You, the Minister of Rites, took the memorial and glanced at it, then looked at Yang Yi in disbelief: "Two hundred new ships?"
"This is necessary!" Yang Yi, the Minister of Household Affairs, affirmed.
Du You nodded, looked around at the various ministers and asked, "Do the various ministries have different opinions?"
Zheng Tu, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Tao Ji, the Minister of the Ministry of War, Tang Zheng, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishments, and Meng Wei, the Minister of the Ministry of Works, shook their heads one after another.
In fact, in these matters, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Punishment have very little say. Du You just asked casually with the mentality of a bowl of water. Since all the ministers have no objections, then this matter
, the court made a decision on the spot.
After that, Meng Wei, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, also stood up and expressed the hope that the imperial court would relax the standards for spending money on behalf of the Ministry of Industry. After all, the Ministry of Industry and the Metallurgical Bureau were mainly responsible for the various major projects in the country in recent times.
, but the officials of the Ministry of Works believe that the stingy people in the Ministry of Household Affairs are too tight on money and expenses, so that many tasks of the Ministry of Works cannot be carried out. Therefore, Meng Wei, Minister of the Ministry of Works, hopes that the Ministry of Household Affairs can cooperate with them.
homework.
Then, there is the daily exchange of words between Yang Yi, the Minister of Household Affairs, and Meng Wei, the Minister of Industry. The former accuses the latter of not being a householder and not caring about the value of firewood and rice, and the latter accuses the former of being a stingy miser, etc. Regarding this kind of war of words, many people
The courtiers were already used to it.
It has to be said that the status of the Ministry of Industry within the six ministries of the imperial court is no longer comparable to that of the past. As the vanguard of domestic construction, the Ministry of Industry does not live up to the former boss of the DPRK. In fact, the Ministry of Industry has gradually become the Ministry of Works.
A bag of money to take whatever you want.
As for the result of this war of words, Meng Wei, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, received another sum of money with satisfaction, which made Yang Yi, the minister of the Ministry of Revenue, look quite ugly.
There is nothing that can be done about this. After all, the current general trend of Wei State is to develop domestic construction. In other words, all other ministries of the imperial court must unconditionally cooperate with the operations of the Ministry of Industry and the Metallurgical Bureau.
"Retreat!"
About half an hour later, when he saw that the ministers had finished discussing state affairs, the eunuch Gao He shouted at the top of his voice, and then hurriedly left the Xuanzheng Hall - he had to rush to serve the new emperor Zhao Run.
At this time, all the ministers in the court bowed to the empty throne, and then left the Xuanzheng Hall one after another.
When they left, these ministers were smiling and chatting happily. One said, "The weather is nice today." The other said, "The talk between Yang and Meng was really exciting today." As for the topic of "the throne is empty," no one was interested.
Not mentioned.
It has to be said that the officials of the Wei court really did a perfect job of "making the same difference whether the king is present or not." Even though the king Zhao Run was not present, these courtiers still completed the court affairs in an orderly manner.
Under such circumstances, people can't help but wonder: Since the imperial court can handle domestic government affairs perfectly, what is the role of the new king? Is it a mascot?
Of course not, not to mention other kings in the past, at least in this generation, the biggest role of the new king Zhao Run is to give the ministers peace of mind - as long as they know that the majesty who once swept the Central Plains is standing behind him, even if he cannot be seen in the court meeting
Your Majesty and all the ministers in the imperial court also feel fearless.
On the other hand, as a monarch, it is probably almost impossible for Zhao Run to leave Daliang in the future.
After bidding farewell to his colleagues, Du You, the Minister of Rites, walked towards Chui Gong Hall. Along the way, he nodded and greeted the passing Imperial Guard patrols with a smile.
Recently, Du You was in a good mood. Although the death of the late king Zhao Si made him very sad, the late king had a successor, the prince Zhao Run, who in his opinion was a great talent and even surpassed others.
With his father's dominance, coupled with the current momentum of his Wei State's commitment to domestic development, even Du You could not imagine how strong his Wei State would be in five or ten years.
The only regret is that the new king is often ill, which is really worrying.
However, what is even more worrying is that if he goes around the imperial garden at this moment, he will definitely see the new monarch who is suffering from a strange disease lying lazily on a lazy chair, leisurely basking in the sun...
Considering that he still wanted to serve the country and the new monarch for a few more years, Du You, the Minister of Rites, decided to ignore this matter.
Anyway, as long as His Majesty stays in the palace honestly and faithfully, everything can be discussed.
Even a little compromise is not a big deal.
