"Four snakes followed it and got dew and rain. One snake was ashamed of it and died in the middle of the field." [Poetry of Chanting Snakes]
After sweating profusely, the emperor finally returned to the Weiyang Palace where he had been away for a long time. He temporarily isolated himself from the courtiers and allowed time to bathe and change clothes in the dressing room. After that, he ordered people to set up a banquet on the verandah on the west side of the Xuan room.
, blow dry your slightly damp hair in the cool breeze.
The memorial read out in the Gaomiao undoubtedly set the general tone for the imperial court's future policies. Recuperating and recuperating does not mean ruling by doing nothing. He was still very young, and there were several echelons of people under his command who could work for him, so why not
Work hard and create a brilliant achievement?
The emperor was sitting on the porch enjoying the rare quiet solitude, but there were already people who couldn't wait to see him.
"Your Majesty, I am seeking an audience with you outside in Changqiu." Li Jian knelt down far away and bowed to the emperor at the other end of the verandah.
Mu Shun was holding a piece of soft silk cloth, kneeling behind the emperor, and carefully wiping his uncombed hair. Seeing Mu Shun so close to the emperor, it was hard to imagine that the emperor had scolded him just a few hours ago.
After passing the other party, Li Jian recalled what Mu Shun had said before and couldn't help but look at him with admiration.
"Is it Miao Si?" The emperor leaned back on the bench. The view from this verandah was the best in the front hall. Sitting here, he could overlook a large area of Weiyang Palace buildings and even see the city wall from a distance.
.The setting sun was shining slantingly, not as harsh as the noontime sun. It was warm and comfortable on my body: "What is he doing here?"
"It must have been the order of a nobleman in the palace." Mu Shun and Miao Si had a bad relationship a long time ago. Miao Si was old-fashioned and had the arrogance of a scholar. In order to stabilize his position, Mu Shun often tried to
Let the other party get close to the emperor frequently: "His Majesty has been on a personal expedition for two years. Not only the people in Guanzhong, but also the nobles in the palace miss him very much. I can see that it is getting late at this time, and the ministers in Chengming Hall and Shangshutai are eager to see you. You might as well come in
Go to Yeting at night."
"What you said makes sense." The emperor agreed deeply. There were still many things to do when he came back, and he was just taking a break. He looked straight at the orange sunset in the distance and said softly: "You can't just come back.
Put the minister aside and go to Yeting first. It won’t be good to spread the word... Let Miao Si go back! Just say that I will go to Jiaofang Hall in the evening."
"Wei Wei!" Li Jian agreed several times, and finally glanced at Mu Shun with admiration and hurriedly retreated.
Not long after, the emperor's hair was half dry, and Li Jian came back: "Dachangqiu said that the queen and other nobles had not seen the holy face for a long time, and wanted to know how your majesty was living outside, so he was specially ordered to do it.
I'll leave after seeing His Majesty's expression."
"What a nonsense. How can His Majesty be allowed to watch at will?" Mu Shun pretended to be dissatisfied and said, "Whose idea was this?"
The emperor slowly turned his head at this time and looked at Li Jian indifferently.
Li Jian had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "Yes, she is the queen."
"Uh." Mu Shun immediately became speechless. The queen was not necessarily favored by the emperor, but her strength still made Mu Shun afraid.
"I think it's her too." The emperor smiled, stretched out his hand to pick up a strand of hair from behind and put it in his palm, and said in a very soft voice: "She is afraid that she won't be the first one I see when I come back. She is such a good queen, with a relaxed attitude.
Why are you so humble?" Then he put down the slightly dry hair in his hands, told Mu Shun to comb and tie his hair, and then motioned to Li Jian to bring Miao Si in.
Mu Shun had no choice but to comb the emperor's hair quickly, but the face behind the emperor's back was so gloomy that he seemed to be dripping with water. He looked at the gray-haired but energetic Da Changqiu Miao Si who was brought in from outside and tried his best to restrain himself.
Hostility in the heart.
"The great minister of Qiu Dynasty bows to see Your Majesty." The Miao priest bowed his head at the end of the verandah.
The emperor glanced at the other party briefly, stretched out his hand and said, "Come here, don't you want to see my complexion? Come closer and see more clearly."
"I don't dare." Miao Si said he was guilty, but moved a few steps forward.
"How is it? Is it darker than before?" The emperor seemed not to notice Mu Shun's expression behind him, and asked Miao Si with a smile.
Miao Si hurriedly glanced at the emperor's face, quickly lowered his body and said: "Your Majesty is as healthy as ever, and this servant will feel at ease."
"Are the queen and the two nobles okay?" Since the Miao priest was here, he couldn't just show his complexion. Naturally, the emperor had to ask other questions by the way: "Is the palace still harmonious?"
