"I dare not be the host but a guest; I dare not advance an inch but retreat a foot."——————【Tao Te Ching·Chapter 69】
The emperor did not go further on this topic, but asked Mu Shun to bring out the long-awaited Bao, and called Mi Zhu and others in. They were not qualified to participate in the previous meeting, and now they were summoned not to discuss other matters, but to discuss other matters.
He told the two of them the contents of the mutual trade that had just been agreed upon, and ordered them to discuss and cooperate with the servants. Naturally, Mi Zhu and others would not say much more. Their duty was to stabilize prices and make profits for the court, especially for Mi Zhu.
He said that selling cattle and sheep has always been a secret to getting rich, and by taking advantage of it, you can make both public and private ends.
"You will discuss specific matters on your own. If there are any deficiencies, please report them later." The emperor waved his hand and motioned for them to leave.
"Your Majesty, I am here." Pingzhun ordered Bao Chu to finish singing the song with the others, and then said alone: "Your Majesty, should you inform Si Nong about this matter..."
"Liu He is your superior officer, of course you can't avoid him." The emperor smiled and said matter-of-factly.
Bao Chu's eyes moved and he didn't say anything else. Ever since Ping Zhenjian's power of spying at the beginning gradually changed to the function of collecting ordinary information such as prices to assist in making decisions, Ping Zhenjian's power was no longer what it used to be and was usurped.
Replaced by the embroidered clothes of power. As Jia Xu's successor after leaving Pingzhun Prison, Bao Chu, who was a knight-errant, was not keen on these tedious and boring market news all day long, and was not familiar with these economic methods. If he had to choose,
He would rather be an ordinary captain.
It's just that Bao Chu kept his word and kept his promise. Jia Xu promoted him and handed him over to Pingzhun Supervisor. Now that Pingzhun Supervisor's power is decreasing day by day, he feels ashamed of Jia Xu and hopes to achieve something good.
Let Ping Zhenjian not be too far off.
However, whether it was arranging for Yan Qian and others to go west to Liangzhou, or anything else, although Bao Chu showed Ping Zhunjian's outstanding strength, he still could not shorten the gap with Xiuyi. Just like now, the emperor has asked Ping Zhunjian to
It’s no secret that Da Si Nong is taboo. In the past, the Pingzhen Order would allow him to enter the palace and meet the emperor directly!
Thoughts flashed through Bao Chu's mind and he sighed secretly. Fortunately, Xiu Yi was now closely related to Ping Zhen Supervisor, so he didn't feel too disappointed.
After the three people left, the emperor stood up from the couch, stretched his arms to stretch his stiff back, and then walked straight behind the curtain.
Behind the heavy curtains, a separate small room was set up with a simple table, table and couch, and several plates of exquisite pastries were placed on the table.
A middle-aged man, wearing a dark coat with wide sleeves and a beam on his head, was sitting at the table, squinting his eyes slightly, as if he had fallen asleep. This man's appearance was not unusual, with a few strands of beard on his chin, and he looked like an ordinary scribe
.
Mu Shun, who was following the emperor, knew that although this man was not in the Chengming Hall or the Chancellor's Desk, his role in front of the emperor was stronger than most of them - even more than Xun You.
"Jia Gong." As soon as the emperor spoke, Jia Xu, the embroidered messenger and Marquis of Hejin Ting, suddenly opened his eyes and was about to leave the table to salute the emperor. The emperor raised his right hand and waved his sleeves, stopping Jia Xu's movements.
He walked to the couch in front of Jia Xu and sat down, looked at the remaining refreshments on the table, and said with a smile: "The debate above was really boring. Did Jia Gong take a nap for a long time?"
Mu Shun, who knew what was going on, immediately came up and removed Jia Xu's tea snacks one by one.
Just now, Jia Xu was behind the scenes, sitting at each table, eating cakes and drinking tea, while listening to the Dukes of Chengming Palace arguing about taxes a few steps away.
"Gentlemen, please be careful. It involves the affairs of the people. Don't be careless." Jia Xu watched Mu Shun take away the leftover pastries one by one. He didn't look embarrassed at all and said calmly: "Tax policy."
, I am not familiar with the matter. Although Your Majesty is open-minded and puts it into public discussion, all matters must still be decided by the Holy Will and no one else can guide it."
"Only Mr. Jia can say this to me," the emperor said softly. He pointed at the leftover cakes that Jia Xu had eaten and said to Mu Shun, "Take them and give them to others. Don't throw them away at will."
"Your Majesty." Mu Shun was placing new cakes and hot tea on the table. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "Your Majesty takes pity on your slaves and cherishes the grain. Even if you don't say it, I still want to do this."
The emperor smiled softly and said nothing. He was indeed a little hungry. He reached out and picked up a piece of snow-white glutinous rice cake, put it into his mouth and ate it. This kind of rice cake is made by grinding glutinous rice into powder, adding water and honey, and using a bamboo
Wrapped in leaves and steamed, the emperor chewed the unique sweetness of the rice cake and the fragrance of the leaves, and finally spit out a date core from his mouth.