Humming an unknown tune, Du You, the Minister of Rites, came to the Chui Gong Hall.
At this time, in the Chui Gong Hall, Lin Yuyang, Yu Ziqi, Li Liang, Xu Guan, Jie Ziu and other ministers of the Inner Dynasty had already arrived and were reviewing memorials in the inner hall. When they saw Du You, the Minister of Rites, walking in with a smile on his face, all the ministers of the Inner Dynasty felt in their hearts.
It feels a bit incredible.
"Master Du is in a good mood today..."
"Did His Majesty go to court today?"
"Isn't it? I have just been pretending to be sick for a day. Your Majesty should not return to court so soon... Oh no, no, no, I am going to lose this time."
After looking at each other for a few times, the ministers exchanged a few glances in a tacit understanding.
Immediately, Feng Yu, the minister of the inner court, asked cautiously: "Master Du, did your majesty... go to the morning court today?"
After hearing this, Du You, the Minister of Rites, who was originally full of joy, sighed helplessly and shook his head.
Immediately, Wen Qi clenched his fists with excitement on his face, causing Du You to look at him.
After staring at Wen Qi for a moment, Du You asked with some persistence: "Master Wen, what are you doing?"
Wen Qi felt a little guilty after being stared at by Du You, and explained with a sneer on his face: "I have been holding the pen for a long time, and my hand will lose strength, so... I need to stretch my muscles."
"..." Du You opened his mouth and shook his head helplessly.
After calming down, Du You said: "Today during the court meeting, Mr. Yang Yiyang, the Minister of Household Affairs, proposed that the court should draft a few "Ling Yin" as soon as possible and go to Sanchuan County to take up their posts to guide the relocated people to settle down.
Do you have any suitable candidates?"
To be fair, in previous years, this kind of matter should have been decided by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but the existence of the "Cui Gong Hall Internal Court" greatly reduced the authority of the six departments of the imperial court.
It is no exaggeration to say that among the current imperial institutions of the Wei State, only the "Tiance Mansion" can be compared with the "Cui Gong Palace Internal Dynasty" in terms of status. However, the Tiance Mansion is only responsible for external military affairs and internal supervision (
(to prevent people from rebelling and causing rebellion), and there is no conflict of authority with the inner court of Chui Gong Hall.
"Ling Yin of Sanchuan County." Lin Yuyang touched his chin and said with a chuckle: "This is really a fat job..."
As he said that, he saw the ministers in the palace looking at him in confusion, so he explained with a smile: "Actually, as early as five or six days ago, Zhao Xiu, the crown prince of Yuanyang Prince, visited Lin's residence, hoping to serve as the commander of Luocheng.
Yin, no matter how bad things are, he will become a captain..."
After hearing this, Xu Guan, the former Minister of War, sneered and said: "King Yuanyang has a good vision, but unfortunately, both father and son are cowards who are greedy for life and afraid of death... To recommend Zhao Chengxiu, I think it is better to recommend Anpinghou (Zhao
Tan)."
Not to mention, when Korea attacked Wei State, Prince Yuanyang and his son fled from the feudal town to Daliang in a panic before the Korean army could cross the river. This not only made many ministers in the court look down upon, but also
Even the Zongfu severely punished the father and son afterwards.
In fact, the clan's words at the time were very sharp: He was not worthy of being a descendant of the Zhao family!
In contrast, the princes of the Zhao clan, such as Chengling King Zhao Shen and Anping Hou Zhao Tan, performed very well in that war that was related to the survival of the Wei State, and they were also commended by the clan afterwards.
"Ahem, don't discuss the royal family privately." Du You, the Minister of Rites, coughed.
Xu Guan shrugged and said: "I thought Anping Hou Zhao Tan could be qualified to oversee the Luocheng area of Sanchuan County. This man is brave and courageous and has a straightforward personality. He will not have any trouble with Chuanluo..."
Hearing this, Lin Yuyang, Li Liang and others remained silent.
Don't think that these ministers don't have selfish motives. In fact, they do. Of course, their selfish motives are not wealth, but another level of selfishness, such as making the noble family stronger.
Among the children of the Zhao family, most people feel that the Wei Kingdom belongs to them, but the gentry do not see it this way. In the eyes of the latter, the Zhao family is the Zhao family, the royal family is the royal family, and the country is the country. They cannot be confused.
.
Over the years, due to the large number of wealthy, poor, and even ordinary people who have become ministers of the court through examinations, the Zhao family Wanggui has gradually lost control of the country - the Zhao family Wanggui here refers to
Branches other than the direct line of the royal family.
