"The beautiful branches of the jade trees snuggle up to each other. The wine is getting stronger and the spring thoughts are wandering, and the mandarin duck embroidery is turned over by the red waves."————————[Feng Qiwu]
No matter in his past life or in this life, the emperor had drunk countless fine wines, some were mellow and warm, some were fiery and warm, but none of them were like what he drank today. It was cold and carried a stream of heat, going straight into his lower abdomen and flowing to his limbs.
.
After just three or four sips, the emperor's face quickly turned red, his eyes closed slightly, and his calm gaze gradually dissipated, like a candle swaying in the wind.
Guo Cainu quietly evacuated the dining table with her people, and retreated out together with the eunuchs and eunuchs serving in the palace. Also going out with her was Xiaohuangmen Mu Shun, who had long sensed something was wrong with the atmosphere.
The emperor took off the outermost piece of his regular clothes and took a sip of the Xiangluo. Song Du was unaware of the change in the emperor. After taking a sip of the wine, he wrinkled his nose and refused to touch it.
holding the pastry to eat.
Guo Cainv was the last one to walk out of the palace door. The moment the palace door closed, the palace suddenly became dark. Song Du paused while putting the pastry in his mouth and said in surprise: "Why did you blow out most of the candles?"
It cannot be said that the hall was completely plunged into darkness. There were also night stars shining through the windows, as well as a bronze tree-shaped oil lamp placed in the corner. The lights flickered on the branches of the bronze tree lamp, mixed with starlight and emitted in the hall.
Emits a dim yellow light.
The emperor sitting opposite did not speak, but Song Du could clearly feel his presence. The heat emanating from his body, the outline of his shoulders outlined in the dim light and shadow... were all so clear.
Suddenly, the silent hall became a little stuffy. A thin layer of sweat broke out on Song Du's forehead. After a while, she finally realized that the atmosphere seemed to be different, as if something was going to happen at any time. Her heart suddenly felt
The jump was very fast, I felt a little panicked for no reason, and subconsciously I was a little eager to try...
"Your Majesty..." Song Du tried to ease the suddenly dull atmosphere, but when her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she suddenly found that the outline of the emperor sitting in front of her had disappeared.
Song Du immediately became frightened. As soon as she said the word "Your Majesty", her vision went dark and her waist tightened. The call was trembling and choked back into her throat. Song Du was put around his waist with hands, and then
Pulling forward hard, he fell limply into the familiar embrace full of the aroma of hot wine.
Song Du let out a cry of "Ah". She held on to her collar tightly, struggled for a moment, and then leaned quietly against the emperor's chest. The emperor's whole body exuded an amazing heat, which spread to Song Du's body through his single clothes.
Not being held by the emperor so tightly that even his breathing was full of lust, his whole body became stiff and he didn't know where to put his hands and feet.
The emperor's hot breath sprayed on Song Du's soft neck, and then her earlobes suddenly felt cold, as if they were gently licked by the tip of his tongue. Song Du's whole body trembled, unable to hold on any longer, and slid down limply.
.
So the emperor took advantage of the situation and suppressed the powerless Song Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty...!" Song Du closed his eyes tightly and pushed the emperor's chest with both hands.
"Well..." What she responded to was the emperor's increasingly rough and uncontrollable voice. He rubbed Song Du's hair ambiguously: "In all these years, I have never touched you since I saw you were still young.
."
Song Du turned her head away in embarrassment. The emperor's straightforward words made her blush hot. She recalled the time when she went to look for Fu Shou, and the blush on Fu Shou's face made her disgusted; and she often felt guilty for sleeping with the emperor.
She didn't make the proper noise at all times and received an angry look from Guo Cainu...
She is not the child she used to be. She knows everything she needs to know. However, no matter how anxious the Song Dynasty is, the emperor is indifferent. What can she do?
But once this happened, Song Du backed down again, and she prayed: "Your Majesty... don't..."
The emperor gasped, lowered his head to find her lips, and said in a hoarse voice: "Don't be afraid."
The rotating tent is heated by the incense burner. The branches of the jade trees are snuggled close to each other. The wine is getting stronger and the spring thoughts are wandering, and the mandarin duck embroidery is turned over by the red waves.
Get up early the next morning.
The emperor walked out of the Pixiang Hall refreshed. From his perspective, everything last night seemed to be out of his control. Logically speaking, this kind of thing should happen naturally, but he always felt that there were many obstacles in it.
I can't think clearly and it's nothing, I just assumed I was drunk.
In the past few days after the emperor returned to Chang'an, all major and minor affairs were gradually on track. First, good news continued to come from Yongliang. General Cao Cao ordered Xia Houyuan to conquer the west. Guan Qiuxing led his army deep into Hehuang, and the Qiang in Hexi were defeated and surrendered.
Cao Cao accepted them one by one and reported to the emperor to move the Qiang and Di to Longshang and arrange them according to the rules of the Xiongnu in Bingzhou, and the emperor naturally gave permission.