The red date was dotted on the rice cake. The emperor finished the rice cake, then ate the date flesh, and finally spit the dark date core on the smooth table.
"I thought that each of us could take a step back so that we could tolerate each other, but who would have thought that if you take a step back, the other party wants to take five steps forward." The emperor stared at the date stone and said straightforwardly: "If you give in, others will only
If I want you to give in again, how difficult will it be for the world to satisfy you?" After saying this, he looked very confused and asked Jia Xu: "Jia Gong, am I really the 'humane king' in the eyes of the world?"
"If your Majesty wants to act kingly, benevolence and righteousness will be spread all over the world; if your Majesty wants to be domineering, his majesty will frighten all the nine provinces." Jia Xu glanced at the jujube stone that had no effect after spitting it out, and said bluntly: "And my Han family
The system is all composed of overlords and kings. A wise king appoints others to govern, and it depends on one mind and does not depend on his ministers."
"I was so generous to the prince back then." The emperor sighed slightly. No one knew why he suddenly expressed such emotion.
Everyone believed that Wang Yun's execution of Dong was a great contribution to the country. Even if he finally forced Li Jue and Guo Si to rebel, and almost plunged the court into an irreversible crisis again, they still believed that his merits outweighed his faults - especially since this crisis had received a lot of attention.
A good solution doesn't really happen.
Therefore, when Wang Yun, who had a high reputation, withdrew from the court, many scholars who did not know the truth regretted this. They did not even know the role Wang Yun played when Yuan Shao joined the Shangdang. Of course, all this was subconsciously covered up by the court.
, because the most prestigious ministers cannot be exposed as complicit in the rebellion, which will damage the face of the court; the scholars also need to use the guise of the dead again, especially those new subordinates who have not really seen the power of the emperor and think that the emperor is smart but tolerant.
Scholars.
Only those who have completely experienced this will understand what the emperor said.
Jia Xu raised his eyebrows slightly. He had no intention of commenting on the rights and wrongs of the past, but simply said: "Whether you are generous or not, and whether you know the secrets of the past or not, the world will praise your majesty for being lenient and careful in killing. But your majesty is wise, as long as you don't do it for
This is a mere reputation, and if you are lenient and strict, why is there anything in the world that is difficult for you?"
"There is leniency, but strictness is not enough." The emperor didn't know what he was thinking, and said leisurely: "These old officials in Guanzhong have always followed me and are familiar with my temperament. But not in Guandong. They are more or less hearsay and have never seen me. Killing people, thinking about the restoration of the world and the urgent need to implement benevolent government, so they breed arrogance... thinking that it is the same as before."
"The moral destiny of the Han Dynasty has changed, and it will naturally be different from the past." Jia Xu sighed lowly.
Although the two did not express it clearly, the tacit understanding they had gotten along had already understood each other's intentions. The people rested, and the court finally worked. Unlike the previous days when Wang Yun, Ma Rixi, Shi Sunrui and others went to the countryside peacefully, the emperor was going to kill a group of people. .
"That Wu Shuo is quite capable. If he had been the servant of the master, how could he be more than a minister now?" The emperor suddenly seemed to be praising him: "This man came to Shangshu and said that he would expand the recruitment of Imperial College students and allow all regions to recruit more students. A wealthy family would send their children to school and receive 10,000 yuan from them every year, so they could earn an annual income of 3 million."
Jia Xu did not have the power to discuss the affairs of the minister. After listening carefully, he said: "The imperial court has an annual income of billions. For these three million, it is of no benefit to the imperial court to have 300 more mediocre officials. "
"It's enough to make people tempted." The emperor also saw the matter of collecting 'school building fees' in later generations. Since Wu Shuo mentioned it, he naturally couldn't make the matter too simple: "The Imperial College prefers to be in short supply rather than indiscriminate, and the court cannot do it just for money. Indiscriminately cramming people in, ruining the atmosphere of studying. I have given instructions to the Chengming Palace that all those who want to enter the school must first pay 5,000 yuan, which will be used to prepare for the Five Classics test. All proceeds will be allocated to Taixue."
The academic system of the Imperial College is the same as that of the Imperial College, which lasts five years. It costs at least 300,000 yuan for the powerful children to complete the education. It is not affordable for ordinary powerful people. What's more, in the eyes of others, in addition to going through the policies of the Imperial College and the Imperial College Examination officers, there are other options, but these people don't know that some roads will become narrower and narrower in the future, and some roads will become wider and wider.
"Based on this statement alone, it can be seen that Wu Shuo has made up his mind." Jia Xu narrowed his eyes and said slowly: "It's just that General Hussar has lost an arm since then. Many of his many years of service have relied on Wu Shuo. . Now that Wu Shuo has betrayed him, many of his private affairs will surely become known...I'm afraid..."
Having said this, Jia Xu paused intentionally and looked tentatively at the emperor.
Dong Cheng was not only involved in the previous dynasty, but also in the palace. Even Jia Xu could not say a word before the emperor's attitude was clear.
