“It is unwise to pass things by without knowing them.” ———————[Book of Changes · Ninth]
After the emperor clearly refused to marry Prince Chen, it caused quite a stir in the government and the public. The one who reacted the most was Fu De. He finally came back from the border area of the South China Sea and it was time to show off his talents. In addition, there was a group of people around him who had been listening to him.
Bian Jinyan advised him to go to Emperor Shu to confer the title of king as soon as possible to further consolidate the crown prince's position. This made him think about it.
Now that the emperor has expressed his clear refusal, his sister Fushou has also sent a message from the palace, asking him to stay calm and not cause trouble.
Fu De was hesitant and full of ambitions. He went into the palace to see Fu Shou and persuaded him: "Although King Chen has adopted Xiaozong now, there are still princes under him who have not yet been granted kingdoms. I remember that at the time Emperor Guangwu
All princes are granted the title of duke and then king at this age. Why not use this precedent to persuade Your Majesty to make the princes dukes? In addition, once King Chen gets married early, he will be an example for the princes in the future. At that time, let the princes get married earlier.
After returning to the country, the crown prince's position will be as stable as Mount Tai."
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"Your Majesty treats the prince very well. Whenever he has free time every day, he personally teaches and examines knowledge. I don't know where you come from. These worries, slanders, and taunts come from. It may be self-defeating and harm our mother and son." Fu Shou frowned.
From the beginning to the end, she never believed Fu De's words. She knew the virtues of her younger brother best, and she always listened to the wind and rain: "Have you ever talked about these things with Aweng?"
"Aweng became very depressed after he was granted the title of King Wu. During this period, he did not mind his own business." Fu De shook his head, and he quickly took out the supporting evidence and said: "If the position of the prince is stable, your majesty would have
Why not allow my family to marry the eldest princess? And why did you give General Wei, who is Aweng, to Xu Huang for reward? This time, it is a small matter for King Chen to get married as soon as possible. Your Majesty has always done it.
If you don't pay attention to him, what will happen if you get married early or late? But His Majesty won't allow it, which is very interesting."
"I think you are thinking too much." Fu Shou said in a cold tone. Her father did not agree to this matter even after Fu Shou. She must not let him do whatever he wants: "I know you have suffered in the South China Sea for several years.
I also got seriously ill once. I finally returned to Beijing this time and served as the Chang'an magistrate again. I was thinking about doing something to earn face for the Fu family and the prince. I know all this. But why are you keeping an eye on the prince?
Do you want to hold on to your position? The current situation is already very good. Your Majesty is in his prime, the Crown Prince and the other princes are still young, so no one is in a hurry. Why are you in a hurry?"
Fu Shou said in a rare and stern voice: "Your mind should be on governing Chang'an. This is the business! The newly appointed Jing Zhaoyin had managed well in Yizhou earlier and made the southwest rich and prosperous. This time he has been transferred to you to be an official. You want to
Learn from him and study hard. Your Majesty doesn't like it when a relative suddenly rises to a high position without talent. Don't think about rising to the sky in one step in the future. You have to be down-to-earth to be steady. Do you understand?"
"But..." Although Fu De and Fu Shou have lived together since childhood, Fu Shou entered the palace when he was twelve or thirteen years old. In fact, their relationship is not very deep. In addition, the other party is the queen and has always been in the upper position.
The demeanor developed by the speaker made Fu De feel afraid, but he hesitated and seemed to want to say more.
"It's nothing, just listen to me." Fu Shou made a serious face and suddenly said: "As the order of Chang'an, you don't have the right to enter the palace, but you are able to meet me because of your relationship with me.
But your other brothers, Fu Ya and Fu Jun, don’t see me as often as you do. It’s better that you come to see me less often in the future to save yourself some trouble.”
"Only, only." Fu De agreed with sweat all over his head, not daring to stay any longer, so he honestly withdrew.
Fu Shouyu was still angry. She knew the emperor's preferences best. If she really made trouble like Fu De, nothing would turn into trouble in the end. She ordered Chang Yu: "Go to Beigong Gate and ask the carriage commander to order
The family membership of Fu De has been cancelled, and he will not be allowed to enter the palace from now on!"
Zhao Changyu was a little hesitant. The official's birthplace, identity, appearance and other characteristics were written on the family register, which was the official's certificate for entering and exiting the palace. Once it was deleted, no one could enter the palace unless specially summoned by the emperor. She said in surprise: "This...
…Would it be too much?”
"Just do as I say." Fu Shou was known for his generosity in managing the harem, and he also paid great attention to the opinions of the chief imperial officer around him. At this moment, she became rarely arbitrary: "He has forgotten why he was demoted to Nanhai.
Are you? Still so ignorant..."
Zhao Changyu had rarely seen Fu Shou with such a serious expression, so he immediately responded and went to the North Palace Gate to deliver the order.
The bus commander who was on duty at the North Palace Gate received an order from the Queen for the first time. He did not dare to neglect and immediately reported the suspected political interference.