Although Miao Si was the elder of Changqiu and was in charge of the affairs of the Queen's Palace, he was appointed by the Emperor and the Princess Wan, so he was not Empress Dong's confidant. For a long time, Empress Dong had always relied on her parents' elders, and many things were not allowed.
Giving and hearing is just like standing on the sidelines. But this does not mean that he has no power at all. He also has the responsibility of being an eyeliner. When the emperor asks questions, he will tell him all the trends he has observed silently.
"Good." After listening to Miao Si's answer, the emperor simply replied. He suddenly remembered something and ordered: "Zhen Ji from Hebei will be temporarily designated as a noblewoman after entering the palace. You and Ye Tingling will find your own way."
A palace must be well arranged."
Zhen Ji entered the palace with the emperor's car. Miao Si had already heard about this daughter of a prominent family in Hebei when he came, and he was also ordered to inquire a little bit. According to the people accompanying him, this
Zhen Ji was very popular with the emperor and was the only female family member who was close to the emperor during his long march. Especially after hearing the emperor's words "tentative", Miao Si was even more surprised.
The emperor remembered that Zhen Ji had lost her appetite and was not in good spirits when he came, so he said: "It's getting late today. After settling down tomorrow, you can send the imperial doctor to Zhen Gui. There should be no difference in her diet and daily life."
These words were like thunder on the ground, shocking Miao Si. He suddenly raised his head and looked at the emperor out of manner, almost incoherently, almost regaining his identity as a scholar: "I...servant, please obey
Purpose!"
The emperor looked at him thoughtfully, nodded slightly, and asked him to retreat.
After Mu Shun tied up the emperor's hair, he put on an ordinary crown and began to summon the important ministers who had been waiting for a long time in this Yanju dress.
Naturally, the first to arrive were Sikong Zhao Wen, Situ Huang Wan, Taiwei Dong Cheng, Shangshu Ling Wu Shuo, Shizhong Yang Qi, and Xun You, the six ministers who were qualified to handle the memorial in Chengming Palace.
Half of them were officials of the external court and half of them were officials of the internal court. This was an attempt by the emperor to establish a connection between the two after his intention to give equal attention to both the internal and external courts.
"Although you have not contributed to the construction of the battlefield, you have worked hard to write documents. It is really hard." The emperor had moved to the announcement room at this time. He specially ordered everyone to skip entering and salute once to show his favor: "
It's getting late, I'll talk about my merits first and then discuss matters."
Zhao Wen and others naturally had no objections, so Zhao Wen took the lead and submitted a series of lists of meritorious officials, large and small, to the emperor for inspection. Behind each name was what he had done. Chengming Palace initially suggested
What kind of reward should be given? As long as the emperor agrees, a group of Guan Neihou will be rewarded with thousands of gold.
The emperor watched quietly for a long time. In fact, these battles were not only participated by the people around him, but also involved tens of thousands of generals, non-commissioned officers, and even countless civilians.
He didn't even recognize his name, and the emperor couldn't carefully verify what exactly he had done. He could only express his full trust in Zhao Wen's character.
The emperor specifically paid attention to some very familiar names in the list. Although they are still insignificant now, the emperor still silently remembered these names in his heart.
After a long time, the emperor put down the list of merits and said, "Has Mr. Huang seen this list?"
Situ Huangwan said he had been ill for several days because of the move of the capital, and he also recovered a lot.
"Not long after I returned to the Chengming Palace, I only glanced at the roster drawn up by Sikong, Taiwei and others." Huang Wan instigated the relocation of the capital in Luoyang, and also instructed the Guandong scholars to send the memorials directly to Luoyang instead of Chang'an.
, so as to abandon Zhao Wen and his party and directly form the final decision to move the capital. These actions greatly annoyed Zhao Wen, Dong Cheng and others, so they reached a tacit understanding and played tricks on the matter of describing merits and rewards.
Those who have made great contributions, such as Huang Wan and Lai Min, who are prominent figures, will naturally uphold justice and will not suppress them in an obvious way. But those disciples and former officials who are more numerous and have little or no fame are Zhao Wen and others.
Key targets for attack. For example, in the matter of promotion, someone is promoted or demoted, or transferred to a sinecure; for example, merit is strictly stated, and originally he had 10% of the credit, but in the end only 80% of the credit was recognized, and so on.
Just like all official selections, rewards are given based on merit. Although the final decision is made by the emperor, the emperor does not have the time and energy to check hundreds or thousands of lists one by one and allocate officials, titles and rewards one by one. As long as the list is not affected,
For those in the first few rows, the emperor would turn a blind eye to what the people behind him should do, as long as it was done in moderation and would not cause negative effects.
What's more, the emperor was actually happy to see Zhao Wen, Dong Cheng and others suppress the Guandong scholars out of revenge.