"Before the military system is changed, Dong Cheng is still Dong Cheng." The emperor's simple words revealed too much information. Perhaps in his opinion, Dong Cheng's status will change after the redundant troops are reduced?
At least it won't be as stable as it is now.
Jia Xu changed his mind, quickly dropped the topic, and said softly: "Wu Shuo was originally a minor official in the Shangshutai, and he attached himself to Dong Zhuo, Wang Yun, and Dong Cheng successively. Now looking at his words and deeds, it seems that he has turned to the Yang family again. ."
The Yang family and Huang Wan were already closely connected and could almost be regarded as one. Today, Jia Xu listened for a while and found that Wu Shuo started it, and then Yang Qi and Huang Wan cooperated with each other to form a unified caliber and momentum, which caused the emperor's displeasure. .
"Mr. Yang?" the emperor sneered, "he'd better be like this."
Jia Xu frowned slightly, wondering what he understood from the emperor's sarcastic words.
If Wu Shuo did not intend to join the Yang family, could it be that the other party did not get together with the Yang family, but for some purpose, he deliberately drew out the momentum of the Yang family and Huang Wan today and let them take the lead, so that the emperor
fear.
If so, there must be someone else behind Wu Shuo.
After the emperor's reminder, Jia Xu immediately understood, but he still didn't know for a while whether this was an internal fight among scholars or a stone-throwing - using the powerful Yang family of Hongnong as a stone.
Even the emperor could not come to a conclusion on this question, but no matter whether it was a test or a revelation, he would not easily let go of this opportunity: "Now every department in Shangshutai has its own department, Shangshu Ling, and Pu She are all responsible for it. Although it is called the keynote,
They are actually the same as Jiu Qing. They just still follow the old system and are in charge of drafting documents and edicts. This is like Jiu Qing having the power to draft edicts. Is this acceptable?"
For Jia Xu, the problem of offending the entire Shangshu Desk if he made the slightest mistake did not seem to be a problem worth considering. He looked into the emperor's bright eyes and said with deep meaning: "When Emperor Xiaowu was here,
The ministers do not deal with government affairs, but only consult on imperial edicts. Since Emperor Guangwu, the power of the central government has been divided into six positions, which seems to have usurped the power of the external dynasty. Now your majesty has changed the system of the internal dynasty and clarified the divisions between the internal and external dynasties.
The authority and power were balanced, and compared with Xiaowu and Guangwu, it was particularly clever."
The Shangshutai can prepare imperial edicts because it is confidential enough, close to the people and does not care about specific affairs. Now that each department in the Shangshutai has specific functions, as the emperor said, there is no reason for the young master to draft the imperial edict for himself.
.So when there are many things going on in the Chancery, and they are no longer confidential enough and not close enough, the power of drafting edicts is no longer suitable to remain in the Chancery.
Of course, this kind of power would not be handed over to the Chengming Palace. The emperor intended to take out this power alone and re-endow a position that once existed but disappeared.
"During the reign of Emperor Xiaowu, it was not just the minister who read memorials and conveyed imperial edicts." The emperor said softly, as if he only remembered after being prompted by Jia Xu: "Isn't this also true for the edicts of Zhongshu?"
Jia Xu's eyes flashed, and he suddenly left the table and bowed to the emperor, as if he wanted to finish the ceremony that he had not finished just now.
The emperor did not speak for a moment. He reached out and picked up another piece of red glutinous rice cake, put it into his mouth and chewed it carefully. This time, the rice cake was not decorated with red dates, but a cooked chestnut, and the emperor chewed it up.
Eat them together.
The Zhongshu Ling was an official position established to strengthen the imperial power. It was actually the Shangshu Ling at first, but was changed to the Zhongshu Ling by Emperor Xiaowu, and later to the Zhongshu Yezhe Ling. First, eunuchs were used, and later scholars were occasionally used.
During the reign of Emperor Xiaoyuan, internal and external officials began to compete with each other for power. In the end, Emperor Xiaocheng had to abolish the Zhongshu Order, thus weakening the imperial power.
The Shangshu Ling and the Zhongshu Ling were originally one, but according to the thinking of the emperor's descendants, the two were bound to be separated. From now on, the master of the Chengming Palace would make decisions, the Zhongshu Ling would draft edicts, and the internal and external dynasties would be in charge of administration. Among them, the Zhongshu Ling would draft
Once the edict is heard by the emperor, he can directly bypass the Chengming Hall and further strengthen the imperial power.
The emperor took a sip of the already slightly cold tea. Jia Xu kept a low profile and did not take power. He had an independent mind and knew how to advance and retreat. He was the most suitable candidate for Zhongshu Ren. However, it was not possible to do it overnight. He had to spread the news to the outside world first: "Embroidered Clothes Messenger"
He is in charge of domestic and foreign affairs, and he always responds to problems when they happen. He should not neglect for a moment. I think it will be better for Jia Gong to add the word 'give to the situation' in the future."