"A rough man always keeps the things he must fight to lure the enemy, and those who are not urgent enough to engage in them will do so." [Longchuan Collection·Preface]
Although there is still the afterglow outside, the lamps have been lit inside the Chancellor's desk. The large lamps are locked in the bronze lampshades, and the orange and warm light shines from the cracks. Under the lamp, there is a man with a long body and jade.
Standing, wearing court clothes and a beam crown on his head, holding a book in his hand, stepping steadily on the dark black stone floor as smooth as a mirror, walking slowly, concentrating and thinking.
Hearing the sound of someone coming in, the person stopped, turned around, and moved his long beard in the wind, like a orchid tree stretching and swaying slightly in the moonlight, and the faint fragrance of orchids floated in the room.
This person was Xun Yu, a native of Yingchuan, who was the minister of the court.
The man who was praised as "Wang Zuo Cai Ye" is now past middle age, but his upright face and beautiful facial features still retain the handsomeness of his youth. His body shape is also maintained well, neither fat nor thin, and slender.
powerful.
At this time, Xun Yu had no other accessories except the beryl and seal ribbon around his waist. The ordinary court clothes he wore on his body revealed a graceful demeanor that could not be ignored.
"Wen Ruo." Wu Shuo walked over with a smile on his face and said, "The value has not been refunded yet? You have worked too hard."
Xun Yu glanced at him, with a slight smile on his face, and whispered: "Tomorrow is Zhengdan, and there will be a court meeting early in the morning, but this edict has not yet been approved. He did not wait until Wu Gong came back from discussing the affairs and relayed the news from Chengming Palace.
, I don’t dare to leave either.”
"If Wen Ruo fulfills his responsibilities, he is indeed a role model for courtiers." When Xun Yu was transferred from Guandong to serve as his deputy, Wu Shuo was very hostile to him for a period of time, during which he also had the idea of suppressing him, but he was so talented that he
There is no choice but to live in peace with the other party.
Now looking for a way out and asking for help from others, Wu Shuo lowered his posture even more. He sighed lowly, and then extended his hand to invite: "I sent people to pass the eunuch's order, ordering them to provide food, if the text is available,
Have you passed? Why not sit with me for a while?"
Xun Yu rolled up the slip in his hand and said with a faint smile, "That's exactly what I meant."
So the two of them sat separately and chatted for a few words. Wu Shuo then brought the topic to today's discussion: "The decree has been established and will be announced to the world tomorrow morning. In the next few years, all matters in the court will be inseparable from this edict."
A few words. I am waiting for the chief to report the matter and the general discipline. Everything is in order. Sooner or later, all the big plans in this edict will come to the central government and the outer court... It's just that this is to persuade farmers and mulberry trees to build schools.
However, it is a big problem to fill the treasury. Mi Zhu was so tired due to military rations earlier that he lost weight. The front line was not delayed, but the prices among the people were boiling and there were constant complaints. Even an expert like Mi Zhu was struggling.
“I’m sorry, I really don’t know if the country will recruit us to discuss finances with the Shaofu, Si Nong and other officials in a few years. As a minister, what should I do with the edict?”
"Tomorrow, all the foreign and domestic ministers will come to the front hall to congratulate you. Since the death of Young Master Zhang, Your Majesty has been reluctant to choose the virtuous." Xun Yu intentionally or unintentionally avoided Wu Shuo's words, stared into the other person's eyes, and said:
"If there is one minister missing from the imperial court, it will not be nice to tell. Didn't your majesty decide on the candidate today? Didn't the princes have any input in the Chengming Palace?"
Wu Shuo frowned slightly. He didn't dare to act like an official in front of Xun Yu, so he could only follow the other person's words and said: "Yes, at the end of the discussion, the country personally ordered the king of Taicang
Jiang took over the imperial edict. I have already asked Liang Shao to write the edict. I just need to fill in the name and add a few sentences. It must have been sent to His Majesty for inspection by now and has been taken out of the palace by the visitors."
As he spoke, he smacked his lips and tried to change the topic back: "Mi Zhu made a mistake this time. If he had taken care of the people's material opinions and made appropriate money to buy grain, he would not be slandered now."
"Mi Zhu is an in-law of the Wang family and a close confidant of the country. Although he has missed the nine ministers today, the Prince of the Shaofu is already in his twilight years and has no ambition to make progress. His service is just a promise. After one or two years, the Shaofu will still be his.
"."
Looking back, it was the eunuch who ordered Zhao Rui and several officials to come over with meals.
"Just put it here." Xun Yu greeted politely, and Zhao Rui led others to place the food tables separately and prepare everything.
According to the Han system, when the minister stayed in Taichung, he would not only distribute bedding and clothing, but also have the eunuchs and Tang officials provide food, the standard of which was second to the emperor. Xun Yu looked at the table and saw that there were mostly vegetables on the table.
