The autumn wind rustles, the fallen trees rustle, the cold rain begins to subside, and the moon rises above the sky.
Gao Pragmatic, who had been back in Beijing for half a month, had just resigned from the cabinet. He returned to his old mansion where he had recently named it "Jingguo Duke's Mansion", and went to the study room in Rixin Building, feeling slightly tired.
He is indeed very tired.
Autumn is the harvest season, and there are many economic activities related to the autumn harvest that require his, as the chief minister and minister of household affairs, to pay close attention to, and make policy adjustments and assign direct tasks from time to time;
Autumn is the time for the national army's autumn training, autumn exercises and competitions. As the operator of the new military reform, the progress and performance of the military reform over the past year will be summarized, and he needs to modify or even modify some measures according to the actual situation.
Change;
Autumn is still the time for final trials and executions of serious cases across the country. As the chief assistant and minister of household affairs, although he is not in theory directly responsible for punishment-related work, who calls Ming Dynasty a "feudal dynasty"? As the actual first person in charge of the imperial court
, in China since ancient times
Under the guidance of the thought of "human life is at stake", all serious crimes that require beheading will not only need to be reviewed and reviewed by the Three Justices Division, but some of the representative major cases will definitely be sent to his desk, and he will be awarded the emperor's title through his vote.
Approval...
All these and important tasks were placed on the shoulders of a very pragmatic man, under the premise that His Majesty the Emperor announced that his body was slightly ill as soon as he returned to Beijing and expressed the need to rest for a period of time.
Not to mention that because he has been away from Beijing for too long, there are many backlogged reports within the Jinghua Group that must be approved by him personally in Beijing. Now he needs to give instructions one by one. In this case, even his iron-clad body should be tired.
.
Gao pragmatic had just sat down in the study. Facing the piles of reports, documents, and letters in front of him that filled most of the desk, he couldn't help but sigh, and said with a wry smile to himself: "If I had known better, I shouldn't have let Liu
Xin goes to Bangladesh, which is good now. My son will be relieved, but I will suffer."
After a pause, he opened a secret letter and muttered to himself angrily: "You better not let me down, otherwise, even if you are now the commander-in-chief of Siam, I will still want a letter."
The letter calls you back to Beijing and I will personally whip your ass with a ruler."
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a knock on the door. Gao pragmatically asked: "Who?"
Meng Guzhe's voice came from outside the door: "Master, I am my concubine."
"Oh, come in."
With his permission, the study door was opened, but Meng Guzhezhe was not the only one who came in. Behind her were several maids, each holding a dinner plate in their hands, each with three dishes. Meng Guzhezhe
Said: "As soon as the master returned home, he came straight here
In the study, I didn’t want to disturb you, but thinking that the master may have never eaten, I had no choice but to send him to the study. Master, people are like iron rice and steel. If you don’t eat a meal, you will starve. For the sake of the Gao family in Xinzheng, you
You can't be so busy that you don't even eat, don't you think?"
While they were talking, the maids had already laid out the food for Gao pragmatically on the empty table on the other side, and then respectfully stepped aside to stand. Facing Meng Guzhezhe, Gao pragmatically didn't have to pretend to forget about food and sleep. He had already stood up.
He nodded and said, "It's not that I'm too busy to have time to eat. It's just that when people are busy to a certain extent, they lose their appetite, so I just forgot about it."
He walked to the table on one side and took a look, and found that even for this kind of non-rice meal, the dishes were as rich as ever. Not to mention the meat and vegetable combinations, there were sixteen dishes, and from the variety of dishes
From the looks of it, it's not like the imperial dining room in the palace where a dish is reheated several times, but it's all freshly prepared.
He suddenly felt a little emotional and said: "Everyone says that the emperor is good, extremely noble, and extremely wealthy. But when it comes to food alone, from what I can see, he is not even as good as my family."
Of course, Meng Guzhezhe knew that Gao Jingshi often ate with the emperor and knew what the royal meal was like. In fact, there was no need to talk about Gao Jingshi. Even her concubine, who was Gao Jingshi, often ate and received rewards from the palace.
Husband’s imperial meal. To be honest, it’s really just that. It really can’t compare to the family banquet at the Nanning Marquis’ Mansion...oh no, the family banquet at the Duke of Jingguo’s Mansion.
After all, although the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was theoretically the most authoritarian in history, he was also very limited, and he might even be the most powerful in history - except for those puppet emperors.
Who made the emperor so restricted? Zhu Yuanzhang and the civil servant group. Zhu Yuanzhang imposed a lot of restrictions on the later emperors based on the ancestral system, and the civil servant group used the "legitimacy of the holy king" based on Confucianism.
