Wei Xun may have been watching too intently, and even Guo Shengtong noticed his gaze.
She stopped and her eyes fell on Wei Xun from the coral. Wei Xun peeked at Guo Shengtong and was caught by her. Wei Xun was shocked and quickly looked away, looking down at his toes.
Guo Shengtong frowned secretly. Wei Xun was the first person in the palace who dared to look at him so unscrupulously. She asked in a deep voice: "Zhang Kun, who did you bring?"
Zhang Kun glanced at Wei Xun subconsciously, and quickly said with a smile: "Queen, this is the eldest son of Marquis of Liang, Wei Xun, who has just been named Captain of Hu Qi by Your Majesty!"
Oh! Guo Shengtong suddenly realized, no wonder this man looked unfamiliar and dared to look at himself so rudely. He turned out to be a barbarian from Xiliang.
Although Wei Xun's image was very good, Guo Shengtong had a very bad impression of him. It was just that Wei Xun was the son of Kai Xiao, so it was not easy for her to scold him. She said to Aunt Feng: "Find someone to carry the coral into the hall and place it there.
Prominent location.”
"Yes! Queen!" Nanny Feng agreed respectfully, and just as she was about to call the chambermaid, Wei Xun said first: "Queen, let me move it with you!"
Guo Shengtong glanced at him and didn't say much. Wei Xun held up the coral and walked into the main hall led by Aunt Feng. Guo Shengtong looked at Zhang Kun and asked slowly: "Zhang Kun, this time I'm sending it from Peijun."
How many corals have returned to Beijing?"
Zhang Kun said quickly: "Reporting to the queen, although there are several corals sent to the palace, there are only two that are so outstanding in appearance, texture, and color."
"Are there two?" Guo Shengtong asked with a smile: "Your Majesty asked you to send one of them to my Changqiu Palace, but where is the other one?"
Zhang Kun cleared his throat, laughed dryly, and said, "Your Majesty sent someone to the West Palace."
She knew that no matter what good things happened, His Majesty would never forget the one in the West Palace. Zhang Kun hurriedly added: "The queen's blood plant is bigger than the one in the West Palace."
Guo Shengtong's eyes flashed and he asked: "Seriously?"
Zhang Kun nodded and bowed and said: "Given your great courage, I will not dare to deceive you, the Queen!"
Guo Shengtong smiled slightly and his expression softened a lot. When Wei Xun and Nanny Feng came out of the hall, Guo Shengtong said to Nanny Feng slowly: "Nanny Feng, reward me."
Aunt Feng poured out a few golden beans from her purse, stuffed them into Zhang Kun's hand, and said with a smile: "I will trouble Zhang Ye in the future. Please remind your majesty that Changqiu Palace is the main palace!"
Zhang Kun grinned secretly, nodded and bowed and said: "Yes, yes, yes! Queen, don't worry, I will definitely remind your majesty!"
"Go for it!"
"Slave, please leave!"
Zhang Kun led Wei Xun out of the Changqiu Palace and breathed a long sigh of relief.
Wei Xun looked puzzled and asked in a low voice: "Zhang Yezhe, what do you mean by what Aunt Feng said? Changqiu Palace is originally the main palace, and the queen is the empress of the main palace. Why do you need to remind your majesty?"
Zhang Kun smiled, shook his head and said, "You don't know, His Majesty spends the night in the West Palace most of the time." Since His Majesty went to the West Palace too frequently, the West Palace now looks more like the main palace, which naturally caused the Queen's dissatisfaction.
Wei Xun showed a look of sudden realization and murmured: "Xigong! The empress of the West Palace is the noble Yinli Huayin, right?"
"yes!"
"I heard that Yin Guiren is known as the most beautiful woman in the world, but I don't know if it's true or not?!" Wei Xun said with a curious look on his face.
Zhang Kun rolled his eyes at him and said: "I have been in the palace for so many years, what kind of stunning women have I not seen? I have never seen a woman more beautiful than Yin Guiren..." At this point, Zhang Kun couldn't help but sigh.
One sound.
When Wei Xun heard this, he looked surprised and became more and more curious about Yin Lihua.