There was only one portion of roasted meat, so I couldn’t help but ask: “Has the country already used it?”
"Already used." Zhao Rui is the son of former Situ Zhao Qian and also the nephew of Zhao Wen. Since his father and uncle have made a lot of contributions to the emperor, Zhao Rui has grown from an ordinary Guanglu doctor to a
Taiguan Ling is responsible for the meals in the palace.
Zhao Rui was only in his early thirties and was a down-to-earth man. He knew what Xun Yu was asking, so he said: "The country has issued an oral decree that from now on, meals should be simple, and banquets should not be complicated and elaborate in order to maintain frugality. Therefore, it is not just here at the Shangshutai.
, even the ones used by the state in the Xuanshi Palace are like this."
"The country is young and wise, and it is a good example for the world to set an example. This is a blessing for the world. How can we, the ministers, not worry about the king?" Xun Yu sighed as he said this.
Zhao Rui smiled in agreement, glanced at Wu Shuo and Xun Yu, and then left.
After Zhao Rui left, Wu Shuo took a chopstick and put a large piece of sliced roasted meat into his mouth. Compared with Xun Yu's slow eating, Wu Shuo's mouth moved very quickly, and he often only swallowed one mouthful before swallowing another.
Then Zhang came. He seemed to be in a hurry to finish his meal so that he could continue talking to Xun Yu. It was best to reveal his thoughts without losing the opportunity.
But facing the impeccable Xun Yu, Wu Shuo always felt a little timid, as if he had already been seen through by him, so he was not in a hurry to finish his meal, so that he could take advantage of this "eat without saying anything" moment to think about it.
Discourse.
In the end, Xun Yu finished the meal first. After rinsing his mouth, he wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and put a piece of scented tablet in his mouth. Wu Shuo also put down the bowl and chopsticks at this time, followed suit, and ordered someone to bring the food table.
After going out, Xun Yu and I were silent for a while, facing the candles, not knowing who should speak first.
"Mi Zhu missed the opportunity with the young master, not necessarily because of his poor planning." Xun Yu looked at his own shadow on the floor and said calmly.
Wu Shuo was shocked and looked at him sharply: "What did you say?"
"Wu Gong is also a smart man." Xun Yu smiled lazily at his own shadow and said softly: "Strong ministers such as Dong Zhuo and Wang Situ lost power one after another, but Wu Gong walked among all parties without harming anyone.
This shows that Duke Wu is alert. Due to the Wang family's relationship, Mi Zhu is also married to the emperor. He is a merchant from Xuzhou. He has honest character and has a plan to study mulberry. He is more virtuous than capable, and is more concerned with family than merit. The post of a young official should be
It belongs to him, but this time the country has handed over the young manor to the mature prince... With Wu Gong's wisdom, does he really think that it is because of Mi Zhu's improper handling?"
Wu Shuo hesitated for a long time, as if he was trying to defend himself, but he could only say a few words "I, me" with great difficulty, and could no longer say any more.
It is true that in order to raise food and grass for the war, Mi Zhu could be said to have tried every means, even fishing in the swamp, squeezing the wealth that Guanzhong had accumulated with great difficulty, and was finally able to ensure the supply of food and grass for tens of thousands of troops. At that time, everything was focused on the war, so Mi Zhu proposed to cast money to buy
The grain proposal was also approved by the court ministers and the emperor. Even if inflation has caused people to have more money and less goods, it is not Mi Zhu's fault alone. The emperor's neglect of his "relatives" cannot be justified in private.
Wu Shuo's explanation for this was that the emperor had opinions about the Wang family and Mi Zhu's identity as a businessman.
Since the revival of Guangwu, scholars have widely occupied various positions in the imperial court. If Mi Zhu is appointed as the Shaofu, he will be another minister in charge of wealth as a businessman after Sang Hongyang. Sang Hongyang originally won the title for Emperor Xiaowu.
The power of the powerful in the world seems to be history repeating itself. After Mi Zhu becomes the young master, there is no guarantee that the story of his predecessors will not happen again.
Wu Shuo did not dare to say that the emperor was afraid of difficulties and did not promote Mi Zhu. It would be better to say that the emperor continued to hide the sword in the sheath, waiting for the time to come.
"The prince is a man of wealth and good at saving money. In the next few years, what the court needs is a young man like him who is good at saving money. After the national strength is restored, if the country wants to make progress, it will definitely need talents like Mi Zhu." Xun Yu finished.
After that, he turned to look at Wu Shuo and said leisurely: "That's why whether a person can last for a long time can't just depend on whether he is strong at the moment, but also has to take a long-term view. Wu Zhengzheng understands this truth, so he will do this with me.