A lot of restrictions were imposed on the emperor.
In the end, the majestic Ming Emperor could only eat according to the "four dishes and one soup" standard given by Zhu Yuanzhang. What if the man later said that he "had 108 dishes placed in front of him"?
"I don't know how to eat chopsticks", the old Buddha knows that, I'm afraid he will laugh out loud - are the children and grandchildren of your old Zhu family really becoming emperors?
However, what Gao Pingshi didn't expect was that Meng Guzhezhe actually said something that surprised him.
Meng Guzhe said: "Of course what the master said is true, but the expenses for the master's meal are earned by the master himself, and they are all legal income. It is not anyone else's turn to decide how to use them. The emperor's meal is the people's fat, and it is the support of the whole world.
A person should naturally exercise restraint and self-discipline, and should not be wanton and extravagant to despise the hearts of all people...these two are not the same."
Gao Yingshi was picking up chopsticks at this time. When he suddenly heard this, he was surprised and a little relieved, and said: "Meng Gu, it seems that you have gained a lot from your studies these years."
Meng Guzhe bowed his skirts and said, half seriously, half jokingly: "As the saying goes, the person who is close to Zhu is red. I am just lucky to have a husband with six first prizes. Over the years, even if I have been slightly influenced, I should be a little bit better."
The literary spirit surrounds me."
As expected, Gao pragmatic laughed loudly, shook his head and said: "You have learned your literary skills through hard study, what does it have to do with me? This is not my fault, and I dare not accept it."
Then he paused for a moment, showed a thoughtful expression, and said: "I have thought about it before going to Nanjing. With your current knowledge, if you only take care of the children at home every day, you will inevitably miss the mark. Why not also join the secretariat to help...
But time was in a hurry at that time, and I accompanied him south soon, so the matter was delayed. Now that I'm back in Beijing, I might as well do what I thought before."
Meng Guzhezhe was a little hesitant and said hesitantly: "But my wife and sisters are not in the mansion. If I go to the secretariat to help, the children in the mansion may lose their discipline..."
Gao Pragmatic waved his hand and said: "There are many teachers in the house who are not just free laborers. Among the maids, there are also mature and prudent people who can be entrusted with important tasks. How can they lose their discipline? In the final analysis, whether I manage the children well or not depends on whether I
Strict. If I don’t pamper them, the children will have their teachers teach them when they make mistakes. How can they lose discipline?
On the contrary, I am afraid that sometimes you may not be as strict as the gentlemen when it comes to discipline... You don't have to defend yourself, let me ask you this first: When Gao Yuan was in the house, how many harsh words did you say to him?"
Meng Guzhe hesitated to speak, and finally could only defend in a low voice: "He is the eldest son of the master, so he cannot...can't be scolded easily, otherwise how will he establish his authority in the future?"
The reason for this is obviously not just a matter of how Gao Yuan will establish his authority in the future, it can even be said that this is by no means the main issue. Gao Pragmatic knows very well that even if Gao Yuan was scolded and even punished by his aunts every day when he was a child, waiting for him as the head of the family
As soon as the master's father died and Gao Yuan inherited the family business, his authority naturally rose along with his power - at least in the family, this was definitely the case.
But, what next? If Gao Yuan is a generous person, then that's okay. If he is not generous enough, the aunts may not have a good life. Of course, as far as the "aunts" are concerned, their own lives will not be easy.
, considering that the Gao family is a prominent Confucian family after all, no matter how bad it is, it will not be so bad that they will be in financial difficulties, but for the future of their children...
All in all, although Meng Guzhezhe refused to admit it, Gao Pingshi knew in his heart that it was not just her. Even Liu Xin, Gao Yuan's mentor and aunt, might not be willing to hurt Gao Yuan's face too much.
The eldest son of this era can be so confident. To be honest, apart from his pragmatism, Huang Zhiting is the only one who really dares to teach Gao Yuan a lesson with a straight face.
The only thing that makes Gao pragmatic feel happy at the moment is that Gao Yuan seems to be quite obedient, at least he doesn't seem to have any tendency to be irrational and violent - even though he doesn't seem to approve of ideological systems other than Confucianism, and even after the Western Expedition
Some of the sects I saw were quite disdainful.
But then again, Gao Yuan's attitude seems to be quite recognized within Jinghua. After all, Jinghua's development and expansion have been too smooth, and it is natural to look down on the beliefs of losers.
