Lu Xiangrui, who was slightly hunched over because of his age, suddenly straightened his shoulders at this moment, while Su Wang, who was looking at his back from behind, looked lonely.
"There is a huge gap between you and me, but after all, I am not as good as you."
Regarding Su Wang's words, Lu Xiangrui neither nodded in agreement nor refuted, but chose to think about the problem from his perspective.
"It's just that you and I have chosen different paths. I am just a lonely person without the burden of my family's descendants. After death, I will be buried in the earth. Why bother to care about the afterlife? If I stand in the same position as you, maybe I am not as good as me.
is you!"
After finishing speaking, Lu Xiangrui walked down the steps without stopping any longer, striding out of the palace.
Su Wang stayed where he was and stared blankly at the sky. He didn't come back to his senses until Lu Xiangrui had finished walking up the steps.
"Is the family a drag? Ha...haha! I have read books about sages for half my life, and have understood the principles of sages for half my life, but I have never done a sage thing from the bottom of my heart!"
The Prime Minister of the Chu Dynasty, who was less than one person but more than ten thousand people, actually showed a sour smile at this moment, and there were clearly tears flashing in his eyes. He let out a trembling breath and laughed at himself.
"Ha...ha...haha! This book...is really a waste of time!"
Su Wang closed his eyes and stood there for a full quarter of an hour before opening them again. At this time, the expression in his eyes had returned to the state of being unruffled.
When he was about to step back to his home, a young eunuch hurriedly ran over from behind him.
"Prime Minister Su, Prime Minister Su! I have been waiting for you for a long time. Seeing that you were thinking about something, I didn't bother you. The emperor summoned you to the Regent Palace to discuss matters. Please hurry over!"
Su Wang turned to look at the little eunuch running towards him.
"Okay, thank you, father-in-law. I'll be there right away!"
"I don't dare, I don't dare. It's just that Su Xiang has been standing here for a long time. It's best to rush over quickly and don't keep the emperor waiting for too long."
"Um."
Su Wang nodded slightly to the little eunuch, then turned and walked in the direction of the Regency Palace.
…
At the intersection of Lin'an Street where the mansions of dignitaries and nobles in the capital are located, Cheng Yijie and the other two people who came out of the palace walked all the way here.
"I'm talking about Lao Cheng, didn't Lu Xiangrui just want to build a few academies? Why are you arguing with him about this? Just let him do whatever he wants! Doesn't building academies also have any impact on us?"
He Yanan, who has never been very fond of thinking, asked.
"Old He, this matter indeed has no impact on us, but have you ever thought about it. If this academy is completed, then the imperial court will select talents closer to the academy and away from the imperial examination system."
"Stay away, just stay away, what? Does your dignified minister still care about the dividends that you get every year based on your business rankings, which don't actually amount to much money?"
Cheng Yijie chuckled.
"With that little money, do you think any of the important officials in the imperial court would like it? In fact, the purpose of buying and selling rankings is not the money. The key is that the promotion path of the world's scholars must be in our hands. Because
Only in this way can we have enough say in the temple and survive in this great country like a fish in water!"
He Ren'an frowned and stopped, and Cheng Yijie and Ma Suiliang had to stop accordingly.
"Lao Cheng, I think Lao Lu did nothing wrong in this matter. Look at the current court, it is indeed a mess. Although I can't stand those poor scholars, when it comes to governing the country and ensuring peace,
It’s true that they are better at it!”
Cheng Yijie smiled bitterly after hearing this.
"Why don't I know? I didn't say not to open an academy, right? It's just that it's not the time yet. When we lose one chip in our hands, we must hold another chip in our hands. But now,
Our chips haven’t reached the capital yet!”
"You mean...the second prince?"
Ma Suiliang spoke in an uncertain tone.
Said by mouth.
"Exactly! It would be best if the academy can be postponed until the second prince returns to the capital and he takes the lead in building it. The second prince is not like the prince who has been in the capital for many years and has deep roots. After returning to the capital, he urgently needs a contribution to consolidate and expand his position.
Another point is that if the academy is settled, then won’t all the scholars in the academy have to call the second prince Mr. Half? In this way, the second prince will have the capital to compete with the prince for that position.
"
Cheng Yijie spoke in a leisurely manner, and it had to be said that if his plan was successful, it would directly allow the second prince who had not yet appeared to gain a foothold in the capital.
"The method is good, but how long will it take for the Second Prince to arrive in Beijing? I'm afraid it will be difficult to fool Old Lu with his appearance."
Ma Suiliang immediately expressed some of his worries.
"This is not difficult. Although I rarely interfere with the affairs of the Sixth Department, I am their nominal commander after all. It is not difficult to ask Zhao Yunqing to secretly slow down some construction periods. As for the time for the second prince to return to Beijing, he wrote to me a few days ago.
Feng, he said that he will arrive in the capital soon after the scientific examination."
"Then don't we have everything ready now, all we need is the east wind? We just need to wait patiently for the second prince to arrive in Beijing!"
Cheng Yijie smiled slightly.
"You can say that!"
…
In the Regent's Palace, Chu Zheng, who had just returned from court, had already buried himself in a pile of memorials.
In fact, there are many things here that he can let go and let the people below do it, but he always feels uneasy. Just like Lu Xiangrui said, 90% of the officials in the Manchu Dynasty are lounge lunch bags. Really
There are very few people who can do practical things!
"Your Majesty, Su Wang, goes to see the Emperor!"
Su Wang, who hurried over from outside the Jinluan Palace, bowed respectfully.