It’s a long conversation, but why avoid talking about it.”
"It was me who was rash." Seeing that his secret was exposed, Wu Shuo's heart skipped a beat and he said in a low voice: "Now Mr. Dong's position cannot be guaranteed. Although he is favored by Changqiu, there will be no serious problems for a while, but from now on, no one will... I will
I also have a concern for the country. No matter who is in power, as long as the world is governed by benevolence and the system of glory and military is restored, that will be enough for me. But I think the country has great ambitions, and in the future, I will only start to make progress in those aspects..."
"Mr. Wu!" Xun Yu said in a loud voice. He always gave people the impression that he was as gentle as jade. Although he was obviously talented and sharp, he never made people think he was aggressive: "Let's not worry about the court affairs for the time being. Just
How can we say that things are good and bad, and people are good and bad? If we say that merchants in one place are lawless, do we have to kill all the merchants in the world?"
"That's the truth, but..." Wu Shuo didn't know what the minister in front of him was thinking. He was not as talented as him, so he had to follow the other person's train of thought and think seriously: "The emperor's desire to suppress the powerful has become clear, even these few days
With the year of cessation of activity and the focus on recuperation, there will be no escape from the future...I am also thinking of all the families in Yingchuan!"
When they foresee a threat, no matter how scattered the class is, they will instinctively try to stop it. Therefore, Yang Pei, who has gradually become a cruel official, is dismissed from office and replaced by She Jian, who is of average ability. The same reason is true for Mi Zhu being hidden.
Due to Yang Pei's strict self-discipline, he only tried his best when it came to Fa Yan. Mi Zhu failed to take charge and handled trillions of properties. There were too many loopholes that could be criticized.
Therefore, for the vacancy of Tingwei, the emperor might be able to mention Yang Pei, but for the vacancy of Shaofu, it was inconvenient for Mi Zhu to mention him.
The game and compromise between all parties resulted in the light edict that Wu Shuo is holding in his hand now, confirming a situation of smooth transition and recuperation in the next few years. Several forces seemed to have reached a certain balance of power at the end of the fourth year of Jian'an.
, they must do their best to accumulate strength and increase their trump cards in the next few years, in order to gain an advantage when the next time they decide to rule the country.
"There are good and bad heroes. When our scholars came to serve as governors, who did not severely punish evildoers and promote morality?" Xun Yu was unmoved after hearing Wu Shuo's statement. Instead, he listed the origins of several noble families.
The example of the county guard severely punishing the evil tyrants in the local area seems to have deeply agreed with the emperor's view of restraining the tyrants: "The tyrants are entrenched in the local area, harming the villagers, and threatening the counties. This is not tolerated by the national law. How can we protect them?"
"
Local tycoons and aristocratic families are not the same concept. A tycoon may be divided into land, house, and wealth, but aristocratic families do not care about the amount of money, but political resources. The rise of the tycoons is often accompanied by the exploitation and bloody accumulation of common people, which is important for
For the scholars who have long since transformed from powerful men to powerful families, they are scornful and disdainful of being associated with them. Restraining powerful men who behave badly and are unkind for the sake of wealth coincides with the emperor's concept to a certain extent, and most enlightened scholars will give them some advice.
support.
But the emperor is not just like that. What he wants to take back is the local privileges of the big families and break their monopoly on economy, politics, and education. Such ideas are not only aimed at those powerful people who do evil, but also the entire class.
.
Thinking that Xun Yu seemed to want to lead the emperor to suppress a few bad apples, avoiding the important and taking the easy, Wu Shuo felt admiration in his heart. He also thought that Xun Yu was willing to say such heartfelt words for him, obviously he saw that he
In this case, Wu Shuo was bound to respond: "What Xunjun said is that when the powerful right-wingers in prefectures and counties disturb the countryside, they must be restrained. The country once said, 'For the country, for the people', the common people in the world
We are the people, merchants are the people, and the great clans are also the people. We, the ministers, should be responsible for the imperial government for hundreds of years."
"No need." Xun Yu took a deep look at Wu Shuo and stretched out his hand to make a weak gesture: "When the country is young and talented, the weak crown will be swept away in the sea, and the Han Dynasty will be revived. It is the time when the ambition is still full and the determination is high.
The days to come are still long, Xianbei has not yet been settled, the Western Region has not been opened, and overseas ministers have not yet arrived. How can the country stop here? Naturally, it needs to expand. As ministers, we should give top priority to state affairs, comprehensively manage the common affairs, and govern the country.
All peoples should not have private agendas."
Wu Shuo was stunned for a moment and didn't know what to think. He only heard Xun Yu continue to say: "Wu Gong just talked about the treasury, but is he worried about the financial affairs after the year?"
"Eh." Wu Shuo felt a little depressed when he mentioned this.