He symbolically asked Huang Wan if he knew about it, and did not continue to ask him what he thought about the list. He circled a few names on the list, adjusted the specifications of the reward, and handed it back to Zhao Wen: "Reward
Once the decision has been made, it must be implemented in practice, and we must not favor one over the other and let the meritorious ministers feel cold."
Dong Cheng accepted the emperor's words with a selfless expression: "I will strictly abide by the court's laws. If I have any merit, I will seek it carefully, and the court's rewards will be measured carefully. I will never regret it like Meson."
There must be no false claims."
Of course Huang Wan believed what Dong Cheng said, but the people who were 'looking for details' were those who were closely related to Dong Cheng, Zhao Wen, and Yang Qi, and the people who were 'cautious and measured' were naturally those people. Although it was caused by
The merit list prepared by Zhao Wen and others did not affect the interests of Huang Wan and other core scholars in Guandong, but it was a big blow to those who were in humble positions but were the foundation of the future.
Fortunately, the emperor retained his autonomy and did not hand over the meritorious ministers with more than 2,000 shi to Chengming Hall for evaluation and reward. He said: "Huangfu Song had great merit and was the best in the world. Although he died, I am really sad.
In addition to advocating Ban Jian, he was also given the posthumous title 'Zhuang', and his descendants could choose to enter the Imperial Academy or the Imperial Academy, all at their own will."
"I sincerely promise you."
Everyone knew that the emperor had completely concluded Huangfu Song's life. For this veteran who had made many military exploits since the defeat of the Yellow Turbans, the emperor still cared about his past merits, and even tried to cover up such a big mistake.
Went down.
However, Huangfu Song acted "arbitrarily" before his death. The emperor, who knew the inside story but pretended not to know, could ignore it in order to show his generosity, but the dead were the most important and the living could not escape. As for the sentences of Sima Lang and Sima Yi, the emperor did not
As if nothing had happened, he took away Sima Fang's title and deposed Sima Lang and his brothers as common people.
From now on, the Sima family in Hanoi will fall into a trough, and after a period of time, some people will forget about them, unless the emperor reminds them of them again that day.
"The report of the battle in Liangzhou has arrived. The leaders of the thieves have been eliminated, and the rest are no longer a concern." The emperor talked about Liangzhou, which can be said to be the most important thing at the moment: "Currently, there are Cao Cao, Xu Rong, Gai and others in Liangzhou.
Shun, Zhang Ji, Ma Teng and other tens of thousands of soldiers and horses gathered in the western border, consuming countless amounts of food and grass every day and causing hardships to the people of Liangzhou. Since Liangzhou has been initially established, there is no need to keep so many soldiers and horses there, so it should be
Make arrangements."
"Your Majesty is wise."
, there is only one general, Duan Xuan, stationed there now, and the troops are very weak. Based on my humble opinion, I would like to request a general from Liangzhou to go to Xihe and go up to the county to defend Xianbei."
"I intend to go to Bingzhou from Gaishun. He has been quite calm in the past few years in Yinping... But before that, we should unite the soldiers and horses of Liangzhou first and then make plans." The emperor touched the hair growing on his lips and considered it.
He said: "Soldiers are more valuable than large numbers. The troops in Liangzhou may be able to eliminate the weak ones first."
Huang Wan, Yang Qi and others were silent and dared not speak.
From the perspective of the public, the priority is to recuperate and recuperate. The world will be peaceful, the swords and guns will be stored in the warehouse, and the horses will be released in Nanshan. Then there will be peace inside and outside the court, and peace will be achieved in ten years. In those days, Emperor Taizu Gao and Emperor Guangwu brought peace to the world.
This will always be the case, and this is the only way to rule out chaos.
Laying off unnecessary and redundant soldiers and allowing them to return to their hometowns for farming can provide a large amount of labor to restore the local economy, while also saving military expenditures and easing financial pressure.
From a personal perspective, the emperor has a huge army in his hands at all times, but he can still control it now. Who can say what will happen in the future?
They originally wanted to persuade the emperor not to resort to violence and to rest with the people as soon as possible. Since the emperor took the initiative to speak, they were also happy to see this.
"First let the generals of chariots and cavalry go over and preside over the reduction of troops. Only Cao Cao and General Ma Teng will be left in Liangzhou." The emperor released his hand stroking his thin beard, nodded on the table, and said, "Thank you Ma Teng."
As General Fubo, he assisted General Cao Cao in the Western Campaign to defend Liangzhou and wipe out the remaining enemies. Gaishun went north to merge the state, and Xu Rong returned to Chang'an to take over the post of Jinwu. His soldiers and horses were handed over to Zhu Jun. As for Zhang Ji... let him be the leader of Henan Province.