"Teacher, you don't have to be polite when there's no one else around. I'm just curious. I clearly sent someone to ask for the teacher a quarter of an hour ago, but why did they arrive now? Is there something urgent that the teacher can't do? If so, then
Let’s talk about it another day.”
"When I got back to the emperor, there was nothing major. It was just that I had some thoughts about the academy that Lu Xiangrui raised. The father-in-law who went to summon me didn't want to disturb me, so he didn't pull me out of my thoughts. I also asked the emperor not to blame me.
.”
Chu Zheng gently put down the brush, which he could tell was valuable at a glance.
"I see. Then I also want to know what the teacher thinks. What does the teacher think about this matter?"
After hesitating for a while, Su Wang wanted to say a few words to fool him, but it seemed that the old man who stood straight in front of him a quarter of an hour ago appeared in front of him again.
"Back to the Emperor, it is best to do this sooner rather than later. Because as Lao Lu said, opening an academy will be of great benefit to our country, Chu, but our country really lacks some scholarly spirit."
A sly smile appeared on Chu Zheng's lips.
"Teacher, that's not what you said when you were in court just now! Then tell me what is the biggest benefit of opening an academy."
"Your Majesty, in my opinion, there are two biggest benefits of opening an academy!"
"Two? Teacher, please stop being so secretive and just tell me."
Chu Zheng's heart was filled with curiosity.
"Hahaha, to report to the emperor, this means that from now on all the scholars in the world will submit to the imperial court. At that time, it will be much easier for us to select officials, and we don't have to worry about all the people we select.
Some idiots. These two can destroy the power of the ministers in Beijing."
After saying this, the bitterness on Su Wang's face immediately appeared.
"Your Majesty, to put it bluntly, when we were in the temple just now, the old minister was indeed biased, because my Su family was a part of the disintegrated forces in Beijing. If I hadn't been awakened by Lu Xiangrui's words,
, to this day I still miss that power and am unwilling to let it go.”
Immediately afterwards, in addition to bitterness, Su Wang's face also showed a bit of depression.
"In fact, it is still
I'm a little reluctant to let it go, but I can finally put it down. Everything in this world is easy to pick up but hard to put down!"
Looking at Su Wang with a complex expression, Chu Zheng did not reprimand him for these outrageous words, but instead felt a little relieved.
In fact, as a king, you are not afraid that the ministers below you will be greedy for power and power. As long as you can open your heart and speak out, the king will give you more rights.
Since ancient times, kings have never fully trusted their ministers, but have ministers ever fully trusted their kings?
Therefore, as long as you can show enough trust in the king, the king will never be stingy with his trust in you.
"Teacher, we'll discuss the academy matters later. Let's talk about other things first. After Ruyu has passed the imperial examination, it's time to enter the official career!"
Su Wang nodded.
"Back to the emperor, it is indeed true."
"Then have you thought about where to put him? Should he enter the Sixth Department and start contacting government affairs directly, or should he go to the Hanlin Academy to work as a Huang Meng for a few years."
Faced with Chu Zheng's two very good suggestions, Su Wang did not even nod in agreement.
"Such a starting point is still too high. I'm afraid that boy will not be able to understand the importance later, and he will live up to the emperor's high hopes!"
"Is such a high starting point? You must know that most of the sons of important ministers in Beijing have seniority in the Hanlin Academy! If you don't enter the Hanlin Academy, you can't join the cabinet. You have to get the tickets no matter what!"
There was some surprise in Chu Zheng's tone.
"Other people's sons belong to other people. My own son knows very well that he doesn't have much knowledge in his belly, but he has learned the habit of being ambitious and short-handed. If he doesn't polish it carefully, he will inevitably become a mediocre person in the future.
"
"In that case, let me follow your wishes, teacher, and simply let him work as a writer in any of the six films, and then live a miserable life for a while."
But what people didn't expect was that Su Wang still shook his head in response to this suggestion. At this time, Chu Zheng was really surprised.
It was said that Su Wang was still pretending to be polite before, but now that he has offered the position of pen clerk, which is so small that it is almost worthless, it is a little unreasonable that Su Wang still refuses to agree.
"Teacher, we can't get any younger. If you still don't agree, then I will have no choice but to let him go."
Surprisingly, Su Wang nodded with satisfaction at this time.
"No way! Teacher, you really plan to drive that kid Ruyu out of the capital again! He just came back not long ago, can your wife agree?"
Hearing Chu Zheng mention his wife, Su Wang's shoulders shook unnaturally, his face turned ugly, and then he forced himself to calm down.
"A loving mother often loses her son. If you want Ruyu's child to grow up early, you must let him see the suffering in this world. Otherwise, he will always feel that he knows everything and understands everything! As for his mother,
I believe she will make a clear distinction between right and wrong."
Chu Zheng looked at the old man in front of him who was pretending to swear, and found it very interesting.
"Teacher, why do I always feel that you are not reliable? Do you want me to leave a bed for you in the duty room in the palace? In case you can't go home then, you won't even have a place to sleep.
.”
"Your Majesty, you are looking down on me. Many times, I just respect the lady at home, not fear her!"
There was nothing Chu Zheng could do about the Prime Minister who wanted to save face and suffer. However, the Prime Minister was well known in the capital to be afraid of his inner self. What else could he hide?
"Okay, okay! I know that Teacher you are not afraid of Madam anymore, so now let's talk about how you plan to arrange your son!"
Su Wang looked up at the territory map of the Chu Kingdom posted in the Regent Palace of Chu Zheng. After looking at it for a long time, he pointed to a dot the size of a sesame seed and said.
"Let him go to Taopu County to serve as county magistrate for three years first!"