When Xia Houyuan went deep into Hehuang and won a great victory, General Fubo Ma Teng also led his son Ma Chao to annihilate Wudu and the Di and Qiang tribes in Xiabian and other places, confiscating more than 100,000 hu of grain and grass from various tribes, as well as countless gold and silver.
These last two battles brought a successful end to the Qiang-Han war that had lasted for hundreds of years. The emperor was overjoyed and immediately rewarded Cao Cao based on his merits. He restored the title of Marquis of Feiting that Cao Cao had been deprived of, and Guanqiu Xing changed his position to Jincheng.
The prefect and others all received various rewards.
On the way to the secretary's office to study with everyone as usual, the emperor and his attendant Xun You, who were riding in the same carriage, said: "The Xia Houyuan mentioned by Cao Cao in the victory report is good at fighting. I intend to worship him as the captain of Wuji School.
Dunhuang County."
Wuji Xiaowei was a military officer sent to the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty and played an important role in the process of managing the Western Regions.
Unlike the Western Han Dynasty, where Wuji Xiaowei was permanently established in the Western Regions, the Eastern Han Dynasty was in constant contact with the Western Regions, and the Qiang Rebellion in Liangzhou blocked the westward journey, so Wuji Xiaowei was sometimes established and sometimes abolished. Now the emperor has brought up this official position again.
Its purpose is self-evident.
Xun You knew the elegant meaning of the song after hearing it, and immediately suggested euphemistically: "The four counties in Hexi have experienced wars many times, and the people's livelihood is unbearable and the supplies are insufficient. Your Majesty intends to restore the ancestral property, and I dare not have any objections, but please first consider Xia Houyuan as the chief of dianong in Liangzhou."
General Lang is in charge of military garrison affairs in Liangzhou. It will not be too late to discuss it again in four or five years."
"I started to listen to this talk of rest and recuperation when I was in Yecheng." The emperor waved his sleeves, leaned back on the table, and said in a helpless tone: "Some people are afraid that I will go on a military rampage and be unsatisfied after regaining the world.
I still want to go all out to conquer the Western Regions, Xianbei, and the Three Han Dynasties. If I am such an ignorant person, how can I rebuild the world?"
"Your Majesty's wisdom is far-reaching and the world knows it." Xun You said softly. He didn't say anything else. The emperor had already agreed with his opinion in his words.
Sure enough, the emperor stretched out his hand and nodded in the air, and said: "Xia Houyuan is as you suggested, let him be Liangzhou Diannong Zhonglang General, but not stationed in Hanyang, ordered him to move to Wuwei County. From now on, Liangzhou Jincheng
, Hexi and other counties should focus on military garrison and integrate troops into agriculture. When the army rises in the future, Liangzhou must be self-sufficient in food and grass."
"This..." Xun You pretended to be in trouble and said: "Given Liangzhou's situation, I'm afraid..."
"Then wait ten years." The emperor said firmly.
At this time, the driver had already arrived at the Yutang Hall where the secretary's prison was located. Mu Shun stopped the driver and leaned in from outside the car. He was about to ask for permission, but when he saw the emperor's gaze, he immediately shrank his head in awe.
go back.
After the carriage calmed down, the emperor said: "How old is Mr. Xun now?"
Xun You's expression changed, and he cupped his hands and replied: "I am the third-year-old son of Emperor Xiaohuan Yongshou. I am now forty-one years old."
"There is no doubt at forty. Ten years later, you will only be fifty. Mr. Xun, look at the people Huang Gong and Yang Gong in the court. Who is not a strong spirit and a strong person?" The emperor continued: "And I am only seventeen years old.
Not to mention ten years of rest, even thirty or forty years, I can't wait."
Xun You was speechless for a moment. Indeed, compared to them, the emperor at this age was like the rising sun. He had decades to calmly plan his plans and realize his ambitions. But Xun You and others had already
As he entered his old age, he could not catch up, and the young people after him lacked training, so how many emperors could compare with the genius of heaven?
The emperor was not aware of Xun You's inner emotions. He slowly straightened up and looked at Xun You seriously: "It's just that 'recuperating and recuperating' is one thing, 'hanging down and doing nothing' and 'stopping troops to repair peace' are another matter.
Nowadays, many people encourage the court and the people to rest. Do they want to streamline government affairs and cause less trouble to the people? Or do they want to simplify things and even stop doing things?"
Xun You sighed slightly in his heart, came back to his senses, and first saluted the emperor, and then said: "No matter what their intentions are, a truce is a matter of public opinion between the government and the public. First, the treasury is empty and the wealth is insufficient; second,
Not only the soldiers and people of the world, but also the armies who have been fighting for many years are also looking forward to a short rest."
The emperor's eyes dimmed. The financial crisis facing the imperial court was exactly what he was worried about. The reason why he has not expressed his stance now is just to see the attitude of the courtiers. In fact, the last time Zhu Jun was asked to go to Liangzhou to eliminate redundant troops,
The two generals Xu Rong and Zhang Ji were transferred from the army. This move has lifted the wartime status.
