Chapter five hundred and eighty: the two servants of the Ministry of War
Snowflakes have begun to fall in the sky again. This year's winter seems to be extremely cold. However, no matter how cold the weather is, it cannot dampen the people's joy for the upcoming New Year.
As the New Year approaches day by day, the capital city is decorated with lights and colorful decorations, and there is a festive atmosphere everywhere. The business of various shops is even more prosperous.
Ordinary food, grain, and charcoal food are okay, the prices have increased a bit, but not excessively. However, some high-end shops such as silk, jewelry, and embroidery shops have actually doubled their prices.
When I went in and asked, I saw that I had taken a big order. The masters were busy working. Unless they added money, they would not accept ordinary small orders. This made many people who wanted to take advantage of the New Year to buy two good things helpless.
very.
Later, when I went out to inquire, I found out that a happy event had happened in the capital recently.
The young prince of Zhennan Palace and the apple of Jing'an Palace are engaged!
It is said that the total time from the appointment to the engagement date is only less than half a month. Because we are in such a hurry, there are many betrothal gifts and dowries that are being prepared in a hurry.
Therefore, many famous shops in Beijing received orders at the same time.
One is the county prince's palace, and the other is the earl's palace who is about to get married to the county prince's palace. They are all generous people. Naturally, these shops will not look down on these scattered small orders.
This news, for ordinary people, is at best a bit depressing.
But for the ministers in the court, it was something that amazed them.
For no other reason than to protect this great matchmaker, it was Hu Hui, the Minister of Rites, and Yu Qian, the Minister of War, who played an important role in the court.
It's not surprising to Mr. Hu. He is already very enthusiastic about this kind of marriage of young children.
But Yu Qian...
It is obvious that the Ministry of War has been very busy recently due to military affairs, but he, the Minister of the Ministry of War, is busy working as a matchmaker.
It is said that during the busiest time, he went to the Ministry of War for three days in a row and left directly. The first officer of the Ministry of War looked at each other in confusion and couldn't help but wonder if he had gone to the wrong Yamen and went to the Ministry of Rites.
However, even so, with the deadline set by the emperor, the plan to rectify the military garrison is still progressing.
There are only three days left before the New Year's Day. Although the emperor is talking about it before the Zhengdan Festival, anyone with a little bit of insight knows that it cannot be done on the last day.
Otherwise, on New Year's Eve, the Emperor will be handed another memorial, and it is such an important matter. Do you think the Emperor will handle it or not?
So, basically, today is the deadline.
After another whole morning of heated discussions, the snow outside had accumulated a thick layer, and the public house gradually became quiet.
Seeing the deletions, deletions, and modifications in front of them, and finally the finalized plan, Li Shi and Xiang Wenyao looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.
The rough plan is basically like this, and the next step is to adjust and fill in the details.
However, there is no need to worry. After the seal is opened after the new year and it is discussed by the court, we can slowly improve it.
Of course, this is just the plan they discussed. Whether it can be completed in the end depends on the nod of Lord Shangshu, but...
"Li Shilang, we don't have much time. How about I copy the plan and send it to Master Shangshu? Maybe this way, we can make it to the palace in the afternoon."
After stretching for a long time and twisting his stiff neck, Xiang Wenyao raised his head and spoke to Li Shi with a smile, not at all the red-faced look he had just now.
It has to be said that Xiang Wenyao really has a good skin, his face is as white as jade, his eyes are like red phoenixes, and his carefully groomed short beard not only does not make him look old, but also adds a bit of mature and steady temperament.
It’s great to be young…
Although compared with other ministers, Li Shi is also a very young official, but facing Xiang Wenyao who is several years younger than him and several times more handsome, Mr. Li still can't help but feel envious.
.
It is said that this guy usually goes to Jiaofangsi to drink and have fun without even spending money...
Shaking his head gently, leaving all these behind, Li Shi smiled bitterly and said.
"Where can I go to find Master Shangshu? It is said that the uncle's house in Jing'an is going to discuss the matter of welcoming the bride today. Master Shangshu is the one to preside over the wedding. At this time, it may be in the uncle's house or the prince's house."
Speaking of this matter, Li Shi felt a headache.
You know, when he first came to the Ministry of War, although he was working overtime every day, his life was quite comfortable. For no other reason than because his own minister was at the front.
Rectifying the military camp is of great importance, especially the more he understands the inside story, the more frightened Li Shi becomes. The only fortunate thing is that the person who initiated this matter is Yu Qian Yu Shaobao, who is famous all over the world, and there is also the emperor standing behind him
and gave unreserved support.
Li Shi knew in his heart that the reason why he was transferred to the Ministry of War was actually to balance Yu Qian's power, or in other words, to prevent the Ministry of War from "appearing" to be all Yu Qian's people.
After all, after the peace talks in Oara, he was the only one among the three envoys to be promoted. Whether he wanted it or not, in the eyes of the courtiers, he was the one the emperor relied on.
Together with Shen Jing, the two of them were actually used to smooth things over for everyone in the court.
Therefore, although Li Shi had the idea of doing meritorious deeds, he still knew how much he weighed.
He is not the true confidant of the Emperor, or in other words, there is still a long way to go before he becomes the true confidant of the Emperor. Therefore, it is best not to do anything that shows off one's power based on his status as the Emperor's confidant.
Especially, now that the emperor has made it clear that he supports the reorganization of military cantons, we must be even more cautious.
Therefore, after arriving at the Ministry of War, he still maintained his style when he was in the cabinet.
It is better to be silent than to speak a thousand words.
But what surprised him was that Shen Jing was very provocative. He directly refuted Hong Chang and others in the ministry meeting, and was determined to severely punish and pursue the plan to the end.
The ministry meeting was so heated that in the end, if King Zhennan hadn't appeared and asked the minister to leave, we still don't know how it would have ended.
Li Shi could tell that Lord Shangshu preferred strict investigation, but Shen Jing's status was quite special. Even if he could not represent the emperor, at least he could represent the attitude of a certain heavenly official to a certain extent.
You must know that the border troops are corrupt and the border generals are corrupt, so the rectification of the military settlements requires the assistance of local officials to a large extent.
If it offends the officials, it will be difficult to carry out this matter.
So at that time, Li Shi was really worried for most of the day. He knew that sooner or later, he, the minister, would need to express his stance on this matter.
Xiang Wenyao was very firm and stood with Hong Chang and others, but Li Shi...
Li Shi also tended to use gentler methods, both from his standpoint and from his heart. However, before he could make a decision, news came back that Lord Shangshu wanted to act as a matchmaker.
At that time, everyone didn't take it seriously, thinking that after all, the King of Zhennan came to invite him personally, and the Lord Shangshu had to give him face no matter what, it was just a formality.
But no one expected that Lord Shangshu would complete this process in less than half a month.
In the past half month, his boss seemed to have forgotten about the military camp. He only occasionally came to the ministry to check documents, and spent the whole day running back and forth between Zhennan Prince's Mansion and Jing'an Bo Mansion.
It's as if this marriage is his serious job...
Li Shi didn't know the reason for Yu Qian's change.
However, what he knew was that as soon as Master Shangshu let go, the entire burden fell on him. This period of time was quite busy for him.
As a result, at the end, he didn't know where Lord Shangshu was, which really made Li Shilang very depressed.
However, he is depressed, but Xiang Wenyao is not depressed.
I saw the handsome and jade-like Minister Xiang smiling slightly like the spring breeze and said.
"Please rest assured, Mr. Li. Xiang has already inquired about the whereabouts of Master Shangshu. If nothing else happens, he should have returned to his residence at this moment. We will go straight to Yu's residence. That's right."