Except for the Zongfu area, almost all of the imperial court has been occupied by the gentry. Therefore, the gentry generally believe that the era has come when their gentry will replace the Zhao family and Wang Gui. However, it is a pity that the Zhao family and Wang Gui are a branch of the royal family after all.
Like Zhao Tan, King of Chengling, Zhao Tan, Marquis of Anping, Zhao Anding, Marquis of Shangliang, etc., there are still many Zhao family nobles who hold great power and compete with the rapidly rising gentry.
In the eyes of the gentry, the nobles of the Zhao family who enjoy various privileges are not welcome. Even though some nobles of the Zhao family, such as Chengling King Zhao Shen, etc., have contributed a lot to the country, the gentry still feel that although these people
They exerted their efforts, but they got more - these people are like vines. Although they also help the big tree to drive away insects, they themselves are also absorbing the nutrients of the big tree. If they turn a blind eye to this, the vines will eventually destroy the big tree.
withered.
Therefore, although the Zhao family and Wang Gui have been constantly grabbing power and reaping benefits over the years, the nobles in the court are also suppressing them intentionally or unintentionally.
For example, at the moment, Yu Ziqi said calmly: "I thought that Kou Zheng from the Fenyin Order has outstanding talents and outstanding political achievements, so he can serve as the Ling Yin of Sichuan Luo."
Who is Kou Zheng? He is a true commoner. As long as he is not from the Zhao family, no matter whether he is from a noble family, a poor family or a commoner, once he enters an official career, he can be included in the gentry and become one of them. "PS: Actually,
There were also conflicts within the gentry, such as between aristocratic families and poor families, and among common people, but the main contradiction in this period was between the royal family and the gentry, which can be regarded as the conflict between the privileged class and the ordinary bureaucratic class."
After all, with Kou Zheng's ability, it is inevitable to open up a family in the future.
In the same way, the same is true for Jie Ziyu, Wen Qi and others.
"Isn't this appropriate?" Li Liang frowned and said, "Fenyin Ling Kou Zheng is the minister of the Inner Dynasty appointed by His Majesty. At the moment, he is just put in a place to hone his skills..."
"The Ling Yin of Chuanluo is also an excellent place for training." Yu Ziqi said with a smile.
After Zhao Tan and Kou Zheng, the ministers of the Inner Dynasty recommended several suitable candidates. Among these candidates, there were not only nobles of the Zhao family, but also children of the gentry. This is no wonder, after all, these ministers of the Inner Dynasty also had
Their respective interpersonal relationships are like Xu Guan, the former Minister of War, who had a good personal relationship with Anping Marquis Zhao Tan.
After many discussions, the ministers in the inner court were still undecided. In this case, they immediately thought of the new king Zhao Run.
This is the rule of the inner court: all matters that can be decided by the inner court shall be decided by the inner court; if the inner court cannot decide after consultation, the decision shall be made by the new king.
"Let me report this matter to Your Majesty."
Du You, the Minister of Rites, took over the matter, and then added in an unclear tone: "By the way, I'm going to check on His Majesty's condition."
Amid the knowing smiles of the ministers, Du You, the Minister of Rites, left the Chui Gong Hall.
At this time, just as Du You had guessed, Zhao Hongrun was lying on a deck chair in the imperial garden, lazily basking in the sun, listening to the eunuch Gao He report on what he had seen this morning.
It has to be said that with the presence of mature and prudent ministers like Du You, Zhao Hongrun is quite reassured about state affairs. The reason why he asked Gao He was just to see how the ministers in the DPRK would react to the fact that he was "unfortunately ill" again.
——And the facts prove that the courtiers are not surprised by this.
This is very good!
Zhao Hongrun thought that given time, even if he was "sick all year round", the government affairs of the DPRK and China would not be delayed because of this.
"father."
With a milky cry, Zhao Hongrun's eldest son Zhao Wei ran up to him and raised his right hand, as if he wanted to hand something to Zhao Hongrun.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun spread his hands and immediately felt a cold and slippery feeling in his palms.
If you look closely, you will see that it is a writhing earthworm. It is very ugly.
"Your Highness, you... how could you..."
A palace maid who was following Zhao Wei saw this scene and felt panicked for no reason.
But to the maid's surprise, Zhao Hongrun showed no angry expression at all on his face, but instead looked nostalgic.
He touched the head of his eldest son Zhao Wei with his other hand and asked with a smile: "Weier, do you know the name of this thing?"
Zhao Wei was less than three years old this year, and he couldn't even speak clearly. He didn't know so much, so he shook his head with a dull expression.