Changqiu Palace.
After Zhang Kun and Wei Xun left, Grandma Feng approached Guo Shengtong and whispered: "Queen, I think this Wei Xun has evil intentions."
"Humph!" Guo Shengtong laughed out loud and said disapprovingly: "He's just a pervert."
Aunt Feng said: "The way he looked at the queen just now was simply... too bold and offensive. If it weren't for Liang Hou's young master, I would have wanted to have his eyes dug out!"
Guo Shengtong chuckled loudly and said, "Mother Feng's anger is too strong now." As she spoke, she naturally stroked her belly.
Aunt Feng was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly slapped her mouth and said, "It's the old slave who made a mistake! It was the old slave who made a mistake!" The two of them walked into the hall and looked at the bloody mountain on the bright surface. Guo Shengtong happily said
I walked forward and looked again and again.
"Queen!" Nanny Feng came to Guo Shengtong's side, held her arm, and said cautiously: "In a place like Xiliang, the folk customs are fierce, and both men and women are fierce and evil. I guess this Wei Xun has also come from
I have never seen such a delicate beauty as the queen."
Guo Shengtong was amused by her words and was in a better mood. Aunt Feng changed the subject and said: "Queen, Wei Xun was stunned when he saw you. If he saw the man in the West Palace, I wonder what he would look like.
!”
Upon hearing this, the smile on Guo Shengtong's face immediately disappeared and he glared at Nanny Feng sideways. By saying this, she was reminding herself that her appearance was far inferior to that of Yin Lihua.
Of course, Guo Shengtong herself knew this very well, but she knew in her heart that it was just one thing, and it was another thing if the people around her said it.
Seeing Guo Shengtong's unkind expression, Grandma Feng understood that she had misunderstood her. She waved to the maids present and said, "You all go down first!"
Several palace maids saluted and exited the hall. Nanny Feng walked to the door, closed the door tightly, then returned to Guo Shengtong and whispered: "Queen, even if the one in the West Palace was favored in the past, he didn't have much respect for the queen.
Does the Queen know the reason for the threat?"
Guo Shengtong frowned and looked at her. Aunt Feng continued: "Because the one in the West Palace did not give birth to an heir for His Majesty, no matter how favored she is, the status of the prince is indestructible, and the status of the queen is as stable as a rock. But
It's different now. The one in the West Palace is pregnant. Once she gives birth to the prince, the prince..."
At this point, she paused and did not dare to continue. Guo Shengtong was shocked, grabbed Nanny Feng's arm nervously, and asked: "You mean, if Yin Lihua gives birth to a prince, Your Majesty... Your Majesty will
The deposed prince?"
After saying that, she couldn't help but think smart, shook her head repeatedly, and said: "No! Your Majesty will not do it! Your Majesty loves Qiang'er so much, how could he dethrone Qiang'er's crown prince position?"
Aunt Feng said meaningfully: "Even if your Majesty can't do it now, what about in the future? Who can guarantee that your Majesty won't do it in the future? If the West Palace is favored, if you blow the pillow wind in your Majesty's ears every day, no matter how much your Majesty loves the prince,
There are days when I get bored!"
Guo Shengtong's face darkened and she clenched her fists. Even if she couldn't be the queen, she would never let her son become the deposed prince.
Aunt Feng came closer to Guo Shengtong and said in her ear: "The Queen is right in what she said. Wei Xun is just a pervert. I thought this person could be used by us!"
"What do you mean?" Guo Shengtong's heart moved and he looked at Aunt Feng intently.
Aunt Feng whispered: "If the one in the West Palace loses her virginity, no matter how much Your Majesty loves her, even if she really gives birth to a prince for Your Majesty, she will never be able to turn over."
Guo Shengtong blinked and looked at Aunt Feng for a while before reacting. She shivered, her face suddenly changed, and she said nervously: "You...you mean..."
Aunt Feng chuckled and said meaningfully: "If a perverted child develops sexual courage, it may be bigger than the sky!"
Guo Shengtong shook his head repeatedly and said: "Yin Lihua can't possibly like him!" People like Wei Xun just have a good skin. Even his first impression of him was extremely disgusting, let alone Yin Lihua.