At this time, the emperor was taking the exam for the third prince Liu Min in the Changning Hall of the noble Zhen Mi. The beauty Wu Ran and her fourth prince Liu Jing were also nearby.
"I read well." The emperor made a pertinent comment. Liu Min was smart, cute, and handsome, and he had always liked him: "I haven't seen him in the past few days, and he has made progress again."
"It's all because of the good teaching from the masters." Nine-year-old Liu Min replied with a smile.
The emperor was very strict with the education of his princes, and set up a special system for this. From the age of five to six, he began to learn Chinese characters from "Yuefu Shi". After the age of six, he would formally learn Confucianism such as rituals, music, and mathematics. At the age of twelve,
I will learn to ride and shoot in the future.
These basic educations are the same for princes and ordinary princes. Only after the age of fifteen will the prince study history books such as "Han Shu" and "Han Ji", as well as "Six Tao" and "Shang Jun Shu", books authorized by the emperor.
.
In the emperor's opinion, the content of Liu Min's answer just now was closer to the answer in his heart than that of the prince, but he did not say it.
The emperor nodded and couldn't help but look at Zhen Mi. He had a calm face and a smile on his face. After years of pampering, Zhen Mi became more and more beautiful. The emperor suppressed his enthusiasm and asked nonchalantly: "Speaking of the knowledge of the princes, I am
I thought that without teachers like Mr.
Xun Yue is now the prince's tutor, and together with Zhongshu Ling Jia Xu, is responsible for teaching the prince, while Cheng Bing is Chen Wangfu, and Song Zhong is the teacher who teaches the princes.
Zhen Mi was peeling an orange with her own hands, and answered with a smile: "These are all chosen by your Majesty. Looking at the past dynasties, most of them are for the princes, and rarely take into account the knowledge of other princes. Your Majesty pities them for being smart.
, please ask a great Confucian to teach you, it can be said that it is ancient and modern."
"Prince Chen has also made great progress." The emperor said softly. Seeing that Zhen Mi's nails were dyed yellow by orange peel, Wu Ran on the side immediately gave him a handkerchief obediently: "Last time I went to celebrate the birthday of Taixue Liu Hong, Xiao Xiao In the end, the master taught me well. In the future, when the other princes grow up, I think they should also learn something to do. Otherwise, in the future, the country will become a vassal, and all I can do in the country is covet. Having fun without restraint is not good."
Hearing this, Wu Ran stopped wiping Zhen Mi's hands for a moment. The emperor's expression had almost no precedent before, so no wonder she was shocked.
Zhen Mi wiped her hands as if nothing had happened and handed the peeled orange to the emperor: "Your Majesty asked King Chen to congratulate him on his birthday because the prince is still young and his status is more noble than that of King Chen. A doctor of Taixue is not enough." To please move the prince. This is just a special case, how can others follow suit?"
"Really?" The emperor stretched out his hand and took away the peeled orange from the opponent's palm. Zhen Mi peeled it very carefully, even tearing off the white silk of each orange segment. Each segment of the orange was like orange-yellow jade, tightly They are so close together that they seem inseparable.
"This is natural." Zhen Mi said with a smile: "Sooner or later the princes will be crowned kings and vassals. If they are too involved in affairs, they will inevitably have bad thoughts. For now, it is enough to study more saints' scriptures and know the etiquette. It’s useless to do anything else.”
Hearing what Zhen Mi said, Liu Min felt a little unhappy. He thought that Liu Cang, the king of Dongping, had been appointed as a hussar general and stayed in the capital to assist the government, ranking above the three princes. However, he kept the words in his heart, but did not dare to say them. come out.
The emperor said nothing more and gently opened the orange. The adjacent orange segments immediately fell into pieces in twos and threes.
He tasted two pieces briefly and looked at Liu Jing on the other side.
Both were born in the same year, one at the beginning of the year and the other at the end of the year. Although Liu Jing could also read, he was honest and introverted and could not speak when he was nervous, especially in front of the emperor.
Seeing that the emperor wanted to question him, Liu Jing, who had thought he had escaped the disaster, suddenly became anxious. Under the urging of his mother Wu Ran, he walked forward slowly, thinking hard about the questions he might ask him later.
When the emperor saw this, he felt a little funny. Up to now, he had eight sons, but their personalities were all different. The younger ones didn't know how to be afraid, and liked to get close to him and play with him. Some of the precocious ones began to learn to be in awe. , widening the distance; only a few clever people know how to maintain a bit of childishness and innocence that the emperor likes between awe and fear.
At this time, someone happened to come to Liu Jing's rescue. After listening to Xiao Huangmen's report, Mu Shun strolled into the palace and whispered something in the emperor's ear.
The emperor immediately stood up, still holding the uneaten orange in his hand: "There are still things to do in Chengming Palace, so we will stop here today."
Liu Jingda breathed a sigh of relief, but then realized that his actions were a bit too obvious.