However, before Zhao Hongrun could speak, he heard his second son Zhao Chuan shouting something unknown in the distance, and then he saw his eldest son Zhao Wei in front of him yelling and running away. This made the palace maid even more frightened, and asked her repeatedly.
Zhao Hongrun pleads guilty.
Waving his hand to signal the palace maid to follow his eldest son Zhao Wei, Zhao Hongrun said with some nostalgia: "When I was young, I also teased Uncle Six like this..."
After saying this, there was no response for a long time. Zhao Hongrun glanced left and right subconsciously, and then he realized that he was only surrounded by the eunuch Gao He, his concubine Zhao Que, and Yan Shun and Tong Xin, two guards from the Imperial Guard Division.
The elders, like Lu Mu and Mu Qing, who were already accustomed to praise him, are now serving in the Imperial Guard and are no longer around.
This made Zhao Hongrun feel a little depressed.
Fortunately, the eunuch Gao He was good at observing people's emotions. He understood Zhao Hongrun's expression and asked from the side: "Is your Majesty referring to Prince Yi?"
This finally allowed Zhao Hongrun to continue the topic.
"Yes." Zhao Hongrun nodded with a smile and said, "But when I teased Uncle Six, I was older than this kid..."
When he said these words, Zhao Hongrun was inevitably a little confused.
More than ten or twenty years ago, the eighth prince, who had a lot of misdeeds in the palace, is now married and has several children.
On the contrary, more than ten or twenty years later, among those close to him, his sixth uncle passed away and his father also passed away, which made Zhao Hongrun quite emotional.
His son's pranks reminded him of his past self.
He knew very well that sometimes that kind of prank might be to attract other people's attention.
Because of his personal experience, Zhao Hongrun now often accompanies his wife and children when he is not busy with government affairs. Just as his father said before his death, do not follow his old path and neglect the government affairs because of diligence.
family.
However, such a leisurely life made him miss the days when he was young and teased his sixth uncle, and later started the so-called "father-son war" with his father.
Thinking back on it carefully, it was really an interesting and memorable memory.
It's a pity that at this moment, the eunuch Gao He's words broke Zhao Hongrun's memory of the beautiful memories: "Your Majesty, Du Shangshu is here."
"What?"
Zhao Hongrun glanced into the distance subconsciously, and sure enough he saw Du You, the Minister of Rites, walking towards him. He immediately pretended to be helpless because of his illness.
"Old minister Du You, I would like to pay my respects to Your Majesty." After approaching Zhao Hongrun, Du You, the Minister of Rites, cupped his hands and saluted.
"It's Du Aiqing." Zhao Hongrun, who was pretending to be weak, opened his eyes, coughed twice on purpose, and asked, "Du Aiqing has been working hard these days."
"Hey." Du You smiled vaguely.
In fact, both the emperor and the minister knew what was going on. Therefore, when he heard Du You's unknown laughter, Zhao Hongrun could not help but feel guilty and embarrassed. He coughed and immediately changed the subject: "Du Aiqing is here.
Is there something important?"
Du You stared at Zhao Hongrun twice, but in the end he still did not expose the new king in front of him for pretending to be ill. He pretended not to know and said: "Your Majesty, the "Eastern people's migration to the west" has achieved results. The imperial court believes that,
When several ministers were sent to Sanchuan to guide the relocated people to settle there, so as not to disrupt the order and conflict with the local Sichuan people..." As he said that, he took out a list from his arms and handed it to Zhao Hongrun: "This is
This is a list drawn up by the inner court, please make your decision."
"So that's what happened..."
As soon as he heard that Du You was not just looking for trouble, Zhao Hongrun felt much more relaxed. He took a look at the list and said, "Let's take Zhao Tan, the Marquis of Anping. This man is brave and courageous. It's a pity to leave him idle."
Okay, and as far as I know, Anpinghou has a good drinker, and he must be able to get along well with the leaders of Chuanluo... I named him the "Supervisor of Chuanluo" and took the post of captain. As for the internal affairs of Sanchuan County, the court temporarily
Don't interfere."
"Yes!" Du You nodded knowingly, standing next to Zhao Hongrun's recliner, looking at the princes and princesses bouncing in the distance, a look of kindness on his face, as if he was looking at the future of his Wei Kingdom.
However, after glancing at Zhao Hongrun, the smile on Du Shangshu's face faded by half.
"Your Majesty, for some things it is better to stop in moderation. Going too far will be bad, what do you think?"
"Uh... what Du Aiqing said is absolutely true."
In short, today's Wei State is also developing steadily.