Aunt Feng said: "It doesn't matter whether the person in the West Palace likes him or not. The important thing is that it all depends on people!" As she spoke, she leaned into Guo Shengtong's ear and whispered in a low voice.
On this day, Liu Xiu went to Lantai. Lantai, also known as Yushitai, was the place where the Yushi had his office. Lantai was very close to the West Palace and Changqiu Palace.
Luoyang Imperial Palace, the westernmost row of buildings, counting from north to south, the first palace is the West Palace, the second palace is the Changqiu Palace, the third palace is Age, and the fourth palace is Lantai.
After Liu Xiu came to power, many censors were appointed. The censors' duties were to replace the emperor and inspect the places.
In the past, the power of the censor was very great, and it was basically a fixed case of impeachment. The censor, who had only a few hundred yuan of salary, could remove the prefect and the captain who had a salary of two thousand dan.
Later, Zhu Fu directly went to Shu Liu Xiu to express his dissatisfaction, which resulted in the censor's powers being narrowed a bit. Impeachment could not be settled as before, but had to be reviewed by the three divisions and confirmed to be correct before the case could be finalized.
But even so, the power of the censor is still very great.
Liu Xiu made two major reforms in centralizing power, one was to establish the censor, and the other was to establish the Shangshutai.
Liu Xiu was not the first to create the Shangshu, but Liu Xiu definitely promoted the Shangshu. It was also from Liu Xiu that the Shangshu became more and more powerful, and gradually took over the three ministers. When an official at the Shangshu desk committed a crime, other officials were
Only the emperor can decide how to convict those who have no authority to deal with them. The Shangshutai is not responsible to any other officials, only to the emperor.
The Censor's Lantai and the Shangshu's Shangshutai have become the two most important institutions in Liu Xiu's governance, and can be said to be Liu Xiu's right-hand man.
Liu Xiu came to Lantai this time, mainly to read the documents submitted by the censors from various places. The highest official of the censor is Lantai Lingshi, a small official with a salary of only 600 shi, and is currently held by Liu Yu.
Also coming with Liu Xiu was Shangshu Ling Hou Ba. Hou Ba was already very old and of high moral character, and Liu Xiu also respected Hou Ba quite a lot.
The two arrived at Lantai, where there were piles of letters, all of which were memorials sent back to Luoyang by censors from various places. The officials in Lantai mainly classified the memorials from various places, into one category for impeachment and another category for peace reports.
Then it is subdivided by state, county, and county, and priorities are determined based on the official position of the officials involved in the case.
Liu Xiu criticized the current bloated officialdom under the rule of the Han Dynasty. While reading the memorial, he said to Hou Ba: "Junfang, do you know how many counties there are in the country now?"
Hou Ba pondered for a moment and said: "It should not go down to more than a thousand counties."
Liu Xiu said: "According to Lantai statistics, there are more than 1,600 counties in the country."
When Hou Ba heard this, he was also shocked. Liu Xiu smiled bitterly and said: "Actually, many of the counties can be abolished or merged, but the previous dynasty was fatuous and lazy, and it has created many more officials."
Raising one more official means hundreds of dans of extra salary, or even thousands of dans, every year. Raising tens of thousands more officials means losing millions of dans every year. In Liu Xiu's view, this is a completely useless waste.
He said: "It needs to be streamlined! Not only counties across the country must be streamlined, but officials in every county, county, and state capital should also be significantly reduced."
Hou Ba bowed to Liu Xiu and said, "Wei Chen has written it down."
Liu Xiu is the emperor, and what he says is basically the direction of national policy. As for the Shangshu Order, you don’t have to insist on the emperor’s words, you only need to figure out how to implement it. Liu Xiu said to Hou Ba with a smile: "Which counties are redundant?
, which counties can be merged, Junfang will carefully consider it. If you need information, you can go to Lantai at any time and borrow it from Liu Yu." As he spoke, he said to Liu Yu: "Hou Shangshu is in Lantai.
Borrowing and reading cannot be stopped!"
"I obey the order!" Hou Ba and Liu Yu both bowed their hands and saluted.