Now there are only 20,000 to 30,000 people left in Liangzhou including Cao Cao, Ma Teng and the new Qiang Protector Huangfu Li. People in the court seemed to be encouraged when they saw that the emperor took the initiative to dismantle the redundant troops in Liangzhou and assigned all the soldiers to retire and return to their hometowns to farm.
There are also more and more memorials about recuperation.
"I understand all this." The emperor said in a deep tone: "All I want to know now is, what does Mr. Xun think of recuperation?"
Xun You said almost without thinking: "Everything that should be done must be done; what should not be done must be reduced. This is the purpose of resting with the people. If you don't do anything, just think that you can
To achieve peace is to wait for the rabbit."
This was indeed what he said sincerely, and the emperor was convinced that the other party was not a short-sighted person, so he understood after hearing this. What Xun You believed in recuperating and recuperating was actually to focus entirely on restoring agricultural production and appeasing the people. The rest,
Intervene as little as possible.
This goal is roughly the same as what the emperor had in mind, except that the emperor wanted to organize the people with a purpose while resuming production. For example, the construction of essential water conservancy facilities and road facilities cannot be left to chance, and should be left to the imperial court from a macro perspective.
control on.
"What does it mean that Zhong Yao recently went to Shu to plead guilty?" the emperor suddenly asked. Although Zhong Yao made the mistake of advancing lightly at the beginning of the counterattack, Sima Yi used Huangfu Song's power to fool him.
Now Zhong Yao has followed Cao Cao and made many achievements in pacifying the people and pacifying the subjugation, which is enough to offset the two. However, just when Liangzhou was successfully conquered, Zhong Yao suddenly turned up his old score.
Xun You hesitated for a moment and replied: "Zhong Yuanchang felt that he failed to care about the Qiang when he was in charge of Liangzhou, which caused Han Sui to lead the Qiang to rebel and endanger the country. He blamed himself for this, and it was hard to say he was qualified. He wanted to resign as governor of Liangzhou.
Job."
"Oh." The emperor summed up briefly: "He has been in Liangzhou for a long time and wants to return to Chang'an."
Xun You was not as straightforward as the emperor, but expressed his agreement with silence.
In view of Xun You's statement on the matter of "rest and recuperation", the emperor also considered that it was indeed inconvenient for Zhong Yao to be kept in Yongliang for a long time, so he decided on his own: "Then let him come back. At that time, he was still the minister of Huangmen.
At that time, he worked as a valet by my side and taught me how to practice calligraphy together with Zhang Chang. Now Zhang Chang has passed away..."
As he spoke, he recalled the time when he was taught regular script by Zhong Yao, and the emperor also had a lot of friendship with him: "His memorial to plead guilty asked Chengming Palace to write a message of condolence, and then it was over, and then he was transferred back to serve as a servant.
"
"I promise." Xun You nodded in response. In this way, not only would Zhong Yao's sin of rashly advancing be revealed, but he could also return to the center and get one step closer to power. Compared to a place he is unfamiliar with, his influence is limited.
Yongliang, with Zhong Yao's reputation and connections, is more suitable to return to Chang'an.
"The post of governor of Liangzhou will be succeeded by Wei Duan, the governor of Wudu." The emperor then arranged for a successor after Zhong Yao. In fact, he hesitated between She Jian, the governor of Hanyang, and Wei Duan.
Shejian was one of his first trusted confidants. His ability may be slightly inferior to that of Wei Duan, but he is better in his loyalty. Shejian's achievements in this war are also remarkable, but they are different from those who had to transport grain and supplies as early as during the expedition to Shu.
Compared to Wei Duan, who had made great achievements despite losing constantly, She Jian was naturally no longer competitive.
What's more, Wei Duan has already been compared to Jiu Qing's two thousand stones, Zhong Yao can still surpass him with his reputation, but he lacks the talent to shoot strong, and he is inferior to others, which can easily lead to hidden dangers.
After the emperor initially explained the follow-up matters in Liangzhou and received Xun You's assurance, he knocked on the wall of the carriage with satisfaction and prepared to get off.
Since the emperor's chariot was waiting outside the door for a long time but did not come in, the secretaries and supervisors did not dare to sit and wait in the palace, so Secretary Ling Xun Yue, Secretary Cheng Hu Mao and below, Secretary Lang Wangfu, Pei Qian and others were all in the chariot.
A dozen steps away, he stood with his hands down, waiting quietly.
Seeing the emperor and Xun You walking out of the car, Xun Yue, whose legs were numb from standing for a long time, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and led a group of people waiting to bow down and salute.
The emperor calmly accepted everyone's salutes and called everyone to stand up. Before he could say a few words of condolences, he said to Xun You as if he remembered something: "By the way, don't forget to remind the minister's desk to quickly draft an edict to encourage farmers."
."
Xun Yue, Hu Mao, Huan Fan and others below heard the emperor's words one after another. They all had different ideas in their hearts, but their reactions were the same.