The emperor laughed. He knew that Liu Jing was introverted, so he didn't blame him. Instead, he walked up to him, handed him the uneaten orange, and touched the other person's head: "I know you are not good at talking and like to be quiet. Studying, but how can a human being truly renounce the secular world and not interact with others? What’s more, as a prince, you will become the prime minister in the future, and Wangfu, will you have to do the same? "
Liu Jing took the orange with some surprise and whispered: "My son, I will remember my father's teachings..."
"Play more with your brothers, don't be bored all day long." The emperor said a few words and then walked away with Mu Shun.
After the emperor left, Wu Ran could not help but immediately walked over and hugged her son. It seemed that only in this way could she ease the fear in her heart. She turned back and looked at Zhen Mi: "Your Majesty, what did he mean by what he just said?"
"What are you talking about? I didn't hear anything." Zhen Mi deliberately frightened her: "If others know about it, it must be you who spread it."
"I, I don't know anything." Wu Ran knew the power of this. After receiving the warning, how could he dare to ask any more questions? He didn't dare to spread it around.
Zhen Mi sighed slowly and held a complete orange in her hand: "Whether you know it or not, don't worry about it. If something is yours, it must be yours..."
On the way back, the emperor listened to Mu Shun's more detailed report and learned about the conversation between Fu Shou and Fu De. He seemed to have expected it, and said to Mu Shun: "Tell the carriage commander to do as the queen said, and never do it again."
In addition, you can go and tell Wang Yue to enter the palace."
Not long after, Mu brought a decrepit old man into the palace. The old man was wearing a splendid robe, and his thin body was tightly wrapped, like a dead tree wrapped in an embroidered handkerchief.
.
This old man clearly looked like he was in his final years, but his steps were very steady. His eyes were as clear as a child's, with an occasional glimmer of light beneath their depth.
"Are you still healthy?" The emperor waved his hand and did not let the other party salute. They had known each other for many years and were very familiar with him. The other party had also taught him swordsmanship and made great contributions to the emperor. He was a trustworthy person.
The person who came was the messenger of the embroidered clothes, Wang Yue, the Marquis of Duxiang.
In recent years, the court has been stable, and the spying on internal intelligence has gradually been taken over by Bao Chu, the Pingzhun Supervisor. Xiuyi is more responsible for organizing the knight-errant swordsmen and other social instability factors to go to the Western Regions, Mobei and other places, and even the distant Anxi.
, they were also present in Kushan, spying on military affairs for the imperial court and planning to assassinate foreign princes who disobeyed the imperial court.
Although the imperial court has issued an order to rest and recuperate in the next few years and no longer use troops externally, the secret spying operations will not stop, but will become the mainstream.
Now being summoned by the emperor, Wang Yue had a lot of speculations about the situation outside the territory. At this time, he replied: "I am old and disabled. Your Majesty can care about you. I would like to express my gratitude. It's just that I am old after all. Many things
It would be too difficult to deal with it. In the past, foreign countries had no access to each other, and there were few records. I could only arrange manpower to follow the merchants and envoys to investigate, but the progress was not fast enough."
"Over in the Western Regions, Zhang Lu's Five Dou Rice Road has become popular. You can also send people to the Five Dou Rice believers for surveillance purposes." Since the other party took the initiative to bring up work matters, the emperor also said to him in passing.
Two sentences: "Recuperation and recuperation only take a few years. In a few years, the imperial court will completely integrate the Western Regions into states and counties, just like the current subordinate states south of Jiaozhou. You have a long way to go to embroider clothes... You will serve in the imperial court
How long has it been?"
Wang Yue was thinking in his mind whether he was asked to monitor the countries in the Western Regions or Zhang Lu who had five measures of rice. In short, he agreed and replied: "I have served as Emperor Xiaohuan, Emperor Xiaoling, served as Huben, and now I am following your Majesty.
It has been more than forty or fifty years."
"It's been so many years..." The emperor sighed with emotion, and suddenly said: "You have a disciple named Shi'a, right?"
Wang Yue said truthfully, his words full of pride: "Well, Shi'a is from Luoyang. When I traveled with you in Luoyang, I taught him all my life skills. Now he is proficient in swordsmanship.
Rest in peace and serve the court."
"Let him come back." After hearing this, the emperor said: "The prince will be twelve years old in the new year, and he still lacks a master to teach swordsmanship." After saying that, he looked at Wang Yue calmly, as if to say something.
In order to repay the other party's decades of loyalty and dedication: "It was you who taught me swordsmanship back then, and now it is your apprentice who teaches my son swordsmanship. This can be regarded as a line of inheritance."
Wang Yue was so moved that this was a guarantee of prosperity and wealth for him and his disciples for two generations, and it was a good story that would be remembered in history. He immediately kowtowed and said, "Thank you for your gift, Your Majesty!"
The emperor lowered his eyelids slightly at this time and said softly: "I sent you here this time to ask you to do something else for me."