How can I bow my head and serve the powerful officials?

Xie Chengze was very satisfied with the content of the letter.

He turned to Xie Zimiao who was standing beside him and said, "Zimiao, please write another letter to the Emperor for me."

Xie Zimiao said "Oh" and spread out the letter paper on the table with a paperweight, and asked puzzledly, "But second brother, why do you like me to write letters for you so much?"

Obviously, every letter was written in the name of my second brother, but why was it always me who wrote it?

"Hmm?" Xie Chengze was struggling with the ink in the inkstone with his sleeves rolled up, and said casually, "Of course it's because I think your handwriting is beautiful~"

Xie Zimiao couldn't help but blush slightly.

I don’t know what’s wrong with my second brother lately. He always likes to praise him, which makes him feel a little embarrassed.

But he remembered that his second brother's handwriting was obviously better. Although his second brother's handwriting was ugly when he was young, and he was teased by his mother and father, he practiced calligraphy day and night, and his handwriting was very neat and beautiful, even better than that of his brother, the crown prince.

But since the second brother doesn't want to write a letter, let him write it on his behalf!

Xie Zimiao diligently picked up the pen and began to write on the letter paper.

The content to be written is probably to tell my father how to use explosives, and to request special approval to open a gunpowder factory in Yizhou, to divide the work of making explosives to prevent the formula from leaking. I also said that I have already summoned the tight-lipped craftsmen to start the work without asking for permission. If my father does not agree, I will stop the business. Of course, you'd better agree, otherwise I will not let you see your beautiful and outstanding son for seven years, etc.

At the end, the formula for explosives was attached. Xie Zimiao stopped writing halfway and handed the pen to Xie Chengze.

"Second brother, you write the rest." Although Xie Zimiao is naive, he is not a fool. He knows that such things cannot be known casually. Sometimes the more you know, the more dangerous it is.

Xie Chengze didn't make things difficult for him. He took the pen and completed the rest of the content.

After a final check that there were no problems, he stuffed the thick stack of letter papers into the envelope with satisfaction, put the explosives and gunpowder into a moisture-proof wooden box, and asked Wu Ji to secretly send them back to the capital.

This matter is of great importance, and he does not trust the postman at the post station, so he can only let Wu Ji go himself, and solemnly said: There is no rush, it must be sent back slowly!

……

It was two months later when Emperor Jian received these two letters.

Because Xie Chengze was not in the capital and there was famine in many places, the uninterested Emperor Jian even cancelled the autumn hunting that year. He had a sour face every day when he went to court. If he was unhappy with someone, he would say that person was sorry for the Second Prince who was suffering outside, and he would deduct half a year's salary from that person as disaster relief money, which made the ministers in the court miserable.

On this day, Emperor Jian received another emergency call from the border. The Xiongnu took advantage of the shortage of food and fodder in the northern military camp and invaded the frontier county of Jian'an several times. They burned, killed and looted the people in the city. Their equipment was sophisticated and their weapons seemed to have been improved, causing our army to retreat step by step. The city gate was almost lost, and we urgently needed military pay, food and other support.

The whole court was chattering, unable to come to a conclusion. Emperor Jian was so angry that he flipped the dragon table and said angrily: "What a bunch of useless people! What's the point of me raising you? My sons are suffering outside, and you can't even think of a solution here!"

"Your Majesty, the treasury is really empty!" The Minister of Revenue began to play the victim. "There is famine in various places, and the grain and silver for disaster relief have been sent again and again. We really have no power to do anything!"

"Your Majesty, increasing reinforcements is not a long-term solution. The Xiongnu are tall and strong and are good at guerrilla warfare. Now that their weapons have been improved, they will leave almost no survivors once they are hit. If we fight head-on, our army will have no chance of winning and will only die in vain!" The Minister of War stepped forward and said solemnly, "The most important thing now is to negotiate peace with the Xiongnu first..."

"Talk about peace?" Emperor Jian sneered, "How to talk about peace? The Xiongnu have coveted the Central Plains for a long time. I don't know how much of my troops have been consumed by their tactics of fighting to support the war! If the Xiongnu were incorporated into the territory as soon as possible, my Chengze would not even go to Yizhou without an army escort!"

Minister of War: ...

The Minister of War was already used to Emperor Jian using the Second Prince to drive him crazy. He said calmly, "Your Majesty, throughout history, there have been successful examples of negotiating peace with the Xiongnu. The Western Dynasty of the Han Dynasty once exchanged peace on the border for marriage. As long as we promise the Xiongnu some benefits at the same time, and take over their weapon improvement methods, when our country's military strength is strong, we can just turn against them and wipe them out in one fell swoop!"

"Impossible!" Emperor Jian angrily slammed the dragon table and shouted, "You want my daughter to marry those fierce Xiongnu? How is this different from sending her to her death?"

"Your Majesty! The people living on the border are so innocent! The princess enjoys all the wealth and glory in the palace, so she has the responsibility to protect the people of Jian'an and share the worries of Your Majesty and the court!" Another official stood up and said indignantly.

"Yes, Your Majesty! The country is unstable now. When dealing with the Xiongnu invasion, we should be cautious and not start a war!"

Officials stood up one after another to persuade him, and Emperor Jian was so angry that he was dazed and laughed while slapping the table. "Great! Very good! The whole court, civil and military officials, instead of thinking about how to fight back against the Xiongnu, actually forced a woman to sacrifice herself, and she is my daughter. You are really great!"

"Your Majesty, if you are unwilling to sacrifice the princess, I heard that the Xiongnu king Shanyu Lie is also fond of men..." an official said, and the next second he was hit on the official hat by a memorial thrown by Emperor Jian.

Emperor Jian's powerful and angry curse resounded like thunder in the entire Golden Palace, "How dare you! You actually want to sacrifice my Chengze???"

Other officials cast respectful glances at him: Colleague, although our dynasty is open to speech, you really dare to say anything? !

The official: No? I didn’t say he was the second prince?!

Emperor Jian was so angry that he stood up and wanted to beat the official, but Eunuch Zhao hugged his waist and persuaded him, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty, calm down! The historian is still writing it down -"

Emperor Jian finally calmed down for a moment, but he only calmed down for a moment, then he picked up a few memorials, walked around the dragon case and went towards the official.

All the civil and military officials in the court retreated, fearing that they would be affected.

Eunuch Zhao cried out "Ouch!" and asked people to stop him, but no one dared to move. He was immediately worried and just hoped that someone or something could stop the mad Emperor Jian.

At this moment, a sharp and long "report" sounded in the hall. The eunuch who was delivering the message ran into the hall, knelt down smoothly, raised the heavy letter in his hand, and reported, "Your Majesty, there is a letter from the Second Prince!"

Emperor Jian paused when he was about to hit someone, then looked up and asked in surprise, "Did Chengze write to you?"

Eunuch Zhao heaved a sigh of relief and said quickly, "Hurry up and present the Second Prince's letter!"