Thoughts were swirling, Gao Pragmatic finally just shook his head slightly and said: "That's it for now. You will enter the secretariat tomorrow and sort out the various documents that have been backlogged recently for me."
In the end, Gao Jingshi still has the final say in this family. Since he insisted, Meng Guzhezhe had no choice but to comply. Gao Jingshi started to eat and said by the way: "I just opened the letter on the table and haven't read it yet. You can read it to me."
listen."
Meng Guzhezhe got up and went to get it. When he came back, he glanced at the maids and said, "You guys go next door and wait. If anything happens, I will ring the bell to let you know."
The maids bowed in unison and filed out. The bell is a design of the Rixin Building. It can be found in high-practical study rooms and other places. It is a simple mechanism used to notify servants. It can be used to pull the bell in the room.
With a wire rope, there is a turntable mechanism in the compartment between the roof and floor boards to pull the bell hanging in another room. When the bell rings, the servant or maid waiting in the other room will come over immediately.
The letter that Gao pragmatic asked Meng Guzhe to read was actually written after the Flying Pigeon Station of the Ministry of Internal Affairs received a letter from Bangladesh. The content inside was the report on the peace agreement reached between the Western Expeditionary Army in Southern Xinjiang and Jahangir.
After listening to this, Gao Pangshi's expression remained normal, but he asked: "Meng Gu, you also know what happened to the Western Expedition Army before. Now that you have read this letter, what do you think?"
"Although this agreement, on the surface, seems to be a certain victory for our army, in fact, it is just an expedient measure by Jahangir." Meng Guzhezhe said with certainty this time, and his voice echoed in the study, which seemed particularly special.
clear.
More than that, perhaps because Gao Pangshi had just given her the power to interrogate "government affairs", she seemed much more confident than usual. After saying these words, she stood up and walked to the large map hanging on the wall, her eyes falling.
I pointed out the two locations in Bengal and Mewar.
"Jahangir is now forced to withdraw his troops. It is obvious that the rebellion in Mewar has distracted him." Her finger lightly traced the distance from Bengal to Mewar on the map. "His troops seem to be sufficient, but
Obviously it was not enough to form an absolute advantage in both directions, so he needed to concentrate his efforts on countering the rebellion. In this way, he had to temporarily give in in Bangladesh.
After all, Mewar is closer to his capital, Agra. If the rebellion in Mewar gets bigger, spreads to surrounding areas, and even threatens Agra, then his rear will be unstable, and the Bangladeshi side will not be able to control the war."
Gao pragmatically nodded and stretched out his hand to indicate for her to continue.
So Meng Guzhezhe continued: "But this does not mean that the war is over. The Mughal Empire has been in Tianzhu for nearly a hundred years, and at least it has a much deeper foundation than our army. Once they solve their internal problems, with Jahangir as the
A vain character will inevitably look around again in order to save face."
There was a hint of coldness in her voice, "So, we cannot let down our guard because of this agreement, but we should use this agreement as a cover to prepare for all counterattacks, and even... take the initiative to attack at the right time."
A glimmer of light flashed in Gao Pragmatic's eyes. Of course he knew that this interim peace agreement was just the calm before the storm. He certainly could not sit back and watch the Mughal Empire regroup its forces, so he must take action to ensure that the Southern Xinjiang Army always maintains the initiative.
.However, he did not expect that Meng Guzhezhe would not take the agreement seriously, and even bluntly said that he could take the initiative when necessary.
Of course, this sounds nice, but in fact it means breaking a promise, and it is a completely mercenary and realist approach. Of course, as we all know, in politics, only those who insist on this approach will get the best results.
To Gao Pangshi's surprise, after reading books for so many years, Meng Guzhe was able to avoid being bound by Confucian benevolence and morality. Once it came time to really make a judgment, the kind of Jurchens who developed it in a harsh environment
Resolutely, he immediately took the commanding heights.
However, Gao Pragmatic, who was already known as a "confucian of the generation", did not comment on this. He just seemed to turn a deaf ear and continued to ask: "If you were to decide the next move of the Western Expeditionary Army, what would you do?"
Mengguzhezhe obviously regarded his words as some kind of test, his face became extremely serious, he looked at the map again, his fingers crossed back and forth between Bengal and Mewar, and he already had a calculation in his mind.
"My husband once said: What the enemy wants, I am afraid of. Therefore, if it is up to me to decide, then there is only one principle: whatever Jahangir wants, I will not let him get it. He wants to quickly put down Mei
If the Var rebels, I will try my best to support the Mewar people and will not let them succeed easily." Mengguzhe said without hesitation.
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